If you have 50 or so pounds to lose, this is the group for you!

Jan, I just popped on to catch up on the posts and was horrified to read about your NON-CRUISE! You are such a special...and gracious...woman. You are handling the situation much better than I would be. I know that sometimes things can't be helped, but I would be demanding a full refund, 50% off a future cruise, and full compensation while in New Orleans. I know that is probably a bit much to expect. I admire your wonderful attitude about the situation. I know the important thing is that you got to spend time with your family...and New Orleans is not a bad place to have to stay. My heart just goes out to you, especially after all that packing and planning. I know you still had a good time, and I hope you have a safe journey back home. I hope your dad wasn't too disappointed, but I'm sure it meant the world to him to spend the time with his beautiful daughters.

JOYce, let us know how the tournament went when you get the chance. I'm sorry about the scare with your DS, but I'm glad everything turned out okay. I will keep her in my prayers as she waits for the next test results.

I have enjoyed my time off, but could still use another week. DD and I spent much of the time getting things together for a Salvation Army pick-up. She had so many clothes and toys that were still packed up in her closet, so we thought this would be the perfect time to give them to someone else who could use them. We also got my guest room cleaned out and threw a lot of things away. I'm too sentimental sometimes and want to keep things that have special meaning, but I was in the "throw away" mode this weekend. There are so many black garbage bags on the street it looks like we are moving.

This week will be hectic. We have so many activities during December, but enjoy the whirlwind of activities. This weekend will be the Singing Christmas Tree on Friday night (a tree outside made up of singers...it's supposedly the oldest of its kind in the nation)...and the Christmas program at our church Saturday night and then a late night surprise birthday party for Tim (his 20th). His mother wanted to surprise him with a "real" birthday party so we are going "mystic" bowling (you bowl in the dark with black lights). It's a teen-age thing, but I'm looking forward to being a kid for the night. We aren't even going until about 11 pm. I'll have to take a nap that day.

Oh...and DD and I are going to help with children's choir at our church...which should be a hoot since I can't sing a lick. DD has an amazing voice, but I got nothing in that department. However, I was singing away in the car today and she actually said "hey mom, that sounded pretty good."

I better get the dishes cleaned up and get to bed. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Tontoy, I was worn out just reading about all the sweets you made. Whew!!!!

Have a great week!!

Janet (Kudzu)

<hanging head in shame> Idiot that I am, I'm afraid that I forgot to subscribe to the thread last week, so I just got caught up on everything that was going on....

Jan, I was not surprised at all about your wonderful attitude about what must have been a deep disappointment about your non-cruise . I was so sorry to read about it, and again, you have my admiration for the way you handled it. I could learn a lot from a person like you.

Do, re, mi, Janet -- get those lungs in shape for your new "job" at the church with DD! I can't carry a tune in a bucket, either; good thing your DD will be there to be the "main" singer as you help out with the children's group. On the other hand, being children, maybe they won't notice that you aren't exactly a Maria Callas! And as for mystic bowling -- hope you had lots of fun, how did you do leaving for the bowling alley at 11 p.m.? Yikes!!!

Heard from JOYce earlier tonight, she'll fill you in on the trip. She called us from Flagstaff on Thanksgiving to say "Happy Thanksgiving" -- it was so much fun to get her call!

I'm starting to nod off (it is after 1 a.m.), so I'll post again later, and respond to the many posts I missed. Ta-ta!

JANET, that is great that you will help dd with the kids choir! You will be richly blessed, I'm sure!
Sounds like you and she have lots of fun together!

JAN, I'm so sorry to hear that you didn't get to cruise.
but know that you had a marvelous time in N.O. with your family. (ahhhh the memories )

What in the world has happened to texaslady???

We had a busy time in TEMPE AZ. we had a Turkey buffet at the hotel, which was very good. DH and dgd did not appreciate it as much as I did. I didn't have to cook, or clean up, or shop or 'nuthin' like that!! Oh, I was VERY Thankful!!
The trip home was a different story. since dgd's team made it to the play-offs, we had a game on Sunday, so got a late start home. It took us 7 hrs instead of 4 because of the holiday traffic.
DGD's team played their hearts out, had lots of fun and came in second place.

We took Thursdays papers with us to read down there, and wouldn't you know, that is when they printed the story about my interview!! I called dear Linda to wish them happy turkey day, and to beg for more copies of the story. Bless her heart! She had already begun to collect some. If you want to read it, send me your address by PM and I'll send you a copy. I have not been able to find it on the paper's website. It is a very nice article, they made a full page story in a magazine section of the paper. She included my thoughts, as well as those of my sister's (which I hadn't heard, had to read those in print.) and a picture of me making the pins.

RE: dear sis, she is going back to work this week if the Dr. releases her today. They are trying now to regulate her blood, they had her on blood thinner which made her blood to thin, so now are trying to counteract it. Her latest scan shows the tumor in her lung smaller but has lymph nodes that are larger. I don't think that is a 'good thing'. She is a very tuff kid sister though!

It feels like I've been gone a week, so much to do!
ttyl

Janet, you are so sweet ... and yes, we had a wonderful time with my sisters, b-i-l and Dad, and that's what counts. We had a safe trip home (about a 9-10 hour drive) and in spite of the gourmet meals in NO, we both managed to maintain somehow! I guess it was all the walking; Dh and I got up early each morning (the rest of our family likes to sleep late) and walked a few miles along the riverwalk or in the mall.

Your week sounds pretty busy, but lots of fun too! I've never heard of mystic bowling, how intriguing! And the singing tree sounds wonderful; wish I could see it. Have fun working with the children's choir! I'll bet you have a lovely voice, too, you just won't admit it to yourself!

Linda, hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Is your remodeling project finished now?

JOYce, sounds like the tournament was a real success (in spite of the traffic jams)! Congrats to your dgd on their winning second!
I thought of you and your dh when we were in New Orleans, especially when we passed the riverboat! We so enjoyed getting to meet y'all. I am glad to hear your sister's tumor is smaller; I hope the lymph nodes will be all right soon. She is in our prayers.

And yes, I would love to read the article! I will PM with an address, and will send the copy back to you after we read it. Thanks so much!

Carol, I hope you'll get enough time off at Christmas from your new job so you can have some much-deserved R&R!! I'm so glad that you enjoy this new position so much. Interesting that so many of the others from the old job have now left! I wonder if they'll figure out why they're losing everyone.

I too wonder how Texaslady is; it's not like her to be this long absent. I think I'll look through my old email msgs and see if I can find her phone number to call tonight. Sure hope everything's ok.

Not much happening here. We're still busy unpacking and taking care of loose ends. Christmas is right around the corner, and I haven't finished shopping yet, much less decorating! Today is cold and wet, so it'll be a good afternoon to stay inside and straighten up!

Hope everyone has a great rest-of-the-week! Hi to Tonya and Lilithu! Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Jan

Hello Ladies, how is everyone doing.

I am hear, I didn't do too bad on Thanksgiving. I went 6 points over. I went to my WW Meeting on Wednesday the day before but I made the mistake of eating dinner while I was driving over there and my weight didn't change on their scale. But earlier in the same day I was two pounds lighter on my own scale. Today I weighed myself and I weigh 230. That is a 14 pound loss. Hopefully I will show a loss tomorrow when I weigh in and I wont make the mistake of eating right before the weigh in. I want so desperately to get into the 220's by Christmas. Wish me luck!

Tanya, good job on having lost 14 pounds already, that is just great!!

Jan, you asked about our new room -- we moved the three bookcases in and reshelved them last week, dh built and installed the additional bookcase which runs the length of another wall under the window, the ceiling fan is up and running, and we ordered the carpet today. It will be finished by Christmas. It is looking wonderful! We found a paperweight that looks like a giant aspirin in a catalogue and ordered it; looks like we are *more* than set. Thanks for asking.

Texaslady, where are you? I miss your posts.

Hi Tonya! Fourteen pounds, wow, you are doing so well; I know you'll make it into the 220s by Christmas! And sometime this spring, you'll be in onederland! I remember how exciting that was. I'll bet you're already feeling more energy, too, and clothes are fitting better.

Linda, how great that your project will be finished by Christmas! That's a lovely gift y'all are giving each other. Are you going to decorate the room for the holidays too?

Not much happening around here. Dh and I will go to WW this Saturday, where I hope to make my December WI okay. It's cold here, but the rain has stopped and the skies are lovely; we may get our first freeze Friday.

Hi to Texaslady, Carol, Janet, JOYce, and Lilithu! Sure hope we haven't lost Lilithu. And I didn't find Texaslady's phone # last night, but will keep looking; hope she's ok!

Regards,
Jan

Greetings, I've just re-joined WW for the 2nd time. This time it is the online version. I had done eDiets for a while, but my husband got laid off and I had to quit. He's laid off again this winter, but my grandmother sent me Bday money and I am using it for this. I got into the local newspaper and was just horrified by how fat I was. I have 99 pounds to lose.

It is incredibly hard to keep with a diet when your non-diet husband can sit and eat a half gallon of ice cream at one sitting. That is not to say he is small, he just doesn't care.

Kelly

Welcome Kelly! Pictures tell it all, don't they!
I checked out your profile and homepage. WOW! You are a busy girl! We have a few birds , but nothing like you do! Our favorite is charlie, a cokatiel that we hatched, and must be almost 20 yrs old! He sings Happy bday, and lives in an aviary with two parakeets. We also have finches.
I don't need to tell you how inspiring and encouraging these gals can be, you have obviously seen that for yourself.

The holidays are turning out to be a bigger challenge than I feared. Seems to be food everywhere! People cannot socialize without the stuff!! This too, shall pass....a month from now, I'll have another excuse.

I have to get the house cleaned up today, the Bible study group is having their Dec. luncheon here. They bring the food, I just supply the home, and drinks and plates etc.

Just 10 days til youngest DD and her DD arrive for a 3 week visit.
so nice to have a guest room now! I just need to get 'Xmas' off the bed! will get packages mailed early this week.

Sure is quiet around here, guess everybody is busy with Xmas stuff.

Thanks JOYce. They're work but a lot of fun, and the cockatiels are a lot of fun. I have 8 of them on a huge network of playpens.

Also, I think those that scorn buffet's or take-out holiday dinners for that matter aren't the ones up at 3 AM putting the turkey in the oven!

OH Geez. My husband is taking a bartending course so I'm being bombarded by trivia. LOL!

Hope everyone is enjoying the lull before the storm. We're going up to a friend's for a German feast for Christmas, so I probably should have started banking points in September ;-)

Kelly

Welcome Kelly! Great to meet you! How wonderful that you are working to save those sweet birds. Our family has always had a soft spot for birds, especially cockatiels. My sister had a very outgoing cockatiel through her high school, college, and post-college years; they were inseparable. Barney would even ride planes home with her, in his own little travel home, and would sit on everyone's shoulder, with free reign of the house. And I had a shy little white cockatiel, Crystal, for many years. She loved to have her head scritched, as you say! What wonderful work you are doing to help these lovely, complex little creatures!

And congratulations on joining Weight Watchers; it's really a terrific program. You have the same amount of weight to lose that I did. And like you, I had also tried WW before, but this last time, the points program really did the trick. I reached my goal a year and a half ago, and have maintained it since. I know I'll never go back, because I've changed so many things in my life for the better. And I know you will, too!

JOYce, I didn't realize y'all had so many birds! I know that you give them a loving home; you are such a giving person. During this busy holiday season, though, remember to put a high priority on your own health and well being. That's the best gift you can give your wonderful family, after all! (I'm glad to hear you're letting other people do the cooking at that luncheon.) Have you been able to go to that water aerobics class lately?

Dh and I went to San Antonio today, to the WW meeting and then shopping. I somehow managed to weigh in under the limit again, yay! But I really do want to go a bit lower than the WW goal, which I set at the higher limit of 155. I think I need to exercise more, and stop using this cold weather as an excuse!

Guess I'd better get busy, have to practice tomorrow's hymns (and throw in a few Christmas carols) and wash clothes. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Regards,
Jan

I just thought I'd drop by and check on how you're all doing. First of all I want to say how impressed I am by JanetMae. I haven't logged in for ages and I really should be ashamed of myself, and still I see you haven't forgotten about this little belgian girl.
Very nice to see.

Well, for those who still remember me, I'm still totally OP! I can't believe it, I can not remember that I've ever been on a 'diet' this long. And it's still going quite good, I don't have a lot of difficulties, actually. Since 21 September I've lost about 27 pounds, and boy, do people notice! I feel great, and because I believe I've done quite well I'm going to give myself a treat. Wednesday I'll go shopping, I really do need new clothes, 'cause they are getting way too big. *big smile* And! For the first time in quite a while I'm going to allow myself to eat belgian fries. 'Cause they're not french, they're belgian, dammit! We belgians are just way to modest to claim them. But they are the best in the world, and I feel like I've deserved it. And I'm not even going to count points for them.

I sometimes find myself wondering what I will be like in about a year from now... I have never been thin, and I can't imagine what I would look like.. My friends are getting quite scared now that they see that I'm really doing this and that I'm really determined to loose weight. All of it. They fear that I will undergo this big change, and I'm sure I will, but not in a negative way. I'll still be lilithu.


Apart from that I started freelancing for an internet magazine, and I love it. So things are looking great at the moment.

Well, since I'll be doing a lot of work from home I'll be sure to check these boards more regularly, to see how you're all doing and such.

Lots of love to all of you!

lilithu

Hi, Lilithu, good to have you back on the thread again -- my goodness, you are doing so well! Congrats on all of the weight you have lost, keep it up.

Kelly Q, welcome! You will find that the ladies on this thread are very supportive and positive, especially our unofficial cheerleader, Jan.

Speaking of same, Jan, I hope that you can get ahold of our missing texaslady to find out how she is doing. Hope all is well with her and her family.

The carpeting is being installed tomorrow in the new library, then we'll move the furniture into the room. I am so excited! It is so neat to sit here in the family room and be able to look through the wide arched doorway into the room. It really opens up the family room. Next, dh wants to do some work on our family room! (too many "rooms" in those sentences.) He wants to put wainscotting up all around and redo the fireplace -- wheeee!

Lilithu, so great to hear from you! I am in awe of your losing 27 pounds since September! That is so wonderful; no wonder everyone is noticing. Be sure to tell us all about the new clothes you buy Wednesday! And re: the Belgian fries, I think it's important not to deny ourselves the things we really enjoy, in moderation, or then the program really does become a diet and not a lifestyle change. (I had Belgian fries when I was in Brussels years ago, and they were *delicious*!) Congrats on the new gig with the online magazine!

Linda, how exciting that your new library is so close to finished! (Wow, wish I could borrow your DH for a while! ) Though I have to give my dh credit, as he did install a light over our breakfast table today; there has been a cord hanging out of the ceiling there for 23 years!!

I emailed Texaslady just now, as I still can't find any phone number; will let you know when I hear back. Hope all is well with her, and her DD.

Dh and I are enjoying this rainy afternoon watching Anne of Green Gables (that Nova Scotia scenery is so wonderful!). It's fun being lazy like this, but tomorrow's Monday! Oh well! (Actually, I enjoy my job, so I guess I can't complain.)

Hope everyone else is having a great Sunday!
Regards,
Jan

Jan, you are even nicer than I realized, to have had a cord hanging over your breakfast table for the past 23 years!

My dh is very handy, he built our first color TV set.

Make it a good Monday, everyone!