Happy Saturday everyone. Seemed to me it was time for a new thread.

Candice: Hope that all the bad weataher and tornadoes that our TV mentioned in the mid-west area weren't near you. High winds and tornados are on the scary side. Your gardening seems to be coming along. Sorry about the Iris.

Siwa: We go to the dermatologist twice a year. Went just last week. Our Doc checks front, back arms and legs, each time, and then also any place you think there might be a problem. I grow a lot of lumps and bumps. skin tags, and little cysts. If one is in the way of jewely, or like one getting irritated by undies, then she takes them off. DH always has to have some places zapped with the liquid nitrogen, as he did have skin cancer on his nose, and had to have surgery there. So he always comes out looking freckled.

Boy! a truckload of plants. How many acres do you have in your gardening area? I do miss having a garden, but can't have everything.

Hi Barb: What is going on with you? Are you continuing with your other support group? Hope you are making progress. How is the business moving along?

Alice - Kate: Where are you?

I had a nice experience today. I have been corresponding with another group of WW ladies on the 'net' and one of them is moving to Fl. and not too far from us. So we got together for lunch and a nice visit. We have been corresponding for so long, that it seemed like we had known each other for years.

Our colds are getting better. Antibiotics do the trick. So guess it wasn't really a cold but some miserable bug. I tested positive for the H-Pylori bacteria, once again, so once I am finished with this course of medicine, then I start on that cure. FUN FUN

'See' you later. Ann

Was able to plant for 4 hours yesterday before the rain drove me inside. Got lots done but still more to plant and then begin on the weed before the mulch can be put down. Today we're celebrating my dad's 80th birthday. Plan to grill steaks and it's raining again. At least the grill has a cover and I don't eat steak anyway. It's just too bad for the others.

ANN--We have a very little truck--one of those baby ones--so the loads of plants are not huge. We don't even have and acre but it still takes a lot. something dies every year and has to be replaced. Annuals are annual--LOL. Things need moving around and then there are the WEEDS!--the never ending weeds. If I did have an acre I'd never get to sleep.

Looks like Kate and Alice are taking a break from us or else they've deserted.

I haven't deserted you. I just haven't had anything to say. Weight is not budging, exercise is still work, work is still work nothing exciting to write about.

Healthwise, I'm having a pretty hard time. The doc has added a bunch of new/differnt meds and I still feel like . According to the doc, it's the Sjorgrens, but DH has it in his mind that it's depression, so he is pushing me to do more, and do more, trying to "cheer" me up, when all I really need is a nap.

I did get a new car a few weeks ago, don't remember if I told you about it. It's not much different from the other one. It is a 98 and this one is a 2003, but they are both Mustang convertibles. This one is black. It's really pretty, but not much different from the other one. They now have the blue on at the fiberglass shop and the last time I saw it it was in several different pieces!

My sister from CT is here this weekend and we had a stressful "family" meeting after lunch today discussing my mom's finances.

I think we may be going to PA sometime next month for some training for a new marketing program we are getting into. It's somewhere close to
Scranton I think. That's an area I've never been in that I know of.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Barb: The Schrogrens(sp?) certainly can be the culprit. You may remember my daughter has it, plus full blown lupus. She was having a lot of difficulty with depression, and her Dr. said that goes with the disease. so she is now on what she calls her 'happy pills' and she feels great. So don't dispair there is help out there. I think you might have her email address. drop her a line and she can tell you better than me.

In the spring, that part of Pa. is pretty around the Scranton/Wilkesbarre area, but in the winter it is pretty bad. And then as you get further into the mountains before you get to Harrisburg, in the winter, it is like the top of a bleak world. Spring and summer are not so bad, so you are going at the right time. There is a lot of coal mining around the Scranton area, or at least there was. I am not sure about now. I know we had friends who used to live in Wilkesbarre, and they talked about abandoned mine shafts under much of the residential area, sometimes causing problems.

DH and I are still recuperating from the bug. Much coughing still going on. But progress is noted. Not much else going on around here. Ann

Rain, rain, rain--very rainy srping this year and cool too. Still too cool to put tomatoes out. Yesterday was absolutely perfect for gardening so that's what I did for 8 hours. I had a dozen lilies and a couple clematis to plant. I'm replacing all the yellow lilies with pink ones. I really don't like yellow but 10 yrs ago put just "touches" of yellow in the garden. Well, those "touches" expanded and it was too much for me so they're almost gone. I dug them up and gave to a friend so I could replace w/a color more to my liking. I was sitting in the garden and the birds were singing so happily and I thought, "There's nothing better than sitting in the dirt on a day like this listening to the birds." I was enjoying the day so much that when the planting was completed I stayed in the garden weeding (and enjoying). It was finally nice enuf to eat dinner outside so we did. It began raining about 10 pm and is still raining today. I have just a little bit of planting left but need to buy the plants to fill in some bare spots. Hoping to get the tomatoes in the ground soon too.

I have been a member of the red hat book club since last fall. I haven't read fiction in I don't know how many years but I like the other members so said I'd give it a try. I've only liked 1 fiction book so far--"One Thousand White Women". In May we read a non-fiction. I didn't recommend it but I'd read it 12 years ago. I hosted the book club and lead the discussion. It was very satisfying to me to talk about a non-fiction book. We read "Princess", about a Saudi princess and her life in Saudi Arabia. I happened to have a purple Saudi dress given to me by a student over 20 years ago so I wore that with a red bead-decorated scarf that I bought in Egypt. I also served Middle Eastern desserts which I made. Also played some arab music while we ate. It was lots of fun. Next time I host I'll just wear a purple t-shirt and red hat. The Saudi dress is very inconvenient unless you're just sitting.

ANN--Hope your bug is gone by now and you can get on with life in a healthier style.

BARB--A different car is always fun and the fun last for many months. It just makes one feel good.

Candice is probably eating cookies when she's not in the garden. Kate and Alice are MIA.

Nearly recuperated now. Went to Curves today for the first time in 2 weeks. boy!!!Did I know I hadn't been there in a while. Sort of like starting over.

Siwa: what an ooportune time for rain, to give your new plants a good water to start. We are so dry. i want to set out some plants in front little garden but haven't found what I want yet.

Your book club evening sounds like great fun. I haven't been a book club member for a long long time. I like to read fiction, but now only the really quick and easy ones. I have read about 5 books since we have both been sick. That was about all I felt like doing. Acutally on the 5th right now. After doing laundry, Curves and getting lunch, I feel like I have done a full days work.

Hi Barb, Candice, Kate and Alice. Ann

Hi Gang, nothing exciting happening around here. DH played in a golf tournament today and while he was gone my sister & niece hung out at my son's pool Now I'm lazy..

Had a wave of fatigue hit me Saturday with a ton of pain too, so it is take it easy for a few days for me! Darn that Fibro..........


Mowed today and banged my head on the birdhouse hanging from a tree I went under...OUCH!

Been looking through my cookie and bar recipes and trying to decide what to make for my son who
is coming home for a week....a coconut wafer sounds good to me but then I do not want to eat a lot either! He likes chocolate chip but so do I .... Well I decided to make the coconut, yum but a of of work! Got Lizzies fruit salad made for him too, he just loves that and so do DH and I, thanks lizzie Oh DS is here now..........

My tomatoes are in and have blooms but we are getting storms again tomorrow so I had to drag all my pots into the garage again, just can't keep doing this..my arms are really bad from the lifting. Also the dishwasher door is broken, the spring that lets it go down and it just falls now so you have to hang onto it and it hit may bad arm the other day and it's all kinds of colors!!!!!!!!! That door is very heavy too!!!!!!!!

Do any of you know about birds? We have a robin that builds a nest buy our back door every year and I found some eggs in the yard after the last storm and put them in her nest and she is sitting on 6 eggs now, do think they will hatch and how long does it take?

Candice: You haave a bit of a mystery? do you think they were Robin's eggs? That nice blue? If they were/nt and they do hatch, I wonder if Mama robin will care for them? It will be interesting to see. Keep us posted.

Went to Curves today again, and am feeling a bit more energetic. It is very hot here. The temp in our car port registers 98deg. today. I bought some marigolds to set out in my front garden, but have to wait until tonight after supper when it is a bit cooler.
I need to get thim in and hope they get really well started before we leave on our trip.

See you all later. Ann

Found this from Magnoliamouth on the old thread and copied it for us here.

WEll here I am back from the dead. I weigh in at 161.5, but need someone to use a Tazar on me for not exercising for the past 1.5 weeks. My last posting had me going on a trip to visit relatives and get caught up and then meeting dh at my brothers about 5 hours away. Well to make a long story short. Dh stuck his nose in a big issue that had nothing to do with him, and made a very ugly scene. Hurt some of my family with his attempted actions and I am still po'd at him. I have stuck to my diet, but not exercised as I should. Thank god for some good habit forming and determinations that it did not totally throw me for a loop. Today is my offical measure day and also I am trying to get caught up with 3fatchicks. I could boo hoo all day over this but won't bore everyone, but will say this. I felt like giving him the big "D" word and going my own way! That is some what of an explaintation of how hard this all hit me! I really think my loss of the 25 pounds has given me confidence to stand up to him and not let him bully me! I think he has been very shocked that I took a tough love attitude with him over this and will not pudge off of my position. Normally, I am the peace maker between us. He is still in the dog house and he knows it "big time".

Raining again today. Holiday weekend a total washout. We're heading for the cabin tonite cuz the forecast is sunny the next 2 days there. It's been raining so much and we haven't mowed yet this season so that's what we'll be doing for the next 2 days. I have some reading to catch up on so when not mowing I'll be reading.

Really nothing to say cuz I'm doing nothing.

ANN--the rain was good for the newly planted items but........we've had 22 rainy days out of the last 30..ENOUGH ALREADY!!! Now we need some sun, please.

Siwa: Hope you have a good time at camp and don't mow too much. Reading sounds like a more enjoyable time. Is this for your book club?

Candice: How are the robins doing? I will be interested to hear how the Mama bird takes to 6 babies, if they all hatch.

Barb: Hope you are feeling better.

Magnoliamouth: Hope things have settled down with your family situation.

Not much happening here. Just wanted to say Hi. Ann

Lizzie, the robin is still sitting on the eggs.......

I found my strawberry pizza recipe and made two of them, but I used splenda and FF cream cheese so the pts were not too bad. Just made some 8 pt brownies for my friends tomorrow I am meeting for supper ( we are celebrating our BD's form last spring). Ds is gone for the weekend and will be back Monday and then off to school again so my cooking will get back to normal.

Still helping dH mow, the riding mower is easier but it still makes me hurt with all the bumping in our lump yard

We have hail damage to our car form the last batch of storms, baseball size hail!!!!! Suppose to get more Sunday...I can't stand all these storms and running to the basement all the time. So far I have been albe to get all my pots int he garage but that is taking it's toll on me, they are too heavy!!!!!!!!!!!!! My lettuce has hail damge too but we are still eating it! We finally got 2 inces of rain out of the last front.

Hi,

Things have been hopping here. We passed papers on the cottage towards the end of May. It was extremely hard for me, but I managed to get through it. We left for FL a couple of weeks ago to look for a house. We found one in Northport. The current owners are building a new house not far away. If everything goes as planned we'll be passing papers the end of July and hopefully moving in Sept. We found a RE agent, and saw 15 houses in 2 days. The very last house he had to show us is the one we knew was for us. We had the home inspection done a couple of days before we left for NH and the guy said the house was above average. Now we have to clean out 10 yrs. of accumulated junk in the house we're living in now. Ann, I'll soon be another Florida chick.

Hope you all had a good weekend.
Alice

Alice, I don't envy you going through all that stud and then moving. Good you finally got the cottage taken care of and found a house you like in Florida.

I have gotton back to my litle routine of yoga, pilates and tai chi, (just a few moves form each to get me going) and of cousre my stretching and yard work. Did walk outside on Saturday but the hip hurting thing again, so my walking is not going well.

I sat on the floor for hours last night indian style cleaning out the video cabinet (had to look at the tapes I did not have marked). Found some of my old exercise tapes too. Never liked that Jane Fonda one So my back is pretty sore today........so I went out and trimmed all the bushes! Ha!!!!!!!!!

DS is back ond off again Tuesday so things will get back to normal here. I had lunch with Friends Friday and took them some homemade brownies at 8pts a piece! They do not watch their weight so I bake for them WE ahd a wonderful meal and great gift exchange.

My lilles are having problems, not sure what it is, wind maybe or a fungus? The buds are not opening, just rotting and the leaves are turning yellow????????? I was moving my two big pots of flowers and one fell over, not sure if it will make it or not, broke some of the plants