If you have 50 or so pounds to lose, or are in the process of losing, this is the group for you! So jump on in and join, you'll be sure to get a warm welcome!

Here we are at number 100! Do y'all realize that we're going on our third year now? We started in March of 2000.

JOYce, glad to hear the oral surgeon has given you such a good report! Can't wait to see y'all, hopefully in August, but for sure in October! Texaslady and I would love to show everybody the Riverwalk. How is your mother doing?

Texaslady, I'm with you, this heat is just too much; we're trying to stay inside as much as possible, too. Dh and I went to SA today for meeting and to shop for a few little things for the trip. (I could go crazy in the Container Store, if I had just won the lottery, that is ..) I think it may be easier to pack large suitcases than the backpacks; we're having to plan carefully and repackage stuff like shampoo, etc.

Hi to Linda, Janet and Carol! (Carol, I'm with Texaslady, am getting antsy to hear from you!) Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Regards,
Jan

I posted on 99, without seeing #100! so here it is for what it is worth! Wow we have been a busy group!! 100 threads!!!

sorry texaslady! I missed that question!
I have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls,...10 grandkids, 7 girls and 3 boys and 4 great grands 2 boys and 2 girls.

I had a nice trip to my mom's. My dd and her 2 kids went with my dgd that lives here, and me. she got loads of info for her geneology project!. She is highlighting the spots across Texas that we need to stop and visit cemetaries. Mother is doing well and was thrilled to see her Great grands.

I'll write more another day, I'm tired! it was a long day!

Gosh - I had to just jump in here and join the #100 party!!!!

Carol - saw your post on #99 and am glad that you checked in with us. Didn't realize your drive to work was so far but traffic is much better, I am sure.

Joyce - You certainly are the head of a nice brood of kids, grandkids and great grands! Glad your Mom is still doing well, too.

Jan - Not long now before you guys take off. I am so excited for you. I know you two will have a great time in Europe.

Can't believe we made it all the way to #100 - and, of course, will go way beyond. I wish I could remember what thread we were on when I first posted - but like Jan says it was spring of 2000 when I climbed on board.

Too hot to do much today. Went errand shopping w/dd for a couple hours, but that's it. Brought some work home and I have been doing that for a few hours. Big exciting week-end, huh?

Will go now - just didn't want to miss the #100 celebration!

Carol , so good to hear from you! Wow, 45 minutes is a long commute, but like Texaslady says, at least it's not in awful traffic! So glad to hear the job is going so well. Sure hope things will work out in July so we can see you again! Will email you so we can work out details. Are you getting the same rain that my ds is? (She says Dad is rather depressed that he can't swim, during the thunderstorms; guess we just have to figure out a way to put a pool of some kind in! Never realized he liked the water so much!)

Texaslady, you're right, you joined on 3/26/00, already having lost 55 pounds! A bit of history: Tigerlily (Janet) started the group on 3/3/00, first member was KWOW, JOYce and I on the same day, Carol the next day, Janet on 4/22 and Linda joined in May. (No, my memory is shot, but I happened to save our beginning posts right before our first reunion.) We had some wonderful members who eventually left us, like IndySue, Saara, ROXRH, Merri, and Jenny; I hope the group helped them, and I know they helped us. Wish they'd stop in and say hi. I think it's pretty amazing that this core group has stayed together all this time, though! And thanks for the best wishes reur trip. I'm really excited about it! Dh and I didn't get to travel for so many years, though we both love to.

JOYce, what a wonderful family you have! I'll bet your mother was really excited about the visit, too. Sure hope the geneology search will take you down south of SA!

Hi to Linda and Janet!

Regards,
Jan

I got my cholesterol report today, It is too high, even higher than it has been..so I have been checking out recipes on :
http://www.lowcaldiner.com/index.shtml
Looks like some really good ones.

Oops!
time for the 'soccer taxi'!
more later!

I thought you would like to know that when I got home from my trip that I got an e-mail from Linda, telling me about a fall she took while helping her dd clean her dd's new condo. Linda fell and broke her ankle, sounds like it was a horrible experience. 911 didn't answer the cel phonecall, so Linda was rescued by 2 Arrowhead deliverymen, who lifted her into dd's car to be taken to the hospital where she later had surgery to place 3 bones in proper place with the help of pins and a plate. Judging from her e-mails, she is having some good days and some not-so-good ones.

Also, I got word from my sister last night saying that Mother is in ICU with chest pains. she was resting more peacefully later last night when the demoral and nitro took effect.

Must get going. dgd has more testing and interviewing for her summer job this morning, and i am going to the Y while she is there. I HAVE to keep up this water aerobics and reduce this bod, and get it in much better shape!

Well, JOYce is right -- I broke all three bones in my right ankle, and can't do much of anything! DH is waiting on me hand and...um, "ankle," and I have a walker and a wheelchair with which I get around. I'm seeing the surgeon on Monday, at which time I hope he'll say "The cast is coming OFF, and now you can WALK unaided!!!!" Not sure that will be the case, but that's what I am hoping for.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Janet, so nice to hear from you, Carol, where are you, girl?

JOYce and dgd brought us a lovely (even low point!) casserole last night, along with dessert, a salad, a cucumber and lots of fresh fruit. What a friend. We had the rest of the casserole tonight, DH is so relieved that he didn't have to cook two nights in a row, now.

dgd has a job starting 7/8, she will work 4 hrs a day in a retirement center, in the activities area, she should do really well there!
AND:
Mother is out of the hospital feeling much better, it was not a heart attack!
I spend all day today at a soccer tournament in very warm weather!(but a lovely breeze out on the fields) and get to go back tomorrow for the rest of it! We had a tie and a win today, so may make it clear to the final game ! DH is on another fishing trip, so the soccer duty is mine. These older girls really take the game seriously, and play awfully rough!!...not very 'lady-like'!

Missing you gals! where is everybody??

Joyce, so glad to hear your mother is ok! I know that must have given you quite a scare.

Linda, my goodness, I am so sorry to hear about your broken ankle! How awful that you had to wait so long for help! I hope you recover quickly; it's great that you have a friend like Joyce around to help you like that.

Dh and I are in Paris now, arrived on Thursday; finally found an Internet cafe so we could say hi! Having a terrific time walking all over the city, seeing museums, etc. I think we're staying close enough to our points not to gain, at least! We're trying hard, anyway. \\Gotta run! \hi to Texaslady, Carol, and Janet!

Regarde,
Jan

Wow, Jan - Posting from Paris! Now we have a real international flair! I know that you guys are having a wonderful time. I laughed about your Dad wanting to swim during the thunderstorms. Actually, I think your part of Texas is probably getting a good soaking today. It was finally let up here after more than a week of rain every day - how lovely that was after all this drought. But most of it seems to have floated west and San Antonio and Austin are in the line of fire today. I was amazed at your memory of the early days of this board - before you confessed to saving some of the early posts!

Linda- I am SO SORRY to hear about your ankle break! I have a cousin who is about 15 years older than me who broke her ankle more than a month ago and she has had a difficult time,too. The doctor has refused to put a hard cast on because she had so much swelling. She is hoping to get one this week. She also has all kind of pins and such in place. She is getting on a bit better now but I have to say she wasn't a very pleasant patient the first couple weeks. I did laugh at her describing how her husband shaved her legs with his electric razor & how she manages to bathe and wash her hair. We can certainly get creative when we have to. I hope that you are doing better now, but I am sure it will take quite a while for the healing process to complete.

Joyce - Glad your Mom is OK now and doing better. Sorry about the high colesterol - that's one problem I have never had. My dr. said high colesterol is usually genetic, and I just got good genes - in that area at least. How sweet of you to cook for Linda and her husband - you are fortunate to have each other's friendship.

Carol - Girl, where have you disappeared to? I know Florida was getting a lot of this rain that eventually made its way to us. Hope all is OK in your new house.

I was counting on dd and her dh to come over tonight and I was going to take us out to dinner. They called about 6:30 - sil had just gotten up. So I let them off the hook - after all, he has to go back to work in just 3 hours. By the time they drove here & we hit a restaurant & they drove home, he would just barely have time to get himself ready. Apparently he got off a couple hours late this morning and didn't get in bed to sleep until 10 am. I don't know how they keep their crazy schedule - her working days and his working nights!

Hope everyone has a great week - can't believe tomorrow is Monday already. At least I get a day off this week, although I do have to work on Friday. But one day is better than none! Take care. Will check in again later

Hope every one is having a good day! You working gals enjoy this day off!
I'm just going to hang out here, and get caught up on some cleaning. dh is due home tomorrow, judging from the fish reports, he will come bearing lots of albacore and yellowtail.

I've been thinking about you texans! the flooding looks terrible! to think that you were in the midst of such a drought! I hope you and yours are all high and dry!

WEll, guess I will go get a turkey cooking!

Hi girls - Happy fourth of July to those who are around!

Joyce - Turkey for the fourth! What a great thing to have. Sounds yummy.

Jan - Part of San Antonio and surrounding areas are experiencing heavy flooding these past few days. The system which hung around here for 10 days finally moved a little west and has been soaking San Antonio and the hill country. I can't remember where the most severe flooding was - Utopia and Boerne got some and Interstate 10 was under water a few days ago - kind of like Houston was last year about this time when Allison rolled through. As usual, feast or famine.

I have been off today and I have not done one thing! I didn't even leave the house until a little while ago when I went outside to "water" my roof and gutters before all the "kids" start shooting off fireworks tonight. I have a lot of pine straw in my gutters and that would make fine kindling. I thought a good soaking of water might be in order. Wish they would outlaw firework sales! The City of Houston has done so, but they are still legal in the unincorporated areas of the county - i.e., ME!

I do have to go to work tomorrow though so this is a short holiday for me. However, tomorrow is Friday so that's a good thing. Hopefully it will be quiet as many offices will be closed and I can get a good amount of work done.

Linda - How are you feeling now? Hopefully you are on the mend.

Carol - I really do miss your posts! Don't leave us, now, after all this time.

Gotta go - everyone take care. God bless America!

Good morning, friends!! I am so sorry to be awol for so long! I actually did do a long post on #100 one day- and lost it. I then never got back to it! I don't mean to be so delinquent- things are just so hectic right now, plus my Lupus is in a flare, so it seems like I don't have a spare moment!
I think I told you all the kids sold their house and go to settlement on July 15. They found, with the help of a lot of leg work from exdh and me, a really nice house to rent. It is about 10 minutes from our houses, and it's in a nice development on a cul-de-sac. It has a big fenced back yard which will be perfect for the kids and the 2 dogs. There are un-built-on wooded lots on either side of them, and nothing behind them either. Their lot has big trees which should provide some shade. Exdh has been up there in MD for the past week helping them get the house ready. He's driving back this morning, and then this coming Friday he will fly back up to help with last minute stuff and to drive the U-Haul down. He'll have one dog with him on the drive down and dsil will be in their car with the other dog. DD and my beloved little sweeties will fly in that night, and I'll pick them up at the airport. I can't wait to hug my babies again! Of course I especially miss my dgs, who calls on the phone to say "I wuv you, gramdma" and give sloppy telephone kisses.
Work is going pretty well- it has its plusses and its negatives, but all in all I am content with it. It's very different working for a doctor's office that is part of a corporation- all decision making comes from the corporate powers that be instead of the doctor. Not medical decisions, but policies, etc. It basically gives the office manager more power than the doctor in some instances, which will take a lot of getting used to for me.
I enjoyed having the day off yesterday. I didn't do anything other than the usual laundry-clean-errand routine, but it was good to have the day off. I did do some chilling to try to help push this flare-up out the door! I sure don't have time for it now!!!

Joyce, I'm sorry to hear about your cholesterol. But look at it this way- it's one more good incentive for sticking to the WW paln religiously. My cholesterol dropped 52 points on the plan. How is your mom doing? I'm so glad it wasn't a heart attack. I know you are relieved.
Linda, you poor thing!!! What an awful experience! Let us know how the doctor's visit goes. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the cast to come off Monday though- I may be wrong, but I expect it will need to be immobilized longer than that.
Jan, BONJOUR to you and dh!! How thoughtful of you to take time to post to us from Paris! (unlike me, who's been neglecting to post at all lately). It sounds like you all are having a wonderful time, and noone deserves it more! Enjoy!! I hope you can post some pictures when you get back!
Texaslady, thanks for the subtle reminder to get my tail back here on the board! We have been having lots of rain too- I think that's part of the problem with my muscle/joint thing right now. But we needed the rain, and things are now nice and green. Fortunately we haven't had all the mess you Texans have had. I have learned one thing, though- when it rains in Florida, it REALLY RAINS!!!! And the lightening!!
Janet, I hope you enjoyed your Florida trip- let us know how things went.
Well, ladies, I'd better start getting ready for work. Sure wish we were closed today- I could use the 4 day weekend. But we have a drug rep bringing us lunch, so that will be nice.
Take care, and have a good day, everyone.
Carol

WOW...I can't believe we are on thread 100!!

I just wanted to pop in before I leave for Florida and ask y'all to keep me in your prayers. I went to my gyno and to my breast surgeon and everything was fine in those departments, but some other things have come up. I haven't even told anyone at work what was going on, but I need all the prayers I can get. First of all, my blood sugar was way up. Diabetes runs in my family on my father's side, and I have suspected for some time that I may have become diabetic. I have just been feeling so bad lately and have had no energy. Some nights I can barely make it in the door, plus I have had lots of other strange symptoms going on. My doctor sent me to an endocronologist who I have fallen in love with. I have never had so much fun at a doctor's office. When I got the bill I told them that now I know why they are so much fun...they charge you for it. My bill for one day was almost $600. Anyway, I do have type II diabetes but he isn't convinced that it is my weight, genetics or diet. He only thinks I've had it for a few months, and he has done all kinds of tests and we know there has been no kidney damage. All my other tests have been okay...sort of. My cholesterol was not bad, but my good HDL was a little low and my LDL was just a little high. The thing that concerns me now is that he is doing a test for Cushings Disease. He says that Cushings can cause hypertension and diabetes, but after reading up on it, I'm praying that isn't what is causing this. I would much rather just get my butt in gear and get this weight off and exercise. This has been a real wake up call. I do have one of my funny "only happens to Janet" stories. I had to do this thing called a 24 hour urine free cortisol test. You have to collect your urine and keep it refrigerated. Well that meant that I had to take it with me to a cookout yesterday. When I walked in with my ice chest, everybody said "yummmmmmmm, what did you bring?" The nurse was telling me that I couldn't have any alcohol (which is really no problem for me), but I told her if she mentioned the words ribs or potato salad that I was leaving. We were cracking up thinking about how horrible it would be if someone opened up my ice chest and wondered what I had brought to drink. Anyway, I won't bore y'all with anymore details, but please keep me in your prayers.

I leave for Perdido Key on Sunday. DD has been in Panama City all week and is headed back tonight. She and her boyfriend and another friend will come down on Thursday for her birthday. It seems to me that someone on this board has a birthday very close to my DD's (July 12). My memory isn't what it used to be, so please fess up.

Jan, I can't believe you posted from Paris...how EXCITING!! I hope you and DH are having an absolutely wonderful time.

Carol, that is great news about your family moving down. I know that you will be thrilled to have everyone within a few miles. I am so happy that you are settling in so well, and that you are ejoying your job for the most part.

JOYce, I'm so happy that your mom is okay. You lead such a busy and exciting life. Good luck with your cholesterol battle...and enjoy the fresh fish!!

Linda, Linda, Linda...you poor thing. I hope you are feeling better. Please take care of yourself. I know that sweet husband of yours will make sure you do.

Texaslady, I hope you haven't floated away. We have been having a lot of rain too...of course, we usually get whatever you get...just a little later. I'll think of you this week while I'm at the beach. I know you love it as much as I do. Maybe sometime we can arrange to travel somewhere on the Texas beach together. My ex-dh's sister use to always ask us to go to someplace that started with a "P" but I can't think of the name right now...we never got the chance to go.

Well, I guess I better go do some research. I want to be informed, but it's probably not a real good idea to do too much research. Some of these sites make it sound like you could die from an ingrown toenail.

Everyone take care and have a wonderful week. I'll write as soon as I get back from vacation. Everyone stay safe!!

Love,

Janet (Kudzu)

Janet, I will be praying for you, yes. I am so sorry to hear of your problems, what have you learned about Cushing's Disease? And when will you get the results of the test you took for it? I admit, I had to giggle at the thought of your carrying your "specimen" to the party in an ice chest. Your sense of humor certainly hasn't been affected, bless your heart. Keep up the positive thinking.

I am on top of the world. If you could have seen my leg and foot two weeks ago when I broke the ankle (the leg bone was bulging out the left side of my leg; my foot was going out at an angle to the right of my leg) you would agree that this surgeon did a miraculous job of getting me back together. Monday when I saw the surgeon, he took x-rays (my right foot is lousy with titanium) and said that I was healing "very well," and when pressed, said that I was healing "above average." He put me into a walking cast, so I am no longer on the walker or in the wheelchair, but I am walking all by myself!!! I can take the walking cast off when I am sitting, but whenever I am on my feet I have to have it on, for walking and so on. I am in practically no pain these days, oh, and the doctor also said after the surgery that I had "very good, dense bones." Yippee skippee!!!

Carol, I am so happy for you that your dd, dsil and two dgchildren are going to be living only 10 minutes from you, that is just super!!! Their house sounds like it is in a wonderful setting. I'm sorry to read that your lupus is acting up. I pray that you will be able to do some more, more lengthy "chilling" to sweep it right out the door. Take care of yourself.

Texaslady, take care of yourself in the weather in Texas--hope you don't get the terrible rains they have been getting in other parts. I've been thinking about you.

Jan, Ooh, la la! There you are in Gay Paree -- I'm so glad that you found an internet cafe! I would like to invite you to go off program just once and have some sloppy-good French pastries, there is nothing like them in the good ol' US of A! I hope you and dh are getting some good walking in--have you visited Notre Dame yet, with those flying buttresses? I remember France having some lovely sunsets. Have fun, enjoy each and every moment.