DevilMayKare

Okay, I think I'm getting the hang of this pic insertion thing. (Only took me 11 months--DUH!)

Okay Paula, following are pics of my front garden. I'll take pics of the back another day. A few things of interest... The front side area (right) is a raised bed I created with chunks of concrete collected from someone tearing out their driveway. I made what is called a "lasagna garden" right on top of the existing grass. (This is where you layer newspaper, grass clippings, homemade mulch etc to about 18") The lasagna garden area is incredibly fertile. All the larkspur, nasturtium & hollyhocks have sown themselves from previous years. I always leave a half-dozen or so stalks to dry and spread their seed. Can you see the white rod Iron chair? I have a set of 4 from an old patio set that I took the cushions out of and use them to support flowers and sometimes tomato plants. One year I placed them and planted 5 foot sunflowers to grow up in the middle of each one and it looked like they were having tea. I took a close up pic of the front walk just to show you how densely I plant. This is the absolute best way to keep out weeds. I plant the things I want to grow in such abundance there isn't much chance for the others to propagate. That being said, I do get SOME weeds and have learned to stay on top of them early in the spring.

Crystal, Do what YOU need to do. Even tho I don't have Cushings, I feel similarily discouraged as you. I haven't been around LBT much the last couple of months. It's nice to know it's here when I'm curious about what's going on with everyone. I don't come here for the band info anymore, but for the compassion and caring-- both of which you contribute to greatly. Take as long or short a break as you need, but know there are people here that care about you and will miss you greatly.

Oh Crystal... remember I was going to send you a couple of blouses I'd ungrown? Ever wonder why I haven't? Um, because they FIT me again. Okay, I'll post pics of the garden tomorrow in Paula's gardening site.

Hi Paula- Maidens are tricky. I would just dig out half your fern (the part w/ green) and put in the other pot. Don't bother trying to save roots that are just taking up room. Sometimes a maiden hair will come back if you leach it a lot (slow drip hose for at least half an hour). They are sensitive to salts in the soil and Water. They also (like all ferns) like coffee a lot. I save the grounds for my wormbed, but I always make extra coffee and pour it into the ferns & hydrangeas. I'll take some pics of my yard tomorrow if I can figure out this camera. I've been meaning to start a blog about the seasons of my garden for fun, and for when I sell my house a few years from now. I want to be able to sell to a gardener.

I think when I changed my name it was changed on everything I previously posted... am I right on that? If that's the case then anyone who wanted to delete a post (or thread) for privacy sake could achieve this by simply changing their name.

I am soooo hooked on this site. I thought I'd share it with you all. Someone put a webcam in an EAGLES' NEST while they were gone and you can see them setting on the eggs in realtime. The eaglets are due to hatch around April 27. I really don't know why this touches me so, but it does. Enjoy! http://www.infotecbusinesssystems.com/wildlife/

Are you sure we're watching the same eagles? It was my understanding this cam just went up during the last migration. THere is another webcam site with babies already hatched--but it is from a much greater distance. You might want to check the site address.

Ditto! Honestly, I think starting a thread you know is likely to be controversial (ie anything about religion, sex or opions on fat) and then deleting it when it becomes so is simply chicken. I haven't noticed people deleting entire threads before. If there's a vote, I vote against it. Jenna--time for a poll!

Hi All, In another thread Barb said she’d like some music suggestions and I thought I’d post some of my favs for anyone else who might need some tunes too. Most of these can be downloaded from ITunes. There’s a pretty good mix here of almost everything BUT rock. I figured most of you know the good rock music to work out to (Bob Seger/Stix/Queen) but may not be familiar with some of these great lindyhop (swing)/rockabilly/bluegrass etc songs. What I really love about the Ipod is you can make a playlist with all these but set it to “shuffle songs” so every workout is varied. I’m always looking to add to my workout music so if you have any of your favorites to share I’d love to hear them! --Kare Mambo No. 5 Lou Bega One Year of Love Queen Con te Partiro Andrea Bocelli (make big circles with your arms while walking to this one) Puttin’ on the Ritz Top Hat White Tie & Tails Fred Astaire The Girl Can’t Help It Little Richard Have Love Will Travel Big Sandy Aint Nobody Here but Us Chickens Louis Jordan Up a Lazy River Michael Buble Rip it Up Elvis Presley She’s a Lady Tom Jones I am a Man of Constant Sorrow The Soggy Bottom Boys I Wanna Be Like You Disney (Junglebook) Brian Setzer Orchestra: Gettin in the Mood The House is Rockin Brown Derby Jump Pennsylvania 6-5000 Americano Indigo Swing: Another Day in LA Red Light Blue Suit Boogie Love’s Gonna Find You How Lucky Cherry Poppin. Daddies: Zoot Suit Riot Come Back to Me Brown Derby Jump Alan Parsons Project: BOTH THESE ENTIRE ALBUMS ARE GREAT I Robot Try Anything Once SLOW DOWN & STRETCH From O Brother Where Art Thou?: I’ll Fly Away Down to the River In the Jailhouse Now The River is Wide Brad Cox

Pretty corny Paula... but thanks for caring. I've been pretty discouraged about my diet and the whole band thing the last couple of months so I've just been trying not to think about it. (Denial is an effective short-term tool, doncha think?) Pretty hard avoid the thought while spending any amount of time on LBT so I haven't checked in too often. Just knowing you all are there is a comfort tho. It's spring and I've been spending weekends and afterwork hours in my garden. I'll take some photos and post if anyone's interested. The flowers are really looking pretty. Thanks for asking. Kare

Wow Harley Nana! What a GREAT pic! Where do you live that you have EAGLES perching around you??? Lucky YOU!!

Yeah... I don't get it. I did a search for "PB" and got NO MATCHES! HOW could that be??

Yeeeeears ago, over the summer in jr high I lost 20#. I left 7th grade chubby and came back to 8th grade slender. Lost all my girlfriends. All the comments of people--and the QUESTIONS!--bothered me so much that I wrote to "Dear Abby" about it. She published my letter just above another letter written by a woman complaining of no one noticing her weightloss. Then Dear Abby wrote something like... "Just goes to show, you can't please everyone..." I always thought that was the STUPIDEST response. I still can't believe Abigal Van Buren could be so insensitive to a 13-yr-old girl. But what I learned from that experience (over 30 years later, still going thru the same crap) was to just say "YOU LOOK WONDERFUL!" (or great, or something like that) and leave the entire weightloss issue out of the comment. THose who WANT to talk about how much weight & how they've lost will volunteer the infomation without being given the 3rd dregee about it.

Hi Jenna, Well, I haven't been on LBT much lately and the cumbersomeness (if that's a word) is a big part of the reason. Since the new year's membership push there are just TOO many threads to keep up with. And you are absolutely right that the asking of the same questions over and over contributes to this. I should have searched for "What's a PB" before starting to type this message. I'm sure that question alone has been asked hundreds of times. Thanks for posting the poll.

I've gone up and down a lot my whole life. I was doing well weight-wise and got down to 150 in 1998--in good enough shape to run a 10K. I was trying so desperately to be "good enough" & feel loved in my marriage to a Vulcan. After 15 years of married life I finally gave up and decided I had to divorce him if I was ever going to be happy again. In the year and 4 months from the very moment I made that decision to when my former husband finally moved out I gained 138 pounds. :ermm

OMG!! The Best Me doesn't know "Mrs Brown.." (which I know all the words to) & Wheetsin doesn't know who Paul Simon is!! :omg: You guys just AGED ME about 20 years!! I LOVE that my song is "Sincerely"! It is sooooo ME. :rolleyes

There are very few things sent to me that are worth forwarding on, but this was one. As we're going through our WL journey it's always a good idea to reveiw our blessings and put things into perspective. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity. Also… If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ......you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day. If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 700 million people in the world. ! ! If you can attend a church meeting without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death .... you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world. If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare. If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you are unique to all those in doubt and despair. If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all. Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you want to, pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are.

Crystal, are you saying that you gained 25 pounds this month??? If that's what you're saying I sure wish I was there to give you a big ol' hug. All these emoticons are cute, but nuthin' like the real thing. I feel so badly for you. I wish there was something I could do. For all of us, actually. Just know that I've been missing your presence on this board and am thinking of you with a mental hug.

Thanks Dee! I've often thought your "Do Tha' Dang Thang!" should be available in a neon light! I'd hang it right over my bathroom mirror! Hey, I've been meaning to redo my bathroom. It really would be cool to paint it all funky colors with a neon light. Or... I could make a stencil of your phrase and paint it on the wall. Creative projects are probably my best tool to keep from eating. Thanks for the inspiration!

Glad y'all liked it. As some of you may know I'm an insurance agent (Mercury). I write a lot of auto policies and it's common for my clients to call me when they've had an accident. I have even been called from a hospital room. Car accidents are something in my awareness every day. I usually say "Drive carefully" instead of goodbye and I sincerely mean it. Since I have been hit TWICE (once by a semitruck) in the last few months I've also adopted a new saying: Nothing realigns your priorities like a good car accident. That's really a good thing to keep in mind when you're late and rushing off somewhere--or reaching for that cell (something the 2nd person who hit me was doing). So if you haven't been in a car accident today, add that to your list of blessings and--please-- drive carefully!!

Okay, WHAT is the cowbell video & where can I watch it?? Gosh, I just feel so out of the loop on this cowbell thing!

Jonathan, I'm really glad you posted this. In fact, I'm really glad you're still posting! (If only now and then.) I'm really sorry you've had all this trouble with the band. The truth is, most of us have a lot of years ahead of us and it is entirely possible--in fact likely--that at least some of us will be facing these same issues. This is what's happening RIGHT NOW on your band journey--and weight loss journey in general. It's still a commonality among us. We're part of this and we WANT to share it with you so please don't hesitate to work things out "on paper." I wish I had some answers for you, but perhaps your experience may provide some answers for me (or another bandster) in the future. Many hugs to you.

Wow. I saw that topic heading and thought, "Yippee! Finally a thread about DANCING!" I think that may be the first time in my life I saw a "food" word and thought of something other than food. Now about cha-cha...

Loulou, Please, please, PLEASE keep this in your mind: This is NOT about money. THis is about control and fear and the anger it generates. You've seemed pretty calm sofar, but get ready, you might find yourself feeling some BIG fear and anger of your own. From my own experience and many, many others I have observed your Ex2b's reaction is COMMON. When told my former husband I wanted a divorce he was his usual calm and silent self. I went out and bought a "Do it Yourself" divorce book and was shocked when I did the calculations (there's a program that comes w/ the book) and he just flat-out refused. I was floored that we ended up with lawyers in court and between us spent over $30,000 in legal fees. (We were just an average-income couple & that was just debt for me.) My ex was an engineer...Caltech math major, who I believe is half Vulcan. He's about the most unemotional person you could ever meet and yet the divorce brought out a side of him I just would not have BELIEVED existed. And that's just not unusual. My own mothering instinct & instinct for self protection brought out some unpleasant stuff in me also. You would be a very rare person to come out of this unscathed. But when it's over you will have become stronger and smarter and much more empathetic to those struggling with the same issues. Do what you have to do. Just remember he is afraid on an instinctual level. I doubt logic is going to work here. Be as loving and kind to him as you can (remember you're going to have to look back on your own actions too), but protect yourself. I'm amazed at the people who go thru a divorce and don't really learn anything. At the very LEAST you can come out of this wiser. That's worth more than cash in the long run.