Busier and busier at work. Still, I am pleased by how good my Spanish is getting to be. Fitting in physical therapy (did I tell you my shoulder is acting up again?) is another problem.

Oh--I am telling stories Sunday in Spanish. I sure hope people come.

Chin up!

Good Morning Ladies,

This is going to be a "great" day, I just know it. The first thing we have to do this morning is take Gene to the urologist to get his tube changed out. And then I get to go bowling. I did go to the gym yesterday and sometimes I really don't want to go, but I know it is very important that I stay healthy. For some reason I am not as energetic as I usually am, but I get these days now and then. Since I will be on vacation this week, I am going to try out the Yoga class. I will let you know how that goes.

Hopefully all the rest of our group is having a really great day!

Take care,
Anita

Hi - I am back.

Had a great time, but a bit fuzzy round the edges at the moment. So will keep this short and sweet. Photos are uploaded but I probably won't put them on the net until the weekend as I need to do some bits around the house. Back to work tomorrow for the last two days of the week.

In the meantime - here's a photo to keep you interested.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...o1/Tsumago.jpg

Good Afternoon ladies,

Shad - I didn't see a photo. Glad you made it back home safely. Hopefully everything as house was in order. When you get a chance tell us about your adventures.

Nita - Hope everything wenk ok with taking Gene to doctor. Hope the yoga class works out well for you. Your so right about staying active. I think it's great that you went to the gym even when you didn't feel like it.

As for me, another busy day. Taking a vacation day tomorrow, need to pack up halloween stuff and put in attic. Might try and get a massage in.

hope everyone is having a great day!

Hi Ladies,

Welcome home Shad. It doesn't seem like you really were gone very long!

The trip to the doctor with Gene went well and he convinced the nurse to let him come back in six weeks vs. 4. I did manage to do the whole Yoga class, but I thought it was really hard. However, I can see where you learn to breath correctly and to stretch all parts of your body. I may go back again next week, I will have to see how I feel tomorrow. Afterwards since I am on vacation I went bowling again and didn't do too well but at least I was with friends and it was fun. All of a sudden I have this urge to give up on this dieting and just accept myself the way I am at this moment! It just seems too hard all of a sudden. I think I am having one of those pitty parties today because I am thinking how great it would be to be where my children and grandchildren are. The fact that I cannot go and visit them is making me unhappy. And I am not sure Gene will ever get to the point where he can manage on his own for even a week. I know I have a lot to be thankful for because at least I can come and go pretty much as I please and one of my best friends here cannot do the same. Her husband had his leg amputated due to diabetes about six weeks ago and she pretty much cannot leave him for any length of time.
Take care all
Anita

Morning all,
Quick catch up as I am just about out the door to the gym. Lots to do around the house and the heat and humidity are making the weeds grow twice as fast as normal.

I was away about 12 days in all. Not that long, but we packed a fair amount into it. I have loads of photos to upload and then I will tell you all about my holiday.

Catch up soon.

Hello Ladies,

Had a packed filled weekend. Took friday off and ran lots of errans. Took my car to shop and have it looked at. My car was leaking transmission fluid and luckily it was just a small and inexpensive leak. Don't know if I had mentioned, but i'm going to buy my sister's SUV. Her's is a 99 and mine is a 97. I think I can sell mine what i'm paying her for her's. She gave me a good deal, so I also ran the 99 one up to shop and got oil changed. Today i was busy cleaning out both SUV's, so I can put a 4sale sign on mine. Cleaned house and files rest of weekend.

Shad - looking forward to hearing about your adventures.

Nita - I know there are days when I feel like giving up to. But we can't, maybe take a day of rest? I think the yoga would be hard too, but like you said it helps with the breathing and with the stretching.

Cat, Mooz and Hal - Hope your doing ok. Drop if you get a chance.

RE: That's the 'impression' I get...
 

Hello Ladies,

Mooz - Good to hear from you and congrats on your 7.5 lbs loss. YGG :carrot: Hope your able to finish your paintings in time to enter the exhibits and are able to sell something. Let us know how it goes.

Hal - WOW, you have a busy schedule. I hope your legislators listen to you all. Something has got to be done about cutting funding in the schools. Way to go for keeping your eating and exercing in check. I have not done to well this past few days. Next week is a 3 day work week and of course it's my birthday weekend, so that will be nice to have off during my b-day.

My sister's SUV is a 99 but has about 30,000 less miles than mine. This weekend i was busy with cleaning up both vehicles. OH, and some good news. I met a guy about a week ago, he's younger than me 39 but we really seem to get a long. I'm was so worried about my weight, I almost called off the date. But we met last wednesday and have been talking everyday, even when he was out of town he called me. He asked me out again, so we'll see where this goes.

Cat - started looking over this medicare prescription plans for my parents and it is definitely a headache.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Good Morning - and what a beautiful morning it is already. As the Irish would say, Top o' the Mornin' to you.

I'm feeling pretty chipper today. Don't know why. Had a fight with the cat last night and she got put outside for the whole night. Wish I could somehow get through to her that I won't desert her, won't go away permanently, she has a spot for the rest of her days. She just would not stop talking last night and wanted out, then in, then out, then in. Finally I said no you are not going out again and she just got louder and louder, whereby she got put out unceremoniously and told to stay away for a number of hours. :devil:

Okay, I have the photos up and finally ready. They probably need a bit of fine tuning, but they are all there. Two albums - take your pick.

Flowers, Gardens and Autumn colour and

Japan visit

Hope those links work. There were some problems on that website a while back. Grab yourself a coffee, sit back and relax and click the View Slideshow button and wander down the narrow roads with me.

Now let's see what you have all been up to.

Nita - I know where you are coming from. It all gets too hard and you think you will never get where you want to be. Courage friend. Take it one day at a time. Give yourself a pat on the back for each day you achieve your goals. Take a rest from exercise at least once a week. And every so often, pack the DH in the car and go somewhere you haven't been for ages. Stay overnight if you feel like it. We need to have some life in our days in order to get through the days of our life. There is only one life. Make sure it is not all discipline, good food and good works. There has to be something to nuture the soul as well.

Hal - Japanese foods. Well you know me - I like food period, Japanese or otherwise. So what did I eat over there -
We had Sushi at Gonza one night. Gonza is a franchise (I think - sort of) and it was the last night of trading - they were closing the doors. So we got all kinds of Sushi Nigiri and it was fairly cheap.
Then we had a Tempura night. Oh the tempura batter was so light and crisp - it was yummy. My friend had a plate of sashimi (raw fish) which included puffer fish (fugu) which can be deadly if not properly prepared. I declined and she is still alive to tell the tale.
One night was Okonimyaki which is a sort of cross between pancake and omelet with lots of cabbage and fish flakes and other veges. Quite nice although I'm not raving about it. It certainly was filling.
We had temaki sushi as well - that's sushi where you pick up your nori (seaweed sheet) and fill it with whatever you want. There was a huge variety of fish, prawns, egg, eel, roe, avocado and natta (fermented soy beans) as well as tofu.
In Nagoya City I had Domburie - which is rice with (in this case) chicken and vegetables, but you can have beef or pork or egg or curry.
Most of the above comes in a set - soup, pickles, the dish, green tea, etc.
Other food that comes to mind is Omrice (omelet stuffed with rice) a Japanese pizza - can't remember what the Japanese name is unfortunately. The miso soup is actually quite nice. It grows on you and depending what they put in it can be very filling. Pickles (some okay, most blah) come with everything. We went to a bread shop where, when you buy some bread, they give you a bowl of mountain vege soup and a cup of coffee free. When I say bread shop, it is nothing like a franchised bread shop here. It's a building on its own, stuck in a tiny village halfway up the mountain and is really for the rural population. However she does a roaring trade on Sundays for half the neighbouring city. Photos are on the web.

That's about it for food. There was other stuff, but much of it tastes similar since rice, soup and pickles are staples. Mind you living on that soup could take pounds off you.

Mooz, Good luck with the exhibition. I know you will do well. I have that one of the Giants causeway on my screensaver. It reminds me of you everytime I see it. Love the colours.
Oh and what a great weightloss. Well done.

I day - hmmmm a new bloke huh. Enjoy it. It could be fun.

Cat - hi where did you get to!!!

Duty calls, gotta go.

Patty--you are so right. Do they have retirement prescription benefits? Because if they do, they are almost certainly best off sticking with them. If you need a plan, I think the best thing is to go to www.Medicare.gov with a list of their medications and then compare plans. You can actually even save your work (hit "save work") and go back--for example, if you see there's a generic version of something they're taking and you want to check with the dr to see if that could be substituted. I just rant and rave, though, about what a disaster the whole thing is.

Shad--welcoe back.

Mooz--hooray!!

Patty--glad you met someone nice.

Hal--WTG on the good food.

Nita--We each have our problems, and knowing that others have it worse doesn't just make ours go away. A friend once said that if I have a broken arm and you have a stubbed toe, your toe still HURTS. Any way some of the family could come out and visit you?

I am discouraged with the physical therapy--my shoulder doesn't feel any better. Wonder whether I should keep trying--or try something else. ???

Night, all.

Hello Ladies,

Just a quick hello to bring us back to page 1. Will post more this weekend.

And another kick back to page 1.

Hello Ladies,

Cat - we went to SS website and with my dad's medications there are 57 plans to choose from. I did some print out for him to review and my other sister was looking into too. Sorry to hear your physical theraphy isn't working. Does your therapist have any suggestions for you?

Shad - going to look at your photos after here. The food didn't sound to appetizing to me, but then again I don't care for seafood. I probably would of eaten rice and chicken the whole time. So much for me being adventurous.

Mooz - let us know how the art exhibitions is going?

Nita - How did you do at this week's weigh in? How's Gene doing?

Hal - How did your meeting with the legislators go? Get any funds from them? Are you staying home for holiday or going to see your brother or sis?

So what's everyone's plans for thanksgiving? I guess Shad and Mooz don't celebrate that day with us.

I'm looking forward to a nice long weekend next week. It's also my b-day weekend, not to sure what i'm doing on that day. Going to my parents on thanksgiving day, all my family will be there so that will be nice.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

RE: More than a few things to be thankful for!
 

RE: Happiest of Birthdays to OneDay...!!!!
 

Morning all

It's another glorious morning in the great South East and going to be a scorcher like yesterday. We got a tropical storm yesterday afternoon with some welcome rain and some not so welcome thunder, lightning and wind. But it is that time of the year.

Tried a new gym in the city this morning. Got everything ready last night and just picked myself up and went this morning. I'm working on the theory that I work better and more during the early part of the day than the later part of the day. Besides there is that feeling of not having to worry about it later - it is already done. The City gym is fully refurbished and is not bad, however I have difficulty figuring out which of the machines I need to use, since they all look different - the cardio stuff is okay, I can get with that. So maybe I might just do cardio at this gym and leave the weights till I get back to the other gym on Saturday and Sunday. So far this new regime of 5 days on and 2 days off seems to agree with me. Not that I am losing weight of course but because I only go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday during the week. Then I have time off for good behaviour. It's all pyschological but what the heck.

1day - No we don't have Thanksgiving here. Maybe we should - because we have it good out here really. But that is not the way we seem to work.
The food in Japan is really not bad. Yes they do eat a lot of fish and Pork. Beef is very expensive. Chicken is not bad in price. But I found that their meals are quite big enough to sustain - just not always a lot of flavour. Nutritionally it is very good. They tend to eat very bland food and flavour it with soy and/ or pickles. I'm not that fussy about the pickles. But there is nothing to stop you cooking Western style. My friend does, often.

Hal - we stayed at my friends flat on the School Campus. We travelled about by car and train. Last time I was there we stayed at hotels and the odd Ryoban - sort of guest house. They are fine. You can choose between a Western or Japanese breakfast in most of them. Some have the Japanese Onsen (bath house - a real treat but not for the fainthearted) others have beautiful gardens and/or singing toilets (I kid you not). Their public transport system is very good. Underground, buses and cableways (sometimes monorail) in the city and good frequent train services between cities. Some of the commuter trains have women only carriages due to the number of gropings some women had to put up with.


I've been busyat home cleaning and washing and getting the wardrobe cleaned out. Chucked out 3 bit bags of clothes and shoes. It's now all sitting in the hall waiting for me to take it to the goodwill bins. I've also weeded and watered and dug. I have the ironing to do tonight and the 2 spare bedrooms to clean and I am done. Life is good.

But now I better go do my duty to the State and the Federation and the Commonwealth and the Queen. i.e. work. See ya

Good Morning

Had a few extra minutes this morning and thought I would checkin.

Hal - Thanks for the b-day wishes, I think when i type earlier i stated it was this weekend, but it's actually this upcoming weekend, the 26th. But that doesn't really matter, i'm already in the b-day mode.

Shad - Singing toilets? Wow, now that would be interesting. STG on packing your bags and hitting the gym. Went in and look at your photo album. OH, where to start. They were all so beautiful. I especially liked the begonia house, and the Chrysanthem doll display. Oh and the reflecting pools were just beautiful too. I wasn't able to get into the 2nd album. Will try again later.

gotta run

Oooh heck we are in danger of becoming page 3 girls.

Where are you all.

Check back later.

RE: To to melody of Madonna's song..."Holiday!!"
 

RE: Over the river, and through the woods....
 

Morning all,
 

Everyone must be so busy. Where is Nita?? I know she was feeling a bit down last post she made, but she usually bounces back a bit before this. Hope Mooz is doing okay. She must be still in the land of the living since there were some jokes from her on my e-Mail this morning.

Last night was a pain on the trains. There was a signal failure somewhere down on our line and we got stuck for long periods of time at various stations. Took 2 hours to get home. No matter how grumpy you get about it, there is not much to do for it and you hope that there is someone on the train who can provide some entertainment. Well yesterdays was a policeman. He told some of the school kids where to go and how to get there and organised the crowds so that they didn't all stand around the doors getting in each others way. He had kids going in all directions. Sorted out where they were getting off and putting them further up the carriage so the rest of us could get on and off the train. Some drunk in the far corner kept us entertained ?!#$%??? with a monologue running down the various races, nationalities and their lurks and quirks. I was waiting for an argument to develop but it didn't happen. Such is life.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving for you all in the States. Hope the day is wonderful, light and bright. There won't be a forum tomorrow so I need to wish you all the best today.

Happy birthday to 1 day for this coming weekend - in case I don't get back in time. :hb: :hb: :balloons: :hat:

Hello ladies,

Just a quick hello, was busy this evening cooking a jello rasberry-cranberry dessert. Got it from TV food network. One of Paula Dean's recipes. We'll see how it turns out. Tomorrow morning make a corn casserole.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

talk to you all on friday.

Happy Birthday Patty
 

Enjoy your special day.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...thballoons.gif

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...pyBirthday.gif

time to do something different. How about dancing on the rooftops.

Hope everyone had a fine Thanksgiving. We did--not a lot of people, but everyone together, and the food fine.

Got a call today at 4:27, and it lasted 47 minutes! We have so many terribly long calls with this prescription drug program. Then today after we'd been telling people with Medicare and Medicaid that they should be sure to enroll before the end of the year, we got a message that we don't have the information for them to make a choice of program. What a mess!

Hiya all,
Saturday afternoon here and I am getting ready to go to a friends place for their Christmas dinner with friends. I understand we are barbequing. But what we are barbequing I have no idea. I need to get some wine and some flowers for the hostess. No the wine is for me and since I am driving a bunch of small bottles will do the trick. What I don't drink I bring home.

It's been a warm day, busy mostly as well. House is cleaned (again) - really don't know where all the washing and cleaning comes from. I blame the cat!! Couldn't possibly be me creating all the mess.

Food has been sparse owing to the upcoming, aforementioned barbecue. I can afford to eat a good plateful tonight.
Water has been a bit sparse, but I am getting through it. I will be taking some with me tonight as well and alternating with the wine.
Exercise - well I went to Body Balance and have done the abs/ crunches.

So it's been a good day. Not too hot. But the temps are rising.

Hope Patty is celebrating her birthday in style. All you lovely ladies must still be celebrating the holiday weekend. Hope you are all having a good time although it sounds like Cat is at work.


Catch you all tomorrow.

Hello ladies,

Thanksgiving dinner was just wonderful. All our family was together. Sister and her dog came over and spent two nights with me. We went shopping yesterday, I was looking for a new Christmas tree. Found one and came home and starting getting Christmas decorations out. The tree is up and the living room is decorated, but the rest of house is a mess.

Shad - You said you were going to a friends to celebrate their Christmas Dinner? Are they celebrating early or is their Christmas earlier than ours?

Cat - sorry you had to work the day after thanksgiving. Going over my dad's information is so confusing. Luckily, my sister and my brother and myself are all willing to help look at it with him, to help sort things out.

Hal - Hope you and Rocky are having a relaxing week.

Mooz & Nita - Hope you all are doing ok. Hope to hear from you.

We'll I'm off, going to run up to craft store and pick up a few more items. Then off to dinner. Thanks for all the birthday wishes.

Darn, you'd think I'd know by now that the longer I put off balancing the checkbook, the worse it is. Need to walk dog before it gets darker.

RE: Sunday morning!
 

Hey Everyone!

It's good to hear everyone enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday. I had a quiet one here. A two of my brothers and my sister did get together in Indiana and go to a restaurant. That is half of us. The rest of us live a good distance from them. Anyway, Rocky and I had an enjoyable, quiet one. I was super good on the diet - why not! I had a Stoufers turkey dinner, and it had 400 caloires, 6 grams of fiber and it was way good! I feel really victorious days later having consumed just a few calories all holiday weekend. Yes, I have been exercising on my stationary bike. It's all good!

Hey, do you guys notice none of the icons work on the site? No smilies, nothing above for posting? Any ideas?

I'm off to grocery shop and run a few errands on this rainy Sunday!

RE: Found out how to correct this... Control + F5 Button...
 

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to All of You,

Sorry I haven't been posting lately. I just had to get over being depressed. I think I have finally done that. I went bowling this morning and bowled five games. I have also been very diligent about going to my Silver Sneaker's exercise classes. Gene and I stayed home and had steak, but we did have sweet potatoes and Sara Lee Pumpkin pie. I did not go to the WW meeting and have decided to just try and maintain during these holidays. I did manage to talk to my daughters on Thanksgiving Day and perhaps next year we can be together. After the new year I am going to try and find someone who will come to our house each day and make Gene his meals and be there while he is showering so that I can possibly take a trip back home for at least a week!

Even though I have not been writing, you ladies are always in my thoughts and I value all of your friendships!

Take care,
Anita

I'll swear I posted yesterday morning giving all the details of the bbq on Saturday night. However, I can't find it. I did have problems with the smilies and buttons on the first day after the upgrade but they fixed themselves by the following day. Suzanne put a note on the forum help to explain one way to solve the problem - it's to do with old cookies and new cookies. Yeah right. But it could have been something like that that swallowed my post.

Saturday's bbq went well. Lots of food. Bit of a fall down on the sweet chili cream cheese dip but I had a small piece of steak, a chicken tenderloin on a skewer (satay style) huge plate full of salad and veges - passed on the dessert and refused the chocolate. The chocolate was a close run thing as I love the Belgian Guylian choc truffles. I took along a piccolo bottle of Lindauer champers which was very dry so there was no difficulty sticking to one glass. I came home around 11pm and watched the footy from Scotland which finished at 3.00am. Woke up yesterday feeling extremely blah and sore in the gut - obviously too much food and too little sleep. Went to the gym and woke myself up, didn't feel like eating until around 3.oopm then ate everything in sight. Luckily I hadn't shopped and keep a boring refrigerator so there wasn't a lot of damage I could do. I worked in the yard until a storm sent me inside and the cat ran under the bed and wouldn't come out. It was a real doosey this one. Lots of rain, thunder, lightning etc. Some damage done north of the city, but none down our way. I gave up trying to do anything thing and went to bed for siesta.

I'm trying to sort out the Christmas dinner for this year. I think it is going to have to be the week before Christmas because of my going to Adelaide for Christmas itself. Therefore I will have to start organising the brothers by this week. The bossy sister effect comes back into being, but if I don't organise something then no one else will.

In my now disappeared post I put in some birthday wishes for Patty. Sorry if you didn't get to see them. I did think of you. Hope you had a very happy day.

Nita - good to see you back and posting. Sometimes this quest to move stubborn weight is enough to get even the most super optimist depressed. I'm glad you came back.

Hal - way to go on the calorie controlled thanksgiving dinner. You rock.
Better go do something. Hard to believe it is nearly the end of November and weigh and measure is just around the corner AGAIN.

Cat - way to go on balancing the checkbook. A chore and a bore, but must be done.

Better go do some work. See you all later.

Hello Ladies,

Can't believe how fast this 4 day weekend went by. The tree is up and the living room and dining room are decorated. Now to put up all the empty boxes and nick nacks that I removed to put up the Christmas decorations. Keeping an eye on Blackie as he looking at Christmas tree as maybe a gift for him. :yikes: Christmas is going to be at my house this year, so putting up more decorations than I usually do.

Nita - I hope your able to find someone to come and help out with Gene. I'm sorry to hear you've been depressed, but remember we're here for you.

Hal - WTG on exercising and watching what you ate for the holidays. Sorry to hear you weren't able to spend time with you family, but I know that's a long drive to make.

Shad - WTG for skipping the desserts and the chocolate, and for going to the gym. I did get your birthday wishes and thank you.

Cat - I feel your pain. Paying bills is the thing I really don't like to do.

We'll I better get going. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Just a quick hello, bringing us back to page 1.

Weight and measurements!!!! Yes well.
For some reason I had this thought that things were getting better - if not weight wise then size wise anyway. However a trip around the tape measure this morning is not good news. Not only am I 1/2k up from my last weigh in and 1kg up from when I got home from Japan, I am up in just about all the measurements as well.

I'm so tired of all this. So fed up with getting up early and exercising, with being diligent with food, with being GOOD. I think I will be BAD for a while.

Day 19 of my challenge on another thread came and went. Same old story. Day 20 - Same as before no doubt. Second verse, same as the first........ and on, and on, and on
It's okay, I am just feeling sorry for myself. Day 21 will be the end of the challenge. Habit maybe formed but thats about all. No other changes have been made. :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah: :blah:

Gotta go - do some work, I'm training a co worker in the joys of the OnDemand program today. Sometimes I fail to see how companies can pay so much for a program that while a good idea, delivers so little. See you all later when I get out of my snitchy hissy fit.

Morning all,

Mooz - good to hear from you. Sorry to hear that you have put some of that good loss back on. Stay in touch now do y'hear?

It's been very quiet around here. Our lovely ladies are all obviously very busy with work, home, school and family.

Okay - well we have had a night of heavy rain and thunder storms. On Tuesday we had heavy rain and some places got such a dose of hail that roofs, pergolas, and carports collapsed under the weight. It looked like a mid winter scene in Canada. Around 7000 homes were affected in one way or the other and 1000 are damaged enough to be unliveable. People are without power because the weight of the ice and water in the ceilings is collapsing the ceiling and pouring out through the light fittings.
I might add, that a lot of the places damaged have been newly built in an area where there were protests about the developers. It all used to be forest which was bulldozed willy nilly and houses put in to fill just about every square inch of the ravaged soil. Such is greed. Up round my way which is by every piece of information I have ever read, situated in a storm belt, there is no damage at all. We live under the convenant that for every 5 acres developed, there must be one acre of parkland or the existing forest must stay. Therefore we always had large trees around the place. I think that has helped. Not to say it can't happen. Anyway, it made for an interesting night last night. Haven't seen rain like that for ages.

Gotta go. Strike a blow for the workforce. See you

Hello Ladies,

Mooz - Good to hear from you. Sorry to hear about your weight gain. But you know that will happen, the thing is to just get back on track.

Shad - I'm so glad that you did not get any damage to your home or vehicle. That hail can really do some damage. I know you've been talking about a water shortage, but yikes. Even though this did some damage to some, hopefully it helped out were needed. Sorry to hear about your weight gain. I know it's frustrating to go to the gym and watch what you eat and for what? a gain! We'll I guess we need to keep the bigger picture in mind, you've helped your blood pressure and your cholestrol and all the other good things that exercise does for a body.

Hope everyone is having a great day!