Shaker - great to see you again. That's really great, funny I was only thinking of the girls from the past the other day. You, Kiwi Annie, Teel to name but a few. Yaa hoo. Shakers back.

Rennie - Well done. 3 miles is fantastic.

Hello ALL!!!!

Happy Birthday to the Good Witch of the East!!!!

My office is finally sorted out. Many, many, many hours of sorting, shredding, tossing and filing. It is looking and feeling great!!!
Took All the Christmas decorations down today too.

HUGS!!

Best wishes to all--
I'm still reading about self-shame and body shame. No wonder I've been eating for comfort for all these years.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, Worldlies. I actually decided to start celebrating when MEL first "birthdayed" me and had a really great weekend. Dinner at my friend Claire's place was great - she mad tiny butter tarts which she served with a wee scoop of ice cream and a single candle. (Claire and Doug say "Hi" to Shad and Hollyhock.)

The merry-go-round of my life is spinning faster and faster these days with tons of stuff to do before the Big O day on the 24th. I'm outta here in a few minutes to drive to town to meet with "Mark" in rehab services. He is going to show me all the stuff I'll need to do after the operation. This is certainly going to take up loads of my time so I'm planning nothing until March! I'll keep my usual journal for future reference.

Have a super Tuesday. I'll pop in when I can.

A small NSV. I picked up groceries last night and did not buy the huge family block of cheese, just a little 250g one and I did not but any cream cheese, sour cream, gouda, feta, harvarti........... I wanted to . I even twitched a little in front of it. For a snack last night i had some low fat refried beans on a wrap with hot sauce. So much better than 10 oz of cheese and a pack of crackers.

SHAKER!!! NOT SURE IF YOU REMEMBER ME OR NOT...THE CRAZY YANK AS SHAD CALLS ME. WELCOME BACK!! GOOD LUCK WITH THE WW PLAN!!!

SHAD~ I TRIED TO WEAR THE BOX ON MY FEET BUT THEY WERE TOO BIG. THE FEET I MEAN. I FINALLY GET THE 9/20 DAY THING. THOUGHT FOR A MOMENT THEY WERE HOLDING YOU HOSTAGE! I CAN CONCEAL QUITE A BIT UNDER THAT PONCHO AND GOT OUT MY SIX-SHOOTER TO RESCUE YOU!
SOUNDS LIKE A NICE WAY TO END THIS JOB WITH A LOOK SEE AROUND THE STATE. HAVE FUN!!!

HAPPY~ I HAVE A NEW LINE FOR THE MAINTENANCE MEN...WANNA SEE WHAT'S UNDER MY PONCHO? THEY WILL CRACK UP!!! THANKS FOR THE IDEA AND YES, BOTH ITEMS WERE IN THE BOX. QUITE A SURPRISE!

I HAVE TO POST THIS SO I CAN GET TO THE NEXT PAGE...BE RIGHT BACK...WAIT FOR ME ON THE OTHER SIDE NOW.....

Good morning chickies near and far

Pats on the back all around this morning I see.

To Holly for skipping over that yummy cheese

To Rennie for finishing a 3 MILE tape - 1 hour straight - good on yah

To Ruth - for taking the time to plan ahead for her surgery and what it will mean afterwards

To Painter for starting to come back to the fold on a more regular basis

To Shad - a bit of cheer for all the work that you'll have to do cleaning out the flat. I didn't realize til you mentioned it but I do suppose that you accumulate some things to make life a bit more comfy but then what do you do with them - is there a pile of people's "stuff" that floats from contractor to contractor as one comes on and another signs off? And tile is not laid down yet - not even picked out actually. First we work out a design, then we figure out what sizes we need, then we find tile that comes in those sizes, then we pick a color and buy it. All going backwards

And a big hello to Miss Shaker boy, it's been a good long time. When we last saw you, it was your sister's wedding I think and you had that pretty blue dress. How is your life? Glad to see you back again. Welcome to the fold.

Shaker was one of the original worldly chicks when we started up many, many years ago. Hard to believe we've been doing this for going on 6 years now.

Good morning Mel - I feel you peeking at me Pity about the video - I'm sure it would have been lovely to pedal to.

Ok, can't stay long. Time to go earn my 50 cents for the day Have a good one chicks. Hellos to Ceejay and the rest of the lot.

Mel - I'm sure the maint guys will get a big laugh out of your new line. But the stunned look on their faces when you first say "wanna see what's under my poncho???" will be priceless

RUTH, YOU KNOW ALL OUR GOOD THOUGHTS WILL BE WITH YOU ON THE 24TH WE WILL SEND ALL KINDS OF HEALING VIBES FOR THE BIG O DAY AND LOTS OF LOVE

RENNIE....NICE EXERCISING!! 3 MILES!

HOLLY~ GOOD SHOPPING!! LOVE THOSE NSV'S!!!!

PAINTER~ I SEE THE 9LBS LOST IN YOUR SIGGIE
GOOD LUCK WITH THE STUDYING!!

TO MISS HAPPY WHO SNUCK IN BETWEEN MY POSTS! YES THE LOOKS ON THEIR FACES WILL BE PRICELESS. I'LL DO IT SOON!

IT WOULD BE HARD TO TOP THE DAY I HAD YESTERDAY. SELDOM DO THEY BEGIN OUT ANNOYING AND END UP RUNNIN G SMOOTHLY FROM ONE TASK TO ANOTHER. MY FRIEND AND I EVEN DECORATED THE LOBBY FOR VALENTINE'S DAY. SHE BOUGHT LOTS OF NICE STUFF AND IT LOOKS VERY RED!!!
DOES GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE WHCHAIR COUNT AS EXERCISE? IF IT DOES, THEN I HAD MY QUOTA ALREADY BEFORE DAWN. I BOUGHT SOME TURKEY BREAST AND MADE A SAMMIE. ATE IT LATE. THEN WOKE UP JUBILANTLY JOGGING BACK AND FORTH TO THE LOO STARTING AROUND 4:30AM!! GOOD THING THE BATTERIES WERE FULLY CHARGED!! IT WAS VERY SALTY AND I AM SUSPECTING THE USE OF MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE. (SP) MSG....THE DEADLY KILLER OF MELLIE MEL
BUT I FEEL MUCH BETTER RIGHT NOW BUT WILL TAKE A PASS ON RIDING THE BUMPY BUS TODAY!!!
BESIDES I HAVE ALL THE GROCERIES THE KIDS BOUGHT SUNDAY. HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY!!
HAPPY TUESDAY

I am, as my dad used to say, "A day late and a dollar short":

Happy Birthday Ruth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'll be back later.

Morning All You Wonderful Ladies........

Left work yesterday and it was dusting snow, it was so dang pretty, just wish people would learn to drive in it, or better yet, stay home if they are that chicken.....

Holly - great job on the cheese, I absolutely love cheese and it is a staple for me since surgery. My very first job at 16 yrs was at Hickory Farms, back in the good ole days when they had tons of cheese and sausages and soups and samples to boot. Yum Yum.....I still eat cheese every day, I think it equals out cause I don't eat carbs or sugars.

Shad...my surgery was done laproscopically and they cut my tummy in two then stitched both halves shut. THen stapled also. I have no scars but stretch marks from having babies to make up for it. Tons of those.


Ruth, the very best for your surgery day and happy belated BD.

Rennie - good job on the exercise, I need to tone up, but really don't like exercising much at all and it takes all I have to even move my hieney.

Mel..goodluck with the doc appt. Amazing what a little clout from a pharmacist can do.

Got my W2s today, getting taxes figured tomorrow. I should get a refund of some sort which will be great as the community association fees are due end of month.

Zumba was fun last night, then took a hot bubbly and went and tanned, I slept so sound last night, it was so wonderful.

Had a piece of leftover meatloaf, greenbeans and sauted mushrooms for lunch today, was quite tasty. I am now stuffed and need to move. Cottage cheese for breaky. May still be too full for dinner and just eat something lite.

Hello to everyone....

Hugs

Ever had one of those days when you are at work and just do not want to do anything. That's me

Welcome Shaker.

Seem's like we are all doing well on nsv's. Let's keep it up.

Reenie
Way to go on finishing the 3 mile tape.

Happy
See your egg light on.

PainterWoman
What book are you reading? Bob Greene stated the other day our weight problem is a symptom of somthing that is bothering us. This is so true.

Hello to the rest. Since the security camera's are on I'd best not sit in front of the computer any longer.

Hello ladies, thanks for the welcome back.. shad I still keep in touch with kiwi annie she is in Sydney now, I will tell her to get her butt back on here!

Hi happy, that was my best friends wedding and I managed to sell that dress not long after I wore it, ha ha got the drycleaning money back anyway, and certainly don't htink I wuld fit it at the moment, have a few kg to go to get back to that weight, I have some jeans that I wore that w/end too so I am aiming to fit them in about a month or so, guess that depends on the motivation

Just a quick question what is a nsv - I think the v means victory but only came up with non-smoking for the other two letters.. ???? And also Annie, what is Zumba some sort of dancing?

Yay for the good restraint on the cheese, must say I like it too and we have such good cheese down here, goes nicely with a few dozen crackers so I avoid it My biggest weakness is bikkies and every Wed at work is Biscuit Wed - oh darn, and to make it worse the lunchroom is right next door to me, I need to imagine the bikkies stuck to my hips and try and stay away, this is only my 2nd week of resisting them - I love all bikkies except those belgium ones, they are cinnamon softer bikkies stuck together with raspberry creamy icing... what the ?????????

Good luck with the big O Ruth, hope it all goes well - and a big HELLO to the crazy yank, I see you are just as crazy as ever, I will have to read daily so I can keep up with your expeditions!!!!! Have a great Wed everyone when you get there for some.. it is very overcast today and cooled off a bit which is fine with me, means that after my exercise this morning my beetroot red face returns to normal a bit quicker

Morning all,
Another bright sunny day here in Perth. 8 working days and 19 days overall and it's back to Brissie for this little black duck. I honestly think I am allergic to the West! My nose is running again. Slept in this morning again and I only had some gnocchi and some Tiramisu and a glass and a half of wine for dinner last night. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the weight is up again this morning, but I think that has more to do with a lack of fluid tablets and exercise rather than food. No time for breakfast this morning and I will have to buy lunch - poop.

Shaker - nsv is a non scale victory. The type of victory you have when you pass on biscuits or the cheese or the ice cream or when you managed to fit into something you have previously not be able to even think about squeezing into. Yeah I like the Kiwi cheese too. However as second best, I will go to King Island stuff or Margaret River stuff which being very southern has a higher fat content (which means taste). I remember when we first moved over here and the kids refused to eat the local cheese so we had to buy Mainland - which at the time was expensive. I used to grate it up with the local stuff and mix it together. How times have changed, now I grate it up and mix it with the lo fat stuff (which also has no flavour) It would be good to hear Kiwi Annies dulcet tones in here again.

Annie - I hear you on the stretch marks. I have them too. Lots and lots of them. Glad you enjoyed the exercise night - sounds like fun.

Mel - for the jaunts to the throne room. Exercise is exercise, take it where you can get it. Gotta admit that some of that deli stuff is not as good as it looks. I have found through pain in both pocket and backside that you have to find a really good deli or go without. A good one will be expensive, but worth it. I've yet to 'talk' to the man at the shop about the video, but I'll get there probably in the week I have 'off' when I'll have to come down to the city to post some stuff home. I doubt that Qantas will allow me and all my stuff on the same plane. Or maybe I will just buy another suitcase and be done with it. Pay the excess baggage and all that jazz.

Happy - there has to have been something about this - what's under my poncho. Obviously the joke hasn't gotten here yet or maybe it just by-passed this body. But I think I probably get the gist of the story.
Actually I meant the tiles already on the floor - do they have to come up, are they stuck down? That is a job in itself. We jackhammered the ones in the bathroom up. Took a fair amount of effort but worth it because of the size of the bathroom. In the hall by the front door, I chiselled them out by hand - that was a sh*tty job and one I won't do again. There has to be an easier way!

Holly - well done on the nsv and the cheese. I believe the decision gets easier as you go along. I have a tendency to go for the cheese as well so I only keep a very small amount in the house and as I said before if I grate it and mix it with the non flavoured non fat stuff then I can have taste and lower calories. But again one has to be careful.

Ruth - we all understand about the amount of stuff which you have to do before this op. Actually you will have lots of time after it, so we will expect a blow by blow account on the other side of the 24th! Are you bringing a bed downstairs for the first few nights? You may have some problems getting up and down for a time! At least Lucy won't be trying to trip you up as she did me!!! You only have to step over the Hersh! We hope you can manage to get in a couple of times before then, but I wish you the best in case you don't.

Painter - it is amazing the amount of emotional baggage each and every one of us carries around for years and years and years. Then at sometime, a statement, an action, a word or a work or art will somehow trigger off something in our psyche and we are freed. You sound so much more positive this week.

Hello - I'm missing someone - I haven't seen Rennie in this morning. I hope she hasn't overdone the 3 miles.

And that's it from me. I'm outa here, the office is starting to buzz - well in a sort of wind down mode, but maybe that is why it is louder than normal