the best me

Who? ME?! Oh man! No offending happening here! Oh my word, we have stuff all over this board that if you were worried about keeping it organized, no way! You are free to search and post wherever you think appropriate for your needs, I just wanted to point you in the direction of Oregon, since you would certainly find good reading there and some local talk. You just "hippie" (BTW love your screenname) yourself right at home wherever you land! I'm sorry if I sounded bossy, or whatever. Just pointing out stuff, you can ignore me! Welcome!

Read, read, read, and go to the Oregon Forum...click Lap Band Talk Forum, then scroll all the way down to Oregon, there's a merry bandsters thread that is great, all with folks in your neck of the woods. My best advice is to read and research, and if you have a ray of hope about this? it's real.

Take it easy Jamie...you are doing awesome! Don't know about calories but I was planning on shooting for 1000/day on mushies if possible. But youknow better than me how to do that, all my best laid plans will fly out the window I'm sure, so I just have to rememeber to let them go...kind of like my wedding, plan as best you can then just let it happen. In the end, you still got married. You are Banded, you did it! Yayyyy!!! You are doing a great job! I don't think that analogy made sense...but I'm still proud of you!

No way Jose! Your band date is right after mine!!! You get LOTS of cheerleading, don't worry! The May bandsters are the ones who need to worry, cuz after April is done, I'm back to my normal thing...it's too much to keep up...there are 11 bandsters this week alone!!!! And I thought we'd have maybe 6 or 7 for the month. HA! I won't drop the ball don't worry! Editing: hey Trish, have you seen the "This Week's Bandsters" threads? There are two so far under support like this one. I lumped...

Okay, Brenda, keep us posted on the "Banded This Week" thread. Look under the Support Forum and you'll see it and your name on the list for this coming week. I'll be looking for you! I get back on the 9th also. Happy Band-day!!

Okay, we got Geochic and Ezzy'smom and Tanya, then Isa will be a while yet. Still waiting on BigDaddy and jeangab. Anyone ever hear from jrowell or gypj? Congrats everybody!!! Glad to see you are making it, check out each others stories on the other threads to compare notes. Welcome to Bandland! editing: I found gypj on Vera's thread, she's back, just looking for jennifer (jrowell) and waiting for our Saturday folks, jeangab and BigDaddy...come and post ya'll!!!

Aw, thanks for checking in, I was looking for you and here your are Banded!!! Sorry you feel so bad. Rest and don't worry, check in when you can. Wer'e thinking of you.

Hey Pat, is she on our April 2005 Bandsters Thread? Does she have a screen name here? I'll just add her as HarleyNana's Mom, sound good?

Stay up on the computer an extra hour gang, it's Spring Forward night!!! Wait, that's Fall Back. Go to bed early gang, get off this computer, you lose an hours sleep tonight!

Very funny northerner! lol Spring Forward, Fall Back. At 2AM it magically turns 3AM at Spring Forward. Fall back, it magically turns 1AM. How can you get away with not doing this?!!! Doesn't the whole world do this? I just can't imagine! Of course, I have lived in the SouthEast my entire life, save for a few college years in Texas...it never occured to me that everyone doesn't do this! How would you ever remember to change the batteries in your smoke detectors?! That is so odd to me...hehe

Wow, that was easy! Thanks Jenna, you are GOOD! Hey, Roc, what area are you from? PM me if you want, but I'm leaving Thursday AM for MX so hurry! (back Sat though) I have some other names and numbers if Winston is no good. Good Luck...

NOOOO! This is awesome cool fun! no deleting fun stuff! I forgot Mike is from NC, so he knows all about the backcreek NC crawdads...I'm sure they are technically edible, but I would much rather have the raised kind for eating. Okay, next chance I get I'll try one, I promise. I am reassured that even Mike doesn't suck heads. Whew! these conversation get trashy when there's too much beer involved, if you can imagine!

No head sucking here...eww. I do like lobster though, but have never been able to get past the heads on crawfish. Yuck. The ones you eat are crawfish, the ones that run around in the backwoods creeks in NC are crawdads. You can't eat crawdads, but you can eat crawfish. I have also seen it written crayfish, same thing? Great pics Paula! Ya'll had a mess o dem bugs, huh? We had 20lbs of Oysters tonight, me, DH and his brother. Yum, steamed on the grill, put on a Saltine and add a little Texas Pete Cocktail Sauce, yummy! You'd think I could handle crawfish if I can eat Oysters. ??? Good family fun for both of us tonight! Hey Kelly, here's what I know...very similar to Lobster, like Paula said, but smaller and very messy to crack and eat. The crawfish are boiled in hot spices (cayenne pepper, and others) and apparently the spices will boil into the heads of these things and collect there, making the head part extra spicey! So you are supposed to tear off the heads and suck out the brains, then chase it with cold beer. It's apparently very yummy and I should be brave and try it, but the antennea (sp?) are hard for me to get past. Whaddya thing about that?!! Would you try it?

Thanks ya'll, it's a labor of love for the April Bandsters, someone from May will need to take over THAT cause. It's kinda hard work! Okay, not in the HARD work kind of way, but it takes some time and attention. All I did was start the April Bandsters thread, a few signed up, TrishS to start, and from there I just started reading posts, and when I came across an April Bandster, I edited the post with the list and added them on, and the list sort of developed on it's own. Then I started seeing the weeks appear, and rather than start threads for each individual, well, I just went for the weekly thread. There are 10 Bandsters for this coming week! 10! And I am one of them! Woohooo! It's overwhelming to keep up with each person, particularly when they don't post regularly and beg for the cheerleading like I do shamelessly. I also want to make sure everyone makes it back okay. It helps me stay calm when I see one after another go and come back and now, weeks later they are posting about PB's and all the normal stuff...it's reassuring for me. I am not completely altruistic! I leave on Thursday morning, early, and will need to post the NEXT week's thread before I go, since I don't know how I will feel when I get back Sat night and, honestly, don't want to have to worry about it...so it's chugging along, but the May folks will have to find their own advocate (hint, get busy) I really love all of you but keeping up with April is plenty for my soon to be very small plate, pardon the pun! Yay this week's Bandsters!!!!

Oh my word Brenda. You will definately feel better with a big ole chunck of weight off! I think it's just the answer, particularly with knee trouble! Wow, good for you! Look for the new thread under support for this week's bandsters...sign in there and let folks wish you well! Hey is your Dr Rumbaut in Monterrey? or someone with a similar name...I may have spelled it wrong...be sure and check before you change yours, if he's the one you are seeing. I hear it's nice in Monterrey, if that's where your headed.

Okay, thanks so much, I'll post a pic when I get it all planted back and we'll see how it goes. I hope it makes it, and if it doesn't, I'm definately NOT starting over. No more plants...I don't suppose you'd be surprised to find out this is not my only problem plant. I have an Orchid in my bathroom (steamy) and some other plants I have no idea what they are...when I get a second wind on houseplants, I know where to come! Thanks!!!

Oh my gosh Crystal, calculus?!!! okay PRE-calculus, whatever, I prefer jades. Thanks for the perspecive. Okay I have dismembered the poor jade and this is what it looks like on an old towel on my kitchen counter...some of the little stems have tiny roots, should I go ahead and plant those? Not much chance of rot left there. What I THINK happens is, as I let the stems sit there, they will beging to magically sprout tiny roots and then I plant them, right? BIG SIGH I always root for the underdog. It's the bane of my co-dependant nature, pick things as needy as possible and actually CHOOSE to care for them, then resent it. Plants better than people, I guess. I really have come a long way. Here it is, and don't laugh.

Jeangab and BigDaddy are celebrating today! Good Luck you two!! Happy Band-day! Have we heard from Ezzysmom? I know Tanya is back, Isa will be a good while, no jennifer? no gypj? no Geochic yet (she was just yesterday)...best wishes everyone! we can't wait to hear from you!

Okay, today is the day my little dead jade gets a new chance at life and a new pot...although I forgot I had planted something else in the pot I had in mind...I'll dig up something, anyway, I'm calling DH to bring home some sand, I have the potting soil, I'll get the pot ready today and cut the poor thing to pieces and let the ends dry for a few days before I replant. I will post a pic when I have it all reassembled. This is a great distraction from the pre-surgery jitters...as if my life doesn't have any distractions, right? And I love my new little camera phone, this has been a good investment (under 30 bucks! plus an additional 5.99 a month for the picture package where I can email pics to myself and other features) Thanks a bunch Jenna, you are a DOLL! I'll keep you posted.

Yay Brenda! I have you on the list, post #20 in this thread which is what Christina quoted above...so glad you checked in and keep us posted on how everything goes for you! Thursday's a comin'!!!!

Okay, wow, thanks. Everything you said sounds exactly right. Although i have tried to be careful not to overwater...guess i did anyway. In the winter I keep it indoors in the dining area, in front of the glass french doors to the deck. It doesn't like it there but it's too cold at night here (NC) when it gets down into the low 40s, high 30s in the early Spring, but now it's great and it will love it outside all summer. The porch is not heated, it's covered but outside and gets part shade part direct sunlight during the day. It does not get more htan 8 hours direct sunlight. You can't see it in the pic, but all of the new budding leaves just shriveled up and dried and I brushed them off and they fell all over the place. Stem Rot is a very good description, I think that's it. So, how do I cut off the savable stems and get them to root? There is some new growth coming up from stems that fell off? or did I break them off?, they had tiny white roots on them so I just stuck them down in the soil and they are taking off. My plan, please check: fresh soil in a pretty glazed ceramic pot with a hole (the plate/base is broken but I have that plastic thing for the bottom) and replant the cuttings (however you tell me to do that) and once I get the thing going and all the leaves are up out of the soil, I'll add some gravel to the top layer over the soil. Should I mist it? How often? Wow, thanks Princess. I'm such a plant idiot, I KNEW someone here could help!

Hey Dawn, I just now got your screen name...sweet tooth, duh! I have been calling you "swuh duth" in my head all this time...hello!! Tuesdays coming!!! Woohooo!

Okay, I'm not excited anymore. We have weekly dinners at my house, my dad, sister, "Uncle Peter" (my sister's SO) and sometimes my Mom (if she has Fridays off from work) or friends from church come over and it's usually on Thu or Fri nights. So, tonight, (Friday) is one week from my surgery date, and I'm letting it sink in that this is my last Friday night dinner without the Band. I love these dinners. We sit out on the deck after supper and talk, tonight the "boys" all worked on my car (the AC compressor is broken, yuck) and the kids played out in the yard with the neighbors and my 2yo son got his first bloody nose falling off a scooter. I don't suspect anything will be that different after Banding, except for what and how much I eat, particularly in the first weeks. But tonight I just quit being excited. All normal pre-surgery jitters, I'm not particularly worried about feeling this way, I just noticed it and it's a wierd feeling. Kind of numb. Odd. But dinner was AWESOME! My hubby grilled great big juicy yummy burgers and we had them with whole wheat buns and all the fixins, potato chips, raw veggies and real sour cream ranch dip, then fresh strawberries over poundcake with Cool Whip for dessert. I ate 1 1/2 burgers...so good. Wonder what I would have eaten Banded with that meal? Fear of the Unknown...that's what this is...Tiajuana, plane trips, airports, hotels, new faces and people, life after banding. I like Control more than I think I do!!! Thanks ya'll. One more thing, I used to hate journaling. Never write anything down from your heart you wouldn't want someone else to read. Whenever I have tried it, months later, I would read what I wrote and be so embarrassed of myself I'd rip it up...now here I am on the WWW posting to people I have never even met in person and ANYONE, I mean MILLIONS of people can read it. And I don't care. What's up with that? hmm.

Hope it's all good news! Wer'e pulling for you!! Good Luck!

Aw, man, we have 50 grand, right? I'd spend 30 grand on house decorating...new furniture, new lighting, fresh paint in pretty colors, pictures on the walls, all the little details taken care of in my home, cabinetry in the living room (bookshelves, a place for the TV electronics) and hardwood in the Living Room (currently have carpet, loved it with the kiddies little, now it's time to upgrade.) And I'd totally remodel the bonus room into a guest room/playroom. Right now poor Paula would hyperventilate if she saw the toys strewn from one end of the room to the other...no organization, no plan, it's awful. I can do this within the budget because DH is a licensed general contractor/home remodeler/carpenter/plumber/electrician/landscaper/painter/handyman type fella. He framed and built our entire house except for the work that required a licensed sub-contractor (electrical/plumbing/heat&air) and the brickwork. I can shop at Target & WalMart (with no shame) and as long as I give him his "paycheck" for 6 weeks, he'll have it all done within budget. That's 20 grand left...Family vacation to Disney World, I'd pay off my sisters credit card, I'd pay my dad's bills for the next 3 years, that would about spend it. AH, it's so nice to dream!