Hey forgot to report that Royce started walking last night. I knew he would cause he took 2-3 steps to me yesterday. Sam recorded him and it is on my FB page. Lil stinker walking at 10 mos., makes sense, Samantha walked at 8 1/2 mos. Too cute.

Hi guys,

I got an email from Shad that her video bit the dust and her laptop is a boat anchor. She is limited to the smart phone and will out of pocket for a bit. I am having similar problems. My video drivers got corrupted I think and when I tried to apply an update - now my PC keeps crashing. I'm not sure how much longer it will hold up. So... if it's quiet without us, at least you know why. Will be back asap.

I've sent the man out to reconnect a customer but he hasn't called back yet.
My body said no to exercise yesterday so I listened. I might try tonight when I get home but need to do some errand before I go home.

_____
Michelle
Ouch on the kidney stone. My sister mentioned the In and Out burgers also.

Dee
Oh what fun to play in the snow with the grand children! I will be taking pictures when I go to Houston and Dallas in March.

Laura
It's not a big deal on the reconnects. The guys usually have the same list I do.

Hello! Yesterday was a holiday for me and it was nice to be home. I cleaned the bathroom and living room, took a nap, did my stretches and then worked from 6:30-11 p.m. That overtime will be nice--that is what I keep telling myself.

I had my PT apt this morning at 8 and I left at 10. The first time it takes a while I'm told as they have to do "intake" on you. They wanted me to come 3 times a week..there is no way I can come into work late 2 days a week (they are open on Saturday so I will be doing that as one of my days) and I'm going to work from home on Thursday and go, so on Tuesday they will give me exercises to do at home. Some are the ones that my chiropractor gave to me and they have added a few.

I really like the team that will be taking care of me. I did a little bit with all of them with Rachel overseeing what they did and also a massage that she gave me in my hip area...she said my hips were so tight and knotted up.

My good leg (the right one) has 95% strength. My left leg (the one with the bad knee and bad hip) has 65%! However she did say that she thought in 6 weeks I will be balanced. She said I have good muscle tone I just need to get it working again.

I also found out that as for walking, all I can do for fitness in that are is 1/2 at a moderate pace. I can do the elliptical for 10 min. I can't do the bike yet.

Ceejay: It is good to listen to your body. Where you able to get in exercise tonight?

Michelle: I'm glad to hear that they figured out it a kidney stone. Now you know what you are dealing with. I would think that drinking that water would be a very good thing.

I'm glad to hear that you had a nice visit with Bob and you will be able to see him a lot when he gets home. It's so sad because I know you don't want to see him "go", but at least you know you have this time with him and will make the most of it. As people we should always make time of our time we have with those who mean a lot to us....this life has no guarantees.

Laura: Excellent idea to do the pushups using the bench! Did things go well with the contact?

Dee: How fun that you got to play in the snow! I am glad that your foot is healed up so that you can enjoy the snow.

Happy: I didn't get much sleep last night from just going to bed so late and it took my mind a bit to wind down after working all that time. Tonight I think I 'll be in bed by 10!
I hope you get your computer fixed quickly and thanks for letting us know about Shad.

Anne: I will have to check out your facebook for that video. I bet Royce is so cute walking. Congratulations on the 1 lb loss!

I hope that taco Tuesday was good...and I'm glad to hear that you are fitting in with the regulars. It is nice to have a group you can hang with from time to time.

Terra: I'm sorry to hear that you had to end your walk early the other day, but it is smart to listen to your body. Have you been able to walk today?

I have an all day meeting tomorrow and then after work we are going out to eat with my brother and James and the boys. I most likely won't get a chance to post...but I will try to read from my phone and maybe post...we will see how it goes.

Hi all,
Just a quick drop in. I can post from work. Just can't see anything on my laptop. If I attach it to an external screen I can see just fine and dandy. So I will be looking for a new screen as well as a new computer when I get home. Darn it. I was hoping that it would last for a few more months. This time I will get something that is lighter to cart around. Maybe one of those where the screen is detachable and becomes a tablet. We will see. Meantime there is the nightmare of taking all the information off the old one. Lucky I do back ups every so often isn't it.

Bah humbug. What a day this has been. I am stretched with all the enormity of what I have to do and also the fact that one of the programs I am expected to use doesn't work properly. Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhh!

Good Morning/night all...

Nothing much to report. I had an eye doc appt a few weeks ago, got my glasses and could not see to read through the bifocals. Took them back to the doc last night and they said I am the third person to bring back glasses for that reason and they were all the Nikon brand. Sooooo they remeasured my eyes for the bifocals, got the same readings but when they measured the glasses they were off by 2. I guess this company has done this before. So they are sending them to a different source to remake them. Holy cow I thought I was going blind. Anyway should have the glasses back in a few days.

SHADDIE and HAPPY...sorry you are having computer, laptop woes. Ba humbug. Used to be couldn't live without a phone, now it is the computer too! Hope all gets fixed quickly and you are back posting.

SUSIE...so happy to hear you will soon be balanced. You will feel so much better. I believe when we have aches and pains it tends to make up a bit on the grumpy side. At least that is what a friend told me at church on Sunday as I was having cramps and not very enthused at church. haha...I got the point and tried to cheer up. Also glad you are happy with the care you are getting, that is half the battle. Hugs sister.

CEEG...sorry to hear your body is giving you fits. Sheese if this is how it is the older I get...no thank you. If I had only known how good I felt as a youngster.

CHELLE...how are you feeling? If the stones get to moving and the pain is horrendous for a long period of time, go to ER they will give you an IV pain drip, with that the stone passes with little pain to you. Just a thought.

LAURA...please send me the push link challenge. I know you probably posted it here umpteen times. I think maybe I can do that here at work using my desk or credenza as a cheat. Nice of BF to make dinner or at least get it started before you get home. I refuse to let C do that cause I will never forget when he fixed dinner for me and I went to his house. Chicken nuggets and tater tots in the oven. Bleh on both lol.

DEE...my g-pa used to call me by my full name Rita Anne all the time. Great memories. Fun with the g-babes. Sissy is going over to my house today as it is Cs day off to let the boys spent time with Papaw. That should be fun for the boys, they love him so.

TERRA...come out, come out, wherever you are.

CLAYGIRL...any news from your end? Patiently waiting on something from you....

Got a 10 am meeting and it is 9:15 and not even started to prep for it.

Make it a great hump day...hugs

Meat Loaf
Ingredients
•1-1/2 pounds very lean ground beef
•2 eggs
•1-1/2 cups bread crumbs
•2 tablespoons chopped parsley
•1/2 teaspoon pepper
•2 teaspoons salt
I added chopped carrot and chopped onion and mixed with low sodium beef broth.
•Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
•Combine ground beef and unbeaten eggs, bread crumbs, chopped parsley, pepper and salt. Thoroughly blend the mixture.
•Place mixture in a bread pan.
I put a bit of water in pan with meat loaf and cover with foil. Bake one hour, remove foil bake additions 20 minutes or so.

Good morning ladies,

I got a call from a urologist that my doctor referred me to. He wants me to get an x-ray of my kidneys because he said that sometimes kidney stones don't show up on ultrasounds, so he wants to make sure I don't have more than just the one stone. I'm getting my x-ray taken on my lunch hour.

Yesterday, I walked A LOT for exercise. I walked 2 miles at lunch and then 2.5 to 3 miles after work with a friend. And I took Santa on two short walks in the evening. Today, I'm going to the gym after work to ride the recumbent bike and then work out with my trainer.

My back is sore today, as is my right quadracep and knee. It feels like muscle soreness, so I'll watch out for it this evening when I'm working out.

I really need to work on my balance. I have a hard time even with basic lunges because my balance gets wobbly. Thankfully, the Wii Fit has a bunch of balance exercises, so I need to do those for 15-20 minute when I get home.

Bob will being going home for hospice care either today or tomorrow. He'll be a lot more comfortable at home, and he'll get to be with his cats. Another nice thing about him being home is that it will be more convenient (and a lot closer) for his family to visit him, and it's on my way home from work so I can visit him nearly every day.

======================
Annie - So adorable that Royce has started walking. Now Sissy will really have her hands full with two little ones walking all over and getting into things. congrats on the weight loss! Thanks for the suggestion to go to the ER if the pain is bad. The pain is usually right around a 1 or 2 (out of 10), so just a bit more sore/tender than the left side but barely noticeable. If it gets as bad as it was last Friday (which was at a level 9), I'll definitely make a trip to the ER. Glad you're able to get your glasses fixed, but what a PITA that the company they sent them to isn't making the glasses accurately. So sweet that the boys love their Papaw and get to spend the day with him. I love meatloaf. Thanks for the recipe.

Shad - Bummer that you're having laptop woes. Those laptops with detachable screens (thereby becoming a tablet) look really cool. Sorry that your work responsiblities have you stretched thin, and it's especially frustrating when the software doesn't work properly.

Happy - Sorry to hear that you're having computer problems as well. I hope you didn't get any viruses or malware that would cause this.

Ceejay - It is always important to listen to our bodies. Did you exercise last night or take another evening off?

Susie - Wow! You sure did a lot on your holiday! It's good you get paid for the extra hours you work. It's so frustrating to be a salary employee and be expected to put in 50-60 hours per week (or more) with no overtime or comp time. Good that you like your PT team. How did they measure how much strength you have in each leg? I hope your meeting today goes well.

to Terra, Dee, Laura, and Claygirl!

Much love and many hugs to all,

Good morning all,

Last night in between computer crashes I was able to back out to the last video driver. Some things will still not work but at least my computer isn't shutting down every 3 minutes. I think some things have gotten corrupted and I need to spend some time working on my computer. But today isn't the day. I have yoga soon and then I need to force myself to go to the grocery store - I hate grocery shopping now. But I am feeling the effects of not eating enough fresh fruit and vegetables - aches and pains from inflammation that eating healthy food seems to keep at bay. Last night too I started sneezing and coughing while talking to my sister on the phone. I wound up taking an allergy pill before bed. I hope this is not going to be one of those seasons where the flu just keeps coming back around again. And again. And again.

Michelle - boy that was ALOT of walking yesterday. You're going to need new shoes every month A good problem to have though. Bummer on the kidney stones - I hope there's not more rattling around in there. A kidney stone would seem to make sense where your pain shot up intensely and then kind of moves around. I hope it passes soon. Darn things. That's good that Bob can go home soon. Will he have someone to look after him aside from everyone looking in on him? It's good that you will be able to visit him on your way home from you. You must be getting quite toned up with all the romping in the dog park and the workouts at the gym. I hope you are seeing positive benefits to your experience - sometimes it's awfully hard to see them through our own eyes. But you are doing wayyyyyy better than you were before. Go you!!!! As for viruses and malware - I have some pretty good software going and stick to a lot of the same websites however, Norton has caught more than once some bad stuff when I clicked to read an article on FB from some of the sites I like. So people are attaching stuff in places one might think ordinarily safe. But thanks for the heads up.

Annie - thank you for the meatloaf recipe. I'd rather just come over to your place for dinner :dinner: That's frustrating with the glasses. Seems the older I get the more circles I have to jump through to get them to get the glasses right - and you never know if you can believe the glasses or the fact that you have old eyes. They told me last week my glasses were at 20/20 and 20/30 and I had to laugh because I surely can't see very much from afar - unless I see blurs good I echo Michelle's empathy for Sissy with 2 kids toddling around - yeeeeeee! They sure are cuties though. I really got a good chuckle from your comment about feeling good as a youngster - yep, even factoring in cramps, headaches, bloated tender boobs and sore feet from high heels I think I still felt better then

Shad - "eat that elephant one bite at a time" - sorry to hear things are so frustrating right now. I hate that overwhelming feeling when there is too much to do all at once. Hope things calm down and you get your computer fixed. Might want to wait on a new one - Microsoft just announced a new operating system - Windows 10 due out mid summer. Supposed to fix all the teeth gnashing issues of Windows 8. What happened to Windows 9????

Susie - here's my thing with physical therapy - yes, they always want you to come in 3 times a week and lay the guilt thing on that your progress will be delayed if you do less than that. BUT I think it depends on what they are doing for you when you are there. The 2nd to the last place I went to they put you on a bike for 15 minutes and forgot about you and then barely made an effort to do anything with you for the rest of the 25 minutes or so. I've been through enough therapy to know to ask my doctor for another referral. The last guy did more in the way of manipulation and did some needle therapy - like acupuncture which did help unknot things and help with range of motion. I thought his handouts of exercises worked better too. So if you are generally happy with what you are getting and can do the one day at home, stick with that - just make sure you do the exercises as instructed. Sometimes I think they encourage us to come in not only because of the cash in pocket, but human nature says we get busy and forget to do what we should when we should do it. Sounds like you are pretty motived though.

Laura - DH does have a c-pap which he stopped using for a bit because the mask is really making his face break out. And when he gets up he has lines on his face from the straps that take forever to go down. So I guess men lose elasticity in their faces too - not just us. He used it last night and this morning his nose was irritated again. I am torn between making him use it for his health but understanding the issues with the mask. And he has tried other masks so we know it's something sitting on his face that's irritating it. Franken foods! how about it!!!! That's an excellent idea about getting a take out box when you get your food, especially about picking at the food after you've eaten your half portion. I really wish restaurants would cut back serving size but people want the most for their money and have gotten used to big portions. Good luck picking out new eyeglass frames. Why do the models on TV for the eye places always look so cute in their frames and we seem to be stuck with whatever the current fashion trends dictate? I see that Lenscrafters has some up with a camera for blind people like me that lets you try on 4 pairs of frames and then shows you how you look when you put your real glasses back on to see them. That was always my issue - eyes were too bad to see what no lens frames really looked like But you wear contacts, don't you? And at least you have several places to shop for glasses.

Dee - I would think if your neck bothers you the last thing you'd want is the full on bouncing of a snowmobile We get enough tumbling in the ATV - I have to believe the snowmobile is even more jarring. Hope you had a nice cross country walk though. Yes, I was thinking with the lard to try a pie crust for a savory item like a pot pie rather than a sweet pie but they say if you do the rendering correctly, it should be colorless and odorless and good for anything. I am looking for a dab of oil to be used at a high heat as I sear a lot and then finish off in the oven. Olive oil doesn't have a high heat point and neither does coconut oil.

Terra - sorry the long walk bothered you right away. Listen to your body - sometimes the uneven outside ground bothers us more when we are recovering. Do what your body is satisfied with.

Ceejay - sounds like you needed a rest day from exercise. Hope you are feeling better today. Did you make it to the grocery store?

Hi Claygirl - any news yet?

Time for me to get ready for yoga class. Have a good one everybody.

Happy - So kind of you to ask about Bob. Yes, he will have a nurse staying with him 24x7, including using a baby monitor-type set up so he can ask for help in the nighttime if necessary. He will have a hospital bed set up in the living room, and the nurse will stay in his bedroom. Glad you were able to back out your latest video driver. I dislike grocery shopping too. I have to look at some more bariatric-friendly recipes. I thought I had all the ingredients for a slow cooker shredded chicken dish, but I lost the recipe I printed out from a website and am now having trouble finding it online. I've got several chicken breasts in the freezer and it would be so nice to throw something in the crockpot and come home to dinner already made. I am definitely seeing positive benefits to my weight loss surgery. I look better, feel A LOT better and am so pleased with how much I can walk. Even my friend Mark who walks with me on Tuesdays commented that when we first started walking (months before surgery), my pace was a lot slower and I couldn't walk very far without giving my back a break by sitting on a bench. Last night we walked for a little over an hour at a pretty fast pace set by Mark. I could've gone for longer, but it was getting dark and chilly. My clothes are getting looser, which is wonderful. I have to find a belt for my size 14 pants, and tops I haven't fit into in years are bordering on being too big. Regarding your DH and the CPAP mask, I use a full-face mask and I get the lines on my face from the mask and the straps, along with a mark on the bridge of my nose. I'm thinking about trying to sleep without it on a weekend night and see how I do. Once I get closer to my goal weight, I'll get myself re-tested and see if I can stop using it. Enjoy your yoga class!

Hi everyone.

Michelle – I’ve heard there are certain things that the fitbit doesn’t track well or at all. It makes sense that if you’re wearing this thing on your arm or clipped to your bra strap, it won’t pick up your leg movement when you use a stationary bicycle… Water resistant yes, water proof…hmmm. They are improving these all the time now, and there are a lot of brands out there now – have fun doing the research. Wow, 4 sets of the pushups – yesterday’s challenge called for doing 12 and it was tough. Trainers and fitness instructors are great for getting us to work harder than we would on our own! Re the balance – you can even work on it by standing on one leg while brushing your teeth! I’m glad you’re happy with the results of your surgery, and it hasn’t been very long at all!! More good things to come!

Annie – Awww, Royce’s first steps. I’ll have to find that on fb.

Happy – Sorry your computer is giving you trouble. Are you sure it isn’t caused by cat hair clogging up the cooling fan and overheating the guts of the computer? Why do you hate grocery shopping now? What a shame that the cpap mask irritates your dh’s skin. Maybe he can apply some cream or lotion to act as a shield? Re eyeglass frame & sunglasses shopping – even if I have my contact lenses in when I’m shopping, I still take selfies to see how I really look in them. My issue isn’t necessarily finding flattering frames, it’s being limited by which frames are best for accommodating my heavy prescription. And how my eyes look once that thick lens is in that frame!! Oh, and see my comments to Annie and the link about the “eyewear industry”. You might find it interesting.

Ceejay – I’m glad the electrical stuff isn’t too bad. Did you get to exercise after work last night?

Susie – Nice you had the holiday on Monday – too bad you had to work part of it!! I’m glad you worked out a PT schedule that won’t cause havoc with your work schedule. I’m glad you like the PT team working with you. I think it’s great that you sought out and now have this support – a lot of other people could certainly benefit from this. I think these types of issues keep a lot of people from getting more mobile for exercise and just for their daily routines. Enjoy dinner tonight.

Shad – Sorry you’re so overwhelmed at the moment. The computer issues sure don’t help! Hang in there!!!

Annie – What a PITA about you glasses not being right. I’ve seen the Nikon eyeglass lens commercials on tv recently – I think they’re offered at Costco? Anyway, I hope it gets straightened out without too much back and forth. My eye doc has told us that there’s a certain big player in the vision care arena now that is apparently eating everything up and creating a virtual monopoly around the eyewear suppliers and the vision insurance coverage, etc. and is now calling the shots about which labs, etc. an eye dr can use. It’s had a negative effect on his business. My mom told me about a 60 Minutes story done about this - I need to finally read or watch the segment. (just looked it up – here’s a link: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sticker-...ve-07-10-2012/ ) Re the fitness challenges – just go to the site http://30dayfitnesschallenges.com/ and you’ll find a whole bunch of different challenges to choose from. LOL re dinner at C’s place – sounds like a child’s meal, haha. Though we do still eat tater tots sometimes!!!

Hellos to the rest of you!

--
My eye appointment last night went fine. I don’t understand all the in-depth stuff about my vision, but I just know that one measurement is something.37 and the contact lenses are only offered in something.25 or .50, so I’m SOL in terms of getting an exact prescription. And of course there’s the issue of getting the rx right for distance, near, and computer vision. But my eye doc specializes in stuff like this, so he will order more samples and see what works. He also gave me some guidance for shopping for eyeglass frames. With my heavy prescription, the bigger the eyeglass lens, the thicker it is at the edges, so smaller is better in terms of the overall size of the opening for the lens and also the width of the frame. His office doesn’t have a ton of frames on display, so I will visit a couple of chain places and try to find something and then go back to him with the info and he’ll try to get it. Or I can just buy a frame and give it to him to get the lenses made.

I did my pushup challenge after I got home, and then I did the Peggy Cappy dvd for Pilates. This time I did the partially modified workout and it only showed the person doing that workout, and the voiceover was just for this level. It’s a good workout, but the way the video is set up is not for me.

I woke up at about 5 am this morning and just stayed up. I had a headache that’s now gone – thank you excedrin migraine. I’m trying to figure out how long ago I bought my earbuds because the right bud no longer has sound. Grrrr. I could have sworn it was last President’s Day, because I recall having had a day off work for a holiday. Or maybe it was just a vacation day I took. I have a feeling it wasn’t even that long ago. Anyway, it was a decent brand that cost slightly more than I’d usually pay – I was hoping they’d last longer…Whatever, now I’m just going to buy inexpensive ones and not get upset when they fail.

My jazzercise instructor messaged me the other day to tell me she received my cancellation notice and asked why I was quitting, so I had to respond to that. I told her I’m trying to free up my Saturdays, and I can’t get to her classes during the week, and that distance was also a factor. I’ve gone back to it for a while and quit a couple times now – she should be used to it by now, LOL. I’m pretty sure I’m her only current student who travels that far to get to her classes. I do check the Jazzercise classes close to my home, and the one arrogant & ignorant instructor is still teaching most of the only classes in the schedule that work for me. No thanks.

That’s about it for me. I was thinking I’d get my fitness class passport tonight and do a class, but something tells me Thursday had a better schedule than Wednesday. We’ll see.

TTFN!

Annie ~ Yep, I've always believed you have to do both exercise and diet in order to lose weight. At least I have to do both in order to see any results.

Michelle ~ No, my feet dont hurt when I'm walking inside with my dvd, They only hurt when I walk outside on the pavement and they only hurt sometimes cause Sat. I was able to walk for more then an hour without any pain and then when I walked again Sunday I was only walking for 5 mins before my feet started hurting.

Laura ~ Yeah my foot wasnt hurting again, Not due to a cracked heel or anything like that, Its just the same problem as last time. Thanks for commenting on my weight loss.

Susie & Happy ~ Yeah I had hoped I could walk for another hour or longer on Sunday but I couldnt, I havent worked out since Sunday because I've been fighting a cold since Monday but as soon as I'm well I'll start exercising again.

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

Woke up at 6:00 a.m. to call and cancel my rides for today and tomorrow cause I have a cold so when your sick ILRC wants you to stay home. I've been sick since Monday but I had hoped I would of been better by today and I'm not but I hope I'm better by next week. I'm not doing anything today but take it easy and try to get better as fast as I can. I hope everyone has a great day today.

TERRA....maybe when you walk on the pavement you need more padding in your shoes. Pavement can be brutal on the feet. When I worked part time at CVS, I wore two pairs of socks because at the end of my shift my dogs were barking.

LAURA....picking a frame always takes the most time for me when getting glasses. C picked out several frames while I was getting tested and believe it or not, I actually loved one of the ones he picked so we were in and out of the eye joint in a flash. Yeah! I think the headache thing is this dang weather. I have awakened during the night on several nights with a headache, take some ibuprofen and go back to bed so when I wake up in the morning, it is gone. Amazing. Unfortunately, C and Siss have season passes for the IUPUI basketball games and there is one tomorrow so that will delay starting yoga for another week. I would rather wait to start than start and skip. On the bright side, I get to babysit the boys.

HAPPY...I would love for you to come to dinner, you and DH. You name the date, what you want to eat and it is yours. The younger days, I rarely had cramps, my boobies rarely were tender and headaches were few, until I got into my mid-40s and got that fixed with the ablasion I had done. ANNDDD...I didn't wear my first high heels ever till after bariatric surgery in 2007, and now cannot wear them because of this bum ankle crap. So really I have been lucky on all of that. I guess I am paying for it now with all this other stuff going on. Bleh. I am with you on grocery shopping, only go when I desparately need something, like cleaning supplies or something for a recipe I want to try.

CHELLE...one thing you might try is one of those rotisserie chickens from the grocery. Peel the skin off and then pull of the chicken. It makes for a lot of meals. If you can handle it, it would be a great quickie fix for a meal. Just a thought. Oh and my doc ok'ed meatloaf from the start, that and Wendi's chili. It worked for me.

That is about it...have a great night/morning all. I am going to dinner with my son tonight for mom/son night. lol. We are going to try to do this monthly. This is our second month.

When I got home last night from Walmart's I had a bad headache. Felt like a migraine coming so I took some Excedrin Migraine and went to bed. Still have a lingering mild headache. Picked up some of my favorite no bake cookies. I knew I shouldn't have and I will more than likely be paying for it in the morning. Woke up in the middle of the night sweating bullets. I haven't done that in a while and that was the end of my night's sleep which was around 2 this morning.Just in case it was the heat I'm putting the thermastat on 60 and put an extra quilt on the bed. I've been fighting sleep today but I've been keeping myself busy with piddly work. I'm retyping a "manual" of how to operate our plant. Manual is what my boss calls it. I first did it in excel but I'm switching it over to word. No exercise last night.
I'll comment more later.

-----
Shad
I'm very pleased with my 10 inch screen tablet from surface pro. I bought a key board to go with it. It has window's on it which I probably will not use very often. They have programmed a couple of printers on it. And it has one port.

What's for supper on Thursday Girls Today we got 4" of fluffy beautiful snow, so we can hike in our woods because the snow is finally deep enough, but temps r supposed to hit 40* on Friday & probably start melting our snow again.

Annie, TY for the meat loaf recipe, Ron doesn't like 'tomato's' only in chili, bbq sauce & ketchup so I couldn't make meatloaf for the 2 of us. The tomato pulp/innards look nasty to him I envy u being able to have a mom/son dinner-date, our sons live far away. Ds1 lives in Milwaukee & is transferring back to MI in March It will b the first time in 19 yrs. that both our sons r in the same state w us. My 2 brothers/sister died w cancer & my parents from heart attacks, so my family is very small. I see lots of hugs & stories being read w u getting to babysit the boys, nothing sweeter than being held by grandma.

Laura, TY for the eyeglasses info. Especially about doing the selfies, such a PITA trying to see how I look in frames. I started wearing glasses 6 yrs. ago when I couldn't read the Subway menu board, etc. I was just using reading glasses. Now I buy 2 pairs every 2 yrs. But I still wear reading glasses w my laptops/tablets. I saw the Nikon TV ads for Wal-Mart/Sam's Club & thought about going, instead I went back to Meijer's Optical center, because I got good service & a discount w their credit card.

Chelle, I'm sorry about your gallbladder probs continuing. I got my GB out about 6 yrs ago w laparoscopy w 3 little incisions, 1 was in my belly-button & No scars after 2 yrs. After it was out, my surgeon said it was mostly 'small gravel' which was more dangerous than a stone, because of the ability to block a tube going to my pancreas, I don't remember the details. Anyways, it's just a removed part where I can't get cancer now. It's got to b comforting for Bob's family to have Bob back in his home again & to see Bob feeling somewhat normal & happy & w 24/7 nursing care. WoW about all your work-out activities & a size 14 being too big for u.

CeeJay, Ewe I'm sorry about your migraine, they r soo painful. I get breast pains from high amts. of caffeine & can't take RX or OTC w it like the Excedrin Migraine has lots of caffeine, so instead I take a Advil Migraine capsule. I have a Yummy no-bake cocoa-peanut butter recipe, Not diet friendly at all. But both my sons devour them as their favorite all time cookie that they request for their birthdays. Here we have Lime flavored corn chips & they have been my problem for about a year, especially the Meijer store brand, so I gotta start walking outside daily.

Does, Anyone want to b my walking buddy Like start @ 2 miles daily for a week w 1 day off? Laura, about how many steps is that? I'll have to do it outdoors, because when I used my treadmill, I kept getting knee pains & sometimes shin splints like I get from the pavement. My Doc used to run cross country & said to avoid hard surfaces or alternate it w the grass outdoors, unless I buy good shoes every couple months. I just remembered today that I still have my VivoFit in it's box that I bought Thanksgiving week. It's Time to put it to work for me Get my legs muscled-up.

Shad, I'm very interested to see what laptop or tablet u decide to chose. Jees it seems like there's always gonna b something that is sitting like 'prey waiting' to take our hard worked $$ that we had already planned to use for something else. How many penny banks do we gotta have for emergencies... My winter Property Taxes r due in February, I don't know why the state doesn't make the due date after we get our IRS refunds back

Susie, How's TOPS going, do u still have time w your busy schedule to go? I hope your PT is giving u good results. How's John doing now, great I hope. It really is Awesome that u can do the elliptical for 10 min. it's such a good work-out

Happy, I sure hope that u have better luck w your computer than Shad did. That's interesting about the lard not having any flavor, I thought it might have a pork type, accent/flavor to it. Do u have a smoker to use w your pork, our son2 has a small tall smoker & uses it w beef & I saw on a TV cooking show that they have a smoker for kitchen ranges also. R u still watching D.Abbey, it's getting good & I like the series that follows it 'Mr. Selfridge' the acting is wonderful, plus knowing it's based on a 'true history'.

Terra, I'm sorry u caught a cold & r feeling blah. I guess probably everyone has had something by now. Feel better soon & do what your momma says to get well drink lots of water & get lots of rest this week.

ClayGirl, I hope u are having a really good week & u r just busy w family & your job so u couldn't join us. Take care

Nighty-night all