Good Evening Ladies!!!!

I have not been around for awhile because.....I hurt my back at
work. I was lifting boxes full of my cash reports and I really did
a number on myself......

Seems the SARS Situation has come under control......Now all
the talk is centered on West Nile What next!!!!!

Nikkic, how was the tuplic festival????
Aleka, how has your weather been???
Cheryl, any kittens yet??

Miss you all.
Anne.

HI everybody,
We spent way too much money at the tulip festival, at least I did. DD bought me a beautiful Fenton cat (early mothers day) and I had to buy a vase to match it. It was way too much, but it was on SALE and that always does something to me. Plus, it was signed by all the Fentons, including the two that passed away last year, so I really wanted it. It has 2 goldfish painted on it and with the cat sitting next to it, it's just too cute.

Anne, I'm so glad to hear the SARS problem is resolving. At least with West Nile, you can spray yourself with insecticide. I'm really worried about it, this year especially with all the rain and flooding we're getting down here. How about you guys, are you getting soaked too?
I'm so happy I got my garden in when I did. Since then, it's rained so much, there would have been no way to have done it. Most of the seeds that I planted are up and looking good.
We were able to go mushroom hunting 3 times so far. I didn't think I would be able to, but when we were camping, I felt pretty good and I decided to just walk a little ways into the woods and see how I did. It was ok and the more mushrooms I found, the less I thought about how I felt. We've had several messes of them now, and we're getting kind of tired of them. (DD said she thought it was funny calling it a mess of mushrooms. I think it's kind of an old term and maybe southern, like mess of greens. But it's what everyone calls it around here when you eat mushrooms for a meal).The news said this has been the best mushroom season in 33 years, due to the rain. My DH can attest to that, his allergies are really going nuts.

Tomorrow is a new beginning. I'm going to get back on track and exercise first thing in the morning.
Really good to hear from you Anne, hope your back is getting better every minute. Was it muscle strain? Take it easy and let it heal.
Aleka, are you still there? How's your back? I'm sure the snow has stopped, but are you getting all this rain?
Cheryl, I saw your post, but couldn't post on it for some reason. How's things with you?
Bye for now, Nikki

I've been looking to see if you guys were going to come back.

Anne, sorry about your back. Has it healed any? Backs can be real tricky, so I hope you're taking it easy. Glad that SARS is getting under control. I heard on the news that they're trying to change things in China to stop the spread of it. Lets hope we've heard the last of SARS. Are you getting all this rain too?

nikki, did you get any of those tornadoes? I've been thinking about you and wondering. My back is a lot better, thank you for asking. I'm trying to get myself psyched up to start exercising again. DH has set the Gazelle up so that we can start doing it again.

Hi Cheryl,

Have a good Monday!
Aleka

Anne--hope your back is feeling better! No kittens, the lady who was gonna give them to me gave them to someone else instead

Nikki--fresh mushrooms----YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know what you mean about buying sale items. That's me, too!

Alice--glad to hear your back is better! Have fun on that gazelle!

Cheryl

Hi,
I'm fixing supper, but taking a break while things bake and steam. I'm making a pork roast, steamed carrots, and salads, very op.
The exercise has been going well and I'm doing it in the morning and evening, trying to get all in that I want to do, but not spend the entire morning doing it. I start with the Body Flex, I love those breathing exercises and its a great way to start the day, then either cardio sculpting with the hand weights or pilates and finishing with the gazelle, but I do the gazelle 15 in the morning and 15 min at night.
Aleka and Cheryl, I'm so glad you are still around, it's so good to hear from you.
We had tornados all around us and big hail, but we didn't get any. We did have more rain than I've seen in years and our yard was like a river. Our basement flooded, but since I have nothing on the floor anymore, all I had to do was wait for it to drain and then mop. I've had fans blowing on the floor since then, but it's still really wet. Old basements aren't good for much but growing mold and getting wet.
Got to go, and check on the food, take care, Nikki

Hi ladies! I'm glad nobody got any destructive weather. We had hail a couple of times, but nothing that caused damage. Anne, sorry to hear you hurt your back. My mom has back problems and it definitely changes a persons life! My back is ok, but it seems weak. I need to do some ab exercises but laying flat on the floor hurts something on my lower back. Feels like the back of my pelvis bones are crooked and one hits the ground. My mother told me that she has a book for bad backs that says to do Ab crunches in the bed, and it won't hurt the back to lay down. Has anybody done anything like that?

Nikki, are you doing pilates? That looks very graceful but very hard. There is a pilates magazine that I drool over. I want one of the tracks, it is $5000. Oh well! Maybe when I win the lottery!

Ok, better dash. (Hi Aleka!) I promised I would be off the computer an hour ago!

Jennifer, So glad to hear from you again. I do floor (mat) pilates, you don't need a machine for them. I bought a cheap tape, from Gaiam, it's a beginners tape. They are not easy, but they do get easier after awhile. It is great for toning the abs and working on the back muscles too. Winsor pilates tapes also looks good, but I just didn't want to invest that much to start with. The tape I bought was like $14 from Drugstore.com, but you could probably find it cheaper on ebay. Pilates are like exercises for dancers, but anyone can do them. They help to make your muscles long and lean, stretch you out and help your breathing. They also focus almost all the time on your abs, so it's great for that. I like to do them to warm up for the gazelle or just when I want to relax in the evening and stretch out after a long day.
I don't do the rolling exercises, where you roll on your back. I did that once and had to go to the chiropractor for 2 months to get a vertebrae back into place. I think I'm too old for that part of the pilates. But that's only a small part of the tape and I fast forward through that now.

It's another dreary day here. I hope this weather ends soon. It didn't get out of the 40's yesterday, and today doesn't look too promising either.

Jennifer, nice to hear from you again. It's been a long time! Are you still doing Sugar Busters?

nikki, your pilates sound very interesting. Do you really like doing them? I probably should do some sort of stretching exercises to limber up a bit where my joints and other areas are bothering me. Getting old really sucks! How is your eating going? What plan are you doing? I'm sort of mulling things over as to what I want to do, I keep see-sawing back and forth from WW to low carbing and back again. I did start walking again this morning. It was drizzling when I left the house, but started to rain about half-way through my walk. I brought my trusty umbrella with me. Actually, it was kinda nice, you know, when your cheeks feel rosy from the cold.

ANNE, how is your back doing? I hope you are starting to feel better. Flexall and a heating pad did wonders for me. Are you getting all this nasty weather, or is it nice and sunny where you are?

Cheryl, that's awful about the kitties, especially where you were promised them. Did she give you a reason why she did that? You are right though, there are a lot of homeless animals out there. I look at it this way, you just weren't meant to have those kitties. Another kitty is waiting around the corner for you.

Take care and have a good Tuesday.
Aleka

Good evening,
Aleka, I love Pilates. They hardly feel like exercise, but, when I first started them, it was hard and I was surprised at how much I couldn't do. On the tape that I have, there are 2 women. One does the beginners version, the other one does the more advanced version of a movement. This is a beginners tape. When I first tried it, I could only do a little of each movement. Now I can do all of them and the advanced version of most of them. Like I said before, I don't roll on my back. I can tell a big difference in my joints. My right knee use to crackle like rice crispies when I walked up stairs. Now there are no noises at all from it and it feels better. I also like that all of the exercises are done on the floor, easy on my ankles.
As for diet, I'm just watching my calorie intake at this point. I'm kind of tired of trying to not eat somethings. I'm avoiding most sugar and trying to keep my fat intake reduced. I'm not even really counting calories, just eating less. I have lost the 5 lbs I put on, so I think it's working for me right now.

Anne, I hope your doing ok. Are you taking it easy?

Cheryl, hope you find a kitty soon. I bought my cat (that has seperation anxiety) a cd for cats. It has soothing music and then some kind of subliminal stuff taped over that that is suppose to make her calmer when she's alone. It's funny, when I play it for her, she really listens to it. She looks at the cd player and then after awhile, falls asleep on the floor by it. She is getting calmer and feeling more secure, so her anxiety is easing too. I think she thought we were going to get rid of her when she first came here. She must have had a really hard life before she got here.
How is your diet going?
Later, Nikki

nikki, congratulations on your weight loss! How you are eating now seems to be doing well. Sometimes I think, that one gets tired of counting calories, points, etc. I know that I am tired of counting points and I am basically doing the same thing you are, just watching my portion sizes and carbs. That's great you are doing so well with the pilates. What is the name of your pilates tape? I really do need the stretching. Your kitten sounds soooo cute. I got a kick out of you buying a relaxation cd for her to calm her down while you're gone. I thought that was very nice of you to get the cd for her. Our neighbors leave the TV on for their dog.

ANNE, how is your back coming along? Have you gone to a Dr. for it? It usually takes a long time for your back to heal.

Hey Cheryl!

Have a great day everyone!
Aleka

Good Evening Ladies!!!
Sorry I haven't been able to post these last days but everything
that could go wrong did. On mothers day I found out that my
oldest son is sneaking around with the girl that erased all his
university homework files again!!! He doesn't know I know but
my husband and I are both plenty steamed.

On Monday morning we had a water pipe break and a huge flood..
it was a day I could not take off as my back-up was off on vacation. To make matters worse, my boss came around
with a new employee to introduce. I guess my face didn't look
very good so a few minutes later came back over to me
and told me off I had nothing against the new employee,
I was just ticked off because of the first two items I told you about and it showed. I feel like a jerk now. I treated this lady
very well ever after because I certainly have nothing against
her. My bad mood is what was showing on my face.

Nikkic!!Way to go with your weight loss Thats just
great!

Aleka, glad to see you back, I missed you. Our weather here
has been for the birds This weekend is suppose to be
lovely though. I am off until Tuesday Hopefully I
can get some peace and quiet.

Sorry to vent guys but this is a real shocker for me Her
parents don't like it any better than us. Danny is a good kid with
a great future. I just don't want to see him through his life away.

Anne.

Evening everyone,
Anne, I'm glad you posted, I was worried about you. What a mothers day and then a flooded basement too.
Before my DH and I started to see each other, we worked together and we were friends for a few years. He use to go out with a woman that was like your sons girlfriend. She was unpredictable, destructive and almost burned down his trailer once when she was mad (she went in and set a pan of grease on the stove on fire). I could never even tell you all the stuff she did, it would take way too long. I never understood why he kept going back to her. They would break up, she would do something horrible and then they would get back together. I kept asking him why are you doing this to yourself? He just said he loved her. Now he says he was nuts, but that he had some kind of need to help her. I think it's also because people like that are exciting and different. But in reality, the exciting and different part gets old pretty quick. Hopefully, your son will find that out too and get on with his life -with someone else. Wish I had some advice for you. Prayer works and leaving it up to God is the best you can do right now.

Aleka, the Pilates tape I have is Beginner Mat Workout, produced by Gaiam and I bought it from www.drugstore.com. I like this video and it does make suggestions for people with bad backs, but you do have to limit yourself and not overdo it.
I was reading in Prevention Magazine, about some yoga workout video's that are for people with back problems. If you want to order on line go to www.prevention.com/links or I will include the phone #. (Quoting from the magazine below, not my opinions)

Yoga for Inflexible People (DVD) $19.95-35 workouts ranging from 15-75 min. (877)746-8077

Yoga:Relief from Neck and Shoulder Pain (video) 419.95 (888)884-6028. Relieve tension, improve posture, and strengthen your neck gently and effectively.

Kripalu Yoga:Gentle (video) $14.95 (888)399-1332 Two gentle, flowing workouts including a meditation-in-motion and relaxation.

Back Care Yoga for Beginners (video) $10 (877)989-6321 Great workout using a chair to ease you into challenging poses.

I haven't tried these yoga videos, just thought you might want to check them out. I bought a couple of yoga videos from Amazon (not listed here) and wish I hadn't, they were just plain stupid. I use to do yoga when I was younger. It was 30 years ago and I learned from a show on PBS. My goodness, that's a long time ago. Anyway, yoga is another great way to stretch out and get your back stronger. Pilates is like yoga, but you don't hold the pose (movement) like you do in yoga.

We had a roofing contractor come over and give us an estimate on our roof. It was less than we expected. If they really can do it for that amount, we should be able to buy windows this year and put them in. Our windows now are so old and usless, in the winter it's aweful. The back bedroom had snow piled on the floor one time and the other bedrooms window was covered with ice on the inside. (The windows were closed too). This old house is kind of like something from the twilight zone, but it's home.

Hi, Cheryl, how's it going? Did you start your walking/jogging/running program?

Got to go, before they won't let me post this from having too many letters. Nikki

Hi,
nikki, thank you sooooo much for the info on the pilates and yoga tapes. I will definitely look into it. One Christmas DH bought me a yoga mat and some blocks, which are still in the box! I do have all these good intentions. The yoga for the back, and the neck and shoulders would do me a world of good because that's where my trouble areas seem to be. What are you going to have done to your roof? Someday we plan on having new roofing material put on, I honestly don't know the name of the material, I think it's called corrugated metal. It comes in different colors and the snow just slides off the roof. Last winter we had a buildup of ice that eventually leaked through to the ceiling.

ANNE, sorry you haven't had a good few days, then to have to endure your boss on top of all that. I'm sure the new employee understood your bad mood after you explained it to her. I don't know what to say about your DS, other than put it in God's hands and things will work out. If you say anything negative about his GF, then there is a chance he will rebel and keep on seeing her. Hopefully in time he'll get tired of her antics and end the relationship. Until then, just wait and hope.

Hi Cheryl, how are things going with you?

Have a good day.
Aleka

Good Morning Ladies:
Thank you all for your words of support. I think the hardest
thing to swallow in all of this with my son, is that this young
ladies mother use to work at my place of business. She still
maintains a friendship with several of my co-workers. This leaves
a bitter taste in my mouth believe me I am a person who
likes to keep my private life to myself and maintain a business
relationship with my co-workers. I have only one exception to
the rule. One of my co-workers takes my autistic child out each
and every Saturday to give me a break. She is an but
like me, with the others we work with, we like to keep things
business like. Right from the get go, my son knew I didn't like
this because of my co-workers being buddy buddy with this girl's
mom. This is all really complicated. I think my son thinks I don't
like the girl because she is a filipino. This is not true at all!! The
very last thing I am is racist, I will be happy with who ever he
decides to marry but this young girl can't be trusted. If she would
erase his computer files.........I always believe once bitten twice
shy. As you both know, things are even harder once you tie
the knot.

You guys are great with the exercise!!!
My back is slowly improving and I am back on my gazelle. I am
taking 2 Advil per day and it really helps.......I read that tip in
my home remedies book for inflamation problems.

Nikkic we have the pilates tapes but I don't know if I would dare
try it or if I should stick to my gazelle for the next few weeks.

Did you both here the good news that Toronto has now been
declared SARS free!!! The Stones are going to be giving a free
concert here in July to encourage the other entertainers not to
be afraid to come over.

Talk to you later!

Hi Cheryl! How are things?

Anne.

Hi,
Anne, I am so glad that your city is now SARS free. What a relief. That is great what the Stones are doing, are you going to be able to see them? As far a the pilates go, if you don't think you can do them, don't. If you do try them, just go slowly, don't raise your neck off the floor, use a pillow or leave it down.
Aleka, I have lots of exercise equipment that I never use. I think I will, then I don't. I did use the Orbitrek this morning. It's an eliptical machine. When I bought it, they said you could get as good of a workout on it in 20 min as you would if you used a treadmill for an hour. That is probably true, but they didn't say, it's really hard, which is why you can burn those calories faster. I'm lucky. When I first got it, I couldn't use it because my ankle won't bend that way. Now, after all this exercise and stretching, I can finally bend it again. Anyway, I rarely use the Orbitrek, mostly because it is hard.
Our roof is old and starting to leak. The wood under will have to be replaced too. The metal roofing your talking about is great, but we could never afford it. We may have enough to pay for the roof and new windows. Next year, siding, gutters and I'm hoping a new screened in front porch. With mosquitoes the way they are, a screened in porch is almost a necessity anymore.
It is still gray and cold here. My plants are looking yellow from too much rain and not enough sun. But, the sun is suppose to shine the next four days.
Bye, Nikki