A Merry December For The Worldly Chicks
 

Hi Everyone ~

Welcome to a new month, Lets step up our diet and exercise this month, Who's with me?

Here's the Nov. Thread for anyone who needs/wants to go back to the Nov. Thread

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/supp...kin-along.html

Susie ~ Yeah I know only gaining a pound is great especially because I havent been walking due to having another blister on my foot.

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I slept in this morning, I didnt wake up until 8 this morning, It's now 9:01 right now. I just got done eating breakfast. Clyde is still sleeping but I will let him outside when he wakes up. I already gave him fresh food and he has fresh water. I still have my blister so I wont be able to get any miles in today but I hope it goes away soon especially since I have to go shopping on Friday and I have alot to get so I'll be walking on my foot for awhile that day. Mom and I went shopping yesterday and we were only in there an hour and my foot was hurting so bad after we got back in the car so I can only imagine how its gonna feel if its not healed by Friday when I go shopping for an hour and 1/2 or longer. Anyway Have a good day everyone

Good Afternoon/eve all....

I am still feeling like poo today. If I had some accumulated days I would have stayed home today and slept on the couch. I am doing all I can to stay awake at work. God love my boss, he went out to CVS (down the street a couple of blocks) and got me some hauls cough drops. I tried to pay him for them but he said no that it was purely a selfish move. (He didn't want me to go home). lol. Anyway it was a kind gesture on his part. He has to be the very best boss I have ever had. I did much of nothing after Sam and Chris came and picked up the wee ones. Lounged around on the couch snoozed here and there then went to bed around 7 and still did not want to get up this morning, of course it could of been the Nyquil not completely worn off yet. Oh Me.

It was nice yesterday around 60 degrees, altho I did not get out in it, it was much better than today. It is not bad out but ony 32 degrees and a wee bit cold for me. Bleh. I am stuck at 10 lbs down, but I will take it. May be because of all the fluids and OTC drugs I am taking for this cold/sinus/throat/chest cough. That is only my deluted guess.

Got a few more gifts out of the way via on-line shopping. I have gotten most of my stocking stuffer stuff while grocery shopping. I stopped at the Family Dollar store and got pretty good size candles in a glass container with a lid for 3 bucks each. Got one for all the girls stockings.

Not much else going on, which I could take a nap at my desk.

Have a great day/evening/night/morning.

Love and hugs

Quick check in to say Hi.

Terra, I'm sorry to hear about your blister. What you might try is "Moleskin". You should be able to find it at pharmacies near the foot care products (and Dr. Scholl's stuff). If you can't find it there, you can maybe check camping/hiking stores like REI, Bass Pro Shops, or Cabelas. You apply it to the skin over your blister and it gives a bit of extra cushion/padding so you don't get as much friction when you walk. I used to use it when I'd go hiking a lot and it's a life saver.

Here are a couple links to products sold on WalMart's website (and maybe in the store too..I don't know):

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Dr-Scholl-...ng-3-ct/893374

http://www.walmart.com/ip/First-Aid-...count/19314038

Annie - I hope you feel better soon, sweet sista. Very nice of your boss to get you cough drops.

Michelle ~ Thanks for the advice on the Moleskin but my sister in law told me about something at her work that works really well so I'm gonna try that first but if for some reason it doesnt work I try to Moleskin, Thanks again.

Annie
I've been fighting sleep all day too. Think it's the weather,cold and dreary. I would be more than happy to be down 10 pounds. Your boss seems really nice.

Terra
I'm going to accept your challenge. I want to be at least 5 pounds down by the end of December. Hope the blister heals quickly.

Susie
Guess, I'll drag out my few decorations this week end.

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As I mention before I'm very sleepy. Think it's due to the weather. But it could be due to the fact that it was almost 11 p.m. when I went to bed.
Didn't ride the bike last night but I will tonight, maybe, if I can stay awake. Need to get myself on a schedule.

Hello---it is so cold here! The cooler weather and the rain (we had some freezing rain today at times just makes me shiver.

Work was a bear today and I was working on a PowerPoint most of the day for a meeting tomorrow (didn't get the draft to clean up until today about 10) so I worked on it most of the day...there were about 60 slides to fix.

I think I need to log on here in a bit for an hour and go through emails for anything that is pressing.

I did get a 20 min walk in at lunch today. I will focus on pushups and stretching tomorrow.

Ceejay: I couldn't get to sleep last night when I went bed. I think I finally fell asleep about 12:30 and I get up at 5:30...I feel a bit tired tonight. I think your goal for the end of December is very doable.

Annie: Sorry to hear you are still feeling poorly. That was nice of your boss to get the cough drops for you...but I think it is time for a day at home to sleep. I know you don't want to miss with it being a new job but.....

Terra: thanks for starting the new thread. I hope the blister gets better by Friday so you can get your shopping done.

Michelle: Good to hear from you!

Hello to all the rest of the Wordlies....see you all tomorrow.

Hi all,
Thanks for setting up the new thread Terra and for putting the link to this one in the old thread Michelle.

Hard to believe we are in the last month of the year. Time is really flying by. I am making some headway on tasks here. Have a bunch of things to take with me to the shop tomorrow for my shift. Today was really cold - I think it was minus 6 last night and don't think it even go to 10 degrees today. I volunteered to make some dog treats for a shelter fundraiser they are having this coming weekend. I sure do hate making them as the dough is really hard and tempermental to work with. I had to trash one batch and start again. Then they have to cook for 3 hours because they don't have preservatives and have to get really hard. With a propane stove that I have, you must run the exhaust fan when you run the oven. Of course that pulls in cold air while it exhausts so the house got pretty cold. Good thing I did this late at night so DH didn't mind the chill but I had to sit in it. I wouldn't mind it as much but a double batch only makes about 7 bags of dog treats so it's a lot of work for not much result. I sure do miss the double built in oven set up I had in Memphis. Actually I miss my huge kitchen from that house!

Today the produce truck rolled into town. They make a special run around the area and that's where I got those incredible peaches last summer. This time they had navel oranges from Florida that just blows away the California crop (sorry Michelle but Florida has the goods when it comes to produce). The box contained 25 good sized oranges. I also got a box of ruby red grapefruit now that DH can eat them again - 15 big beauties. They also had pecan halves from the state of Georgia so I got 3, one pound bags of them because they will freeze up to 2 years. Pecans are good for lowering cholesterol so I can bag them up into smaller portions to eat and maybe save a bag for pecan bars or a pie for DH. I can't go overboard as the acid will give me a tummy ache but I sure did enjoy the one orange and half a grapefruit I ate today. While I did eat my citrus I guess it didn't make up for the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich we had for supper. At least I only ate one - I was getting tired of turkey after 3 days of it. DH was happy with the menu tonight.

Suzie - I bought a CD for those times when I occasionally have trouble falling asleep - got it on Amazon and it's called Liquid Mind VIII: Sleep. The music reminds me of the sort of background music you'd hear in a movie floating in space - like Gravity with Sandra Bullock. I imagine myself floating and peaceful and I have yet to get to the end of the CD before I am conked out. Sometimes I might have gotten all the way to the 5th song but I never made it to the end. I have it on my iPOD and take it to bed with me. They warn you never to listen to it in your car as you will fall asleep. Figured I'd mention it. Good for you for getting your walk in on a busy day. Like you say, you just have to commit. Sometimes I would walk to the farther ladies room to get in extra steps. And since I always waited until the last minute if I was busy, sometimes that was a quick sprint to the door :lol:

Ceejay - yes, I hear you on the schedule. That's good planning. Hope you made it through the day - sometimes I used to want to crawl under my desk and just get 20 minutes in for a nap! The 2pm sleepies were awful.

Terra - I hope your blister heals up quickly. I liked the moleskin too. Let us know what the other product is.

Michelle - thanks for the email update - good to hear that things are progressing for you. I can totally relate to the fear that you will get hit in the stomach when in a crowd. How long will it take to heal inside?

Annie - sorry you are sick. The Nyquil does give a good sleep but it sure does make one groggy in the morning - takes a while to wake up. It was sure nice of your boss to get you some cough drops. Maybe they could let you use the steamroom in the corporate gym so you can sweat out the cold. Get to bed early and feel better. You need some turkey soup! If I ship it from here it will probably still be frozen when it gets to your door. 60 degrees yesterday - you girls are making me jealous!!!

I guess I should head to bed. Should have been in there an hour ago. Got an early start in the morning and I have been sleeping in the last few days. The dog treats are finally finished baking so I can shut everything down for the night. Now to go chase the cats off my bed and get to sleep. Night all, will post later tomorrow.

Evening all,

Better get this done before I sit back on the bed and probably drift off. I've been in the training room all day and while I like learning new stuff, there are times when I just want to get out of all the excitable people who think they are learning the bible or something. All shouting at once and thinking this program is great, where in actual fact it is good, but has some problems and will be a ***** to edit as far as I can see. Yes it is nice that you can type something in and have it converted to speech, but not when the speech sounds like Donald Duck on helium and in a hurry. They are talking about the SME (subject matter experts) creating the simulations and leaving us to pretty them up. I wonder if they have told the SME's yet. Can't see that happening.

Been talking to my Grand daughter. Her speech is really coming along. DS1 rang me and I cut him off. Then I rung him back and I heard little miss S saying 'who is it Daddy? So I said 'hello S, it is Granma, how are you?' Hey dad it's Granma. Hello Granma- we been playing ball today' She just chatted on and on and on. Poor DS1 could hardly get a word in.

Annie - hope you get better soon.

Michelle - understand you not wanting to be jostled by the unruly public.

Terra - thanks for setting up the thread.

Happy - pity those biscuits take so long. Can understand the frustration. And they must be fairly expensive to make as well - what with the cost of gas, ingredients and power and all that.

Guess it is time to go put the feet up. My left foot has gone out in sympathy with Terra's and I have a blister on the bunion area - not that I have bunion problems but that last pair of shoes I had on were obviously too tight in that area. Time for some new shoes for short, fat, flat, wide paddles again. *sigh*

Tuesday Woes........

What a slip sliddery morning to work. Had to do a turn around and seek another route to work. Cold and sleeting, just enough on the roads to make for a slid to stop action. Me, I just slowed down, kept my distance and came to a very nice comfortable stop. What a bunch of idiots. It is not like all the local channels were not warning you to go slow and leave early. I will say those driving way too slow with their blinkers on need to stay home till is melts or traffic is not as heavy. OK rant over. At least I made it to work all in one piece.

I am feeling a teeny tiny bit better today, nothing really to write home about. Fewer cough sessions during the night was great. The final one, I just got up and got ready for work. Probably a good thing to get an earlier start due to the weather. See God does look out for us, if not for the cough session, I would of gotten up at regular time and fought all the idiots on the road and not just a few.

Last night was baked tacos for dinner. Pretty simple. It was the recipe that keeps popping up on FB. I changed the tomato sauce for taco sauce, which made them a little more tasty. C liked them, I guess that is all that matters. He has really been pitching in since I am under the weather, cleaning up the kitchen, loading the dishwashers and folding towels...hmmmm, lets see how long I can drag this out. lol

Terra...hope the blister leaves soon. Isn't this the 2nd one you have had? Maybe your shoes are not fitting like they should.

CHELLE...glad you are feeling better and getting around well. Remember drink, drink drink, WATER.

SHADDIE...aw, little S. Seems they grow up so fast. Hope the training doesn't make you completely nuts before it is over.

HAPPY...yum on the fresh produce. I love fruit and veggies. I will be waiting on the turkey soup. Probably could use a bowl or two.

SUSIE....it seems work is mostly a bear or quiet. There is no in between. I feel ya sister.

CEEG...get back on that bike and get to truckin' girl.

Hellos LAURA and DEE, make it a great day, sisters.

Have a terrific Tuesday, nite!

Loves

Good morning ladies,

I want to ask y'all a favor. Can you please send prayers, healing energy and good thoughts for my friend Bob (been referring to him as "B" on here). He has a malignant tumor in his upper thigh that was surgically removed a year ago, but apparently they didn't get it all because it came back with a vengeance. It's bigger and pressing on all all kinds of nerves. Anyway, the doctor said that the only way to make sure they get it all is to amputate his entire leg at the hip. He's having that surgery at Stanford Hospital this afternoon. Please keep him in your prayers.

Not much going on with me. Yesterday, I spent a few hours at my stepmom's playing scrabble with her, then I did a bit of shopping and went to a support group.

Today, I'm going to be spending the late afternoon and early evening at Stanford Hospital while Bob undergoes surgery. His parents, brother and sister will be there, but I want to be there as well.

Big Non-Scale Victory for me yesterday. I went to Kohls to pick up some Christmas cards and a few gifts, and I decided to look for an inexpensive Christmas-ey shirt to wear to Christmas dinner at my stepmom's. Just for kicks, I decided to look in the Misses section rather than the Women's Plus Sizes section. I tried on an Misses XL and it fit just fine! I was shocked! I haven't been in Misses sizes since 2003!! Because the shirts were very inexpensive, I bought the XL and also the Large in case I get down to that size by Christmas! I'll just return the one I don't wear since I'm hoping to be a Size Medium by Christmas 2015!

My scale at home says that I've lost 10 lbs since surgery, but I'll know for sure when I have my follow up appointment with my surgeon on Thursday. I also hope to hear at this appointment when I can start exercising (recumbent bike, water aerobics, strength training).

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Annie - I'm glad you're feeling a little better and good that you got an early start today so you didn't have to deal with an overabundance of idiots on the road. And congrats on the weight loss! :bravo: I am drinking plenty of water, at least 60-70 ounces per day. Today when I go to the hospital, I'm going to take along my water bottle (it goes everywhere with me), some Crystal Light to flavor it, some chicken broth flavored protein powder since I'll be there at "dinner" time, and some protein shake mix. I packed along a lot of stuff yesterday when I was out and about and it worked out well for me. When I graduate to "soft" foods by the end of this week, my food won't be quite as portable, but I'll manage.

Terra - Glad your sister has a suggestion that might work for your blister.

Ceejay - Good for you for joining Terra's challenge! I hope you get back on the bike and ride, ride, ride, girlfriend.

Susie - I am definitely not missing the Midwest winters. Good for you for getting your walk in! I hope there weren't any last minute changes to the PowerPoint, and I hope you slept better last night.

Happy - I agree. Time is flying by! Minus 6?! :yikes: :brr: How ironic that your house gets colder (due to the exhaust fan) when you use the oven. I'm sure the doggies will love their treats. I'm going to a humane society fundraiser this coming weekend. Pictures with Santa, so Santa and I are going to get our pictures taken with Mr. Ho Ho Ho himself. Sounds like you definitely scored with the produce truck! My friend's brother has a citrus orchard, and for Christmas she always has him send me a big box of freshly picked Clementines/Mandarin Oranges. I told her not to this year though because I wouldn't be able to eat them until after Christmas. Thanks for the tip about the CD for sleeping. I honestly don't know how long it will take for me to heal inside. My guess would be about 2-6 weeks because that's how long we have to be especially careful with what we eat. If all looks good at my appointment on Thursday, I'll be able to graduate to "soft" foods like eggs, tuna mixed with low-fat mayo, thinly sliced deli meat and very soft cooked veggies.

Shad - So cute to hear about your conversation with your granddaughter! Definitely brought a smile to my face. I hope your blister and foot pain goes away soon.

:wave: to Laura and Dee. I hope you're both doing well.

Much love and many hugs to all,

Annie and Michelle
I did ride the bike last night.

Annie
I'm glad that you are on the mend to getting well.

Michelle
I'm going to do a 7 day challenge that is mainly riding my bike and food intake. Starting over again with baby steps. Yeah for that non scale victory. Sending good vibes to your friend B.

Happy
Some ones dog will have a nice treat.

Shad
Glad you got to talk to your grand daughter. It always makes my day to get to visit with my sister's little ones.

Susie
Take some "me" time at work. Sometimes it will recharge our batteries.

Terra
Is you blister getting better? Have you found a good you tube video that you like?

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Not as sleepy today as I was yesterday. I went to bed last night at 9.30 and was asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow. But I did ride my bike for 3.1 miles last night to equal 15 minutes. I'm getting there little by little.
Trying to think of something simple and light to have for dinner. May eat a bowl of cereal. That's what I did last night.
No laundry to do tonight so I may dust my living room and clean the bathroom. I can't wait for my 5 day week end. Taking a couple a days vacation just for myself.

CJ ~ I'm glad you accepted my challenge. I'm gonna do the same challenge I want to be 5 pounds down by the end of Dec. We can do this. Yeah I hope my blister heals quickly too. Yeah I found a video I like on youtube.

Susie ~ Your welcome. I really hope my blister is better by Friday too cause I'm in need of groceries and non food items as well.

Happy ~ The other item is Bag Balm. Its in a green tin can.

Shad ~ Your welcome, I enjoy getting to start the threads when I'm able too.

Annie ~ Yes, This is the 2nd blister I've gotten in like 2 months I think its been,Maybe 3 but since it sucks. I dont know what it causing them but I hope I find out soon so I can stop them from happening.

Michelle ~ Yeah I hope the Bag Balm works for my blister, This is the 2nd day I've used it so hopefully by Friday it wont hurt anymore to walk on.

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My alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. this morning but I turned it off and went back to sleep and the next time I woke up it was 6 a.m. so I thought I needed to go ahead and get up cause my bus would be here to get me at 7:00 a.m. so I went ahead and got up and got ready to go to my appt. and then I went to my appt and then I got home at 10:30 and I've been home ever since. Although I'm sleepy right now at 6:00 p.m. I'm not gonna go to bed for another hour or two. I still need to do my chair exercises before bed. Good night everyone.

I made it through my complete "to do" list today at work! I feel very accomplished. I'm out of the office tomorrow for another offsite workshop with our Admin group on the East side of our campus.

My company likes to do a lot of "team building" and renewal type things.

It will be a nice break out of the office but then that will make Thursday very busy.

I got my steps in today and stretches.

Happy: The CD sounds like a good idea. Thanks for suggesting it. I will have to look into it. DH likes to run the fan at night for the noise..it drives me crazy, I don't find it soothing..it just makes me feel cold even though it isn't blowing on us. Maybe he will be open to the CD thing.

Ceejay: DH wanted cereal for dinner tonight, so he had that and I had an egg sandwich. Some nights one just doesn't fill like a big dinner.

Michelle: What a nice surprise you got when you tried on that misses top! I will be looking forward to hearing what the doctor says on Thursday.

Annie: I was anticipating a slippery commute in today but it seemed to miss us. I'm glad you made it ok. I hope you continue to feel better every day.

Terra: I hope your appointment went well today.

Shad: Sitting in a training room all day can be a bear! Your story about your granddaughter is so cute.

Hi Laura and Dee--hope you are both well.

Time for me to fold some towels and put them away and then I'm heading for bed.

Oh Mercy CHELLE....sending prayers, good vibes and healing thoughts for your friend Bob. My friend's hubby had similar surgery. He walks with a cane and prosthetic now. Granted he is doing very well, it has been about 10 years since his surgery however he is 74 years old also. So you just never know how well a person can do in that situation. It will be a struggle and lots of therapy for him, but he can do this. So glad you are doing so well. Directly after surgery, like the next day, I was allowed mashed potatos (however a particular type, which I cannot remember, came in a dry form), unsweet yogurt, unsweet popsickles, and a few other things I cannot remember. String cheese, I think. My surgery was on Feb 7, so I did not have to worry about the holidays. Not even Valentine's day, divorced and no BF, didn't really want one.

SUSIE...have fun at the workshop and team building exercise. It is nice but those always seem to come at really busy times of the year.

TERRA...get your exercises done, then you can go to bed. lol Hope the foot is healing nicely.

CEEG...good for you on the bike. More than I have done lately. Cereal is a nice and easy dinner and filling. Don't tell anyone you are on vacation and take that time for you. Do you hear me sister?? lol

LAURA...come out, come out, where are you? Everything ok?

SHADDIE...are you still above water or struggling for air?

HAPPY...Sassy loves doggie treats. Her vet office always has the homemade ones in a cookie jar when checking out. They get them from a little doggie bakery down the street from them. Kind of a nice touch. Actually we probably pay for them one way or another. haha. Of course she is spoiled like no other. All my kiddos are, human and furry.

DEE...where are you sister??

Ok, in need of prayers sisters. My biopsy came back not so good. The biopsied places came back a level 1 and the further up in the cervix came back a level 2. I am waiting on the doc to call with further instructions. Scehduling cone surgery. It will be out patient. If this does not get rid of the nasty stuff, then a hysterectomy is the next step. BLEH. Don't wanna but will do what is necessary.

My cold/sinus/cough BS is as I told C this morning, 1/2" better than it was. Still clogged, coughing, and a headache. Have been up since 3:30, couldn't get back to sleep and that was with taking Nyquil before bed. Of course I couldn't turn my mind off. A childhood friend, through grade school and high school passed away from brain cancer on Monday, I didn't learn of it till yesterday. She was so sweet and kind and oh so much fun. She is flying high with the angels now. And today, Dec 3 marks the birthday of one of my besties that died when we were 16 years old from lung cancer. Happy birthday Mary Jane.

I am just full of good news today, maybe I need to sign off of here and count my blessings.

Much love to all. Happy Hump day!

Annie
Yes maam. I do have to schedule the maintenance men to come to the apt for a couple of small repairs. For some reason the cold water in the bathroom sink doesn't work and I need them to check on a window. But other than them no one will be coming into my house.

More later

Quick check in as I didn't sleep much last night. Bob finally went into surgery at 7 pm. The OR nurse told us it could take anywhere from 4-10 hours. I stayed at the hospital with Bob's family as late as I could, but as I didn't plan to stay overnight, I left around 10:30. Bob's sister texted me updates. I told her no matter how late, I wanted updates. Bob was finally out of surgery at around 2 am. He is in ICU and will be kept heavily sedated (asleep) for 24 hours. I will go to the hospital this afternoon for a short visit. And tomorrow, I'll go visit him after my post-op appointment.

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Annie - Thanks for the kind words about Bob and the tips for me. I'm so sorry to hear the biopsy results, and the anniversary of your friend's passing. I'm keeping you in my prayers. Please keep me posted, sista. :hug:

Susie - Congrats for completing your "to do" list! I hope your off-site is good.

Ceejay - Good for you on the bike and food challenge! A 5 day weekend! Enjoy!

Terra - I'm glad the Bag Balm is helping.

Gotta run...I've got website work to do and I'm still exhausted from being up last night waiting for updates about Bob.

Love to all,

Good for you CEEG...Stick to your guns.

Morning all,

Just sneaking in under the wire here. I have created a monster with the kitty. She is cold and loves the warmth of my keyboard, the heat from the side exhaust fan and the heater on my desk blowing on her. She has no problems taking over and laying all over my stuff which of course makes it hard to type. We are literally pushing each other.

Went to the shop yesterday. The kids at religious education at the nearby Catholic church made and sold dog treats to the parishioners as part of a charity work activity. The secretary dropped off a check for over $100. Very sweet. :hug:

Not much going on, snowflakes in the air and the sun is shining - well it's a bright overcast day - like sun showers but with snow. It was supposed to warm up for the weekend but the closer we get to it, the more they drop the temperature down and add the chances of precipitation.

I realized with the day's racing and it's already December 3 if I am going to decorate and do Christmas cards, I need to get my act together. I used to love the holidays, just can't seem to get into it anymore. :shrug: I was streaming some music from Pandora at the shop yesterday which made things a bit more festive.

Michelle - holy cow - a 7pm surgery???? That's awful late - hope the doctor was a night owl. Healing prayers for your friend - what a fighter! But you can't give up hope - and I hope this stops the cancer and gives him a good chance for recovery. Dang! :mad: Congrats on the t-shirt sizing - that's always a good feeling. As is thinking about wearing a size medium a year from now! Are their any tips they gave you in your classes about how to minimize the amount of loose skin? Hopefully you can get the green light for some gentle exercise soon. Did the interest in food go away like they said?

Annie - very sorry to hear of your biopsy results :hug: If nothing else, they caught things early - always hopeful for that. Speaking of your example to Michelle - my BFF they discovered stage one female cancer long ago. She had a hysterectomy, some chemo which she stopped before the full course was completed and that was in the early 70's. She is going strong, cancer free - so there is hope if they catch things right away. Sending you healing prayers and strength too. :grouphug: How very sad that you lost a good friend at the tender age of 16. What a loss! Sorry to hear about your other friend too. Just a reminder for not to waste the time we have here walking this earth.

Susie - hope you have a good team building session today. Do you have many holiday activities at the office since they do a lot of people things? Keep up the moving!

Terra - I've heard of Bag Balm but never tried it. Hope it works good for you!

Laura and Dee - where have you been?

Ceejay - 5 days to yourself? How will you manage? Seems like a long time since you've had any me time for yourself. Do some fun stuff.

Shad - I loved the story about your granddaughter too. We need to get you a cowboy hat and a bull whip since you have to come into town and clean things up on every project you work on :lol: Is the weather more comfortable over in Melbourne?

Time for me to cut this short - I am literally in a push me pull you situation with the cat who insists on laying all over my keyboard. And I need to get some lunch into me before yoga class at 2. I am really enjoying the produce I got on Monday. Last night I tasted a few pecans and even DH agreed they were the best we ever had. They are moist and sweet - not the bitter (I guess older) packaged stuff you typically get up this way. Those 3 packages are going to go fast!

Anyway have a good day everyone - will send good thoughts to everyone needing some help today.

Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do!

Happy
That Korean bbq beef recipe you posted (on FB) sounds tasty. Yeh, I’d add veggies too. Good you used up the Kohl’s cash – I don’t shop much, but I’ve let one or two of those expire. Frustrating. Sounds like your Thanksgiving dinner plans turned out for the best. When it gets cold out, it definitely determines where we eat out and if we eat out at all – these restaurants can get very drafty and downright chilly with their entry setups. Interesting article about the comeback of wild turkeys in the Trib. I’m posting a link to the story in the Wash. Post because it looks like you can read it in whole without a problem and that’s what popped up first when I g00gled it, and because the Chicago Trib often blocks their “premium” content when you’re not a digital subscriber. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...3ef_story.html Hope the link works. The only dessert I made for TG is the cheesecake – from experience I know there’s always a lot of desserts brought by bf’s SIL’s family that I didn’t need to contribute two. Re leftovers, we were offered a turkey carcass, which I declined, but we took home a ham “bone” which was very large and heavy and knew it would have a ton of ham left on it. The next morning bf used some of it to make a ham/egg/bell pepper scramble. Still plenty left! Have to make some soup for sure. My sympathies to you re going through papers. Ugh. Of all the material items in the house, the only one I have trouble with in terms of accumulation is paper. Wow, you’ve got a half pig coming! Makes me think of that side of beef Lucy & Ethel bought, lol. Wow, didn’t know about running the exhaust fan with the propane oven. I’d be missing the double oven too (natural gas or electric, wouldn’t matter!) Good of you to make the dog treats. I want to make some too. My bonehead mistake with the last batch I made was putting the baked biscuits into a plastic storage bag before they were fully cooled. Condensation developed and then they got moldy. Grrrr. Live and learn!!! I’m looking forward to oranges now that they’re in season again!

Ceejay
Nice of you to work for your co-worker, but good for you not letting her take advantage of it by giving up your TG holiday. Good job not overeating on TG. Can’t you get a direct flight to Houston from Little Rock? Thankfully you have plenty of time to work out the travel arrangements. Have you started your 7-day challenge yet? Ooh, 5-day weekend coming up – sounds great. I sure enjoyed my 6 days off work!

Shad
Glad your project isn’t bad. Hope you’ve whipped them into shape (well, you and your colleague Z), including the wannabe boss who was sending you work emails to the wrong addy. Nice you can now have phone conversation with little S.

RE your shoes being tight in the bunion area…I have wide feet in the bunion area, especially my right foot. I bought two pair of the same model shoe, one ordered after the other proved to fit well and be comfortable. Funny number 1 – I pulled my custom orthotics out of the old pair to put in a different shoe. One day I put on the old pair without any orthotic, or foam liner in it at all, but once I realized I did that, I didn’t have time to replace the foam liner that originally came with the shoe. When I got home and had time, I was putting in the liners and noticed the right shoe had “9.5 2A” (AA width=narrow) printed in the bottom (covered by theliner), while the left one had “9.5 D”. Yet the tag on the tongue of both shoes read size 9 D. And I didn’t even notice the right one felt too narrow when I started wearing them, even though comparing the left and right sole to sole showed the right one was obviously narrower! Duh. Funny 2 is that the 2nd newer pair are the same size and model as the old pair and feel too short. Aaaargh. Both of those pairs are going into the donation bag – I know of a running shoe store that takes old (but wearable) athletic shoe donations. I don’t know if it was buying this brand, one of the less expensive models of this brand, or buying them online at a discount, but I’d already decided to avoid the brand in the future anyway. And FYI, the brand/shoe isn’t my new Brooks. Yes, my feet are fat and wide and resemble Flintstone feet, LOL.

Susie
Congrats on your raise! You sure worked hard for it and it’s great they recognized you for that!!! :congrats: After the chaos at Bf’s bro’s house, your TG sounded very relaxing and laid back. Your Christmas décor is nice and simple. I’ve accumulated a fair amount of the knick-knacky stuff, but don’t have a lot of spots to display it, so only a portion of it gets out of the box. Good plan to keep moving during December! Hope the offsite workshop today is worth the build-up of emails…

Michelle
I’m glad your recovery is coming along well. I hope the eating aspect – the mental part – is going alright for you. I hope our food conversations here don’t give you trouble… Are you enjoying your time off? How much longer will you be off work? I guess your doctor will have a say in that. Your follow up appointment is tomorrow, correct? How did the surgery go for your friend Bob? I hope it was a success. Whoo on the NSV!!!

Terra
Hope your blister is healing and you’ll be getting back to walking soon, like your shopping day on Friday!! Hope your SIL’s remedy for the blister works, otherwise Michelle’s suggestion re moleskin is a good one. I have a pair of shoes that are very comfy…except they come up too high at the back of my foot – i.e., Achille’s tendon. I put a strip of cloth first aid tape on that spot on my ankles and it totally protects my skin there. Thanks for setting up the new thread!! And yes, I’m up for stepping up the diet and exercise this month!

Annie
Sorry you’re still feeling crummy. I find the coughing is the last thing to go away. What a nice boss you have, buying you meds! And sweet of C to help out while you’re sick. Glad you made it to work safely after that slippery commute. I’m sorry your biopsy results weren’t good and that surgery is needed. Yup, you’ll do what you need to do!! My condolences re the passing of your childhood friend. Some days are low on the good news…

Hello to Dee!! :wave:
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I think my last post was Sunday. Not much to report since then. I took vacation days on Monday and Tuesday. I had my allergy/asthma appointment on Monday morning. As expected my lung function has gone down. The doc gave me a “maintenance” inhaler for daily use to see if that calms down my asthma. I go back in two weeks. After that, bf & I ordered our other half bath items – some were in stock, some have been ordered. Luckily, the one that will take the most work, the medicine cabinet, was in stock and so bf can get to that right away.

Yesterday we both got massages in the morning.

Other than that, I didn’t do much at all. My side of the family has decided to (finally) do a grab-bag/Secret Santa thing for gifts, so we’ll only have to buy one gift. Yay for less shopping – even if the past many years it had only been gift cards anyways. I still have other gift shopping to do, as well as decorating, so I better get my you-know-what in gear!!

This week’s movie night was changed to tonight, but I will probably skip it since I have things to do and I’m not all that interested in the movie. It’s “The Theory of Everything” and it’s getting good reviews, but I dunno.

Okay, I’m gonna finally get this posted before I have more interruptions.

Michelle
That is a bit late for a long surgery. I'm glad the surgery is over for him and that he can now get on with his life. You are a good friend. Still sending good vibes and healing thoughts to him.

Happy
It's really cute that the cat hogs your keyboard but understand how frustrating it can be. Have you thought about getting a warm heating pad and lay it by the keyboard to see if that works.
Nothing better than fresh orange and grapefruit from Florida. Yum. And the pecans sound good too.

Susie
I've been thinking about having breakfast for dinner since I work later. Or sandwiches of some kind. Good for you in getting your "to do" list done at work. I need to make out one for next week.

Laura
Yes I can get a flight from Little Rock to Houston. It's just getting to Little Rock, but I think I'm going to buckle down and drive to Dallas and ride down to Houston with my sister and bil. This is going to be the biggest wedding I've ever attended. I don't like driving that far by myself but women older than myself have done it. I may talk to my cousin who has a daughter in Dallas to see if she will drive down with me. It's about an 8 hour drive so I may break it up to two 4 hour drives. That's what my bil does.
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Didn't ride the bike last night. The arthritis was acting up big time. Just didn't have the gumption.
I dusted the living room, and went to bed by 9.30. I can stay up a later tonight cause I can sleep later in the morning. Yipee.

I spent the afternoon at the hospital with my friend B. He's doing amazingly well considering, but the doctors are still only cautiously optimistic...the next 72 hours are critical. And the next 3 weeks...if he can avoid an infection, then he should be just about out of the woods. By then, he should be at a rehabilitation facility.

Right now, I'm exhausted. So I'm planning an early night. I've got another big day tomorrow with my own surgery follow-up appointment, followed by a visit to see B in the hospital, followed by grocery shopping for the soft food diet that I'll be graduating to.

Ceejay - You're right, that was a late start for such a long surgery. B was on a waiting list...otherwise his surgery wouldn't have been in 2 weeks. He was in such pain, and the wound that the tumor was pushing it's way out of (as well as up into the pelvis) was getting very necrotic - the tissue was dying and gross. And considering it was an aggressive, fast spreading cancer...2 weeks could've made the difference between life and death...which is why he had surgery late last night.

Laura - So far, the food talk hasn't been too bad. The only thing that got me today was a picture of some yummy, chocolatey peanut buttery dessert. I looked at the recipe and even though it was Health-i-fied, it still contained too much sugar for me to even consider. Now that I'll be able to eat soft foods I'm going to start looking at recipes to help with my love of sweets...in the meantime, there's sugar-free pudding.


Santa needs to go out and I'm trying to troubleshoot some computer issues. I'll do more personals tomorrow.

Much love and gratitude,

Susie ~ Yes my appt. on Tuesday went well.

Annie ~ Sure will do my exercises before I go to bed.

Michelle ~ Yeah I'm glad the bag balm is helping too, It seems to be helping anyway.

Happy ~ Yeah I've heard of Bag Balm too but never used it until now.

Laura ~ We are going shopping today at 3 p.m. instead of tomorrow cause its gonna be less busy today then it would be tomorrow. Yeah I think I've figured out the cause I'll know for sure after my shopping trip today but I think they are my new shoes :( I'm glad that your gonna step up your diet and exercise too. Good for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've been awake since 1 a.m. this morning, Its almost 9 a.m. now. I'll probably take a nap later on though. I already gave Clyde fresh food and water and He's been outside twice this morning. My plans for today are to go shopping at 3 p.m. today and to do my chair exercises before 3 today and again before bed tonight. I hope everyone has a wonderful day today.

Hi there friends and neighbors :D

ok, ok, ok. I did it. Joined the gym yesterday after yoga class. Well actually I signed up for a 10 day free membership. Our local radio station has a seasonal auction and they are having one next week - hoping to score a discount on a 3 month membership. I go for my one hour orientation tomorrow afternoon. It's a small gym - they have cardio equipment, weights, machines, and a couple of group exercise classes - nothing fancy but then again the price is affordable too. The owners have had the gym for over 25 years and he is a physical therapist as well as muscled gym owner who apparently practices what he preaches. I am hopeful that he will be able to set me up with a program that will enable me to regain lost strength and rebuild muscles that will support my sad arthritic joints. Also hoping he treats me like someone who is 60 instead of a young trainer who treats everyone like someone their own age. My poor sister had one of those - she beat the heck out of her and my sister could not move for days. She kept telling the person that was far too intensive but the girl ignored her and pushed even farther until my sister up and walked off. She's lucky she wasn't injured. Anyway, we'll see how this goes.

Got home later than I had planned which messed up the dinner plans for a home cooked meal so we went out last night and had a good dinner. Today I am going to finish making that turkey noodle soup and I'm thinking turkey pot pie for DH to use up the bird. Got some cleaning to do and not sure if I want to start decorating or work on cards.

Michelle - hope your friend is doing well in recovery - sending good thoughts out. That makes a lot of sense about why he took the first surgical appointment available. I hope he will have good news. As well as you with your first follow up appointment today. It sounds as if things are going well. I'm not sure how you can get over the sweets cravings other than the longer you stay away, the less good they taste - sort of like fast food.

Terra - have a good day too!

Ceejay - I would consider a heating pad for kitty but she always seems to want to be exactly where you don't want her to be. :dizzy: She has her paw on my left hand right now and is resting her head on it and very frustrated that I won't keep still. That's a long drive to Dallas by yourself. I hope you can get someone to go along with you. I'd rather drive to Little Rock by myself than all the way to Dallas! Are you on your 5 day Ceejay-iday (as Mel would say ;) ) Enjoy!

Laura - glad you popped back in. Is there some pea soup in your future with that big ham bone? The scrambled egg mix sounds yummy - our favorite way to use up leftover ham. We freeze our extra dog biscuits at the shop and when I take them out to package them up, I always let them sit out and come to room temperature before I wrap them as the cold ones also give off condensation. I was horrified to notice once that a bunch sitting in the basket on the counter had gotten moldy - hopefully no customers bought them :yikes: I have had the same experience as you with the shoes I got. Had a pair of New Balance loafer type shoes I really liked. Ordered another pair to replace the worn out ones - same size and width and they fit horribly - had to return them. Ordered another pair - still a bad fit but in a different place. :rolleyes: I've found the same with clothing - just because one piece fits, doesn't mean the same in another color will be the same. I guess it's the sloppy manufacturing methods they have gone to. That's funny about the AA very narrow and D wide - AND they were marked the same on the tongue. WOW. Sounds like you enjoyed some time with BF on your vacation days. Are you still doing book club or have they suspended that for a while - don't remember you talking about it recently - more just movies.

Hellos to the rest of the chicks :wave: Will check back in later.

Morning all.

Ceejay
Glad you’re keeping your days off for yourself (except for the maintenance visit). Enjoy the time off!! Keep going with the bike! :bike2: (Sorry the arthritis kept you from it the other night. )

Michelle
Wow, odd time for B’s surgery, but seeing as he needed it urgently, that makes much more sense now. I’m glad the surgery went well and that B’s doing well in recovery. Hope it continues. I hope your follow-up appointment goes well today! Your meal planning and preparation are going to be a huge thing now! But I guess being forced to do that will really help you succeed with your recovery and weight loss. I definitely need to work on that. Plus I need someone around to slap the junk food and sweets out of my hand before it makes it to my mouth!! :D

Happy
You might have to sneak your laptop into the bathroom & lock yourself in there to work undisturbed on the computer, LOL! I like Ceejay’s idea re the heating pad. Re the gym owner who practices what he preaches…our local Bally’s gym had a membership sales guy that was heavy and didn’t look like he worked out at all – not very inspiring. Bf and I never understood that. But when LA Fitness bought out that location and opened a new facility in a new location, he wasn’t working there. I hope you’re able to score the 3-month membership in the auction and can work successfully towards your goals. Your muscle mass can always be increased, it’s achieving that without overdoing it and/or injuring yourself that’s the challenge. Being gung ho (or having a gung ho trainer) is not a wise thing. Yummmm, pot pie! Re my soup plans – yes, I want to make split pea soup. Bf always wants to use a ham bone for navy bean soup, but this time I’ll use it for pea soup. Re book club – they had a book club in November that wasn’t for a book, but an ornament exchange. Unfortunately, it fell on the same evening as a friend’s 50th b-day party, so I couldn’t make it. The book for the next one has been picked out – The Dinner - but I don’t think a date has been set and I haven’t started reading it. In 2015, one resolution will be for me to host one of the book clubs. I’m feeling guilty that I haven’t done it in many years. :o I should just e-mail or text our “ring leader” to put me on the list.

Terra
It’ll be too bad if your new shoes are causing the blisters. Or could it be your socks in combination with the shoes?? Hope the shopping trip this afternoon is successful. Awake since 1 AM?!?! :yikes: I sure hope you get a nap before shopping!

Hellos to the rest of you!
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Yesterday wasn’t one of my better days. I was running late for work, so I asked bf to drop me off at the train. For some reason I forgot my backpack at home, duh, so we had to go back home to get it and I had to get the next train after the one I usually get. On the train, a bunch of stuff I had on my lap fell on the floor. Bleh. Work was going through all the emails (& phonemail) that piled up during my absence, and ancient business continues to be a massive modern-day PITA for our department and another. My former boss always told me my next job should be a start-up so I wouldn’t have to deal with this kind of crap…

And I guess I let that weigh me down (and a cold call from a corporate recruiter didn’t help either) because I had a dream last night that made me feel bad about how I’ve handled (or rather, mis-handled) my career. Don’t get me wrong, I have a good-paying job and good benefits with a stable, well-run company. But I’ve never been one to want to take risks, so I’ve never ventured off to other jobs with more and different challenges. And by doing that I feel like I’ve limited myself and possibly even made it difficult to even move on to other opportunities without taking a steep drop in pay. I suppose it all boils down to my desire for financial stability – voluntarily leaving this company seems unwise to me. Sigh.

On a positive note, even though I didn’t get much walking in yesterdayl, I did get two stair sessions in – one up 4 flights and then down again, and then up 5 flights and then down again.

I talked to my sister last night and we are definitely doing a Secret Santa type gift exchange this year. Did you know there are web sites out there that will help with drawing names, etc.? Then we can hopefully keep it a secret. I also agreed to host my family’s gathering on Christmas Eve. Yikes! I’m already stressed! Guess I just better start making lists and working through them.

Bf tore apart the half bath yesterday and we had a lot of back and forth last night about how the new medicine cabinet should be installed. It’s taller than the old one and the opening will have to be enlarged. He wanted to go up the extra 5 inches, while I preferred it to go down the 5 inches…Based on the existing framing, we will essentially be splitting the difference.

I was running late again today and got a lift to the train again. Maybe tomorrow will be the day I get my act together.

Nothing special planned for tonight. Need to take the water meter reading and enter it online. I want to take a look at the water bills for the past year - it seems like when we don't submit the meter readings on a timely basis the billing gets funky, and I'm not completely confident that the village is doing things right.

Okay, enough rambling. I've taken enough time away from my lunch hour.

Happy ~ Yeah I am having a good day. I hope your having a good day too.

Laura ~ So to see if its my socks as well what should I do?

Hi Laura,

Just going to make a comment about your remark on your career. I guess there are many ways to look at things and then there's the old "grass is greener on the other side" thing. I was (up to a point) a very successful manager for more than half of my career. I ALWAYS put the company first, did what I thought was right for the company, never questioning if this was right for me. I took on problems no one wanted to deal with, underperforming teams and turned them around. And then one day when the tide started to turn in management - not about what you do but how good a schmoozer you were, I too wondered - did I sacrifice my own career taking on the troublesome projects while others got more current experience? Did I hurt my future advancement because I refused to join the butt kissers and instead focused on what I thought was the right thing to do? The answer is probably a big fat YES. However, the flip side of that is whether one would have been happy living that kind of life. In my case, the answer was no - I was more satisfied growing people and getting things accomplished than hanging out having beers with the muckity mucks telling them how wonderful they were. You talk about taking risks, well ... sometimes risks bring rewards but they can also bring failures. Today's work environment is very different from 10 or 15 years ago. There's been a lot of job cuts and there's a lot of unhappy people on the job today. I know some people who are making a good buck but are squeezed to death - expected to do the work of 5 people for that pay. I guess it's easy to second guess things and when we get to our age with extended experience, yes - trying to do something different often involves a steep cut in pay. I guess you have to decide what is most important to you - advancement, pay & benefits, doing something you don't mind doing (or if you are lucky love doing), or job stability. And what's it going to take to get there or maintain your interests? It's sort of sad that the majority of people I know still working are stressed beyond belief. They are concerned for their own health and sanity and would love to change things around but feel stuck where they are either for financial concerns or lack of experience to get hired to do something else. As long as you are working, it's never to late to try something else - you just have to accept what comes along with that decision. After all, they say that today's 20-somethings will probably change careers at least 5 times in their working life. I can't even fathom that... I guess one field of concentration careers have gone the dinosaur way of jobs with good benefits, spending most of your life at one company and retiring with a pension provided by the company instead of a self funded 401K. Sorry... didn't mean to get preachy here. :o Just don't second guess yourself.

Terra - try some different socks to see if one irritates more than the other. I have some socks that are a looser fit and they tend to roll around in my shoe as well as rub the foot and irritate it. Or they are the dreadful ones (that I throw away) that creep down your foot and into your shoe as you walk around and you have to keep pulling them up :mad:

HAPPY...I agree 100% everything you said to LAURA in your post about jobs these days and who you smooze up to. Be happy with yourself first, and you are very right, the grass is not always greener on the other side, just ask my xdh. lol

Happy ~ Oh okay I wear thick socks right now so should I get some thin ones or what kind of socks should I get?

Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, January 6th at 11:00 am. Samantha is going to take me as Curtis has no one to run his route, but the good thing is C is off on Wednesdays so he can tend to me on Wednesday. I am planning on going back to work on Thursday. We shall see. Not looking forward to the bleeding and cramping, but if it gets rid of everything then I am good with it. Bleh.

Tonight we are having a tea at the church for the women. It is 6 bucks a person and covers the speaker, tea, finger sandwiches and desserts. I have never gone to one so it will be an experience for me. Our lil group of women have reserved/paid for two tables of 10, both are full. I am kind of excited about it. C and Sassy will have to fend for themselves. The church is decorated beautifully for Christmas.

Still just 10 lbs down, no gain, no losses. That is ok, I will take it. On the bright side I only want to lose another 20-25. Then I will be back to the weight the bariatric doctor wanted me to park it at. Slow but sure wins the race. Right?

HAPPY....on the job situation, or stuck working period just because you need decent affordable health that it seem big companies can only supply these days. I can first hand say the "Affordable Healthcare" issued by the government is neither affordable nor condusive to my needs. The pay at a decent job you like, best stick with it. Sheese I only have like 15 more years before I can retire. Used to be 5 years less but heck who can afford anything anymore. The Worldly commune is looking more and more necessary. If we get enough people we LIKE to be in our commune, maybe we can get a group rate on health insurance. ba hah ahahahahah

LAURA...you need my neighbor that leaves exactly 5:50 every day without a hitch, how do I know. Well, he starts up his HUGE 4x4 diesel truck at that time EVERY morning and it is very loud, I can hear it and I know that is the very last minute I can stay in bed. He better never take a vacation. lol Good job on the stairs, I would be a cripple if I did that. This ankle and knee cannot take it. It took me an entire week to re-coup from the fire drill and 17 flights of stairs down only. Whew.

CHELLE...I am anxiously waiting your check up results. I know it is only noon-thirty there and you are probably not at the doc yet. Do post your results as soon as you get them. I will try to check back in tonight to see if you posted.

Hellos to everyone. Make it a marvelous night/morning to you Miss Shaddie.

Hugs

Terra - can you tell if your socks wrinkle/ bunch up in your shoe? That could cause a blister.

Morning - tried to log on yesterday at the airport however the computer was crap and hung itself. Then I went to a table and dug out my own computer. The internet link was so slow, that I gave up after I had typed 2 sentences without anything appearing on my screen.

Home for the weekend. It's humid and we are being threatened with storms for the entire weekend which probably means I can't do much outside - but the rain will be welcome. It apparently rained overnight but I just came in, dumped my bag in the laundry and fell across the bed where I stayed until 5.00am this morning.

Terra - socks are interesting things. Don't go for pretty. Go for cotton which will allow the foot to breathe somewhat. Wash them often - you might need to buy several pairs and swap them out every day. Then you may need to think about shoe innersoles which cushion your feet. It's not funny with blisters - just ask me. I have one which is determined not to go away and that is because I have to wear nylon knee hi stockings or full panty hose and synthetic innersole shoes to go to work. Have to look somewhat professional. I've never had a blister that took so long to heal.

Anyway - while it isn't raining or storming I need to go put the washing out, sweep the pathway which is covered in those red flowers and water some of the pots that I put under the verandah in anticipation of the gutter man, who got behind in the storm and who is not now coming until next Tuesday. At least they rang me. *sigh*. Now I have to tee up the DS2 to check up on it for me over again.

I'll be back later if it rains and/or tonight if it doesn't

Hello! Our offsite was great! We have some good ideas for our team to work on for next year. Our sponsor, who is my VP, was with us all day. We reviewed what worked last year, talked about what to keep, what to try again, what not to try again, things like that. What was really cool was that the VP sent a note to our managers (my Director told me about it today), that said she was amazed at how we had hit the goals we set for as a team for this past year and how organized we were about it and how much value we brought to the Business Unit. She said " I'm thinking that maybe these Admin's should lead the company!"

The painting was so much fun! I am not artistic at all but it was so fun and I'm happy with my painting. We had fun painting, and singing and we had two drink tickets...some had wine, but I stuck with a gingerale and water...I don't drink with work people. Just a rule I have for myself.

I had TOPS tonight and losst 2 lb. I'm at almost 20 lbs lost for the year.

Michelle: You are an amazing friend to your friend Bob. I was be praying for him. What an ordeal he has and is goning through.

I hope your appointment went well today.

Annie: :hug: I am coverning you in prayer! I know it will all turn out ok. Your event at church sounds very nice. I hope you just relaxed and enjoyed every minute of it.

Terra: It sounds like you have good advice on the socks! What in the world woke you up at 1 a.m and kept you up?

Laura: I think that Happy and Annie said some very true and right things about the career issue and gave some great advice.

When you were talking about your 1st day back i the office, I could relate. My day was a bit like that today. I should have known it would be, I wore these pants that I hate. I keep thinking I will like them but I don't...I just need to get rid of them..I keep trying to wear different things with them thinking I will like them. I"ll have to check out the book that your book club has picked.

Happy: :bravo::cp: on your decision to join a gym. If that trainer overworks you to start with, just speak up and tell them. Remember this is about YOU!

Ceejay: 5 days off to yourself? You are going to love it! I would love it.

Shad: Enjoy your time at home until you have to go back.

Hi Dee--I hope things are ok and that we see you soon.

Worked outside this afternoon raking leaves and it's supposed to rain tomorrow. I'm going to call the street and sanitation early in the morning if it's not already raining to see if they can get the leaves. Almost mulched them with the lawn mower but the leaves were to wet from the previous rain.
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Annie
Hope all things go well. Sending good vibes your way.

Pictures from the painting at Cheers to Art.

One is group picture and the other is my painting. We all painted the same thing but you can see how they all looked different.

Wow! I don't log in for 24 hours and I've missed so much! And I'm tired again...so I can only skim the posts. My apologies.

Susie - I LOVE your painting! I've thought about going to a workshop like that, even though I can't paint or draw very well. Congrats on the note from the VP! It's always wonderful when executives appreciate all that non-management do, especially Admins who are often the unsung heroes.

Annie - I'm praying for you and will be doing extra praying as your surgery gets closer. Big hugs dear sista. I hope you had a nice time at the church tea. I'm sorry I didn't post earlier (you're probably asleep now).

Laura - as for the junk food and sweets...you could pretend you had my surgery and convince yourself that eating that stuff will make you feel faint, dizzy, nauseous for anywhere from 15-20 minutes to a few hours. It really makes my favorite desserts seem unappetizing and makes the sugar free pudding taste really awesome!

Happy - Good for you for signing up for a gym. I'm going back to the gym tomorrow.

Shad - Enjoy your weekend home even if it is raining.

Laura ~ Nope they dont but my left sock always comes off after I've been walking around the house for awhile, I'm not sure why that happens.

Shad ~ Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely check into getting shoe innersoles but I already wear cotton socks so I guess thats a good thing.

Susie ~ I had to go to the bathroom at 1 a.m. yesterday morning and I just couldnt get back to sleep afterwards.

more stuff....

my friend Bob is doing about as well as can be expected. He has a mild infection, which is common. He's also experiencing phantom pain (where he feels pain in the cancerous leg even though the leg isn't there. It will take some time to retrain his subconscious that his leg isn't there. Today, I got to the hospital right before lunch, so we actually were able to visit for about an hour. After he ate, they gave him more pain meds so he went back to sleep, which is exactly what his body needs to heal from this very traumatic surgery.

At my follow up, my doctor was so pleased at how well I was healing....ok, so am I! He said I could progress to eating soft solid foods (eggs, canned tuna or chicken or moist chicken or turkey, canned fruits and veggies). I have to chew everything REALLY well or it could "get stuck" (which would cause vomiting and that would be about the worst thing I could do to my stomach pouch). So...I'm going to chew and chew and eat really slowly (per the doc's instructions). I went to the grocery store and got my "new" foods. Oh, and the doc also said that he STRONGLY encourages me to exercise every day. I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn't cause pain in my stomach. He said that for the first time in my life, I can exercise and burn a bunch of calories and I won't be able to increase my calorie intake to make up for it. The estimated daily calorie limit with this new food stage is 400-600 cals. And I'm not hungry and I have a bunch of energy....except I do get fatigued by evening. I'm taking tons of vitamins and making sure I get enough protein....so this eating regimen is not advised for non-bariatric patients.

I've lost 13.5 lbs since surgery, and I'm 43 lbs down from my highest weight. My surgeon says that a good goal weight for me is somewhere in the 130s, which got me so excited. I still might shoot for 120 (I haven't been that weight since I was in my 20s), but I'll be ecstatic to get to the 130s!

Love and hugs,