Good morning ladies. Time to start a new thread around here. I don't know how those ladies who have pages and pages stand it. Drives me nuts!

Susan: Hope sleeping hasn't been too bad for you. I know it has to be difficult with your leg braced so it doesn't move that knee around.

Gail: I feel like some kind of criminal on the run. My birth name is Modonna, I used Donna with family and friends, I used Faye here, which is my middle name because of a tangle with a couple kooks several years ago on this site and I had to "rejoin" under another name. Actually, telling you were going to call me Donna Faye brought back some sweet memories. Growing up I lived 2 houses from my maternal grandparents. When I was little my grandma used to call me Donnie Say. Funny, but my mother refused to call me anything but Modonna up until the day she died and I was named after my dad's sister not anyone in her family. I get a lot of looks and comments about my name for sure. It is pronounced like the singer Madonna. I was on the phone with a guy from Direct Tv a couple weeks ago and he asked me my name and I told him and he though it was such a beautiful name. Blech! I hated it growing up because I was made fun of, especially in jr high school when the Beatles song "Lady Madonna" came out. I seem to be using it more and more as I get older though.

Maggie: Going from confined spaces to large will be interesting for you. Sounds like you are having a grand time getting settled and that is a nice way for it to be. I have been meaning to ask, how large is your church population?

I have the first little hat knitted and am sewing it up then will make the tiny leaves and roses to put on it. I am not happy about her not including the brand of yarn she used so I could buy the same colors. I am still burning from her not including the flower and cherry patterns or a disclaimer on the patterns. I ended up not being able to find suitable flower patterns tiny enough to knit for a toddlers hat so I bought these buttons for this hat. The closest I could come to colors was a soft pink and then a rose color more than the coral she has. Whatcha' think of the color combos everyone? Think they will work and are simple enough for a child's hat? She has 4 knit flowers and 4 buttons sewn on the hat so I bought 4 flower buttons and 4 coordinating buttons. They look large, but are actually 5/8 in buttons.

Well, I need to go and get things done. We are meeting Kelly and family for lunch today and I am looking forward to it. We haven't seen them since the 4th.

Have a good one everybody!
Faye

Good morning, ladies!

Faye, I love the buttons and yarn; they will be pretty together.

Gail, I went to Super Walmart yesterday to get som OTC cold medication. They have been remodeling all summer and now I can't find anything although I think it will be better when I figure out where things are. The aisles are wider and its brighter. They also put in hardwood floors.

Maggie, I'm a confirmed thrift/used store shopper. I love getting a bargain. It sounds like you've found a great place for furniture. Isn't it fun to settle in a new house...I hope to never have to again!

And hello to Jean!

To set the record straight, I'm in a brace not a cast. I can take it off to shower and dress. It's my right knee so that makes driving hard but it's against the law to drive with your left foot. In Virginia you cannot sue a state, county or city but I never even thought about that. They will pay medical expenses. I think people just sue way too much anymore - they take no personal responsibility in any way.

My friend and I are going to a quilt shop today and then to have lunch at this great hole-in-the-wall seafood restaurant on the wharf.

Have a good day.

Hi! I had such a great day with my oldest daughter and my grandson at the mall. We let him out of his stroller (because he was getting so antsy) so he could walk a bit in the portion of the mall that was not crowded--he was so much fun to watch. He has this thing that he does now where he throws both hands up in the air like he's yelling TOUCHDOWN! only he jabbers. Fun.

Wayne is due home from work any moment now. We're going to grill hamburgers--something simple and quick and the cleanup is super easy. Bless him for being such a simple meat and potatoes kind of guy!

Donna Faye, that is a sweet story about your name (not the part about the bit of trouble though) Modonna. I can imagine you did get some teasing during that time. But I was (still am I guess) a big Beatles fan and I think that song is pretty. I didn't like my name either when I was young--thought it was so boring but I've grown to like it--it's me...after all. Love the color of the yarn and those buttons (so cute) for the hats. I agree with you--I don't like reading pages and pages and pages of posts--I like how we do it.

Susan, sounds like you have a great day planned also! Quilt shop and lunch out! Sorry to hear about your problems--glad it's a brace and not a cast. I get really annoyed when a grocery store remodels. I think they do that so customers will buy more on impulse.

Jean, there were chunks of peach in that ice cream! YUM. Yes, I have tried ALL the flavors of the ice cream that WW has put in those little tubs. I have to be really careful about having that stuff in the house--ice cream of any kind is a red light food for me. Wayne says we will start walking in the morning again when he has more down time...which will be at the end of September. I love walking with him. I chatter alot--I have his full attention!

Well, here's Wayne now...

Gail

Good morning to you all! I hope your Sunday is starting out well. We have the dreaded "get out of my way I am on a scooter" grocery shopping except now I am the one on the scooter! lol I am actually polite and excuse myself a lot though. I am still having trouble walking the whole commissary without getting really bad cramping so I still use the scooter when I do the two week shopping. Right after we get back from Houston, I am getting on an exercise program I am hoping will help and a much more restrictive but healthy diet. I want to check with the dr first on Tuesday, but I imagine he will certainly be gun ho on it as it cuts out the bad stuff and you eat the good stuff. I love WW and will keep Jack on that, but I found that I still made bad choices just figured them in the plan. I lost weight, but the problem is I have a sugar addiction and I need to completely wein myself off sugar period forever. I find I stay with a program, but eventually I will little by little bring back in more and more desserts and soft drinks again. This program is more like the core program of WW except it is spaced out more through the day. I don't know if I will ever not have the health issues now, but I have to try and solve what I can.

We had a great time with Thomas and Kelly and Tom yesterday. They regaled us with stories about their vacation. Tom dropped Kelly at some disco and dislocated her knee! Like I said before they are really healthy eaters and Jack asked them about food in Costa Rica. Tom was saying you had rice and beans at EVERY meal and Kelly said she loves rice and beans but never wants to eat it again. She doesn't like breakfast meats of any kind, nor eggs, pancakes and the like and so when she would go to breakfast she would end up with rice and beans every morning. She said the plus factor is they sure were regular! lol Thomas told me he and his dad got to see a volcano erupt and Tom said you would be sitting in the dining room and see geckos and iguanas, which were sometimes as big as a large dog walking around like we see squirrels and birds here in the states. One thing he said was there are No bugs. Guess those geckos and Iguanas keep them cleaned up.

I will catch up with you all tomorrow on individual posts. I have to hop to and get chores done and work up a grocery list so we can go first thing this morning. The Cubs are on tv at 1 pm so we want to be back home to watch.

Faye

Good evening, ladies!

Today was another beautiful day. I don't know where the August heat and humidity is this year, but I hope it stays there. We sure could use some rain, however.

Faye, it sounds like you have been doing some thinking and come up with a good solution for your weight loss plan. Sugar is bad - it really affects me, too. I just want more and more. I have even been noticing that sugar substitute also does it to me so I haven't been using those either.

Jean, good for you out there walking!

I went to church this morning and to the library this afternoon and didn't do much else the whole day.

Good morning to you all! It still looks gloomy outside so I expect it may be more rain for us. The last three times we went grocery shopping it rained and we nearly got soaked. At least yesterday it stopped long enough for us to get indoors and back out again. There was no one there yesterday and it was wonderful shopping without whacking into people here and there. We zipped right through.

Jean: Did you change handbags since school ended? Maybe your keys are in another handbag. I know sometimes I forget to look in a pocket and leave something in a handbag. How about a jacket or sweater that has pockets. Sounds like the cabin will be all spiffy just about the time it is too cold to go up there anymore.

Susan: Luckily, I am one of those persons who doesn't freak out at gaining weight or how I look or whatever. I will get frustrated at clothing sometimes, but other than that I don't go postal on the fact I haven't lost weight. I do know I have to be motivated to do it and nothing motivates you more than a health issue. Of course, I have a sister who is obese, has to use C-pap to sleep, has diabetes and continues to smoke like a chimney and drink soda like no tomorrow so guess that is not always true. Fact is, I am pretty healthy for as large as I am for the most part anyway. I am one who could care less whether stick thin is in, I am comfortable with how I look no matter my size and I think that is a healthy thing to be. I know most people don't agree, but my motto has always been, "if you can't love yourself fat, you can't love yourself thin." I think loving yourself and not being satisfied with your body are two different things. Improvement is always good, but I actually saw an infomercial for one of the programs out there that said, "If you don't do this for yourself, do this for the ones you love." WRONG!! You should never lose weight to please someone else. I have often told Jack if I had a husband like some of these ladies here on the site, I would tell him to hit the road the first time he made a comment on losing weight. This is a very personal thing that has a lot of components to it besides dropping lbs. Don't you feel, as someone who years ago dropped a lot of weight that to keep it off, you have to be constantly vigilent, that you have had to adjust your thinking about food, etc? I really truly think that the very most important part of losing weight is your brain! Food is just food, but how we look at food, why we eat it, when, what emotions do we allow to interfere with food, etc. all can either make you successful or fail. No eating plan will work long term if you don't solve why you always eat when you are mad, sad, happy, depressed, whatever. I always pose one question to people that I think sums up bad habits in a neat little package. Can you go to the movie theater and not buy or take anything to eat and drink and watch the whole movie without food or drink? I bet almost 100% of people would have a hard time just going and watching a movie without a snack of some kind. That is programming on our part and it is one of the hardest things to readjust. Giving up the food or drink while reading, watching tv, at a ballgame, movie or whatever. We have programmed our brain to actually make us "need" food at that time. If you can break that cycle boy have you come a long way. Enough of my . I just think people choose what plan they are going to use and what exercise, but leave changes to the brain to someone else and it just won't stick that way.

Have a good Monday girls. I am off to work on chores and the second hat. The first one I am still making the embellishments for and they hurt my hands so I have to do a little at a time.

Faye

Happy Monday Morning!

We need rain. I know that Hurricaine Fay has been wreaking havoc down south but we need rain badly. Our grass has turned to straw. We are watering the four new trees we planted back in the spring.

Y'all know how it seems to go sometimes--there's always something happening? Well...I have a permanent bridge in my mouth and over the weekend whenever I would drink something cold and it would hit that area the pain of it would send me to the roof. Thankfully, I can see the dentist at 11:30 this morning.

Yesterday was a great day. We went to church, came home, and did much of nothing. I knitted. I cooked dinner--made spaghetti. Really...that was it!

Donna Faye, I don't like going out when it rains although I don't allow it to stop me. I just don't like getting wet. I agree with you--one must lose weight for oneself. I don't want to be skinny; I just want to be a few sizes smaller and healthy.

Susan, I agree with you--sugar is not good for me...and I find when I eat/drink too much of it, I just want more. I find the days that I limit the sugar content of foods and also of breads/pastas/carbs in general, I feel more energized.

Jean, 58 degrees sounds wonderful to me. I love the Fall. I love the colors changing and the cooler temps. Wayne, on the other hand, starts to whine (yes...whine) just about mid-October and then all the way through winter about cold weather. I call winter the "whining season" (yes, he knows this--I tease him!).

Maggie, you certainly planned a great meal! Yum!!!

Okay ladies...gotta scoot...

Gail

I'm back from the dentist. My permanent bridge is fine. However...the back tooth that helps hold the bridge in place? Well, it decided the nerve should go bad so guess what I get to have tomorrow morning?! A root canal!! And not just any ol' root canal either. I get to go to a endodontist!! Whoopeee!! At least I'll get it over with and things will be fine. Really. I'm fine really unless I allow something cold to get near that back tooth...which I am not!

Good evening, ladies! Heat and humidity found us today.

Gail, ouch! Hope your root canal goes well and doesn't give you any problems. Your trees would be dead here - water restrictions means no watering. I you use more than your allotment (based on winter usage) you have to pay a lot more.

Jean, did you find your keys?

Faye, I'm with you - we need to love ourselves no matter what size we are.

I sure wouldn't mind getting wet in rain if we'd just get some. The ground is like cement.

Had a good day at work and went to Curves so I'm feeling good.

Off to do a little sewing while I watch Army Wives.

Have a good evening.

Good morning ladies. Today is my last surgical dr appt! Well, I am assuming so as the little bit of incision that wasn't healed when I was there 6 weeks ago is not completely healed and up closer to the surface. I have a 10:30 appt, but am going to be all ready when I take Jack to work and run by dmv and try and get my license renewed before the drs. Maybe if I get there real early I will be first in line. After all, someone has to be first, right! Tenn allows you to renew online, but I got my license when we moved down here before the federal law passed where you had to prove your citizenship so I have to go in and take my birth certficate this time. I have to pay $19.50 for a regular operators' license, which I think is outrageous. But we who have no state income tax have to get it out of us someway!

Gail: Hope you can get your tooth problem solved and can go back to normal. It is agony when you have that problem.

Maggie: I used to not eat until I weighed in either and it would be after 1 pm before I had anything to eat on weigh days. I got to thinking that if I would just eat my pts that maybe it would show a slight gain, but if I would do that every week it would then even out and show just regular losses. Sometimes the things we do to our body.

Jean: Ok, I would suggest looking in the couch cushions, chair cushions and car seat cushions next. Maybe they fell out and got lodged in one of them. As for the hat, the little pink one I posted with the buttons is the one I am working on now. Though it isn't finished, here is the first hat I did. It is a rough pic as I have to measure the sides to tac them in place, sew on the flowers, buttons etc, but you get the idea. I am waiting for my wheelbarrow buttons for the sides which I enclosed a pic of.

Susan: You can have some of our rain. It has rained 4 days in a row here and makes the humidity just unbearable. We haven't had issues with mosquitos at all this year, but if it keeps it up, I imagine we will.

Well, I have to go. I want to put away the dishes out of the dishwasher then have to head upstairs and get ready for a long day. Have a good one.
Faye