Just wondering if anyone has done a "colon cleanse" before?
Still looking at ways to improve my constipation issues.....
I did some research and found one that looks safe and gentle.

Michele~while I've never done a colon cleanse myself, my office assistant did a year or so again. She was in such intense pain afterwards (for days, mind you) that she said she'd never try anything like that again. My suggestion is to try one of the probiotics on the market--there's one by Phillips called Colon Health that works quite well for me. Others I've used are Align and Culturelle.

Sitting here at work waiting for the police to arrive. No, nothing serious. But we work in a very industrial area and since the economy has tanked many businesses are closed and places are up for rent. Things have been turning around but still, we notice anomalies. This week, there has been a car parked across from our office and it hasn't moved for over a week. So we called in a possible abandoned car.

Is it Friday yet? I left a load of laundry going in the wash before I left for work this AM. I went home to let Emma out at lunch, since BF is working out of town today and he usually watches her during the day. There had been some power outage or fluctuation bc all the clocks were flashing, and the washing machine was "stuck" at the end of the spin cycle and making a nasty grinding noise. It had been doing that for who knows how long. Another circuit was tripped, but not the one the washer was plugged into. The tripped circuit wouldn't reset, keeps tripping. My fishtank filters/bubblers are plugged into an outlet on that circuit. When I tried to plug that power strip into another outlet to get it going to get my fishs' water oxygenated, that power strip tripped its circuit. Why do these things only happen when BF is gone? The hot water heater has gone out twice in the last year, only when he's out of town. At least he'll be back this afternoon, but he's supposed to meet the carpet guy to get the carpets cleaned then... and then he can work on the electric. Not something to mess around with for sure!

I think I'm just really tired at this point in the week! We had pouring rain and thunderstorms all night, and it's still very windy. Emma has also been needing to pee about 5 am every AM, but last night it was much earlier around 11:30, BF left at 4:30 AM (he did take her out then, too), and she was already whining again when I got up at 6:30. Oh the joys of puppyhood. I remind myself it could be much worse - she could not tell us when she needs to go, and go on the carpet instead.

Alison, did the police arrive and what happened to the car? Way to get out of bed and exercise! I know the feeling of just not being able to fit it in and being frustrated very well right now.

Michele, um, don't know anything about the cleanse, but good luck on resolving your issues. Sorry you've found out that DD is depressed, but glad it came to light and hopefully changing her meds will help. And congrats to her for getting her license!

Dagmar, way to make it through the evening. I hope today goes well too.

Shannon, happy belated birthday to DSS!

Hmmm, Michele, I have decent results with stool softeners and of course making sure I get a lot of fiber and water. If I miss a couple days of the latter I start to have issues.

Megan (and anyone else who's interested) here's a link to some of my Hawaii photos. I posted some on Facebook, and I've just been procrastinating in getting the rest posted anywhere....

Pat's Hawaii Photos

We're having gorgeous days, sunny and bright, with temps in the mid to high 30's, but, along with that has come another round of high winds. So while it looks nice out, it's not nice to be out! Grrrr.

Today we meet with our CPA to go over the taxes Sooo much fun - not!

Dagmar good job on making it successfully through the evening. My problem comes when my skinny DH gets his evening snack. I need to be strong and stick to tea. Most nights I do okay, a few I don't....

Jessica - so glad Carter is nearly back to normal.

to you all.

Michele I have never done one but our yoga class heard all about the instructor's prolonged internal cleanse for 3 weeks - TMI TMI

Megan How old is Emma? If she's over 6 months she should be able to hold it for about 8 hours. Might have a bladder infection or just be testing you to see if she can get her way.

Pat Great pics! Gorgeous quilts! Hawaii - I wanna be there now!!!

I will stay strong this evening even though I just had a screaming match on the phone with my father (hung up when he started threatening me) and will probably have to foot the bill for drain replacement in his house that I own - $2600 that I don't have.

God that man can push my buttons. I did (patting myself on the back) hang up on him, rather than starting to scream abuse back. What an *sshole!!!

I will go and start to prepare dinner now, quietly and calmly. And I will not start whing the moment DH steps in the door (I'll at least let him take off his coat first)

Dagmar

Dagmar-- sorry about your dad but good job staying strong!
I sometimes miss my parents (both deceased) until I hear something like this and it reminds me of all of the frustration and screaming matches we used to have!

If I do the cleanse, I won't share TMI for sure!!

Decided tonight that this Jewish girl is giving up GRAPES for Lent (yes, I know I'm a little late, but I'm also a little Jewish!).

I have no control over grapes and I keep saying I'll cut back and then I buy them and eat them all. Cold turkey! Wonder if I'll lose some weight-- hopefully!

Stayed OP last night except for one 30g. helping of low fat cheese (90 cals).

Based on the cal log I lose if I'm under 1500 and stay put if I'm over 1700. Just realized I've never logged cals for maintenance, just for dieting.

Anyone have any tips for estimating restaurant meals? (my "method" is to ignore them).

Another day working in the rain. But I don't have to work late and we're having pizza this evening (no cooking ).

TGIF!!!

Dagmar

TGIF, that's all I have to say. My parents arrive this evening! I do have my weekday evening rehearsals and need to take care of some play business while they're here, but I get a few days off of work. And my washer is broken, maybe a belt, BF hasn't had time to investigate further. Luckily I have a kind neighbor who will let me use their washer across the street until we figure this out. The other circuit was blowing bc of a fried surge protector. The carpets also got cleaned last evening, most things are still up on tables and beds, and I feel slightly bad my house is not quite as tidy as when my parents usually visit. At least the bathroom is clean, the guest room sheets are clean, and the carpets are really clean. I guess some clutter is not so bad, as it's clean underneath the clutter.

Dagmar, way to not let your dad get to you! I use Fitday to help estimate calories when I don't have a clue. You can also google search "calorie calculator" and whatever food item you had, and something might come up.

Emma is nearly a year old. I know she can hold it for 8 hours bc she was crate trained and when she first came to us (almost 2 months ago!) she slept in her crate. She would usually start whining around 6-6:30 AM, I would get up, shower, get dressed, and then take her outside, she would go immediately. Last week I started letting her sleep beside the bed, and that's when this 5 AM bit started. I know she can make it, but will she out of her crate? After I take her out at 5 AM, she does lay right back down quietly. In the first two weeks we had her she peed in the house about six times, since then only once (and I blame myself more - she had told me she needed to go, but BF had taken her out less than an hour before - sometimes she drinks a lot of water!), but I'm still afraid of it. I do need to be stronger. I will try still keeping her water away from her later in the evening, being firm and telling her to lay down when she whines at 5 AM.

But I digress...forgive me, I'm still a new "mom".

Pat, thanks for posting the photos! I have to wait til I get home to look, no FB at work, but can't wait to see. Good luck with the CPA... yah, not fun, I need to do my taxes too.

What are everyone's plans for the weekend? Happy Friday!

Michele, I've never done a colon cleanse. Sounds kind of gross if you ask me!

Megan, I love the photo of Emma on the boat!

Dagmar, the only restaurant meals I can really estimate are the ones that post their nutritional information online...

Michele, that word "cleanse" is one that scares me. I imagine a Puritan elder shaking a long, bony finger at me whenever I read it somewhere. I believe everything about me from my mind to my body would benefit from being scoured by a fistful of steel wool, but I'm just not up to it.

Back from a week in Charleston, which I have fallen in love with. Ostensibly, I went there to my cousin's daughter's wedding. A sweet, sincere couple, but no sense of style whatsoever. In a city of beautiful old churches, some going back well before the 1770s, the girl chose an ugly one built in the Brady Bunch period on a six-lane commercial strip that is also home to the Piggly Wiggly, Burger King, Taco Bell, rows of car dealers and etc. But we escaped to downtown Charleston before & after the wedding, and stayed on a week to cram in as many historic house tours & historic plantation tours as possible. In the end, we saw a total of six townhouses and four plantations. Some highlights:

- The cantilevered staircase at the Manigault house, which spirals around itself like the inside of a conch or the ramp at the Guggenheim, only up in the air, seemingly unsupported. Timeless design. In my mind, I heard a flourish of trumpets & a PBS narrator intoning about "human potential" & creativity as I stared up at it. Yes, it was that beautiful.

- Driving up a sandy alley lined on either side with enormous, thick-trunked Live Oaks, with Spanish moss dangling from the branches, before reaching Boone Hall. (The house itself was somewhat anticlimactic.) This driveway is so iconic & so evocative of the South, I can't even remember when I first saw pictures of it. My pulse was thrumming all the way & we went as slowly as possible to savor the experience.

- Walking down to an ornamental pond at Middleton Place, trying to get nearer to some white ibis, which were stabbing at the mud. At what point did I realize that the big piece of driftwood a few scant feet away from me was a seven-foot alligator? I backed away slowly. He was sunning himself & much calmer than I. Meanwhile, above me, on a safe rise, a flock of people took pictures. Had I not finally understood what I was about to put my foot next to, my maiming would have been well-documented & probably featured on at least one cable news network.

- Eating something called Frogmore Stew or Low Country Boil at a restaurant called Gilligans, at a table with a hole in its center & a bucket set into the hole. So you could throw your shrimp tails, crab exoskeleton, fish bones & corn cobs down into it. This dish was so good, I could eat it every week.

- Hearing several lectures about the Gullah culture, and seeing slave cabins that have been restored & interpreted. About 17 years ago, the last time I was down in plantation country, the guides were all about the big house & the pretty stuff in it & never said a word about the other 90% of the population, the slaves who kept this reincarnation of th feudal system running. So much work has been done to go through the surviving written records & archaeology & to interpret that story & intertwine it with the story of the 10%.

- The palmetto trees & the camellia bushes that we saw everywhere. And the enormous old magnolias. The live oaks. The loblolly pines. All the fascinating vegetation in this climate.

- The pelicans, the white ibises, the anhingas drying their wings, the ever-present mockingbirds sounding off, the warblers flitting everywhere (we won't see them up here for several more weeks) the peacocks at Magnolia Plantation snackbar crowding my picnic table, begging for scraps from my salad -- I thought of Flannery O'Connor, from neighboring Georgia.

- Citadel cadets walking down King Street on Saturday & Sunday, seemingly everywhere, and me finding this great store called Oops!, which sells catalog remainder stuff, & where I got a great deal on some J. Crew & Ann Taylor summer tops.

Thank goodness this country is not completely homogenized & pasteurized.

Megan Sounds like Emma's started the "let's wake mom so we can do stuff earlier" game. Whenever I stay with a dog 6 months or older (except the very old - whole different set of issues) I stop the water 1 1/2 hours before the last walk. The last walk happens 8 hours before a.m. wake up and let out.

I get up at 5:30 a.m. at dog sits. So I do the last walk at 9-9:30 p.m., and take the water away after supper @ 7:30 p.m.

If Emma starts peeing in the house she probably needs to be checked for a bladder infection. Although usually with those they ask to go out every 30 minutes or so. As someone who has had a bladder infection I can say that it feels like you have to go all the time - it's the same for dogs.

saef Now I definitely want to see the American south. Your descriptions are so powerful I can see Charleston in my mind's eye (although posting a few pics would be nice if you have them).

My dad called me back today. He got two more estimates for the drains work and they are over $1000 less than the first. Pays to listen to the kid sometimes.

I am still staying on target with my calorie journal. I'm surprised - not sure what's motivating me - but quite pleased with myself. DH's band is playing next weekend and I'm sure I'm going to fit into my skinny jeans by then.

TGIF!!!!

Dagmar

Just turned on the news - OMG the amount of devastation that tsunami has caused! Isn't someone on 3FC in Japan right now - krampus?

Dagmar

Krampus checked in on This Thread started by Amanda (mandalinn82)

She said she's OK - She's on the Western side of Japan closer to Korea.

Yes, Krampus is fine, thankfully. Well, except for her binge, but that's another story.

dagmar~go for those skinny jeans!!!! YAY

saef~your descriptions are beautiful!

So. What would you do? My 30 year high school reunion is the first weekend in August. I got word today that on Friday night, at the high school gym, they'll be holding a toga party (our mascot is a Titan, and each year for homecoming we wore togas for a week and had agoras, etc.). The toga party will be for grads plus one (DH) and they'll be serving Greek food in the cafeteria. They'll be treating this kind of like a dance with a photographer and such. Being at the school, this will obviously be non-alcoholic (which isn't a terrible thing, but still.....we're 48). On Saturday night, at Snowbird ski resort (they have several nice places to eat as well as convention facilities) they'll have a GRAD ONLY dinner. No spouse. Do I really want to drive 800+ miles (or fly) with DS for him to attend a toga party and not be able to go to the nice dinner? What would you do? Here are the choices:

1) go alone
2) take DH to toga party and skip the nice party
3) take DH to toga party, go alone to nice party (although I intend to get a room at Snowbird so I could have a nice post party in my room as they're mostly condos)
4) skip it entirely
5) try to get the committee to open the Saturday party to spouses

Let me know what you think!!! Thanks.