[Shad]

Morning all on this glorious Sunday - what's this NO MEL yesterday!!! : She must have been enjoying the decorating too much!
Teel, the egg may have lit, but obviously the yolk was not functioning because I was somewhere else in the system. It seems that because I leave it logged it, the egg is alight wherever I am which is (contrary to popular belief) not always here.
My head I think is not in the right place this morning and just for fun I jumped on the scales after morning ablutions and before dressing and I am up yet another kilo. This has to be fluid retention - no one gains 2lbs in one day eating normal and doing housework!!!! So it's back to the drawing board again and regular taking of the fluid tablets etc etc.
Happy, how did the dinner go - oops you wont have even gotten there yet - time differences again - sorry. But I hope it goes better than the flowers! What a shame! I know exactly how DH feels! I would not be a happy Shad either and the telephone may well be melting in the hand.
This week, I am going back to writing down the food I eat and working out the calories and fat content. It definitely helps me keep on track. I think I will also categorise the fluids too and ensure the water content is constant IYKWIM!!!
I went to Gosia's webphotos and saw a lovely picture of her - you look really great in that one Gosia but none of the baby - was there one there and I missed it?

Okay best go and start the day. DS informs me that DB is coming for lunch today! Hey that's nice what are we going to eat? Barbecue? Oh that's nice too. What are we putting on the barbie? Oh I have to deal with that OKAAAAAY! Hmmmmm!!! Exit left thinking furiously about things in freezer and what to do with the DS and BD's skinny necks!!!!! Is swinging the axe around good exercise????

[MELODY525]

I will start again....... I thought I already posted yesterday and today!! Guess I was more tired than I thought.
I got called downstairs by a "friend" and he will help the family I wrote him a note about. I have never met them but a father of 3 is going blind from diabetes so I asked for a "favor". They are in need of help. Wonder if they will ever know they had a guardian angel?! I was also given an extra $80 a month!! Petty cash to the friend but big bucks to me and Jen. Not a bad Valentine's day all in all. He noticed my loss and made a big deal bout it too!! I was very pleased with that to say the least. I must have said 31 lbs 100 times today!!Some of these people have not seen me in awhile. I think that the next weigh in may show the donuts of last week and the candy of this one!! Plus I had a hard roll w/butter and soda yesterday!!

Shad~ Alcohol will stop weight loss in some people dead in it's tracks . Was wondering if you have more than usual when traveling as opposed to staying home. Also with all the exercising could the muscles be retaining fluid from over working them? It does happen to some I know. After the muscles get used to a routine, the body stops making the fluid to "fix" the overworked muscles. I remember that from Phys. Therapy. I blew up like a balloon! Hope you find the clue! I can imagine how it feels to see the scale results!! Must be very confusing. And you have been so disciplined too!! I say throw out the effin scale!! We'll know when we lose by looking in the mirror!!

I got a breautiful bunch of flowers from Jen's BF but they could not stay here so when a neighbor came bearing gifts I asked her would she like them. I just got my peepers working for 4 days in a row now and refuse to chance it. I only had them for 1 hour and everything itches and sinuses hurt. I am surprised he forgot. Oh well it was a lovely thought!! Jen gave me a DVD! The kid knows what Mom likes!! Matthew Perry's Fools Rush In. I am the incurable romantic!! I'll be ninety and sitting out front waiting for my knight in shining armor!! Hope I can still move a little when he gets here!!

I'll have to catch up with everyones posts later and tomorrow. Still limiting my PC time. Hope everyone had a great V-day!!

[teel]

Ooh Mel what a great Valentine's Day yours turned out to be!!
Shame about the flowers though. I hope your neighbour appreciated them. Have I missed something though? Why was everyone bearing gifts? Is it your birthday?
Shad....THROW THEM SCALES AWAY!!!
You must have been so agast at the result of all those weight lifting sessions. I would have cried after all that hard work.
Coo St. Valentine's Day flowers are the absolute end. Disaster if they are wilting and dying off even before they are delivered. I, too, would have been shouting down the line and demanding a fresh bunch. Hope Happy's DH gets some satisfaction. Have a big bunch of balloons instead. Hee hee!!!

Iam returned!!!
(Sorry about the pause.....had to sort Holly out and ditch some water in the appropriate place...)

Shad I hope your freezer gave up some good food for the barbeque..I trust the weather there is far better than the weather here. It is a ghastly day, rolling black clouds and hints of rain. Ah well spring is on it's way.
Bye all.

[Gosia]

Teel: I am so sorry you are having problems with your health and even more sorry for your probs with beaurocreacy. It's awful that they can't sort such things out quickly. It's not your fault and you shouldn't be punished for that! Yes SBD seems to be better than Atkins, because it's a more "back to the roots" thing. But I will write about it and my own philosophy later on or I will never get to the end of this post

happy2beme: I have actually screwed with the photos a bit, because I hadn't made my daughter's album public. But I have don that now and now everyone can see more photos of my little one... There are some kittens we bred shown there. They are all Siberian Cats, it's the only breed we have. They are not very popular yet, but gaining rapidly... Of course according to my objective point of view Siberians are the best cats ever! just love their cuddly personalities.

Shad: Yes, the prices are a robbery. I wouldn't actually want anything at such prices!! It should be a Love Holiday not Money Holiday! I just like small gifts offered from heart (and yes I got one yesterady LOL). I made the photos of my baby public now, so everyone can see them. And I renamed the photo of me. It's now my motivational photo, as it shows me at my pre-marriage weight LOL.

Shaker: I do not omit carbs in general, I just omit the bad carbs. I do believe that we are primary carbs eaters, just not high refined carbs like we do today. I try to omit bad fats as well, and just stock with the healthy Mediteranean ones, as much as I can. I do not follow this religiously though, as I am breastfeeding and wouldn't want to hurt my babe. I do not go to WW, although it could be a great idea, but at the moment I can't find the time to do so... Maybe later on...

Mel: I'm glad your V-Day has turned to be pleasant and you enjoyed it! And congratulations on your weight loss, good job, you go girl!!

Gotta go now, I will post about my V-Day later on (turned out to be a disaster), my views on the best diet and my problems with losing weight later on.

Hugs

[happy2bme]

The skies are blue and sunny to the north yet in the south there are gray clouds producing these huge but delicate snowflakes. So it's sunny and snowing. How weird.

Just doing a quick check in here, I've got a lot to plan and get done today. School starts again this week and I really need to make myself a schedule and stick with it. Among which is limiting my time on the computer. I'll be back later tonight to catch up with you all...

[Shad]

Lovely photos of the baby Gosia. She looks really cute. All babies are cute but our own are always cuter, unless of course they don't sleep or don't eat or turn the bath upside down etc. I had one that never slept and one that I had to wake up to feed and bath. (The second was delightful at first and then I used to worry that there was something wrong with him) Anyway, she looks like a real wee doll. Has she got red hair or was it the light in a couple of the photos?

Aaaah yes the bbq. Well I found some sausages and lamb shanks in the back of the freezer and raced off down to the Farmers markets for veg. When the time came I stuck in the meat and potato and some capsicum peppers and even a whole clove of garlic to roast. Threw a salad together - and the DB did not arrive. Today there will be a few words said I think!!! There are a lot of leftovers in the fridge - the lamb shanks were not quite done when we ate (they weren't raw but these need to be well cooked - slow cooked preferably) so I bunged them back in the weber and left them till tea time at which time they were superb. Shad the dog got the bones. Then a fight broke out between the cat and the dog as to whose bones they were and I had to separate them. Dear Brother has a lot to answer for.

Scale is down 1/2kilo today, so the answer is definitely fluid retention. It will no doubt take a couple of days to go away. Also the soy sauce will be thrown away today. I'll get some light soy - ie less sodium next time I buy it. There are always ways and means around these things.

Yesterday I must have drunk at least 2.5Litres of water. It was hot - not particularly steamy, but I have a 12 litre container of water on the bench that I bought on Saturday. Last night it was nearly half gone. Between DS and me we have refilled the carafes about 5 or 6 times. Don't know where the water went as I was not making frequent trips down the hall but I was sweating quite freely I suppose.

Today is my day off. RDO's as they call them in Aus. Shortly we will arrange the insect bombs around the house, turn of the electricity and go outside to let them do their work. I found a couple of cockroaches yesterday and where there is one, there are hundreds you don't see. The rainy season tends to make the insects breed which brings in the big stuff, like the geckos and the occasional bird if you leave the doors open that is. They poop, frass, whatever all over the show and you are constantly cleaning up. Such is life in the tropics. I have a lot of stuff packed in boxes while painting etc proceeds and the dratted insects love boxes filled with paper or soft packing material. Time to clean out some more junk I think.

Okay, best go get on with the day. The scales are not particularly worrying me as I can see changes in my body. Some days more than others. I will never be a stick insect but it would be nice to see the flab firm up. Anyway time to move the A**e from the chair and get on with life. Catch you later.

[MELODY525]

I mean where is the prompt or whatever to get there? I am PC stupid and can't figure out where they are! I want to oooh and aaaah over them too! Gosia~ I will find them. Yes I will!!

I love this little heart so I'll use it before they get rid of it. I made turkey meatloaf, tofu stirfry and need to make rice later. I also cleaned out the fridge a wee bit but it needs a real cleanup. OH I forgot, my income tax went into the bank so I will find some bills to payoff. Won't be much with the 270 but it will bring down the monthly layout at least. I'll sort through them this month and send them out in March when they are due. I seem to be getting a break with this and the extra cash each month and I will learn to use it wisely this time. I am emotionally stronger this year and feel like I really accomplished some of the tasks I set before myself. I have a strong sense of self pride too that is growning. Wonder will I know when to stop letting it grow and not be too cocky?

Teel~ I had to laugh when I opened my mail yesterday. I got a notice that I am due for a re-evaluation in March!! Thought you would get a kick out of that!! I had to laugh at the irony of yours and mine both! Wish they would go after the ones who afe faking it! and telling those lies! OH the presents were for Valentine's day. Some of the seniors like to feed me in return for favors I do. It's always SWEETS of somekind so I bundle them off to my DD's apartment before I can eat them!

Happy~ Hope you get a good working schedule and stick to it!! Should we yell at you if you spend too much time here?!?! I am a great SGT. Sorry about the flowers but he is a good DH and I'm glad you both have each other for those 31 Sweetheart Days!! I miss pets but what can I do!? I would love another kitty for sure.

Shad~ On second thought maybe you should come and live with me!! I was planning on living with you but these bugs are starting to sound more like tanks to me!! Of course I could spend all day on bug patrol with the pets. They could sniff them out and I could keep running them over! SQUISH! I have been meaning to ask for a favor. If I give you my password could you put a pic of a wheelchair for my avatar?? You had some great ones on your journal awhile back and I would really love to have one. Let me know if that's OK . Glad the scale moved. I was gonna send mine but the amount of stamps it would take is mind boggling!!

Shaker~ I am happy to report that no man tried to sit on my lap or any other part of my anatomy yesterday!!! I'm starting to get paranoid about Tuesday's upcoming shopping!! Next thing you know I'll be having anxiety attacks in the store! Hope you had a good day even with the work and all! I like to hear about the family. I haven't got many that care so it's nice to hear about someone elses!!

Well I have gabbed long enough. Time to shake off the sand and get out of the box to let someone else dig and build a castle!! Have a great day and night. Take care~ Mel

[Shad]

Mel, I can fix if for you or I can send you some instructions on how to do it. Whatever you want. If I do it, then you don't learn. If you do it, you will be able to do it again (and again). Can you tell that I teach adult learners?????
To see Gosia's baby, go to her post and click on her name in the left column. This gives you a list of things that you can see in Gosia's public profile. Click on her Homepage and it will open to Yahoo photo's (a bit like Webshots) and you can view the slideshow of the baby (including a photo of the DH as well).

[MELODY525]

OK I found when you click on the name thingy!! HOORAY FOR MEL!! I'm going over there to look now! OK send the instructions Teach!! I'm ready to learn!!

[happy2bme]

oh boy I'm so excited! DH did our taxes today and we're getting a nice wad of cash back (free loan to the government as they would say). I uttered my usual "so when are you taking me to Las Vegas". We are going to San Francisco, California in April along with DH's sister and her husband. We'll spend 2 days in SF and then we're heading down the gorgeous coast to visit DH's sweetie of an aunt and show SIL the awesome coastline around there. We are staying at a hotel right on the bay so we can get the fresh ocean air and wake up to the sounds of the seals barking in the bay. Anyway he said maybe we could extend our trip and spend the weekend in Las Vegas. I didn't need much more prodding than that before I was checking flight schedules and on the phone. So we are going. 11 whole days on holiday - how wonderful. We got the room for free in Las Vegas but we did have to buy 2, one way tickets from San Franscisco to LV for more money than I'm sure DH wanted to spend but I told him that will be my birthday present. More motivation to buckle down and knock some pounds off in the next 9 weeks. They tried to deliver my replacement flowers today but DH refused the new delivery as he said what good did it do the day after it was promised? They knocked on the door a few minutes later and asked if they could have the vase back since DH wanted a full refund. He happily gave them the whole arrangement, dead droopy roses and all.

Shad you asked how was Valentine's dinner? Not the best I'm afraid. They changed the menu for Valentine's Day. No Trifle or Profiterole - probably good for me. Dinner was ok, not horrible but not as good as I had anticipated, especially since this was our first dinner at a restaurant since New Year's day. But we had a nice time in spite of things.

I agree with you tossing out the soy sauce in favor of the lite stuff. I too have to watch the salt and I really scan over the labels. DH had some canned soup today and when he read off the sodium content I told him that's why I wasn't having any of it. It's really so high in the packaged foods and sauces. Though I did get some low sodium tomato vegetable juice and it wasn't near as bland as I thought it would be, just has to be really, really cold to taste good. Hope you are enjoying your catch up day today - it's probably off again tomorrow, isn't it? Where to this week? Back to the rains? At least you'll know to bring your wader boots and personal kayak.

Mel, I LOVE the movie Fools Rush In. It's such a sappy but funny movie. Look forward to your weekly avatar changes once Shad gives you great instructions. Heck, you'll probably be changing all of ours too I'm a little disappointed that no one has tried to pick you up over the weekend but then there is always the shopping stories to anticipate, tho I do wish you a peaceful trip this week. And it is wonderful that you are finding yourself in a much stronger mindset this year. I believe both you and Shad would be a force to be reconded (sp??) with if pushed too far.

Teel, thank you for all the lovely balloons. I'm sure Mel appreciates them more too as they don't make her eyes all irritated like flowers do. So what are you up to this fine week?

Gosia I see you have added more baby pictures. She is a cute little one and I see what looks like red hair on her too. It looks like you really enjoy craft work although with a new baby I'm sure you've had to put that aside for a while. The kittens are really cute, I was showing them to my husband who loves cats. They seem to have tiger like markings on them. He keeps pestering me to get another cat - we had one for 22 years but she died in 2000 of a very old age. I am horribly, terribly allergic to them and I just don't want to go through that again. I must admit too that it's nice to get up and go as we please and not have to worry about children or pets or any sort of obligation.

I have spent the better part of today planning and organizing. I have all my meals for the week planned, down to the days I have to cook what. Back to the diet full steam although I am finding I am looking for something in the late evening. I don't want much, perhaps an apple slice with a smidge of peanut butter or a cheese stick but I would be better off eating nothing after dinner even if there are 6 or so hours between then and when I go to bed. Made an activity list too - allotted time for exercise, studying, tidying the house and of course some fun time for sitting on the computer or watching TV. No excuses this week not to behave myself.

And my Internet allotment is almost up. (Going to bed earlier is another goal). So I'd better get going. Catch you tomorrow.

[Shad]

I dunno Happy, I reckon all of us on this thread are a force to be reckoned with!! Gosia is an unknown yet, but since she used to be a software programmer and has all those things on the go with cats, kids and quilts I think she might be included as well. Teel has shown that she can screw up the courage as well when needed. I'd hate to think of what could happen to the opposition if we all got together in the same place at the same time!! Those we couldn't intimidate would get run over by the wheelchairs.
Mel, I will put together the instructions for downloading and saving your new avatars as soon as I have got the dimensions and sizes allowed. Then you can change yours to your hearts content. You should have them tomorrow. Meant to do them today, but I got a bit excited about shearing the hedge and forgot to come inside - silly me, the extreme heat gave me a huge headache. Will I ever learn!
We've had really extreme heat today. Got to 34C which is around the 100F mark. Now we have thunderheads forming and storms moving in - weather forecast is for severe storms further north, but I'll be happy with a bit of rain to cool things down a bit.
Just got back from the gym. Very few people there at that time of day (2.30 - 3.40) and most of the #$%^# people wanted to use the same machines as I did! Anyway I managed 2.4k over 20mins on the treadie again with one 4.00min run and 1 x 3 min run. So that makes me feel good. Don't know if I could do it out on the road or anything, but it is okay on the treadmill. One day I may even get to run the entire kilometer
I'm on my third set of clothes for the day and have had three showers. It's been that sticky. I was just debating what to have for tea and have decided that for me anyway, I am going to finish the lo cal jelly I made this morning and have a lo fat icecream with it. There is just no inclination to eat at this time. The thought of meat and or/hot veges just turns me right off. I may yet get to starve this body into submission!!! Dog is lying flat out on the concrete floor, cat is half in half out of the dogs bed - if I slept like that I would have a bad crick in the back that's for sure. So I had best think about what DS would like when he gets in - although he has wanted food at night for a couple of nights now.
Tomorrow and Wednesday, I am doing some training at a place on the Gold Coast. It's a very expensive area and there are some wonderful houses around the area. So it could be interesting. Not sure where I am Thursday and Friday. Sunday it's back to Cairns and the following week is Western Australia again. This time I'm going south of Perth into some tall timber. I'm hoping to go out to see the 'Wave Rock' over the weekend and maybe some other places of interest - like the Walk in the Treetops in Albany or maybe some of the caves down there. Love caves.

Time to go feed the animals. Bet they haven't given up on dinner yet!

[teel]

[QUOTE=Shad]
Aaaah yes the bbq. r - and the DB did not arrive.

Oh Shad!!! I'd have *%$"#'@!!!! throttled him, that is, when you see him again!


And Mel...sock it to 'em, girl!!! They have not given you long to collect your submission together...March is pretty near...I had 6 months to get my submission together...lot of good that it did!!

Hello to everyone else..sorry this is a quick post, just to prove that I am still here really.
Bye bye!!!

[MELODY525]

So I sit here with PB and an apple!! Good choice Happy!
I've been changing sheets(finally) and general cleaning up and folding wash.
Nice sun outside but toooo cold for me. Went to see Gosia's baby... what a cutie she is with the red hair!! Nice pics. Congrats again!! Looks a lot like Dad? How cute is that... Daddy's little girl! i love cats too but the allergies... forget it!! We used to have 3 many years ago. I still miss them. When these birds die....that will be the end of pets for me. The nose just cannot take it.
I got all the wage statements together for Social Security's re-eval. I keep them all in one spot so I am always ready. My evaluations,TEEL are very simple... usually!! Having said that, now watch what happens! But then we have been playing this cat and mouse game for 27 years now.
Tomorrow I must call the chair repair guy and get going. It's very hard for me to part with this one as it is my favorite and I cannot replace it. The company went out of business and they just don't make them as good as this one anymore. I only hope they can get some parts to recondition it! I saw a nice one in the adverts the guy sent me. It even goes up in the air so you can reach shelves!! I would never have to ask for help!! but I better not get too excited yet. The Ins. co. may not cover something like that.
I better go now. I have a splitting headache and cannot seem to shake it off. I know it's sinus and took the appropriate meds but no luck. A storm is heading our way this week and my sinuses just know it. I turned the weather station on to make sure the head was giving me the right forecast!!
Some snow! Maybe I can ship it out to Shad aso she can cool off!
Happy you are right. When I am on a roll I AM a voice to be reckoned with!! Especially if I am sure I'm right or fighting for a friend or the underdog! That is how I get my many "favors" done from high authorities!! I think I scare them too! Sometimes I scare myself!! I think we are all strong women and would be formidable opponents for any mob!! Shad is right too~ If I cannot beat them into submission I will just roll right over them without a second thought!

Ok the sandbox belongs to the next in line!! Have a great day tomorrow all!!

[shaker]

Hi ladies, well we are nearly drowning in this wet place, would you believe that Sat after I complained of being at work turned out to be a lovely day.. and then it rained.. and rained and people are flooded out down Wlg way, getting evacuated and all!!!

We are all fine here but a little soggy, but in Akl we are used to the rain of course!! Had a lovely w/end, went to the BIL's party and that was OK, the kids and I left early, the people were a bit young for us, not much in common, like they have NO kids, NOT married, NO mortgage and a six pack - yes beers and abs!!!.. haha.. anyway was OK I suppose but that BIL's girlfriend is getting bigger every week, didn't realise how much she had put on but she does insist on wearing tight tiny t-shirts, afraid you can't hide much under those!!! Sun was a nice day spent shopping - oohh yeah - got a new t-shirt and 2 pairs of shoes.. I have found a new love in shoes, I didn't used to but they have got this place called No1 Shoe Warehouse and it is lovely, got a pair for my bridesmaid dress and a pair for work, and a pair of winter boots for miss 6 who absolutely loves them - nice work Mum!!!!

I was off work sick yest, I have had IBS for a long time now but have managed to nearly get rid of it, but on Sunday I went a bit wild and had a few things I don't normally eat and paid the price, was up half the night with cramps etc.. so back today and feeling better, still a bit edgy but OK. Hence I weighed in yest very bloated and yuck but MIL was joining so couldn't not support her!! Miss 6 embarrased me at home as she was hanging upside down over the arm of the chair (as kids do!) and was putting her feet on me and then MIL, she said I can tell which one is Nanna cause she is chubby .. .. I did say oh we don't say that sort of thing, but she didn't seem to realise her mistake, lucky MIL just laughed and said well that is why I am coming with you to the meetings..

Happy the trip sounds great, you have such a lot of fun places to go, and much better than a bunch of flowers!!! I am off for a haircut after work and then might have to fit in a bit of exercise. Am trying to be good since the w/end will be full of alcohol and frivolity!!!.. bye 4 now all.

[happy2bme]

Shaker, that was a funny one with Miss6. Gotta love little kids - no meaness but no filtering yet. Use to love my sister's stories of my nephew and other children's too. In fact there have been several books about kids sayings which are quite amusing as in asking 3 year olds how do you cook a turkey. Sounds like you are almost getting washed off the island. Maybe best borrow Shad's raft? I have attached picture at bottom. And look Mel - it's got FIREMEN in it! Anyway is that how summer leaves you - with torrential rains?

Mel, isn't peanut butter and an apple just the BEST? It's my new favorite snack and I don't even miss the caramel from the taffy apple (well maybe just a little bit). I usually have 1/2 a small apple and 1 tablespoon of pb so I don't over do it. I sure do hope that they find the parts to fix your chair. Especially when you have found one that is comfortable and works just as you would like it to. I think since you are such a mighty woman for one's rights and so good at the paperwork, we may send you round to Suffolk and help out Teel there. I will lend you a wig so you look authoritative in the English courts.

Shad it sounds as if you are making good progress at the gym, even if you did find the right time to go - all the people of your same mindset fighting for the same machines In the hottest of weather we ate quite simply. Some grilled fish or a grilled chicken breast sliced over salad and chilled fruit salad. LOTS of chilled fruit salad. Mangoes here are $1.49US and they come from Equador. Sounds cheaper than by you, probably because only a few people know how to really eat them The ones already sliced in a jar seem to do quite well!

I had an almost totally wasted day at the office today. Went in to get my laptop fixed (appears to be running fine at the moment). But it was - a steady parade of people through my office. I'd listen politely for a while, wisk them away and another would come in a few minutes later. It was nice to catch up with people but after a while I was getting nervous as the day passed and the only thing I accomplished was to catch up on the office gossip. Hopefully that's over with and I can hide out at home for a while. I did pretty good on plan today though not as much water as I should have. My time's almost up here, a quick shot to the journals and then off to bed for me. 'Night all...

oops, almost forgot to launch the rescue boat... well it seems as though I cannot upload a picture I have already posted. And I can't delete the picture from a closed thread so if you want to see the boat and firemen, you have to go to the original thread. Scroll down a few posts to one of mine.