Linda and Brandy...Your gonna think I'm nuts, but a gal under gma2one posted a long post here and I welcomed her. Submitted my post and went back to read it on the tread and her post is gone. Can you remove a post??? Going a little . Cheryl

Ok ladies, you have NOT gone bonkers. I am kind of a mess today and I went back and deleted the post thinking maybe I shouldn't bug another group of women, but got such a nice welcome from you that I thought I would repost. Forgive me for driving you nuts.

My husband had a major heart attack nearly three years ago and a couple weeks ago was having chest pains. One of the things they did was take a chest xray. They found he had nothing wrong with his heart thank goodness and still don't know what was causing the pain, it went away and we think it may have been a pinched nerve of some kind. Anyway, we got a call from his cardiologist the end of last week and they said they just received his chest xray and they saw a mass on his right lung so yesterday he had to have a catscan. This man is the world to me. Like I said we will have been married 34 years in November. I married him right after I graduated from high school. He is my best friend and just the thought of him having something wrong like this has me an emotional wreck. I have just become comfortable enough not to check to see he is breathing several times a night. He is such a good sport about that and takes it all in stride. I try and keep being worried about him from him because he knows I fall all to pieces about everything. When I posted I thought I could just put everything behind me and forget about it and then when I heard from my dd I was back to square one so I came in and deleted my post to you all since no one had yet posted past mine. I do apologize. Sometimes our heads just don't work right.

I went to the pool this morning and it wasn't even enjoyable. It is the place I go to be able to just let everything float away. We are in the landing pattern for the Memphis International Airport so I swim and watch the FEDEX planes or the NWA planes fly overhead and leave all the worries behind. This morning, the water must be in the upper 80's and miserable. I thought swimming in cold water was hard, too warm water is worse. I did about 35 minutes and was tuckered out so I gave up and came back home. I tried to keep on task thinking about gettting thinner for vacation next year. We are going back to Las Vegas in July of next year and I would like to be down a 100 lbs by then. Watching the planes fly overhead helps me to stick to it!

I would love to continue to post here if you think I haven't gone round the bend too much!

Cheryl: Thanks for the lovely PM. I appreciate it! If it is in the 90's where you live, you must think you are in **** with Snoop Dog (sorry stupid joke)! I wouldn't imagine it gets near that hot most summers up there! We are in the 100's for the last couple days and like 85% humidity. You can't even breathe and I have to drag around 350 lbs of fat! Thanks for the compliment about Thomas, too! He is my little pumpkin. He is the only grandchild on his dad's side too and they live across the street from him so he is spoiled, but a sweet well behaved child for being around adults so much. My sil's sister is not married and my son and dil have no children and live in Northwest Indiana. Oh, btw, what program are you using? I am just on a regular old fat and calorie counting. It works best for me I think. Jack and I sit down the week before I go to the commissary (my husband is retired Navy so I buy groceries at the Navy base every other week) and pick out recipes for the following two weeks and then I make a grocery shopping list. He wants to lose about 30 lbs and I have a LONG LONG way to go. I was down to 300 lbs but gained a bunch back during the winter months like an idiot!

You ladies have a great day!

Faye

Faye...I'm happy to know that I'm not completely bonkers yet. I'd loose my head if it wasn't attached to my shoulders. LOL I'm following Weight Watchers Flex Points and do a lot of cooking out of my Light and Tasty Cookbooks, plus I have lots of reciepes on file. If I hadn't of quit WW two years and thinking I could do it on my own, I'd probably have 100 plus pounds gone by now. We have a lot in common, my hubby is retired from the Marines. He doesn't have heart problem, but is a diabetic. So I try to cook lite and watch what he eats.

We get pretty hot here in North Dakota, usually in July. Right now we are in need of rain so badly. We live on a 10 acre farmstead and I'm so worried that if we get lighting, we could have a grass fire. I'm so looking forward to fall and much cooler weather. I just hope we don't get the winter from ****. We have only lived in North Dakota 7 years and this will be my 8th winter. The winter's have been very mild and I can't imagin snow that is 6 feet high or higher! Think if that happens, and I can make it to the airport, I'd catch a flight out and visit my folks in Oregon. LOL

Hope the test your hubby has will come out OK. I'll keep you both in my prayers. Just keep doing what your doing, swimming to keep your mind off things and posting here, and of course stay out of the cupboards!!

Well this morning I decided to clean my closet out and start packing for the trip. Decided to try on some clothes I haven't been able to wear for YEARS. What a nice surprise I got, I was able to get into 4 dress, 3 pairs of pants and 2 tops. I have to shorten the pants, so I might do that on Friday or wait till I get out to Oregon and have my Mom help me. Such a good feeling to get into a smaller size.

Well I will chat with you later.

Cheryl

FROM MEMPHIS

Cheryl: How cool to have someone who understands the ole military life! Nothing compares to it, especially the Navy/Marines. My husband had been in the military 3 years when we married so I spent 17 years in the military with him. What did your husband do in the marines and where were you guys stationed? My husband was in avionics and were stationed at NAS Oceana, Norfolk, Miramar (when it was still a Navy base) Jack was on recruiting duty in New Mexico and Tx and he taught aviation electronics to kids in Memphis at what used to be Naval Air Station Memphis and now houses all the pay records and whatnot no schools anymore. Congrats on the clothing issues. I just have to buckle down and keep at it. Jack bought me a ring for my birthday in September and it came today and is a little big, which is nice to know. I can't buy a smaller size because my knuckles are too big from arthritis, but it is nice to know I can still wear a size 7 and it be loose. Keeping my fingers crossed that you guys get rain. We desperately need it here too. We will cloud up and then nothing. Won't be long until everything is dead and it is too hot to go out and sit on the deck and eat dinner. The bugs are bad and you suffocate!

We are having "snake meat" for dinner tonight. It is out of the Fix it and Forget it Lightly cookbook. It is light smoked sausage in chili sauce and cranberry sauce, sort of sweet and sour. I have had it with meatballs using chili sauce and grape jelly, but never this way. We try recipes and toss the ones we don't like. I made Coq Au Vin a week ago and it was totally nasty. The burgundy wine turned the chicken breasts this awful gray color and the sauce was nasty tasting. I do like beef burgundy, we had that last night over potatoes.

I am waiting to hear from the cardiologist. The lady said she would give the nurse the message and she would call me back. I want to go upstairs and clean the bathrooms and dust, but I don't want to miss the call climbing the stairs if it rings. This old body just can't run up those stairs. I guess I have run out of excuses why not to go upstairs, so ttfn. I will talk to you all later. (oh, I am a transplanted Yankee girl. I grew up in South Bend, Indiana and we moved down here 4 years ago to be near my grandson and so Jack could take on this great paying job with the City of Memphis. Jack is from Las Cruces, NM)

Faye **The doctor just called and said his CT came back normal and it is just come lung calcification. I can now breathe a sigh of relief!

Faye...Jim was in the Marines 2 years before we married, so I have 18 years under my belt. He started out with artillery for 4 years and then went into Intelligence. Still don't know to this day exactly what he did, and he won't say. I just know that he had a top,top secret clearance and always had a bag packed. He'd get a call and be gone. We were stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, 29 Palms, Camp Pendleton, El Toro Air Station and Tustin Air Station in California and Okinawa, Japan. We spent 16 years between El Toro, Tustin and Jim going overseas every 3 years for 13 months. Had we known that everytime Jim would come back from overseas, we would end back at El Toro or Tustin, we would of bought a house and made a killing. Have to say I miss the military life and the friends we made, but love having my husband home. Jim works for the state as a correction officer. We are so looking forward to him retiring at 62, and moving back out to Oregon to be near our family. Only 6 more years to go.
We also are into classic chevys and are restoring a 1957 Chevy Convertible.
That and having 7 acres to mow, keeps him pretty busy.

How did your "Snake Meat" turn out? I have several of the Fix It and Forget It lightly cook books. I write the date I try the recipe, and if it was good or not. I also include the WW points for that dish.

So happy to hear you had a good report from the doctor. What a relief!!!

Talk to you later.

Cheryl

Good morning gals! Boy, it is steamy when you go to bed and steamy when you get up and I have been up since 3 AM. {{{menopause}}} what a pain! I let Fortune (our yorkie) out at 3 and it is awful outside. Our poor ac is sure getting a workout and the bill is going to empty our pockets! I refuse to be hot though.

Cheryl: Jack works for the city of Memphis as an electrician/electronics technician. He has been there 4 years and he doesn't love it, but it pays very well and we can take vacations and such. We moved every three years so we never bought a house until after he retired. We decided to just wait until the kids were both out of the house and we bought the condo when we moved down here from my dd and sil who had just bought this huge house! We like it because we have no yard work to deal with and we never have to paint the outside or do any kind of landscaping etc. The bad thing is that when the elderly people pass away here the condos are bought by investors and then rented so you end up with renters all over the place. I guess you have to take the good with the bad, but the nice thing is the two men that own the condos on each side of us have put in big $$$$ into their property and only rent to people who behave themselves. We had trash living next to us and they moved several months ago, an investor bought it on a foreclosure and I bet he has put $20,000 into it. Poor man had to replace all the flooring, all the doors, the ceiling fans, the toilets and sinks, etc. The scum tore the place to bits. That doesn't count the money he spent clearing the garage. They moved out and left the garage full to the brim of garbage. I made him promise me he would rent to decent people or I would be calling and harrassing him!

Cheryl, do both your kids live out west? I looked back at your post and you said your folks live in Oregon? Both Jack's and I's parents are gone. Jack's parents have been gone 30 years and 17 years and my dad 30 yrs and my mom 9 years. Jack only has one sister that lives in Lubbock TX, but I have three siblings, my brother lives in Manteno, IL close to Chicago, my older sister in Northwest Indiana and my younger sister lives in Southern California. I chuckled at how much we have in common. I will be 53 in Sept and we have two kids too, but you are lucky and have lots of grandkids! My dd and sil aren't having but the one, but I wish my son and dil would get started. I would like another little boy and one girl for my husband.

Linda and Brandy: Hello to you. Hope to see you post soon so I can get to know you!

I better get going. I want to finish my morning chores before Jack gets up and goes to work. He gets up at 5, but then he gets home at 3:30 so that is always nice. I have upstairs cleaning to do today so I want to get started on the bathrooms and the dusting early before it gets too hot. Maybe I will do it right after I come back from the pool.

Have a good day girls and try and stay cool!

Faye

Hey evryone.. i havent posted in awhile..im rosey from alaska..was wondering if anyone has heard from meowee.. we post in the diabetic section and shes been awol for a few days..hope shes ok..Hi faye.. nice to meet you and glad your hubbys ok..ive been married for 37 yrs and have 2 married daighters and 4 wonderful grkids..i follow ww's with a diabetic twist..and i love to craft.. crocheting, sewing ,quilting,scrapbooking,cardmaking beading ,counted cross stitch etc etc crafting keeps me sane.. well im rambling.. ill try and be more regular in my posts here..have agreat day (((((((hugs))))))) rosey

Hi Ladies...What a day I have had I've been on the go since 7 this morning. Had to take Ozzy to the doggie spa this morning. He is so happy to have the fur gone and much cooler for him. While he was at the spa, I went to the park and found some shade and read a book for an hour and a half. Picked Ozzy up and headed home to pick up the FD for her appointment. Got home and hubby said the social worker called to say the other FD had an appointment the next morning at 10. We are suppose to get our hair cut at 10 and 10:30, so I called and changed the appointment to 3 and 3:30 today. Well the FD was with the doctor from 1:20 to 3:20, so I had to call and change it to 3:30 and 4 for tomorrow. I should make it if nothing else goes wrong. There is 60 miles difference between the two appointments and mostly on gravel roads, so I can't drive like a bat out of bleep. LOL

Hey ladies, guess what! We are having the most beautiful, refreshing rain ever!!! Can't tell you how wonderful it is and we needed it so badly!!! Thank you Lord.

Stepped on the scales this morning and no change, so I'm happy with that.

Faye...Jim feels the same way as Jack does, but the money and benefits are good. I do worry about him being on the floor with another officer and 100 inmates, but so far no problems as yet.
All of my family, parents, siblings and children live in Oregon. My son lives in Hillsboro and my daughter lives in Portland. My daughter has 4 girls, ages 17, 15, 7, and 2. My son has a daughter 8, 2 boys 6 and 2 and one due in Oct.

Rosey...I was wondering what happen to you. How are things in Alaska? How's WW going for you? I've been doing good this time around. Think it finally clicked in my head. No, I haven't heard from Linda in a couple of days. I hope she is alright. I know she had a work project she was working on.

Well gals, I'll be up at 4:30 to get hubby off to work and I'm on the road by 9 and will be gone all day. Have a good one and I'll try to check back tomorrow.

Cheryl

Good morning gals! Cheryl, I am jealous. It got all dark and cloudy yesterday and then just moved on through with no rain. We desperately need rain. It is like living in the Sahara here lately.

Rosey: Hey, great to meet you! Everybody seems to live up north! You also have more grandbabies than I have. I think I should steal the new one when Cheryl's dil has hers in Oct. She already has 7, she won't miss one... I do so want more grandkids, but like I said, my dd is not having anymore and my son and dil haven't started yet. They have been married 2.5 years so hopefully it won't be long. She is a pharmacist though and is busy all the time. Boy, if you have the smarts, that is the occupation to go into. I guess you can right your ticket as to benefits etc and the pay is superb. I guess the country is short something like 75,000 pharmacists. Now you know why it takes so long to get your drugs at the drugstore! I feel so lucky that I have neither thyroid problems nor diabetic ones. My mother was diabetic as well as had thyroid problems, both my sisters thyroids are screwed up. My nephew has type one and has since he was diagnosed at 12, my brother is diabetic too. I have two things wrong with me, too fat and MENOPAUSE the scurge of older women! I decided about 18 months ago to start charting menstrual cycles so I could see if it was changing and it is, but it takes time and I am miserable.

Cheryl: What kind of dog is Ozzie? Our little doggy and cat are spoiled rotten. I don't see my grandson a lot (whole long story about that) so my pets are my substitute kids. Fortune is a little yorkie and Butterscotch is this big huge Garfield cat. He terrorizes my poor dog. Fortune WILL fight back when the cat finally p***** him off though. Jack found B 3 years ago outside the plant at work. The plant is way out in the boonies and there are coyotes etc out there. Here was this poor little kitten with its eye all messed up all alone. I told him just to bring him home and now he is part of the family and thinks he's a person. The other night the noodlehead got into some trouble! I had a load of laundry in the dryer and I was, as usual, doing two things at once. I had opened the dryer door to see if the clothes were dry and they weren't quite but the stupid screws had come out of the top of the dishwasher again and the thing had tipped forward on Jack so I went rushing to help him. We got the thing screwed back into the countertop and I went back, shut the door on the dryer, and restarted it and went back to finishing up wiping down the countertops, stove etc. The dryer was thumping, like when you have tennies in them. It must have gone around about 4-5 times when I heard a YEOW-MEOW and said, "Oh my God!" and rushed over and opened the door. Butterscotch was tangled all up in the clothes in the dryer. Poor thing probably thought he was on an amusement park ride! After it was all over I just sat and cried. Jack kept telling me he was ok, but all I could think of was what if I had shut it and we had left the house. I would have killed him! Moral of the story is A: Don't leave the dryer door open and B: Check the dryer before starting it if you do!

Have a good day everybody!

Faye

Hi ladies-I'm back from my mini vacation, and really not too happy about it. Wish we could have stayed away longer but I guess that's life. We did have a wonderful time.

Faye-nice to have a new person in our little group. Your story about the cat in the dryer brought back memories for me. When we were young a neighbor kid talked my brother into getting into the dryer, well then the little monster slammed the door, stood pushing against it so my bro couldn't get out and turned the darn thing on. I remember racing to get mom and my bro for about an hour after the incident just sat there and said "I go round and round". Its funny in retrospect, but not at the time.

Cheryl-sounds like you're busy as ever with appointments and what not. I'm glad you found the time to just enjoy a book in the shade. That's one of my favorite summer indulgences.

rosey-glad to hear from you again. I do hope that Linda is ok. Her last few posts seemed like she was stressed way out. Hope she checks in soon

Have a great day ladies.

Good morning ladies. We had thunderstorm watches all around us, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, but nothing for our county. Not a drip of rain! This is starting to get serious. I just looked at the weather and it shows thundershowers at 6 am, but sunny by 7 so it isn't going to be a long one if we get anything at all.

Brandy: I am a huge CSI (Las Vegas) fan and one of their old episodes is about two kids who think it would be fun to ride in a laundromat dryer and the one kid ends up dead. Kids are sometimes stupid creatures when it comes to common sense, but then who says adults are any better? If we were, the country wouldn't be cigarette, alcohol and drug addicted. Oh and I forgot, FAT!!!

I am more than miffed about my eye dr appt. Seems the stupid City of Memphis in March of 2005 changed over to a new computer system. I guess when October rolled around, those people who physically didn't go back down to benefits and sign BACK up during open enrollment got dropped. No one told ANY of the employees that some people might have problems and I was one of those dropped so I have NO insurance until January of next year. On top of that, Jack has to go downtown in October and sign me back up again! UGH! When Jack called and talked to someone down there the attitude was, "Oh well, you know what happens." Jack told the woman, you weren't doing your job. She said, "Well, we knew that this program would cause problems, but we of course didn't know who it would affect." He told her they had NO paper trail or anything indicating the people who needed to resign and she said basically that stuff happens. No apology, nothing. GRRRRRR! I am now going to have to pay about $250 out of pocket to get my exam, fitting and 6 months of contacts! I usually pay around $80.

I just finished a great book. A few years back there was a movie with Denzil Washington and Angelina Jolie called the "Bone Collector." The author of the book that movie was based on, Jeffrey Deaver, is the man who wrote Cold Moon the book I just finished. Everytime I would think I knew WHY the antagonist was killing people, something else would happen and I was wrong. It was a great book and one of those page turners you didn't want to put down. I have 10 books on order, 4 have been shipped and should be here soon. I hope so as I am down to my last book. I am one of those one time only readers, so it is really a waste of money to buy books, but the library here only gives you 7 days for new books and the closest library has limited hours. I would be running to the library all the time so I said, "to heck with it" and started buying them again. When I get a box full, I take them to our library and donate them.

Nothing earth shattering going on today. We should go to the precinct and vote early, but the bedding is supposed to come today by FedEx and they always make me sign. I don't want to have to run it down next week so I am staying home until it gets delivered. We have a wacky primary with some having party affiliations and some no party affiliations. It is also a huge ballot AND there are new voting machines so the lines for early voting have been really long. Jack is taking off next Friday for a physical therapy appt so maybe we can go after he gets home.

Everybody have a wonderful weekend and try and stay cool!

Faye

Hi Ladies,

Brandy...Glad you had a nice mini vacation even though you hated to go back to work. I can't wait to leave on vacation, but I always hate to come back, especially if I'm visiting family.

Faye...Sorry to hear you are having insurance problems. Very irritating when people don't do their jobs and don't care how it effects YOU, but if it happen to them, they would be yelling!!!

It was wonderful to get some much needed rain and it layed the dust down on the gravel road. I get so tired of dusting the furniture all the time, that some days I just say to heck with it and go sew. Only bad thing about having rain, is the bugs are back. I got bit three times on my left ankle/foot yesterday afternoon and it's the first time I had an allergic reaction. Right away it turned bright red, with red streakes up my leg. Felt like I was on fire and boy did it itch. I was on my way to my hair appointment and stopped at my friends house and got an ice pack and benadryl. By the time I finally got home, my foot was three times it's normal size. Spent lastnight soaking it in a pan of water and trying to get some relief from the pain and wanting so bad to just scratch the dickens out of it, but I didn't. Someone should invent a sandpaper sock. LOL....Got up this morning and it still itches and is still swollen, but not as bad. I can't get my shoe on, but hopefully by tomorrow I can. Had lots of meetings with the FD yesterday morning and I dropped my quilt off at the quilt shop for the lady that does the machine quilting to pick up. Showed the quilt off at the quilt shop and everyone loved it. This afternoon we pack the car up for our trip since Jim has to work a double shift tormorrow, so I will be able to relax tomorrow. I love to read as well. I've done more reading since becoming a foster parent, and right now am reading "The Quilting Circle".
Well gals I need to get busy and finish packing.
Cheryl

Faye...I'm alittle frazzled Ozzy is a very spoiled poodle and doesn't know he is a dog. He's my baby and goes everywhere with me. I even have a sleeping bag we keep in the car for him to get into when it is 30 below. We also have a very spoiled cat. She is called a tortis (orange, black and white). Her name is Princess and she lives up to it!! The doctor put her on a diet since she is 16 lbs, but so far she hasn't lost any weight. I had a good laugh over your cat and the dryer. Thank goodness you were home and it was only a 5 minute experience!!! It could easily happen to Princess. She crawles into anything left open to take a nap, and if there is something to cuddle up on, all the better.

Cheryl

Good morning girls! It is at least a bit cooler here this morning. The power just flicked on and off and knocked me off. That was weird. Blew one of the light bulbs in the fixture over my head! Poor Jack, he does so lovvvvveeeeee to have to change the light bulbs in the kitchen fixtures. We put in all new fixtures when we bought the condo and these are great looking but a pain to change the bulbs. A couple years ago because of several fires in the condos, we had to have an electrician come in and do some kind of rewiring to a bunch of stuff. Since then, the kitchen bulbs don't last long. Jack says it is because you wear out the filament turning them on and off so much.

Cheryl: Have fun on your trip and with you family. I know you will enjoy it. Our poochy is spoiled too. He has his own carseat even. It is pretty cool. It is big box shaped, and has a notch cut out both sides in the back where you run the seatbelt through. You can then attach him to it by a harness. He can watch out the windows and lay in it. When we take him on trips, it keep from me having to hold him all the time, because he always wants someone to hold him. Butterscotch has princess beat. He weighs about 23 lbs! HUGE cat. I have him on weight management cat food, but it doesn't seem to help. He is neutered and I was told neutered males can get chubby.

My new bedding set came yesterday and it is so gorgeous. I got a real deal on it too! I am big into sales and saving money! This was originally $275 and I bought it for $130. You know how you order something and it comes and it is much cheaper looking, or flimsy or something, well this was as it looks. Very rich fabric, heavy, good stitching and such. The colors are vibrant, the tasseling on the pillows is very expensive looking. I bought it because the one I bought at Bed Bath and Beyond when we bought the new bed earlier this year was too small. The comforter just didn't fit. Jack isn't too keen on the pillow shams, but I told him I would personally remove his pillow every night when I come upstairs so it doesn't bother him. MEN! They think a blanket and pillow and they are all set. He has learned over the years to keep him mouth shut though! I have made it quite clear the house is MY domain! We recently totally redecorated his office. He is an Indiana University fan and when we bought the condo he insisted we paint the walls cream and the trim crimson. It looked like someone had been killed in there! I always hated it. I knew I had to let him choose colors, but the man is awful! He picked this gross orange color and I finally slid him around to gray walls and navy trim and even picked colors with military names (cadet gray and Navy blue) So now it looks gorgeous instead of disgusting and he thinks it was his idea.

Well he came downstairs so time to fix breakfast.

Have a good day gals!

Faye

Hi Ladies...thought I'd pop in before I finish some last minute packing. The FD's are swimming this afternoon so I could have some time to myself. Jim will be home at 4, so I need him to finish packing the car before he takes a nap and goes back to work at 9. I still need to vaccume, clean the bathroom and get the garbage out, then I can sit back and put my feet up.

Faye...Love your new comforter. Nice rich colors. Yes, I will have a great vacation and get plenty of spoiling time in with the grandkids.

Linda, Brandy and Rosie...Hope you gals are doing well and trying to stay on program and cool if it's hot where you are at.

If I have a chance to check-in while on vacation, I will. Hugs to you all.

Cheryl