Shannon congratulations on your debt reduction , I have been through that also, I have one credit card that is down to about $300 as soon as I get that paid I am going to close that account then I have one left and I will pay it off but keep it as sometimes an emergency will arise where we need some extra funds. Now I use a debit card exclusively and it works fine and is so much easier to control.
Jen, good news on your doctor's visit.
Michele. that is good news about your DD's interview , sounds like an offer is coming.

Jen that is so cool that your surgeon gave you FREE laser treatment! Wow!

Michele~yes, good luck to your DD. I kind of keep up with her on FB with her blogging, but can't always find time to read the whole thing.

Hi all,

I've been reading the thread but haven't had the energy to post. The situation with my dad is overwhelming and exhausting. After I got home from work today, I got in bed and stayed there for hours, wishing it would all go away. And this ridiculously cold weather isn't helping. (Jen, we got your crazy wind today. Stupid winter, go away!!)

michele, fingers crossed for your daughter.

Shannon, good work on the debt reduction. Having a plan is the way to go, just like with losing weight.

Jessica, are you getting a lot of suggestions for names? Everyone I know who's had kids has complained about how others criticize their name choices. Waiting until they're born seems like a good idea.

saef, please put me on the list for your mom. I do a lot of tidying up when I'm stressed but not so much cleaning. Might your mom get another cat? I know our pets are irreplaceable but my cats are such a source of comfort that I can't imagine being without one.

As for capris, I've realized that I'm too short and pear-shaped for them to look good on me. I'm better off in knee-length shorts.

Shannon re reducing your credit card debt. I'm sure you'll meet your 2014 goal!

Jen Your surgeon is a good guy!

Michele I'm sending : to your DD

I am going to go look at a house on Thursday and have a long chat with our realtors. It's a beautiful house but needs a lot of work. I think I'm up for it but I don't want to end up totally broke for my retirement. I'm hoping DH hears back soon about the job he applied for yesterday. It would be great to be a 2-income family again.

Dagmar

I can't seem to pop up the smilies list. Anyone else having problems?

Thanks!

Dagmar

[More]

No. (Are you on Advanced?)

I don't know re Advanced. Sorry I wasn't clear. I can use the small smilies list but when I click on the "more" link nothing happens. It was working yesterday

Dagmar

Shannon, congrats on paying off the card! I just love crossing items off a todo list, and a todo list to make yourself debt-free is a great idea!

Jen, sounds like you've got a great doctor.

Steph, go easy on yourself during this tough time. And re: your question, no, people have not been suggesting names to us, but possibly because we have not told anyone the names we're looking at except my mom. DH's cousin is due to have a baby girl next week so we're crossing our fingers that she won't use one of our top names.

Michele, good luck to your DD!

Dagmar, good luck with the house hunt and good luck to DH on his job hunt. Unlike you and your DH, my DH and I have zero knowledge of construction and fixing household stuff, so we made sure to buy a house that needed absolutely no work whatsoever.

My BF is pretty handy, but sometimes has poor listening skills. The kitchen sink has been having reduced water flow and about a month ago, water started just stopping flow completely for a few minutes to a few hours at a time (rest of the house water is fine). We have terribly hard water and I'm sure this is related to calcium in the lines. I told BF this repeatedly to the point I've been really crabby. It happened last night when he was home and he was all surprised at how there is no water coming out. Like...duh. What the heck did you think I meant when I said "the tap stops working for hours and there's no water"?

Shannon, what on earth do you wear in the summer in Atlanta if you don't wear capris? I'm genuinely curious. Is there some type of pant I'm not thinking of? Because if there is, I should find it and see if it flatters me. I don't think capris are extremely flattering but are not extremely unflattering either. I just can't stand to wear anything but the lightest outdoor pants in summer (which is what I wear to work since I'm in the sun all day in the summer). Trousers and jeans are too hot, and sometimes it's rather windy here so a skirt or sundress might be risky. And I think capris look better on me than bermuda shorts, though of course different cuts are more/less flattering.

And congrats on your debt reduction. 2014 is not so far away.

Michele, let us know what happens w DD's interview.

Jen, sounds like your doctor is really nice. Strangely my obgyn is a really nice man. Last time I visited we talked about our compost piles and he offered me worms for mine (I know, it sounds weird but we are just two composting nerds). It was nice of your doc to laser your birthmark for free! Would insurance cover something like that otherwise?

Steph

Love my surgeon - he is exactly 1 day younger then me which was kind of cool. I don't think insurance would cover the birthmark because it's just a harmless port wine stain that I've had since birth. He noticed it during one of my follow ups and was like "Hey, I can laser that off" and I was like "Hey! Well do it!!!"

Dagmar, my house is so old that the deed doesn't even go back far enough to know when it was built. We know that they used it to bake bread for the soldiers during the 1812 war! So we have spent a lot of time and money to fix it up, but were able to go room by room whenever we had the time/inclination/money. We did most of the work ourselves.

Steph - There is nothing I can really say, but I am thinking about you!

Jen

allison, our Gordon Setter used to love to go out to the garden and ever-so-gently pick cherry tomatoes off the vine. He was good with raspberries too - he never damaged a plant that I know of. I caught him pulling up a carrot to eat once. If I'd had a video camera ...

michele, yay for DD!

shannon, it's funny how the growers of plants can figure out how to make them arrive at the absolute worst possible time. Congrats on the payoff! Financial stress is the worst thing out there, IMO.

Jessica, I'm not so sure DS is as caught up in it, but he's on spring break and has no good excuses for not helping. Re the candy dish, we're having a little interdepartmental healthy-habits competition, so we're having a deluge of clementines, home-made energy bars, mini cucumbers, dark chocolate, etc. Nary a jelly bean to be found!

Jen, a perfectionist for a surgeon is a very, very good thing. I can almost imagine that it would be a little sad to come to the closure of that part of your transformation.

steph, hang in there. I've spent more than my share of time under the covers. Some things only time can fix, and there are no actions you can take to make it better. Winter happens to be one of them!

dagmar, I couldn't help but have a little shiver at "needs a lot of work." The old adage about every project taking twice as long, and costing four times as much, has been perfectly true at my house. Will send up good wishes for DH and the job situation!

Had a review with our project manager on the house re-siding. I am pleased to report that he noted more things that need to be fixed than DH and I did! Looks like it's going to drag out for about another 6 weeks, as there is a considerable amount of material that has to be reordered and replaced - the composite is not very repair-friendly.

Steph, hope your situation is improving
Re: Pants and capris . When I was obese you couldn't t have gotten me in capris at the point of a gun. Visualize a 5'tall womam topping the scales at over 200 lbs. I want to weep at the thought of it. One of the first things I bought when I reached goal was a pair of capris, not only were they capris but they were a bright coral color, a color I would never have put on my 200 lbs plus butt. I went on a mega shopping trip at that time when I got home and was putting my new clothes away I had 3 pair of capris, 3 identical capris, same brand, everything. I must have been in a trance when I was shopping because I have no conscious memory of buying 3 identical pairs of capris. I still have them, they are tan in color so they go with any top I have. I do wear Bermudas a lot in the summer, but capris really look better, with capris I look like I actually have legs . I went shopping yesterday , I have everything to wear with brown, shoes, sweaters, t shirts, tank tops, blouses but no pants. I got a pair of brown slacks and a pair of white denims, I like white in the summer. I actually have plenty of clothes, I don't need so much anymore since I don't go to the salt mine anymore.I do like to practice a little retail therapy once in awhile, though.

Becky~I'm jealous you had a Gordon Setter. I've always wanted one!

DS's car should be done getting the new wheels and stuff today, then we have to take it to a body shop for some minor damage repair. I sure hope they can do it quickly, being chauffeur again isn't fun.

Steph~stay in there! Hugs to you.

Megan~men! Why is it they don't listen? I have similar problems with my DH, but then he has similar problems with his Dad.

Megan - oh, I wear capris, I just hate them. They almost always look bad - they are either too short or too long and they always puff in weird places. My mom looks fantastically cute in them, but not me. I have started wearing just at the knee shorts the last few years - are those bermudas? And I wear a lot of skirts these days. I think last year I went something like 95 days with only wearing skirts or dresses to work.

Steph - thinking about you. Nothing that sounds right to say, just thinking about you.

Becky - home projects almost always drag out longer than planned I think. Or mine do.

Bargoo - I did the same thing with pants. I ordered a lot from catalogs after I lost weight and ended up with four of the same pant from different places from not paying attention. I ended up keeping them and felt kind of silly. But I'm glad now.

Jen - do have an awesome surgeon! Wow. I'm glad he lasered the birthmark, that is fantastic.

Dagmar - 'needs some work' makes me cringe a little. LOL

Michele - sounds like good news for DD's interview, hope the rest of the process goes well!

I'm tired today - I've now exercised 9 days in a row and feel stiff and a little worn, plus allergies are hitting me hard. I'm thinking about a Benadryl, but that will just make me more tired. Need more coffee.

Hang in there Steph. I know how exhausting it is. I've been through similar situations with both of my parents.

Saef-- good luck on the house and on dd's job search!

Jen-- that is cool that the doctor lasered that for you. I have a childhood friend who had one on her face. I don't see her anymore but I can't see it in pictures so I'm assuming she must have had it removed at some point.

As for capris, I wear them because I don't have to get them hemmed! My torso is longer than my legs but my legs are slightly too long for petite pants, so pants are always too long.

Weird scale whoosh for me and I'm not positive what it means. Warning-- may be TMI. I think I mentioned that I NEVER drink (mainly because I get sick every time-- the doctor has said I'm "intolerant" to alcohol whatever that means) and I drank twice on our cruise. The second time I had too much (that was last Thursday). My tummy hasn't been quite right since (diarrhea with some blood) but it was getting better. I'm feeling fine otherwise. Yesterday afternoon I went to bikram yoga. It was exceedingly hard-- I was dripping sweat and having trouble catching my breath but everyone around me seemed to be having the same issues. Every once in awhile I have a class like that-- maybe the humidity is slightly higher or something-- following these classes I often feel wiped out and may experience a whoosh on the scale. I was going to bed last night and my tummy started cramping. I had bad diarrhea (but only once and then I slept fine) and then I was down almost 3 pounds this morning. I feel kind of wiped out so I'm making sure I replenish my fluids today. I'm hoping the whoosh stays off because that was a big chunk of my cruise weight but we'll see. I'm also hoping my tummy is recovered now because I have kindergarten classes all day today!

Thanks all for your good wishes for dd. Keeping our fingers and toes crossed here. They said she was the first one they were interviewing and they had others to interview so I hope none of the others stack up!