Good morning. We got a surprise phone call from Whisper Mountain where we stopped on the way down here. They need their furnace in so they can have groups come and stay. We are leaving in the morning and drive all day so we can get there at night-12 hours/Talk about quick packing. Mike was not too happy we would miss Evan's pool party-but we will see him tonight. You have to know it's God's work the way it all happened. That  thing about God's timing being perfect.Going to walmart to pick up last minute stuff and a prescription.
Bye for now Mima

Good morning all. Mima, do have a safe trip and drive carefully. I'll look for your posts when you get home. And you are right about things happening for a reason....none of us is immune to that.
Beth, I have been feeling the same as you the past few days. I thought it might be one of my meds but the weather has been so hot and humid lately, I'm wondering if it is that. I've been having a hard time getting motivated in the morning and seem to feel very sleepy through out the day. Maybe it's because I've got the house closed up and the A/C on. It takes me awhile to get used to that feeling of being "closed in". I always look forward to the cooler weather so I can open up the house and let the wind blow through! Even the Queen seems a bit out of sorts. Her walks are shorter now due to the heat and she spends more time laying around...bored maybe? Oh well, such is life in the tropic zone. Hope everyone enjoys their day. I think I am going to indulge in a short nap to see if that helps. Bye for now.

I Am Sooooooooooooooo Mad! I Had Been Writing A Post, And Suddenly My Computer Did Something And It Is Gone. I will have to try again later because I need to go now. Bummer!!!!

We have bad storms w/ lots of rain attached. Not feeling well with all that.

Taxes coming along ... slow but sure. I think I'll have them done by the dreaded deadline. Will have to soak more than my hand by then!

You go girl!!!
Went tp Olive Garden again-Salmon and mashed potatoes and some deliscious soup. And the cake for Evan-he was so happy.
Bye -long road trip today-they let me use their computer, Mima

OK. I am going to try to type a message again. If it goes away, you will all hear me screaming!!!!!!!!!!!

Kate, I loved the "stuck in stupid" comment you made! Too funny, but too true. Laughed about your hubby and the strange weeds in salads (Anne's hubby too on that). We went out to eat and Tim looked at his salad and mentioned that he was sure that he had sprayed for those things to kill them at one time. The zucchini boats sound good. I'm with you on getting back to the veg., salad, and meat. My leader at First Place said the same thing last week.

Mima, I've never heard of Savella, but anything that will help with the fibro is wonderful in my book. I remember you mentioning Whisper Mountain before. Hope the furnace can be fixed without much of a problem.

Anne, good for you for being down 2 pounds! I knew someone else who tried Nutri system and liked it.

Oh Beth! I totally agree about the PB eggs! I have a box in my bedroom (not of PB eggs) that I'm packing up to take to the consignment shop. I hope to take it this week. Also have some things to take to Goodwill.

Joanne, I used to be a packrat, but I am doing much better about that. When my parents passed away, it took us forever to go through everything, and I said I would never do that to Tim. I "weed" through things quite often now. Maurice must be like Christie with the crate. He usually goes right in when I am leaving or when it is bedtime.

Meme, our taxes are done, and that is a relief. We don't have a business to deal with, so I'm sure it is much easier than what all you have to do. How is Ross doing now that he has gone home? Did something happen at the Youth Convention to make him want to go home and try harder? Keeping the situation in prayers.

I have a prayer request. I am on an Emmaus Team again, and there is a woman on the team who I have served with before. I honestly feel (as do many others) that she shouldn't be permitted to serve. I have prayer about this since I learned that she was also serving, and I am still struggling with the situation. Help!

Tim and I went to Smokey Bones for lunch earlier. Made some good choices for once! Broccoli, grilled chicken, and baked potato with a bit of sour cream. I didn't even finish everything except for the broccoli.

My First Place 4 Health group is "off" this week, so the leader and I are staying in touch with each other to stay accountable. I think she suggested it to help me more than for her. She knows how I've struggled, and I know she wants me to succeed. I did finally lose the steroid pounds, and I am back to the tracker loss which makes me happy. My goal was 12 pounds for the 12 week session, and I made that goal. That will be my same goal for the next 12 week session that starts the week after this.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Hello Everybody...
Tammy I have some steriod pounds too. I have been on this predisone since the first of Feb. They cut them in half. I see a new primary Dr. monday. I hope he will either take me off or at least cut them again..
My hubby won't eat the bag salad either.. I have about stopped buying it. It goes bad to quickly.
As to being the pack rat that I am,I always think I must keep things as I will use them someday.. I kept a pair of jeans hanging in my closet for about 20 years. They were too small. Well guess what. I put them on a few years ago and they were too big. I took them up and now they are almost too big again..Not really bragging! Just a little.. I have boxs of yarn . I will make blankets out of them . Drawers od material. I may make quilts .. Yes I am bad!!!
Meme- Send me some of that rain! Our daughter said they are flooded too. Her hubby is happy.. Makes the grass grow for the cows..He has rye out now .. I hope it works out for Ross at home.. I used to tell my brother we raised our kids now it is time for our kids to raise theirs..
Kate- I couldn't live without my ac.. My sister hardly uses hers. Mainly because she doesn't want to pay for it.. I tell the hubby tough,put it on..
The pollen has been so bad here that he agrees because of the allergys..
Squeak.. If you live in Fl. There will be rats. mice etc.. If you have fruit trees there will be fruit rats. If you live near woods there will be field mice and rats.. Squirrels are as bad as rats.. They will get into your attics.. We have fought them for years. We went to a lot of expence to make sure we keep them out.
Happy- Good weight loss..
Easter next week. I plan on just 8 people. I hope I don't end up with too many. Last year I had 3 more than I planned for.
Have agood weekend...
Joanne

Good morning everyone! That rain we had was so short lived! Hope we get some more soon as the "lushness" is starting to come back to the area..(along with the humidity and heat!). Yes, there is nothing like A/C...great invention...couldn't live without it now!
Tammy, I'm sorry to say I have no idea what Emmaus is or what an Emmaus Team would do but I tend to feel it might be along a religious line. Perhaps this woman feels a "need" to serve on this team for the same reasons you feel she shouldn't? Maybe she is aware of her shortcomings or deeds and finds that being on this "team" helps her? Like I said, not sure what your team does or how it operates but could she "need" this place on the team?
I have only taken steroids for a severe cases of poison ivy/sumac many, many years ago. I used to get it so badly, I would have to have shots and pills to help clear it up. Those were horrible episodes I hope to never experience again. My whole face would be swollen and oozey with my eyelids practically closed. It usually came from someone burning it up north. Don't even want to remember that....
I have been trying out new recipes here and there and have subscribed to a great web site (www.everydayhealth.com) that sends me recipes everyday. Some look good but I will usually have to "tweak" them for my tastes. I grow fresh herbs on my patio and use them when I cook. I've always had an herb garden but especially love being able to have one year round down here!
Where I have been limiting myself to all whole grains, I am always looking for new bread type stuff. Arnold's Bread has just come out with a new round "sandwich thin" that is excellent! It comes in whole wheat, multi grain and white, is 100 calories and is great plain or toasted. Very user friendly...
The Queen had a bath yesterday...first time I have done her myself! (I used to send her to a groomer.) I was pleasantly surprised how well she behaved. The only thing I wish I could have done was use a blow dryer to dry her faster and "fluff" her but she looks and smells clean so... mission accomplished. She has been very nocturnal lately...Need to go get something done. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their day.

Joanne, aren't those steroid pounds for the birds? Hope you will be able to go off of them soon and lose those pounds. LOL about the packrat. My mom would save things "just in case". She saved recipes galore that she had cut out of magazines and newspapers. My brother said that if she would have tried each recipe, she still would have some left even if she had lived to be 200 years old. I think he was right!

I remember you having extras last year for Easter. That makes it tough on you, so I hope you only have what you plan for this year.

Tim, Lauren, and I are headed to Frankenmuth, MI, for Easter weekend. Her mom is going to her brother's house, but Lauren can't go because of school on Fri. and Mon. We will head up Fri. afternoon and be home on Sun. afternoon.

Kate, Emmaus is a 3 day spiritual walk with God. I know this woman does feel the need to be on the team. My concern is that she is a user, and the women at her table that weekend will bear the brunt of her because she will be calling on them for many things - money, rides places, buying things for her, and the list goes on and on. Our area board members don't think she should be serving, but the pastor in charge has the final say, and he says she is fine. He doesn't know everything that she has done in the past, OR he doesn't believe it. Even her own pastor feels she shouldn't be there because of the user that she is. I know it doesn't sound very Christian of me to be this way. I have prayed and prayed for God to help me with this, and I'm not feeling any better. I know on the weekend, I will have a totally different job than she will, so I really won't have contact with her. I just worry about how the women at her table will be treated.

Ouch to the poison ivy episodes! I think I've only had it a couple of times, and I never had it bad at all. That's great that you are trying new recipes! I have a few cookbooks with recipes marked, but I never try them. We have been stuck in a rut for years. Always the same foods. Do you get Arnold's bread someplace special? I wonder if we have that around here? Glad that Queenie is smelling good! It's time for Maurice to have a bath too. He is up to 11 1/2 pounds, so he's a bit easier to bathe.

Hello to everyone!

I use Arnolds bread.. It has double fiber and 90 cal. If you are on WW points that is 1 point per slice.. It is whole grain ,whole wheat.. I sure do like Publixs multigrain bread too. I just don't know how many cal. are in it so I don't buy it very often.. I try to stay away from their other breads. I like them too much.. Bread is one of my downfalls.
Christie has gotten better about her baths. It used to be a big fight. Now she can't get out of the tub fast enough when it is done.. She lets me know what she thinks about it when I start drying her off..
I hope to have only a small crowd this year.. Too many is just too hard for me anymore.. 8 people 9 if my son-in-law changes his mind and comes.. He wants to stay home because of the animals. Dogs,cats, cattle.. They live in N/Fl.
There is always one person in a crowd who is a user.. For awhile you can feel sorry for them ,but, then it just gets old..
Dr. appointments tomorrow.. Hope he will take me off some of these meds.
Joanne

Oh!I love the Arnold Sandwich thins! The multigrain ones are so yummy! Try using them to make a "pizza". Add a salad and you have dinner in no time.

Rain- I am so tired of rain but we are still considered being in drought. Last year even the lakes were drying up. It was really scary, now it's back to raining all the time. I don't want it to stop raining, I just want it to stop raining everyday. And if I am going to put a request in, it can rain through the week but no rain on Fri, Sat or sun! LOL

Yesterday was a beautiful day and we went out on DH's john boat. We all three caught a beautiful striped bass but we gave them to Dh's friend because Dh won't clean them or eat them. DD was thrilled to reel her fish in. I got a little sun burned on my arms (didn't even think about sunscreen) and Dh had taken his shirt off. He is paying for it today. I had to rub him down in aloe and he whined the whole time. Men are such babies.

Tonight I have to cook two meals one for me and one for DH. His friend is coming over and I am cooking enough for the both of them, plus our DD and his DS. I don't want what they are having so it's two meals. BUT I am not going to complain, they are working on putting in a dishwasher for me. I don't have one at all now so it's quite a job. I am a little excited. I have been 5 years now without a dishwasher and I hate washing dishes! DD is excited too because I usually have her wash the dishes.

sounds like I need to check out that Arnold's bread! Tim just gave Maurice a bath, and he did very well. Well, both of them did actually!!

We've had some snow today! It isn't sticking to the ground, but it's still snowing. I don't like that. I want warmth and sunny days!!

We saw the new primary Dr. today.. I really like him..He seemed really interested . He was disturbed at the kind of care we have been getting..He said my hubby should see a cardioligist once a year. He hasn't seen one in5 years because the other Dr said he didn't need to.He had quad bypass 14 years ago.. I have an appointment with one this Thusday..He said that due to the fact that I almost died this last time ,that if we had has proper care it might not have been as bad as it was..We see him again in a week after we have blood work tomorrow..He said that I must have had a heart attack before I got to hospital and one while in there.. They only told us about one.. It is not hard to see why my daughter and son were so upset with the other Drs.I know I am 76 but that is just a number.. I want to stay healthy till at least 95...
Kate we haven't had more than 30 min total rain in months here where I live..I am on west coast.. Very dry.
hello Everybody
Joanne

Joanne, so glad that you like your new doctor! It does sound like he is interested. I can understand him being disturbed about hubby not seeing the cardiologist. My dad saw one at least once a year after his bypass. I agree about wanting to stay healthy!

A few weeks ago I went to a thing called LifeLine Screening. It runs all kinds of medical tests, and then the results arrive in the mail unless their doctors find something that needs attention. I received my results today, and everything came out normal and better than normal! I am thrilled!! Apparently all the exercise and eating better is doing something right.

The reason I went for this is because a friend of mine had done it a year ago. They find something on the ultrasound of her abdomen, and notified her right away to contact her doctor and gave her results to take with her. She ended up having surgery and had a tumor the size of a football removed. It had never caused her any pain or discomfort in any way. She is a bigger person (like me) so it really wasn't noticeable. No cancer, and she feels so much better.

It was still snowing a while ago.

Hello everyone. A very breezy and cool day here in Florida. Temps got down to 50 last night and will down to almost 40 tonight. Yesterday afternoon hit 91 degrees! Strange weather we are having this spring! The drought conditions are terrible and with this wind and wild fires are a real threat. Hopefully some of these idiots will think before throwing that cigarette butt out their car window!
Joanne, great to hear you have found a new primary doctor who will keep you and your hubby on track. I can't believe the other doctor saw no need for the cardiology check ups after a bypass.....that is so not good! I'm sure you will both be happier with a good doctor that pays attention to the details. And those sandwich thins are a new item from Arnolds. I found them at the end of the produce isle in Publix. They really are very tasty and yes, Beth is right about using them for mini pizzas . Great for a quick lunch.

Tammy, I have heard of those lifeline scans but I haven't seen anything like that offered around my area. I suppose I could call the local VNA to see if there is something like that here. I'll be getting my blood work done in a couple of weeks for my next doctor's visit. So far so good but I am anxious to see if my weight loss has affected my cholesterol readings. Guess we'll find out soon enough!
Beth, don't know how you have managed without a dishwasher! I cook so much that I couldn't imagine doing without one. Microwave..yes, dishwasher.. no!

Trying to get the rest of my housework done. Have been keeping on top of it. I'm not thinking of Easter this year. We used to do a "Polish" Easter with ham, pierogies, kielbasa, easter bread,etc. but that is soooo much work for just the two of us. No, maybe just a roast or something simple. I am on a roll with my diet and am trying to get back on that darn elliptical so I need to stay focused.
Thanks for explaining the Emmaus ceremony, Tammy. Perhaps everyone involved should just politely say "no" to her requests. I'm sure a "Gee, I would love to but...." would help her realize her expectations are unreasonable and she should try fending for herself. Some people can be overwhelming with their "neediness" and make life unpleasant for others. Maybe some of these women she is with on the team will be able to say "NO". There is nothing about Christianity that says you need to be used and abused, right? I hope it all works out regardless and that you all enjoy your ceremony. Good luck.

Off to finish mopping. The "Queen" has been so nocturnal the past few nights. I think it is because we are coming up to the full moon tomorrow night. I definitely think there is a correlation there with her breed....minding that flock of sheep and all. I guess I should be gratefull she feels the need to "watch out" for me...I just wish she didn't have to be so vocal about it!!
Have a great evening ladies....