Good Morning Ladies
I went out yesterday so i did'nt get the rest of the wood stacked so that will be my 'chore' for today..Terry..you think i'm 'STACKED'
do you?...thanks for the compliment
Pam..good news about FIL
Dahlia..i don't think that your sons mean to be 'mean' i just think that they think 'oh..it's just mum..she does'nt need anything, she's knows that we love her' are they embarrassed about showing you affection? were they always like this or is it since they left home? my kids are just the same..i send them birthday and christmas gifts half way across the world and never receive a card..i would love to get one but i never do but i know that they both love me lots they just can't be bothered or don't get around to it don't let it spoil what was otherwise a great day!
Time to get grilling here..hubby is waiting patiently for his 'fry-up
have a great day

Hi guys!

Dahlia - my family suffers from kind of the same problem. My husband insists on picking out and sending gifts to his family for xmas. Last year I found what he had picked out in the storage locker 8 months after xmas. This year he didn't ship anything until February when I pressed the issue.

My mom's bday is January 11th. For the past 10 years my parents have always been away on her birthday. My dad has always had to call us and leave a message reminding us to call her.

My sister's in-laws are perhaps the MOST HORRIBLE gift givers of all times. They gave my niece a top from the gap that didn't fit. When she went to exchange it for a bigger size she saw it had been in a mark-down bin for like $6. My sister had gone out of her way to select really nice gifts for everyone that year, spent more than she should have, and really felt sort of shafted.

My point is (and I have one somewhere ) is that not everyone gives the same way. My sister and I have decided that we like giving. We love holidays and making a big deal of them - whether it is e-cards for April Fools Day or handmade gifts for xmas. And we have decided that we will expect nothing in return and be fine with it. If we get something in return, it is a total bonus. Maybe this is something you would wanna give a thought to.

The other thing you might do is have your husband call and tell your sons that "mom was a little down on her birthday, she doesn't feel like anyone really remembered..." I have gotten calls like that on MANY occassions from my dad, and my mom doesn't know about them. He even paid for a 70th surprise party for my mom (thrown by me and my siblings) because she was jealous that we had thrown him one!

Anyway, I hope your day was not ruined, and SORRY FOR THE LONG POST!

Meg

Thank you all for your thoughts.. but you aren't getting the gist of it...my son is a fanatic about holidays and events.. he loves to give gifts and surprises, he always make a big deal out of everything... and it isnt' that they forgot, I told my dil last wednesday when she picked up the babies that I had watched for two days and a night while they went to a concert in Detroit, that they were invited over sunday for cake for my b/d. And my son called that afternoon from work and said he was taking off work an hour early so he could go home and clean up so they could come over earlier in the evening. When they got here my dil was telling me all about the neat things she bought that afternoon when her and the children had been out shopping.. that was when they got my card... oh well, I will just forget it.. but it the first time they've done that... they have always given things before.. and just did to his dad 3 wks ago... it is so puzzling to me.. it's not the gift or lack of,, its the consideration of my feelings.. that hurts...

enough said..I'll get over it.and not say anything for now.. to them.. but the ache is still there. I've decided I know what to say to them if it comes up..". you can always find excuses but if you care enough ,you find time to show it". I guess maybe I just care to much, and I'll have to start getting to be as cold as they are to me.

thanks for letting me use you as my sounding board ...
as for my eating plan am doing good so far, getting more walking in at work. Just need to keep at it.

Pam, I am sorry to hear your fil is not doing well. Hope he is better soon.

Cathy, you are a busy beaver with all that wood stacking.. I can feel for you, we used to heat with wood and had to throw it in and stack it down in our basement... thank goodness I had boys to help... but I also grew up doing wood, and vowed I'd never do it again... well now we have natural gas and I'd never go back..
but enjoy it.. it is good exercise and a great feeling of accomplishment when you are done and see the nice stacks... also nice to see when its cold out and you want warmth..

Dahlia - I think it is good that you have figured out something to say. And you know if it still hurts, why not just call and say it? Let them know. I bet you would feel better, and it probably wouldn't happen again because they would know how you feel.

Things are going really well with my atkins plan. I put on a jeans skirt this morning that I bought with my xmas bonus, and it is WAY too big! I am so excited. I also think I might be ready to move back to my smaller belts!

Let's all have an OP day!

M

Dahlia..i'm not surprised that you are upset after they'd got your hopes up by telling you what nice things they had bought while they were out i can't believe that they would treat you like this after you were so good to babysit for them so that they could go to a concert talk about ungrateful.
You know i don't mind doing firewood one bit..like you said its great exercise..i took my radio out with me and had the music blasting and i sang my little heart out as i 'flung' the wood outta the truck we also have propane and electric baseboard heaters but we burn wood because its free

Meg..does'nt that feel good when your clothes get big you go girl!

Well, i've no more wood to stack so its the house's turn today..i'm gonna do some carpet shampoo-ing and some venetian blind cleaning i hate doing them but its down to me so i'd better get on with it..when hubby saw that i'd done all the firewood he said to me "Hmmm...i'd better get some more cut for you"

Morning!

I did my WATP 3 mile tape two days in a row and my thighs are killing me -- down two pounds this week so it's a "good kill." Since my recommitment on 1-26-03, I am down 10.5 pounds. Tough work, ladies. If I had known how hard this was going to be as I got older, I never would have allowed myself to gain all the weight back after making WW Lifetime many years ago. Honest! Something to remember in the coming years.

Dahlia, after explaining it more fully, I think the kids need a loving reality check from their mom -- it's not the gift, it's just the thought. When you are ready and in your own way -- sometimes it doesn't even have to be with words either.

Meig, awesome on the inches lost and may you continue on track!!

The visual of you stacking wood, Cathy, and singing away is a fun one -- got to find some pleasure in everything we do. Life's too short not too!

Tired this morning -- may be a three cups of coffee day (usually it's just two)!

Hope all is well, Pam and Grandma

Yep, definitely going to get more caffeine ... be back later!

Always, Terry

Terry - I to am dragging a bit this morning. I DEFINATELY need more caffiene. By the way - what tape are you doing? Can you spell it out for me? Do you like it - clearly you are getting results from it. I was thinking of getting something new. Let me know.

Things are still going well with me. I haven't heard about the job. I was hoping I would hear even if it was a no, but I guess not. I totally wasted a vacation day also. Bummer. But I wouldn't have even had a chance if I didn't.

Talk to you later!
M

Meigg,

I am doing "Walk Away the Pounds" (WATP) with Leslie Sansone and I love it -- better workout than with my treadmill because I feel it so much more. Here's her web site: www.lesliesansone.com.

I got my tapes at Best Buys (two DVDs -- 1, 2 and 3 miles) for $20. You can also try eBay.

Have to run -- Chris wants the computer -- be back soon!

OK, I'm back ...

What I like most about WATP is that they are not "dancey" and you don't need a lot of space. She basically has 4 main moves -- walking in place, side step, knee lifts and kicks -- and her routine is simple and based on just those four movements.

She combines an upper body workout into the routine by using
weighted 2-lb balls -- I use wrist weights rolled up into a ball. I do get tired of her chatter, so I mute the volume and put on a fast moving CD -- I love Brian Setzer's Dirty Boogie. Crank the volume and you're off!

It's low impact but I do sweat -- I up it a bit by jogging in place quite a bit. Pam is doing the same thing too.

It's fun and that's what it should be if you are going to stick with an exercise routine.

OK, back to work I go!!

That sounds great. I think I will look into it.

Here's to an OP day!

Terry..Congrats on the weightloss you are doing great 10.5lbs in a month is a great achievement those tapes sound pretty good i was looking at them yesterday in Walmart and Zellers but i've decided NOT to buy anymore unless i start using the other bunch that i've got after i'd been shopping i did absolutely nothing took the day off from everything, exercise..cleaning..life the sun has gone for today so i think i'll be able to get some chores done today..if i get off of here that is
Meg..you never know the job may still be available..you could still be in the running
I had my first reasonable day (foodwise) for quite some time, 969 cals and 26g fat...mainly due to the fact that i was out shopping and the fridge was not at hand...Saturday to Wednesday's totals were terrible..i had a whopping 3309 cals and 127g fat last saturday so no wonder i'm not making any progress..i think i've averaged at about 2500cals and 60g fat..way too much! so i'm going to track everything faithfully this week...i can't believe how everything adds up so fast and yet in my mind although i knew i had'nt been 'dieting' i had no idea that i was eating that amount of food..it is so easy to let things slide..a chocolate bar and a few beers are'nt going to hurt..right? WRONG! it's those sneaky beers i've got to watch..i think i'll contact the other Cathy from "Taking it Off" and see how she is doing..LOL

Cathy and Meig, thanks for the motivation!

Did you know that a Awesome Blossum with dipping sauce from Chillis (those deep fried whole breaded onions) is 2,882 calories and 222 grams of fat (77 WW points)??!! And, the chicken sandwich that I love at Burger King is 710 calories and 43 grams of fat -- without the extra cheese that I usually get!

These are things that I would order EVERY time -- it's just amazing how many calories and fat grams you consume without being conscious of it.

You're so right Cathy -- you don't even realize how it all adds up which is why I NEED to journal everything I eat.

It's just not fair that all the good things are so high in fat!!

Ooops -- gotta run -- be back later!

Hey guys. Speaking of tracking everything, I use fitday.com to track everything I eat. It is great. And, it tends to go on the high side, so you know where you stand. It even tracks your weight over time, journal, etc. and it is free. Check it out!

Meg

I'm a member of Fitday Meg but i don't use it i have another program..i used to use dietwatch a couple of years ago and that was great too..but now like everything else you have to subscribe so thats a for me.
Terry..tell me about it..thank god i don't frequent those joints and its true most things have to be loaded to the nuts with fat to taste good rice cakes just don't do it for me speaking of food its time for lunch (ham,egg and lettuce) followed by warm popcorn if i'm still hungry

Good morning ladies,

Just a quickie to pop in and say hi. Everything here is alright. They diagnosed Erwin's Dad with pneumonia so at least we know what the problem is now. he's still in the hospital but hopefully will be released in the next few days barring no further complications.

spent all night helping my sister clean out her old apartment. She's kind of funny...told me it'd be an hour two at the most..however she didn't remember that the oven had to cleaned and I don't think they've ever cleaned up a spill in that thing. OMG it was a tremendous effort to scrub all the burners and stuff. Holy cow! Took me an hour just to do that. I was teasing her about the face that she must never use it if she doesn't remember it needs to be cleaned once in awhile. Oh well...we must have done a good job because she got her full damage deposit back.

I'm going to try the 3 mile tape today Terry so I'll let you know later what I think about it. Then it's time for some homework. Yay.

Have a great day ladies and I'll check back later tonight.

Love to ya all,

Pam