Luckily I have Monday off, sometimes it just feels wrong to work on a Monday to me. So I enjoy having them off, even if it means I work every Sunday. Sounds like you and I had a simular experience this summer... not enough me time. Time to recop before Christmas sneaks up on us... My family is already starting to make plans, can you believe it? Josh refuses to travel around Christmas, which means we either have to spend it apart, or I have to spend it with his family. *have* His family is totally messed up, they make it out to seem like Christmas is some big thing, meanwhile they BARELY get eachother anything, gift certificates, etc, and they do NOT wrap things!! It's in a bag, with a name tag... sad huh?

Alright, I gotta run.. my mom is on the phone!

-Aimee

I used to travel every Christmas to see family. It can be quite a zoo at JFK, it's such a huge airport.

I have to say it feels excruciatingly early to me to make any Christmas plans. On the other hand, I hate having to do all that holiday stuff at the last minute. Wasn't there a time when Christmas was fun instead of stressful??? Neither of our families fit that Rockwell holiday sensibility. It's probably more like what the opposite of that would be. You have to deal with what you have to deal with.

This year I resolve to not go so crazy with the Thanksgiving food. I love to cook and bake, but I need to find a good balance. Tough holiday for me! I think the more I plan ahead the better off I'll be.

Have a good one.

Thanksgiving is never really huge for me, for the most part I just skip it. Usually because I'm working, but it works to not have to spend Thanksgiving with Josh's family. Thats so mean, isn't it? But his Aunt is slightly crazy, and his Cousin forgot us at his wedding, so we literally had no where to sit... this is the cousin he grew up with! I don't know, I really value thoughtfulness, and it drives me crazy when I am around people who aren't like that!!

I do love Christmas, my family is all about buying thoughtful presents, and we all spoil eachother. It's not *always* about presents, however, I do love them! hehe

Whats in store for you today? I've taken the garbage out, and made a strawberry banana, pineapple smoothie with ground flax seeds for that needed protein and good fats. I try to start my day off right everyday, the BEST breakfast I had was on Thursday... it makes my mouth water thinking about it. I had two cut up nectarines, they were organic and so much more sweet and tasty, and I put them on oatmeal.. no milk, no sugar. It was yummy! Afterwards I'm going to head to the mall and hang out with my friend for a few hours, I know I NEED to go for a walk, so I'll fit that in there somewhere. The sun is shining, gotta get some of that in before the rainy season starts here! Alrighty, I am off, have a great one!

-Aimee

Howdy, howdy...I'm finally having a day o' relaxation here and it feels GOOD. Sunday we were up early (for us) since we promised Howie's mom we'd go to church with her. Her church and another Assembly of God church in town merged and are now meeting together at her church's location. Her congregation was small and they were struggling, plus they had no pastor. The other church has been growing and has outgrown their building, plus lacked the handicap accessibility they wanted. So, this pastor is now leading a combined group. Seems a good move for both churches, pretty exciting.

But, ohhhh, it was early. LOL!

We've got the plane tickets purchased and the hotel room reserved. We'll be there Wednesday evening through around Noon Friday, when we fly back home. There's a 2+ hour layover in Detroit on the way home, so it'll be a long day. If it was non-stop, we'd have made it a later flight so we could maybe do a little sight-seeing.

One of Howie's old co-workers lives in the area with his wife and baby, and they're meeting us at the hotel Thursday night; we're going to Bertha's Mussels for dinner with them. It's fun to think we'll be at a restaurant we saw Rachel Ray visit on FoodTV.

my brother usually gives a check and a book, the same book he buys for the entire family. and hello, I'm 41 years old, I don't need a check. not exactly a thoughtful gift giver!! once he gave us a bottle of liquor (instead of a book) that he'd obviously gotten from someone else and didn't want. What planet is he on?

One year I'd love to spend Christmas in Bavaria....

I've been eating peaches like crazy this season. Had some blackberries from the local farmer's market yesterday that looked and tasted fantastic. I'm going to miss the summer fruit.

Have a good trip, Kimberley. Your pic is gorgeous, bwt.

Kimberley - have a safe trip! Keep us updated on Howie!

Marge - I miss summer fruit already Prices have gone up on them like crazy, stupid fall/winter! Your brother sounds funny, and like he needs a sister like me! I am always calling my brother at christmas bothering him to find out what he's getting for everyone. Giving him ideas too! How much is that cheque?

I'm not meaning to brag or anything, BUTTTT!! I slept for 10 hours last night!!!! Can you BELIEVE IT?!?! My stomach has been bothering me again and I've been doing that barely sleeping thing.. but last night Josh told me to take Pepto Bismol, and it WORKED!! Which unfortunately means theres a PH imbalance in my tummy, but also means that there is JUST a ph imbalance in my tummy. I'll look at the 2 week plan my mom did, see what stuff I need and start that on my neck paycheque. Get all this stuff sorted out!

Well I gotta run to work, have a great day!!

-Aimee

Good morning

Kimberley--good vibes being sent your way from Northern Virginia today (I flew home from NC into BWI yeterday--I wonder if we were at the airport at the same time? )

Aimee--glad to hear your stomach isn't going to fall out and that it's just a ph imbalance

Marge--lol I think we all know someone very much like your brother with gifts

I am so tired. The conference was booooooring--lots of information I will never use (since it all pertained to web stuff, and I have absolutely nothing to do with web page creation or maintenance). I did have fun each night after the conference, tough, because we went out with my old boss who lives down there now, and we had such a great time--you know, those dinners that last at least 3 hours because we can't stop talking

Well, plenty of work to keep me busy since I was out of the office for 3 days. Plenty of work to do to lose the weight from all the fre food they gave us, too (though I know, as per usual, it's mostly water and much of it will be gone in just a few days). I'm not going to go to my TOPS meting tonight for 2 reasns: #1, it won't be a true representation of my weight as compared to last week due to the junk from the conference, and it will only serve to depress me, and #2, I am plenty busy enough without going to my meeting! I know, I know, I'm a baaaaad TOPS member

I can't believe I started this September thread saying it's FALL -- forget it! It's hot and steamy here. I hate it. Rob's on jury duty today, so I'm afraid that will put him in a bad mood while it lasts, with maybe a couple of days of lingering effects... My last experience wasn't too bad, I got on a jury with people I liked and they kept letting us out after half a day. And the courthouse is in Brooklyn Heights, which is an interesting neighborhood.

Yeah, with my family it's always a good idea to keep your sense of humor -- add distance and your favorite mood lifter, and Houston, we've got a go!

Amy, glad you got the sleep and the stomach problem is getting solved. I don't think the summer fruit is going to stay cheap much longer. The farmer's market is starting to switch over to apples. Not that we buy all that much stuff from the farmer's market, ha. The store is about 1/3 the price. The FM is a treat.

Welcome back, Jill. Congrats on the editing job I like working at home. I've never worked in a restaurant, but I've seen how cranky customers can be, and I'm sure I haven't seen the worst that's out there.

I do think you'll drop in numbers fast once your back on program. I'm always amazed how much my numbers can go up an down after a treat day or vacation. I've dropped 3 lbs in ONE day before. Now, how is that possible?? my head was still connected.

Gotta get to work. Take it easy gals.

Jill - WB! And congrats on quitting Ruby's, it's going to be very exciting! I wouldn't go to TOPS either, so you are justified!! Josh was telling me about how the Cosmetics Manager in his store was sent to a "spa week" to go to trade shows, and do various other things to aid their company... it was in France!! Can you imagine? I think it would be fun to go ANYWHERE on business, just to get away for a little while. I was really born to travel..

Marge - the Farmer's Market's are SO SO much cheaper here, thats where we go to get cheap produce, and it helps that it always tastes better too. Josh and I were looking into getting local organic produce delivered to our house for 30 bucks a week, its a great idea, I just worry we wouldn't use it all. It's so foreign to me to not get along with family... well not entirely true.. but with my brother, mom, and grandma, I love spending time with them, call them, talk to them about everything and anything. Infact, since I've been feeling ill lately my brother is getting super protective and was asking me to come out to Seattle for a couple weeks to heal my body, he's so cute my brother! Wouldn't it be nice if I could just take that much time off.... ahhh dream world!

I have today off, and to be honest, I don't want to accomplish ANYTHING, but I don't think I can get away with that. I need to make a list of things that get done, and pick the most important and easy! hehe... have a great day gals!!

-Aimee

Alright, I've decided two things, 1, there is NO NO NO need to get on a scale when you have your period... just not a good thing! So that weight it said today? Does NOT exist! And 2, I'm not getting out of my pj's, or really get out of bed today. Lazy perhaps, but I have my period, I feel icky, and it's COLD, my bed loves me, and I love it! heheh... okay, I'm going to go dive into bed!

-Aimee

I've had those days, too. If we didn't have dinner plans with friends here in Baltimore, and if our hotel room didn't stink like mildew, I'd feel like staying in bed all the rest of the day.

His back has two pronounced curves, one lordosis (side-to-side, when viewed from the back) and the other Kyphosis (front-to-back, when viewed from the side). The surgeon said Howie's not in an immediate need for surgery, but eventually he's probably going to be to a point where he'll need it since the curves will get progressively worse. It's putting a lot of strain on his upper back as it compensates for the lack of correct curve down below.

The surgery suggested by the Ohio doc -- removing more bone and doing the L4-L5 laminectomy (fusion) -- the would only make the curve worse in the long run and cause more problems. Dr. Kebaish said the only thing that will really help surgically is to reconstruct his spine and put it all back into alignment, then fuse everything. It's a pretty involved surgery with a lot of hardware, a 6 or 7 hour surgery. Howie would be looking at about 6 weeks off work.

While he's not looking forward to having a surgery, he's tired of being the way he is and he doesn't want to get progressively worse. He'd be able to stand up straight again after this, too. The doctor's scheduling surgeries about 2 months out now, so it would be after the first of the year that he has it done.

Dr. Kebaish said he does 2-3 of this surgery every week (he specializes in scoliosis). He said about 75% are very satisfied and would do it again. About 15% have some problems like infection, and about 10% say they are no better off. Sounds like pretty good odds to us. Just the way the whole thing came out of the blue with our friend offering to help us get here is wild enough.

Hi, everyone. We're at the airport in Baltimore, awaiting our flight. I got news from my aunt Carolyn last night via a message on our answering machine that my (biological) father was admitted to the hospital by his nursing home in an unresponsive state. He has some sort of bleed in his brain, and they're not sure what caused it. Both the nursing home's doctor and his sister agreed he would not want surgery. He's not expected to live. I called the hospital and spoke to a doctor in the ER who'd seen him; she's the one who gave me the details.

I feel ambivalent. My father and I have been estranged for several years. He is mentally ill (violent, manic depressive), an abusive alcoholic who is manipulative to the extreme. His sister's husband had to have a restraining order placed on him and broke contact with him because of his behavior. It's just been a sad situation all around. So...I doubt I'll go out to Illinois for the funeral. I don't really know his family at all, and don't have a connection to him after all these years. What an odd, yucky situation.

Kimberley, welcome back . Man, you have a lot going on all at once. I know dealing with surgery must be incredibly stressful (and when it's somebody you love, even harder than dealing with it for yourself). Taking that step to resolve the problem must be a relief for the two of you. I really hope the best for you in getting it resolved in the best way possible as quickly as possible.

Sorry to hear about your dad, too. The only thing I can think to say is that as I get older life makes less and less sense to me. Not that life made sense to me when I was younger, but all that I have experienced, learned and seen has just added to the pile of confusion.

Your brother sounds like a peach, Aimee. Maybe you should go spend time with him until you feel better. Maybe that's just me wanting to go to Seattle and be pampered by a loved one!! Yeah, the spa week in France, man, that sounds GREAT! If I had my way, I'd be taking at least 2 big trips a year. I LOVE traveling. I love planning it, learning a language, then getting on that plane and discovering what's out there.

That's cool that your FM produce is so much cheaper. the farmers here drive in from Long Island and Upstate New York, and New Jersey, so I guess that's why they hike up the costs of what they sell (and people will pay it). Maybe because it's such a big metropolitan area the regular stores can buy in bulk and sell their produce for less. I'm not sure.

My weight can fluctuate so much on that dang scale! Especially during this mini heat/humidity patch we're going through. Funny, I went to the gym on 9th street this morning and decided to take 5th Avenue home instead of 6th (my usual route). Rob saw it started raining and he knew I didn't have an umbrella so he walked to the gym along 6th Avenue. I got home, noticed an umbrella was gone, and knew right away where he was. I walked back to the gym, and yep, I was right, he was standing next to the door waiting for me. We walked back home, and when we got to our street there was a huge rainbow. (and a neighbor stopped us and gave us a huge tomato from his garden). So, turned out to be a good mix up!!

Have a good one ladies. Marge in cyber land is thinking of you.

Welcome back Kimberley! Thats too bad about your father, thats some hard things to deal with.

Marge - thats a pretty nice ending to a mix up!

I'm heading off to work, always running late, I had a run in with a spider this morning. Josh came and dealt with it for me... it was nice to not have to do that at 7am! I will be back after work, have a great day!

-Aimee