Happy Friday!!!!

Soooo happy it's here....

Ran begun to fall upon the palace grounds yesterday and is making the 2 1/2-3 feet of snow into a slushy mess. Driving on it is like driving on ball bearings - thankfully, it's just on our street that's bad, in town it's fine. Village life is returning to normal...

Arabella, yep, I had problems getting to the site yesterday too. Something about the page not being available - they're probably doing more work on it or sumptin.

Kaylets, in the "Things to do this year", I LOVE the line "Problems are just opportunities in work clothes". THAT is how I'm going to look at things now!!!! It's true - for all the "problems" I had this week, they really were opportunities for me to show myself how capable I am of handling crisis when I don't think I can.

WSW, for the 26th! Great idea to tape the inspection too. Good luck and happy moving!

Wildfire, good luck to you too in handling that WW meeting avec l'infants. ACK!!!!!! Although, you know, if it's not a "Mommy and Me" meeting, you DO have the right to complain. That is why they HAVE the m and m meetings - so that others don't have to deal with kid noise when they're trying to listen to the meeting (very distracting!). Hopefully the kiddies will still be abed at your meeting time????

Cerise, I'm with ya. I'm feeling fat too. I admit, I have gained a few pounds over said Season, but I'm still down almost 50 pounds from my heaviest and I STILL feel enormous! I guess it's a good thing that I feel this crappy after gaining back about 8 pounds - less likely to gain back all 50 I 'spose, but I just feel like my gut is hangin' over everything I own! UUUUG!!!!!
Well, my slant board is in the back of my car, it came in finally. So, it's ab work time for me!!!

Q o' the day - weekend plans?? Nope, not really. Last weekend's semi-blah birthday weekend really makes me want to enjoy THIS weekend since I'll have movies to watch, food in the house and a good chance of some, albeit COLD, nice weather. We'll see....

Enjoy!!!!!

Terri
Punkin 'o Friday, and I do thus declare it FRIDAY!!!!!!!!

Hello,
A quick post for a busy day.

Amarantha - I think that you handeled things as well as you could under the circumstances. Sometimes people are reluctant to get the help that they need, but after a while when enough kind people ask, they will be receptive. So you are one in the line of kind people that are necessary for her to get to the hospital.

SJ - I am tallying things up and will post later on the NOLA thread.

Cerise - relate the the bra thing. I swear, the other day I thought I was going to be squeezed in half. As an irrational response I bought a pair of pants that in retrospect are too big, but at the time I felt like I needed to buy them that size. Oh well, maybe when I am having a good feeling day I will wash and shrink them, or maybe I will keep them for other larger feeling days.

punkin - I am gald the weather is getting back to normal for y'all. here it is getting betteer as well, after the days of sub zero. But still cold enough for them to built the ice palace for the winter carnival It is going to be huge and just a few blocks from my house. First one they have built since I moved here, so I am excited.

arabella - I also had problems getting on the site yesterday.

AAt any rate, howdy to all unmentioned. Must get back to this working stuff right now.

Welcome back, my dear. I'm so sorry you got ousted for a bit there. I was glad to see your aqua-colored greeting on my screen.

I seem to have dropped my funk for now. Ramon kind of cured it. I snapped at him over something stupid, and then we were both snapping but in a sort of funny way, then we started chasing each other around the long partition wall that separates the kitchen and living room and squealing. Well, I was. Shrieking, actually. I'm glad we're starting to take ourselves a little less seriously in the marriage...

Thank you all for your kindess in the last couple of days. I know we all know what it's like to feel...fat. Inside and out. I'm so glad to have people to share that with.

Zadie, know what kills me about pants? You wear them for your few times and they gradually loosen and you think you're making progress, but then you wash them and you feel like a fat ******* again. Good thing the scale don't lie. Well, I guess that's not entirely true, either - your weight fluctuates due to other factors than just fat. Huh.

Amarantha (back to you), I think you did what you could and more than most for the girl. I was in a similar situation on my Greyhound trip when my seatmate lost $200. Gave her coat to someone to watch with the money - all she had to get her to Texas - in the pocket. Of course they took it and ran. Anyway, I gave her enough to eat on her 2-day trip to TX, but was tempted to replace all her money; she was so upset. Then I thought: you help people, of course, but then you also have to step out of the way after you've done what you can and let them live it through, let them learn the ropes just like the rest of us have to. And you can't help if they don't want it. You say "this is what I can do for you" and if it's not what they want, what do you do? Gift horse and leading it to water and all that. I don't know. Does that sound complacent and selfish and WASP-y? What do you think, Zadie? I really want to know. Anyway, A, I think you did good. Always knew you had a deeply compassionate heart.

QOD: going out with my sissy-in-law to see "Honey" and then I feel certain that we'll both get a hankerin' for taco salads and margaritas! Ole! Ay-ay-ay!!! Then it's back to church on Sunday. My attendance has been nothing short of abysmal.

Punkin, I agree with you about Wildfire's plight. I do like kids and they me (aah, everybody says that), but not when I'm trying to meet with the grownups and talk serious about a difficult change we're all trying to make. I'd get grouchy fast.

Yep, that 4 inches of snow here in downtown Seattle made things interesting for a while - saw a guy skiing down the street that goes past our apartment. They closed Boren (my street)down after I witnessed a slow-mo five-car pileup when cars couldn't stop coming down the hill. If you think people exxagerate when they say that Seattlites freak out and everything shuts down when it snows, think again. They do. It does. Wow.

Dammit, Punkin, I'm sorry your b-day weekend felt kind of icky. So unfair. Shoulda sent you a candle or something - I know this great Partylite dealer up here.

Seattlejo, God, you're perceptive. How'd you know I was one of those sick "all or nothing" kinds? I hate it - fight it like a mother, but it's there. I can feel it. Thank you so much for pointing that out to me. Geez. Victory right now for me would be (something I've NEVER accomplished) just getting the weight-loss, healthy lifestyle struggle to feel...routine. Or familiar. Or habitual. You know? Get an "I can do this!" feeling when I try something instead of the familiar "you'll fail, you know. You always do". Isn't it GHOULISH what we say to ourselves without batting an eye?

Lovely Eydie, as usual, you say just the right thing to make me feel so much better. Anyone else notice this trend of hers? It's sort of a sick comfort to hear about someone I consider "successful" that still struggles from time to time. And I was also comforted to hear the timetable of your weight loss. 6 years. I read that, went "N-o-o-o-o!!", then accepted. OK, then. 6 years it is. Or 2. Or 10. Whatever. Let's just get to it.

I mean, what if I think "ten YEARS?!?", freak out, and quit? I mean, I'm going to get 10 years older (barring tragedy, God willing) whether I'm living healthy or not, right? Might as well try while I'm busy aging.

"Cerise's Peaches"? Y'all are some kinda freaky.

'Bella, I couldn't get on yesterday, either. I was like "No. No, no, no, no." I thought we might have crashied again. I love reading about how good you're feeling getting back on track! Inspires me that I can feel good, too. I thought of you, actually on the way to work, when I chose to climb stairs to get out of the Metro tunnel rather than use escalators. That's a lot of stairs. See how you inspire? Also, your fruits and veggies kick inspired me to inquire about the local CSA program for this year. You know, the "Community Supported Agriculture" where you give "seed money" to local fruit/veggie farmers at the beginning of the growing season and then pick up a grab bag full of produce every week? Sounds very cool. I'll be up to my ears in fennel and rootabagas.

Kaylets, thanks for that cool list. I printed it for to digest it better over time. Speaking of the kettle being on, my mum gave me Twinings "Irish Breakfast" tea for Christmas; looseleaf, she hastened to assure me. It's very good. I drank it carefully at first, fearing that if a Scot drank Irish tea something funny might happen, but maybe my smidgen of Irish blood protected me. Whattaya think, Wildfire? I also discovered a taste for herbal apple-flavored tea. I'm drinking herbal teas to get more water in during work.

Wildfire, it was really you and Arabella in combination that inspired me this week. You both are doing splendidly and I could NOT, literally, do this without you. I start WW this Tuesday. Thankyouthankyouthankyou.

WSW, how smart you are to have the inspection taped. Might very well save you some grief later, right? I hope so much that you're doing OK, improving in health a bit and all that. These are the times when I wish we lived near each other, but you have those kinds of friends, too, it sounds like. Whew. Thinking fondly of you always, dearest...

Frogs, have you been booted or something? Working too hard? Everything OK? Check in with yo' mamas soon...

THIS IS A FRIGGING BOOK!!!! I'm so very, very sorry. But I had a lot to say ("No ", you're thinking) and a lot of gratitude and love to share. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! Have I told you lately?

OK, before you die of sugar-shock, I'm off.

hi!

punkin-a (very) belated happy birthday to you!! hope this weekend will be a good one. my friend said the inspection went fine-just a few minor things, but looks like closing should still work out for the 26th. i'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed with all of this. i will have a lot of work to do on the place next month, but there is no rush to be out of my apartment, so i can take my time with getting the place ready for moving in.

hi seattlejo! i love the walking to nola thread you started!

hi cerise, anagram, eydie, zadie k., ceara! arabella-actually, "(almost) my" condo. is only about 10 minutes from here, so i know i will appreciate that short distance once i can start fixing it up. wildfire-i am finally letting myself think about how i will decorate. i am so used to having "apartment white" walls. i think it will be fun to put some color in there. kaylets- i love the list you posted. amarantha-so glad you are able to post now. what would the royal court be without our empress!

it snowed here today (not just the soft, fluffy stuff) and i wasn't able to get out. have to tell you, though, i was a wintery-weather wuss long before i ever had ms. i still have to lay kind of low for a little longer anyway, but there is something about knowing i can't get out even if i want to that bugs me. i think i'm just suffering from a little cabin fever---. can't complain though because the power is on and i am nice and cozy with the heat blasting away. i hope everyone has a good weekend. and to those of you mentioned and unmentioned-- i am thinking of you all, my royal friends. take care.

wsw

Hello all!!

Punkin--- Sorry you're birthday was disapointing... I've always wondered if the "holiday" birthday's do wind up shortchanged ...
so many other things going on... everyone is distracted... ..
I like to give myself gifts..... Are you doing the same???

I figure it this way... at least I know exactly what I want... !!


Empress-- what a scary situation... I would've been wondering every minute what was going to happen next....certainly sounds as though the woman was in some crisis...hopefully she will find what she needs....

Eydie-- As soon as I ready your post about how your journey taking so much longer than you expected.... I stared nodding my head..... and in fact, because so many of these life style changes evolve, it only makes sense that we need time so we can evolve.....
Again, the caterpillar change to butterfly...

Cerise-- I still like the "Sexy Cerise's"-- perhaps we can have some of our models wearing them in our Royal Calendar???
And thank Ramon for us.... he sounds as though he's just the right medicine for a glum day...

Arabella-- Wish I could walk to a tai chi class... Dh has been looking for one for months-- everything is during work, too far away, etc...

Zadie-- How's life treating you? Don't let them work the new lawyer too hard!

WSW-- Cabin fever... I can relate but today its so brutal....
Even sorting my underwear drawer sounds better than braving the temps this am...

Frogger--I know its as cold where you are as it is here... Bet that pizza oven is cozy!

Anagram-- Trust me... you DO NOT want to be experiencing this frigid, brutal cold... I am envious of your warm walks on the beach.

Seattlejo-- Ever find a scale?

Wildfre- I went to the link and listened!! Thanks! Any of those headhunters come up with anything promising yet??

Ceara-- What's going on?? Everyone being good to you? If not, just give me their number and I'll be glad to give them a call.....


Ok----

Time for tea---

But I have to admit I did a "morning musing" -- sorry, even I gagged on that one....

here goes....

A Discovery Challenge was on at 4:30 when I woke up....so there I was, under the blankets, watching .... Not exactly the point but it did remind me that

A: Its the choices all day long...
How what I eat now will make me feel later....If I don't enough now, if I eat a "trigger food " now.... or... if I eat something satsifying now how differently I will feel

B: What works for me may not work for you... and vice versa...
The challenge I was watching was one of the very first. If you saw it, you'll remember, one couple did not hit it off with their trainer... they felt overwhelmed and literally "fired" him... Instead, they made changes they felt they could handle and built as they became more comfortable and more confident.
And in fact, the comment that couple made:

C: The changes often have nothing to do with food..... Isn't this the truth????

Especially for me, I am realizing more and more how much of a "stress " or "comfort" eater I was....couple that with my "sugar allergy" and I was OUT OF CONTROL.....

Another challenger was unhappy because he didn't make a goal to lift 250 lbs six times BUT.... he had lost 32lbs, quit smoking, had started a work out program.....

D: If we are getting real about our bodies, we need to understand many of us are "conditioned" to believe that change is an overnight process....
Dr. Phil says it so well: " Set yourself up for success, not failure".....
And of course, look at WW's .... they tell us again and again...
start again each day..
Expect plateaus along the way...
This isn't a race...

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So, yes, sometimes, we see more things the 2nd or 3rd time.

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Today's thought of the day is:

"The key to everything is patience.
You get the chicken by hatching the egg--
not by smashing it."
---Arnold Glasgow

Question of the day :

"When you use a pen, which color ink do you prefer?"

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Time for tea.
KETTLE IS ON!!

Gaze upon the Queen of Quirk and her royal consort, Ramon:

It worked!! Well, there's me, about a year ago. Keep in mind that that's a very flattering picture, and...that streak in front is now yellow, not red. Anyway.

Well, someone said it. They said: Cerise writes long posts. Everybody knew it, including me, but Ceara got it out there. It's in the open. *sigh*

Be honest, does anybody read long posts? I mean, I do, but maybe it's just too tough...sorry. At least you don't have to hear me chatter.

I'll write more later, but attaching this image has exhausted me and I'm going to read Harry Potter and finish my apple.

Love to all, and Ceara, I wish I could pet your doggies.

The meeting was as awful as I expected. I ended up sitting near the back as it was full, and when the meeting started there were still about 20 people lined up to weigh in. They were told four times to keep it down because those of us in the meeting couldn't hear anything, and then a woman came in with twin toddlers. Crying twin toddlers. My cue to leave! Couldn't hear anything anyway. I guess I'll have to lose a week's coupon and switch meetings to an evening one on Tuesday or Wednesday. I came home and told DH I'd only lost 1.4lbs, and he said ONLY? Considering we ate out for lunch three times this week and had pizza last night, and there was that donut I ate at work yesterday....so I guess 1.4lbs is good after all. I've never been one to have a big loss in the first week like others do. The most important thing is I'm losing. So, onward and downward! A fresh week lies ahead and I will give it everything I've got.

QOD: Fine point, blue pen. Extra fine if available. I like the scratchy noise they make on the paper.

ceara, the towels sound lovely! Was this what you were going to do that you had put off for a long time? I laughed picturing your doggie with snow frozen in her fur. Sounds like she had a ball!

Kaylets, nothing from the agency yet. I haven't really spent any time looking myself, either. I should do that this weekend.

wsw, you must be so excited about your new condo....have you given any thought to colors yet? Just 70 days until Spring! I'm a winter-weather wuss, too. Hate the cold, snow, ice.

Cerise, your Ramon is just the best! Tell him that, will you? On the "you'll fail again" self-talk, I'd recommend that you read Dr. Phil's book if you haven't. I didn't realize the things I was doing to myself until I saw there in print. I was reading and saying "I do that. Oh my god...I do that, too!" And now that I know, I stop myself. And I'm making this all about choices. I can choose the double cheeseburger or the grilled chicken sandwich, I can choose to lay on the couch or get on the treadmill....it's all up to me. No one else. Just me. There's gonna be times I choose the cheeseburger and the couch, but that's okay. I'm thinking about it now, not just automatically doing it. I hope with time, my choices will be mostly good ones. I happen to like Twinings tea, Cerise. You may see side effects of shamrocks sprouting from your hair, but otherwise you'll be fine. That CSA produce program sounds very cool. Wish they had one here. That will surely help you along with your weight loss, having fresh produce to use every week!

Amarantha, you did what you could do. Many people would have just ignored the couple and not even offered to help. If they didn't want to accept your offer there's not much else you could do. If they were really in dire need of getting to a hospital, I'd think they would have jumped at the offer, not changed their minds. Something sounds suspicious about their intentions, but that could just be cynical old me. Sorry to hear about the work-related meltdown.

Punkin, if you get enough rain, all the snow will go away! Shall we rain dance?

Arabella, congrats on a great week! One piece of pie certainly does not take away from that. Personally I have to work in a few treats or I'll fall off the wagon...right into an entire pie or cake or litre of ice cream. You're doing great!

Hello to anyone I've missed.

Think I'll spend the day cleaning and maybe make a pot of soup. Already have some spaghetti sauce simmering for tonight.

This is hysterical! BUT TRUE!!
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Jail for 'diet doughnut' seller


The "low-fat" doughnuts made a healthy profit
An Illinois man begins a 15-month jail sentence on Tuesday - for misleading dieters into buying doughnuts.
Robert Ligon, 68, repackaged normal doughnuts as "low-fat", saying they contained only three grams of fat and 135 calories, and were "carob-coated".

In fact, they contained 18g fat and 530 calories, and were chocolate-glazed.

Ligon was caught when suspicious customers complained to the Food and Drug Administration about how tasty his products were.

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," Jim Dahl, assistant director of the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigation, told the Wall Street Journal newspaper.

"Science can do a lot of things, but we're not quite there yet," he said.

Ligon's conviction follows a three-year investigation during which his premises were raided and 18,720 doughnuts seized.

Officers found that for two years he had been turning a healthy profit, buying the doughnuts for about 25 cents each and selling them for $1.

'No complaints'

But Ligon's lawyer, Rick Halprin, said he was shocked at the custodial sentence.

"I've had people go to jail before, but never over doughnuts," he said.

He complained prosecutors had failed to prove the mislabelling had harmed anyone.

"They didn't bring in 10,000 overweight people," he said.

Ligon himself says he did not break the law intentionally and has never received a single complaint.


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From the BBC News UK Edition Jan 06, 2004

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3373739.stm



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Cerise, you're beautiful!! And just how I'd pictured you, too. And Ramon is one handsome man....I'd say you're both very lucky! What a cute couple!

YES, I read long posts. I thoroughly enjoy yours, so don't you DARE stop being chatty!

cerise, thanks for sharing that beautiful picture of you and ramon!! ceara-sorry you have to work today. hope it won't be too busy. kaylets-it is still verrry cold here too. another day in the 'ole cabin for me with the tea kettle on. with the talk of cute dogs earlier, it reminds me that it would be nice to have one of my own now---well, or anytime. i have names and numbers for organizations which provide service dogs for folks with ms and even though my friends and little goddaughter keep asking me if i have have sent in any applications, i keep saying not yet. i love dogs, but kept thinking it wouldn't be fair for me to have one since i can't ever really give a dog a nice long walk or run and have no yard, but of course, service dogs are used to these kinds of situations. some of my not checking out this info. further i think also has to do with my not accepting that since my ms is progressive, things aren't going to get better in that area for me. i love dogs, so what am i waiting for? i will have my own little condo. soon now and at least if i get my name on a couple of waiting lists, i will know i am taking a positive step, so----i am "saying out loud" that i will look up some of those numbers today and request some applications. just doing that is kind of a big step for me. ok, so that's a positive step. on to the next positive step front, i am writing down my food again after letting it lapse for a few days. i just seem to do better when i do keep a food journal, so back to (or continuing on with) the basics which work for me. eydie-you are such an inspiration having reached goal weight and in the manner in which you did this. it was so helpful to be reminded too that you did this over a period of time and not overnight. you are a terrific example, eydie, of how sticking with all this hard work is so very worth it! hi wildfire! glad to hear too that you read long posts 'cause this one is pretty much one long run-on sentence. believe it or not, there was a time when i used to write well. thanks to everyone for being so patient with me and some of my "technical difficulties."

even while i've had bronchitis, i have been sticking with my stretching exercises and now i can work back up to more of what i had been doing previously. i am thinking of you all. take good care, everyone.

wsw

Cerise!! You are gorgeous! You're eyes are so sexy!! And so are Ramon's.......
And don't you dare try to limit yourself.......We won't allow it.


Wilfire.!! I can't even imagine! Did you get the Quickstart (??), the 2 week program w/ the dvd at least?? And did they give you a password for etools on the WW's site??? I know it must have horrible this morning but don't let it all be frustrating.... Lots of good info on the site and the boards can be fun too.... lots of opinions but hey... you know what they say about opinions......


Think I'll take a cup of tea up with me to my nap.......

If you are at all interested it is now 8 degrees outside--- 24 degress below freezing......

Off to the down comforter!

Darling lady, I hope when my time comes to bear a burden that I'm as brave and matter-of-fact as you. You are such an inspiration to me - when times get rough food control is the FIRST thing (well, it's a toss-up between that and emotional control) to go. And it stays gone until the problem is long, long gone. Not a very constructive way to live, and my problems and burdens aren't all that heavy.

I think we'd all love to know that you have a four-footed assistant, protector. Someone to love you through tough times and make themselves extremely useful during times of technical difficulties. Sometimes I think service dogs must be the happiest dogs on the planet. I know only one, Van, who serves a blind friend of ours. She lets him out of harness so we can pet himand he loves it, but his eyes are still on her, watching for a need or gesture.

Thank you for sharing this very important, very difficult life step with us. I feel honored to be present for it and honored to know you. Never underestimate your courage...