Hello everyone, I am back enjoying my coffee and trying to pull myself back up by my bootstraps........Thanks for your concern from each of you, it really helped me. Linus, I found the journal site and am just amazed at how helpful that could be...thankyou so very much. You are so funny I enjoy reading all your posts. Teel, I am in such awe at your talent and will power. I would love to be in that audience listening to the concert...I think that is fantastic...as a child I played the violin and still have all the sizes of instruments I used. You are inspiring. Mel, you are my hero...doing those curtains by yourself wow girl..... that is fantastic. The undies thing...you are so funny. Hope you feel better today can understand how drained you feel about the loo thing...sort of had a bout of that myself this week, yuck. Shad the pic you posted put me right back in a park I was in while in australia a few years ago....so beautiful and so peaceful thanks for sharing and thanks for your concern. I am still learning about the rest of you gals give more time and I will know each of you better.
It is cold here this morning with snow out my back window...but I feel like getting out today and doing some projects so that is good. I have a blood test to do at the end of this week so then I will have to make a decision about getting an appointment to do some follow up......
I still haven't gotten my flicker but I do think I have scared him off for a few days which makes me so happy. Speaking of Happy hope she is having a terrific time and succes with her new goal. Just sitting here chatting with all of you makes one feel perky again.....
Hope all is well today with all of you and I will be back later today to see how the world treated everyone...... You are all so terrific...thanks for being here.
Roseblush....

glad to see your brimming again lass och ave come over all scottish must be because i feel dricht at the mo ive either got a reaccurance of my bowel infection or food poisoning and because i cooked everything i ate it must be the latter
speak as soon as i can stop throwing up
kirsty

i cant sem to cut and paste the article so i wrote out the jist of it on uk and will copy it here
sorry veggie i should have thought it was a study done in america they took 32 obese people and split them into three groups for six months they all cut out 500 calories from there usual diet one lot ate dairy four times a day and another took calcium pills the rest where on a low dairy diet those on dairy products lost four percent more weight and six percent more body fat than the low dairy group they also lost ten percent more fat from there midriffs the calcium group did well too showing that a steady supply of calcium boosts the bodys fat burning mechanism
kirsty
__________________
linus
I DIDNT KNOW WHEN I MARRIED MISTER RIGHT HIS FIRST NAME WAS ALWAYS DONT TRY TO UNDERSTAND ME JUST LOVE ME

So it's Monday once more. One more full week and one 4 day week and that's the end of me here at this job. Output wise it would probably have been better for me to go last week but financially I need the extra. So be it, 2 more weeks of work.

The weekend just flew by. I did manage to achieve a fair amount yesterday, but the veggie market was a failure. It seems that it is closed for a period of time. I'm still trying to decipher the words from the little Vietnamese lady selling flowers in the Mall. I had recognised her from the market and asked her what the story was. From the explanation I gleaned a couple of facts such as "cro'ed" and "mont's" - hence the idea it may have closed for a month or two. Since I refuse to buy veg and fruit from the supermarket because of it's poor quality and high prices, I will now have to look elsewhere from my stuff. Few more enquiries may be necessary. Anyway I bought 2 bunches of gerberas in bright sunny yellow and hot pinks and a red and orange or two and they now brighten up the kitchen benchtop.

Stayed up too late watching television last night. There was a movie on called '1st to die' and since I had read James Pattersons book I thought I might watch the movie. Quite enjoyed it too. Consequentially I am a bit blah this morning.

Computer decided to play up again yesterday. The CD is not working. I can't install a better version of Internet Explorer and the one I have has decided that I can no longer open internet sites. I can get mail and send mail but can't get on the 'net unless I use the sons machine. It is wearing out my patience fast. However I can't at this point afford another one until I have another job so it will just have to do. I am at this time busy shifting files across to the other computer so I can work and play at the same time. Damned gadgetry!!!!!
I took the thing to pieces as per Robbies instructions and wiggled the thing around, even took out the CD and cleaned and checked that too. Then when I put the whole thing back together again, it started to beep. I threw a wobbly and went and got the washing and DS fixed the beep. So I have a working computer, but no cd and no internet.

Okay so what is on the menu today. Well more of the same I guess and back to the gym tonight for a and and then home to some of the to do list again and a cuddle with the dog and cat. Gotta go. Happy if you are reading this, I hope you are enjoying yourself.

And for Teel, Rosie, linus and Mel all of whom seem to be suffering a bit at the moment healthwise at least here you go.

Sunday night at the old ponderosa and I got a lot accomplished. Moved all the summer clothes to the other closet and vice versa with the winter stuff. Got a lot of wash to do this week!!! I find that when you don't feel so good it's time to go to work and ignore the bits that aren't right. Today was no different. Once I got started I felt better. Jen came home and was shocked at the curtains I think we both are
But the apt is shaping up. Flylady would be proud of me!

Shad~ Thanks for the hug!! I'll save it for later when I try to lie flat in bed!
Sorry about the PC. My heart is with you at work. There must be a dozen mixed feelings going on in your head right now. Sending my best vibes your way for something to open up. Life can suck. Of this I know! Hope you can stay busy so the time passes and doesn't give you any time to think!((((HUGS)))) for you too.

Linus~ I have heard a lot about dairy and calcium for a few months now. I make sure I have 3 servings of some kind of dairy each day. Yogurt is my fave! Sorry to hear you were not well either!!! What a lovely bunch of coconuts we are, HUH?

Rose~ It was so nice to see you in the journal!!! Good luck again with your plans. Did you ever get around to giving me those 20 minutes???? Seems like Shad and I forgot what you were going after!!! Which reminds me that I have not pedalled yet!
I'm glad you are getting back to your "ols" self. Hope the tests are ok and you don't have to make any drastic decisions. Sending my good thoughts your way too!

I need a shower, some anti-inflammatories and some dinner. Gotta watch the Sopranos and Deadwood. Seem I got hooked on both. I always leave the room when the violent stuff comes on and get some more cleaning done! I'm not much for blood and guts. BBC TV is really more my style and cartoon shows! Well Girls I better get started last nights shower was at 10:30 PM and I'm sure my neighbor just loved me!!!
Have a wonderful Monday to all!!

good evening ladies how are we all on this lovely monday night fine i hope well as you can tell by my cheery attitude the kids go back to school tomorrow and as i got them out of bed at 9 this morning {they havent been getting up till after one in the afternoon} and dragging them up town clothes and trainer shopping they are now drifting off in to the land of nod as i am posting so i am sitting having a coffee and mum brought me eggs from the farm this morning so i had scrambled eggs for my supper and am going to take my meds and hopefully get to bed before three as im up at seven in the morning so good evening and goodnight to you all and i will speak to you all tomorrow
night night
kirsty
and may your dreams be hot and heavy { if mine are my hubbys in for a treat he might think its his birthday}

I guess I have survived the killer step class as I am here to tell the tale.
Madcat on the journals has challenged me to 5 days of down and sweaty exercise so last night at the gym, I went and did the weight stuff and then did 10 minutes on the rowing machine when I discovered there was a step class about to start. So off I went and nearly killed myself. I don't think I stopped dripping until I was halfway home, a 30 minute drive. I sort of wondered how I would wake up this morning but all seems to be working okay at the moment and I am nowhere stiff as I thought I might be. So Roseblush, if I can drag my old body through a step class, then you better be doing 20mins of steep pedalling to catch up to me.

Mel is not a happy camper today. She has received some negative comments about her new clothes (*****y people) so she is licking her wounds in private. Mel - just get back up there and run right over them. Life is too short to worry about them. Legs too pink???!!!! WTF are they talking about?

One of the consulting team on this project has collapsed outside the building this morning. They are carting him off to hospital in an ambulance as we speak. Just goes to show what you get when you wrap yourself in a project, work atrocious hours, get grumpy, smoke heavily, have no exercise or home life and worry too much about work.

Anyway, its time to go read the journals and get on with whatever the day brings. Roll with the punches girls. Oh and Linus - hope the DH's birthday treat was special.

When my dreams are hot and heavy I stick my head in the refrigerator!!!
Linus, you make me giggle!!! Hope the hubby got a treat!!! Happy Birthday!!!
Sounds like the kids are all set. Your eggs reminded me that I used to eat them with the beans on toast. Now I have beans in my head again! Guess it's better than rocks!

Shad~ I cannot believe I let that bother me for as long as it did. Pink legs...Because i have very bad circulation the legs are a lovely shade of pink or purple once I am up and they are hanging down for awhile I guess they thought I was going somewhere to impress people or something. The new clothes accentuated the loss instead of covering it up and I think THAT was what set them off. the guy told me they were just all arguing about weightloss just before I entered all "spiffy" as he put it! Must have been too much for them to take so early in the morning!
WOW what a shocker about the guy at work huh? Jeez It's a good thing I went out and stayed out!!! Don't want any carting off the the hosp. for ME! Hope he's OK. How goes the job? Got a chuckle out of your post on the journal. No one will be able to top it with out killing themselves too! You guys are too much. I will watch from the sidelines and use it as a demonstration of WHAT NOT TO DO TO MYSELF!! Maybe this should be the journal or book you should write!!!!

I had a great day with a Robert Parker mystery and lunch and the sun. Only one problem......I forgot that the pills I am taking are photosensitive!!! I got a little burned and realized something was wrong. Thought it was dry skin and then Jen called me to find out why I would sit in the sun with this antibiotic! Guess I still need some kind of keeper!
Well I got to take a shower and eat dinner and WHERE THE HECK IS EVERYONE ELSE???!!! Have a wonderful Tuesday. I am going food shopping for more fruit.

I thought I would bring a bit of spring to the thread today....all inspired 'cos my gardener has just mowed the lawn for the first time this season and the wet cut grass smells lovely. Holly hound loves rolling around and kicking the grass around and she always comes in with green feet and a green tummy.....
After yesterday's April showers today we have wall to wall blue sky and it should be good enough to "take tea on the patio" in the sun trap corner later this afternoon.
The Aliums are coming up a treat and the peonnies (sp.?) are showing their lovely blood red coloured buds. I would like to have a potted magnolia as I think they are really beautiful.....
Ho hum I have an appointment with my social worker in an hours time so I had better keep this short for now and go get dressed.....be back later.....Good morning America when you wake up and a good evening to Shad and all people down under!!!!

Geez it is quiet in here today. Must be Happy and Teel that make all the noise hey? So where have we all gone.
Oh yes - Linus is celebrating the husbands non-birthday and giving him a non-brithday surprise. Mel is sitting in the sun and burning - naughty naughty MEL.
And where is Roseblush? We get to miss our friends when they don't come in once a day.
I've been to the gym and sweated it out again. I think I will commit murder if this 30 minute sweat doesn't do something for the weight and shape!!!!!! I ache tonight from the rowing machine and the treadmill. Geez I have travelled some metres tonight. Anyway I came home, have had a microwaved sweet potato with light natural yoghurt, sprinkle of chopped herbs and cranberry sauce for dinner plus a banana and later I am about to get a lo fat ice cream slice out of the freezer. It's not been a particularly good eating day today because we had a birthday morning tea for on of the guys (another kiwi) and I ate some carrot cake. I ate too much carrot cake but there you go. I'm not going to get in a tizz about it.
My (wonderful!?! Not) manager today asked me if I would go to Toowoomba next week and the week after. I had great delight in saying that next week was okay, but I wasn't going to be around after that, so she would need to find someone else. Ho hum. Not my problem anymore and I am not volunteering.

Better go. Time to do something around the house.

We must have been posting at the same time Teel. How are you?

shad that really must have felt good telling her you wouldnt be there to clean up their mess anymore you go girl!!!!

Good Morning Good Morning Everyone!
I am here to post and to tell everyone hello. I am getting myself back to the good ole Nae....my nickname..... slowly but surely. Weird to have been so knocked back. I saw the challenge you posted Shad..... bravo...for your hard work and I am sure it will pay off in many ways for you..... I will start today if that is alright..... 30 min for 5 days right? You sound like you have been going at it hard. Is anyone else in our group picking up the challenge?
My eating has been good for the last couple of days and that is helping. I have a few things planned to eat and actually have some groceries in the house so maybe I can eat something balanced for the next 5 days.
I have to tell you girls about something. These kids came tearing around the corner of my lower driveway lost control and almost rolled the cars as I stood there watching.... the only thing that stopped them was a huge mound of dirt that sort of high centered them..I picked up their license plate later on the mound of dirt. I almost took it to the police station yesterday but a little voice said oh wait for tomorrow. Last night I saw this kid down there kicking around looking for it. We had a little conversation and I now just pray that it was enough of a scare to teach him how dangerous speed is in a car. I see too many people who are capable ambulating people one day and then the next they are not..... and it is so heartbreaking.
Love the talk of taking tea on the patio...watching the ground come alive. One of my goals in life is to be in England.... anytime of the year but especially to see the gardens. Thanks so much for sharing that this morning Teel... hope you are well.
Mel, people say such hurtful things sometime and don't even realize it.... and when it happens it takes us back. But I guess you truely begin to see that to make someone smile or to say something of encouragement is of such great value. Please be of good cheer..... you look MARVELOUS DARLING....and we love you and this place would not be the same without you here for us to talk with and share your life with us...we are the better for it!
Linus, fair lass how are you doing today? You make me laugh so much I loved the scottish post. I do hope your insides are cooperating again...mine have adjusted and seem ok..... and yes I even made a Dr. appt. for the end of May to be once again assured about this stupid fibroid. How did that unbirthday go.....????
Well, my coffee is great today and the sky is gray and we still need more gray and I was informed that offing that flicker is illegal....oops.... he is fairly safe with my shooting at this point. I have some little flowers coming up too and am actually hoping to do more gardening this year..... Take Good Care everyone who is posting here and lurking here as I did for so long. I am so glad I came out to play with great group of gals!!!
Talk to you all later..... I will share my name today since I gave my nickname earlier...it is Renae....
Peace

i just love your name i got lumbered with christina is it woodpeckers you having trouble with?if it is let me know and ill go into the rspb site and get some safer getting rid of tactics they had to post these as log cabins have become very popular over here and the woodpecker population was taking a tumble so let me know and ill look for you soooo very glad to hear you sounding better and very glad you didnt have to scrape anyone off your road speak soon
kirsty

Morning, afternoon and evening ladies.
Another day has dawned here in sunny Queensland and I am stiff and sore from the sweaty exercise over the last couple of days. Still one hopes it will achieve the purpose of some movement in the body weight and shape at the weigh in at the end of next week.
Teel, the garden sounds great as does tea on the patio. I'm jealous as we can't really grow peonies here. Too tropical for the lil darlings. My garden is turning green at the moment as it is cooling down and the flowers are dying down, but the morning moisture is greening things up. Won't be long and I'll be sweeping up the leaves from the Silky Oak (Grevillea Robusta) and the Poinciana tree. However they don't stay bare for long - often the new leaves push the old ones off. I miss the Autumn colours.
Roseblush, I was lucky enough to see some of the great gardens of England on the two trips I have done over there. Sissinghurst in Kent is beautiful and I saw some wonderful floral displays in Scotland in 2000 and who can forget the Abbey at Bury St Edmunds gardens one wet and rainy day? One day I would like to do a tour of Britain and Europe just wandering around the gardens of the world. Next year my friend on I are off to Italy - and I am looking forward to that.

Well best go do something for which I get paid I suppose. Hei ho.