M'Chelle...welcome aboard. You and I are very much in the same boat. I am almost 35 1/2 and the baby clock is starting to tick overtime...I'm also very much wanting to get out of our apartment and get into something more permenent...so I hear you my sistah! Keep your eyes on the prize and know the behind the glazed look, he does hear you...it's just information overload.

The concert tonight was AMAZING!!!! I am pooped now but we are all checked in for our flight and tomorrow night (morning?) at this time we will be on an airplane en route to ATL and then Buffalo.

Sleep tight...

Julee, Ammi has a gazelle & when I visited I saw it, hers folded up quite small & flat. But unless you have an estate car OR your seats go down OR you have a biggish car (it might fit in the back seats) you might struggle, though I'm sure Luan can tell you more.xxxxxx
Anni, yep, you are gorgeous!!!! Even at 500lbs but now we can see your cheekbones too!!!xxxxxx
M'chelle, hubby is still moaning & twitching all night, the thought of 'putting him (me) out of his misery' with a pillow crossed my mind several times!!!lol What plan are you doing? WELCOME to our lovely groupxxxxx
Battle WTG & great to 'see' you.xxxxxx
I have to go & take the boys to school, I feel like a zombie from lack of sleep, stupid hubby got me up at 4.30 this morning to find something he'd lost!! Grrrrr He gets a nap when he comes home in the afternoon, shame I don't!! Pillows keep crossing my mind..lol ..not really.... so sorry it's a short one. It's raining & horrid, but I'm still OP!!yippee, lol
xxxxxxsharon

Morning Peeps - how's everyone this nice summer Thursday morning?

Yesterday wasn't as "perfect" as I would have liked with a luncheon at the office but I didn't throw in the rest of the day - which is a huge win for me right now. The choices were not the best but not the worst either. I'll be glad when I'm with Battle and say I have 6 days OP behind me and then 7. Right now I'm wondering how I put 120 together but I know it was one day, one meal, maybe one hour at a time. For some reason it's just not clicking with me - the reason for my FOCUS. Posting, even though difficult at these times, seems to be the best thing for me. I don't journal much so this is where it ends up. I must admit having gained the past couple of weeks has completely messed me up and I have visions of gaining it all back - I am terrified. It seems to be summer and all the social activities that throw me out of my comfort zone. I've found myself almost wishing for Labor Day to come. I'm also struggling with exercise and have told myself if I work out in the pool at home I don't have to go to the hospital for this week for my normal workouts - I hope I can get back to that next week, but if not I will continue the water workouts.

I'm rambling but looking for something I've misplaced for now. Thanks for listening and being here.

Move your bodies, drink your water and SMILE.

Hugs,
Carol

I hear ya gggirls it is a struggle in the summer at times when friends and family are piging out on ice cream, chips etc at functions..... I look it at this way their are 21 meals in a week ......And occassionally I will have a bad choice .....but that still leaves me 20 meals to be good... ( Be strong you are so worth it) Hugs to you gggirl .....Keep that swimming! Best exercise in the world..Angels
He he voodooo girl you are so funny!!
Leaving now to go to the trailer I think I will be Awol for a week unless I can find someone to lend me their lap top.......Stay strong all .......Lets get thinner together!! I just love this support group!! You are all the best!!Better then any weight loss center....Angels

Greetings all,

I'm still waking up, a bit grumpy cuz of TOM, but I'm going to take my time getting into work because of the OT I've been doing on this document... soooo decided to touch base with my peeps

Luan, oops about having to reformat the hd! I always forget my favorites in IE. My email is ratkity at ratkat dot net if you feel da need to email me. That goes for anyone else here.

Battle, yes!!!!!! 6 days! Even if it was 1 day I'd be just as excited. I hope work/family/life stuffs are going smoother these days. *hugs*

Annie, how was the gourmet party? I like the spice and dips ones. I can taste without eating. When I'm feeling icky, soup is the only thing I can eat as well. It's a comfort thing, I know, but it's not like using chocolate! Hang in there with the compliments!!! This phase doesn't last very long.

Yay Angels!!! You are doing so great!! Do you camp all summer? You might have told us, but I probably missed that.

Hiya Johnnie, great to see you! Sorry about the tummy issues and stones, but cholesterol and sugar numbers are fabbo news!! Oh, so is the BP It's cool your doc liked the "release" notion over losing. The fact that he said he liked it means to me that he listens to you and is trying to learn about weight loss issues.

Julee, um, I'm not sure a gazelle would it in a little car.. hehe. I'd love to have an ellipical, but don't have anywhere to put it in my house except the basement. Safe travels!

Julia, too cute about telling little one about your release and that she could barely pick it up! I get jealous hearing about pools between you, GGG and Catherine (although she is jonsing for hers now).

Bumble, sorry about having to go to a funeral. You are funny about your DH and his glazed look. He was sweet to listen for so long!

Suomi, keep up the great work! I hope you get your laptop back soon. I'm lost without it and I have access to my work desktop and a home desktop. I have worn out the letters on my laptop keyboard from overuse.

Sharon, I wonder if a feather pillow would do a better job than a full foam pillow? hehe.. jk. This is the first week without rain in a while. I might be able to skip mowing on Saturday!

GGG, posting here does keep me accountable as well. Ramble away! I get more out of people's rambling than my rambling posts. I have the same fear.. gaining it all back. I hear from stats and from my own experience that it happens more often than not. Unfortunately, even that horrid fear won't keep me from eating poorly when I isolate during stressful times. I think posting here is not just a "tool", but part of my foundation for a healthy lifestyle. Not sure if any of that made sense!!

Hugs and Luv,
Ratkity

angel_ I like your way of thinking on the 21 meals!! that might really help us focus on the rest of the meals if we mess up one or two!!!

carol_ HUGS!! I miss our pm.

battle _ glad to see your OP and back with us!

sara- way to go on being close to your 1st goal.! Keep it up!!

bumblebee_I had to laugh at the deer in the headlight statement...i know that look!!

julia- great job on the workout in the pool! Wish we had a pool nearby!!

luan- how did the dr visit go?

johnnie_ sorry about having gallstones...been there done that..NO FUN!! I was able to control mine for 12 yrs before having a very diseased gallbladder removed. If you have pain get it checked out!! Way to go on the 99lbs. YOU have done AWESOME!!!

annie- sorry tom is not playing nice this month!! Tom is visiting me also. I wish Tom would go away and never come back. I never thought i would welcome menapause!! lol You are beautiful!!

rat-hugs
anne- come out come out wherever you are!!
dmpls- hope your having a wonderful time on your trip!

Yesterday hubby had a dr visit and I went with him. WE went shopping to get a gift for grandbaby shower. Men just dont get registries...I kinda agree its more fun to pick what you want to get them rather than what they pick. Hubby had a playpen picked out for $90 and it was gray and pink. Well the one they had picked was $170, all the same features...but in neutral colors..hubby just doesnt understand why they dont want anything girlie. We ended up getting them a bassinet even though they didnt register for one...hubby was determine and i finally gave up.LOL gotta explain to son that he has to keep it even though they didnt pick one. maybe they can use the playpen in the living room and the bassinet in their bedroom at first.

more later


catherine_ glad your ok with himself gone...with hubby being disabled and home alot I would give anything for him to be gone a few days and have some time to myself.

sharon_ sorry your hubby is sick and your missing out on sleep. Not getting enough sleep can really drag someone down fast!!


julee- how is hubbys glucose doing? my hubby had to increase his glucose med again. SO he is back to where he was a few months back before she decreased it. Its like we just cant get it level for long.It doesnt help that he has been snacking at night!!

Good Morning!

I feel blah today. Yep, TOM. I sure don't feel like doing laundry and picking up rooms, cleaning etc. . . I slept in a little since we stayed up and watched a movie late and young daughter had a friend spend the night. Older daughter didn't get home until 11:30 and then had to tell me all her adventures of work then going to a friends house to swim and movie. The dog is even still asleep! The house is nice and quiet. I really feel like going to the kitchen and getting pots and pans and clanging them together! HA! HA! But then I would have a headache and family screaming with drama on having to wake up, who needs that! lol I was going to go on a walk, but slept in and it is already too hot outside. I know excuses. This is the time of the month when I need to figure out something to get motivated. I will wait and do it on the treadmill when all wake up. Yep, I am rambling too, but need to get some water in and breakfast. Stepped on scale this morning and I really hated to as this time of month always makes it go up. We need to come up with something that doesn't make it do that! Someone please work on that. Thanks! Well, sister told me last night to check email as she was sending me some pictures of self. She has begun losing weight so we talk about every other day. She is dong Weight Watchers (points). I don't know how she can afford the weekly meetings! But not my business. She is a new grandma (1st) and loving sending me pictures. So I better check and yak on personals later. Penny

Hey girls there is a new thread in fitness area for Cycling groupies. Looks promising as a good way to find some new inspiration.

Debi-Part of what’s worrying me is himself being away from home that long because he’s disabled too.

There seems to be a lot of funerals going on this summer, so I’d like to take this opportunity for one of my favorite rants. The greatest gift you can give the people in your life that you love and care about, is to have you affairs in order. By that I mean all you final wishes written down. When was the last time you updated or even looked at your will? If you don’t have one, and can’t afford an attorney, go down to Office Depot or Staples, and buy a blank will form, and fill in the blanks. That’s better than nothing. That goes for durable powers of attorney so that if you become incapacitated, someone can make legal and financial decisions for you without going through the courts. Ditto for medical powers of attorney for medical decisions. Make a living will, let people know what kind of final care you want. Leave burial instructions. Do you want to be cremated, or buried, in the ground or a mausoleum?

When my dad died unexpectedly, my family was so busy fighting about money, or falling apart, that I had to plan his funeral, buy his casket, and even write his obituary. I was in my early 20’s. I never wanted to place that burden on anyone else. I have all my paperwork in order, and check it once a year on my birthday for updating. I have all my burial instructions, down to copies of sheet music for things I want sung at my funeral. I have a written obituary along with the addresses to the newspapers back home where I want it sent. I have a list of people I want notified with their addresses. Remember that pre-arranged funerals, even if you don’t pay up front, are about 50% of the cost of walk in arrangements. My dad already had his plot purchased, and the cement liner, the headstone was paid for by the VA, and his funeral was still over $10,000, 22 years ago. Think about your family getting slammed making all these decisions and a big bill while trying to grieve. And yes, I am more than willing to help anyone who wants to go through this stuff, just PM me.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Hi ladies,

Sorry for the drive-by again, but it's all I've got. I will be back when I can for more personal interaction. The body let go of a couple of pounds so I'm back over a decade threshold in weight. Now I'm only 11 lbs. over my lowest. I plan to have another good day today.

Hugs and love to all of you.

Catherine - Thanks for the rant. I need that kick in the butt. I've never thought about doing durable powers of attorney for legal, financial and medical decisions. Reading your post made me aware that with my physical condition, I really need to do that so I can designate my roommate/best friend/caregiver for all those decisions. She knows better than any of my family what decisions I would make. She is also a stickler for having all things in order so I'm surprised she hasn't been after me to do it yet.

catherine_ i needed that rant. I need to get busy with that maybe this weekend when daughter is home and discuss things with her. Show her where important papers are kept and such.
hugs on worrying about himself..you take wonderful care of him!!Im sure he is missing you !

penny_ is it just me noticing it or is TOM around for alot of us at the same time> I had always heard that it happened when you spent time with other women.

Well things are getting WILD in this little one stop light town!!! Its RAlly weekend. THiS town is filled with bikers..25000 in a town of 2200 people.
you can literally feel the town vibrate from all the bikes roaring!! I am going to the store in a bit and then i will pretty much stay home till its over.Sunday by noon all bikers are gone. All money raised goes to charity. WOnderful cause and over all nothing bad has ever happened. I worked it one year and I saw plenty but its pretty much kept out there.
Well hope everyone is having a great day.
debi

Carol, I think it's this time of year that makes it so hard for all of us. More activity, more food, more everything. Just the pressure of trying to make the right choices can get us down. All we can do is hang in there, try our hardest, and hopefully we'll get that drive back that got us this far. I'm struggling right now too, but I found that by telling myself to maintain, I'm actually losing weight, I guess because I'm not feeling the pressure to lose weight. I dunno, sounds sorta wierd, but for the moment, it's working. I seem to put too much pressure on myself when I am trying to lose weight, and I just can't do that anymore. Usually I'm a person who loves the last minute pressure to get something done, but it's totally different when it comes to losing weight.
I really do hope you get your motivation back, but if not, I hope you can maintain. I completely know what you mean about being terrified to gain it all back.

Debi, sometimes those registries help, sometimes not so much. I think the bassinet was a really good idea. Hubby done good!! I hope he can get his sugar levels leveled out.

Debi, Annie, Penny, geeze, we're all in the same boat with a crappy TOM this month, aren't we? Mine has been so bad, it hurt to wear pants without elastic. I hurt from my waist to my knees. I almost barfed yesterday. I seem to get one bad one like once every 6 months. I'm doing lots better today and I hope you are all feeling better too.

Catherine, thank you for all the points made about the will. I don't even have one. I guess I just don't think about dying a this age, but I probably should. I know I have it written in a journal about some things I want to go to who, but that's about it. I guess I'm thinking it's like animals. Just find a box, and say a few words and put me in the ground.

Battleax, YaY!!!! You're doing great!

My green beans are getting blooms finally. The lettuce is balling up, the green pepper plant is starting to grow as well as the radishes and carrots. The cabbage is still a mystery though. It doesn't look like the cabbage you see in stores so I don't know whats going on with that.
Today I'm going shopping with my Mom. She wants some new clothes for when my brother gets here. She always buys them too baggy, so I'm going with her to help out. I would love to get some new clothes too, but just can't afford it right now, so I'll dream thru her.
Hope everyone is having a good OP day,
Debbie

Ok I already forgot who said what...so I'll just go on topics.

Gazelle in the car...I have a decent szed car (Saturn Aura) and with the seats down there is a lot of room in there.

Paperwork and important stuff...AMEN to that. DH and I have had the talk several times and have been discussing it more these days because we are seeing some friedn grappling with othe family members about similar issues. We just need to get it all in writing. My grandmother had her living will/DNR tacked to the wall in the kitchen by the phone and everyone knew what it was.

DH's glucose...there has still been some fluctuation...can't quite figure out what the triggers are because there have ben nights where his dinner has been bread and potato free and he has had no snacks at night that his sugar was still higher than we think it should have been the next morning....who knows.

I have a Dr. appt of my own next month and it should be a doozie. I want to talk to her about getting off the pill and trying to get pregnant. I know she wants me off the pill anyways so we'll see what she says about this one.

I am packing and cleaning today so we can leave tonight which should be fun. Packing for a short trip can be just as much of a pain as packing for a longer one...plus this time we have extra things with us that have to be packed and I have to remember where I put everything. ARGH.

Happy weekend to all...

Julee

Well, daughter off to work and hubby left to go and work out! Good thing as they were both very grumpy!!! Daughter because she misplaced her $45 check from work a couple of days ago and still hasn't been able to find it, and hubby because he got a nasty email from his boss last night and today had a yearly review call and it was just neutral. So now that younger daughter is upset because she can't find her tap shoes and has practice tonight. She has a performance this weekend and needs them. She decided she wanted to use the dance bag one day and took the shoes out. Who knows where they are! So now it is quiet as I sent her back to her room to look! The room is scary! Of course it is my fault for all of it.
Julee-Have a great trip and enjoy your time together. I hope DH sugar levels do well over trip.
Debbie-I don't have the pain, but feel like I am flooding. I hope your pain goes away soon. That's too bad you felt like barfing. Make sure there is nothing else going on. I have never felt that bad. It sounds like your veggies are doing well! I am not one to grow cabbage so I can't help you out there. Have fun shopping with mom. I too need clothes but everyone else comes first.
dgramie- That is weird huh! I have heard that same thing. It is funny you call your town one-light. We have one stop! But if we had that many bikes in our town it would be a world record!! Our town consists of 393 people and I think that includes cats and dogs! lol
Catherine-good idea about going to office max/depot or staples, that is better than nothing. I told hubby to cremate me and put me in a shoebox. Take the shoebox and place it in the back of the car. (We live in midwest) Then when he gets stuck in the snow, he can put a little of me at the tire and I will continue to help him out for a little while or years depending on the amount of snow we get or times he gets stuck! lol Of course, my daughter says that is not going to happen.
Battle-good to see you pop in!
Julia-I will have to look at that thread, thanks!