We are off today!!! Got the call at 6:00 this morning so rolled over and went back to sleep for a few minutes...blissful! When I woke up, I read some of my new Good Housekeeping magazine before getting out of bed. I think I could easily become a lady of leisure :D

Bluet: Glad to hear that your sinus problem is getting better. I don't think the smell will last. I seem to recall that also. My favorite seasons are spring and fall. Summer can get too humid and winter....brrr! What flowers do you have in your perennial beds? I have one sunny bed and one that gets partial shade. My sunny bed is loaded with fairly big plants so I don't have to do much weeding. The other one we just started late in the summer so I'll have to add lots more things this year. Right now it has Russian Sage, delphineums, dianthus and a few tulip and daffodil bulbs. I also do lots of annuals along my sidewalk.

Willow: What a nice treat to see your grandson's program. I miss the little kindergarteners that I used to work with when I was a teacher's aide. They can really make you smile. Good luck with your weigh-in. The one thing about working so much and being so tired is it probably doesn't give you much time to think about food. I try to buy lots of fruits too, but at this time of year they're so expensive. I'd rather spend the money on that though than "bad" snacks. Pummelo's a new one to me. You'll have to tell us what it's like.

Well, I think I'll play a few computer games then do a little picking up around here. I'm going to venture out to the mall this afternoon to return something and then go to Curves.

Have a great day everyone! Hi all!

Take care,
Kate

Morning Ladies...
 

:wave: Good Morning Ladies,

WoW! Has it been that long since I have been here??? So sorry ladies! I subscribed to the thread, but wasn't getting the e-mail notices. Now I will...

What a crazy weather morning we are having here! It's 18* and we woke up to 7" of snow and it's still snowing hard out there. I was going to go to my Curves this morning, but decided to stay home with the weather and all. Besides, I have some very fatigued muscles this morning - so a day in between Curves won't hurt. When I go tomorrow it will be my 3x this week and my goal :cp: Today is payday, so I will be home paying bill's this morning :p sound like fun? Not!

Thank you all so much for the very sweet compliments... it is so very nice to hear. I wasn't feeling too well about myself for quite a few weeks after the holidays - felt so sluggish and plump! Now that I am watching my diet again and back into my Curves I am feeling so much better. I so want to get this 50#'s off of me this year. In February I will be 47 and wouldn't mind making this year the year I reach my goal. I don't want to go through another holiday (like this past one) feeling bloated and plump - hating to go places and looking for clothing that fits comfortably. No one else knows I feel this way when I am there (keep on smiling and no one will know), but it's in my mind the whole time instead of just enjoying the company I'm with. I remember when I loved going places and so enjoyed my time with the company I'm with - I so want that again. Yes, SunnyD does have bad days too ;) I just try not to impose it on others too much.

Today I am feeling pretty good, just tired. I am going to enjoy being home and catch up on my laundry, house needs to be vacuumed & bill' need to be paid (& not necessarily in that order).

I am going to TRY to catch up now beginning with the last post first, okay:

*******
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Hello BLUET, You stated how you are looking forward to Spring - so here's a picture for you to cheer you up :) Isn't it pretty! I am so sorry you have been ill with sinus pain - but am glad to hear that you are doing better. It is so common this time of year with all the dry air and with the heat being on so much... do take care of yourself. My hubby has been fighting a head cold and sinus infection now for about 9 or 10 days. He is pretty much over it, but you can still hear it in his voice when he talks. Hope it won't be too much longer before you feel caught up at work - if you don't mind repeating yourself, "What do you do for work, Bluet?" I spent days getting upgrades and such for this cp and feel so much better now that its done. What a relief that is. Now I am hoping to be well-protected from computer the bugs out there. And I also got all my filing done. Now I have to clean this house!

Hi WILLOW, Sounds like you will have such a very tiring week ahead of you with getting up so early! I thought that getting up at 5 was early! I sure do not envy you there. Sounds like you had such a nice time at your grandson's sing last night - aren't they so cute to watch! I use to go to see the nieces and nephews when they were small. I am so sorry to hear of your friend's passing... I didn't know - so hard trying to catch up with all the reading. Forgive me. Hope you are doing okay coping with it. Joe & I both agree with you about a closed casket! Neither one of us wants to have an open casket... just closed with pictures of the good days we had while living! It is a terrible picture that stays with you when you have an open casket. Italians are so funny in that they say the darndest things at funerals - like I hear (allot!) - "don't they look good" or "didn't they do a good job making him or her look so good" --- they are dead! There's no life there and there is a difference... I agree - closed for me too. Feel better :grouphug:

:cp: So good to hear that you are still watching your diet and doing so well... So far I am on day 4 of watch closely and am just now beginning to feel good again. I didn't begin at the New Year... I still had too many good foods in the house I hated to just get rid of. But on Monday I threw away anything that was left and began detoxing - those first three days are tough! I hope you have some good news on your weigh-in today!!!! "Luck"

Hi SHEILA, :cp: I am so happy for you that you have your DD home... I hope you have a wonderful time catching up with one another and give each other allot of (((Hugs)))! So glad to hear that all is going well with your father - no more scares at the moment. Have fun catching up with DD!!!!

Morning ANGEL, I hope that all is going well for you this week! I see you had some emotional stuff to deal with... hope it all went well for you!!! I sure did enjoy your pictures!!! You are so pretty and looked so nice all dressed up for Christmas! I hope to reach my goal this year and look as good as you do! You have a very handsome hubby too!!! You both make a very nice looking couple!

I have a couple question's for you? How did you hear about that program "Window Washer"? I found the site for it, but am not sure about it. I just finished spending days doing UPGRADES and such and now I am all set and all is going well... but wouldn't mind faster! Anything you could tell me would be helpful. Also, How did you get more then one picture posted in the thumbnail? I cannot get more then one at a time. Thanks!!!

Hi KATE, Sounds like you are getting some chilling weather too!!! Crazy, huh... it started out so mild - so we shudda known it was just going to get worse! We never get through a whole winter without one good storm! We are in the midst of one now... 7" and climbing.

Are you still having problems with logging onto the forum? It took me several tries to get the e-mails on my subscribed threads to go through. But now it seems to be working. I got an e-mail this morning for Willow's post. Finally, everything seems to be flowing again. Do you work, Katey? If so, what do you do - if you don't mind me asking? I don't work - just at home right now and loving it.

And then there's PUSS, So good hearing from you again. Hope that you didn't become too ill! I know so many with head colds and sinus infections with these cold dry temps. My hubby is one trying to get over his.

And as far as the computer classes... I must say that I do like the way we post our dates with Month - Day - Year verses Day - Month - Year as you all do. I think it is just what you get accustomed to... not that one way is better then the other. Good for you on doing so well with your grade - I would love to learn more about computers - I really enjoy them! I admire you very much in doing so well!!!!!! What a wonderful grade. My DSIL took a course and enjoyed it allot and learned so much. Me, I just play and hope I get it right (or figure it out) or do it till I do.

About portions of food... we here in the U.S. are offered wayyy to much food at Fast-food places, Restaurants, etc! Our portions sizes are HUGE! I was just watching a program yesterday taking about how we have lost sight of the 'proper portion' of food! In the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's you would rarely see overweight people... the portions were so much smaller, but we have become a gluten society today abusing the over abundance of foods we have offered us. It's really sad, but so true. All we need to do is get our "balance" back again, but once that pendulum swings so far - it's not easy to get it to slow up and centered again. Well, that's what I am trying to do - watch my portions and only having what I should eat to survive and live a healthy life. Instead of looking at all that's out there offered to us and thinking - it's not fair that I cannot have that & others can. Just a matter of changing the way I think about it all.

I think you handled your mother very well, mine is beginning to repeat herself allot. But my mother lives in Maine and I don't see her or speak to her often - so I just cope. But I have noticed she speaks more about all their ailments and repeats allot more. She & Dad just doesn't do as much as she use to and so there's not much else for her to talk about I guess. It is so hard watching them get older (it's hard watching 'ME' getting older :lol: ).

*******

Hello's to JACQUIE & LOODIE!!

I sure do hope I haven't left anyone out...
Make it a better day today ~
Luv's :sunny: SunnyD

Yeah!!!
 

Hi, all!

I'm guilty of being a lurker most of this week, but decided I'd better post, too.

Brrrr to all you people in the midwest and east, especially Kate. My dad heard that somewhere in New England it was -100 degrees. My DH checked out the weather online and learned it was at the top of Mt. Washington. But, hey, that still means it's darn cold on the "flatlands." I sure hope all the homeless people got shelter and that the elderly, who like to save money on heating fuel, were okay. Also, when I worked at an animal shelter, it was incredible the number of people who believed that a dog or cat could survive those kinds of temps outside just because they have fur.

Willow, what fun to go to your grandson's school program. He sounds so cute yelling, "Hi, Grandma" and giving you guys the thumbs up sign. That really took me back to when my kids were younger. I used to get all choked up at school programs. It was totally embarassing--I got to I'd have to sit at the back and not be around anyone I knew. I'm so sorry about your friend. That just seemed so fast. I, too, wouldn't want an open casket, and have specified cremation with my ashes comingled with my DH's ashes and then scattered on Mt. Hood in Oregon. We also put in our will that if our kids wanted to put ashes in a cemetary so they could come visit, they could do that as long as they didn't put us anywhere in Idaho. Can you see that I really hated living there?? :) I'm hoping your weigh-in went as well as you were hoping.

Bluet, you'll have to post a photo of your perennial garden when it's in bloom. I love spring, too, especially when all the daffodils and tulips make their appearance. Last year we went to the Tulip Festival in Mt. Vernon (which grows more tulips than Holland!), and it was incredible. If I hadn't put all my photos on a CD that I can't find now, I'd post a picture of the tulip fields. I still get a weird smell in my nostrils when I'm kind of congested and my sinuses are achy. It's gross, but it does go away so I'm betting yours will, too.


Puss, you need to go back to your strategy of calling right before her favorite television shows come on. That seemed to work last time. I'm glad you were able to say something to her, although, frankly, I bet it won't help. You know, my Dad repeats himself all the time. I mean ALL THE TIME! We've heard the same stories a million times. We've also learned what sets him off so we try to avoid triggering those memories. Sometimes he comes up with new stories, which is nice, and it's interesting that he's now into changing the old stories to add new things or different things, which I'm pretty sure didn't happen. He's so darn funny sometimes--like when he says he was lucky because he could walk to work if it snowed. Say what? We live miles from where he worked--up and down lots of hills. I mentioned that once, but he got rather huffy so we just smile and nod, smile and nod. And I wrote on my List of Things Not To Do When I Get Old that I shouldn't repeat stories. I think it's pretty inevitable, though, so I should start conditioning my kids now that they need to learn the smile and nod technique.

SunnyD, it's nice to have a day where you can just kind of relax and putter around getting housework done. I hope you don't have to go out in the 7" of snow. I love the flower photo! I can't wait until spring either. Down the street, some people had beautiful winter flowering rhododendrons blooming, but when it turned 18 degrees, which is highly unusual here, all the flowers turned brown. So now we're waiting for those first crocuses, which should be in a month, maybe less if the weather stays in the 50 degree range like it is now.

My DD has to work at the recruiter's office today, answering phones and filing. I guess the 15 days of vacation were predicated on her doing work here. She was there yesterday, too. She spends a lot (a LOT!) of time talking on her cell phone to her boyfriend back in Chicago. She went with me to the gym on Wednesday, but slept in this morning. She's been doing a lot of sleeping, snacking, and watching movies, which is pretty normal. This weekend, she and my DH are going to Oregon to visit her sister (my step-daughter) and go to the coast. I'm staying home to "dadsit." I'll get my time alone with her next week when we go to Boise.

Stay warm!

Here you go Sheila
 

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Good Afternoon SHEILA, I thought you might enjoy this picture... don't know what your favorite color is - so here is a variety for you :)

Good to hear from you. Well... we had 7" this morning and it's been snowing all day... so I'll bet we have a good 10 inches out there now. I think the storm clouds got stuck over NE Ohio! We are now at 15* & dropping still!!!! Nope, I didn't have to go out in it... still in my PJ's :)

Boy-O-boy if this picture won't take you away, huh.
Blessing's,
:sunny: SunnyD

PS>>>
 

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This pic was taken in: SKAGIT VALLEY, WASHINGTON

Oh SHEILA, I am so happy for you and your DD & that you will get to spend some time "together" next week in Boise. Sounds like she really missed her routine and is happy to have it back (even if it's for only 15 very short days). I bet it's hard for her to try to get some work done while here for such a brief time and still get in time with her family, boyfriend and friends. 15 days is such a short amount of time for all the time they are away.

Enjoy your time together...

Whew! lots of catching up!
 

I was up at 3:30 AM as usual, and had a pretty good day at work. I'm pretty tired by the time I get home though. It usually starts to hit me about 1 PM.

I weighed this morning and lost another 2 pounds.

When I got home I did my taxes and then rode my stationary bike for 45 minutes. So, I got SOME exercise in today anyway.

I tried that pomegranate I bought the other day. Never again!
I think I ruined a top of mine. The juice from that darned thing squirted out and stained my yellow top. One of my favorites too. I've tried several things on it and it's still a purple color in spots. Grrrrr! I finally put a lot of Ajax powder on it (it's wet) and rolled it up and put it in a plastic bag till tomorrow. I don't care if it DOES ruin it. It's ruined anyway. All that for a bunch of seeds that you can't eat anyway. ICK!!

Bonnie, hope that sinus thing is gone by today. I know how miserable it can be.
Hope work was better today too.
I guess I like all the seasons, but I cannot tolerate the hot humid weather in late July and August.

Kate, lucky you! Getting a day off! And lazing around reading. I'm jealous, can you tell? :D
It was cold here today.
You're right about working keeping my mind off of eating. For the most part. I still have my times. I've always said, my biggest problem is my overactive fork.

Sunny, I know, ... those first few days are rough, especially if you have cut out or down on sugar. I had a headache for days around the clock. I've been doing pretty good. I have been eating mostly whole foods and no sugars or saturated fats. Haven't really gotten as much exercise as I'd like to though. I need to work on that.

Sheila, I just love hearing about your Dad. He's a part of us now.
Glad you're enjoying some time with your daughter anyway. Those 15 days will fly by.
When you wrote about not being buried or having your ashes scattered in Idaho, I was thinking as I read it, "she's going to say because the potato is her nemesis for weight loss and the whole darned state is full of them".

I can't remember who I sent my e-mail address to and who I didn't, so I'll send it again.

I need to get my things ready for tomorrow.
TGIF!!

You won't believe the trouble I am having with this site. This is the second morning the computer has timed out on a message here - how annyoying is that! Every time I log on here I get the wonder where your account went to message and even though I have put the address of 3chicks in from fresh and saved it, I still get that message or a crash. I think I am going to have to save my message in Word and paste it afterwards because this very frustrating. Never mind, off to do battle with the Heathrow Airport road widening scheme which, by the way, Sheila, is estimated to last for TWO years so we are saving all the road works for your visit!
Regards to all and will come back tonight.

Off again today. It's bitter cold...worse than yesterday. It's days like this that I wish we had a wood stove. With the wind chill the house feels cold with the furnace running. The weekend is supposed to be into the 20's. Hopefully they're right....it will feel wonderful!

Sunny: Thank you for the beautiful pictures! Those flowers were just what I needed since I'm looking out the window at lots of snow just like you are. Wind chill is about -30 this morning or so they say. It's 2 degrees. Hope your snow has stopped...10 inches is plenty! I totally agree that detoxing is difficult. Hopefully your rough days are over. I felt just like you over the holidays and knew it was time to get serious about losing. We'll do it in 2004! Oh, BTW, I'm a secretary in a school district. When the kids were little, I worked in classrooms so I would have their school schedule. My first love has always been clerical though so when our youngest was in high school I went back to that.

Puss: How discouraging that you're having such a hard time with this site. I seem to be doing okay now...it's remembering me again. I would hate it if I typed a long message and lost it. Guess you would be better pasting than to go through that frustration. I'm not sure I know what type of work you do....fill me in please!

Willow: Congratulations on your 2# loss:cp: You're on your way! Hope that you'll be able to relax this weekend after your long work week. Do something fun for yourself.

Sheila: I like your smile and nod advice! I guess I missed something. I thought your daughter lived in your area, but guess she just must be visiting for a couple weeks. Enjoy your time with her. Our DS doesn't get home too often and every minute that we have him here is precious.

Tomorrow night I have a retirement party to go to for someone at work. I went to the mall yesterday and thought I'd pick up a new top to go with my black skirt. How I hate trying on clothes:mad: couldn't find anything that looked good. More reason to lose this weight! And I didn't do well with that this week according to my weigh-in this morning :( Why is it soooo hard???

Hi Bluet and Angel:wave:

Take care all,
Kate

Hi everybody.....I think I've gotten too far behind to catch up, but, I'll try. My pc had 4 major viruses, etc. Been working with it. I guess we'll find out how it's doing now!
This has been the busiest week of my life! Doesn't look like there's any let up for awhile, either. :?:

Hi Katey...goodness, you make me have chills with your temperatures! :o We're having cold weather, now. I have chills easily, lately. Been that way all day.

Fatpuss...sorry about your pc problems. believe me, I understand the frustration. I'm about ready to give up.
Sounds like your mother accepted what you had to say. I hope so. My step dad is getting hard to handle, now. He's wanting mother out of the nursing home. I KNOW it's the check.

Willow...congratulations on the weightloss! :bravo: You're reporting a loss quite often, now!Oh, & thanks for the compliment...I'm not skinny, though. :) but, thank you for thinking that!

SunnyD...there's a limit of 5 thumbnails in each post. After each pic, just click on "browse". If it does't give you another choice...something must be wrong. That's all I did.
Someone at the station told me about window washer. I really like. Helped mine go faster, too!

Sheila...thank you for the compliments.

Sorry...my eyes are crossing....so sleepy...need at nap! :dizzy:

Hi
 

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Hi Everyone!
Today, I am met my girlfriend for grocery shopping (at around 9:30) & then we went out to lunch. We didn't go yesterday or last week because she pulled her back out at work and has been laid up for almost two weeks now. This was the first time getting together in that amount of time. I had to really bundle up - it is so very cold! Only 15* right now, but the sun is out - that's makes it a bit easier to bear. It did stop snowing finally (got almost 11"), but it looks as if we are in for another storm over the weekend... hope it isn't too bad.

Joe & I got some real bad news last night... one of our close friends from Tetelestai (a passion play we did for 17 years) passed away from a heart attack yesterday. He went for tests on his heart earlier that day & came home. His wife was at work and she tried to reach him all day to find out what the results of the testing was & couldn't reach him. When she got home she found him cold and very dead in his favorite chair. So darn sad! They weren't that much older then us... maybe by 10 years. All I know is that it's too young to die! So we'll have another funeral to go to this weekend.

God Bless!
SunnyD

Tgif !!
 

I'm so glad it's Friday evening. I'm really tired. Today seemed long for a few hours this afternoon at work.

I stopped on my way home and picked up some carpet shampoo. Now, if I can get the energy tomorrow to shampoo my carpets like I've been going to do for over a month now.

We're suppose to have freezing rain tonight and cold temps tomorrow, so I'll have time to get it done.
The weather man said, "get some movies and stay in this weekend."

I made salmon patties for supper tonight and ate the first one, then took a bite of the second one and there was broken glass in it. Not sharp pointed pieces, but tiny square shaped pieces that looked like they had white paint or something on them. I hope I don't get cut inside from it. Geez! This could be a hemorrhoidectomy in the making! I should call the company and tell them about it I suppose.

Puss, so sorry you're having problems getting into the thread.
When I first get to the forums, there is usually a wait for a few seconds, with that message showing. Are you sure you don't just need to wait a bit for the threads to come up? Right after they had that crash, I was thinking that something was wrong with my pc, but it's just that the site is a little slower.

Kate, do you have a humidifier? I was surprised when I first had mine installed on the furnace. It makes the air feel warmer.
Lucky you! Another day off! Will you have to make them up later in the year? They do here.
Boy! I'm sure on the same page you are with clothes shopping. I don't like to go because NOTHING looks good on me. If I can ever get below a size 24 maybe I'll have better luck.
Enjoy your party tonight.

Charlotte, I sure hope none of those virus' are catching. :D What did you download to speed your pc up? Do you have an antivirus? Mine scans everything before it comes in to my pc, and also scans everything before I send it out.
I realize it's really none of my business, but, if there is any way to keep your mother in the nursing home, I'd do it if I were you. Maybe talk with the Dr. about preventing him from taking her out of there. Obviously he's not capable of taking care of her. Does your mother seem happy where she's at? That counts for a lot too. To heck with the check.
It's so very hard, I know, and I feel bad for you having to go through this.

Sunny, I'm so very sorry to hear about your friends passing. You have my deepest sympathy. Prayers ascending for all of you. His poor wife! To have found him like that must have been an awful shock. Had he had an angioplasty that morning? I'm wondering if a blood clot formed.
What's a passion play? ... It sounds like something I'm sure it's not, .... but, you know how my mind works! .... :lol:

Anyway, I need to go answer many messages. Have a wonderful evening all!
Hello to all who have yet to post today.

Third time lucky, I hope, ladies, doing this through word first so taking no chances.
Willow – I know what you mean about having to wait a little longer before the page fills in, thanks for that. It doesn’t explain the timing out though and this is the only site that crashes on me, don’t have that on FitDay at all. Congrats on the weight loss!! Don’t like the sound of the broken glass in your food, hope you didn’t swallow any. Has the Mayo given you an appointment yet for your hip?
Kate – I think I will plant more unusual stuff this year in the garden. Last year I went for a new hybrid of pink, frilly-edged petunias and they did not do well in the rain, ended up soggy and limp and never really recovered. I have the new catalogue to go through. You asked about my job, I work for Customs and Excise for the Government and visit importers/exporters at their premises and undertake audits on their books on goods they declare as imports making sure all the correct taxes have been declared etc. I get to meet new people all the time and can work from home on reports when I like so it’s a good job really. Yesterday I finished a two day audit on a big agent on the airport and saw the building going on for the new terminal 5 at Heathrow – so many cranes and pile drivers it looked like a futuristic film set. Don’t worry about any weight loss, it happens and then when you think you will have gained, it turns out you will have lost. There is no predicting in this sometimes.
Bluet – we have freezing frost here but no snow as yet. Glad your work seems to have settled down a bit, you had a bad run up to Xmas. Has the smell in your nose gone yet? Last autumn before my cat, Alfie, died we planted tons of spring bulbs (I planted and he messed about pouncing on the trowel to make me laugh) and they are all shooting up now. I still miss that cat terribly and not a day goes that I don’t wish he were back.
SunnyD – how awful that your friend died. My DHs first heart attack was less than 24 hours after a full medical but we were told that an ECG could only tell you what HAS happened to the heart and not what will happen. He is an old hand at it now having had two further ones but is still fit as a flea (or as much as you can be with 3 blocked arteries) and has angiograms now and then. The angioplasty he had after the first one 11 years ago to pump up the artery back in place didn’t keep it up and that bit closed back down but surgeon says there are many little tributaries which feed blood to the heart in place of an artery so no need for a bypass yet, thank goodness.
Sheila – lovely that you are doing girlie things with DD. She sounds like my two when they come home, R&R in the comfort zone. Did she have a good time with her stepsister? I love your list of things not to do when you get old. I just need to remember what my mother does and do the opposite. DD sounds on form, bless him, I like the bit about him being able to walk to work (over the hills).
Angel – thanks for support over the IT, the time I have wasted the last two mornings! Hopefully your SD won’t be able to remove your DM from the nursing home especially when you are all so pleased with the care she has been getting. Who has the final say?
Had a lovely warm glow all day Thursday. DS rang the night before saying a baby was born in the toilets of the ER of his hospital and it was now up for adoption. It was the way this big lad of mine who gets battered and bruised every time he plays rugby and has never cried since he was a little boy was talking of this little newborn scrap of humanity that melted me. He said, “oh, mum, you should have seen her little dark eyes looking up at me, she was so tiny, her little face was so sweet…” He said he would have loved to take her home. This is the same kid who did work experience at a hospital in Mexico a few ago and then traveled around the country. He came across a little kitten that had been in a road accident and he carried it for 3 miles in the blazing heat to the nearest Vet (his friend told me this). This was similar to the way in which we got Alfie in Singapore. He wasn’t injured but he was living rough and ended up costing us a total of 3 thousand dollars with his flight home and 6 months quarantine!!!!
My mother was on the phone last night for 40 minutes when I rang her, then five minutes later she rang me for 10 minutes then five mins after that, rang me again when my brother arrived at her house and was on the phone for 10 minutes (all the time arguing with my brother over something he had done for her which, as usual, he could have done differently) then 5 minutes later rang for 5 minutes after my brother had stormed out offended by her. Then I had brother on phone for 15 minutes giving me the full story and obviously needing support – as I do from him sometimes – and we were both drained by this tyrannical woman who sees us both as kids to order around when we are middle aged! When he said to her she shouldn’t be whining all the time to me, she said, “I don’t ask her to ring me every night” Arrrggghhhhh!!! DH is getting totally fed up with his evenings taken up with me on the phone to her every night but I don’t see a way out of it. I don’t mind ringing her every night to let her chat but she won’t limit it to 10 or 15 minutes, it’s a one-way, non-stop diatribe of dross and it’s not like she doesn’t see anyone, she is at the hospital social day centre for 3 full days a week and at weekends visits her sister or sister-in-law and at all these places is like a little organizing social butterfly, people thing she is the most upbeat person going!!
Oh, sorry for the whine, this is the downside for you guys cos you feel like good friends, ha ha.
Best wishes to everyone, off to the market and library to do nice things with lovely hubby. xx

My kind of day
 

I had a layed back kind of day today.
I woke up early because I went to bed early last night, I was soooo tired. But, I lay in bed and watched TV for about an hour, then got up and did 45 minutes of exercise with the 3-mile WATP tape. I think I'll do it again tonight too.

I had a whopping big breakfast, then got busy and didn't get hungry till this evening.

I cleaned cupboards and rearranged things in them and threw things away. I was up and down my little step ladder quite a bit. It looks so nice now when I open my cupboards. I wonder how long it will stay that way.

I called the packing company that the salmon came from but of course nobody was in the office because it's the weekend. I left my name and ph. # and address. Don't know if I should notify the store I bought it at or not. They'll probably do all that.

I still haven't finished my book. Maybe tomorrow after I get laundry done. I need to do some work downstairs tomorrow too. Messy.

I bought a dehydrator from a guy at work and today I washed it and got it ready to go.
His wife had bought it a while back and only used it a couple times. It was in the original packing, even the plastic bags, so she must have been going to send it back. I paid $30.00 for it so I think that's a good deal. Also got a slicer with it.
So, now when I find a good sale on fruit or veggetables, I can dry them. Especially the fruit. It makes a good snack. There are lots of recipes in the book that came with it on how to make jerky, of all kinds, even fish jerky! It also explains how to dry everything from fruit to meat, flowers for potpouri, make raisins, dry herbs and lots of good things to do with it.
I'm glad it tells how to do it because I've never done this before. But, it's a very healthy way to keep stuff for long periods of time. Handy for snacks.
You can even make yogurt with it.

Sunny, I hope you're doing well after your bad news. So sad. Take care.

Puss, you finally made it in to the thread!
I don't know if I swallowed any glass or not, but I feel alright.
I go Monday for my yearly and I'm going to ask him about the hip thing. My orthopedic Dr. is gone until the 27th of this month. I have to get my restrictions renewed for work too. It's such a stupid mind game they play. My Dr. said in a written notice last year that these restrictions would be until I retire, but the idiots at work just HAVE to have it renewed every year. So, I'll pick that up on Monday too. He is out of town and can't sign it so I don't know if they will accept it or not.
My hip is a little better but I can tell that it's worse than it was a couple of months ago.
Good Lord! I don't know how you keep your mind with all the calls from Mother.
Maybe if you tell her that you're going to talk for 15 minutes and no more, then keep your word, she'll ease up a bit. If she calls back after that have your hubby answer and say you're busy. Or isn't that a good idea in your situation?
And you're not whining. It's called telling friends so you don't explode, or venting, .... Please do it anytime you need to.
The other day at work a maintenance man was telling us about his daughter who talks non-stop once she gets him on the phone. He said he put the phone down the other night and went to the bathroom and came back and she was still talking. :lol: Never knew he had been gone!
Your son is such a gentle soul. Some day he's going to make a wonderful husband and father. And all credit to you too for doing such a wonderful job raising him.

Charlotte, it sounds like you put in a much longer week than I did last week. Be careful! Don't get too run down.
I wish I knew how to do all those things with my pc that you do.

Well, ladies, I better close this and get ready for my cops show. I so seldom watch tv, but that's one of my favorite shows.
Everyone have a wonderful evening. :wave:

A nice day
 

I woke up early again but stayed in bed and watched a bit of TV again this morning. It feels so luxurious to be able to wake up and not have to get up immediately and start moving around getting ready for work.

I exercised for 45 minutes this morning doing the 3-mile WATP tape, and then late this afternoon I rode my stationary bike for an hour. Go me!!

I'm doing laundry today. Didn't get around to it yesterday.

I called the store today where I purchased the salmon, and they acted like it was no big deal. He said, " We haven't gotten any notice from the company that there has been any glass found in any salmon, so I'll just shoot a letter off to the people we deal with in North Carolina, and let them handle it."
I said, "I called to tell you about it thinking that maybe you would want to take what you have off the shelves until the company is notified so nobody gets hurt. Maybe I'm the first one to find any glass." But, he was very nonchalant about it. If I don't hear from the packing company that I called by the time I get home tomorrow I'll call the health department.
My son said that the fishing industry isn't under such tight restrictions as the beef and agricultural industries are.

I need to get all my things ready for early morning. I have to go to Mayo tomorrow.

Hope you all had a nice weekend. See ya later tomorrow, maybe.

We're havin' a heat waaaaave:dance: It was in the 20's over the weekend and felt good. It's back to work for me tomorrow. DH was off today too. We had planned to do a little shopping for his trip, but had to go get DS a new battery for his truck.

Angel: Sorry that you've had to deal with all those viruses on your pc. Hope that you've been able to get some rest after your hectic week. Tomorrow is your day with your daughters. It sounds like such fun! There's nothing like pampering and laughing to get you relaxed. Gina must be getting excited about her DH getting home. Hope you've been able to get things straightened out about your mother.

Sunny: I'm so sorry about your friend. What a shock for his wife. I guess it's all the more reason to remember that we should live each day to its fullest. One never knows when it will be our last. It is strange that they didn't find anything with the stress test. Hearing that I think I'd be a little nervous about having one. I'm sure it was a difficult weekend for you...take care.

Willow: You're the exercise queen! You're doing so well fitting it into your day. I'm glad that you got some relaxation in over the weekend too. The store's reaction about that salmon is just ridiculous. If you didn't talk to the manager, I'd give them a call back and definitely contact the packing company again if they haven't gotten back to you. They should want to know the information on the label so that they can do some checking on that whole batch. I had a bug in some spaghetti sauce once and the store took the jar back so that they could give the information to the manufacturer and that certainly wasn't as serious as glass. Hope everything went well at Mayo today. Have you played around with your dehydrator yet?

Puss: Your DS sounds like a wonderful person, very compassionate. Is he a doctor? I agree that you should limit your mother's phone calls to 10 or 15 minutes then tell her that you'll talk to her the next day. Of course that is easier said than done. It sounds so nice to be having tulips coming up already...I'm jealous.

Hi Bluet and Sheila:wave:

I went to Curves 5 times last week:D Not too bad on my eating over the weekend. I'm going to try to stay away from the scales for a while. I don't do well when I see it going the wrong way.

Take care,
Kate

So, ...what happened to # 9?!?
 

This place is getting stranger every day.

I had to go to Mayo Clinic today and I got up at 5 AM, (actually, I woke up at 4:40) and did 45 minutes of exercise doing the 3-mile WATP tape. Showered and had breakfast and took off. I took a lunch along with me. A veggie burger sandwich and grapes.
In between appointments I went to a cafeteria to get a cup of coffee to have with my sandwich and they had some yummy looking thick chili there, so I had a cup of that and some crackers with my sandwich. Yes, .... I broke down and ate beef!
So, instead of rice with my stirfry for supper, I just had the veggies and shrimp. Kind of evened things out calorie-wise.

Anyway, I certainly got in enough walking today. I know I walked at least a mile, if not more. From one end of the campus to the other and back again, then up and down floors, .... I was at it from 9:30 this morning until 4:45 this afternoon.

I have to go back Friday for a colonoscopy and an endoscopy and body CT scan and X-rays of the hips. Then more appt.s on the 2nd of Feb. Will it ever end?!?
Dr said after my physical that I seem to be pretty healthy except for the hip and my weight. And I'm working on that as we type, ...

Got to get stuff ready for work tomorrow.

Kate, we could use some of that heat here. It hasn't been getting above zero here the last few days.
Hey lady! You're doing pretty great on the exercise yourself! Good going! And on the foods too. We'll get there yet my friend!

I need to get to bed.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

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Good Morning everyone!

All went as well as possible on Sunday at our friends wake... my goodness! The people there! He will be very missed by so many. I know he is with our Lord and in a very good place, but my heart sure goes out to his family and grandchildren ~ they really will miss their 'papa'. He was in clown ministry and he was called "papa-elmo". We are glad we went to see everyone. We even had some time to visit old friends we had not seen in years.

Joe took the day off yesterday and he came with me to the eye Dr's for my second check on the freckle in my left eye. Because my eyes were being dilated he wanted to be with me (so sweet). It was such a good news day when she told me that nothing changed in my eye and it looked fine for now. I go back in 6 months for another eye exam. Also, she did a whole new exam on me and took my new glasses away from me :( to be readjusted :) So hopefully, when I get them back this time all will be fine. I miss them now - I really liked 'em. They are like a nice piece of jewelry :) After we went to the eye Dr. we went to drop off the load of 'good-will' things we gathered up from doing some after christmas cleaning... it was great to unload all that in more ways then one. Then we went to lunch and off to do some shopping at Penney's & other dept stores. We got a couple new HUGE pillows for our sofa. Just love 'em. They are so soft and comfy!!!! Too comfy... I came home threw them on the sofa and couldn't wait to break them in watching a movie with Joe. Then we wached the first "American Idol" show... just absolutely too :lol: funny!!!!! :lol: I love the first few shows the most - just way too funnny! Being that Joe & I are into music, we try to predict who will win the idol. We were right the first time and the second we thought Clay would come in first, so we were a bit off.

My goodness the snow we are getting here :o I bet we have a good 18 / 19" of snow here so far and it is still snowing. We woke up to 8* this morning with lows below 0 - so very cold!! Everything crunches under your feet. But it is so very pretty!!!

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:goodvibes: :dance: Congrats WILLOW!!!! :dance: :goodvibes: You are just doing so well!! You are doing well on your food program & a good check-up at the Mayo Clinic - hope that when you go for your other test all goes as well.

I watched Dr. Phil yesterday and Oprah - they both had very inspiring shows!!!! I think that I have "gotten-it" --- I feel wonderful! I will be 47 next month and my goal is to be thinner by the time I turn 48. I WILL too! I have always loved the number 7 (being it's the Lord's # and all ;) ) --- so this will be my year too! There are LOW CARB Lean Cuisines out now too!!! Wonderful! Besides... everyone all around me in on the SBD, so it should be allot easier. When those you are around allot believe in what 'you' do - it makes life so comfortable and flowing. Keep up the great job!

ANGEL, Whew :faint: I was exhausted just reading your post!!! I hope that you will be able to recoup soon from all you had to do. Thinking of you!!!!!

Hey there KATEY, I wouldn't mind a bit of heatwave here! It's darn-right cold here! Hope you had some very enjoyable and relaxing days off... I bet that it felt so good to have that time to yourself.

:goodvibes: :cp: You too have been doing a wonderful job :goodvibes: keeping up with your exercise & food program!!! W:oW! You went to Curves 5x last week - you inspire me! :)

PUSS, Thank you so much for sharing about your hubby. I bet that was so frightening for you both when he had his first attack! I am glad to know that all turned out well for him & that he keeps up with his Dr. appointments. Will he have to have open heart surgery one day? Or will he be fine with the angioplasties?

I hope that never happens with my hubby! I already told him, "If you die before me - I'll kill you" :lol: Your concerns for me and those whom loved Mike are heartfelt - I thank you.

*******

Well gang, I really must be getting caught up on my laundry. I have too many piles of clothes :o I find myself tripping over it in our laundry-room so it really needs to be done! I really do hate doing laundry ~ out of all the household chores to be done, that is the worse for me. But someone has to do it :dz:

Later guys!
:wave: "Hello's" and "Well-wishes" for everyone today!

~lol~
 

Just a quickie tonight
 

Another normal work day.
Got up at 4:30 and did 45 minutes of exercise doing the 3-mile WATP tape. Had a good breakfast, then off to work.

After work I went to the pharmacy and picked up my "GO LIGHTLY" and the 2 laxative pills. It's a necessary evil, and at least I won't need to have it done again for a few years, providing they don't find anything, like cancer.

I rode my stationary bike for 45 minutes after I got home from work, then had a good supper.

I'm tired tonight too. I hope I can sleep now.

I saw Forrest at K-mart! of all places, today.
I knew it was him immediately. He no longer looks like Alfred E. Newman from the MAD magazine. :rofl: He looks like Charlie Manson, kind of. A real old burned out hippie! He is very wrinkled and has a gray beard.
He quit drinking 7 years ago. Said he had had enough fun and decided to just quit. He was buying his teenage grandson something, I don't know what.
We talked for a few minutes and had a couple of laughs about old times.
I was amazed that he knew me when he saw me.

Sunny, that pic is darling! So funny! :lol:
Thanks for the encouraging words. It really helps. Now I hope I have a loss again this week.
I was down according to the scales at the clinic yesterday, but on mine today I was the same as last Thursday.

Need to go answer e-mails. Have a great evening everybody.

Hi everyone, sorry for not posting but just getting over a dose of what everyone else here seems to be having with this winter flu. Just a quickie before going off to battle the motorway lunatics again.
Willow - am glad you have your Mayo appointment sorted. Not very good response from the glass in the salmon, eh? So much for quality control etc.
SunnyD - it must have been nice to see so many folk at your friend's wake - a good send off usually helps to comfort everyone who loved and cared for the person.
Angel - you seem to be out doing a lot at the station, I hope you are not overdoing things, dear. Did you manage to tell DD about the little treasure trunk? From what you have told us, I can't see you having a problem overriding your step dad's wish to remove your DM from her nursing home. Hope so, anyway.
Sheila - have you been indulging in lots of girlie stuff with DD? When does she have to be back at base?
Kate - I got a letter from aerobics the other day asking me to come back, ha ha. I have missed two weeks but planned on going tonight anyway as I must stop this messing about or the entire weight loss will be back on.
Bluet - Have you read any of the Cadfael books by someone called Ellis Peters (?). All centred around a medieval monk who solves crimes within his district on the border of England and Wales. Gives real insight to what life was really like then.
Jacqui - how's things with you? It would be nice to hear from you when you have the time.
Had a mini row with my DM over her upsetting my brother and calling him stupid - all because he was running round after her taking messages while she was swanning about. She is a bad one all right. Anyway the good news is the phone calls are down to every other night - still 40 mins and she still doesn't pause for breath the whole one-way call but the nights off are lovely.
Am going back to aerobics tonight, not really looking forward to it but it has to be done. Hope to check back later,
best wishes to all and to those I may have left out, sorry.

http://www.ecardgallery.com/egreetin...gelsay02/1.gif Hi ANGEL, :wave: so good to see you!!!! I had just posted on CEr's that I was beginning to worry about you. It's just not like you to be gone for so long. Glad to hear that it's just that you've been busy and not that you have been ill. Take Care of you!

Good to see you PUSS, it's been rather quiet again these days - here. Guess everyone is trying to keep busy and get their holiday weight off :o I know that's what I'm doing. I did 2 miles yesterday on my elliptical and went to Curves this morning. Burrrr... it was chilling at -1* when I left this morning to go workout. Now we are at an all-time high of 14* & the sun is out! Nice to see, but it's not going to last long... it's suppose to storm again late tonight through tomorrow. Oh boy... ... more snow :^:

SHEILA??? Where are you!?! :?: I sent you the tulips and you haven't been back to see the flowers I posted for you :( Hope you are alright. I did see that you posted on the NAME Thread. I did too... that was fun.

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Have a good day everyone...
Thinking of you WILLOW!
Hope all goes well today & you have great results.

Just a short note for tonight. I'm tired.
 

I got up as usual at 4:30 this morning and did 45 minutes of exercise with the 3-mile WATP tape.
After work I ran to do some errands and was starving before I got home. I had to stop at the store for jello and I got a pound of a new shaved turkey lunch meat. Herbed turkey. I was so hungry I think I ate over half of it while I was making my supper.
I think I feel so hungry because I'm nervous about these tests.
I had a good laugh at work today, but some of you might not think it's so funny, so, ... fair warning, this is about S-E-X, so if you might be offended, don't read any further.

One of the girls was telling us today about a friend of hers, a woman, who had some stuff that you could rub on a man, you-know-where, and it supposedly helped him have more staying power.
This woman gave some to my co-worker Julie, and another friend of theirs, also a woman, named Cindy.

Well, they all went on their way to their respective homes and went to bed.
Early the next morning, Julie's phone ringing woke her up and when she answered, someone on the other end was making sounds like a muffled voice trying to talk. Just going mmmmphhhh mmnna mmmpphhph. Juli kept asking who it was and what was going on.
Finally she could begin to understand who it was and what she was saying.
It was Cindy, and she had put that stuff on her lips. :lol: :o :rofl:
I guess she was trying to transfer it to him that way. :T :rofl:

OKAY, YOU CAN START READING AGAIN.

I didn't do any exercises tonight. I just didn't feel like it.

I don't have the tests until Friday, which is soon enough for me. :(
I start taking the prep tomorrow afternoon. I'm taking vacation tomorrow afternoon and Friday.
My sister and brother-in-law will go up there with me and then my brother-in-law will drive us back.
I sure hope everyone is right and that I won't feel it. I am so scared.

Take care everyone. More later.

Good morning ladies - morning seems like the only time I am not totally drained these days to post.
Angel - I think everything you said about your DD and the trunk is right. You have a wise DH there too. I hope Midicaid decides to fund your DMs nursing home. What happens to people in the US who don't have insurance? Are there enough hospitals who do it for free etc? Over here, you pay for nursing homes if you have the funds but if you don't, the government pays. It may not be a top of the range one but you get old folk mixed in a home with full payers and government assisted payers. That's the gripe my mother has right now with the place her sister is at. Seems only one person is paying full fees for the sheltered accommodation and she will have to pay full fees if she goes because she has her own house to sell. I am trying to get her to forget that and just think of the benefits of living in communal living but all I get is how feckless and irresponsible her sister has been and is getting the same thing for a nominal sum. It does no good to tell her that not everyone has had the opportunity to save to buy a house as she had. What is fried ice cream? I can't imagine it.
SUnnyD I forgot yesterday to say how very glad I am that your eye is ok. You sound back on track with Curves and 2 miles on an elliptical ....is that a sationary bike?
Willow, good luck with the tests on Friday, can't be pleasant but hopefully not painful. Your story about the cream was sooo funny!!
I went back to aerobics last night and couldn't move for lots of new people also making a new start after Xmas. I felt better for it afterwards and hopefully this will put me back on track because I was just back to my bad old ways. Phoning my mother every other night now sure is good, I will have more patience tonight after not speaking to her last night but I could just put the phone on the table and come back 40 minutes later to end the call for all she would know, such is the non stop diatribe.
Well, off to the office today for a change. Have been out auditing all week and met some very nice freight agents who all seem to be doing things right so far.
Sheila, hope you are having a lovely time with DD. Does your dad know her ( I am thinking of him referring to your DS as that other guy, bless him).
Bluet, hope you are ok and work is still manageable.
Kate - how's the resolve? Have you been back to exercise class?
Jacqui - it would be nice to hear from you when you get the time.
Oh, nearly forgot to tell you, Richard Simmons was featured on a documentary here that a female comic was doing on obesity and diet industry (she has battled herself all her life and is still bonny). Richard was a bit too much for her but she liked him and also the very large ladies in his class were lovely. He would be new to most people watching that programme but I have his little clone in my cupboard!

A half day today
 

Hi girls,
I'm getting a bit worried about Sheila and Jacquie.
I hope our exchanging e-mail addresses didn't drive some away, because I wouldn't expect anyone to give theirs if they didn't want to.
And I'm also worried about Dad too. Hope he's ok.

I was down another 3 pounds this morning. Nice way to start my day. :D

All have a great day. More later!

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Good Morning everyone!

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:dance: YEAHHHHHH WILLOW!!!!!!
Down 3 more pounds!!! I'm soooooo happy for you!!! :dance:

And that story was just too funny! :rofl: What was she thinking???!!!! That stuff is numbing cream!! :rofl:
Later...

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Hi PUSS, an elliptical is a gliding machine - it gives you a feeling like you are cross-country skiing using arms and legs together... great workout that is easy on the body!!

Here's a link to the one I have and use: http://www.bodytrends.com/orbitrek.htm

You can tighten the dial - making it tougher - or dial it lose making it easier... whatever you want. The price is great and it isn't too big! I like it because our space here is small. I also like it because I can roll it out into the livingroom if I want, it's very easy to move with the wheels in front. Take a look-see. We got it last Christmas for one another.

*******

We are in for another huge storm today - getting another 6 - 8" of snow! We did wake up to the 30's this morning (balmy, compared to the below temps we've had), but it has dropped again to 16* and it's snowing like crazy out right now! Yesterday we had some sunshine and some of the snow melted - the sun felt so good!!! But today we are back into the dreary, snowy weather... well, it is winter after all :)

Have a great day ladies!
Good job keeping on track with your diets and exercise!
(((Hugs))) SunnyD

Willow, 3lbs!! Fantastic!! Well done to you. Good luck today with your tests, hope all goes well.
SunnyD - Ah, it's a skiing machine. I tried one at the gym but too much hard work, ha ha. Nice that you have your own and I suppose you could watch tv whilst doing it so you don't get too bored. I don't envy you your storms, we had one last week. I quite like the sound of all that snow but I guess everyone does until they have to live with it. We have had quite a mild winter so far but ours kicks in February and March really.
Angel, what are you like?? Getting these poor waiters all hot and bothered!! Nice that you 'still have it' though, eh? I like the sound of that fried ice cream dessert, but then again, I've never met a dessert I didn't like! I know you will really miss your DD but you sound very close and I bet it's not long before she and her DH will be up to see you.
I did really well all day with the eating but once I got home I just went into a frenzy. I had spaghetti bolognaise already made from the weekend and defrosted but got mine and DHs portion confused and ended up with two equal plates. Then I heated a huge slab of garlic bread and ended up eating huge half. Then I ate who-knows amounts of chocolate caramel biscuits and it all went to pot! I think it is because I am so very tired lately though that could just be an excuse.
A documentary on the Atkins diet was on tv last night. Everyone at work would be watching it because a colleague is about to start it and another one broke it yesterday after 3 days by grabbing a big chocolate bar, ha ha. My DS tried it last year for a few weeks and lost well but it's clearly not the long term answer. They think it works not because of the keytones and all that scientific stuff but because protein gives you a full up feeling quicker than carbohydrates so the people were actually eating LESS calories than the other people even though they COULD, if they wanted, eat more. Makes sense I suppose. Personally I am not a great meat eater so I couldn't do it.
Best wishes to Sheila and Bluet and Kate

http://soback.kornet.net/~pixeline/heeyun/monster3.gif Hi everyone....well, DD & children are on their way to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.. :( Her twin...Trina & DH & 2 of her daughters are going also, to get her settled. They are coming back Sunday. (on the twins birthday) It's a twelve hour drive. I talked to Trina a few minutes ago (cellphone), & they had just reached Arkansas, so making good time. I'm ok for now...it's the weeks coming when I go to missing them so badly.

Fatpuss...they can't come see us. He doesn't get any leaves until he's out of the army in Aug or Sept...then they're moving back here. The trip there is just too much on me unless it's an emergency...which I would fly. I love to fly, but, DH is scared for me to...with the war & all.
Sounds like you found some delicious things to eat,too! I don't think I "bothered" the waiter that much. :lol: They were probably laughing at me in the kitchen...dressing like my daughter. The twins fuss on me for dressing like a "granny". They say I don't look my age, so I shouldn't dress old. So, when I'm with them, I try to please. :D Although, I'm getting quite use to the hip hugger bell bottoms! THey're quite comfy! ;) There's a few pics on my homepage, now....on this post...if you want to check it out. I'm not quite finished with all the grands yet...still working on them.

SunnyD....that link....now that's how I want to look using one of those machines! :lol: Don't need bell bottoms for that! ;) I think I'd settle for just feeling able to use one. :^: I was very stiff & in pain this morning when I tried to get out of bed. Strange, too, took the chemo last night...suppose to give me a boost for the week. I took more meds...beginning to loosen up a little.

Willow...still getting up early, I see. I'm not at the moment. Think it's probably because of all the exhausting days I've had. Thinking of you today...hope all goes well.

Sheila, Bluet, Jacquie, Kate...Hello...Have a great day.http://soback.kornet.net/~pixeline/heeyun/guide_du.gif

http://users.bigpond.com/cutecolorz/...ee/ccfee3a.gif Good Morning ANGEL, So glad to see you are back... bet you are getting mixed feelings about your SIL being back, huh. You are happy he's coming back, but bummed that the grandkids & DD had to leave. The time will pass quickly and you will all be together again in the Fall. Thank goodness for cell-phones, you can keep in touch with one another. Your DD can stay in touch with E-mails... It has really helped me bridge the gap I have with my family ;) I am thinking of you!

As far as the girl on the machine... I only wish I looked like that :lol: !!! Maybe if I use the machine long enough... NOT! Who knows, but right now I feel like a blimp! :shrug: For some reason I feel bloated this morning and have gained... even though I am sticking to my diet and exercising like crazy! Maybe it's my IBS - don't know, but I do know I feel frustrated about it tis morning!

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:wave: Hi PUSS, KATEY, WILLOW (thinking of you), SHEILA, BLUET, LOODIE & JACQUIE! Hope you all have a great Day today!

God Bless!
:sunny: SunnyD

Hello Everyone,

Sorry about not posting for so long. I can see everyone is very busy too.

I couldn't use the computer for a week now, because I am babysitting for our grandson. Our oldest DD and SIL are in Arizona for a convention from SIL's work. GS's two older brothers had to stay in Green Bay with their other grandparents, because they go to school. GS misses his " Mommy and Daddy and this two brudders". DD and SIL are returning tonight their flight is due in around 8:00 pm and I will drive GS home tomorrow morning. He is 3 1/2 I am really going to miss him, he is a good little guy and still takes naps. Our computer is in the quest room and GD goes to bed at 8:00 pm and with his nap at noon it is hard to get any time to get on the computer.

I have been taking him to work for a couple of hours each day to get the billing and the payables done, only because we are still down one person. It is hard to get him to go, he would rather stay home and play and watch PBS Kids.

The weather has been a real bear. We have had - 0 temps, right now it has warmed up to +1 degree, and is snowing. It seems as though we are experiencing old man winter in three weeks at once. Really looking forward to Spring.

DS was here on Sunday and added more memory to my computer and XP. I have some garden pictures that I want to post to the forum to show you. DS gave me a quick crash course on how to attach the pictures, but I am struggling with the fact that the pictures are 112. kb and the forum only allows 50. kb. I have to wait until DS and or I have more time for a more through learning lesson, unless one of you can give me some insight. I don't have a digital camera, only a scanner.

Sunny, I work as an Office Manager for a small metal manufacturing firm. I took three days of vacation this week, but have no back-up fully trained for the billing and payables. The girl that held that position was laid-off. Our community is struggling right now, a lot of people are laid-off all over the city.
DH took Tuesday off and stayed home with GS, and I have been back and forth dragging poor little GS with me the last three days.

Willow, wish the best with your tests today. I have had those twice. I find the most difficult part being the cleaning of the digestive tract. The tests are actually a no-brainer. It is just a damn big inconvenience. Take care traveling with the beasty weather.

Angel, slow down woman, you move way too fast for me. Good to hear all the nice compliments you are getting and that you had such a good time with your daughter. DH sounds very level headed.

Sheila, I know you are having a good time. Don't forget us.

Fatpuss, why are you so tired? Is the winter getting to you too? Thanks for the tips on some more good reads. I wish I could be watching Life Laundry etc on BBC on my days off here, but GS wouldn't stand for it. PBS Kids keeps him happy and when he is happy I am happy. DD and SIL are not going to be one bit happy at how spoiled he is when they get back. Oh well.

Katey, are you staying warm over ther in Rochester? It is pretty hard to do when the temps are below 0* right. We have a wood burner as supplemental heat, so we have been burning a lot of logs. Our farm has a woods on it so it is economically sound for us tomake wood and burn wood.

Jackie, hope everything is ok in Canada in your neck of the woods.

Take care everyone, have to run, I only have one phone line into the house and no one can call in while I am on line. Just i n case they are trying to reach me from work. A second line is so expensive and our phone bill is huge already. Talk to you later.

Bluet

Hi, all--

Just a short one to say I'm back and will read posts later. We had a great time and the facials were lovely. We're taking the train to Portland (Oregon) on Sunday so I will be gone again until Wednesday.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Haven't had much time to post this week. Busy at work and getting DH ready to go to Munich on Monday. I've continued to exercise but am not showing any weight loss...just a pound or so back and forth, back and forth..ugh :(

Willow: Congratulations on your 3# loss:cp: I'm so happy for you. Hope everything went well for you yesterday.

Sheila: So glad you enjoyed the facial. I bet that's so relaxing. Hope that you have a good trip to Oregon. Travel safely.

Bluet: What fun to have your grandson spend some time with you! That's such a cute age! I would love to have grandchildren. Neither of the boys are married. The oldest is in a serious relationship. With any luck I might become a grandmother before I'm old and senile:D: This cold weather is getting old. I'm afraid it's going to be a long winter. Hope you'll be able to get your garden pictures posted.

Sunny: The elliptical sounds like it gives a good workout. We're getting a new machine at Curves next week...the glute. That will give us 10 machines.
Are you sick of snow yet???

Angel: It's good that your DD had her sister to go with her and help her get settled. I know how hard it is to have a child so far from home. Our DS lives in Colorado. We only get to see him a few times a year. Luckily our younger one is here at home yet. I don't think he'll ever leave this area.

Puss: That is so like me...do well with eating all day and then come home and blow it as I'm making dinner. I wouldn't be able to follow the Atkins diet either. Glad things are going better with your mother's phone calls.

Do any of you do scrapbooking? A friend of mine has done some beautiful ones. They have such pretty paper and accessories. I think when DH is away to keep myself occupied I'm going to try my hand at it. I have pictures and souvenirs from the cruise we took last year for our 30th anniversary.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Take care,
Kate

http://www.freefever.com/graphics/gif1902/cart083.gifHi friends.......sounds like everyone is fighting the cold weather....us too!!

SunnyD...love the calendar! Sorry you feel bloated. I'm sure it's the IBS...it happens to the twins a lot. Trina's got to where she has such bad stomach pains, she can barely stand it. Yet, she won't watch her diet!

Bluet...good to hear from you. You don't need a digital camera for pics. It's just better.

1. scan your pic & save in file as jpeg...I use "my documents"

2. Go to your pic & right click...go to "open with"...photostudio & left click. At the top of the page click on "edit" ...then on resize image...& make it the size you want. Click ok. Then go to top..to "file"..click..."save as"...(make sure it's on .jpeg) click....& you're ready to post in your message!

3. when you post your message, go to the bottom of screen where it says "manage attachments"...& click

4. a box will pop up with a message saying "browse"...click

5. find your pic & click on "open"

6. it will bring you back to the box with the url in it...click on "upload"

7. close the window (little box) & send the post as usual.

That's all there is to it. You can send up to five in one post. I may have told you some things you already know...wasn't sure. I have XP...so, ask me anytime...glad to help. Good luck!

Katey...glad you get to see DS a few times a year. Since DD married SIL, we've seen them about once a year. A couple of times it was longer than that. Their son was born in Germany...we didn't see him until he was almost 6 mos old. Chris was in the army when they met. Had planned to retire as his dad did. With this war, though, he's fearing he may leave Gina a widow & the kids without a dad...so, he's getting out this time. He's been in for about 10 yrs.

Sheila...good to hear from you. Glad you're having a good time with DD. I did the same with mine...only we did our nails, instead of facials. It was in the plans...but, shopped til we dropped! :D Enjoy!

Fatpuss...you made me hungry for Spaghetti & Garlic Bread! Don't have any...but, I'm making swiss steak & baked potatoes....smelling good. How are things with your mom? Is she sticking with the every-other-day plan? I hope so.

Willow...I've been thinking of you today. Let us know how you are, & the findings soon as you can.

Hello to Jacquie, & Loodie....hope all is well. http://www.freefever.com/graphics/gif1902/cart003.gif

It's finally done
 

Yesterday was quite a day.
I had to be at one place at 6:45 AM to have blood drawn for various tests the Dr ordered, plus I was asked to be in 2 clinical studies at Mayo, one for breast cancer and one for ovarian cancer, and they said I didn't need to make a special trip to have blood drawn for the studies, just whenever I had blood drawn for something else they would take 3 or so more vials for the genetic testing for the studies.
Well, I have awful veins to get blood from, and they usually end up taking it from my hand.
When I got there, I told the girl who was going to take my blood about my veins. Well, she tried in my arm anyway and got into a vein right away. I was soooo happy. Then, as she got about halfway through, she moved a bit and quit getting blood, so she asked another woman to come and help her by handing her the vials. The other one came in and after a couple minutes she said to me, " Why would you agree to be in a study when you have such stingy veins??" She said it in a degrading way too, like I was stupid. I just said, " well, I figured you had to take blood for tests that my DR ordered anyway, so once you were in there you could just fill a couple more." The girl who was taking my blood told me not to pay any attention to her, then the crabby one said, " No, I was just picking on you a little."
Then I had to rush back a couple of blocks to take an elevator up to the 9th floor of another building, (this walking is all done in a subway) and be there by 7 AM for the colonoscopy and the endoscopy.
They didn't even start till eight o'clock.
I know that some people have no memory of their colonoscopy's, but I'm not one of them. It hurt. And that's all I'm going to say on that subject. Obviously it doesn't kill you, because I'm still here.
The endoscopy was a breeze.
I don't have the results yet from the CT scan of my abdomen, but my DR had the results of the rest of my tests by the time of my appt. with him.
Total cholesterol. HDL, LDL,and triglycerides are fantastically down to normal!! I was sooo very happy! My way of eating and exercise are paying off! Now if I can just get my weight to keep falling as well, I'll be setting pretty. I'll be getting a letter from him with the results of all the tests in a few days. I don't remember the specific numbers of all of them right now, thanks to the anesthesia they gave me.
There was one polyp removed from the colon, but it was very, very tiny so the DR is quite confident it is benign, but has to wait for the pathology report.
My hip exray shows the bone to be normal, so, we're still where we were last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, .....

When we got done at Mayo it was 3 PM, so we went to Old Country Buffet to eat. I was starving because I hadn't eaten since Wednesday at 6 PM, so I had a couple bites of lots of things. And I didn't feel a bit guilty about it either. Mostly meats and salads, and 1 slice of cinnamon bread, and some dessert with a couple spoons of ice cream on them.

I was exhausted and went to bed very early last night.

I got up this morning about 7 AM and did 45 minutes of exercise with the WATP tape, which I probably shouldn't have done because of the warning from the nurses about not putting any pressure on that spot where the biopsy was done. But, I feel just fine, so no harm done.

I had a big old fashioned breakfast this morning as is customary for me on weekends.

We had snow here yesterday and I couldn't get my snowblower going last time and I knew better than to press my luck by lifting shovelfuls of snow, so I called for my grandson to shovel it for money, but he was busy so my son came and did it. He's so good to me. I felt funny having him do it because he won't take any pay for it, and I'd have to pay anyone else. But, he says, "You're my mother and I expect to do things for you."

Well, it looks as though some of our girls have come back to the fold. ;) We missed you Bonnie, Sheila, Kate and Sunny.
I'm glad you're all doing well.

I was reading your description of your elliptical machine, and I think it's like what 've been waffling about for a while. I can't decide if it's that I want to get or what is called a gym, which has the pull-down bars for your abs and laterals, and leg-lifts and butterfly's. I want to have variety here. :D

Charlotte, aren't you just too cool, getting hit on by a young whipper-snapper! Is your ego still inflated? Man! What a compliment!
I'm so happy for you that you got to spend special time with your daughter.

Kate, glad you're still posting. Don't give up on your plan. You'll come out of your funk before you know it and take off again.
I know it gets discouraging sometimes, but, if we keep with it, in a years time, we will be much healthier than we are today, whereas, if we give up and quit, we'll still be as bad off or worse than we are today. Besides, I want so bad for all of us to be successful.
I think it's all trial and error anyway, don't you? Each time we have a bad day or week, we can take something from that and learn from it.
That's why I'm keeping a journal of everything I eat and drink and how much exercise or activity I have in a day.
I noticed this past week for 2 days I was hungry a lot, and I think, looking back on it now, that I was worried about those tests I was going to have. So, if I get an overwhelming urge to eat now, I'll have to stop and take a look at what's going on in my life or job.
Sometimes exercise does that to you also. Makes you hold a couple pounds of fluids for a few days.
Please keep trying. Come here and talk it out when you feel discouraged.
I've never done any scrapbooking, but I want to find some crafts to do after I'm retired. Don't have a clue as to what yet, though. I'm really not an artsy-craftsy person.

I better post this just in case it's too long. More coming.....