Gettin' Together -- July 2005
 

:dizzy: Here I am!!!! I've been around just flying in and out when I get the chance. My poor eyes have been really sore, not sure if it's hayfever, reaction to chlorine at the pool or an infection, the first available doctors appointment is a fortnight away!!! :?: :shrug:

Sorry to hear about Howies grandma. I miss mine sooooooooo much, she's been gone 14 years, but it still hurts like mad. I was very lucky, as she was my best friend, and we very very close, and I know that she knew how I felt about her when she died. Her sister is still alive, the last of the family, she is 89 now, and just about to sell her home, where she has lived for over 60 years, and move to a rest home.

We're in for a nice quiet weekend, some shopping, and lots of walking and hopefully not too much eating. Colin has started getting Saturday AND Sunday off, so we have the whole weekend together, which is fantastic, but the temptation to over eat, and drink, is stronger than ever, so the moral of the story is.........keep busy!!!!! :p

I'm here! I'm here!!

So darn busy in the summer... I'm taking 20 mins out of packing right now just to catch up with you all! We leave for camping right after Sam gets home, the 'fun' part is I get to go pick up her little sister (13 yo) who is coming with us! Needless to say I'm a little bit scared, being that I'm an only child, I have only ever had fur-babies, and we are going to MY great aunts farm, whom have never met Gina before... Yikes.

Kimberly - so sorry to hear about Howie's Grandma. And to go during such a busy weekend! (just kidding - ha ha) I have one remaining Great-Grandma, she's 103 yo, she's been out of it for several years though, the last time I saw her, she thought I was my dad's older sister home from college... ok, that was so 30 years ago!!! I can only hope that I am gone before I lose my mind.

Jill - Holy Cow!! I can only dream of that many numbers on my paycheck! What a great deal for you! I'm very impressed and a little jealous!

Kykaree - have a fabulous weekend, and I'll be keeping up with you, drink-to-drink! CHEERS!

Aimee - So glad you found a suit you like! I finally look good in the one I bought in March, several sizes smaller than what I was wearing at the time!

I'm out for the weekend ladies! Have a superb holiday weekend! ( in the US anyway, sorry Canada and England!)

Hey! We have a long weekend too! It's Canada Day today! July 1st :) For me it means I get paid time and a half for 8 hours, plus I have a shorter day. Also today is my last day at work before my vacation, AND I'm working with my FAV employee :) It'll be a fun day!

Nice to see you all made it back for a reply! :)

Kimberley - I'm sorry to hear about Howie's Grandma :(

Alrighty, thats all the time I've got! Have a great one gals :)

-Aimee

Hey allll ;) ...lol...been MIA for over a week...hope all is going good...been soooo busy, have had very little time for anything :hyper: ...Still OP gonna weigh and measure this weekend...I started walking in the mornings b4 curves, but the last few days, whew, way toooooo hot for that really...tomorrow morning will give it another go...Not much else going on...Went out for lunch at a fave Ice-cream place the other day, and was finally able to enjoy a great meal, when this 5 year old kid takes a hand-ful of rocks and whips them at my Dh and me :tantrum: ...All over the table and food...His mother was about 50 yards away from us, at another table, and she acted like it was no big deal ... :rolleyes: nice, eh? Now, if he was sitting with his mother like he sould have been.....GRRRR!!!
On a sadder note. Heather's dad had a Heart-attack yesterday, I have no idea what is happeneing with her and him, but, when I know I will let you all know...HAG1...Diana

Hey ladies!

Kimberley - congrats on that weigh in! :)

Diana - send that warm weather my way please.. I'm starting my vacation tomorrow, and it's cloudy and cold out! So sorry to hear about Heather's dad, hope he's alright, I'm sure I speak for all of us, let her know we are thinking of her and keeping her father (and her of course) in our thoughts.

As for me! I had a crazy day at work, I'm SO tired, and just have a little more packing to do and I'm ALLL ready to go! I will try and get on here in my spare time while I'm away, take care, stay on plan and I'll talk to you soon!

-Aimee

Awww...here is to hopeing you have wonderful weather on your vacations, trips, etc...Heather's dad is home, he had to have a stint put in yesterday, and is home today...So, all is looking up there...HAG weekend all!!!

Hi everyone. I went shopping yesterday, bought some sandals, a juicy tubes lip gloss, a dvd (Kath & Kim, Australian comedy series), a pull buoy for swimming, and some goggles (my eyes have been very sore, wondering if I picked up an infection at the pool) And then we went to see Batman begins at the cinema, which was very good, despite me not wanting overly to see it. I am celebrating being 100 kilos, the lowest I have been in 10 years!!!!!

The next big shopping trip will be in early September, I really want to be a size 18 UK (which is 14 in US) by then, I am hovering between a 22 and a 20 at the moment, so not impossible, and my dress that I want is at Monsoon, which is generous in their sizing, so fingers crossed!!! I have a friends wedding to attend, and will be doing a reading.

Well good people, I am off to try out the new goggles!

Diana--Thanks for posting over in the June thread. I didn't know we'd made a July one! I only link to this through my User CP as a subscribed thread, so I didn't know anyone had started July! So, thanks to my blonde moment, here's an abbreviation of what I just posted in the June thread (I deleted some of it since it no longer applies :p ):

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th! :)

Well, Tuesday morning (though it feels like Monday) brings me good news--my scale read 294.5 this morning, so those 4 pounds I gained at last week's TOPS meeting are gone (for now). I think part of it may be because it's been much less humid here this weekend, so I'm probably getting rid of some of that water retention (yay!). I know I shouldn't weigh during the week and it could change again by Thursday, but it was still pretty encouraging, and it keeps me motivated to eat well and drink all my water in order to keep that water weight from coming back!

I'm already starting this week off better than last week--I went grocery shopping on Saturday, so I actually have food in my house :o Which means I was able to pack all of my food for the day instead of having lunch from the cafeteria downstairs (salad and soup) and dinner at Ruby's (Asian steamed dumplings and peanut sauce). Rather, I have some baked ham and fruit (canned pineapple, sliced apple, sliced fresh peaches, sliced kiwi, and grapes) for lunch, boneless skinless chicken for dinner, and some egg salad for in between (made with ff mayo, mustard, onion powder, and paprika). Now I just need to keep packing my food for the rest of the week!

Well, off to do some actual work. Hope everyone is doing well--have a healthy week!

Heather, thinking of your family and praying for your dad!

I'm just catching up after what was indeed a long weekend. This girl's not had such a busy four days in years...I'm pooped. LOL

After we got back from the funeral Saturday afternoon, we headed over to our friends' house for the big camp out. They'd already pitched their tent, and we put ours up next to it. The kids had a blast with with snaps, smoke bombs and little cardboard guns that shoot off clumps of paper streamers. Saturday night, we had grilled chicken, corn on the cob, fruit, bread and s'mores. Yeah, treat night...Though the whole weekend ended up being a treat weekend. We didn't stuff ourselves, but we were not OP, either. We're back OP now and I plan to eat less calories daily this week to make up for the weekend.

Sunday we went swimming at the YMCA's outdoor pool and then went to the OSU-Newark campus for a concert and fireworks display. We do that every year with our friends, and it's such a good time. We spent the night again, and just loitered a bit on Monday before going home.

I have to tell you, I love their kids. But I also have to tell you, I am so glad we don't have kids. ;)

This is the funny story of the weekend...Amy held out some of the snaps and asked me what I thought they looked like. At first, I didn't want to be too ribald, so I said, "Hershy's Kisses?". She said that wasn't what SHE thought. I said, "Oh, well, they do look like sperm....Hey, wait! They're Howie's ghost sperm!" We cracked up and couldn't wait for him to come back outside so we could tease him. He just shook his head and grinned. Poor guy, never gets a break.

But take a gander...Don't you think they look like ghost sperm? :ROTF: The other pictures are of our friend and her daughter (hates having her poofs done, LOL) and our friend's nephew.

Hey All!! I found a spare minute to get online, and I tell yah, this is the life! I am in bed, sitting in the sun, with a breeze on me... it's so sunny and hot, I'm thinking it's time to hit the beach! The drive here was uneventful, which is a good thing, lots of visiting, some napping in the car... on our first full day here we hiked up to Pulpit rock which is a 1.3km hike up a mountain to view the entire town of Nelson, which is where I am.. where I spent ages 14-21. Well, it SAYS it's an easy hike, but wowsers, it was scarily hard! We had to come down backwards it was so steep, good workout though! I like this vacation stuff, lots of time to do nothing but hang out :)

Jill - congrats on that weigh in! I knew you'd recover!

Kimberley - kids ARe completely exhausting, I'm not too sure I'm up for that task either.

kykaree- you are doing So well, keep up that good work :) It's fun seeing you say pullbuoy, I spent quite a few years in the pool.. I miss it... I wish it was more convenient for me to get there.

Well, I should get back to the rest of my group (my brother, his gf and my bf). We are trying to decide what to do with our day.. I hope to get some time in that sun! Take care gals and I'll talk to you soon!

-Aimee

Aww, Aimee, next time you go on a vacation, I think you need to take me with you! :D It sounds like you're having a great time--glad to hear from you!

LOL--ghost sperm :lol3: nuff said :p

I snuck on my scale again this morning (I know, I'm catching the Aimee scale syndrome!). I was surprised. I won't tell ya'll what it said, though. I will wait until tomorrow morning for my "official" weekly weigh-in :)

We're going to weigh-in tomorrow morning and make it our treat day. It's time for our friends' third adopted child's adoption finalization hearing! This will be the third hearing we've gone to with them, and it's such a happy time witnessing the child's "official" entry into their family. We head over to the Spaghetti Warehouse for lunch together afterward (thus the treat day tomorrow, LOL). We're going to split an order of lasagna and get an extra salad.

Jill - I suspect you ARE catching my scale thing! I have no scale here to weigh myself! Can you imagine? 13 days with no weighing myself? The HORROR!! ;) Vacation is great, it's raining today and I'm okay with that. It's so hot here that the rain is a welcome thing, I am sitting at my mom's writing table which overlooks the firestation (which is next door, and is VERY quiet!), and in the distance is a mountain, there is a slight breeze. I tell yah, if my mom ever moves out of this place I sure do want to move in! Tomorrow I'm thinking is a DEFINTE beach day, I'll throw some of my tan your way!

Kimberley - Spaghetti Warehouse eh? I love love pasta and lasagna with all my heart!! heh Which I guess explains my round belly! I couldn't help but notice your next mini goal, your drivers license weight, I totally did that on my license too. It's definitely not the right weight. I bet most people lie on it though, guys wanting to weigh more, women wanting to be smaller..

Today I'm trying to not eat ANY wheat, so far... it's hard! My brother and his gf have this habit of sleeping in, so Josh and I got up at 8 am and headed out for some coffee and a little stroll around town. But you can't really get anything to eat at a coffee shop without wheat.. so I came home STARVING! I've been getting into having smoothies for breakfast, so I had a strawberry banana smoothie with orange juice in it. All of that organic of course, I mean, when you are in a hippy/new agey town, everything is organic! Heck even the coffee was organic! There is a bakery here where you can get sweets with no wheat, no processed sugar, no eggs, pretty much every option you can think of. It's amazing. If it was a bit bigger I think I'd move back here, it's such an amazing place to live.

Well I am babbling away, my group is barely awake (I've been sleeping less and feeling MORE energized, odd!). Take care gals!

-Aimee

Yeah, I think I'll be all about the lasagna tomorrow. ;) Tummy's feeling better today, and I had a big salad with some low-fat turkey sausage on it...So far so good. Tomorrow morning's going to roll around mighty soon, but I don't want to go to bed!

Aimee, why no wheat? Whole wheat products are really good for you, with lots of fiber. I love me some wheat! LOL

GOOOOOOOD morning! And after my encounter with the scale today, is certainly is a GREAT morning! Now mind you, I was up 4.5 pounds at last week's TOPS meting, so I was around 297.5-298 on my home scale. As of this morning (drumroll please)...290.5! :D Who knew water could weigh so much :p I am really excited about this, but I don't want to get too excited in case it's a fluke--we'll see what the TOPS scale says tonight and then see how it goes for next week as verification. Maybe by next week, I'll even hit the 280s :)

So the weigh-in went great. Work is going great. things with Jeff are going great. OH, I do have some Jeff news. He told me last week that he had something to tell me, but he wouldn't tell me if it was good news or bad news, and he refused to say anything more about it till he saw me on Friday (he makes me wait because he KNOWS it drives me crazy!). Well, apparently, the owner of the company he works for sat him down and said that the company has had their worst 6 months ever, so they were going to have to make some changes and let some people go. Purchasing was no longer going to be a full-time position (Jeff is their purchasing agent). So of course Jeff (and ME while he was telling the story) was freaking out that he was losing his job, or that he was being cut down to part-time. Instead, the boss says, "so I'd like for you to learn how to run the shop." That's a management position! Plus he asked Jeff how much he was making per hour and then gave him a $1.25/hour raise! So last week, we both got confirmation of raises and promotions (well, at least in my case more responsibility and client contact without an official title change). It was a great week for Jeff and Jill :D

Well, I'll stop patting myself on the back. I'm just soooo glad that things are all going well. I'm still tired and broke, but I have come to terms with the fact that that will probably always be the case :p As long as I'm happy like I am right now, the tiredness and poverty are worth it ;)

Goodmorning!! The sun is out and I'm looking forward to some baking (with SPF 40 of course!).

Jill - GREAT few weeks for you! Don't you love it when everything falls into place? :) Congrats on that weigh in, thats AWESOME! You will be out of those 290's in no time. Thats good news about Jeff as well, 1.25 makes such a huge difference eh? You wouldn't always think so, but I'd kill for that kinda raise!

Kimberley - unfortunately I have an allergy to wheat, it causes me to bloat up and have a sore tummy. And it's all kinds of wheat, I've tried whole wheat, spelt seems to be a little less, but I still get puffy tummy symptoms. After a while it's just not worth the sore tummy for me, I just can't function properly when I've got it in my system. I feel sluggish, very lazy, and can't go too far from home, because I'm always having to go to the bathroom. Eventually its just not worth it, especially on my vacation where I want to have fun and do lots of things.

Well my gang is swarming me and trying to convince me to go for a 10km hike, eek! I'm in vacation mode.. less hiking more beach time! Have a great one!

-Aimee

Jill, as I read your post, I went on a mental roller coaster; can't imagine what Jeff thought as he sat in his manager's office, or how you felt as he related the events to you! Glad it ended on an up note! And the weigh in...Wow! :D :D

Mine wasn't so good, but I expected that. I am up 2 pounds, back to 216. Dagnabbit blargh. Ah well, it'll come off again. We have the annual Jazz & Ribs Fest downtown this weekend, so we'll have to watch the calories at that!

Aimee, so you react to gluten? I have a friend who is allergic to gluten and she says she really has a time because it hides in so many foods.

Well, 6:45am rolled around way too early (way, way too early), but sharing Quin's adoption day with our friends was worth every bleary-eyed yawn. I for one am ready for a nap; I need to fortify myself before a visit with mom, because I'm a little grumpy right now and a grumpy Kimberley is not a friend o' the world. ;)

Hey, y'all - it's been a long day (but a good one). I'm ready to snooze and am going to keep this short. Please keep Howie and me in your thoughts, will you? See this thread.

Oh, Kimberely, my thoughts are certainly with you. I have had scares in the past as well, so I know how it feels to be so uncertain at this point. I have had numerous ultrasounds on my breasts because I apparently have fibrous breasts, so they can never tell if something is a lump to be concerned about or if it's just a dense section of my breast. I've also had numerous ovarian cysts that luckily turned out to be merely benign cysts and not cancerous tumors. What a roller coaster--but oddly enough, I guess if it hurts, there's a better chance he's okay! Not that I'm happy he's in any pain, but you know what I mean :)

Well, TOPS scale was just about right on with mine--put me at an 8-pound loss for the week, which certainly made me the top loser in the group for last night's meeting :D Thank GOD all that water weight is gone--my ankles looked better, so I knew that's mostly what it was. Now the hard part is continuing to lose after such a huge loss, ya know? It's like there's this pressure or something. But, I'm babbling. Time for work. Have a GREAT start to the weekend, ladies (though I know it's a super-extended weekend for you, Aimee ;) ), and good luck with Howie at the Dr's! :goodluck:

Kimberley - my thoughts are definitely with you and Howie, sounds like you two have things under control... so many people let things hurt without getting them checked out. It's that imagining all the possibilities which gets to me.

Jill - have you ever taken measurements? While at first it's COMPLETELY depressing, it's such a good thing to have. I've taken measurements of every possible place that I can think of, and was suprised when I had lost 1/2 an inch off my neck (which made normal necklaces fit again!), I also did my ankles and wrists, it's amazing where the weight comes off! I'd be curious to see where your inches are coming off, sounds like your ankles might be an interesting place to watch. Anywho, I'm just sorta weird!

Today is another lazy day, My mom, brother and his gf are outside talking to a neighbour while Josh and I are on mac laptops (both my brother and my mom have them). The sun isn't out, and it's HARD trying to figure out what to do when there are 5 people with VERY different ideas of fun. When my brother and I were growing up I was always the moody one, so it's weird dynamics having my brothers gf be the extremely moody one. It's slowly driving me insane. She doesn't like my mom I don't think, just from how she treats her, and her body language.. thats hard for me when I feel such a loyalty to my mom. She was the perfect mother for me, and is growing to be a really good friend. Last night we tried on her clothes, which is funny because I'm a size 18 and she's a 22, luckily our clothes have stretch! Well I guess it's my turn to babble.. Have a good weekend!! Kimberley, I just want to give you and Howie a hug.. because thats scarey stuff to hear in this day and age. Stay strong!

-Aimee

There was a cancellation in ultrasound, so they went ahead and did one today, too. The radiology tech (un)officially said she didn't see anything in the ultrasound. Good news on the H-Man front! :D

Hi ladies... just catching up after a few days...

I'm so glad Howie's okay! And Jill, OMG!!!! way to go girl!

I'm just so busy at work, that I have little time to get online lately. Had a great day at the consignment shop I like to go to, pulled 4 items off the rack , tried them all on, each one fit wonderfully! So I got an Old Navy XXL top, a Tommy Hilfiger sz18 top, a Ralph Lauren denim skirt sz20, and Lane Bryant jeans sz20; all for $35!!! Great buys for me! Woo-hoo.

just about done with work for the day. I'm hoping that they will be interviewing me next week for the position I applied for. I don't think it's gonna be more money but the hours are WAY better than what I've got now.

I'll try to stop in more often... I promise!

Oooh, quiet over the weekend! But alas, here it is, 6:30am on Monday morning, and I am at work (obviously not working, but hey, I'm here ;) ).

I had a nice lazy weekend--lots of napping and watching movies and watching Jeff play video games while I occasionally fell asleep and drooled on his pillow--I should be well-rested for my week :D We were supposed to go to a wedding for Jeff's friend on Saturday. The church's name and address were on the invitation, so we looked up the address on Mapquest. The address was simpley "5 Second Ave," but when we looked it up, apparently there is a 5 Second Ave North and a 5 Second Ave South. Well, we didn't know which one it was, so we Googled and found the church's website, which had a link to direction, so we clicked on that link and followed those directions (they were the "south" ones). So off we went, all nice and dressed up for a wedding, and we get to this address, and it's a house in the middle of a very residential area--definitely not a church. We drove up and down the entire street like 3 times thinking we'd missed something--after all, we had gotten the directions from the church's website! After looking like idiots driving back and forth for a while, I got out the cell phone and called Jeff's house, and we had his cousin give us the Mapquest directions to the other 5 Second Ave (the "north" one). So we headed there, and we found it--well, we found a house located at 5 Second Ave, but certainly, again, not a church. We drove back and forth between the 2 locations (now definitely past 1pm, the time of the ceremony), but we never found the church. We still don't know where the church is located! :dunno: And when Jeff got the invitation, it only had the info for the ceremony, so until earlier that day, we though there was no reception. WRONG--Jeff talked to another friend who said the guy who was getting married had told him there was a reception at a hotel afterwards, but no one knew what hotel, since it wasn't in the invitation! What a mess...we ended up spending the day at Jeff's house doing our usual lazy routine of movies, naps, and video games. I even tried calling the church on the off chance that someone might be working in the office during a wedding, but no such luck--I got an answering machine. We tried, we really did! What a little mess :dizzy:

Well, enough about my pretty much uneventful weekend. How was everyone else's? I'm sure Aimee is vacationing it up having a great time, and it's great to see a post from Sara here :wave: And certainly glad to hear good news on the Howie front, Kimberley! I'm so glad they didn't find anything alarming :)

Hey! It was a pretty quiet weekend on here! I had a somewhat busy one with celebrating my mom's bday and spending some last minutes with my brother and his gf. They are gone now, and its VERY quiet! The sun isn't being too agreeable, and it's been raining on and off for 3 days now. ick! How is a girl supposed to get a tan and beach time with no sun!?!

On some scary news, Josh got worse, and so I finally convinced him to go to the doctor here, he sent in some samples to get tested and we'll likely find out forsure what it is on Wednesday or Thursday. For now it looks like its a bleeding ulcer. Not a nice way to spend your vacation! So now I'm busy taking care of him, making 90% of his meals, making sure he takes tons of different vitamins, and making sure he drinks enough water. It's like being a personal nurse but without the money. We figured this out on Saturday, and today he's feeling better... less blood in the stool. TMI eh?

Jill - sounds like quite the adventure finding that wedding! I went to a wedding of a friend of Josh's a few years ago, and due to the planning there was an 8 hour "break" between the ceremony and the reception, and since we had to drive there from out of town we just couldn't kill that many hours and ended up skipping the reception. But tell me, I'm going to a wedding on Saturday, what are people wearing these days? I honestly have NO idea!!

Sara - great bargain shopping! I love to find things on sale :)

Well I think the sun is showing itself, so I'm going to go sit in it before it disappears! Take care!

-Aimee

Looking for an address and not being able to find it is crazy-making material...And for their website to be wrong, too!

We went to the jazz and ribs fest at our town's courthouse square on Saturday. It was a great time of relaxing, grooving to some great jazz, and doing some people-watching. Sunday, we had no plans other than my having to water my folks' plants while they were out of town. Howie and I ended up driving back roads for several hours, stopping and taking pictures as scenes interested us. It was a nice, kicked back day in which we were beholden to no one's schedule but our own. Heavenly!

The tree pollen's been outrageous and my eyes have felt like someone pumped 'em full of air, then glued sandpaper on the insides of my eyelids. :tired: Can I get a witness, anyone? LOL Howie got up and went to the YMCA today, but I didn't. I had a headache and was sore from several days' worth of working in the yard and squatting to get pictures from various angles at the rib fest and while out on our drive. Ouch!

Aimee, I would think any nice pants outfit, casual dress, or skirt would be fine for most weddings. I've given up on being too fashion-conscious.

Did buy a cute little skirt at Wal-Mart last night, though! ;) It's the shortest one I've worn since I was a kid; this one hits just above the knee on me. The scandal!

Woohoo, people are alive on here! :D Glad to hear ya'll had a good weekend, Kimberley. Rock the skirt, girl--as they say on Ricki Lake and Jenny Jones, if ya got it, flaunt it ;)

Aimee--I am SO glad Josh finally went to a doctor! Blood in the stool is no laughing matter--it can be a sign of one of many serious conditions. It can also be nothing major (like a hemorrhoid or something), but it's definitely better to have checked out. I hope the find out what's wrong, and he gets better soon!

I have been doing pretty well with my food lately, and yesterday at the gym, I did 20 minutes on the elliptical after doing a 5-minute warm-up on the recumbent bike and then used the weight machines to work my thighs (fronts, back, inner, and outer), glutes, abs, triceps, and calves. I need to find a machine for my biceps, too, but I think that machine is further down near the freeweights, which is where all the big intimidating men are all working out. I sure do miss my all-women's gym in Virginia Beach :( But hey, less than a year till my current gym membership runs out. Today and tomorrow I will do just my 30-40 minutes on the elliptical, and then I'll work the weight machines again on Thursday (I'll do them on the 2 days a week when I don't have to rush to get to job #2).

Like I said, I have been doing pretty well with my food--except for the cake! I stick to plan for everything--my 4 smaller meals every day--but when I get to work early in the morning, I always have cake! There's always cake inthe kitchen leftover from some office party, and this is the third work day in a row that I have had some. I think the reason I keep doing it even though I know it's bad for me is that when I peek at the scale in the morning, I'm still losing, so eating cake and still losing weight isn't much of a deterrent from eating the cake in the first place :p I know I need to stop, though, cuz I bet I could lose even more without it! I've just got to keep that picture of the roller coaster in my mind...

Cake -- any goodie like that -- is a big temptation for me. Howie's not particularly enamored with sweets, but I sure am. He tried the eliptical today at the YMCA and made it for 5 minutes. He really likes it!

It's clouding up here and a heavy breeze is kicking up; so far it's just spitting, no heavy rain. Looks like Dennis is making his way through our neck of the woods. We really need the rain badly, so bring it on, Dennis! I have the soaker hose going on one section of the flower beds, because I never know whether a rain will just pound through and run off or if we'll get a good soak. Better safe than sorry.

Well, that storm blew right through. Glad I had the soaker hose going!

I have good news--there's no cake in the kitchen this morning! :p The easiest way to avoid a temptation is not to have it around!

Still kickin' butt with my new diet--peeked at the scale and am down about 2 pounds for the week so far, so as long as I stay on-plan for today and tomorrow, I should have no trouble posting a loss for the week at TOPS tomorrow night (we're running a contest, so I need to lose every week to get more points!--can you tell I'm slightly competitive? :devil: ).

I had an entire post and it wouldn't let me post! So now it's disappeared into cyberspace. Thats annoying! Here is a much shorter version of that one..

Jill - Whats the new diet? Cake is evil...not usually my thing. I prefer to drink my calories away.. in the form of coffee and pop. Bad! I am going to Weigh myself on Saturday morning when I'm back, I'm scared to see what it's going to say, I suspect I've gained some weight, we'll see I guess. I've been pretty good with cutting out sugar drinks, and bread. We've had a few dinners out for my mom's bday which I suspect was my downfall. But you never know I guess!

Kimberley - those ellipticals are amazing, I have quite the knee issues and they don't seem to bother me on it. I'd love to get one for my house, but a good one can run you in the thousands! i think even a bike would be nice at home, something I can do when I'm watching cheesy tv shows! heh.

Well I'm feeling like my time here is running out, we have 2 full days left... wow that happened FAST! I better go get some beach time in before I have none left! It feels easier to be at the Beach here (partly because we go to a beach which doesnt have a lot of people), so I'm trying to pack in as much as I can. But I tell yah, a Glacier Fed lake is VERY VERY cold! Take care!

-Aimee

Sometimes I think I'd like an exercise bike for home, but I just don't want to have to LOOK at it all the time. We have a tiny 2-bedroom house (750sq' in the upstairs) and our basement is maxed out with the MIL suite and what little space is left down there for the laundry room/storage area. No place to conveniently tuck away equipment, I'm afraid.

Have any of you had fluttery feelings in your ears, like a quick pressure? The last two days, I've felt like I'm jazzed on caffeine, pulse seems high and I have that caffeine-y feeling in my chest, plus I have that fluttery feeling. It's so weird. :?: Guess I'd better get my BP checked again. I hate it when weird stuff surfaces in the bod. It makes you feel other stuff which may or may not really be there -- might be imagined, might not be. Blah!

Ugh, I hate unexplained weird feelings! Sometimes my heart starts beating really fast for no apparent reason--it can happen while I'm just sitting at my desk. It hasn't happened in a long time, but when it did happen, it's creepy cuz it's like, what did I do to cause this?! But I'd check it out if I were you, especially since it's not a one-time thing for a few minutes, it's been happening for a couple days. It could be something as simple as overworking yourself in the heat, maybe, but definitely better to play it safe.

Aimee--the new diet is something I got suckered into online. Curiosity killed the credit card, in my case :p I just saw all these ads for "lose 9 pounds in 11 days," and I didn't think it would be anything legitimate (I figured it was some sort of pill or shake or something I would never use, ya know?), but in order to have access to the site, you have to pay $27 for a 90-day membership. So I did it out of curiosity. It's called the Idiot Proof Diet (which 3FC is not a fan or supporter of by any means). It's basically a low-carb plan except that you can eat fruits and veggies regardless of carbs. Lots of lean meats (chicken, ground turkey, ham, etc.) and eggs and fruits and veggies. You stay on the diet for 11 days, then take 3 days off to eat whatever you want. The idea is that your body doesn't get used to any certain amount or types (carb, protein, or fat) of intake for too long, so it keeps your metabolism on its toes. It actually gives you a menu of 4 "meals" to eat each day (I put meals in quotes because they refer to them as meals, but one is usually just like "mixed nuts" or "fresh grapes," so it's really more like 3 meals and a snack). Before it gives you a menu, it gives you all these choices of 3 food items, and you pick the one you prefer out of each group of 3. I like this because cottage cheese can be included in the diet, but I HATE cottage cheese, so I never pick it, so it's never in my plan :) But anyway, no, I don't think I am going to lose 9 pounds every 11 days, but I do think it contributed to my 8-pound loss last week (I started this last Monday), even though I know a good part of that was water as well. What I DO like about it is that I don't have to think, which is worth the $27 to me :p It tells me exactly what to eat each meal, each day, so unlike Atkin's or South Beach or whatever, there's no guessing about what I am allowed to have, and unlike other plans, you don't have to count ANYTHING. I still log my foods into fitday.com, though, just to check out the calories and stuff. It's also very low in dairy, so I went to Target yesterday and bought a liquid multivitamin (Centrum) for some vitamins that I noticed I was missing when I logged into fitday (Vitamins A and D), and I got some calcium supplements since my calcium was pretty low, too (and there was no calcium in the multivitamin, which I thought was weird). It says I am also low in Folate and Vitamin K, but I don't know what those are and couldn't find anything about them on any of the supplement bottles, so I think I'll survive :p Anyway, I know it's not a plan I can stick to forever, but it's easy for me to stick to for now, so why not give it a shot? I know the basics of nutrition, so I have no doubt that if I use this plan to lose my weight, I will still be able to eat sensibly to maintain once I go off the diet (unlike people who go crazy with carbs after losing weight on Atkins and gain it all back, ya know?). So, how's that for a long-winded explanation? :lol:

Kimberley - definitely get that checked out, just for peace of mind, I get tons of weird feelings in my body. Mostly it happens when I'm tired, I usually panic (I've had an insane amount of "sicknesses"), now I'm just learning out body does weird things from time to time. But if it doesn't reoccur I usually try to forget it happened. My house I'm living in now is pretty tiny as well, when I'm looking for a new place I'm going to look into a larger, brighter space... hopefully cheaper so I can afford a bike!

Jill - I like long winded answers! I think anything is worth trying once, even if it doesn't work for you, its good to try something new and learn something about your body. In my year of dieting and not being hugely sucessful I've learnt very important things.. I can't STAND counting calories, it drives me insane, infact, I'd rather NOT diet than do it... odd huh? I also know I can't have wheat/gluten, fortunately while being in Nelson I've been able to find really great stuff without it in it! Cookies which are gluten FREE? There is a bakery in town that does stuff like that, gluten free, yeast free, egg free... it's interesting. I think everyone should take a calcium suppliment, the way milk is SO processed its not possible to get all the benefits from it... IMO anyways. Also, calcium and essential fatty acids are great for PMS!

I am off to drink my smoothie.. I'm seriously addicted. Organic Strawberries, organic banana's, oj and flax seeds... yummy AND good for you! Have a great day!

-Aimee

Aimee--that smoothie sounds awesome! Enjoy the remainder of your vacationing days!

As for me, I'm down another 2.5 pounds at TOPS last night. I think I am going to change my tickers to my TOPS scale weight. I have been using my home scale, by it has been really inconsistent lately, so I think the TOPS scale will give me a more accurate and consistent record of my progress. Mind you, my numbers will change quite a bit, as the TOPS scale is a good 4 pounds or so lowetr than my home scale, but it's not really another 4 pounds lost. I'll have to find my TOPS weight recording book and change my starting weight to my first TOPS weigh-in weight, too, so it's an accurate count of how many pounds I have lost since I started TOPS (back in March, I think).

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Hey! I got a one day extention on my vacation, unfortunately its because Josh got his some of his test results back. The doctor says it's NOT an ulcer, and told me it could be Crohn's disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Colon Cancer... both his grandparents died from Cancer, so did his Uncle. So we really need to get him all tested and see whats going on. In the mean time he's sleeping on the couch, and I plan to let him rest until he's feeling somewhat better. I've been waking him up every couple hours to force some food down... I really worry I don't have the strength to deal with cancer. Death scares me more than I could ever put into words. I'd rather run away than deal with this. I know worst case I could come home, and bring Josh with me. This is a wonderful place to beat cancer, surounded by people who care (yet barely know him!). But man, my whole life would change. I am hoping it's IBS, which you can control thru diet and vitamins.. I have a book called Prescription for Nutritional Healing, which I totally believe in..I am babbling.

Jill - congrats on the weight loss! You are doing SO well, I'm so happy for you :)

I'm going to go enjoy another day in the Kootenays (area where Nelson is), while the sun isn't shining it's still pretty beautiful. Hopefully I can write a post from home tomorrow, until then.. take care!!

-Aimee

Jill, WOW! Good for you! I had a loss this week, too. I'm not missing those three pounds, nosiree! :D

Shoot, Aimee, I hear your worries! My heart sank when Howie had to get that mammogram ~ Scary stuff when someone we love has something going on like that. We're definitely thinking of you guys and Josh's in our prayers. You'll have the strength to deal with whatever comes; it's not until we're tested that our true strength shows. Is he going to have a scope done? It's likely it could be IBS, and like you say, that is treatable. We're thinking of you both!

Here are some pictures to cheer you...Cool green to calm you, roses to show you how we care, and a goofy dog to make you smile. :)

Just popping in to say g'night. See you tomorrow! :)

Kimberley - thank you. Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you all! Now we are just waiting for Josh to be able to drive us home, it was supposed to be today, but it doesn't look like it. If he's not well by tomorrow I might have to rent a car and drive it home, and Josh will have to make his way back when he's better. It's that or take the bus, and I suspect renting a car is cheaper. We'll see what'll happen. In the mean time, I'm actually going to the beach.. might as well enjoy this weather until he's better! I'll update you all again... and thanks :)

-Aimee

Did the doctor happen to mention diverticulitis as a possibility also?

Aimee--I hate that Josh is feeling so crappy, but I'm glad it got to a point where he would finally go see a doctor! Now they can figure out what it is and work on making him better rather than just leaving him to suffer all the time. I definitely have my fingers crossed for you guys...keep us posted!!

Kimberley--those pictures are so good! I am absolutely jealous of your photographic abilities. I especially love the goofy dog one :D

Well, weekend was, well, typical. I went to Jeff's because all of his cousins were supposed to go visit his mother, so we were going to have the whole house to ourselves and stay there to watch the dog. Well, what ended up actually happening was the parents went for the day on Saturday and left the two oldest boys (who are 17 and 14, I think) home, so they watched the dog, and the parents were home by 10pm. so basically, there was no real reason for me to have gone to his house, and he very well could have come to mine. I'm going there AGAIN this coming weekend because his cousin is having one of those candle parties and invited me. I don't really want to go (you know how you always feel obligated to buy stuff at those things?), especially since it's my birthday weekend, but I couldn't come up with a good enough excuse not to go, so I'll just shut my trap and have fun :p

I had my 3 "off plan" day this past weekend that my diet calls for, and was happy enough with what the scale said this morning (I know I shouldn't have weighed after an entire off-plan weekend, but you know I couldn't resist). My weekend eating habits are horrible not only in WHAT I eat, but also becaus ewe tend to just have 2 semi-big meals each day and that's it. I'm back on my plan today--and for the next 11 days--and those couple of pounds should come back off in no time (hopefully even for a little loss at this Thursday's TOPS meeting). I also started my liquid Centrum multivitamin and Calcium supplements today, so maybe my body will be a bit happier (and more awake?).

Alright, chickies, off to work. I got in way early this morning, so I don't feel bad about being on here at all ;) Have a Marvelous Monday, andI 'll catch ya'll later!