Good morning DonDar and Ruth ( I know you are out there)

Just got back from the Y, and it is cold out there...sposed to warm up to the 60's today tho!!!

Leens-I hope the babe is better today! Let us know!!!

Not much happening, gotta go to my ghastly job, DH has one bathroom almost complete, I am pretty sick of my house being a construction zone.....

Enough whining for today off to the shower. Have a great day ladies!!!!

Good Morning, Chickies!

You are at work at 5:30, Jen! That IS impressive. I'm glad you went to the Doc for that cough. You have had it more than a few weeks, methinks - didn't it start when my bronchial stuff started?

I figured out how to lose weight fast! Last night I changed my scale to weigh in kilograms! This morning I weigh 95.4K which feels a lot skinnier than 212 pounds. Silly but I was getting tired of seeing those same darn numbers every day. DH will freak if he weighs himself this morning.

Puppy is crying - we have to go out. Brrr and Grrr! Back later.

Morning Jenny, Scooby and Ruth and all to come!

I love reading you guys while I guzzle my coffee!

Goomba! boy do I hear you on the day off thing! Yesterday dh went into school to talk to the big kids music and OT teacher. Turns out the kid is being disrespectfull and in need of obedience training, so boy was I steamed. I turned off the tv and and he had to do a bit of writing and then some chores and then I sent him back to school with his tail between his legs with orders to apologize. I know he is tired from wrestling put gosh darn it he is ONLY 8 and in dire need of putting the whole thing in perspective....and I have nominated myself to do it. Gonna be some yippin and yappin in my house the next few days!

Dh and I ARE in total agreement on not putting the hemmoroid cream tube near the toothpaste tube...will have to go buy a new toothbrush today! Talk about a pain in the.....

off to hit the showers, errands to run today (obviously!) and then will have a conference this afternoon. Did get my hair cut yesterday...need to dip it soon! The big kid is yappin in my ear about ....what else? WRESTLING! ARGH!!!!!!

peach

Hemmoroid cream? toothbrush? What am I missing? I'll have to read back a bit!

One of my programs is moving into a new space this weekend- we are packing and working with the contractors on last minute stuff- it is crazy! i am short 2 key people- and going out of my mind- a surveyor for patient care is coming tomorrow and I don't know how to get 14 hours of work into the the next 8. this job has become very UN-FUN very fast. I love my patients but I hate the administrative junk!

Eating is going better. Not perfect but better. Having to skip lunch yesterday didn't help- when I finally got to eat, there was nothing to choose from! I had 1/2 ear of corn and a breaded chicken patty! Yukky, plus too carby- at least the rest of the day was OK.

Hi to everyone- Jenny- enjoy the concert- and keep up the tea and stay rested! Ruth, 95 sounds better to me! Any trick to see a different number! Scooby - come work here- NY is a little cold today, but we'd have fun! Peach, Over-protective Auntie Alert: take it easy on that bambino- 8 is still a baby! I might have to come over and cuddle him up a bunch! Jiff, get moving!

have a good one
dottie

Whew! You chickies are busy! I know, I know, I am busy too but it's stuff I choose not family- and work-inflicted stuff. This week and next will be buzzing with registrations and setting up for the pysanky class on the 15th but after that, I can cool it.

Pixie and I did go for our walk yesterday. She brought along her grandchildren so we could be slow. It was bitter cold but we did stroll for about an hour in the park. Her dog and Hershey are pals and raced around with sticks. Hershey had her eye on the creek but we dissuaded her. It was open but had ice floating in it! Next walk will be later this week. Yesterday was cold and miserable but we had committed to each other so we went. (Patting self on back )

Looks like my wrist operation will not be until late summer so I will have no excuse to not garden. The doc wants me to wear the darn wrist splints most of the time, not just at night. The appointment with the "check out the nerves - zap, zap" doc is not until the 7th of June and then I will be in the lineup for the surgeon. We all know how long these specialists take!

Off to music this morning - think I'll get more sympathy wearing my splints? Did get my assignment done. Had to transpose "Jesus Loves Me" and write the correct chords. Why am I doing this? Brain stretching I guess.

Happy Hump Day, Chickies!

Well yesterday my friend Gina and I made a pack. Maybe not a pack, rather we set some goals. 10 pounds by april 5. 50 by....not sure yet. We're taking it slowly. Met her at the gym yesterday. Did 30 minutes on the treadmill then 30 more minutes of lifting. Dinner was good. Trying to go low carb. I made something by throwing some chicken with bar-b-que sauce and cheese with broccoli, red peppers, onions and 2 small red potatoes a piece. It turned out well. We weighed in last night. mom thinks 10 pounds might be tough, but I say, I CAN DO IT! Got up this morning and walked Grace (the dog) 3 miles. Went and swam 50 laps, then started the day off with an Orange. Getting ready to go start my 128 oz of water for the day. Keep up the good work ladies. have a good one.

P.S - I got the veggies from something that Birds Eye makes in the frozen food section called "Grillers". For those of you that aren't big on veggies, they do a great job of hiding.

Hi...hanging in there...but barely...working lots but looks like we are going to Mexico over Easter...so something to look forward to..that always helps...it is so cold here, it will be nice to go somewhere warm...hope you all have a great day...I'm going to sleep...back to work in a few hours...Liz

Just when I thought spring was coming - IT SNOWED! But, that's ok, cuz it keeps the kids occupied! Although, it makes Mexico sound fabulous! (Or, maybe that's just jealousy?)

Not too much here. Starting to think my scale is broken! And, I say that because if I get on it two or three times in a row it will read differently each time. Just don't know what to do to fix it. I think I'll have dh take a peek!

Yep, sounds like everyone is super busy these days! Me included. Kids, husbands, hobbies, cleaning, etc. It's amazing how it all works out!

I hope you all at least having fun with your busy-ness. Have a super groovy day!

Hi all,
It has been a very busy week here. While the tile man was here I asked for an estimate to re grout the master bath. As it turns out there has been a huge leak from the shower for a while and the tile has finally popped up. I called the insurance company and I think I can get a lot of the work covered. So another bathroom project will be underway in a few more weeks.

The plastic surgeon said I need to have more surgery. I have a skin condition called Hidradentitis. It is a chronic skin infection that never really clears up. I will go in on the 8th of next month for another skin removal. The last one was in October and it was a biggie. This one should be easier and the kids GGmother wants to come up to do the laundry and cooking. I will take her up on that!

The best news which makes all the other stuff seem tolerable is that my little one was accepted to school for the fall. We have been hanging on a thread waiting and the letter came yesterday! It will be so nice after 3 years to have both kids in the same school.
Little man is home not feeling well today. I am afraid he has a touch of that yucky stomach bug. I hope he is feeling better soon as we are off to skiing this weekend. (Maybe )

You all sound great! And know that I am not vying for the first post position at 5:30 am!
-L

hi everyone!!!

still doing well... i'm not going to post the numbers because i don't want the struggling newbies to be upset, although the little bit i actually do eat is very low in carbs...

disability officially ends on march 12 [yippee yahoo!!!!!]. it's been a long haul since last august... how many months was that?? 7??

and now, i'll just be job hunting... resume is ready.

and i'm more upbeat about finances... i did my taxes today, and MAN do THEY owe me money!!!!! guess that's one good thing about disability; it's not taxed by either the feds or the state.

many hugs to all you warm, wonderful, busy chicks...

Hi all! It's the missing mama!

I've been trying to catch up on some posts. It's been soooo long since I've been around. But my friends here have been in my thoughts and prayers daily.

Agreed, February was a dreadful month! I think the extreme stress in my life actually began Feb 19 th of LAST year and carried over!

Just to update you a bit on what's been going on. This is pretty tough to post and I've debated over it BUT it may be an eye opener for someone out there.

My daughter informed me a few months ago that she had finally put her sdh out of the house. We had suspected some verbal abuse and had "assumed" she had finally had enough. Well, about six weeks ago she informed me of the extent of the abuse which involved my granddaughters (9 and 11). In trying to shorten this as much as possible I was able to relocate her and the children from a town about 45 minutes or so away to a house down the street from us (God definately heard those prayers). We've been scurrying around trying to put furniture together, seeking assistance, counseling, etc.. All of which has been frustrating as you hear of so many support groups out there for abused women and children, yea right.... But the hardest part has been in watching how the children are dealing with things on a daily basis. The eleven year old feels guilt as she thinks if she had come forward sooner her younger sister wouldn't been a victim also. The nine year old is having a definate personal hygiene problem which we've come to understand is a symptom. My six year old grandson has taken to talking and hitting his siblings and mother as he said his dad did and the 2 year old clings to her like a little monkey. And, having been a sexually abused child it has awaken many deep hidden emotions within myself that I thought I had buried or dealt with. All in all things have been pretty emotional around here.

I have to admit that I've been striking out I guess somehow wanting my dh to make things better (which of course he can't) and struggling with my own feelings that I haven't protected my precious babies.

In hindsight there were signs. Kayla (11) had become withdrawn and missing school - didn't want to be told she was pretty. We thought it was due to her age and her first year in middle school as she's shy. Jordana (9) with her personal hygiene we thought was a phase.

I encourage anyone who may have the slightest question of suspected abuse to please educate yourself on the signs. I sure wish we had.

Sure don't want to be a downer but wanted to pop in and let you all know I'm still alive and will try to come around a bit more as things calm down.

Thanks for the PM's and well wishes. I'm looking for that clearing Peach! And want you all to join me! We'll have a grand time with that 6 pack of Bud, singing Freddie Canon tunes, giggling while licking bowels! (is that LC ?)

Luv to all!

J

Wow Janice. That's quite a story. No wonder you've been so stressed. The good thing is that things have to just keep getting better from here, right? My heart goes out to those kids and your daughter. I'm glad the kids will finally have the chance to start healing and see that they're not responsible for all the horrible things that they've had to deal with.
Thank God they have a grandma like you!
Hugs to you,
Chickadee

MamaJ, the anger I feel right now is so overwhelming that I'm crying and shaking. It happens everytime I hear an account of someone doing that to a child! It happened to me when I was very little and I didn't remember until I was 36. I could very easily pull the trigger on a person who would do that! I told my mother and she called me a dirty little pig! I can only assume she thought it was normal for a man to do that to a child. A few years ago, I was told that a young woman who I think highly of was also abused and the hatred was almost all consuming. Fortunately, the animal that hurt her was already dead or I'd be in prison now.
I think that your grandchildren will survive and be stronger for it. They have a grandma who will teach them how. Be strong! You're a very brave lady. God bless!

I really don't know what to say. Much love to MamaJ and Tippy and those poor kids, as well as anyone who ever suffered like that. I can't imagine.

Dd is sick today, insert whine here. And crying and wailing like she's the only person in the world to have problems. Oh, to be 4 again!

Everyone have a great evening! See you tomorrow.