Jane~ Well, the day was going well, until I got busy doing something and left Brandon unattended for a second. He got into the dish soap and dumped it all over the lap top. So, Tommy had to go to the store and buy a new keyboard that hooks into the USB port. On top of that, he calls me at about 3:30 and says that he has been laid off due to a mass lay off through the company that basically runs his work. He has an option of going to one of the other shops. One being in Texas, which we don’t have the money to move to, and the other two options being here in Michigan. And to add more to our plate, as if it wasn’t cramped enough, rent is due and they told Tommy that if we don’t pay it by the 15th then basically we will be evicted. So, we have been trying to see what we can do in order to figure out where we go from here. Due to him getting laid off, we no longer have his work insurance. He is going to call the lady about trying the other two shops here in MI. If he can’t get into those, then he has been looking at other options. A cousin of his is supposedly looking for someone to help him. So, that basically covers every thing on this end. So, if you could just keep us in your prayers during this time that something good comes out of all this craziness.

Sue~ Thanks for the congrats. They have been helpers, but they mostly like to keep a close eye on sister. And by close eye, I mean they like to literally stand right over her and watch her. I have been getting some rest, but it seems like a couple hours here and a couple there.

Its been a while since i've been here and i had a little trouble catching up.Wow.mindee congratulations!I missed marrissas arrival!!she is adorable!!

I have finally gotten off the plateau and i have a 3lb loss this week.i am very happy with that.
Hi to everyone,hope everyone is doing great!

Hello ladies,

Sue - before I ever sat down to the computer today, I had it in my notes to ask about you. I've missed your posts, and wondered where you were. I'm sorry you had some hectic stuff going on, and I'm glad it's over, or at least better. About my weight loss, don't be too quick to congratulate me because I'm losing weight that I already lost 3 years ago, then regained. I guess I should be glad I didn't regain it all, but I sure got close to that. Now I'm 3 years older, and my skin has even less elasticity. <sigh> About the Indiana taxes, I guess you saw where they went up only 8% instead of 14%. Always something to be thankful for, I guess.

Jodi - I just don't know how some people can afford to pay such high taxes. Lots of elderly on fixed incomes have had to sell out and move to senior housing. It's just too sad.

Sassy - thanks for the salad info. We don't have that chain around here, but it's something I could probably improvise myself. I'd leave off the tortilla shell, though, since there are so many calories in that. It sounds really good!

Marti - yay on your 1 1/2 pounds gone! See, you did better than you thought! What a nice surprise, right?

Mindee - aww, I'm so sorry you're having so many troubles, and you can be sure you and your family are in my prayers. HUD may be able to help you, or at least call a local church and they will be able to guide you to some emergency funding.

Amy - yay for the 3#s down!

A big hello to Vann, Tammy, Cristina, Jules, Mary Kate, PinkJane, Jen, Carol, and anyone else reading this.

I'm still OP, but have to admit my calorie choices yesterday weren't the best as far as nutrition goes. I had some stress going on of my own, and swapped some healthy food for some comfort food. At least I didn't go over in calories.

I was up late last night doing more scrapbook pages. I did the ones of Neal's and my trip to Chicago last fall, and it took up 5 pages! The most time was spent on getting them all coordinated, planned and laid out. I'll have a new project to scrapbook after tomorrow because.......

Jackson will be here tomorrow! Say a little prayer that mama and baby will be ok, would you? And that my son doesn't faint during the c-section.

Toodles!

Just a quick pop in...

Mindee, congrats on your new baby girl! And good thoughts and prayers for you that Tommy finds work again right away. You don't need that stress right now...

Jane, great talking to you today Good thoughts and prayers for mama and baby Jackson tomorrow. You all must be so excited!

Sassy, that salad sounds so good...my favorite salad place here is called Orbits, in the mall -- you tell them what kind of greens you want, and 6-7 toppings (red bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, apples, walnuts, raisins, and crumbled blue cheese are usually my favorites -- the blue cheese is a splurge, but they only put on a little, and it adds a lot of flavor) and then they toss it right there for you. Good stuff!

Hi to the newbies, and the rest of the Jaded Ladies Gotta run, meeting a friend for coffee today...

Quick stop by especially for:

Jane- Sending good vibes and lots of love for Jackson's arrival.
Let us know something as soon as you can.

Got in a walk again today. Had a good report on the blood tests. Life is good!

Thanks all.

Yeah I figured you all could just make it at home, but they said the description on their website so I copied it and pasted it and I figured you girls could fix your salad however you wanted. At the restaurant you can have it however you want it as they make it right there in front of you and that is what I like, so you can have what you want.

Today I did do lots and lots of walking, I guess "technically" it is not considered exercise but at any rate I did a lot of it. We took my mil to see the Titanic Exhibit and took her out for the day, this was her early Mother's day present, we had to do it early as the exhibit leaves soon.

Hope you had a great day.

Hello everyone!

Tuesday turned out to be a much better day then Monday was. Tommy got a call from one of the ladies from one of the two shops here in MI. So, he did a conference call with her and the shop manager. She called him back and said that he was good to go and could he start on Wednesday. So, that part is taken care of….and so is the rent. We were having issues with how we were going to get that paid so that we wouldn’t get evicted and thankfully we figured something out.

Amy~ Thanks for the congrats and the nice comments on Marissa! She is changing every day. She now has chubby cheeks and she is not wanting a bottle of formula which is a good thing, because I am trying to get her to take to breast feeding. So far every thing is going great! I think Wednesday night I will jump on the scale and then jump on with her to try and gage how her weight is doing. She was 6lbs. 8oz when we took her to the pediatrician’s office last Friday. She is doing great with the breast feedings. She only gets mad if she pulls herself off and can’t get back on. Yay for the three pounds gone!

Jane~ Thanks for the prayers, they worked! There is a light at the end of the tunnel for sure now. I will definitely say a prayer for your daughter-in-law, grandson and son. Good luck to your son!!

Katiecat~ It is good to hear from you! Thanks for the prayers. Tommy is actually going to the main shop of the company that he was working for. So, there will be no lapse in his insurance or anything like that. It will be a longer commute for him but hey, at least it is work, right? Our lease is up here at the end of October, so who knows we might move out there closer to his job. (Keeping my fingers crossed that he will still be working there)

Pink Jane~ Thanks for the nice words.

Good Morning ladies--

Jane--Here is a hug for Gina! So happy Jackson will be arriving today!! Please post a photo of the first grandson in your family. I'm sure he's going to be beautiful.

Mindee--Marissa is beautiful. Do you happen to have a larger photo other than your advatar? My aging eyes just can't see her as much as I would like to.
Happy to hear that everything is going alright and you're not getting evicted. How scarey with three wee ones!

Sassy--Walking is walking! And any event you attend can come along a lot of walking. So I would count it. I've heard of a Titanic exhibit around here...I believe in the Portland OMSI. I missed it when it was here, but my daughter got to go. She got a ticket and she was one of the "survivors". I'm a history buff on some things and I just love to learn about stuff like that. Hope you had tons of fun.

PinkJane--What does your hubby do? My husband left last night out of town. He's an train engineer and travels back and forth from one city to the other. He's gone two days when he leaves and then he's here for however long it takes to call him back out. We've had gorgeous weather here too. LOVE the sun!

Sue--Glad your blood work came back good. I think every year now I will have my blood work checked. Just to keep me aware of how I'm treating my body. Gives me a reality check!

MaryKate--Hello!! How is your arm doing? Salad sounds good. We don't have anything like that around here that I know of...I will have to check this area out a little more though, we might I may just not know about it!

Amy--Great job on 3lbs lost!! Don't worry about trying to catch up....I've been gone and busy myself and it's hard to catch up!! Pop in again soon.

Hello to everyone else out there. Sorry if I didn't get to you personally. I'm just catching up w/the new thread....to many old ones to go back to.

Today is my Friday!! I had scheduled tomorrow and Friday off weeks ago, thinking that this was when I would be moving and needing time to get things together. Well heck....I'm already moved and settled....so I'm using these days to enjoy the house and do some yard work!! I think I'll go to one of the nurserys and buys some hanging flowers.

Ok...I need to hit the shower and get ready for work. Have a great day ladies!

Afternoon Ladies!!

Jane--Hopefully little Jackson has arrived by now. I hope Gina does well and that your new little grandson is healthy. Congrats to your son.

Mindee--I'm glad that Tommy got a job so quickly. I went through a similar thing 21 years ago. My ex was hurt on a job and was on disability a few days after I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. It was an extremely stressful time. I also had a 13 mo old at home and I was only working part time. But things do seem to work out!!

Amy--Congrats on the 3 lb loss!!

Sue & Jane--I hear ya about the taxes going up. Here in MD we have had a freeze on our gas & electric bills for over 10 years and as of June 1 our bills will go up 50% and then another 50% the following Jan. That's right, my bill will double in size. Right now I pay almost $300 a month. I have a 4000 sz ft house and have already shut off the vents in some of the rooms that we don't use much. Just think, I wouldn't have to use a "lipo in a box" to squeeze in my rolls, I could just afford the real lipo if my electric bills weren't so high!!

Sassy--your salad sounds yummy. My favorite salad is a grilled chicken, spinach/strawberry salad. Could eat it every day!!

Marti--Congrats on your weight loss. You must have been working your butt off with the move.

Big hello to Pink Jane, Cristina, Vann, Jules, Carol, Marykate and anyone else I missed.

Tonight is my dance night. I'll try to dance more than I eat lol!! I'm seriously thinking about joining WW on Monday. I can't seem to get motivated enough on my own and putting out the $$ seems to make me more accountable. I got on the scale and it hasn't moved a bit in over a month. I haven't gained but also haven't lost. Wish me luck. Hope everyone has a wonderful evening!

Jackson Everett is here! He was 10 days early, yet still 8 pounds, 7 oz. and 22 inches long! He and momma Gina are fine. Gina did have some problems with extra bleeding that they had trouble controlling while still in the OR, but after 9 extra stictches, she's ok now. My son is in awe! He keeps saying "This doesn't seem real!" and can't get the smile off his face. Jackson is absolutely beatiful, and I cried when I met and held him. Thank you to those of you who wished us well. I'll be tied up off and on for a few days, but will check back in when I can.

Jane- Congrats to you and your family. I hope Gina continues to recover nicely. Anxious for pictures!

Pink Jane- You sure do a good job on the treadmill. Yay for 2 days of no taxi service. (I remember those days)

Tammy- Have fun dancing and NOT eating. haha... What type dancing do you do, ballroom? Just wondered since that is getting very popular now. I can't remember the last time we danced. Never were very good at it, but had fun.

Marti- Sounds like you are enjoying your new house. Have fun on your days off. I was relieved about my blood work, even though I do it yearly. I am on meds that can affect the liver, among other things, so they test regularly. No problems!

Amy- Way to go on the 3 pounds...at this point I would be glad for any loss.

Sassy- I agree, walking of any kind is a plus. And that salad does sound wonderful.

Mindee- Whew! I am glad Tommy was able to go to the other job quickly. Sounds like Marissa decided she wanted mommy's milk..good for her. Hope you are not over doing it....hard not to with three little ones I am sure.

Katiecat- Good to see you again..hope you can come back soon.

Cristina- Where are you? Hope all is well.

Vann, Jules, Jen, Carol.....and all other JL's..thinking of you.

I didn't walk today and I'm not sorry. LOL... I am sore just from washing windows, but boy am I glad they are done. The shop windows were so hard to get to due to DH's tools and wood storage. Love the tilt in windows, just wish we had fewer. I also did laundry and moved some furniture, so I think I got a work out. DH built 2 flower boxes and I got to unload the paving bricks out of the truck..oh, hey, weight lifting. Another plus! Buying some more shrubs and flowers tomorrow and hope to get them in the ground before it rains.

Hope you all had a happy hump day....

congrats Grandma Jane- I am so happy for your family.