[katrinabgood]

Chat is usually 8:00 EST (for us east coast gals), 7:00 CST for those of you in Central Standard time...I don't know if anyone is in another time zone. Aren't we ALL observing Daylight Savings Time?

I just realized that my son has a baseball game tonight at 7, so I'll peek in when I get home. Hopefully there will be some stragglers! Thanks for setting this up, Thin! You can register for chat by PMing Suzanne and giving her your user name and the password that you want. Think that's it. I don't know how long that will take, so I already did mine.

Hope to "see" you guys later!

[Suzanne 3FC]

Hey gals! Just a quick note about the chat... The chat system doesn't use the same membership database as the forum. We used to use a hack which tied them together, but there were some people with nonstandard browsers or connections that were not able to get in. We've removed the hack and are doing it the old fashioned way now.

When you enter the chat, you will see a place for a chat username and a password. The password is only used IF you have a registered chat nickname. Otherwise, you can enter any (non-registered) chat name and get in without a password. We have the ability to register a chat name for you, if you want to make sure no one logs in with your name and gets mistaken for you. We will only register your forum name, though, not something different. If you want us to register your forum name as a chat nick, send me a PM to let me know. Also include a password that will be used for the chat. It does not need to be the same as your forum pass.

I will be leaving later this afternoon to go to Mom's, as our Mother's Day celebration was switched to today. Then I'll be heading out of town for a couple of days. If you PM me with a chat nick and I've already left without registering you, you can still get into the chat without a password. I'll register you when I get back, and I'll reply to you so you'll know when you are registered.

Have fun

[QueenB]

Hey ladies..... how are you this fine am? Fantastic, I hope.

Sandy said something about confession time. Let's have one of those, ok? Just bear with me. I try to be peppy and upbeat most the time, but I've just had a plain ol' hard time this week. First of all, let me say that Kat and I....well, for that matter, probably all of us have been cut from the same cloth. You do really well....you're feeling strong and then the old voice of temptation comes in. So, you give in.
Then you become frustrated and guilty. So you decide that since you've already blown it, you might as well do a good job at it. Then, you decide to chastise and punish yourself. So you decide that you're going to severely restrict your points (calorie intake...whatever) to make up for the damage you have done. Then, because you've already opened up the flood gates and you're trying to satisfy the hunger of a lion with the dinner of a housecat....you just really end up blowing it and somewhere in the middle of a bag of hershey hugs and a large order of Sonic onion rings, you wonder...."What the he%# happened?" Hmmm, wonder if you can tell the way my last couple of days have been?

I know it has been said that we "unknowledgeables" like to "fall off the wagon" and say "Well I'll not let it get me down, I'll forget my indiscretions and do better next time" and then we repeat the same mistake over and over again. But I ask you? What is the alternative? Eat and eat and eat until we either have a heart attack or die in our sleep? I'd rather try a million more times than to be a quitter. So that is what I am doing today. I am trying again. It seems my fire has dimmed a little lately, but the spark is still there....I just have to get it blazing again. I won't have time to individually reply to everyone today because it is very busy at work and it has taken me forever just to type what I have thus far.

Ok....other than what I have already spilled, let's see what's going on..... Well, first off, my baby got a job. ("baby" meaning my 15 yr. old) He's been bugging the crap out of me for months to get a job. I've tried to "discourage" him...advising him that he will have to work for the rest of his life, and that he should enjoy this "young" time while he has it, but this is something that he really wants...and being the good mother that I am, I have told him he can have a job as long as it doesn't affect his grades. Soooo, he put in an application at Dairy Queen (ugh) and they called him for an interview on Thursday. He was a nervous wreck and sweating bullets. I calmed him down as much as I could, giving him advice on what to say and how to act and you'll never know the pride and sadness that I felt as he walked out with a smile so big and bright that you could have used it as a runway landing for an airplane. I knew right then he had it. He starts Sunday at 1:00. Wish him luck.

I am very excited right now because we are going to the drive in tonight. It's our first trip back since last season and I can't wait! They're showing "Anger Management" and "Maid in Manhattan". I like Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson and J-Lo, so it sounds to be a very promising night. I have the ground turkey thawing as we speak and I'll be seasoning and pattying it up when I get home to make some turkey burgers. I will also take some FF pringles with me, a serving of my yogurt raisins and diet coke and water. I wish I could take you all with me...what fun we would have!

Ok...I'll try to reply to as many as I can, but they'll be quick:

Kat: I have to thank you my sweet friend for all your inspiration....you have been my strength, what little there is of it, this week. Also, thanks for the recipes. You always give the best ones!

Tracy: I do not have the words to express how happy I am that you are here with us now regularly. Your posts brighten my day and make our thread complete. (no pressure there.....just want you to hang around)

Thin: Woo Hoo! Our own chat room! How cool is that? Thanks for taking the ball and running with it. I'll contact Suzanne today. Also....seems we've been walking on the same road this week, don't worry my friend...this too shall pass. {{{hugs}}}

Mary: I absolutely LOVE Japanese red maple trees....they are so gorgeous. It's supposed to be pretty hot here to today...but it's beginning to look overcast.

Amanda: I am so happy that you finally got your computer! Can't wait to see the pictures!

Duckie: Your post broke my heart sweetie....but how well I know the feeling. There were years there that things were very tight for us (and still are, at times) and when special occasions came along, I knew the money would be better used on something less extravagant...such as bills. What I always kept in mind, was that the true "gift" of motherhood.....is simply that. Being a mother. {{{hugs}}} I can tell you this though....no matter what Ron gets me this year, nothing compares to that sweet handwriting on that smudged peice of construction paper that had hearts all over it that simply said..."You're the best Mom in the whole wide world". Nothing can top that. (Did I also mention that in the center of each heart he had written in a little "20"? Does my boy know me well or what?

Steph: There are so many things that I am proud of you for lately. First of all, way to go with Curves. (once again, I am saying that) Also congrats on all your successes yesterday. You are well on your way!

Sandy: Hmm, do we live in the same house or what?! I keep a "tidy" house as well. I am not a spotless gal and never will be....but that's ok. I just think there are so many other things in life than to stress about having a spotless home. Don't get me wrong, my home is clean. But between working, keeping up with the kids and dh, I just don't have the time. If company arrives unannounced, I have never been ashamed of the condition of my home, but I'm sure it won't win any good housekeeping awards either and you know what? I don't care. We're happy and comfortable...what more could you ask for?

2cute: Hope you're having a good time, what a nice thing to do for your Mom. We miss you!

Lori:Your post cracked me up. The "misinformed" part especially... So, you have rescheduled your picture appt, huh?

Ok.....I can't believe I did it! I have officially responded to everyone that posted on this thread. If I didn't respond to you, that means you have not posted on here thus far.....so, get your butts in here! Just kidding. Hope you're having fun wherever you're at and know we miss you when you're not here.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day! You are the best group of ladies in the world and I am truly honored to call each and every one of you my friends.

[QueenB]

I am so agrivated with certain things right now....I can't even speak and probably shouldn't. But I'm going to set the record straight. First of all....I'm quite sure that I'm not the only person who just received a PM from Baylee. I assume this is so by the fact that she used the words "you ladies" in her first paragraph. Perhaps this is something that should have been addressed privately and not out here "in the open". But my original words were expressed in the open and apparently, chosen not to be believed. However I will say it again.

While I may not be able to speak for anyone else here, I can speak for myself. Whether you believe it or not, it is very important to me that I be honest with you guys when I come here. This is my sanctuary.....this is the place I don't have to worry about covering up my feelings because you guys understand.....or so I thought. I would also like to say I have NEVER ever spoken ill of any of you, either on this thread or in private. I will say of course, I have spoken ill of Baylee and I'm sure she is not surprised.....

I'm going to say this once more and only once and consider it a closed issue. If my words are chosen to be believed, that's great. If not....that's ok too. We're going to talk about the size issue once again. For as long as I can remember, I was wearing a size 26-28 or a 3X. (pants wise) Then gradually I went into a 24....then a 22. The type of pants I wear may not be what you wear. I don't wear anything that has a button or a zipper. I can't or I get squeezed to death. So that ends the mystery there. My pants have elastic or a drawstring in the waist. I also would like to say that the material most of my pants are made out of is a soft material, perhaps a cotton/polyester blend, so they usually stretch. I do have some that are more on the cottony side and they are not as comfortable, but I go with comfort, not style.....although I try to incorporate both. At the present time, I have on a pair of pants with elastic in the waist that says they are a 1X. They are not ultra loose, nor are they tight. I don't wear clothes that draw attention to me, so if they were tight, I wouldn't have them on. I bought a pair of capri pants the other day (drawstring waist) and they were a 22/24. I bought another pair of capri pants that had elastic in the waist and were made by Just My Size and they were an 18/20. I have another pair of white pants that are a polyester/cotton blend with a drawstring in the waist, they are a size 18/20. When I first tried them on, I looked like a pig stuck in a sack. They now fit me well. Is the size wrong? I don't know, that's what the tag says. There are very few victories that I have in this life, and I absolutely hate that someone would question one that was very important to me. While I have no illusions and know that I could not buy a pair of khakis or jeans in an 18/20, just being able to have some type of clothing that started with a "1" made me happy. I started out at 346.5 and I am now 271.2. That puts me aound 70+ lbs. down and that will make a difference in clothing. I am also built different than others.....my behind and legs are not very big at all, but my stomach is....thankfully it is shrinking.

Perhaps I shouldn't have said anything at all.....and perhaps
Baylee is trying to start some more trouble. I will tell you this though.....she has taken the blinds off this naive girl's eyes, and I do want to thank her for that.

[SaraJoy]

Just dropping in for a second so you know I was here!

On the clothing size issue, I have a friend who is somewhere in the 275 pound range (Height: 5"9'), who wore the same size shirt as me when I weighed 160 pounds! Her weight is mostly in the hips and legs (with a tiny waist) while mine was mostly in the stomach. I mean she had more than a hundred pounds on me and we were sharing the same shirts! So... in this case... Size doesn't matter!

In my case, I used to be ROUGHLY a size 22 pants and a 3x in shirts. Now, I'm ROUGHLY a size 7 and wear anywhere from a small to a large in shirts, depending on the store.

ANYWAYS , I loved Kat's post about her revelation while sitting, just eating and thinking. Her words could have been my own!

Oh, oh! Gotta scoot! Just found out my BIL will be here in 20 minutes and I have to have shower first!

BTW, you ladies are very special to me!

[peekabooangel]

Tina: I sent you a pm, hope you got it? But please, don't waste your energy on the baylee thing.

I will be in chat at 8:00 my time tonight...Im an eastcoast girl. Hope to see lots of us there.

Hugs,

[BarbPA]

Hi Gals - Sorry I've been missing since yesterday morning. It's been hectic but fun. Last night was "girls nite" at a friend's house - we had such a good time. She had two people come over to give chair massages and a person doing facials. We each paid for the treatments we wanted. I've never had a professional massage or a facial and they were both WONDERFUL! So relaxing. It was about 7 girls and we just drank wine, ate snacks and pampered ourselves. We are going to start rotating houses each month or two and have people come in to do pedicures, manicures, and maybe even a psychic! I was so relaxed when I got home that I went right to bed. Woke up early feeling refreshed and hopped right on the treadmill! The scale even showed my weight another pound less than yesterday! I was surprised after 2 wine coolers, but now that I think of it I didn't really eat much. I try not to hop on the scale everyday, but it's just sitting there calling my name. I only count my Friday weight.

Today I dragged hubby to the mall. He hates shopping, but was a good sport -- not to mention I thought the exercise would be good for him -- me too --- but I have a hard time getting him to move his butt. I had every intention of buying new clothes for vacation next week, but I couldn't find anything. I'm stuck in between sizes right now. Not to mention I was hurrying so he didn't get too frustrated. I think I am going back out by myself to look around. I treated myself to some new perfume.

Tina - I am sorry to hear that Baylee is still contacting you and making you upset. Hopefully you get her off your mind and worry about more important things. I love reading your posts and can tell what a special person you are. You have come so far and I am so proud of you and I know everyone else here is. The size thing is crazy!!! I tried on a 22/24 skirt at Lane Bryant today that was too big, yet a size 24 shorts that were a little too small and a 26/28 tee shirt that was just right (can you guess I'm a little, umm, top heavy? I know, TMI). Anyway the whole clothes issue with her is nuts!

And the house cleaning thing --- give me a break --- I keep a very clean house and it's a decent size with 3 levels and it's never gotten me skinny! Ugh. Ok - let me stop before I really get on my soapbox.

I think I am going to run out by myself and do some more shopping so I can get back here for chat later on. Hopefully I'll make it. I also want to watch Trading Spaces tonight. I love that show - anyone else.

I'll see you lovely ladies in a bit.
Love,
Barb

[Jehari]

Hi everyone!! I am just lurking again. I haven't done any reading to catch up. I would love to come in to chat with you all, but if you start at 8pm eastern, that's 2am my time which is just a bit too late for me!!
HOWEVER>>> I am so psyched!! I am flying home to Boise in just over a week. I leave here the 19th, will spend the night in Baltimore, then continue on to Boise the 20th.

I have an appointment with my surgeon on the 23rd. It seemed so far away, and now all of a sudden I'm running around like crazy getting everything ready. Once I get back to the states I will try to catch you all in the chat room. Do you do that every night??

Not much else to say at the moment, just popping in to say HI to everyone.
Talk at ya later,
Jen

[loranden]

Originally posted by QueenB
I am so agrivated with certain things right now....I can't even speak and probably shouldn't. But I'm going to set the record straight. First of all....I'm quite sure that I'm not the only person who just received a PM from Baylee. I assume this is so by the fact that she used the words "you ladies" in her first paragraph. Perhaps this is something that should have been addressed privately and not out here "in the open". But my original words were expressed in the open and apparently, chosen not to be believed. However I will say it again.

Yes, I received one also, blew it off as sour grapes, a jealousy issue (let's be honest here, shall we?), and laughed it off... Then I thought to myself WHATEVER! and deleted it. I have more important things to worry about.

[loranden]

Thought you all would like the scoop on this show!

A friend sent me a message about this A&E show.

I don't think it was meant to be an "expose," but just a documentary about modeling at the top levels in New York. It was HORRIBLE. Not the show, I mean what they showed about the modelling world was really scary. One model is in debt $30,000 to her agency for "startup costs" and living on $100 a week. Another one had to "go away" for a while cause she had serious drug problems (they openly admitted this) and now shes trying to make a "comeback". Calvin Klein looks like he's half-crazy, and just trying to find some new starving girl to shock people with. Oh, they showed bits of the original Kate Moss commercials, which were disgusting, because the voice-over kept saying "obsession!" while you got to saw Moss, who looked like she was 11 years old and needed to go to the hospital. It makes me sick to think that they could have made people feel an "obsession" for that kind of look. And they're still doing it.

There was one new model from Canada, the only one who didn't look like she was already on drugs, and looked like she was maybe a size 2 or 4 instead of a 0, and they kept saying how she needed to lose weight. She was a toothpick! It was awful.

Everybody was so stuck on having the models be underweight. They kept talking about fantasy. Fantasy is fine, but why a fantasy with starving models? What's wrong with having a fantasy with models who are beautiful but have normal bodies so you don't create this horror show?


Link to Show:

http://www.aetv.com/global/listings/...5&NetwCode=AEN

Next Airing: May 17, 2002

[QueenB]

it may not be a big deal to you.....

Yes, I received one also, blew it off as sour grapes, a jealousy issue (let's be honest here, shall we?), and laughed it off... Then I thought to myself WHATEVER! and deleted it. I have more important things to worry about.

but it was to me. We are all very different here and some have been around a lot longer than others and some contact one another other than just postings in the thread. If some of the comments didn't make you upset, then I'm glad. I was not as lucky.

What I'm wondering is.....if Baylee wants to leave the thread, then why just not go instead of continuing to read and trying to start trouble?

If the backbiting doesn't stop....I'll contact Suzanne and this won't be an issue any longer. The crap we've been dealing with lately is not what this is supposed to be about.

[robntracy]

I just sat here and read your last post and my eyes teared up for you thinking that Baylee is still making a big deal over this size thing. It broke my heart to think that someone would try to bring you down like that. Like you said, you were happy just to try something on that started with a 1. I know what you mean sweetie. Dont let anyone bring you down, because we have all seen you and we can all see how far you have come and how great you look so size is irrelevant. I dont know what Baylee is thinking though because you are always willing to share pictures of yourself and do and it is not like you are trying to hide your size from anyone. You look great by the way!!!

Baylee- I am sure you are reading this. I dont know you but I think it is cruel how you have done these ladies. I have been reading this thread for a long long time and I thought that you were a nice person. You dont have to like Tina but you should show her the same respect that she has always showed you. And to be putting other's down the way that you have been you must be at goal weight. Nah I dont think that is the case because like I said I have been reading a long time. I hope that you find what you are looking for in life but I want to give you some advice. Hold true friends close and treat them like you want to be treated because if not you may find yourself old, and alone. And Baylee, dont cast stones

Ok I need to get out of here again. I dont think I will make it to chat because I am going out on the town tonight but I will be thinking of you all. Have a great night and I love ya gals!

Hugs,
Tracy

[katrinabgood]

When I got married (almost 20 years ago) I weighed a whopping 165 or so. I thought I was HUGE! Hah! Little did I know! Anyway, I found the dress of my dreams at JC Penney, of all places. I was MORTIFIED that it was a size 20!
I would KILL to be able to fit in that dress today!
(Not that I have any place to wear it to!)
Today i wear a 2x or a 22 usually.
hmmmm...90 lbs heavier and one size up? whatever.

Baylee, give it a rest. Be nice.

[peekabooangel]

I don't know what to say? I have been pm'ing back and forth with Tina about what Baylee pm'd her. I know she pm'd Lori too, but don't know who else. The thing was blown way out of whack. And baylee knew that Tina was vulnarable and it would hurt. Nothing like shoving a knife in deeper. I want to say right here and now that I only pm's Baylee 2 times in my life and she choose to save them and send them to others, which I find very very unexceptable and I did send her a new one today saying that. She choose to send a copy of something debated a month ago to someone and hurt their feelings!!!

Tina and I have a pretty good friendship I think, and I hurt really bad today when what I had said was taken out of text. But, if it had been me, I'm sure I would have taken it the way Tina did. I guess Baylee chooses to still linger and read, but I went back to read what was posted on the thread and her posts have almost all been deleted except for 10 of the first, so there is no way for me to start with what she said first. But Tina and I have choosen to let this pass and I hope everyone else does too. Why waste our energy on it? I only speak nicely of this group, even in my real everyday life.

Lori: I did not know you back then, I think you were new? Anyway, I like the attitude you took and deleted the message. Enough said, if we have issues I'm sure they can be worked out, if not well then I don't know?

I do know that I have been honest with all of you and I have practically told you my life history right down to growing up in an alcoholic family etc.....why poor my life out to people if I didnt care? I have laughed and cried with this thread and everything else. You are my cyber family, and just like all families things happen. I told Tina it was up to her and if she wanted me to leave the thread for those few words that I would, she was here first, but we have worked things out. I think baylee just can't stand to see this thread happy? She deleted the Myfamily.com thing for chat then we fixed a new chat place thanks to (thinthinker) then she starts this stuff again?

So I just wanted you all to know I love being here, but if anyone feels I need to go, please just let me know.

[LuckyLadyBug]

I think "we" just wished "we" could say we wore 18's too.

Go in your "Tony" room and look around. It will make life better. I have the same admiration for Mr. Eric Clapton that you do for Tony. When I need to put things in perspective I immediately put on his "soul inspiring" music. It always helps.