Good Morning Everyone.... I have the case of the Mondays. I had a good weekend... always too short.. I saw A. on Friday night and we made dinner and watched a movie.... afterwards I came home.. Saturday we didn't make it to the movie, but the girls and I did go to El Chico for lunch and went to the ski store to finish getting their ski clothes, and I got some ski boots for myself... then we headed to the mall to explore a little. Sunday, we went to church and for the rest of the day, I cleaned. About 5 hours worth. Maybe next week I'll take them to the movies.

Red.... (((((HUGS))))) sorry you are feeling so down. I have lived in a state of depression all my life.. and my body image makes up a good portion of that depression. As I get older... the more accepting I guess I get of my fat.. that I just seem to keep gaining a little more... or not really working to get the pounds off that I think will make me happy. Its OK.... and as for living and working in Japan... that must be really difficult. I hear stories about how office life is over there (our HQ are in Tokyo) so I know things are quite a bit different there than what they are here. We have visitors here all the time at our office, and I don't know how to even interact with them. Culturally, they are so different. Just know we are thinking about you... and wishing we could help...

Noelle.... I am glad the movie is a good one... I"ll make a point of going with the girls in the next couple of weeks. Good Luck on working out the problems with Rick. It is extremely hard to work together, you can't every seem to get away from ANY problems. They are always there.

Angie.. WTG on the weight loss... that is wonderful! You are doing a great job! But I am sorry to hear about Daisy.... I hope she feels better soon.

Julie.. that cake sounds wonderful! YUM... glad you had a good weekend.

Kempy... Winter has missed us here too.... But there is still February to get through... who knows what that will bring.

Dips and Cal... Hiya!!!

Well... time for me to get to work. Wednesday, I fly out to St. Louis for training on Thursday.... I will get home Thursday night really late... so I may not be around much in the middle of the week....

Red... I am hardly ever on my computer on the weekends, that is why you never see me post... it does get a little slow at those times... but we always come back in the week.

OK.. off to do some work. Talk to you chicks later!

Hi everyone. Sorry I wasnt around much this weekend but we were busy. We are trying to figure out if we should just order a new fifth wheel from rvwholesalers in Ohio and go pick it up or what. We went out window shopping this weekend at some and the RV show is next weekend so we will be there as well.

Red, I dont think anyone really posts on the weekends. Dont take it personally we all love ya. Do you want to move back to the states ever? Do you think that would make you more comfortable? I wished I could give you a great big ole hug and go hang out with you for a girls night out. If we all ever get to meet up are you going to be able to come? We are going to do that someday right girls? :wink:

Daisy is okay today but I got a feeling as soon as the Albon is gone then she will feel ill again. I dont know why they dont just give her an antibiotic because that is what we do when Rebel gets sick from a food switch and it always has made him better.

Hey guys! I just made it home from work and I am popping in b4 I go for my walk. My first client made me promise her that I would go so now I feel obligated to do it. I have Joe's dinner in the oven and I am going to burn some cals b4 we eat dinner.

Red I just want to fly over there and pack you up and make you come back to the states. You need to get away from there. I went through a rough time about a year b4 I left my last job. I was just miserable and I gain about 20 lbs b/c of it. Any of these girls can tell you I was just always down in the dumps. Once I made the change (it was very scary too) I noticed and immediate difference. I love my life now! I want the best for you and I hate to hear how unhappy you are right now. I know we all just want to give you a big hug but this will have to do.

Cherie 5 HOURS???? Talk about a marathon day. I don't have the attention span to celan for 5 hours. I would have ended up in front of the tv after 2.


Angie I was missing you around here. Usually I am the one that is MIA on the weekends. I was checking all day for some posts. I bet you guys had fun shopping, huh?

Julie any more mommy days planned?

Hey Cal and Dip and Noelle where are you guys?

I am going walking b4 it gets too dark. I'll check back later.

Well.. I just got off the treadmill... 45 minutes... now off to make dinner. Kempy.. have fun on your walk... glad you are keeping your word!
Angie.... good luck on your decision on the 5th wheel... that will be so much fun!

Tomorrow morning... I will be getting my braces.... not looking forward to it.. but hopefully it will be worth the results!

Talk to you all later.... gotta make dinner and get meg to her daisy meeting!

Cherie, Good Luck tomorrow. Just think of how happy you will be when all is said and done and your teeth are perfect.

Kempy, shopping was okay but I HATE salesmen. One guy told us a used cougar was $29,000 last week which is BS because a new one isnt that much!! And this week Jay ran in real quick to see what they had in our range and the salesmen this time told him he can get one of the brand new ones off the lot for $27,000. I hate it when they take us for stupid people. The more I talk with them the more I think I will just go to Ohio and pick one up that I ordered to be the way I want it for about $10,000 less. We are going to see what the Wildcat dealer can do as far as price but we are leaning hard towards Ohio.

Daisy is funny. She is picking all the chicken out of the chicken and rice and leaving a pile of rice behind. Silly kitty. She is going to be pissed when she doesnt need a special diet anymore.

The kids have colds so I am sure I will be sick before this weekend. fun fun.

I have to confess because it is PMS week and well, I am just a big pig. I have been eating 2 cadbury creme eggs at night. I know I need to stop but I cant. I suck huh?

Hi girls, sorry I have been MIA. I got my walking papers from P/T and I go to see the knee doc next Monday so hopefully I am all done with that. My knee is feeling great (now it's my heel acting up again ) . My home computer is acting funky and I need to run a scan disk again...I am just doing a quickie post since I stopped by the office to drop some supplies off......

Red, being in a foreign country must be difficult to say the least. You are a brave soul for sticking it out for so long. I'm wishing you get a lead on a ground-breaking story that will get you recognized and bring you the big bucks you need to get you at least back on American soil (or wherever it is you wish to go next) Chin up, we're here for ya....I know we go missing on the weekends sometimes, but we're always thinking about one another.

Angie, good luck on getting your 5th wheel. I think a trip to OH to pick it up would be neat--especially with that cushy truck you guys have. (So did you buy Jay those trucknutz like you wanted? )

Cherie, be brave tomorrow It WILL be worth it

I had to take the stray cat to the pound today...it was too sickly to stick around and wasn't eating much at all. It was such a good natured cat too. All he wanted was to be loved. At least we were able to give him some comfort in his last days...we spent at least a half hour brushing his coat out before I took him in. I feel sick about it.

Julie, mmmmm that cake sounded wonderful! Of course, I'm a big cake eater so it doesn't matter what kind

Kempy, great job on keeping your word--sometimes it's good to have to prove something to someone else

Hi Cal and Dips! I gotta run for now, I hear the warehouse door going down. I'll be back online tomorrow.

Last day of January and were did it go?

I am home this morning. Idon't have a client until 1 so I thought I would get a wal in b4 I go in. I am staying late too so I wont be able to chat much tonight. My last client is at 5:30 and she takes me awhile.

I swear I hate PMS. I was doing so good last week and of course the week of my weight in I have to have water weight. I just don't know what to do. I don't want to go in there after 3 weeks with nothing gone. I have done everything right. Yesterday was a little rough with food but I walked and walked and still no good. I had my 0 pts soup last night to make up for a little chips and cheese dip at lunch yesterday but to no avail. Not that I can relaly do anything about it right now, I am just wanting a loss so bad in the morning.

Red I wonder how many hours you are ahead of us. It is funny, I just read your post and it is from 6 in the AM here and you are talking about going to bed. I think what you are doing is great. Writing down everything is a real eye opener. I am not a big journaler but I do write the food down. I do notice when I eat too much though and I can almost pin point the exact things that drove me to it. I bet if I put it down on paper though it would make me more accountable. Good for you!

Noelle you have done the right thing for the kitty. I wonder if animals come into our lives at the end of theirs just so they know what great animals they are. I know you made him happy for the little time he had left. I am going in the morning for the big day and I will finally get the exercise formula. I hate that they don't give it to you right away.

Cherie did you mouth ever stop hurting you from when you first got your braces? It sounds like youa re taking full advantage of the weight loss that you are going to have from not being able to eat too much.

Angie I hate sales people. Do they know how much people dislike them? I think sometimes they try to read too much into the customer b4 they get to know them. When we went to get our car we stopped at another dealer with a check in hand and not a single person came out of the office. I think they same our truck and didn't think we could afford their car. As soson as I got home I called the mamager and told him what happened. He was not very happy about that. I told him how much of a mistake that was b/c we went right down the street and bought another car. I hope you get what you want.

Hello to everyone else. I need to get a quick walk in.

Good Morning girls! I got my exercise in and I feel pretty good today. All the kids are in school today so that is nice. I dont really think Alicia was all that sick yesterday. I told her so too so she went to school today. Remember when we were in school. I always took full advantage of being half asleep and sounding sick when I wanted to skip. The kids think we are too old to know what they are up to.

Red, I am happy that you are ready to get on track. I went through the same thing for the last 2 years and I have to admit that I feel so much better now....even when the scales are messing with me.

Kempy, I bet the manager reamed the salesmen after your call. Serves em right.

Noelle, I am sorry about the kitty. I agree with Kempy though that at least you got to love him for the last few days.

Lets try this again, I pushed the enter button before I was done posting and poof....gone.

Hi Girls Sorry I did not post yesterday, I had to take dd to a field trip and then dance class and just got to busy to type. I am done with crazy snacking....I woke up with that bloated yuck feeling from just one too many snacks. I have got to catch up on my housework and laundry today.

Noelle I am sorry to hear about the cat but I agree with the others you tried and gave it love. Great news about your knee feeling better. I hope it stays feeling good and your heel gets better.

Angie I bet it is a lot quieter with the kids at school. Hope you don't catch that cold. There is so much going around.

Kempy you are doing great walking. I might just have to go take one....the sun is shining Pms is so bad. It throws me off every month with the sugar and salt cravings.

Red I was writing down what I ate a couple of months ago and it really opened my eyes to how much I was eating. Good luck with that.

Cherie, thinking of you today. I hope everything goes well. Just think of that end result!

Hi Cal and Dips.
Check back later on.

Well, the walk is done and so is the cleaning out of our dreaded basket. We have a big basket by our phone and it is the black hole of the house. I swear we could lose the cat in the thing. It doens't have high side so I know when it is time to clean it out. It actually wasn't that bad this time but it still needed to be done. I mean I was home so I figured I should do something other than sit on the sofa. It is such a beautiful day today that I really hate thatI have to go to work. I do need to make some money though so I guess I will suck it up.

Julie I saw on the weather what the temps are up your way and it looks like you guys are pretty warm right now. You should take your walk. I do feel better now that I did mine. The sun helped me out a good bit too.

Angie I remember all too well the "sick days" of school. Heck, I had those in college too.

Ok, time to get in the shower and get ready for work. BLAH!

My braces are in. My quad helix is in. I have a mouthful of crap, and I just tried to eat a piece of cheese, and it got stuck in my quad helix. I just want to take the day off and cry and lay down and mope. I know this will be worth it, but for just today, I want to be emotional and sad.

I hate this metal taste in my mouth. Good thing I brought puree soup. I don't think there is any way I can chew anything. And I can't taste anything because it gets stuck.... :-(

Tomorrow will be better.

Oh.. and did I mention.. I can't talk worth crap right now? Lisping and slurring. I want to take up sign language.

Tomorrow WILL be better.

Cherie, You have every right to feel the way you do. It must be so hard to get use to them. But you are right it will get better. Hang in there girl.

Kempy I have a spot on my counter where everything just seems to end up. I should really sort through stuff in that area. Have a good day at work.

Well I thought about it and just walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes instead of outside so I could do it between loads of wash. So I feel good about that. I am trying to think of something for dinner. Maybe chicken breasts on the grill. Check back later on. Hi everyone

Hey ladies, I am passing the time in my office waiting to head out to my weigh-in today. I am dreaming about what I will get for lunch immediately afterwards There's an awesome lunch-wagon type place right down the way from WW--they have some of the best local food and sometimes it's so hard to leave the meeting and not look in that direction

Cherie, you can feel miserable and whine today, you've been through a lot. I feel for you. I've just looked up pictures of what a quad helix is and boy! That is a mouthful. Take some ibuprofen and maybe that will help with the aches and pains. And you're totally right, tomorrow WILL be better. Oh my, did you have to go in to work today?


Kempy, I don't know if this would help you at all, but maybe you can change your weigh day? I know when I weighed in on Saturdays (I go on Tuesdays now) I would have a free day and use most of my flex points on Sunday--the hardest day of the week for me, then I would have the entire work week to work the weight off. It sounds like cheating, but it worked. I know Tuesdays are hard for me too--I can do good during the week but when Sunday or Monday comes, I just want to snack snack snack and then I weigh in on Tuesday and it looks like I only lost a little... oh well, better going down than going up I guess. Good job on getting your morning exercise. I didn't get any yet...

Julie, you too on your treadmill work! Excellent

Angie, heh, I always get scared when I think about Michael getting older and pulling some of the tricks that either Rick or I used to do to get out of school . I'm keeping him in parochial school for as long as I can afford it!

Hey Red, glad you're feeling a bit better. When you say 'other foreigners', do you work with other Americans or Europeans or a mix of all kinds of people? It must be doubly hard if there's a culture clash thing going on from so many different people... I don't understand this, but when my husband Rick goes out drinking (and he drinks a lot when he does!), he actually goes down a couple of pounds for a few days--he says it's because he's dehydrated from all the alcohol. It drives me insane because when I indulge myself a few drinks--which is not very often at all, I go up a few pounds! I don't know why. Anyway, good for you for taking those positive steps forward to get where you want to be.

Dips, how are your classes coming along? Are you still hitting it hard at Bally's?

Cal, hope your students are behaving for you

anywho, I guess I should get some work done here.

Hi all. Early morning here and I am hoping to get out to the gym yet again before going in to the office. I kept waking up last night, too many dreams so I am not feeling very rested and feel hot and tired as I do when I overtrain, which I may be...I always overdo it when I at last get a spark of resolve back, I sooo want to make that work for me.

Yeah, Kemp, I guess you're on Central time or something like that, not sure, about La. But for Eastern Standard we're 14 hours ahead of you. The easy way to figure for you (for Eastern time) is to add two hours and change the a.m. to p.m. or vice versa and always think ahead.

Noelle, the foreigners I work with are a mix from countries where the first language is English. Right now, we have Brits, Irish, Aussies, Canadians and Americans and a Filipino, though he is an exception as English isn't the first language there. We also had a South African and Kiwis before, but no one at the moment. It is a problem but not because of the mix, then again, maybe it is. The level of people, meaning their experience in newspapers, has dropped to an alltime low and this is reflected in their thinking and behavior as well. Also, as far as women goes, I'd say the States still has the most room for strong women. A lot of the guys who end up here can't deal with that and that's why they're here. Me, I just had itchy feet and was taken by the incredibly difficult language I guess. It kept me occupied. Most foreigners here don't speak Japanese very well and no one in my office with whom I directly work. I am fluent and often mistaken for a Japanese on the phone....what a joke.

Cherie, it sounds like you're having a helluva time with this stuff in your mouth. I missed so much, just what is going on?

jbbm, thanks, I sure hope writing things down keeps me tuned in and concentrating on weight loss.

cal, others, I hope you're doing well. I will try to write more later.