Good evening GG's,

Boy, it has been a couple weeks since I have posted ~ time sure flies. I check in every day, but sometimes just don't have much going on to tell about.

I have been keeping busy making stuff. Finished a quilted pillow cover that my sister wanted me to make for her daughter to give her daughter. It has a picture in the center with the first part of the words to the song ~ You are my Sunshine ~ which has special meaning for them. Started another mini quilt for a gift and came up with an idea for a sister themed mini quilt for my sister.

Yesterday I tackled a big, much in need of being done, job. My sewing room had gotten to be a disaster ~ you could hardly move around in there ~ it kind of got to be a catch all place for stuff and when I needed something in a hurry, would just kind of push stuff around and make more mess and not have the time right then to fix it up. Jason (hopefully sometime soon) will begin working with a tutor to study for his GED and asked if they could work in there where it is nice and quiet. I had a bunch of boxes in there that I need to go through and decide what to keep, what to throw and what to give away. Then, I need to get the stuff I want to keep, organized. That is a big job that will take some time, so not going to work on that just yet. Anyway, I moved all those boxes and stacked them neatly in a corner of the living room and straightened up the sewing room, so Jason will be able to work in there.

It has been kind of a sad week. Jason called me in the middle of the night on his way home from work the other night and said he was grieving. I thought Dear God, what now. He shared that a friend from when he was a teenager had passed away unexpectedly. The father of this friend called to tell him. She had had a hysterectomy maybe a week ago ~ so not sure rather it was some kind of complications because of that or what. She was Jason's same age 39. Too young. They talked often on the phone ~ she was up at the hours he was coming home from work and they would talk then.

Then later that same day, I was at the doctor ~ while waiting for her to come in, I was on my phone looking at Facebook and found a post that a former coworker (lady who had been the charge nurse on the weekends I worked as the secretary) had passed away unexpectedly. She was only 40 and left a middle school aged girl and two younger children. So sad.

I did run some errands today, but otherwise, haven't gotten anything done really. Head has ached all day ~ not horrible, but enough to where I don't feel like doing much of anything.

We got a new Walmart that is closer to us (just 5 miles from home) than the other ones in the area. There had been talk of an Aldi also coming in that area, but so far we hadn't seen one. But the other day when I was out, there it was being built ~ right across the street from that new Walmart. Yippee. Now, if they would just build a Dollar Tree in that same area ~ I'd be all set. Those are my most frequent stops. I would have to go back to the other area if I wanted Joanne Fabrics or Hobby Lobby, but I don't go to those as often.

Mary ~ that was good that Kohl's would replace your watch. Hope you get caught up on your rest and that you will be able to get over that cold. Glad you are back home and had a nice trip.

Carol Sue ~ I hope you can get the screen shot thing figured out. That would be pretty cool to win that gift card.

teati (Marian) ~ glad your drive is staying strong. Keep it up.

thatsok (Sharon) ~ you did great passing up the pizza and chosing something more healthy. Hope you are feeling better now.

Gonna go rest my eyes. Hope you all have a nice evening.

Here is a picture of the pillow cover I made. I am pleased with how it turned out.

Mary, did you have your receipt when you returned the watch to Kohls? I know they can search your credit card account and find things when you don't have your receipt. That's good that they let you return it. I probably would not have tried.

We recently bought some Pomegrante juice at Walmart. 2 bottles. DH opened the first one and poured some in a glass and when he went to drink it, it smelled and tasted terrible so he dumped it out. The date was good and the cap was still sealed. I wanted to return it but DH said the bottle was half empty and just dumped the rest out. It was $6, which is a lot for a small bottle of juice. So I emailed the company. They sent me 2 coupons for $5 each, so that will pay all but $1 for 2 more bottles. I have received coupons from other companies in the same way. My friend bought some beef stew, I won't say the popular company, but there was no meat it in, in a couple cans. I told her to call the company and they would send her coupons, but she didn't want to be bothered. It was a mistake at the factory, and usually companies want to know this.

I looked around and I found the paint program, Mary, so later on I will try the print screen and see what I can do. I am starting to lose interest in the WW promotion, but I have until Mar 1 to decided if I want to do it. I want to lose the 10 lbs, but don't know if I want to risk not losing it, and not getting my $100 back.

Yesterday, we went out to eat at this place that has very good fried fish and mac and cheese. I ordered it along with garlic toast. I ate one piece of fish, all the mac and cheese, and 2 garlic toasts and took my Metformin and Amaryl. I often forget to take the Amaryl at mealtime. We ate around 4PM. Around 6 or so, I tested my blood sugar expecting a spike, but it was 117. I couldn't believe that, but later, before bed, I tested and it was 143. I did not eat or drink anything after dinner, so it took longer than 2 hours to reflect the blood sugar rise after that carby meal. Purposely, I didn't eat a bedtime snack as I often do. I wanted to see what fasting would be this morning and it was 144, so the Dawn Phenon Monster didn't get me. LOL Mary, if you remember, I was getting some readings in the 300s and one even in the 400s a while back and I haven't had that since. I get one in the low 200s occasionally but have been working to keep it lower. I know it's still not good, but much improved. My weight didn't go down today, but I know when you eat those carbs you release more insulin, and the insulin causes you to hold onto the weight. The Amaryl doesn't help, either. If I eat very low carb I don't need much Amaryl and I lose better.

Gayle, when my great niece was little, their answering machine was just her singing "You Are My Sunshine." No other message, but people know to leave a message after the beep. It was really sweet. I used to love to call to hear her singing. That is a beautiful pillow cover. You do such nice work.

We have one Aldi's 2 miles away and another 5 miles away. The one 2 miles away is lower prices because it's in a depressed area, but DH likes to go to the other one because it is closer to Walmart, Target, and Goodwill, where we often go. 5 miles away we have all those stores, plus Kohls, and we have 2 Dollar Trees and a Dollar General. DH doesn't like Dollar Tree because there's nothing there that interests him, but it's a good place to buy some cheaper household things. We both like Dollar General. Our local mall is about 18-20 miles away. We rarely go there anymore and I heard it's becoming like a ghost town except for around Christmas. People just aren't go to the mall anymore. I used to go there and spend a lot of money at Bon Ton, so I'm saving money not going there anymore. I used to love to shop Bon Ton's clearance racks, but the last time I was there, the stuff on their clearance racks did not look like their regular merchandise. It looked like they got it in especially to put on the clearance rack. It was so easy to see it was not their regular merchandise, marked down. The tickets were preprinted, showing a regular price then a clearance price. Before, the merchandise had the original ticket, then the clearance price was written on it in ink. It was the same brand names they normally carried. So I lost interest in shopping there and am saving money. It's nice not to get that Bon Ton bill every month. I wonder if they miss me? LOL

Sorry to hear of the two deaths. It's hard to lose someone you care about, and these were both younger people. Wonder what happened to that young girl who had the hysterectemy? My cousin went into the hospital for minor surgery and died from an infection she picked up there. Her body just couldn't shake it off. She was my elderly aunt's caretaker, so I think the step-sister is taking care of her now.

I got a couple very official looking phishing emails today regarding credit cards. One I reported and forwarded to my credit card company. It's scary to think that some people may fall for these scams. Beware!

Mary, DH said the watch only needs light, doesn't have to be sunlight. I don't know about those things. I would probably put it on a window sill. LOL

I am so afraid of my BS going low ever since I woke up that night and it was 44. Yikes! I always wonder what would have happened if I hadn't woken up, or if that is what woke me. I always get up to go to the bathroom every night and I thought that's why I woke up. So I won't take any meds close to bedtime unless BS is very high, which I am trying to avoid. The night that I got that low, I only took 1/2 mg with dinner because my BS was not very high when I checked it. I don't remember what I ate for dinner, but I didn't think my BS would go that low. I don't understand what happened. I was really having symptoms that night! It was scary. I don't take my Amaryl the way I should. I am to take 2mg twice a day, but in the AM I cut the pill in half because I only eat scrambled eggs and no carbs. Then at dinner I take the second pill, and if I am eating a carby meal I also take the other half from the AM. I know I am not supposed to manipulate my meds like that, but I don't want to have to eat extra food because of the Amaryl. I rarely get a reading below 100. For a while I was eating a lot of carbs I should not have been eating and was getting those high readings. Now I only eat very small servings of carb.

Hope you enjoyed your granddaughter.

Mary, I just did a screen shot! I brought up the Dashboard for my Fitbit. I hit Print Screen, then I hit ALT Print Screen, because I seem to remember when I was researching online it said you were to hold down ALT when you did it. Then I went to my Paint Program and hit PASTE, and there it was! I was amazed. Then I went to PRINT and it printed perfectly. So now I know how to do this, and I have to decide if I want to do the WW Challenge. Part of me is thinking that I will want that $100 gift card enough to lose the 10 lbs, and then the Evil Devil on my shoulder is telling me that I will never lose it, and I won't get the $100. I think March 1 is the last day to start, so I have some thinking to do. To do this, I have to purchase the 6 month online program for $99. If I do it, I will still follow low carb, but I don't think I will count points. I do have to use their online weight tracker because that's what I need to screen shot and send them. I am not doing it for the $100, because that's just a refund of what you pay for the program. I am doing it for incentive to lose the 10 lbs. Don't they say "Money talks?" LOL

Thank you for the help with that. I just didn't understand the way they were explaining it.

Woot Woot - down another pound. Stuck to it and it paid off. Lost 5 lbs in February - would like to make it 6lbs per month. March is a longer month!
Spring is just around the corner my friends. Spring! Marian

Congrats to Marian and Mary on the nice losses! I'm jealous....but realize that it doesn't happen by wishing.

I'm up early this morning and I didn't get much sleep. So far I'm doing ok. Gd is here and watching cartoons. Will be taking her to school (special ed preschool) and then we are going to get our labs done as we have doctor appts on Thurs.

I've maintained my weight loss...kinda has surprised me as I've gone over on my calories every day recently.

Today I'm wearing some old knit pants...you know the kind with a band a little more fullness in the legs, LOL....not leggings. I haven't wore them for a while but do think I look better in them. And I sure can see my weight loss wearing them. I might buy me some more of them if I keep losing. Last night I was going to try on my old jeans but couldn't find them. I guess I gave them away.

Congrats Marian on another pound gone! It's kinda fun once you start seeing them drop, isn't it? I've lost very slowly...partly cause I don't work my plan perfectly, partly because I haven't been exercising regularly and probably partly due to my age. But as long as I'm losing I don't care. I also have much lower bs now...haven't had a high one for quite a while. I really like that!

Mary, I have some of those pants. The ones I have I bought years ago at KMart. They were called leggings, but I bought them in the full figure department several sizes too big so they would not hug my legs. I don't like the leg hugging ones. I still have them and wear them once in a while. They are comfortable, but I prefer to wear jeans because when I wear the stretchy pants I some times don't notice that my clothes are getting tighter. It's easy to notice in jeans. Someone else told me that years ago and I have found it to be true.

I bought a couple pairs of legging because everyone else was buying them, but I've never worn them. I guess they are just not for me. I see a lot of other people who look very nice in them, and some that don't look so nice. Its a personal choice.

I just finished making a pot of vegetable beef soup. Nice for a chilly, rainy day like today.

These I'm wearing today are not leggings. They are just the regular knit pants you see most older women wearing. My problem with them in the past is that my middle got so big that I had to buy them so big and they were way too baggy in the legs. This pair I'm wearing today is a little like that too, but not quite as bad as some I have. I don't want to wear things that don't fit me well anymore. I know I will always be bigger on top than below but at one time in my life I had a smaller waist and was able to wear pants that fit better. Not perfect but better.

I like leggings because they are comfortable, but I don't think I look good in them. But again, I think if I can buy the smaller size of them, I will look a little better in them too. The problem with everything I wear is that I am not able to buy my correct size because of my big tummy. But it is going down. I'm almost down another inch today. This time I do not intend to give up til I am down to a waist measurement that will enable me to buy clothes that fit better. I do like wearing my leggings around the house because of the comfort and moveability. I also want to wear dresses and I think I'll be able to if my waist gets smaller. Until then any dress has to be a tent.

We took our gd to school this morning, and we went to the wrong school (her old one), and they referred us to the right school. Found out they started later than our son said so she was still on time. Then dh picked her up at noon while I made her lunch. She's very picky but I made boxed mac and cheese and a banana and she ate it today. Yea! She asked for milk though and then didn't drink it, but maybe she will later.

Your soup sounds really good! I've been thinking of making a vegetable soup. I think dh is cooking tonight though.

Hi Everyone,
Haven't been here forever. Had one day where I ate whatever what I wanted. But other then that have been staying on program but really pushing the boundaries. I haven't been watching time btw meals as closely, eating too much of program foods, not drinking my water and missing my vitamins sometimes. My weight has been up and down a pound or two but pretty much maintain a 12# but not losing now. As I have said in the past the scale can really put me in a tailspin but I did have a victory regarding the scale. Last Friday after work I said to heck with it I 'm going to have spaghetti and stopped at the store for some sauce on the way home. It was about 9pm when I got home. I put the water on the scale and went in bathroom to change into my pj s I weighed myself and was at mt lowest ever,. I was shocked but went turned the water off and made a salad withchicken and blue cheese.

Now I just have to decide whether to stay on this low carb or just go to a general eating healthy with portion control.

Other than that all is good. Found a place for my daughter to live till end of year at college. I don't know if I had mentioned it but she was asked to leave the house she was living in. She didn't do anything wrong but they are selling the house and after dealing with them they are just plain crazy. Luckily I found a new place on Craigslist and the apt is really nice. And the women renting it has two kids that graduated from the school and seems very nice and reasonable.

Also, got a new job! Start March 27th dining supervisor at a senior care facility. Combines my restaurant experience and desire to work with the elderly.

Well that's all folks.

Congrats to those that have continued to lose!

Congrats on the new job, Sharon. I remember that you wanted a job like that.

And congrats on holding the weight loss. You could test changing to a more varied diet. It might cause you to gain a bit of water weight at first, but it's up to you if it works or not. I like being able to eat a bit of carb when I want, but mainly stick to low carb because of diabetes.

I always wonder when people say they weigh less at the end of the day. I always thought that we weigh more at the end of the day due to fluid retention. That was a nice surprise, but I have never had it.

Mary good job on the continued weight losss.
Thanks everyone for the good thoughts about my job. I am looking forward to it. I don't do well when i'm home too much when I'm alone I eat and sleep too much so this will be good.
I decided to stop the diet for now and eat reasonably and see how that goes. I will cut out sweets and junk but other then that I think I will just cut portions and eat a variety of food. If I start gaining I will go back.
Just had some cheerios and a banana I missed that. Going out to lunch with friends today and tomorrow.. Unusual for me to go out that much but one friend up in NY states bd is today and mine is tomorrow so we are meeting in the middle tomorrow. And today just going out with a friend, who I go out with like once a month.
We'll seehow I make out, lol.

Mary, I used to only have 1 set of sheets for our bed and would wash them and put them right back on. Now I bought another set.

I think I take Losartan too, but call it by the generic name. I am prescribed it to keep my heart rate low. I also take 3 other BP meds! Yikes! Total of 5 pills a day. I fast for all bloodwork, unless I am told specifically not to fast.

Today is the day I have to decided what I'm going to do about the $100 challenge from WW. Actually, you don't gain $100, but it just pays you back for what you paid for the membership. Right now I am leaning toward not doing it. That could change before the end of the day. I wanted to do it to give me incentive to lose that 10 lbs. Something to get to reward me for doing it. It should be it's own reward. I have been thinking about it, and I know I can do it without this incentive. I tend to be a slacker when it comes to sticking to plan over time. I start thinking that this one little slip up won't hurt, and then there's another, then another. If I really set my mind to it, I know I can do it. My blood sugar has been lower lately and I have not had to take all my Amaryl as prescribed. As a result, my weight is very slowly going down. If I try harder, it will go down faster. I can do this. My resolve is very good today. Some days it's not and I feel like a failure.

A few days ago I went back to taking Niacin, based on something I read on another forum. They were talking about the good things Niacin can do. From what I read, Niacin is known to raise blood sugar, but I feel that it's lowering mine, or maybe I'm just eating better. It said that it raises blood sugar in high doses, 1500-3000 mg. I am only taking 500 mg. So I will continue that and see if bs continues to be good. I am down another lb today, too.

I consider cereal to be a healthy food even though it's carb. Most are low calorie. Maybe eating more cereal is causing you to eat less of other things and that's why you're still losing and not gaining. I eat cereal sometimes and it helps with elimination. It does tend to raise my blood sugar so I only eat a small amount.

Sharon, Cheerios is my favorite cereal, and has been as far back as I can remember. I remember that my mother told me she wouldn't buy it for me because I ate so many bowls of it, it was gone in a couple days. She made me eat Wheaties and Corn Flakes, which I hated. But I gagged them down because she made me. Now i eat bran flakes or Fiber One. ha ha Geriatric cereal!

You are on a roll with your weight, Mary! Good for you! I just measured myself. I am pretty much straight up and down. 48-46-47. I rarely take measurements, but I do have them recorded on my FitDay page so I can compare. My waist went up a few inches after my surgery. That's my main problem. If it would get a couple inches smaller I could wear some of my favorite button up jeans.

I had more carb today than I've had for a long time. I had a piece of toast with my eggs this morning. A piece of bread with my bowl of soup at lunch, and then I had a fish sandwich from Arby's for dinner. I wasn't hungry at dinner, but didn't want to save my sandwich for later because I didn't think it would be as good reheated. I hope I am able to avoid eating this evening. I got my vegetables in my vegetable soup today. It's very good. I made it 2 days ago and there's about 1 more cup left. If I eat something that I really like, I am satisfied with a smaller meal. That doesn't really make sense, does it? You would think if I was eating something I didn't like I would eat less, but I think I keep eating, hoping to find satisfaction. Often I snack on things like cheese, or nuts but I haven't been snacking much lately. I hope that's a new habit, not to snack.

I remember my home nurses after my surgery told me to eat protein with every meal. That was probably to help with healing.