Hi everyone,
I probably won't be in here much over the next two weeks....My big show is next weekend, and I just got the biggest writing assignment of my life yesterday! So I'm BUSY BUSY......

But I'll be thinking of you all and trying to stay on top of things. I think I'm stressing too much, which is NOT good for weight loss. Gonna try to squeeze in some yoga or relaxation time to counteract the old cortisol hormones.

Everyone stay on track and I'll be back when I can.
Julie

Hi all,

I'm writing this from the gym as our PC at home is about to die at any moment - the noises coming from it are not healthy! Nigel has bought a new hard drive and is just psyching himself up to put it in - something he is not looking forward to!

Well I've just done a 45 minute 'spinning' class on the stationary bike, then a full weights workout and then a short swim - followed by a dip in the hydrotherapy pool and a sit in the steam room! :) The spinning class was very hard - I couldn't do the cycling standing up bit because it killed my knees, but it was a real workout anyway. I enjoyed it and think I'll do it regularly as it made me really push myself!

I had a rest from exercise yesterday so got 3 points.

FAYE - So sorry for your neice - my friend lost 2 babies this year but is now 7 months with her little girl. I will pray for God to bless her with a healthy child.

CARRI - Hope you can catch up on some sleep this weekend! Yes my migraine was so painful........and to top it off I had period cramps at exactly the same time which is so not funny!

JULIE - Good for you on getting a big writing assignment - just make sure you don't mess up your diet and put on those 8lb you've lost, you've worked so hard to get this far!

CAROL - Welcome to our little group!

SUSAN - Glad you enjoyed your quilt convention. hope it helped to recharge your batteries a little! That is excellent news from your doctor - you must be really pleased!

Have a fab day everyone!

Love Amanda x

Amanda, I get tired just thinking about all that exercise.

Julie, congrats on the writing assignment - get some healthy thinks ready to eat on hand in case you feel you just must eat. You've done well so far.

Faye, keep us posted on your neice.

For those of you who might be looking for a little inspiration, Kraft Foods has a great healthy living website - best of all it is FREE. They give you menus which you can customize, recipes, exercise tips, shopping lists...there are exercise and food logs, you can add foods to the database. It's really a nice site. Take a look at

http://kraftfoods.com/kf/HealthyLiving/

Julie: We will be thinking of you with your fingers to the grindstone and your behind just a shakin'... :lol:

Amanda: Whoo, I am tired now! Tell Nigel to buck up and get it done! We know he CAN DO IT! :cb: :cp:

Susan: Thanks for the link! That's sounds really cool. I will have to check it out.

:( Here is my baby getting his graduation certificate today! I can't believe he is going to be going to Kindergarten this fall. I gave him his card and he opened it and said, "Oh you gave me dollars!" I told him yes that it was a LOT of $$. That is was $50 and he could buy whatever he wanted with it.

Well gotta go and get Jack at work

Faye :)

THURSDAY: Today is Time for Us Thursday so be sure you make time just for you today!

It's another sunny hot day today. I am going to try and get some cleaning done before it gets too hot. I can't wait until next week when the pool officially opens! I will so glad to get out and get swimming again. I love it for the exercise.

Thank you thank you for the prayers for my niece. Her tests all came out ok and the baby seems to be fine! She is about 8 weeks and will be doing an ultrasound in just a few weeks. I know how much my sister appreciates the prayers as she called me last night to tell me about Casey and told me so.

Everyone have a great day today!

Faye ;)

Hi all,

I got 2 points yesterday - had a pizza as a planned treat, but still felt guilty afterwards! :o We've agreed to allow ourselves one pizza a month - on the day my TOM arrives as that is when I most want it! I am aching so much from my spinning class! I was okay yesterday, but today my thighs have completely stiffened up! I was going to do another class tomorrow but I don't think my legs will be up to it, so it's something I'll have to build up to over the next couple of weeks. I'll just have a gentle swim tomorrow instead!

FAYE - So glad to hear that all is okay with mum and baby - I will keep them in my prayers. Thomas looks a real cutie . I'm glad that your pool is opening next week - you always really enjoy your swims and there is less chance of you hurting yourself! :lol:

Love Amanda x

Morning All ... I have so hungry this morning for some reason, I just had a serving of light Pringles as my breakfast at 9:30 ... sadly enough :lol:
About once a week or so I may get like this...I really have to fight it today I guess...

Faye - So glad that you are going to be able to get into the pool soon ... were you using your treadmill alot? Dh and I are going to sell ours ... it really made our lower backs hurt ... they say it is harder on you than walking on the actual ground because you have to pull yourself more to keep up with it...anyhow...I feel for you on the neighbor kids...I dread summer when those kids are off with nothing to do but make trouble ( from boredom ) - well some of them anyway... hope they do not drive you too crazy :) So glad to hear that your neice and baby are okay.

Amanda - One pizza a month will definitely not hurt you... I dont know if you and Nigel are like my dh and I but we can easily finish off a large one between us, as I have said before I ( we ) LOVE pizza ... so you are not alone!! :D

Julie, Nikki, Susan and everyone ... have a good day - talk to you all later!!

I tried one of the new South Beach Pizzas - a little pricey but very good - whole wheat crust, 14 g. fiber and 250 calories for the deluxe. That takes care of my pizza craving - about once a month!

Faye, our pool is opening Monday but it has been so cold I can't imagine getting into the water right now. I love to swim and we have an hour in the evening that is only for adults so that suits me - often I'm the only one there. It's a real help with my hip.
So glad everything turned out. The power of prayer is amazing. My husband has improved (as much as he can) this week so at least he's feeling a bit better. If I could just get him eating again I wouldn't care if he live on meat and potatoes (his preference) if he'd just eat. He's always been a big guy and was 202 yesterday at the doctor's office. He's 6 feet so he's still a little overweight. He ate half an egg for breakfast and 2 bites of toast. I've been making him drink a couple cans of Ensure during the day to at least get something into him.

Carri, I get days that I could eat everything in the grocery store and still be hungry, too. Usually if I eat some protein it subsides.

So - it's almost the end of the month - and I'm still at the same weight. Guess that is better than gaining but it really means I need to look at the quantities I'm eating. I haven't been planning as much and it shows.

What's the plan for Memorial Day - eat, drink and be merry or ...

OH, BOY, THE POO HAS HIT THE FAN IN THIS STATE!
Watch your national news because I am SURE it will sooner or later be on tv!

Jack called and said to turn on the tv. Eight state senators, have been arrested by the FBI on a bribery sting! It has been ongoing since 2003 and the sting was called Tenn walz. Four of these people are from the Memphis district! One guy had been under investigation for a year on taking money for TennCare (Medicaid in TN) and had already been sensored and the FBI sting was BEFORE this Tenncare thingy. The woman from this area JUST got elected (just took office THIS WEEK) and believe it or not, the LAST THREE people elected from this particular district have been arrested for something and that is why the middle of the year elections! The third guy, WAS a senator and resigned to become the county mayor's lacky just a few months ago. The poor county mayor had NO CLUE and the poor guy has this shmuck now on his payroll. Senator Ford (tenncare) took money and paid for his dd's WEDDING to the tune if about $15,000! They are hinting our mayor (Memphis City not the county mayor) is involved and may it only be true! Our mayor is the biggest crook you have ever seen! They were talking about this being the BIGGEST sting ever including the US Government! The Ford guy has been arrested for a $55,000 bribe and three counts of threatening or intimidating a witness. This guy is a real slime ball and Jack and I were pretty mad when the state government didn't indict him on the Tenncare business. Well, he is getting his come uppence now. This is going to ROCK the state and one of our US representative's Harold Ford, which you have probably seen on tv announced just yesterday he is running for Senator Frist's (senate majority leader's) seat as Frist is not running again and his UNCLE is this state senator. I think his senate bid is going to go down in flames! I guess the east part of the state has been republican since BEFORE the civil war so now this is going to mess him up horribly. I don't like the man and wouldn't vote for him, but the poor guy should not be lumped with others. Harold Ford's dad was a senator and went to prison years ago for some kind of wrongdoing and the representative had to overcome that and now this. It is truly this state's Peyton Place!

POINTS:

Amanda :dancer:

Susan: How long have you and your husband been married? A long time, right? We will all continue to pray for him and for you! It is not only the sick one that suffers!

Carri: Hey girl! I do use my treadmill and can't say I particularly enjoy it, but since we are on a hill it is easier than walking outside and in the heat. I can exercise just so much harder in a pool because of the lack of stress on my joints!

Well, I better get going! Have a good day.

FRIDAY: Today is Fabulous Friday Follies, a day to share the crazy things you do!

Be back later girls

Faye :)

Hello!

I got 3 points yesterday as I had no choice but to rest from exercise as my thighs completely seized up!

My landlord came sniffing round yesterday which meant us hiding with the curtains closed and not answering his knocks at the door - he is a real bully and constantly threatening to evict me for no reason. He was obviously in a bad mood because when he was mowing the front lawn he completely pulled up my broadband cable!! It wasn't that he accidentally snagged a bit - he actually yanked the whole thing out from start to end - the man is a nutter! Luckily we've still got a connection but the Cable company can't refit it for about 3 weeks. We are in such a terrible position because we cannot afford to move so we just try to stay quiet and keep out of his way - until Nigel's inheritance comes through, and then we are off! Anyway, the whole thing left us both really anxious and stressed and I was still feeling that way when I got up this morning - so I took myself off to the gym and even though I couldn't do a complete workout because I'm still very achy, I pounded the treadmill for 35 mins and then had a nice swim and relax in the hydrotherapy pool. I feel so much better for working off some off that anxiety and stress - I'm really pleased that I didn't just lay in bed feeling low, but instinctively knew I needed to work off my tension! This is a real breakthrough in how I manage my depression - yay!

FAYE - Sounds like a real hoo ha going on where you live - never trust a politician! It reminds me of when I was at Primary School - we had to sit an entrance exam to see who was bright enough to go to the grammar school and who went to the local comprehensive. I was always one of the brightest in my class, but I failed, but all the girls whose parents were on the PTA passed, despite some being quite dumb. I just accepted it at the time and wasn't bothered about attending the comp as my sister went there - but years later there was a big scandal about it in the local news as the headteacher resigned after being investigated for doctoring results! Me and my best friend Sam, KNEW this was probably the case when we were 11!!

Have a good day

Love Amanda x

POINTS:

Amanda: First off, you need to complain to the cable company that the landlord is ripping out their equipment as that in itself is most assuredly illegal. Secondly, don't you have some type of investigative news people that help people with landlord problems, etc? I mean, come on, no one should have to hide from someone just because this guy is a jerk and wants to make trouble. Of course, I know nothing about British law, but landlord's here just cannot do that. I hope you guys can get out soon and get somewhere else that will make you happier!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and holiday on Monday (Amanda, this may not apply to you as it is the US Memorial Day on Monday) Don't eat too many hot dogs and hamb!

FYI: Because of the holiday, I am suspending topics until Tues and will pick them back up again than.

Faye :)

Okay, I know it's not Wednesday, but can I just say that it has RAINED EVERY SINGLE FREAKING DAY BUT THREE THIS WHOLE MONTH!!!!!!!!! STREEESSSSSSSSS......................

Better now.

Just popping in to say "Hi" ...I'm still staying on track with eating, though the exercise is for crap except for class! I start teaching a third class on June 8th, so that will up my exercise some.

AManda, I'm SO PROUD OF YOU for knowing when you were feeling down and going to the gym to fix it!!!! :grouphug: That was EXACTLY the right thing to do....WAY TO GO GIRL!!!!

Everyone have a great weekend...I'll be sewing and writing and dancing....in the FREAKIN" RAINNNNNNN..............

:D
Julie

Morning gals.

Julie: I could use some rain to wash my deck of bird poopoo. I don't have a hose and am going to have to get out there with a bucket. ICK! Hope your weather clears soon. It has been hot and sunny here and hopefully will be nice Monday so I can check out the pool!

T has his last soccer game so I have to get moving and get us some breakfast before we go.

Everyone have a super holiday weekend if I can't get back in here today

Faye :)

If we're lucky, we MIGHT see some sun next THURSDAY!!!!