If you have 50 or more pounds to lose, jump on it and join us. You will be sure to get a warm welcome!

TGIF, girls!

Carol - Good luck with the baby's surgery today. Let us know how he is doing. Glad you got some spring-like weather.

Jan - Have a great time on your vacation next week. I hope you don't have any trouble getting into Spokane - or in getting your dh into the kayac! I bet he's up to it!! Anyone who would venture into Mexico with 4 babbling women shouldn't have any trouble with a kayac! I know your Dad will be anxious to see your sister - how nice that she could come and provide care while you take a little time off!

Janet - OK - We didn't hear from you last night. Am worried about your comments. Let us hear from you. We had terrible storms last night - and I think the are headed your way. Be careful today & check in when you can.

Joyce - Good luck at your new WW meeting today! I hope it will give you the impetus you need to get back OP. Glad you and Linda had a fun time yesterday - I see she is eating healthy! How funny about the vice-principal!! See, he's just another caring person doing volunteer work now! He can't be TOO bad!

REbecca - WAY TO GO, GIRL! Gosh, you are our shining star these days - you are doing SO WELL!!!! I admire your fortitude and your determination. Good going!

Saara - Sounds like your cruise was great fun! And I think it is wonderful you have a "crush"! Life always moves on - sometimes in a whole other direction that we planned. That's what makes it so interesting! Now if he's a smart boy, he will step up to the plate and make a move! As to being younger - well, my dd has almost always dated younger guys. Fact is, her fiance is 18 months younger than she is!

Kendra, Liz, Nancy(s), hope you have great plans for the week-end. Let us hear from you when you get the chance. My time to go now. Will check in again later.

Hey everyone! I'm sorry that I never got the chance to post last night...and for worrying Texaslady. Krysten and some of her friends are leaving Saturday for Gulf Shores for spring break, so I was trying to help her get some things together after she got home from work. After cooking supper and cleaning up the kitchen, I made the mistake of sitting down in my big, comfortable chair...and of course I fell fast asleep. I may be following the kids down to Gulf Shores tomorrow and come back Sunday afternoon. My daughter's boyfriend had a friend going with him who had to cancel and he was supposed to take his vehicle. Now they are worried that all the luggage and groceries won't fit into the one car...so I thought that would be the perfect excuse to follow them down there so that I could make sure that they arrived safely. This will be the first time that I have allowed Krysten to venture off so far with her friends. These are very responsible kids, and I trust all of them, but the driving part scares me. I don't think the kids are too keen on the idea of me going...even for one day...so I may stay home. Tim's (Krysten's boyfriend) mother and fiance are going to be down there for the weekend and they want the kids (and me if I go) to meet them at FloraBama. It's this bar on the line between Florida and Alabama. I haven't been there in years, but from what I can remember it is kind of wild. I'm not crazy about the idea of the kids going there, so I may need to go just to chaperone that!

Another reason that I really need to stay home is because of my poor cat, Motley. Y'all know how much we love our pets, but I did something terrible and it cost Motley his eye. About two weeks ago, Tim had his little puppy at our house (at my request). The next day when Tim came over, he noticed that something was wrong with Motley's eye. I made the comment then that I hoped the puppy hadn't accidently scratched the cat's eye. Anyway, I really thought that it was some kind of allergy (which Motley has had before) and so I tried doctoring it myself with some medicine that I had left over from the last time. I knew that it wasn't really getting any better...and here is the really awful part...but I kept thinking how I really didn't have the money to spend at the vet right now. I had just spent over $200 on Motley a couple of months ago. Anyway, I continued to monitor the eye but then on the Saturday before I was leaving for Texas I noticed that his eye looked much worse. Now comes the next awful thing that I did...the vet closes at noon on Saturdays and I was going to get my hair cut, so I decided to wait until Monday morning on my way to work to take him to the vet. Well, by that time it was too late. Although it didn't really look that terrible on the outside, there was infection on the inside. The vet tried for a week to save the eye, and when I returned from Texas he had even left a very encouraging voice mail. However, when I called Monday morning he told me that there was no hope and that he was going to have to remove the eye. I felt sooooooooooo terrible. I knew it was all because of my selfishness. Motley had the most beautiful gold eyes, and now he will live the rest of his life with only one. He came home Tuesday and acts like he doesn't know the difference. He was so happy to be home and follows me everywhere I go...and just purrs and purrs...but I think about what a terrible person I am everytime I look at his face. He was innocent and depended on me and I let him down...and to top it all off the vet bill was $479.18!! There is a picture of him at www.picturetrail.com under the Kudzu album...but it doesn't really show how pretty and bright his eyes really are (were). I cry everytime I think about it.

I've got to leave for a few mintues to attend a meeting, but I will try to finish posting later today. There have been so many new posts and I want to respond to everybody individually. I also noticed how many "views" we have had. I want to reiterate what the others have said to all the "lurkers" out there. Please come and join us...and I promise that my posts are usually much more upbeat.

Janet (Kudzu)

Hi y'all!!! TGIF is here!!
My little sweetie's surgery went fine, and he was SO good! I swear, he is the best little thing! He was just as good as gold all the way (1 hr in rush hor traffic) to the hospital, and all the way back. And once we were home, he was chirping and chattering and playing like always. The nurses fell in love with him- he has these big blue eyes with really long eyelashes, and a smile that lights up his whole face. Anyhow, enough of the biased grandma stuff- the procedure only took about 5 minutes, and less than a half hour after it was over we were allowed to take him home. The doctor said the fluid behind his left ear drum was so thick he could hardly suction it out- it's no wonder the poor little guy was having so many problems!
Joyce, how'd your WW meeting go? I know you'll be right back on track in no time!
Texaslady, I think you are right- any many who could tote, fetch and tolerate 4 babbling females (3 of them perfect strangers!) should be able to handle any old kayac!!! I hope your storm pattern has passed so you can enjoy the weekend!
Janet, one of the local stores here had fresh asparagus on sale this week and I bought a bunch! Fly on up to BWI and I'll fix you some!!!

What's everybody got planned for the weekend? I've got babysitting detail for a few hours each day while my dd works- my ds-i-l is out of town again this weekend. Other than that, this is chore weekend. I'd hoped to get to trader Joe's, but it doesn't look like it will work unless I want to drag the baby along- which I don't.

Hi to Saara, Jan, Kendra, Liz, Nancy x2, Rebecca and anyone I may have missed! Have a great weekend, everyone!
Carol

Janet, I am so sorry about Motley's infection, but I wish you wouldn't blame yourself so! It's *not* your fault that things worked out that way. Infections are so complicated, there's no way you could've known it was so bad; it could just as easily have turned out to be an allergy or a scratch. And Motley seems to be handling things quite well; he's a very lucky cat, to live with someone who loves animals as much as you! No wonder he follows you around purring!

Carol, it's so great that your little sweetie's ear procedure went so well! I'm sure having his grandma there with him made it all go very smoothly. Enjoy your fresh asparagus this weekend; mmm, my favorite veggie of all time! We have a few in the garden that are starting to come up, but the poor things never make it to the table because we eat them right there!

Texaslady, tgif, indeed; what a week this has been! Just found out my boss wants Internet connectivity in the new building several weeks ahead of schedule, like on the day we get back from spring break! So I guess I'll be back up here tomorrow working on that project. Sigh. Can't wait to escape to Canada!

Hi to Saara, JOYce, Nancy, Nancy in TC, Liz, Kermit, Rebecca and Linda! Have a great weekend!

Regards,
Jan

Oh, Janet - (((((((hugs))))))) I am sorry to hear about your kitty's eye! I know how that tears you up inside - you are so kind and empathetic. But you really had no way of knowing how very serious things were. The most wonderful things about pets are that they love us unconditionally. Motley loves you and he certainly doesn't have the capacity to "blame" - he just a very fortunate kitty to be surrounded by so much love. I think you are going to just have to forgive yourself on this one and move on. We are always hardest on ourselves, aren't we? I know you are worried about the kids on spring break - that's a real trauma for parents. There is just so much opportunity for them to be influenced by others when they are surrounded by so many using bad judgment. This is the time you have to rely on the values you have taught your daughter all her life. We all know whether our kids are inherently trustworthy or not - and I think that yours is. If she weren't, you would know it by now!

Carol - so glad your sweet boy is OK now. I knew he would make it through like a trooper - just like his Grandma!

Janet - Sorry you have to work right up to the minute you leave on vacation! That's crummy. I hope you get to enjoy a little time with your sister before you leave. Have a wonderful time and tell us all about it when you get back.

Girls - I need some help. I have the pictures back from last week-end and I spent hours at the computer last night trying to scan them in. I managed to get an image on the screen but couldn't figure out how to save it onto my hard drive. The scanner I have has horrible software - very few instructions. Do you know if I can purhcase just a software program which would work with any scanner or do I need to purchase a new scanner with better software? Carol, I know you told me what kind you have - started with a "J" I think. Is it idiot-proof? Does anyone have any recommendations. I would love the share the pics with everyone on the board.

Got to go - errands to run. Hi to everyone checking in. Joyce, how did your meeting go?

Good Morning Everyone!

Janet- I am so sorry about your kitty cats eye. And it is not your fault, so do not blame yourself. I myself have three little critters and I love them dearly, but sometimes the thought of taking them to the vet, etc. just leaves my mind. We all do it. And Motley loves you unconditionally, the purrs indicate that.

Carol- Glad to hear everything went so well with your little sweetie!

As for me, nothing much going on today. Am suffering from a sore throat and my ears are a little sore today too. Tried to knock the cold out before it came, but it looks like my attempts to do that were thwarted by the evil cold demons. So today it looks like I may just rest and relax! No complaints here.

I have to tell you all about my leader, she sent me the most wonderful postcard. She said how she is so happy for me and how it is so much fun to watch me lose and that goals are always within our reach. It just made me feel so good. She sure knows how to kick my determination into overdrive!

Well, you all have a great weekend!

Rebecca

Rebecca, how wonderful that you have such a great WW leader! That was so thoughtful of her, to send you the postcard. Sure hope you get to feeling better soon; take care of yourself, now!

Texaslady, sounds like you need a graphics program. There's a good one you can download at http://www.esc20.net/etsoftware/#graphics ; it's the first one on the list, Ultimate FX (freeware). If you go to Edit --> Source, choose your scanner, (which should be on before your computer starts up) and then go to Edit --> Acquire, you should be able to run the scanner. (Sounds like you've installed the drivers already.) Then once it has scanned, do a "save as" choosing JPEG as your format. It's also good to name the file something.jpg when you save it. Then it's all ready to upload to the 'net! Hope that works ..

Guess I've goofed off long enough; better get back to work so I can be home when my sister arrives tonight!

Regards,
Jan

Hi ladies! I just got my pictures back from the get together- they are on picture trail under rymsh- the 50 or more get together album- if anyone wants to check them out.
Janet, I'm so sorry about your kitty's eye, but try not to blame yourself. In the first place, even if you had taken him the moment it happened you may not have been able to prevent the loss of the eye. And you are one of the most loving, caring people I know, and Motley loves you dearly and doesn't blame you at all! Animals adapt so quickly to an injury or disability- that's the way God made 'em. What did ou end up doing on the weekend? I don't blame you for worrying about your dd- it's the nature of us moms!!!But you know she's a good kid with nice friends, and I'm sure all will be well and they will have a wonderful time! I know you will miss her, though!
Jan, I'm sorry you have to work so hard right up to departure time! Now remember this is a vacation- don't go taking work with you!!! Did the thing I emailed you about get resolved?
Rebecca, I'm sorry you're not feeling well- there is so much stuff going around everywhere! What a terrific WW leader you have!
Texaslady, my scanner is a Visioneer 8100 one-touch, and it seems to be pretty idiot-proof (since I can manage it!!) The bigget problem I had was finding the stuff once I scanned it and then exporting it to another file in jgp (or is it jpg?) format. A friend sort of talked me through it the first time- I can't take credit myself!

Well, I've been on here forever scanning those photos, so I'd better run. Tomorrow I've got my little sweetie all morning- my dd has to play at 2 churches, and her dh is still out of town,
Have a good Sunday, everyone.
Carol

Good Sunday Morning, Everyone!!

You know all the counts of "views" of the thread? Well half of them were me!!! Oh, I've been reading and checking in all week. But I didn't sit down to reply because, (can I be honest?) I want to reply to everyone's posts-- just like you all do. But sometimes I can't keep up with all the news, and sometimes I can't think of the right thing to say, and sometimes I don't have the time, and most times, if I can't reply to EVERYONE, I feel I shouldn't reply to ANYONE. Seems dumb now that I see it in print, but I don't want to miss anyone. The fact that so many of you respond to everyone is the reason this board is so nice. You all are so welcoming and show concern for each of our activities. You are a great group of women!

And the Tex-Mex Foursome are all good-looking! I really enjoyed seeing the pix on picturetrail. My first reaction was to ALL THAT SUNSHINE!!!!! On a scale of 1--10 that was a TEN!!!! I could just feel the warmth! Hmmmm... maybe that was the good feelings RADIATING off the Foursome??!! Like I said.. a great group of women!

Janet, my heart goes out to you about your pootsy-cat. I would feel the same way you do. But dear Janet... go easy on yourself. Reread your posts and see how busy you were...you were stretched to the max! I don't see how you could have worked it in. You couldn't have added any more things to your already mile long "to do" list. Sure your heart goes out to the pootsy. But Praise God, Motley made it, and you still have him/her around to hear the content purring and no doubt to trip over!! Oh it is so hard to manage when we love so much.

Carol, your sweet dumpling is a cutey!! He is precious. I'm glad the ear tubes went well. My oldest suffered from recurring ear infections when he was a toddler. We never pushed for ear tubes and doc didn't either. But I am still beating myself up over it 12 years later. I have to think, that hearing muffled sounds for so long so early in his speech formative years, contributed to my son's speech problems. His speech was "unintelligible" to non-family members when he was 3-4 yrs old. It was baby-talk-- partial sounds for words. He was in speech therapy for several years to get his articulation up to speed. But bad habits were formed and he still mumbles to this day. Yeah yeah... that's typical for a 15 year old but with him it is more "pronounced"-- pardon the pun! Anyway... glad your sweetie bounced back so quickly!

Rebecca, Bravo to you for your continued progress!! And how wonderful your WW leader sent you a postcard of encouragement!

It brings up a pet peeve of mine that WW is "stingy." I guess our weekly fees pay for administrative costs and program booklets, but I can do the math: 50 people march in for weigh-ins, plunking down $10--12 each. My meeting location has two weigh-ins that morning. That's about $1,000. Multiply that times a gazillion meetings and it is a great money making business. But to think that WW Int'l can't give their leaders a photocopying or postage account so the leaders can do handouts and other forms of encouragement. Good leaders, like Rebecca's, have to pay for stuff out of their own pockets. Good members, like us(!), have to find our own sources of encouragement to maintain our motivation and collect good ideas and recipes. I am glad I found so many good sources of material from WW members on the web. But I sometimes wonder what WW gives us in return for our fees. Oh, well... let me catch my breath, and climb off my soap box!!

Speaking of meetings.... at my weigh in, I stayed the same. Would have liked a loss, but at least it was not a gain! I know I had better put those tasty, chewy, red Swedish Fish candies away (apologies to you, Saara!!). And I had better get my journal out of my purse!! I know that when I try to "remember and keep a mental count of my points" it just doesn't work.

Well let me enjoy my pseudo-sunny NJ day. Folks are getting Spring Fever out here. Saw some folks in shorts yesterday enjoying the high-40degree sunny temps! Stop shivering at the thought Texaslady, Jan and Janet!!

Guess I had lots to say to lots of folks with lots of time to put it all together!!

Hi to Kendra, Liz, Nancy in TC, and Saara!!

Good morning, everyone!

Nancy - don't EVER stay away because you don't have the time to reply to everyone's post!!! We just love it when you check in and say Hi! I hope we are not scaring off others who might feel a bit overwhelmed with our lengthy posts! Above all, this is a support group - and if we visit in between its because we have all been on here so long we have gotten to be good friends as well. So even if you only have a few minutes, stop by and let us know how you are doing. You don't have to "talk" to everyone! And good for you for staying the same this week - sometimes that's a really good thing! I'm glad you liked our pictures. All that sun was only in Laredo and in Mexico. It was dreary and rainy all the way from Houston to Jan's place and almost all the from there to Laredo. The sun came out just as we got to the border! Good timing. Jan's dh kept telling us it wouldn't be raining in Mexico - and he was right.

That goes for anyone else who may be lurking! Some of us are just gabby - doesn't mean we ALL have to be! Stop in and say Hi and stay a few minutes.

Jan - I downloaded the graphics program you gave me but now I can't open it. I turned off the computer and re-booted thinking that was the problem but it didn't help. The icon is on my desktop and the program is on my hard drive. I note it downloaded as a zip file - does that make a difference as to why I can't open it? Guess I will once again try to make sense of the stuff that came with my scanner. What's that old adage - you get what you pay for? Now I know why the scanner was cheap.

Carol - I got my pictures too! Some of them are the same as you posted but I do have a couple different ones. If I can ever figure out how to save the images I scan, I will put them on picturetrail too.

Gotta run over to Mom's for a little while. Will check in again later. Hi to everyone checking in -

Well, it has taken me the whole dang day but I finally have an album up on picturetrail. It took me 3/4 of the day to figure out how to save the scanned images. I finally gave up and uninstalled my scanner software and then reinstalled it. Whatever - that worked! Then I had to figure out how to get it to picturetrail!!!

You can go to www.picturetrail.com and enter "texaslady1" to get to the pics. Can you believe they already had a "texaslady" registered - THE NERVE!!! Anyway, don't forget the numeral "1" after texaslady or you will be looking at a whole different album! :laughing:

Now that my brains are scrambled and my back hurts from sitting here most of the day, I think I will go take a long hot shower and see if I can stand upright again!

Good morning everyone! Another work week rears its ugly head!
I didn't do anything special on the weekend (especially compared to being in Texas and Mexico last weekend !!) Saturday I had the little guy here for a couple hours, and then he and my dd and I went out to lunch and to "Toys R US" to get him a "poor baby" gift or 2 for being so good on the day of his surgery. Then yesterday I watched him for about 5 hours while my dd worked. So that was about it. He's doing great, though- he seems to feel better since having the tubes in and all that pressure behind his eardrums released.
NJNancy, I'll second what Texaslady said- you don't have to address each one of us whenever you stop by- it's great when you can, but the main thing is we just like to hear from you, even if it's only a word or two! I'm not from the south, but I'm not sure I want to be in shorts when the temps are in the 40's either!! My son-in-law would, but not me! Staying the same on your weight beats a gain! And you are right about journalling- it really makes a difference. Not only does it help make you aware of what you ate, it gives you something to look back on to see what you did right on weeks where you have a big loss.
Texaslady, I enjoyed the pictures, even if it did take you half your life to get the site going!:laughing: You'll be an old pro by the time the wedding comes!

Hi to Janet, Saara, Joyce, Jan, Rebecca & Kendra. Nancy from TC & Liz, where are you guys??? Hope I didn't miss anyone- I'm not too alert yet!
Have a good, op Monday, everyone! Talk to you later.
Carol

Carol and TexasLady-- Thanks for the words of encouragement regarding posting.

Carol-- I chuckled at your story of getting your precious one a "poor baby" toy for getting through his ordeal! You are setting a good example by doing a nonfood reward!!

Have a good Monday, everyone. I plan on drinking my water today and all this week.

Well, its a rainy, thundery morning in my part of the world this am. Will make the commute to work SO enjoyable - NOT!

Carol - so glad the little guy is feeling so much better! And he certainly deserved a poor baby toy or two. I spent all day Saturday with my "baby" who will be 28 tomorrow buying her "birthday" toys! The toys certainly increase in cost as children increase in age (that's no surprise to any parent reading this)! Mostly we purchased clothes - she HATES TO SHOP - how weird is that for a girl! Mostly because she has such a hard time finding things to fit - it must be AWFUL to be a size 4!!!! Anyway, we finally found some denin shorts - which is what we went for. Of course, the only ones which fit were $40 each but after she tried on 20 pair to find 3 that fit, I wasn't going to quibble over price!

Nancy - glad you checked back in. Hang in there with the water and the journal. I need to get myself back to serious journaling - I don't think 2 days a week is doing me much good!

Guess Jan is off on her vacation today. Hope she has a terrific time and great weather! Although I think it might be a tad cool in Canada this time of year!

Gotta go now. Everyone have a terrific week and remember - each passing day brings us closer to SPRING!