Annie and Debi - I haven't figured out if you are good influences or bad - after exercise class tonight I am going to clean the carpets - thanks! I also have decided to get rid of my grandfathers desk. I got all of the antiques when they passed away and it's time to start passing some of them to the next generation. My oldest niece is excited to get it. And we are excited to have some extra room. Now I just have to figure out what to do with everything that came out of it that didn't go in the trash.

I'm having one of those days where I haven't eaten enough - not sure why but I will work to change that for the rest of the day.

Move your bodies, drink your water and smile.

Hugs,
Carol

Rat - I'm proud that you had you cookie/chocolate free week! This week will be a breeze with TOM out of the way! Go Girl Go!

Annie-No I didn't mow. Sometimes when I avoid something, and can't figure out why, there is something else going on. My subconscious works overtime sometimes because of my head injury. I also get very vivid dreams now. Anyway, my shoulder is bothering me, and I tend to block out pain, so I guess my subconscious was telling me to avoid the lawn mower. Himself is going to do it tomorrow after a morning meeting.

I did more organizing, and tomorrow, I should get my new filing cabinets to start putting all this stuff I've gone through away finally.

Kayley, so sorry you're having problems with the dress, when you're up to it tell us what's wrong & I bet someone can offer a solution.xxxxxx
Annie, thanks but I did have a LOT of make-up on, lol. Hope the job front improves & you get a good offer, WTG on demanding more money from your old boss. Just look how far you've come, from being scared to go out very much to being assertive AND so much slimmer & healthier, you make me smile everytime I think about what you've achieved.xxxxxxx
Valerie, ooh I'm GREEN with ENVY, you make the most of your gorgeous horse & even better it counts as EXERCISE!!! How I wish I could ride, even once a week, lol.xxxxxxx
Xena, you are very kind but my skin is actualy scarred and has a brown pigmentation problem on my cheeks, chin and forehead but I keep out of the sun & know how to cover it up!lol One day, if I'm brave enough, I'll post a pic SANS make-up, so you don't have to feel jealous, lol. I'm glad you have chosen to do less classes it must be wearing you down. Do you still have to food delivery service, if so how are you finding it?xxxxxxx
Anne, you are so lucky to have a pool, in the UK we have so few hot days, unless you're VERY rich, no one has pools, indoor or outdoor. Your jams sound great, my mum makes lots, but none are quite as exciting sounding as yours! I never bothered with learning how to do it as I don't really like jam. Do you do low sugar versions?xxxxxx
Well I got on the scales and those two EVIL pounds have gone, along with three more, though official weigh in is Friday, so I'll see. I've cut out bread as my IBS has been terrible just lately and I've been afraid to be more than a few steps away from the loo, so far I've not had any pain, bloating or trips to the loo, lol. It's a shame as we have this lovely brown, seedy, low GI bread & it's SO tasty, but I will try to stay off it for a few more days to see if it is that. I've started having smoothies again made with fruit, LIVE yoghurt & rice milk, hpefully that will help too. I felt so much better I FINALLY exercised today and it feels SO good.
I forgot what else I wanted to 'say' but anyone I missed it wasn't on purpose, I do read everyone's posts & think of you all.
xxxxxsharon

sharon_hugs on the IBS. I have it also and its terrible at times. My dieting had really helped it until i started eating to many strawberries and then the pain started back. I had to go back on my medicine for a few days. Overall it has been better since I have been dieting. I think softdrinks were a trigger of it for me.Hope it doesnt get any worse.

Kayley-HUGS HUN!!!! I know your upset about the dress but look how far you have come in a short period of time.Keep it up and dont give up!! I am so proud of you for going to the gym even if you were upset!!!!!!Take that frustration out on the machines.

catherine-IM so glad you listened to your body.

carol- you will love us when the rugs are dry and clean. They smell so nice also!! Take the day and relax after working so hard on the rugs!!

julia_ how are things with you??

anne_ HI...Way to go on getting back to 100lbs off. Your doing great!!!Still celebrate even if you dont see it as a big accomplishment...WE DO!!!

annie_ can i ask how long since your surgery. My brother is really considering having it. I finally told him about you yesterday and he wanted to know how long it has taken you. He has lots of health problems and the drs think it might really help him physically to have it done. He has bone spurs on his back plus disc problems. He in constant pain and pain meds dont seem to help much anymore.

debbie_ when i was in walmart checking out yesterday I thought of you!!! The check out lady was so sweet and i knew you would be like that.

I did my mid week peak at the scales and nothing...they are the exact same as sat. I havent done anything wrong...so im not worrying about it. I usually will see at least some change by mid week. TOM is getting very close.I pray he comes early or late.It would be awful if my heaviest day was sat...and sat night...I dont think i would enjoy graduation stuff as much.
Im pretty emonational already. I cant believe my baby is graduating.I just dont know where the time went.Seems like only yesterday I was dressing her in frilly dresses for church and she was playing with her doll house and barbies and babydolls. GOSH i sure miss those days!!!
I think life can be overwhelming at times!!!

Hello my Chickies!

I had a great NSV yesterday. It started out bad at work...this crazy document that I've been working on hit its 6th major rewrite! I'm not talking about general edits, I'm talking about a total rewrite. Well, I was happy it was done and one of the bosses started asking about one section I added. He was concerned I was raising issues that didn't need to be raised in my assessment. The way he was talking, I thought he was going to raise caine over the entire way I did the analysis. Well, I wanted to hit the cookies after work because of him. I even debated going to the store to get some. Instead, I went home, had some fresh cherries and laid down to regroup. When I checked my work email later, there was this note from that boss who read what I wrote and said the section was fine. I had gotten myself into a state where I almost ate over nothing! But I didn't do it! Yay!

DMPLS, prayers sent for you and that position.

Anne, w00h00 on passing that wonderful 100 milestone! I understand about the "sneak" mentality when you think folks aren't watching or are gone.

Annie, if you want more windows to clean, I'll give ya an address in the DC burbs to check out! hehe.

Hugs, Luan.

Catherine, I'm glad Himself is going to mow the lawn. I only say that cuz you've been inside a lot and away from the pool. I don't want you to reinjure yourself if your muscles are not as conditioned as they normally are (not including the frozen hotdog throwing). BTW, I know you are stubborn enough to do it no matter what your body says lol.

Xena, I struggle with food at work too. Especially if someone brings stuff for bdays. For the most part, I can avoid the vending machines. They don't have good cookies in them anyhow.. hehe.

Kayley, I'm glad you went to the gym despite having bad news about the dress.

Hugs, Julee. I hope your eye troubles pass quickly.

Cyn, sometimes a full wipe of the computer hard drive is necessary. Good luck on it! I always forget to save my email addys and Favorites in my web browser.

Val, w00h00 it's good to hear from you and Gabe. Hehehe about Turbotrot.

GGG, yay for spring cleaning! I always like giving away stuff that someone else appreciates.

Julia, thanks for the cheers! That mean ole TOM needs to go.

Sharon, w00h00 on getting rid of evil pounds! hehe. I had on and off runs a lot when I ate bread. I still eat a tiny bit, but don't get the runs anymore. I noticed that when I was on South Beach and have continued not to buy bread since (even though I don't follow SB anymore).

Deb, aww about your baby growing up!

Hugs to all!
Rat

bad choice.....I ate 2 tiny donut holes this morning. One of the boys came in with a bag to share. Just 2 tiny donut holes are 110 calories...for that amount of calories I could have had my omelette.I think i will go eat my eggbeaters to give me some protien to stay with me till lunch. Oh boy a calorie is not a calorie!!!! I will make sure not to do that again.
debi

morning all...

well we have 2 new kittens...lol...the mother left them in a friends yard when her dogs scared the mom off..she cant keep them so we are bottle feeding them until they are old enough to be adopted. One is all black with all 4 white feet that look like boots..the other is a siamese. They are both girls. I call them trouble one and trouble two..lol. My hubby is an animal lover so taking in homeless animals is nothing new to me.

My son graduates tonight from 8th grade so I took the day off. We will be cleaning up a bit and making chili and corn bread. LOL


RAT:: Thanks fore reminding me of the email and favs...didnt think of that !!

Julee: i hope your eye gets better really soon. Enjoy the lovely weather!

Carol: How did the carpet cleaning go. Sorry. lol. That is so sweet of you to give your Niece your Granpa's desk. I bet she is so excited to have it.

Kayley: Hugs to you hun. So, so proud of you for continuing on with the gym though instead of eating something not good for you.

Catherine: Sounds like you managed to do a lot of work inside the house. It was probably very wise to leave the mowing for your dh so your shoulder can heal.

Sharon: Feel better soon. Woo hoo to another -3 pounds extra! You are doing so well.

Debi: I had my surgery 8/29/07. About 9 months ago now. I had lost around 120 pounds prior to surgery on a liquid diet but I could not continue that because of the extreme cost of it and most people gain the weight right back when they start eating again. I knew I needed the surgery to get my medical problems under control. I had bad medical news from the Dr. about my heart which has since totally cleared up along with every other medical problem I had due to my obesity. I was in the highest category of Super Morbidly Obese. I dropped the Super and recently I dropped the Morbid! That was awesome to know that I am now just Obese. Some day I will drop that title too. For me it was absolutely necesary. If your brother wants to ask me any questions you can pm me and I will pm you my email address so you can have him ask away or he can email me directly once I give you my email address. I am very open about my weight loss in hopes it will help someone else that felt hopeless know there is hope. Sorry you are feeling so sad about your baby. Hugs.

Rat: I'm so happy and proud of you for not getting the cookies. Look what a great reward that was. You feel proud of yourself plus your boss was good with the rewrite! Great job! Uh, no thanks on the windows. lol.

Cyn: How sweet that you are caring for the kitties.

Well, I am going to start my day now. I made tons of cookies yesterday for our cookie jar. It was empty. I made all oatmeal raisin ones. DH loves them but he is very careful to eat them sparingly. I have it planned to clean my kitchen and laundry room today in Spring Cleaning fashion. Getting something done each day has been helpful to not feel overwhelmed for this company. lol.

Blessings all,
Annie

Kayley: It will all work out sweetie. I'm sure that no matter what happens it will all be beautiful. Hugs.
Blessings,
Annie

Good Morning All!
Well the weekend went well and busy as normal. Young daughters recital went wonderful as normal ans she did awesome. The the friends graduation party went well and he was very excited and thankful that his sister had it for him. So I was glad that I had pushed at her to do it for him. Yesterday hubby and I went and picked up the home gym, so now I have to make room for it! UGH! My guess is that it is going in the living room! No where else for it to really go. So I am going to rearrange today! Then I will have to carry it in from the van and he will set it up! I am kinda excited about it, but not excited about rearranging everything! Tonight is our younger daughters first softball game for the season. Hubby is home to go so she is very excited!

Battle-Hows the new job?

Cyn-8th grade graduation tonight! I hope it all goes well. Congrats on having all the kids in High School. I hope you are ready for it! My teen daughter is full of drama! I am so ready for a summer break!

Ratkitten-squirrels in the basement! EEEKKKK! I so would not like that. maybe you could toss a few Catherine's hubby's way to stuff and put on the porch next to the couch!!!! HA! HA!

Catherine-My hubby thinks that is an awesome idea about the Red Neck couch on the front porch and definitely the orange tarp to cover in the winter! He so wants to come and hang out with your hubby! HA! HA! He said when I rearrange for the home gym, maybe we could put our couch out on our front porch!! It could happen, but only because son would be on his way to pick it up as he wants our couch and loveseat for his house. Just not sure I can afford new right now! Did you get pants made yet?

Annie & Debbie- dog training is going well! Hubby took him alone this week as I was babysitting with a friends 2 yr. old. They can run too! He is so quick. My how we forget when ours grow up! I think he could keep up with the dog. Yesterday I forgot to lock the front door and he jumped on it wanting to go outside and the door came open! I had to go out looking for him. When I finally found him he did not look white any longer but more like a black lab!! He had found something and rolled in it and smelled really bad. I was so upset with him. I had just taken him and the cat to the vet and he got his frontline put on him. They said now don't bathe him for 48 hours! Well, quess what I had to do. Bathe him! So now I will have to pay another $20 for another treatment. I was so mad at him I told him he could have a timeout!! He did awesome in the bathtub for his first time. Today he looks so clean. I am going to fix the lock on the front door so "hopefully" this won't happen again. It is a good thing that we just live in a town of about 300 people! I think he will eventually learn his boundries. (I hope)

Annie & Carol - PB2 it is so awesome. I will compare to Jif ( we get the Simply Jif which is less sugar and low sodium) since that is my favorite.
Calories for 2T Jif-190 PB2-54
total fat -16g -2.8g
There are so many ways to use it. Use it just as you would use pb in any recipe. It has awesome flavor too. Add it to anything!

Carol-how are the new shoes working out for ya! Sounds like a little pampering with them putting shoes on ya and everything! I would have asked for a cup of tea too!!

Dmpls-love the Army son's pics of the family. You are all so beautiful. So glad you got to go. How is Curves working out?

Brandnewme-how are the blood sugar levels and Blood pressure doing today? I hope you are feeling better.

Kayley-How did the shower go?

Well, I better go get things started before hubby comes down stairs and still sees that the couch has not been moved to the porch yet! HA! HA! Thanks for the compliments on the avatar, now if I could just figure out the other pics. I will, in time. Penny

Oh I forgot, WI down 1 lb. YEAH, I just wish it would have been more. But It was a loss. Also hubby, young daughter and I went on a 20 minute bike ride it was good. Left bikes at the camper for a long weekend of biking and camping. So I will be walking this week! Hopefully not chasing the dog! HA! HA!

Kayley-Grab your phone book, and look under fabric. There will be at least one fabric store that deals in bridal fabric or it will say couture fabric. These places are staffed by older women who have been sewing their entire lives. Take your dress down there. They may have the exact fabric on the shelf, or will know exactly which one to order for you. They may be able to look at the dress and offer ideas too. Sometimes the best place to add panels is under the arm.