[linus]

hi all well where to start MEL do you mean RAWHIDE we found that one but with you mentioning tina turner it was clearwaters version she covered ! ive decieded that you should come to edinburgh i will tell them your my sister and well get you super dupeer wheelie chair on nhs and them you can go home youll have to return every year for a service hows that for a good exscuse for a holiday HAPPY yes edinburgh is very lovely im afraid when youve lived here for all of your life you sort of take it for granted i live in the city but thanks to some very strict zoning laws you are only ever five minutes to feeling that you are right in the country i have the added bonus of being next to the sea {5 mins} which due to my dodgy spine i only get down that very very large hill -edinburgh is built on the side of an extinct volcano so its all hills-very rarely my mum runs me down that way in the car on the way to do other things just because i love the smell i think its mothers intuition she always seems to go that way when im a bit fed up anyway wayward son is back at school thankfully and i finally bought scales and i was 238 last week at the docs and ive lost 4 pounds so im extraordinarily proud of myself and havr not landed yet since i weighed myself ay 5 oclock

[linus]

just a quick ps do you find the journals to be helpful?

[Shad]

4lb's!!!!!!!! That's marvellous Linus. That's just great. And I guess the spine feels better as you get smaller too. When you said you were near the sea I thought of Portobello (that's where we stayed on the last visit) and I went out for my walk early in the morning and found a man on a tractor on the beach - raking it!!!!!! Sure it looked pretty, but I was hard put to stop laughing. I tried to imagine them raking the Gold Coast beaches - all 18 kilometres of them or Kingscliff where the beach stretches further than the eye can see. However they did do some work on the beach at Glen Elg in Adelaide - mainly because it is toffee nosed down there - not Adelaide, Glen Elg.
The fixes on this computer have done more than wipe the virus - they have upset the patches after the problems I had some time back. So I have decided that next week we will reformat DS machine and shift some of my stuff over to that one and then reformat mine and bring the IE up to date and maybe install ME which DS is using. If that does not work - looks like a new computer. Ho Hum if it is not one thing it is another.
The powers that be at work have changed my schedule around again. I'm on the Gold Coast today and working 10 minutes from home for the rest of the week. Yaahoo. Not yet sure about the following week. All I know is that it will be SE Queensland and something to do with Inventory. Great stuff. Anyway that will be good.
Gotta go. Still not showered and ready for the day and I need to be on the Gold Coast in an hour and 1/2 or so.

[Shad]

Must have been posting together linus. Journals are fine - they are not always used as intended. I used to comment on a lot, but these days just read them but do not always comment. There are times when those who have problems just seem to depress me, and times when I get mad and tell them to get their act together. But there are some wonderful ladies on there with vast knowledge of all sorts of things.

[linus]

hi shad what operaring system are you running at the mo?

[teel]

well done to Linus for those 4 lbs. I wonder where you lost them??? Down on the beach...thanks Shad for that great vision of a man raking the sands early in the morning.... to him!!!!
Grrrrrrrrr! Warning of unhappy Teel coming....I have just rowed (not right word) with my friend who lost her hubby to cancer last November. I won't go into it all again here as I have written it all in the UKfat chicks No. 19 suffice to say.... probably sums up how I am feeling tonight. What with that earlier this evening, and the fact I am still feeling quite unwell AND I am coming off all my pain killers and feel tearful and depressed and....and.... and.....

Linus, did I know you had a problem with your spine? Probably did but can't remember. What is the problem? Have you found any meds that actually do help?
Sorry chicks...Iwill buz off before I go into self destruct mode.

[MELODY525]

Linus I am "extraordinarily " proud of you too!!! congratulations! I have been having trouble moving my scale downward but then I alone was to blame for that!

Today ended up to be a good one. I even went out to blow off some steam and went to a local store. The weather was perfect. Too bad they are calling for snow! If I could but travel to one place it would be a toss up between the British Isles and Australia. I have always wanted to go to both. But funny thing is, If I was rich I would love to have a home in Tuscany!

Shad, I hope things can get fixed and a new PC is not on the agenda. Maybe pity parties in the journals should be limited to one per person each month?

Well I better get to the shower and I can hear my flannels calling my name! Adios!

[MELODY525]

Teel I'm sorry I missed your post. Wish there was something we could do about the meds and coming off them. Can't be having a very good time of it. Hang in there. Hope everything goes ok with you and the friend. I don't have many left! Take care.

[happy2bme]

Teel, I am sending you some sleepy sand and a box of sweet dreams to carry you through a much needed restful night's sleep. and here's one of these guys too because you could use a little luck Sorry to hear about the incident with your friend, I left you a note in your journal. Wish we lived closer, would be nice to come over, have a laugh and a cuppa. Please do not explode all over, tis too much a mess to clean!

Mel, sorry to hear that the wagon broke a wheel and you could not go shopping today. Think of all the disapointed men that were waiting to pick you up and chase you around the stores Ok girls, she wants to visit the British Isles and catch up with with Teel and Linus, or she'll visit Australia and Shad -- but notice that she will did not mention Chicago or NZ. Shaker, should we be insulted? Do we smell bad? Was she that offended by your blue gown? - hah you know I'm only teasing ... coming to Chicago this time of year is like ... well visiting New Jersey Just for that I'm going to take a deep breath and blow the snow easterly as hard as I can - best get out the weather vane because it's a coming!

Shad if I understand correctly, seems like you will have more time in town when Chris comes to visit. My goodness - $15 for a Rockmelon/cantelope and $5 for a PEACH????? I guess Japan is like Hawaii - everything has to be imported so the price is about 8 billion yen? Come to think of it, I can't think of a single fruit based Japanese item - wait now there IS plum wine which I am rather fond of - but just a glass or two as it is quite sweet. I also like green tea ice cream too. And tempura but not shushi. Well the veggie one is that shushi and sashimi is the fish one? Geez what an ordeal with your PCs too. I read about your adventures, look at the 4 hard drives on mine and keep saying "learn a lesson from her, best Fly lady your PC too". Well some day... We have a whole display of lovely rose and green mangos at the store here. 1$US here. I think the display is quite large because no one here knows how to properly cut them to actually eat them

Linus, CONGRATULATIONS on a wonderful weight loss for the week!!!! Take a well deserved bow Those 4 pounds tried to make their way over to me but I whacked them away with a stick. I did not lose anything last week and like Mel said - it's her fault. Really, go back and look, you DID say that Mel so I'll let you take the blame!

The journals are a good thing for marking down your food and exercise and water and stats. It helps to be accountable and if you are not losing you can review the week and see where you need to make some changes. Also, people from all walks of life go there so if you have a question about something, chances are at least one person will jump in and offer advice. However the bad side is that you can get very caught up in them and easily spend hours without realizing it. I also agree with the comments Shad made and I have decided for me, it's best to keep a private journal so I do so on my PC now.

I made a lovely roast pork tonight and you guessed it - DH was drawing little mustard squigglies all over his meat. Said his meat was happy to be dressed up and looking at the sunny side of life. I think I'm going to bury a mushroom in his dinner tomorrow - you think?

Timer's ringing here. Off to do some homework. See you tomorrow. And Shaker, hope you made it back safe and sound from your long wedding trip. Can't wait to hear the details...

[Shad]

Mustard on Roast Pork!!!! And I thought the man had taste
Yes well, I am at home for this week and next, however the week she comes back I will now not be here as they have run into trouble in Mackay and Airlie so yours truly will be shot up there to act as the firewall and stop them from self destructing.
Talking of self destructing - Teel you poor old thing, as if you don't have enough to deal with. Ummm I know it is grief and coming to terms with her loss that is causing E to be so mean spirited, but it may also be that every time you ring she thinks of Holly or Snowball as C called her. It may also be causing her as many problems as you are getting from her. You can only be patient. You can only be loving. You can only be there. But..... and it is a big but.... you must also think of yourself. I think I might be inclined to limit the time on the phone and be as cheerful as possible but don't drag it out past say 10 minutes. Maybe try to arrange to meet her for coffee one day or go for a stroll in the Abbey gardens together. But don't let it affect you to the point where it is detrimental to your health. You must look after you first. Is it your idea or the doctors idea that you come off all of these pills? I know that I have felt that you are just getting more and more, and who is checking that one does not react with another. One has to hope that the Doc is! but you really must have his okay before you take yourself off on a bender. Just a thought.
Right ho! I've a bit to do before my tv program comes along at 2030 so I best go do it and put things to rights before Chris arrives tomorrow. Will pass on the message Teel!.
Oh and no I haven't yet eaten all the nectarines - only because some of them were not ripe. I had a mango instead tonight.

[MELODY525]

Aren't mangoes the fruit we don't mention in the journals???? Speaking of fruit.....today the fruit did not look as good as usual so I gave most of it a pass. I did buy 1 cantaloupe and veggies though. There was a 5lb bag of frozen strawberries and I made a smoothie for my snack meal! YUM YUM Strawberries and choc protein powder. The snow is coming like Mother nature is in a fury. Starting to really stick now. When I came home the office wanted to go to leave early. Some weren't even in!
Did some wash and put the groceries away. Sinus meds making me sleepy from last night. Tomorrow is corned beef and cabbage and the kids are coming down. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. Now THAT is what I put MUSTARD on!! LOL me thinks Happy's DH just likes mustard!!! Happy, give him the cauliflower treatment again! Tell him to "mustard this!" I see Shad will once again be rescuing the PC masses! Too bad you will miss some time when Chris comes back. But the way things change with you..... who knows! By that time there may be another crisis closer to home. Has Shaker survived this wedding? Is she still trapped in the famous blue dress? Has someone made of with her and the blue dress? Stay tuned for the next episode of the blue dress!!! I would visit NZ when I go to see Shad!! But I'm not really interested in seeing the USA so I will take Happy with me when I tour the Focussed Chicks and their Home Sweet Homes! What do you say Happy?? We'll even buy the hubby some exotic mustards on our journey!!

I am exhausted and will go shower and change. Love my jammies in weather like this. Tonite is chicken cutlets with Old Bay Seasoning and they get broiled. Salad will be nice too I think. So Chickies, until tomorrow

[linus]

hi all i popped in this afternoon but was just so knacked i went for a kip instead so now im here and wide awake-ish teel im not allowed to stop taking my meds without being monitered so be careful woman im on slow release tramadol 2 twice daily and paracetemol 4times and amitryptiline three at night and voltarol ****** three times a day and i get diazapam for when muscles lock {hey no wonder i ratle} but i know if i dont take my tramadol my body turns into somebody elses and it hurts like bloody ****.I have a very dear freind who does her level best to cause herself trouble and when she goes on one of her "woe is me trips" i have learned to just agree with hre and scream silently in my head as no matter what you say or do it never works and is never appreciated and you end up feeling that her probs are yours and as we all know on top of our own problems thers only so much space for every one elses and after listening to her i always want chocolate
speak to you all soon hope evryone is ok
kirsty

[happy2bme]

Good morning ladies. I had a long night last night. Was on the phone for 3 hours with a family member having a very rough go at life right now. Then I was up half the night trying to get my homework done and worrying over our call. I only got a few hours of restless sleep. Will not be a very alert day for me.

Hope you all have a good day - Happy St. Paddy's to you all

[linus]

top of the morning to you all well ive had a really crap day so bloody sore and really cant be bothered moving so me and my trusty heatpad have decieded to come and bore you all wuth a long blether how is everything with everyone good i hope? shad hows the pc cant you just run a live update to recover the patches? what operating system are you running? with xp you can update hows the dog good i hope old darlings deserve a very peaceful and quite life after all the years of love hope thats what hes having.
mel how are you?bus all fixed yet?hows the birdies ? has anyone heard from shaker? happy thanks for the congrats glad youre still here where would i be without my cheerleaders i have to go to sons school again on friday as he asked a new teacher if he was english{hes got a funny accent}and now hes being accused of racially harrassing said teacher and of course when they called me to summon me to the school i was so bloody sore i went off like a rocket as son had come home on wednesday and told me what happened so i might get a call tomorrow telling me im excluded well ive blethered enough so ill speak later
bye all
kirsty

[happy2bme]

Good heavens! Harrassing a teacher because you asked if he's a Brit? What's the world coming to? He wouldn't do well here Linus as we all talk funny. Given our ethnic accents and then add on that in each section of the country we all have regional accents. In the midwest they say we talk through our noses - don't know cuz the tongue's in the mouth On the east coast they don't pronounce the R at the end of a word so when my husband is talking about the game of darts it comes out sounding like dots. Party sounds like Potty. And I can't even being to describe the southern and Texas accents. On the west coast it differs between California to the south and Washington and Oregon to the north. So Linus, your son would be welcome here but very confused.

On the weekends we watch a TV show Nashville Star where regular people try out to win a recording contract to make country and western music. One contestent - Mal is from Ireland. He has the thickest brogue but when he sings, he sounds just like a country and western person straight from Tennesse - no brogue at all. It's fascinating to watch.

Sounds like with all our aches and pains here we could all use a group get together in the hot tub Wouldn't that be fun. Especially if we had a bottle of champagne to share Might make us forget things for a while...

Shad, hope you are enjoying your visit with Chris, talking, laughing and eating the last of the nectarines.

We are having snow today and are due for more tomorrow. It's not much and we were lucky to not get the terrible storms that are all around us, but by now I am tired of snow and eager for some warm breezes. Saturday is the first day of spring. Word has it that you can balance a raw egg on it's end on a table top only on the first day of spring. I will be at mum's on Saturday - think she'll appreciate me trying this experiment on the table with her eggs or will I just be asking for a whack on the head? I don't know but I HAVE TO TRY tee hee hee.

Well I'm off to do some homework because a girl just can't get enough fun in her life! Tah for now.