Hi! I'm back from vacation and had a great time just relaxing. Of course, part of the time we watched the Weather Channel as four tropical events were coming our way. We thought several times we had to go home in order to evacuate. Thank God nothing came our way except lots of rain from TS Hanna.

I wasn't so good eating-wise on my vacation, but I did get lots of exercise. We walked on the beach a lot and also golfed.

On a sad note, we left our vacation a day early as my sister's boyfriend took an accidental overdose of pain meds. It was so sad. She is just devastated as he was her soul-mate.

How is everyone else? I read that Lori had also gone on vacation. I see we've had a few new people.

Lisa: Welcome back! I'm glad you were able to relax and enjoy your vacation. My sympathies on the loss of your sister's boyfriend. Is she doing okay?

It's been busy here with freshman four week grades. I'm still battling the numbness in my fingers and some pain in my upper back but it's getting better. I want it to be back to normal now, now 4 weeks! I have to say that going to the chiropractor is definitely helping because I don't have the shooting pains in my arms/wrists.

We had some rain yesterday and this morning it's a cool 52 degrees...you can tell Fall is around the corner! Tomorrow we're supposed to be in the mid 70's. definitely refreshing.

Melissa, My sister is not doing so well. She has made an appt with a counselor. Keep her in your prayers. I'm glad the shooting pains stopped--are you sleeping better?

Your weather has really cooled off. We're still warm here.

DH went to WI yesterday and he was up 6#. I'm afraid to get on the scale after our vacation.

Saturday, DH is headed to the Dominican Republic for a Medical Mission. I hope he doesn't have bad weather.

Hello ladies! My vacation was GREAT. Just the break I needed I was up 2#s this morning when I weighed in, but I needed to be gaining weight anyway (at least that is what I'm going to keep telling myself haha). I just wish it was from healthy foods and not all those desserts!

The pregnancy seems to be going well. I'm still feeling slightly nauseous, burping a lot, and get very bloated in the afternoon and night. I'm somewhat tired, but not anything more than what I feel I am used to from what I would be getting from my medication if I was still on it. I have an appointment with my hematologist/oncologist next week and he will order a remission test. The OB/GYN I will see the week after, as well as have my first ultrasound. Exciting!

Lisa - Glad you had a good vacation! So sorry to hear about your sister's boyfriend.

Melissa - I'm glad to hear your shooting pain is gone. DH had an MRI done on his wrist, and found out he has a torn ligament. They are going to refer him to an orthopedic, and I have a feeling he may need surgery (I hope not though!).

Kim - Welcome to the lifetimer's forum!

Lisa: For the most part I am sleeping better and usually only have 1 night out of a week that I'm up because I'm uncomfortable and it's usually right before I go back to the chiropractor. Did I tell you I have 2 bulging discs in my neck? I just want the numbness in my hands to go away. Typing is real interesting! I'll keep your sister in my prayers.

Our temps are supposed to go up again tomorrow (mid 70's) so it's hard to figure out what to wear to work.

I went for my WI at noon and was up .6 which is not bad considering I ate out a lot over the weekend. This week will be better.

Lori, Glad your pregnancy is going well. I do hope your husband doesn't need surgery.

Melissa, You're in the time of year when your weather becomes changeable. I'm glad you're sleeping better. No, you didn't tell me about the bulging disks-that would cause lots of problems. My mother has been having horrible leg pains. She had a MRI and went to see a surgeon last week. He wants her to have surgery--8 hours worth. We were not happy about that as my mother has other health issues. She went to see a chiropractor who has a new machine called a DX-9000. It decompresses the vertabrae. Well, after one treatment, she was standing erect and had more than half the pain. She was thrilled, so she is canceling the surgery.

Lori: I never really got "sick" when I was pregnant with the boys, just a little nauseous that I wasn't hungry and it mostly happened in the evening. The tiredness came about 8 weeks in and I'd be sitting at my desk and couldn't keep my eyes open so I'd take a break and take a short nap. That really helped. The tiredness didn't hang on too long. I did a lot of walking with my 2nd pregnancy (I wish I would've done that with my first) and that really helped with my weight and my recovery afterwards. Both pregnancies I gained about 23# total. I'm glad you had a great vacation.

Lisa: I asked the chiropractor about the disks and he said it can be reversed with exercises, etc. so I'm making sure I do what he says. My right hand is getting better and I think my left one is too--some days are better than others. I'm glad your mom was able to find relief without surgery, that's great.

Kim: How is your week going?

I'm off tomorrow--I have 12.5 vacation days left so I need to start using them up. DS #2 has a game 2 1/2 hours away so DH and I are going to drive to the game. Hopefully they'll win! From what I understand they're trying to get the seniors in each of the games. He's not a starter and he's okay with that. I figure I can do some errands in the morning since DH will be working. I've been wanting to go to the mall to check out some things and never have the time to do it with having to pick up DS from football practice.

It's beautiful here today--72 degrees and sunny. My walking buddy and I got out at noon for a nice, long walk.

Melissa, So glad you've seen improvement. Exercise is always good. Have you tried yoga? I love it. Havea nice trip. I'm so glad it's football season again.

My husband's mission trip was canceled because of the mudslides in the Dominican Republic. He'll probably go another time.

I'm going to my parents' house tomorrow. My mom's birthday was yesterday, and we're throwing her a surprise party. It will be the first one (as a surprise) for her. Should be fun! Sunday I think I'm just going to hang around the house, do some cleaning, etc.

I'm swamped at work after coming back from vacation. I have way too much to catch up on, and not enough time.

Melissa - Don't get me wrong, I do get exhausted every once in a while! Its just that its comparable to what I would feel when I was taking my medication. So that part doesn't feel quite as different. The only difference is that I actually need more sleep to make it go away, whereas with the medication I could just wait it out. Have fun at the game!

Lisa - How are you with the hurricane near by? Getting any rain?

We've had some wind, but not much rain. The poor people in Texas; I feel bad for them. Ike is going to bring a lot of damage.