OK Ladies I get the message you all hate doing floors well send me the air fare and I,ll be there Penny I,m sending a magic your way so make a wish for energy, your doing well though and I hear you about sleeping insomnia is the pits great that your DS was accepted as a RPO you must be so proud of him.

Hey Marie you go girl when you finally are able to take poor Kodiak for a walk he will be so excited he will be taking you for a walk instead he will just drag you along I,m a James Patterson nut to I love the Alex Cross novels and I think it helps if you have seen Morgan Freeman playing the role it helps you visualize and I find for me it makes the reading more enjoyable, it,s funny I,m reading Double Cross I,ve just started it, I,ve never been into the Womens Murder Club to boring for me. As far as your floors go borrow Penny,s I was at it again today I did my kitchen floor my DH was nice he came and asked me if I wanted help when I had finished God love him, but it really is a great workout and the floors look so nice so there is a double plus.

Carol how are you doin, sounds like you didn,t do to bad at the quacks but you must not peek at the reports you might see something you shouldn,t it,s a pain in the bum when you do all the right things but your body still does what it want,s . You can have those flu shot,s they hurt but better to be on the safe side for your DH, your eating isn,t to bad but if your trying to fatten up DH next time give him half the M&M,S dark choccy is good but in moderation like everything else but hey I could eat a whole big packet of those things they are so addictive, and as for your floors you can borrow Penny,s when Marie has finished with him I,m decorating too, that is why I scrubbed the floors I have old timber floor boards and I paint them and stencil them myself and they are in need of a touch up before Chrissy so me and the floors are getting overhauled . But I do wish I was closer to you all sometimes I don,t know about the floors but a would be nice.

Judy have a good trip and a great weekend.

Well I,m doing fine I got a nice surprise today went to the Doc,s for my hip and I have been telling my DH I think we need new scales anyway the Doc told me to jump on hers and to my surprise I was right my old digital scales are out of whack mine tell me I have lost 8lbs which is great but hers tell me I,ve lost 11lbs so as you can see I,ve adjusted my ticker, I guess all that scrubbing got results

Take care everyone and I,ll catch up later bye for now

JULS

Juls - WAY TO GO!!!! 8 lbs is awesome. That must mean you got your Christmas present early (your signature...). So excellent. BTW, Kody has shown his displeasure by "marking" his territory while DH and I are at work. A dribble here and a dribble there - meaning my floors really need it now.

Carol, I'm glad you feel good today. In just a few hours, this dreaded month will be history. Together we'll have a much better December 2007. I'm not waiting until the new year to have a good year. It's amazing how in bad times relationships get stronger (or worse in some cases). Just proves you and your DH belong together.

Juls, I'm about halfway through Double Cross. When we're both done we'll have to chat about it. I had an image of Alex Cross in my mind and it actually was pretty close to Morgan Freeman (I love him). So when I start listening again this afternoon, I'll use him totally for the image.

After work I'm picking up DGS. He's staying with us for the weekend. I'm excited about that - especially since he'll be moving in a month. We're going to the Winter Lights tomorrow night and the air base children's Christmas party on Sunday afternoon.

Well, I'm at work (since I'd not be able to surf this evening with DGS) so I best get back at it.
Marie

Juls wow congrats I like their scales I think that is great. I use digital too maybe I shouldn't my doctors is the regular one. Yah mm's are good but got to watch how many. I was told before that the peanut ones were the best to have then dark came out so okay then. I just had some lovely pictures posted on the web of my new grandson he is so darn cute. Oh I just want to hold him. I bought him his first book from grandma for christmas I like to give the kids one every year which I like to think is special. Keep up your good work.
Enjoy your DGS wish my Maui baby was closer the pictures brought tears to my eyes he's so darn cute. I just want to hold him and I am so happy the kids are sending us photos. Lucky there. Oh yah I am right on with yah lets never go back to Nov. 07 only a few good things the valve is working well and I got a new grandson on Turkey day. So lets go December!!!!
I had a christmas gathering at one of the group homes last night. It was very nice and so family orientated lots of them showed up and the weather was good no storms we do have appox. 5 in. this a.m. though. I did well in the eating area except for lunch yesterday I had a fried haddock fish sandwich. But for breakfast oatmeal and dinner at the party not too bad stayed with mostly the shrimp and a couple little meatballs and couple small cookies. But it could of been much worse. When I came home I only had a cup of herbal tea which I have been doing more of lately. Trying to cut back on coffee at work and have tea and at home in the evening. I am reading a health book how to boost your energy. Natural Energy Boosters quite interesting info. not as fun as the books you girls are currently reading. But its interesting and if I take an ounce of knowledge out I am doing well. Take care and have a great day. I am going to go do a little me time and then come back clean the house and decorate for christmas. On sunday I want to make cookies so some dough I will premix today.

G,day ladies hope your all well.

Marie OOOOHH poor Kody he must be really miffed about his walks or lack of them and he sure is letting you know it, but I must admit I like is style LOL. I watched the movies that were made from James Patterson,s novels Kiss The Girls and Along Came A spider then I started reading the Alex Cross novels so I could see Morgan Freeman in my mind I love him as an actor to. I watched Driving Miss Daisy the other day and Robin Hood I think he is definately easy on the eye LOL, have you read the one before Double Cross, Cross where he finds out who killed his wife I thought it was a great read I couldn,t put it down once I started. I,m about half way through Double Cross to, so far a good read a few surprises oooooh that Kyle Craige is a sneeky one.Thanks for the congrats on my weight loss yes I did get my pressy early so I am giving myself another one as you can see I want another 8lbs gone. Have a great weekend with your DGS don,t be sad he won,t be to far away and enjoy the lights and the Crissy Party.

Carol thanks for the congrats I was pleasantly surprised to by her scales so I think I,m going to get a new set of scales and go to the Docs once a month and see what hers say. I like the peanut M & M,s I haven,t tried the dark chocolate ones yet I love chocolate coated ginger and crystalised ginger I like ginger the hotter the better I use it alot in cooking to. You sound like you can,t wait to get your hands on that new DGS of yours it is so nice that they are posting pictures for you isn,t technology a wonderful thing at times, you sound like me I give my DGS,s and DGD,s golden books for Christmas I started doing it from their 1st Christmas it is special my eldest GS treasures his he is 11 now and his first book still looks like it was just given to him. It is nice that your gathering was pleasant and you enjoyed it you need some down time you have been through heaps, your eating still sounds like you are mostly in control and that is great the book sounds interesting all right anything that helps boost energy is good and if you find something in it that you can keep and use even better, I hope your better than I am with temptation, when I make cookies I always taste the dough I like to make shortbread so of course the dough is all buttery and yummy I,ll still make them but I have a low fat version so maybe I won,t get so tempted I can only hope LOL. I agree with Marie sometimes it takes a crisis for us to see just how special the people around us are and we should make each moment with each other count, we forget what is important and take to much for granted we just count on them always being there and don,t think we have to try anymore.

Hi Judy hope your enjoying your weekend.

Hey Penny how are you doing.

Well all of you take care.

JULS

Morning all. DGS is still sleeping so I'm soaking my feet (dr. directions) as I sit in front of the toasty fire in the quiet house. DH and DS have gone off to guard weekend so I'm waiting for the dear boy to wake. Oh, I added a mocha to my peaceful morning too. Outside the window that's 5 feet away it is 11 degrees out. eeks. DGS and I will wait until a bit later to go for our walk. Sled dog style. Kody and Blizzie will be attached to the stroller and me attached at the back end. I'm going to try to take a picture. It should be funny.

Carol, it is December. I am so happy about that. Have fun baking cookies. I was thinking of trying it was DGS but he's only 21 months and a little hellion on feet. I don't know if I can interest him in the project for long. We'll see.

Juls, I bought DGS a couple books for Christmas but he doesn't sit still long enough to read any book. One page is as far as we get. But we keep trying. He does like the pictures. Especially of dogs as he adores Kody and Blizzie. And that's reciprocal. They love the little boy.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm glad it's weekend and I'm going to treasure every minute with the little guy. I'm sad he'll be moving 5 hours away at the end of the month, but I knew it was coming.
Marie

G,day lovely ladies hope your all well and had a great weekend.

Marie your walk with your DGS and your dogs sounds cute, boy I bet Kodiak will be excited I,m trying to visualise what you will all look like and I think it sound like great fun. I like to read to my 11mth old DGD when I,m there she holds the book and listens but you aren,t alllowed to turn the page until she has finished looking at the pictures, she is very clever for her age and has a will of her own just like her Mum but I guess her Mum gets that from me LOL. I hope you had fun baking your cookies did you get much help from the little fella, don,t worry 5hrs isn,t that far my family and friends are that far away from me as you know, I don,t get to see them much but when we do get together the time is priceless our time together now has become more about quality than quantity and it,s funny but we seem to appreciate each other more because of the distance, you just make every minute count. Well I,m going to go and get back to my floors started painting them done the lounge just have to do the stencils now then I,ll start the hall, it,s a nice little 2 bedroom cottage about 65yrs old and I love it.

Hi Penny, Judy and Carol how are you all doin.

Take care bye for now.

JULS

Marie - Sounds like you had a fun weekend with your DGS. I can just imagine how excited Blizzie and Kody were to pull the baby stroller! I hope you managed to take a picture.

Juls - Congratulations on the unexpected loss at the doctor's! It very unusal that their scale is lower - my doctor's scale is always about 2 lbs. higher. Your floor stenciling sounds like a fun project and probably burns a ton of calories! I'm waiting till the last moment to bake Christmas cookies as otherwise I end up making batch after batch and guess who ends up eating them????
Hey Juls, I just realized we're both the same height and weight!

Carol - I'm glad to hear things are starting to get back to normal for you. I bet you can't wait to see your new DGS. The Christmas get together at the group home sounded nice. You must have lots of different holiday related events going on - it must be quite a challenge to stay on track with all the temptations but it sounds like you are doing well with managing your calories.

We've had some wild and woolly weather here the last couple of days with high winds and torrential rain. One town at the coast had gusts of 129 mph! We're hoping none of our big trees come down as the ground is very soggy now. A new Panera Bread restaurant just opened in the new shopping center just 5 min. away. We went for lunch and they have great sandwiches and soups. It's not too bad calorie wise if you just have the 1/2 sandwich. Some of their broth-based soups are only 90-100 calories. However, I have to close my eyes when I walk past the pastry case! A Greek restaurant is also opening soon in the same plaza. I love Greek food and they have some healthy choices like their salads and grilled chicken.

We bought a little Christmas tree to send to our DS in Boise. It's about 4' tall with colored LED lights built in. We thought it might help him get into the Christmas spirit as it's the first time he won't be home for the holidays. We were considering driving to Boise, but the roads are a bit treacherous this time of the year, so we'll wait till the Spring.

By the way, I've changed my goal weight to 160. I think 145 was too optimistic and I'd be VERY happy to weigh 160! Maybe my goal won't seem as daunting now and if I were to go lower than 160, well that just would be icing on the cake!

Judy - I hope your trip is going well.

Hi all,

The sled dog / baby walk was an adventure I think I wouldn't want to repeat. As the dogs haven't been trained to walk just straight forward it was a bit of a mess. If I was to do it again, I'd need another harness as Kody kept getting tangled in his leash. The first half of the walk was great - it was after that when they started getting easily distracted. I did sort of get a picture I will try to post later.

The whole weekend was nice. Tiring. I'm so thankful I had my kids when I was young. I'd be exhausted now. But the little guy and I had a lot of fun. He cried on Santa's lap, but I think that's pretty normal for a 21 month old.

I'm thinking of buying a tree tonight after work. DH will be home and I think it would be good for the spirit. I can't believe christmas is in 3 weeks. Eeks. I'm usually done with my shopping but alas, I'm not even close. although DS1 got his present yesterday because he's borrowing his brothers LCD monitor and he can't take it with him to Reno.

Penny, I know what you mean about re-doing my goal. Heck, I'm so not caring about losing weight, I should up the goal weight above what I currently weigh. Seriously though, I think I'm pretty happy where I am but I know eventually I'll want to lose more.

Juls, I tried to read DGS a book. I made it though a 1/2 page. It's so frustrating that it's not worth the aggravation. His parents can work on the reading stuff. It's just that I loved reading to my kids (and it was never painful) and I was looking forward to that with my grandkids. Be thankful your DGD enjoys it.

Well, I'm at work and should work.
Marie

G,day lovely ladies.

Hey Penny how are you I was surprised with the Docs scales to and I asked her how it was that her scales said I had lost 3lbs more than mine did she said it could be where I have my scales if the floor is a bit uneven or if their on a carpet or mat that can make a difference, so I took them of the thick plush bathroom mat and hey presto they told me the same as her,s, it,s funny how things affect our weight even the scale has to be put in the proper mood and enviroment to co-operate . My floors look great I,m very pleased with how they turned out I still have the dining room to go but so far the hallway and the living room look good I did them Black and I stenciled Black and white tile affects here and there, when I told DH I was going to paint the floors Black he sort of pulled a face but now their done he loves them they are quite striking. We have been getting a bit of weather here to thunder storms nearly everynight for the past four nights and it feels like we are back in winter the nights are quite chilly aaaahh you have to love mother nature I hope the tree you got for your DS cheers him up it is hard being away from family at Xmas, the new restaurant sounds good, I was like you I set myself a goal of 145 originally but I thought I,ll go for 155 and if I get there and beyond great but if I only get to the 155 or even 160 like you I can live with that it is still way better than the before and look how far you,ve come already with inspiration like that I know I,ll get there to. I like being 5ft 5 I just fit nicely under DH arm.

Hi Marie your walk sounded eventfull, I,m glad I had my kids at an earlier age to not when I was younger hey girl we aren,t ready for pasture yet but it is good because now we can enjoy our DGC before we are grumpy old grandma,s and don,t worry I,m sure in a little while your DGS will be bringing books to you to read to him boys seem to get distracted more than girls my darling Skye has her favourites you hold up books and she shakes her head then she jumps up and down when you show her the one she likes, she is into Shrek at the moment.

Carol and Judy I hope you are both well and trying to stay on track as much as this crazy life allows anyway.

Take care everyone bye for now.

JULS

Morning everyone,

Penny, I'm thinking of you. Wow-wee Portland got bombed with wind and rain Sunday and yesterday. I hope all is well. The pictures of the flood roads were scary.

Juls, DGS other grandmother said that DGS's mom was the same way. Almost DIL still hates to read and doesn't like books. My hope is low on that front. I love thunderstorms. Lightening especially. I'm into lights (hence stained glass and the love of Aurora bourelius (I know the spelling was horrible on that one...)). I can watch the lightening forever.

I saw an incredible sunrise on my way to work today. It was so pretty. And it lit the top of Mt Shasta (a 14,000 foot mountain). What a great way to start the day.

Food was horrible yesterday. Eeks. Bad, bad, bad. I did exercise this morning - another doggie walk. They were so happy it wasn't raining. Mud puddles everywhere but I stayed dry. I'd planned on the exercycle but alas the sky had stars instead of rain drops.

Hi Carol and Judy, I hope all is well.
Marie

Well girls I am ready for things to slow down guess all this business helps burn some cals. I took the DH to the doc's yesteday we are still awaiting some info. on the thing they left inside him. The doc which is the heart doc but not the surgoen wasn't too pleased and the one med he is taking and those awful shots I had to give him in his tummy were not related to the valve but for what they left behind so far it looks like from what we are told. I contacted the hospitals record dept. today and the DH has now signed a release and the paperwork is going to be faxed to me at my office. Then next week if I don't get the answers I will give it to a lawyer to figure out. I would rather have it come out than have him on that awful med that thins his blood etc. and most likely does other horrible things to your insides. I am not a happy camper nor is he with all of this. But tonight tried to get into decorating the tree. Bear wasn't being a very good boy if he keeps it up he will get some coal from Santa. My diet hasn't been too bad but today I skipped lunch then had chinese for dinner not so good at all. Bad girl today let the stress monster get me!!!! Oh no!!! Better straighten out. No cookie baking yet too busy! Marie sounds like having the granbaby was fun good for you. I can't wait til that day in HI. Penny wow what winds. Wow! We had our first snow storm today. I did make it to work but used travel time they give us during such days the window of 2 hrs. if you make it in late its okay no doc. My ins. has been so wonderful thank god I stayed no regrets here! Hope all that left is just as happy. Judy hope your doing well I saw Pikes Market in a magizine recently thought of you AND my visit there and wished I was there. Best coffee in the world and how about the gum wall. Did you see it near the market ? If not next time ask where it is its crazy. Well girls gotta fly and visit with the hubby a bit.

Juls - Your floor design sounds very nice. It must have taken a bit of nerve to undertake such a big project! Good on ya! (bit of Aussie speak there )
We were in one of the biggest thunderstorms ever when we lived in Sydney. We were at a drive in movie and the lightning was striking all around us knocking out light poles, etc. - quite dramatic! I love thunderstorms though, as long as I'm somewhere safe. Unfortunately, we don't get many here in Oregon.

Marie - Our DS wasn't interested in me reading to him until he was about 2. Then I couldn't put the book down at bedtime! I remember he loved "Where the Wild Things Are", "Goodnight Moon" and of course all the Dr. Seuss books. He also loved an Australian book called "The Outback Rocket Ship" which was a bunch of animals like kangaroos and koalas trying to make a rocket out of beer bottles, etc. - even I enjoyed it! Another unusual book he liked a lot was "The Haole Boy and the Girl from the Sugar Islands". Sometimes it just seems like yesterday he sat on my lap while I read to him, which would be difficult now that he's 24 and 6'3"!

Carol & Judy - I hope everything is going well with you.

We had quite an interesting few days weather-wise. Oregon even got on the national news! There has been lots of flooding, especially on the coast and near rivers. Luckily, we are up about 60' from the river that runs though our property. Our local wetlands area is almost flooded and they may have to close the road that runs near it. Luckily, the rain and wind have died down a lot, so we can start to dry out. We got 6"-8" of rain here locally. I was out in it doing Xmas shopping and it was like leaning into a force 9 gale! We were very fortunate that none of our big trees came down. Food-wise, I've been a bit more in control so I'm hoping the scale will cooperate on Friday!

Hey, ladies! I have returned. My trips were good, and it was good to see my folks briefly after my meetings. I will check in tomorrow with more.

judy

Penny my weather is smoothing out today to. Good thing I would like to hit the gym this afternoon after work. Yesterdays snowy roads weren't gym weather better to get home where I belonged. But today maybe they will con't to stay good. Stay safe and are you all done making soap? My friend and I worked for a couple of days on that and its done and wrapped. I made some extras for the kids teachers saves my daughters from spending cash at christmas. I am ahead on my wrapping as the time I have been home with the hubby I kept busy. So far everything is wrapped a few gift cards to get but they can wait til later and stocking stuffers to purchase along the way til christmas. My hubby and I do stocking for all the kids and their spouses etc. its funny but last year we were going to stop and only give to the kids my SIL said to my daughter it won't be christmas without it. So we continue trying to add little things which are the kids favorites like mallowcups etc.... All the little ones get a new tooth brush along with their candy etc... Grandpah likes to put them together its kind of his job. I have enough of my own. I just caught up at work from being out it felt good to finally be where I should be. Nothing on my calendar for today so I will start my visits and do a report then hit the gym. For dinner tonight I think it will be a chicken casear salad. I need to prepare a lunch for today going without one yesterday wasn't good think maybe I will just stop and pick up a ww meal. Easy and low in cals and I don't have to do anything. I feel good and not so tired I don't get tired less I sit down. I plugged in my tree this a.m. and started a fire my adirondack room looked so nice the hubbies village is on a shelf around the wall in the middle in back of our tree which stands up into our skylight. It does look peaceful and wow staying home today would be lovely but I must go.
Judy glad your back in town again. Boy traveling is nice but climbing in your own bed must be nice too.
I am ready to send out to the hospital a fax today requesting results etc. from my husbands operation records and the MRI. Last night the hubby was a bit vocal and said I am going to take these meds with me a shove them at the doctor and tell him to live on them. He was a bit sad looking last night and I worry he has lost 10lbs wish it were me but he didn't need to and I am concerned with his loss. Well we will get through this mess and hopefully someday be back to what was normal for us. Take care and have a good day.

Carol, I'm sorry you're having to go through all that with the dumb hospital. Wow on that they didn't tell you what the meds he was having to take was for their error. Make sure your ins knows so that the hospital foots the bill. It would be wrong that your insurance pays for their mistake. I'd say your lawyer has a really good case of malpractice.

Judy welcome back.

Penny, I'm glad that you're above the river. The weather here was pretty mild in comparison. Our glass deck table shattered and caused a bit of mess with the 50 mph winds but I was thankful we didn't have the over 100 mph winds to the west of us. now we have to figure out how to dispose of the the shattered glass. DH says it's very heavy.

Food was better yesterday. I ate a bigger breakfast and it stopped the morning munchie monster. Same today. A half hour till lunch and I'm getting hungry. So I'll keep that up. I'm eating less calories by not munching on everything in sight during the morning.

I got lost walking the doggies this morning. The fog was heavy and I missed the road back to my house. I wasn't really lost. I had to turn around and focus on looking for the road. It was eerie. And the commute to work was deja vu back to the accident. Except the heavy fog was freezing on the road. I was slow and careful and avoided the nasty highway where the fog is thickest.

Hi Juls!!!

Back to work.
Marie