Morning everyone,
Aleka, shovel a path to that computer. Your well will be full all year from the sounds of it. We still have had no recordable moisture here. It is all around us, but we are like a doughnut hole. We've missed it all. I may have to go out and water the flower beds just to keep things from dying from lack of water. Now that would be a first, watering plants in January in Iowa. The cats are actually losing their winter fur, just like it's spring. I'm afraid they will be in for a bad surprise when winter finally hits here. They go in and out of the garage through a cat door DH installed for them last fall and it's heated, so they are ok.

Anne, back to work today? Poor Anne. I hope they do something about that and you guys have a next time. Another thing my old job would do with people like that is to reassign them to better jobs. That's the government for you, if someone screws up, give them a better job with more money. It happens all the time down here.

I feel better today, so I won't go to the Dr. I still have a runny nose and feel crappy, but my sore throat is better. My eye lids are starting to heal up too. I tried a different kind of cream on them yesterday as the antibacterial ointment was doing nothing but make my vision blur. I will be able to exercise today, just have to get in there and do it. Get up from the pc and move to another room, come on Nik, you can do it. I have had too much coffee. Just bought a new coffee maker and I'm discovering lots of different kinds of flavors. And a new joy of caffiene, obviously. Take care, and step careful today ladies!

ANNE, are you feeling any better? Hopefully it will be a good day at work for you.

nikki, you must be having really nice weather to be able to water your plants in Jan. I know what you are going through with lack of water. We had an awfully dry summer, but we seem to be making up for it this winter. We haven't had this bad of a winter in a long time. There was another storm yesterday, but stayed well south of us, and I believe there is another southern storm hitting someplace today...thankfully not here. Glad your sore throat is better, colds are very nasty.

Jennifer, how is the SB coming along? The reason I find it confusing, is that there are no guidelines to follow. I am hoping the new book will explain things a little better for me.

Hope you all had a great weekend.
Aleka

Hi Everyone!

I'm feeling better everyday now. I am however, very
nervous walking along on ice or slush or wet subway floors.
I guess it will take me a while to get over the experience
of falling

I really hope something happens to improve our work
enviroment. I find it incredible that in 2003 that such a
dreadful person would be put in charge. Maybe when the
survey results come out the top brass will get a wake-up call.
When passed me today she just put a pained expression
on her face and mumbled Happy New Year.

Nikkic, I am glad you feeling better. Its nasty business to be
sick!!

Aleka, we are getting more snow almost everyday this week!
My one son is happy because he shovels snow for the
neighbours and makes abit of money.

Are you folks going to watch Dr. Atkins tonight on Larry King?
I am going to tape it for sure.

Anne.

Just a quick note-
Aleka, tomorrow, it is suppose to be 59 degrees and the next day 66 degrees. I can't believe it's Iowa. I am afraid the plants will begin to think it's spring and start to bud.

Anne, I was afraid of stairs for over a year. I could not walk down them, I had to scoot on my butt down them. I can walk down them now, but for some reason my leg will not work right going down stairs so I have to kind of slide along the wall to get down them. If there is a rail, I can hold on to that, but I still have to take them one at a time. It takes awhile to get over fear. Give yourself time and don't feel bad or like you should try not to be. You will feel more confident as time passes. Our one shopping channels down here has these rubber shoe covers with cleat like things on the bottoms of them, you pull them on over your shoes and you can safely walk on ice. Have you seen them on your shopping channel? They look dorky, but so what. I bought a pair for me and my daughter. She use to have to walk to work in the winter and it saved her a few times.

Oh, I gave a testimonial on HSN (shopping channel) today. It was for the Smart Technique tapes, I was on at 1235pm. I got so nervous, I lost all the thoughts in my head and couldn't remember anything I wanted to say. They quit talking to me, so I thought I was done and hung up. Then they started to talk to me again and Mindy said, I think she hung up. It was the first time I've done that. What fun!

We are having a nice sunny day for a change, and I believe it's going to be a bit warmer.

Went to WW this morning, and it didn't do all that bad. I gained 1 1/2 lb over the holiday. Most everybody else was in the same boat, so I didn't feel all that bad.

nikki, Wow!!! You gave a testimonial on HSN!! I'm so sorry I missed it. What did you tell them about the tapes? Do they ask you certain questions to make sure you have positive things to say before putting you through to the host? One time Suzanne & Colleen were on I ordered something, and at the end they told me to hold on to talk to the show host. I was a and hung up. With all that great weather you're having....don't be surprised if you find me on your doorstep with bags in hand.

ANNE, glad that you're feeling better. I've got my fingers crossed that something will be done about your boss.
We seem to be getting a lot of snow showers which makes for messy driving.

Have a good day everybody.
Aleka

Evening everyone,
One of my new years resolutions is to be a bit more brave. I am naturally, a coward. I have also, begun to reclaim my house in the last couple of days. A few weeks before I broke my ankle, the main water line into the house burst. It was a long time before the water company came out here to turn off our water. DH tried, but couldn't, it had to be out in the street. Anyway, the basement and tons of things were soaked. I spent the next few weeks sorting and trying to salvage things. Then, after I fell down the stairs, that stopped. DH had no idea what I wanted to save and get rid of. He has no idea what's even down there, except for the washer and dryer. Now, 2 years later, I've begun to finally get back to it. I can not believe the mold, the dirt, the cobwebs and size of some of those spiders. I could have done this a few months ago, but it seemed like such a big, hard job, I just ignored it. The same garbage bags were sitting down there from 2 years ago. There is a bottle of muradic acid from when we had an above ground pool, 7 years ago. The thing has practically decomposed and is ready to burst. I have not even got to some parts of the basement. There is a closet under the stairs that I am afraid to go into. But, with the vacuum, rubber gloves and a brave heart, I will be going in. But, not tomorrow. The weather will be in the 60's and that will be a good day to wash a few windows and stay above ground.

Aleka, HSN's person asked me how long I'd had it and what kind of results I'd had. They were very nice. You can come over anytime. But if you do, be prepared to clean.

Hi Everyone!
Suzanne was on several of our news channels here in Toronto
today and on talk radio promoting her new book. I can't
beleive she is 56!!! Man, does she look great!

Something interesting about the Dr. Atkins interview on Larry
King the other night. He was mentioning low body temperature
as an indicator that your thyroid might not functioning as well
as it should.

Guess what, my temperature is alway between 97-97.5
degrees. It may be in the genes though, my dad has
the same temperature as me and he is quite trim.

Hope everyone is well.
Anne.

We got 4 more inches of snow overnight. They say that this will be the last in the series of little storms that have come through. I hope they're right.

ANNE, that's funny because my temp usually runs below 98.6 too. I had my thyroid checked a few yrs. ago, and it's normal. Suzanne has been on a few channels here too. On Mon. she was on the Today show. Katie Couric interviewed her, and it wasn't a very positive interview. At one point, Suzanne showed Katie the cream cheese pancakes, and Katie crossed herself, and when Suzanne showed her something else, Katie literally turned her nose up to it. Another time Katie said that Suzanne's WOE went against her beliefs. Needless to say, there were quite a few negative comments on SS's website re: the interview. The next day Suzanne was on The View, and that was a much better interview. As a matter of fact, at the end of the show, they gave everyone in the audience a copy of Suzanne's new book. She will be on HSN this weekend.

nikki, have you gotten to the basement yet? I really do have some cleaning out to do. I just have to make up my mind and throw things away. Even my closet has to be cleaned out. I keep finding other things better to do! Sure, I'll clean, but I don't do windows.

Where is everybody?

Have a great day everyone
Aleka

Hi,
Aleka, I think I've seen some of the people that were posting here on other threads. Also, probably the holidays have claimed a few back to no diet land.

I didn't see the interviews with SS, but I've been on the HSN boards, ever since you told me about them, and they were pretty p.o.'d about Katie C.'s attitude with SS too. Nobody had anything good to say about KC. I quit watching the news and news programs years ago. It just makes me anxious and upset. DH tells me if there is something I just need to know.

I recently read something about the thyroid. I just can't remember where right now. Anyway, it said that if you don't eat enough carbs, your thyroid hormone production will be reduced and send you into an artificial state of hypothyroidism. If you go to the Dr. and have it checked, they may start you on thyroid medication when you really don't need it, you just need more carbs. Seems like I remember something like that in Schwarzbeins books too. I'll have to go check it out. It's amazing what diet can do, either a poor or unbalanced diet. I'm not saying carbs or excessive carbs are good, just going too low for too long probably is.

DH and I went down and threw out 2 pick up truck loads of old clothes and crap from the basement yesterday. I also washed a few windows and the door windows, it was almost impossible to see out.

I've been reading a book called Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley. It is about getting your home and life in order. I started it because I needed some motivation to get stuff done, but it is also helping me internally. She says when you've got to clean something-closet, basement, whatever, don't think about what your going to do with something too long. Decide if it has any value for you-does it bring you joy, is it useful. If not or if it makes you unhappy-get rid of it. I've put off doing the basement because I was unable to make decisions about stuff down there. Like my mom and dads coats. I've had them for years and I didn't want to part with them. But they were practically desintegrated and were really in bad shape. I finally just tossed them, and it felt good. I also went through years of clothes that were hanging up. I always thought I'd have a big rummage sale and make money on them. When I got done, there was only one bag that was really worth messing with, there were over 15 bags of things that were too damaged or too old to even try to sell. So, I'm giving the good ones to Helping Hands and the rest went to the landfill.

Today, I'm doing very little. I will have to get back at it tomorrow.
Hey, I weighed myself this morning and I've lost 5 lbs. since the 1st. Anne, your going to weigh in a few days, right? I bet you'll be surprised too.

Take care, Nikki

Did you check out the SS boards after her interview with Katie Couric? If not, check it out, hopefully the thread will still be there. I'm wondering if KC got a ton of hateful e mails? It really was unprofessional what KC did. After I read your post I checked the HSN website to look at their posts. They weren't very happy with it either.

Hi Everyone:

Nikkic! Wow, 5 pounds That is so great. I will check
my weight on Saturday, while I have been good since the
first of January I really lived it up during the holidays

We are getting more snow here today and I am disgusted.
Naturally I am still creeping around because I am scared to
walk fast after my fall last Friday.

Dad went back to the doctor on Wednesday and he is
being referred to an Oncologist. His tumour is the size of a
quarter so its still quite small thank God. His cancer is called
squamous cell carcicoma. I hope it does not take too long for
the new doctor to book him in.

We will be so happy in the summer that we have done so great
on our diets ladies. YESSSSSSS!

Anne.

Hello everyone

Nikki-congratulations on the 5lbs That book you are reading "sink reflections" have you visited Martha Cilley's website yet? I am currently implementing the Flylady program into my home and am participating in the website's current declutter challenge.

So far I have tossed/recycled/given away 53 magazines, 10 cookbooks I've never used, and 35lbs of junk and old clothes-it's been very liberating

Anne-that's great that the tumour is so small- I hope your dad's doctor can take care of him asap

Aleka- I did not see the Today show but Katie Couric's behavior seems very unprofessional. I will check out the SS boards later tonight to see what is going on . BTW I love the new cookbook!

Hi to Jennifer, Ginamarie, SuGeorgia, Mandapanda and Tazcat!

Oh boy!

I just popped over to the SS site and I didn't see anything about the Today show. Maybe be am I not looking in the right place

I did however find a fight between one person and several others, full of drama and nasty comments This isn't the first time I've seen that over there and that is what makes me hesitant about posting on that site. I do however enjoy the other information and recipes.

I am so glad that the 3fc site is not like that I find the majority of people here very nice, friendly and supportive no matter what plan we follow. Glad to have all you on this little freestyle thread of ours

Morning everyone,
Mauvaisroux, I'm so happy to hear from you. Yes, I've gone to the website- www.flylady.net if anyone wants to look it up. It is helpful, but I find the book more organized or easier for me to get into. I get her emails all the time and her daily essays are great and very thoughtful and thought provoking. I've got my journal, haven't really started to do it right yet though. I do the 27 boogie fling every morning and it is very helpful. My sink is shiny all the time now, my home is no longer in chaos as I "bless" my home evey day now . I've still got a ways to go on the basement. But things are getting better everywhere. I have never even considered getting rid of any cookbooks. I did reorganize them. And tossed a few old cooking magazines. I will have to think about that later, when I have the basement done. There are books that no longer give me any joy and are not useful.
I haven't been over to the SS website for a long time. I found the arguing to be tedious and on going. I posted for awhile, but I finally just left. It is not a supportive environment like it is here. I feel freer to speak here, without fear of being scolded for making a bad decision with my diet, my life or whatever. Besides, there is you say anything against SS or the SS products, your going to be deleted.

Anne, I hope your dad's new Dr is able to give your dad more help and that he can get in soon. I've been reading a lot about diet, nutrition and cancer lately.

Aleka, has it quit snowing? We have had no moisture yet. But the weather is now cold and bitter outside and the sky is gray, so possibly we will.

I figured out yesterday that I passed the 50 lbs lost mark now. I am down 52 lbs. since starting. We had to go out to eat to celebrate that one. I'm a pound heavier this morning from that.
I really think this summer, I will be so much more comfortable.

Later, Nikki

nikki, congratulations on losing 5 more lb.! WA-HOO 52 lb. altogether. That's is so fantastic!!! You should feel soooo proud of yourself We got another inch of snow overnight. I had a dentist appt. this morning to get a tooth prepped for a crown, and it was a little hairy driving there.
I usually don't post on SS site, but I do read the posts to see who is arguing with who. You're right, it's not like this site at all where you can talk about other things that are going on in your life besides dieting. I heard this morning on one of the morning shows when they do the weather, that it's supposed to get colder in your area.

ANNE, are you feeling a lot better since your fall? That's good news that your Dad's tumor is small, they caught it in time. Hope the Dr. can see him soon. Has it been snowing there every day like it has been here?

mauvaisroux, glad to hear from you. The thread with the comments about the Today Show, was posted Jan. 7th and you'd probably have to go back a few days to view it. It's called, Suzanne on Today Show. I think I know the fight you're talking about on SS site. I couldn't get over some of the things that were said.

Have a great day everyone.
Aleka