SunnyD and Willow - you big losers!! Total of 12lbs between you, imagine that in packets of butter! Well done you two. Willow, you will be leaving an oil slick in the pool at this rate, lady, you will look like a mermaid in the water. I am hoping that your appointment at the Mayo in December is better than good and feel it in my bones that it will be. SunnyD well done on the 3lbs, it's not easy for you with your health problems but you did it! Baby Mikala Rose is so beautiful, I really can't wait to be a grandma one day. I too would like my eyes done at plastic surgery but the thought of anaesthetic risk for cosmetic reasons frightens me. Angel, poor you getting the blame for your sister's fall. I was also 4 when brother came along and although I don't remember it I know I was jealous of him for years later, he escaped all the chores and the punishments. We are best of friends since we became adults. I would love a pedicure too, my feet are quite good-looking actually and I think if Miss World was judged on feet then I would have been a contender. It's all because I was born with congenital dislocation of the hip and had to wear specially measured and built-up shoes for the first 14 years of my life so I have long straight toes and no umps or bumps. The nails are barrel shaped though like my finger nails (domed) so the big toe nail curves in like an ingrowing toe nail and gives me a twinge when it needs hacking! I was told they were not ingrowing but the shape. SunnyD, my cat is 9 1/2 and was diagnosed with renal failure about 8 weeks ago and not expected to live the week by the vet. The ladies with faith here all prayed for him and the turnaround was amazing - even the vet was stunned. He has been fine on medication since then but now although he is drinking he has lost interest in food, even his fish. He would wake from a coma if I even whispered the word 'fish' before. All I can do is keep a check on him and take him back to the vet if I see him getting thinner or any signs of discomfort. Well, Willow, I am off to get my swimming gear ready for tomorrow too. It will be exhausting for me tomorrow because I have the aerobics class in the evening too - the two activities couldn't be avoided because I won't be at work to swim on Friday. One things for sure, I will sleep well tomorrow night! Regards to Sheila, Bluet and Jacqui ....

What a beautiful, sweet baby! I absolutely love those photos of her. You just want to kiss those sweet baby cheeks, don't you?

Bluet, that's so nice of you to watch the older child so the Mom can get some much-needed rest. Remembering back when I had kids, I would have loved to have someone do that for me.

Congrats to both SunnyD and Willow on their fabulous weight loss! Willow, that's amazing that you can lose 9 lbs. just by changing a few things, like not eating that white stuff.

So, Charlotte, how do you feel about your sister now? I'm the youngest so I don't know how it feels to be usurped. I'll have to ask my sister how she felt about me. Eight years to grow her teeth back. Poor kid--and poor you for getting into trouble for something you didn't do. That probably made everything a whole lot worse!

SunnyD, I know someone whose insurance paid for the eye surgery because she had the same problem as you. It wasn't considered cosmetic surgery, but medically necessary. Now, that didn't change what they did as far as the surgery went, but at least the insurance paid for it.

Well, Puss, when I see you in September, you'll have to take off your shoes and show me your fabulous feet! I'm so sorry about your cat. I hope that he'll get his second, actually third, wind and starts to feel better. You've gotten a lot more time with him than what your vet said, and I bet you're really thankful for that, but as a pet owner, I know that you want more as long as it's quality time.

Oh, my gosh, what did I miss? You're going to aerobics, too! And swimming and aerobics both in the same day. I can hardly believe what I'm reading. You really, really do want to look like Elizabeth Hurley! Pretty soon you'll be telling us that you're pumping iron and going to enter an Ironwoman Triathalon. . .

I talked to my son yesterday. He's so proud of his daughter because she's doing so well in preschool. She's now making choices between three toys and is learning to sign "more" when she doesn't want people to stop doing stuff. I'd asked how they taught that sign because she doesn't eat food by mouth, which would seem the logical way to teach "more," so I learned that they play with her, then quit playing with her until she signs "more" or he'll kiss her (she always laughs when he smooches on her) and then stop until she signs "more." She's also learning to help them get her dressed in the morning. I guess they put her shirt partway on, and then she has to put her arms up for them to get it on the rest of the way, and same with pants. The teachers have never worked with a Trisomy 18 kid, only Trisomy 21 (which is Down Syndrome), so it's exciting for them to see what she can do. I'm really looking forward to seeing her in December and seeing the progress she's making.

Not much going on with me. I took my dogs to the groomer this morning. I always feel so bad taking them there because they get so excited to ride in the car, then they end up at the groomers instead of the beach or the woods for a hike. Since they're getting groomed, I went and got my haircut after my massage. Boy, that makes me sound pampered, doesn't it? My hair person lives with the massage person so I can get both things done one right after the other. Works out very well for me since I don't like to drive.

Jacquie and Sue--where are you??

Hope everyone is having a terrific Tuesday. It's cold here, but sunny with lots of blue sky.

Hi everybody!

I got up at the same time this morning and rode my stationary bike for 30 minutes.

My day went pretty well, but this evening I feel really tired.
And when I get tired or too comfy or bored, I start thinking of food. What's with that??? I must have a weird brain, I guess. Anyway, it's now 8:30 at night and I just ate a couple smoked sausage sticks. Better than sugar, I guess.

I stopped after work to see if I could find a pair of flip-flops, and Shopko had 4 pair left, one of which fit me. I was surprised they had any left at all. They were marked down to $1.27. So, now I'm ready to go to the pool. Got my bag all packed. I was going to go after supper, but, I got lazy, then remembered a few things I needed to do around here, like shutting off the water in the basement that goes to the outdoor faucet and disconnecting the hose and draining it.
I also just put a crock pot of chicken vegetable soup on, so my supper for tomorrow will be done.
I'll just take along a snack to have between work and the pool and go straight from work to swim.

Still haven't eaten any white foods.
Had poached eggs and lean ham for breakfast, tuna salad rolled up in romaine lettuce leaves for lunch and shrimp and veggie stirfry for supper. Had a dessert too, ... the ricotta, splenda, vanilla and peanutbutter. Sure hit the spot!

Sunny, it will be a long time till my tummy gets flat. In fact, I'm sure it never will.
I have to go to Mayo because I had 2 surgeries in June of 2000 for a rare cancer in my arm, and I have to go back every 3 to 6 months for MRI's of the arm and CT scans of the lungs because, IF it metastasizes, it usually goes to the lungs first. The last time I was there, in Sept. they found a lesion in my right lung, so, I have to go back now to see if it has grown or not. I pray that it's gone, but, ... I don't think so.

My sister too had surgery to lift the eyelids. She said that the Dr noticed that she kept raising her eyebrows to keep her eyes open enough to see, so he said she needed it done and there was no arguement from the insurance company at all. She said it's a piece of cake to have done.

Ladies, I am just beat tonight, and I need to get to bed so I'm not going to make individual replies tonight.

Hello to all of you and I hope you're having a wonderful evening.

More tomorrow.

Sharing a picture of my little man ~
Domino (8 yrs old) flirting with me this morning

I spent 2 and 1/2 hours in the pool today. It was just wonderful! I had a hard time sleeping last night, and about 4:30, I decided I wasn't in any mood to go to work, so I called in and took the day off.
I went back to bed and watched TV for a while and fell back alseep and slept till almost 8:30.

Of course my chicken vegetable soup was done by then and the whole house smelled of it, so I had a big mug of it for breakfast. I had put some thyme and a little bit of dried rosemary in it and it gave it such a good flavor.

I had a big ham and veggie omelet with FF cheese for lunch, then I went to the pool. It was so quiet there! When I first got there, there was only one older woman there, using the hot tub, and just as she left another lady, probably in her 60's came in and spent about an hour in the pool, then used the hot tub. After 2 1/2 hours, I figured I better get out of the pool.
Just as I got out and went into the hot tub, 2 more women, both younger and just as overweight as I am, came in to get in the pool. Then, while I was showering, 2 more younger women, thin ones too, came in to use the pool. So, it wasn't real busy, and I felt so comfortable because they ALL said they use the pool for exercise to either lose weight, keep weight off, or in the case of one older lady, for her arthritis.
I think it got busier around 5 PM because some of those arrivals had just gotten off work.
If I can, I'm going to try to get there every day it's available.

Tomorrow I'm taking my CPAP in to get the pressure adjusted lower and he's going to check out the mask to see why it's leaking air, besides the fact that the air pressure is too high. I think maybe the mask is too big.
Anyway, as soon as he's done with that, I'm heading for the pool.

When I got home from the pool, I had a big mug of soup and a cup of green tea for supper. Now I'm all set for tomorrow.

My muscles feel like they've been used, but they feel relaxed too. Those jets in the hot tub pounding on my back felt soooo good.

I've heard this before, years ago when I was still in school, a home economics teacher told us in foods class that you should eat meals the size of your fist. She said that's the size of your stomach, and that's all you should eat at one time. Of course, we thought she was kind of neurotic anyway, so we joked about it amongst ourselves, and I suppose that's why we remember it today.
Anyway, today I read that very same thing, and do you know, I can't remember where. I think it might have been in a back issue of the Skinny Daily Post.
Anyway, I'm going to try to keep that in mind when I'm eating. My meals have been more like the size of my foot!!

What a beautiful kitty!

Sunny, what are the 7 flavors you use for your Ricotta desserts? I sometimes use just the Splenda and vanilla, and sometimes cinnamon, and the peanutbutter, but that's about it. I suppose any food flavoring would work though.

Good job on going back to Curves. I used to go but withdrew my membership until later. They were very good about it.

My next appointments at Mayo are December 3rd and 4th.

Boy! Has this place been quiet today! Where has everyone been Sunny? Looks like it's just you and I!

Puss, are ya still swimming? How are those exercise classes going?

Hi Sheila, Bluet, Jacquie, Charlotte and Sue and everyone else reading this. Hope you're all having a good evening.

What a handsome boy, SunnyD! My big guy flirts with me, too. And the handyman, and the realtor, and the refrigerator repair person, and the police officer who came to take a report--the cat has no shame!

What a nice auntie you are. I got my sister to watch my daughter for a week when we went back to Florida to clean out my MILs house after she died. That was the extent of her watching any of my children while they were growing up--and that was only one kid. I would have preferred an aunt like you! I hope they are properly grateful. I babysat 5 boys (ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5--what were their parents thinking?) when I was a kid, and would only suffer through that for money.

So glad you're still on the no white food kick, Willow. It seems to be working well for you. I wonder, though, if your tiredness has anything to do with withdrawal?

I'm also praying that when you go back to Mayo next time that you'll get some good news.

Yum, chicken vegetable soup--I can almost smell it!

No letter from DD today. I was ever so hopeful, but tried not to be too down about not getting anything. I just keep on writing.

Today was my pincushion day. This time I lay on my right side and she stuck needles in my neck and shoulder, and after she took them out she did something called cupping. While I was lying on the table with the needles in me, I had no pain at all. I wished I could have stayed there forever. Also felt okay when I sat up, and the cupping was kind of interesting. I bet I'll have a lot of broken blood vessels, though.

Got a sad e-mail from my cousin who lives close to me. Her sister, who has been in and out of mental hospitals most of her adult life, is dying from ovarian cancer that has spread to her stomach and liver. The doctors won't operate or do radiation or chemo to shrink the large tumor in her stomach that is pressing on a major artery. We're all wondering if that's because my cousin is on Medicaid. My cousin who lives near us is looking into have her sister fly out here to die so at least she'll be around some family. Isn't that a horrible thing to have to arrange? My sick cousin is about 45 or 46, I think. If you can spare a prayer for both my cousins, I'd appreciate it.

Well, on that sad note, I guess I'll go make dinner.

Hi all!

It is nice to have my computer up and running again. I still had a frew problems to get sorted out after the hard drive was installed but everything appears to be working fine now.

I have been very busy getting caught up on all the posts, its amazing how much you miss in 2 weeks.

Last Tuesday we had freezing rain all day and by Wednesday morning 8 inches of snow!! Needless to say driving about town is like driving on a skating rink and no one ventures out unless it is really necessary. The weather is supposed to start warming up on the weekend...hopefully they are right.
Even with the bad weather we had about 80 trick or treaters on Halloween.....usually we have about 175 though. Needless to say they all got extra treats!!

SunnyD...I can really relate to your problems...my mother and my aunt both have diverticulitis so I feel for what you are going through and what you have to deal with.

Willow I have been reading the SBD and would like to give it a try ....hopefully I have the willpower you do. DH has an appointment with an Orthopedic Surgeon Dec 4 for disc problems in his back so my prayers will be with you both.

Sheila I will also say a prayer for your cousins.

There just seems to have been so much heartache this year for so many people, hopefully 2004 will be a much better.

Hi to Charlotte, Bluet, Fatpuss and everyone I have missed.

Its good to be back!

Jacquie