piercedqt78

I think his age and experience level will keep him out of the White House for at least another term. He seems intelligent, and level headed but young. ~Mandy

Cassandra, my b-day is the 8th. I was thinking the 24th or 25th? How's that for everyone? ~Mandy

Cindy, surgery is the 19th. I will be recovering next weekend so I get to watch another bears game. ~Mandy

I made a bog pot of chili for dinner tonight. It was good, but then I had a Peanut Butter brownie for dessert. The Chicago Bears won today so we are only 1 game away from the superbowl. The announcer guy was saying that the bears were the favorite for next week so who knows. 1985 was our last trip to the bowl. I hope they do well but it makes me nervous to think they might win. When the Chicago Bulls were winning the championships the city was a dangerous place to be. Chicago fans tend to get a bit carried away when the hometown boys win. I just hope people are safe and smart if we win. I managed to get up and shower today, and then I proceeded to put on clean jammies. I think between the pain and the dread of surgery I am just down and a bit tired. (I'm sure the pain meds are not helping with either problem). I'm hoping to get better fast. I don't think I can do the 1000 miles in a year but I would love to put a challenge out there. I am going to walk in the Avon Breast Cancer walk, anyone want to join me? We can form a team and walk together, even though we are all over the country. I just thought it would be a way to come together for a great cause and also give us somthing to share. Let me know if you think you would sign up and do it with me. If not I will join an existing team. I am going to do this, a friend was diagnosed with breast cancer this year and I want to walk in her honor. Also I have a friend that is a 12 year survivor, it would mean a lot if I walked to her too. Every day thousands of women are diagnosed with breast cancer, I want to help those women, they are somebodies mother, sister, daughter. Who wants to help me help them? ~Mandy

Here is my local radar for this afternoon, we are between Rockford and Chicago. http://www.chicagolandsportbikes.com/index.php?page=radar ~Mandy

Feb lunch: Piercedqt78 Soniacan Lala (with her new band) Veggestyle Pugchick Melissa 0915

I would like to try a different place next time, same area though. I think that my portion will be much smaller next time. I am going to get a fill sometime in the next 2 weeks. ~Mandy

Ok, the 5 of us met yesterday, and I had a great time. I would like to do this again next month. Lets plan this early so we can all mark the calender and have the day free. When? Where? And who's in? ~Mandy

Sorry, I didn't check back in last night. I was child free for the first time in a Loooooong time so hubby and I joined a game night. We had a blast. My band meetup was very nice. We met at an olive garden, the one I normally go to lets be order off the kids menu, this one wouldn't, but they did let us order off the weekday lunch menu (cheaper and smaller portions). We were there almost 3 hours, and the time just flew by. I had met one of the girls before and she was as sweet as ever. I was the longest banded of the group and one of the girls is getting her band monday, she was on liquids...so she had a coffee. I felt guilty for eating in front of her, but she insisted she was fine. We had some great conversation, a few laughs and we all agreed that we should do this again. I of course forgot my camera, so maybe next month I will get pictures? Well the kiddo is home and I have to make breakfast. I will check in later. ~Mandy Oh, I also realized I need a fill, I was able to eat my soup and all of my lunch yesterday. I was full for the rest of the day, but I ate wayyyy to much. ~Mandy

I had sugery in the city, and was unhappy with the surgeon and he is in california now. I use Dr. Lahmann at Silver Cross Hospital. I think they are great. Let me know if you want or need more information. ~Mandy

I am meeting with several other bandsters from the Chicagoland area today. I thought I would have more joining us, there were so many that were interested in a get-to-gether. I think there will be 7 of us total, if everyone shows. I will report back in later and let you all know how it went. Veggestyle was going to join us, but she had something come up...maybe next time. ~Mandy

melissa, you are of course welcome. I called to confirm that there would be 6 or 8 of us and they said there were no reservations. But we should have a fairly short wait. Here is the address, as I just learned that there are 3 Olive Gardens in Naperville. Can't wait to see you all there. 620 S State Route 59 Naperville, IL 60540 (630) 355-2818

I am going to call today and confirm for 8, just in case someone else decides to join last min. We can all meet there, the ressie will be under my name. ~Mandy

Anyone coming to the luncheon that will soon be in a size 16? I have several pair of shorts and capris in 16's. I found them in the closet. There is also a pair of dress pants and a sweater in the bag. I will bing them with me, let me know if anyone wants them. ~Mandy

I would ask for a T3 test, it's a complete thyroid panel. If it is low synthroid is cheap, my mom's cost like $8 a month. When she forgot it on her cruise last year she gained 8 pounds in 7 days and slept like 14 hours a day. After 2 weeks back on the meds the weight was gone and she was back to 8 hours of sleep a day. Do you have a quest lab near you? They do lab work without doctors orders, and you pay a set fee for it. Then you can take the lab results to a doctor and have them prescribe meds if needed. They will give you a print out of the results and what the normal spectrum is, so you will know if the levels are normal or high/low. Might be worth a try. ~Mandy

My surgery has been postponed until fri the 19th. There was an issue with the schedual. I will be going alone. The surgical center has a car to pick me up, mu dh will be staying home with Abi. My mom was going to go with me but she has something going on the 19th that can't be moved (it's also medical). I am sitting here eating chips and queso, stress...argh!!!! At least I am having a healthy dinner, pot roast. That is at least once a week around here, it's everyone favorite. Also it's simple with little clean-up so I try to make it often. I'll be back later. ~Mandy

I have her book but have not had time to read it yet. I am having surgery next wed, I am sure I will read it in the waiting room and then while I am recovering. I will let you know what she says about it. ~Mandy

Cindy, the jeans came from the Disney Store. There are some on Ebay, they came up to a 14 or 16. They also make pirates jeans. I have them too. They just didn't photograph well (read, I looked like crap in the pics) I will try to retake them tomorrow. ~Mandy

Anyone else?

The rescue sent me the vet rocords for the dog and guess what??? His name is Harley, not Barley. That is why he was ignoring us. When I opened the letter from the vet, and said his name is Harley, he came running over to me and started licking me and jumping on me. I think he was excited that we finally had his name right. So Harley it is. He is the one with the blue collar on the right. They are in harnesses now, after reading about the choking hazard of collars. ~Mandy

Here is a pic of Abi, me and the dogs.

Here's one pair of my disney pants. They are a 12 WooHoo!!

Eileen, I agree the fight is totally worth it. Abi came down this morning and ask me to review her sight words with her....2 days ago she was screaming that she hated it here and wanted to move in with my mom. Now she is asking to study? I rewarded her with 2 temporary tattoos, they are her favorite. She is upstais getting ready for school, without a fight. I think she is having a hard time adjusting to going back to school after having weeks off. Oh well we are back and getting into full swing. Mary, we don't do the patch on off school days. So she went 2 weeks without it. I think it was more of the adjustment of returning to school then med problems. My foot problem is an on going thing. This is my 4th surgery on my feet in 4 years. I have had plantar facitis (sp?) fixed on both feet, then I had to have plantar warts burned off, they gren into the muscle and I had to have major laser surgery 2 years ago. Now this. I love the foot doc, he is honest, and very kind and gentle. We have tried every avenue to fix this without surgery, with little to no results. I know that the surgery will fix this problem, it's not at 50/50 thing. The neuroma will be removed and I will have less pain. There is a chance of it returning but that chance is small. It has gotten so bad, and so big you can see a knot on my foot and there is a bruise on my foot all the time. I am sure that recovery will be hard, but it will be over soon. I'll check in later. ~Mandy

The funny thing is, they just start to randomly dance. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. My niece was at a concert a few weeks ago and was talking to a guy, she turned around to see if he was still there and he was dancing. Like I said totally random. ~Mandy

Try blending the skim milk, some ice cubes and a carnation instant breakfast,and some decaf instant coffee mix makes a good smoothie. The cream soups can be really filling too. Try freezing the yogurt then put it in a blender, just like soft serve. I lived on propel it's a sugar free gatorade, it really helped keep my mind off food. I was only allowed sugar free liquids, and 1 6 oz of sugar free yogurt, and 2 protein shakes a day. I was not allowed the cream soups, or the carnation breakfast. I was not allowed any dairy other than the yogurt. Also make the soup with the skim milk, it makes it richer and makes it more filling. I am in Romeoville, if you want to talk on the phone let me know and I will PM you my number. ~Mandy