ocotillo

I'm having a hard time believe no one is posting today....weird. Just went out for dinner and had ribs (1/4 rack) and DH had a t-bone...all for our dog. It's her birthday today and she's 12. She is so happy right now because she is out in the yard eating her rib bone. She'll get the t-bone tomorrow. She has a delicate stomach and tends to throw up if she eats too much of anything.

Morning, Got a text at 4:22 this morning...the house in Colorado is officially under contract. Of course I won't see any significant money out of this deal until mid November next year, but at least I won't have to pay for repairs, insurance or anything else. They are paying just enough down to clear the commissions and we (my brother and I) will get a couple hundred now. They start mortgage payments to us in May and then they have that balloon payment next year and in five years the loan is due and or renegotiable. I hope they pay because I don't want to go through evicting people and foreclosing on the property. I guess a steady income is worthwhile for five years, by then, I can get into my IRA... So all this will be good because then I don't have to go find a job. The little bit of extra money will help. I don't have class today but have to work on the part-time job stuff and I need to go to TJ's. I'm out of eggs and milk. Staples in this house. BBL,

Charlene, The Cheesecake Factory has some pretty good salads. I ate there in February and had a great meal with salad and I forget the Protein. Here's to your little garden and hope your Mom is okay. Great, I eat the top off pizza's too. Crust is a little too hard, although I do nibble on the really brown crispy pieces. Sorry about the dog...that's worse than an upside down tortoise. I like the tortoises, but it's hard to get really cozy with them.

I think I like that font a little better.... The dip...dressing, whatever. Saute 1 medium onion sliced or chopped with a chopped clove of garlic in a tsp. of olive oil until they are tender. Cool a little, then add this to a container of FF Greek yogurt, fresh thyme or dried thyme, salt and pepper and blend it. I had to add a little lowf fat buttermilk to thin it a bit in the blender. The blender really helps with the texture. Let it sit in the fridge overnight so the flavors blend. I found it tasted wonderful and used it with veggies and on my zucchini patties. The zucchini patties were really good too...I shredded a zucchini and added a little thinly sliced onion, some egg beaters, salt and pepper, and a few bread crumbs (I suspect you might not need the bread, but it helped absorb some of the extra liquid.) I let this sit in the fridge too for a while. The patties were very loose and soft, but I cooked them in the teflon skillet with barely any oil until they browned. I put the yogurt stuff on them when they were done. DH even ate them and he's not fond of zucchini.

Sandy, congrats on getting off the meds. That is a great benefit to the weight loss and exercise. Apples, so sorry your weather continues to suck. It will get better. Although you FIL might have to move to someplace that is more convenient to the kids, be grateful there are kids willing to take on the responsibility of an aging parent. Ideally, it would be someone close to where he lives already, but it's really hard for people our age to relocate our lives and jobs to accommodate our parents. I bet where ever he ends up, he'll make new friends. Also, he doesn't have to be there forever. Once he's healed and mobile again, he can change locations. Just need to get him through this and make sure he doesn't get depressed and slip. Hugs to you and DH...it's got to be hard on both of you. Cheri, I wish we were closer...I'd suck you into my life too. I'm good at that. My mother required 8-10 hours of sleep a day. It always amazed me she could sleep that much. Enjoy those GKs...they grow up too fast. Linda, your comment that it only makes you dizzy when you look down or up...reminds me of that joke..."Doctor, it hurts when I do this (shows person doing some action). The doctor answers, so stop doing that." Anyway, sounds like your dizziness is seriously restricting your movement. I've had inner ear infections that caused that. My ears didn't hurt, but it sure affected my balance. Is that a possibility? LauraK, glad you are home and had fun. Of course you had to do the mom thing. It's expected. You got nice weather in the package too didn't you? The new shed will be for gardening things plus other stuff. I'm hoping not to buy anything extra however...just put away what I have. One of the babies committed suicide. Found it upside down and stiff today. So sorry, but I can't watch them all the time and they have to fend for themselves. I still feel bad, but work really hard on not feeling to guilty. Julie, congrats on getting the retirement pay thing worked out. I know how important that is. Glad your DH is around to help your friend. That's very special. Good luck with your endeavors to work with your daughter. Are you getting excited about the new baby? Great, did you post a picture of your new do on FB? Glad you found someone you like. It's so hard (at least for me) to get someone you like and that will do exactly what you want. I'm also glad you are feeling better. Enjoy your early dinner with DH. Charlene, you would be welcome here in the desert. We can find you a little love shack to spend the winters in. Apples is very good at shopping, she'll help I bet. Good for you and the walking. I know how important that is to overall health. How's your mom doing? Hi Phyl, thought you moved or something....LOL....computer issues, yuck. I'm glad you are doing that because I hate doing it and usually have DH fix and move all the stuff. It takes forever. I've been backing up my stuff on an external hard drive, that way, I have all the documents and pictures. When are you heading up north? Melissa, I'm so sorry you having these issues. Are the meds you need more expensive than the COBRA payments? Maybe you can squeak by until you find the insurance solution that will work for you. I'm sorry about the counselor, but I'm sure you will find a solution that will work for you and your family. Janet, wow, the DIL has finally decided to do something about her weight. I'll be really interested in how the sleeve works for her. I still think you have to eat right, just like with the band, for it to be effective. Sorry about the vertigo....see I suspected you were a dizzy blond....just kidding. I hope you start to feel better soon. You and LInda and Apples....the dizzy trio. Kristi, wow 12 hour days are brutal. The WL does fluctuate. It's wonderful at first because the weight drops so easily (for most of us) then the really hard begins. You do have to watch what you put in your mouth. And of course that exercise. Yep, the fills do change what and how you are eating. Linda gives good advise....take care. Hello to anyone I've missed...not on purpose. I'm going to post a recipe for a FF yogurt dip.

Oh my, you've been busy ladies. The thread was down last night when I checked. I'm going to make this a quick post.....maybe..... You ladies that mentioned having Protein Powder and pudding inspired me to try it. I've made pudding twice now and added my Protein powder and it's not bad. It works well for me at Breakfast. I just made chocolate and I'm waiting for it to set. I've also made some SF Jello and using that as a snack at night. Whatever works and it's working...been cutting out most of the white carbs and I'm losing the desire for them. Yipee!! The whole point of the protein powder thing is I had been loosing hair again....lots of it. I ate horribly during the holidays and have had a very hard time getting back into line so I've been doing the increased protein thing and my hair is noticeably not falling out now. Just the normal stuff and it feels a lot better. I thought I was going to be bald. Anyway, I've gone through so much protein powder I had to order more. I ended up with 7.5 pounds tubs that should be here next week. The protein thing is really helping....I'm eating Jerky, or eggs, or anything I have in the house that is protein when I want to eat. It's helping. I'm also eating veggies and a little fruit (grapes and strawberries....yum). Thanks for listening ladies....be back later. Eva

Wow quiet on the old thread tonight. Great, sorry to hear about your uncle. It's unfortunate, but at our age we start to lose people. Seeing your old neighborhood probably doesn't help with the melancholia either. Hope you feel better soon. Just think DGD soon! Charlene, good for you and the walking. I'm proud of you. Yes, the storage shed is for garden stuff and paint, and all the other crap I collect. Apples, how's FIL doing? It's pretty hard on them at that age. I would love to offer to drive him up there, but I can't go until June. Don't don't that he'd want to visit all my friends on the way...although there are a couple of old ladies in the mix. Studying now....BBL Eva

Morning ladies, Just had the concrete poured and they are working on smoothing it and then setting the J bolts, then it's done. Then I can call the Tuff-shed people to inspect and set a date to build the shed. Yeah!! Then I'll have to move and organize my stuff into the shed. Not like I can't find enough stuff to do. LOL. I need to buy a stapler. It's amazing how important a stapler is when you need one. I can't find DH's and it's not a big one anyway. I think I'll buy a regular office sized one. My big expense for the month. However, I can deduct it as an office expense. Linda, I bet you were sore...when I get over tired like that, I have a very hard time sleeping too. At least you got a lot of stuff done and won't have to do that again. Sandy, hope you like deer meat. 3 deers are a lot. The Caymans vacation was a true vacation for me because it was relaxing and fun. Sometimes vacations are more work than fun with all the running around we end up doing. Hope everyone is having a good day. Later Eva

Cheri, thanks for the tips. I thought it would take a while to get used to that unusual position. Hi Meredith, glad you are busy...it will keep you out of trouble. Sorry, no new turtles, just the same ones awake. Janet, are you alright? Have a good night everyone.

Charlene, yes, this is the house that my parents lived in. The Realtor said the husband's parents own the land behind the house so maybe they'll be a good fit there. The house looks out on several fields, a farm house, and then a line of trees where the river runs. It's very nice and I love the view. Pikes Peak can be seen from there too. Hope they can buy it and hope they can pay for it. Don't want any more issues with that house. Cool your veggies are doing well so far. My eggplant doesn't seem too happy. I'm hoping it will start doing something like putting on more leaves pretty soon. Working on my homework. BBL

Great, don't you just love the food Saver? It was one of the best do dads I've ever bought. I've even used it on bread. I get this very dense German rye bread in Colorado and one loaf is just too big especially the way I eat bread now, so I froze 1/3 loafs. I sucked out too much air the first time and squished the bread...it was pretty funny. Then I figured out how to stop the suction and seal it before it flattened the bread. It works great. Don't think I'd try it on regular bread however. Sorry to hear about the arthritis all over...I have some of that going on too and I'm worried about it down the road. I think the trick is to keep active for as long as you can. Even modified movement helps. Jessica, have a great time on your cruise. Glad you got y our own bike too. Sounds like fun! Good luck studying while on vacation. I've tried to do that before too. Hope you get further along than I did. Linda, wow, that was lots of cooking and would take a lot of energy. Did you sleep well after all that? I do a lot of stuff, but I do get tired and then I have to take Advil to sleep because I'm too tired. So do you freeze individual packages so your DH can just pull something out for himself? Apples, sounds like you had a good weekend. Have fun at dinner tonight. I love lasagna and it's one of the foods that goes down easily. I'm so sorry to hear about FIL...please keep us posted on his progress. Email me if you need me to do anything. I'm glad one of his kids is here to help. I really hope this doesn't keep him from coming down in the winters. I think it would be harder on him to stay in MN during the winters. We'll working something out for him, don't worry. Cheri, I've been using the inversion thing, but I have to tell you my back hurts. It's not bad and it seems to be mostly muscle soreness, but it's weird. I think it's helping because the nerve pain hasn't been as present. So I still hanging (hahaha) in there. I love doing pool work and have plans to be in Cindy's pool this summer. I might even be able to use the neighbor's across the street since they are moving and won't be here. It's still way too cold for that though. I've been doing everything except work on my homework. I need to get to it. I have a first draft due tomorrow. All the baby tortoises are up and outside now. I but the two hatchlings in an outdoor enclosure and they made it through the night. Junior aka Egg is up and eating too. It's too early for them but the weather is too nice and they are up and semi-active. Got to get to work...later ladies. Eva

Charlene, you have a BIG heart. I want to give them people money too, but I don't. I donate to the homeless shelter here, the food bank, and to a couple of other things. That way I'm giving to organizations that really do help people locally. Bet it was a really cute birthday party. Those boiled eggs are really helpful sometimes. Your weather is hotter than ours. We're only in the 70's the last few days. It's wonderful. Linda, I am so glad to hear you won't need any neck surgery. The PT should help in several ways, so did the doctor give you an order so you can go and get that done? Sorry about the arthritis. Good deal with all the meat....lots of work for you now, but that will pay off later. Enjoy your cooking! Joyce, sorry your weather is icky again. Hopefully it will warm up before you go to the Caymans. I had a wonderful vacation there many many many years ago. Got my scuba certification and drank lots of Jacks Dac's on the beach. Laura, keeping my fingers crossed for your family...your entire family, wherever they may be. Working in the yard and other stuff. Hope everyone is having a good day. Eva

Julie, glad to see you post and really glad to hear you are feeling better. Go Julie. Hope DD feels better soon. When is her due date? Just think, you be feeling all good just in time for that baby. Sandy, good for you loosing the extra lbs already. Now is the perfect time for us to be planting because it's not too hot yet. In another 6 weeks, it will be way too hot for a lot of the stuff. Which reminds me, I have to go check plants that may need Water. Great, I know feathers are a big pain to clean up but couldn't help laughing at the dog rolling in them. Glimmer chewed a pillow years ago while I was gone somewhere. When I came home there were still feathers everywhere and I found the pillow in the yard. DH doesn't clean in the nooks and crannies. Sorry you still have snow and cold. It should settle down and start warming up pretty soon for you. Janet, glad yo are feeling better. Yeah, I can understand you not wanting to socialize for a while. You've had a lot of company this year. So when can I visit again? LOL just kidding. You want to send Andrew this way...I could use him. I still need to dust and mop and it isn't going to get done today. Linda, good luck with your appointments. Have to have a first draft of my final story in by Monday...I know what I'm going to write but haven't started it yet. Hope you do get a couple of free weekends...I know how much you love your DGD, but it's nice when you get a break too. I finally got an offer on the house in Colorado. They want to do owner financing and I do have a bit of an issue with that but I've sent in a counter, so I should find out on Tuesday or Wednesday if they accept the counter. Later

Melissa, hang in there and deal with it as you can. I'm really glad you are getting professional help. I hope your shrink is someone you like and is helping you Cheri, someone is listening to your prayers. Sending you as much healing wishing as I can muster (I should say, sending them to your daughter). I'm sending you coping wishes, but I'm sure you will handle what ever comes your way with grace and love. Julie, it's really good to hear from you. Glad to hear the healing is progressing and have the most optimistic outlook for your future. Had school and came home and vacuumed the edges of the house. Tomorrow it's the middle, and the rest of the cleaning. YUK...I think I've said that before. Now I have to work. Hello to everyone else. Hope you had a good day. Eva

Janet, you have vertigo? I hope that goes away. You are so rarely sick. Must be all that fun you had with your guests. Take care! Laura, I agree with you about our freedoms. Some people feel it's our right but look at how many people in the world don't have that right. I disagree that we should be interfering with the middle east. We are going to stretch ourselves too thin. Took a class in college on conflict resolution and that professor had some very good points about where the US is and what they are doing globally and it doesn't look good for us in the long run. Sorry to get off on politics...buy I'll send your MIL safe and secure thoughts. I tried an experiment with cold brewed coffee. You let the Water and grounds brew at room temperature for a long time, then strain them and make the coffee with the liquid. The coffee comes out very smooth and a lot less bitter but it takes twice or more as much coffee to get the same strength. I did a side by side this morning and there is a very noticeable difference. So I'm dong another run with a measured amount and I put it in the fridge (using a quart jar for the coffee and water). I'll let you know how it goes. I love my coffee but drink it with sweetener and milk or FF half and half because of the bitterness. Maybe I can give up the milk if the stuff is smoother. We'll see. I worked until midnight on the work project and still didn't get it done. I have to study Spanish this morning, but will have to work on it again this afternoon. The men showed up at 6:30 to start getting the form for the concrete pad made. We weren't up yet. I am tired this morning and not functioning well. Have a great day everyone. Eva

Sandy, PM your email address to me and I'll send you the document I created out of the emails Linda sent. I sent it to Lori, but I don't see your email address.

Charlene, almost fell off my chair when you posted about Dassi's B M photos......I know what you meant, but........ You'll be giving zucchini away once they start producing. I just have a Iciban eggplant going right now plus herbs. I did plant my bougainvillea yesterday....pulled the old one out by the roots and put the new one in the hole. It's the 3rd one I've planted. Maybe this one will be the charm. Yes, get rid of that 10x mirror. Some of us can't see that well anyway so we won't see any wrinkles. Linda, I'm hoping your doctor's appointment goes well and what ever is bugging you can be fixed easily. Glad to hear Katie is doing a little better. It is sad she has neuropathy so early in her life. Jodi, your pictures were wonderful. Dassi is a little princess (don't tell her I said that, don't want it to go to her head...LOL). You looked fabulous and no, you don't look fat. All those little girls are so cute, I can't imagine the hormone festival when they get older. So sorry to hear about the financial troubles, please, vent away. I would get a lawyer too even if it costs. Maybe you can find an advocate for Dassi that won't be so expensive. A good education is invaluable. Great, good for you on staying with the pouch test. That's sad about your DH's assistant manager. One of the techs did the same thing a few years ago. He didn't show up for work and his boss went to look for him. He was really young too, but a diabetic and drank. It was pretty sad. Apples, so sorry about the crappy weather. But this too shall pass and you'll have wonderful balmy days with lots of green. So DH is going to have his teeth worked on too? Wow, you're going to be the beautiful couple. Janet, it's amazing the difference the right pillow makes. I have piles of them and use different configurations depending on what's going on. Did the pilates machine and the inversion table today. Hope everyone has a great day...I'll try and check in later but I'm going to have to do work stuff today because I've been ignoring it so I hope I'll remember to check in again. My cat is chasing her tail again....so funny. Later Eva

Apples, Did you get a Nook? Is it loaded with books now? I'm still liking the Kindle. I've read a couple of books on now (yeah, in my spare time) and it sure is convenient to carry around. The battery lasted almost 3 months before I had to charge it again. Joyce, it's hard when you don't keep up....takes hours to go through all the posts and respond, so don't worry about catch up as you can. I think we all understand. How's the arm feeling? Jodi, so sorry your ear is still bothering you. That pain is usually awful. Take care. I have to go look at your pictures now. later ee

Well one thing about the age...I don't have to make up life experiences....LOL

My story needs to be rewritten...it has a ton of potential but I'm not effectively getting my character's voice and personality out there. So, I can use it for my final project, but I won't have it done by Friday. That's okay....I'm just barely past 8 weeks into a writing class. I've never done ANY creative writing, so I'm good with that. I had to give it a shot. With the teachers input, I might actually write a good story. Cool, huh? Back to work...later ladies. Eva

Morning, Linda, it's a local submission at the community college. Thanks for all the well wishes but I haven't submitted yet and don't know if I will until after my meeting this morning. Julie, glad to see you posting and feeling better. Sounds like you have a good plan. You have all the tools to maintain your weight loss, just keep working it like you have. LauraK, I'm not that talented, just a little ADD perhaps. I don't like being bored and I can't stick to any one thing for an extended time (except work and school). Laura, hope you Dad is able to come down. Although you have to clean house, it's nice to have your Dad around. You don't have to take time off and Nels will have someone to occupy his time with. Charlene, good luck with the 17 day plan. One of the dahlias is sticking its head out of the ground today. We had a little rain yesterday....very little, but it's cooled down a little and its good for the plants. Hi to everyone else. I need to get to school early today...check back later. Eva

Jodi, so sorry about the ear infection. Glad the suggestions helped with Dassi's party. I know it's a big thing. I've attended a couple of bar mitzvah's (sp?) for my friend's sons. I'm really glad I don't have to pay for that. You looked pretty good on FB. LauraK, just keep plugging along. When it's right, it's right. Just make sure you have some best girl friends around because they will keep you going on the down times. Have fun in Vegas. Meredith, the "girls" are giving you good advise. It's going to be hard to tell her no, but you have to do it because it's your sanity. She needs to deal with her own problems. Jessica...vent all you want and call the boy's doctor. Let your DH know how you feel and ask him for some help. If he doesn't help, leave his pants where they are until her runs out of pants (I know this would be hard on you too) but sometimes you have to get the point across. There are days I just leave my DH's socks where he leaves them. He does pick them up, but they may lay there for a day or so. It drives me nuts, but I've learned to no stress too bad. It's not worth it. You are smart, you may not ace this class but you will pass. What you're doing is so far beyond what I'm doing, I really give you a lot of credit. Honestly, you will get through this class. Cheri, prayers to your daughter. Glad to hear the tumor is responding in the right way too. Wow! How are you doing? I just finished the story I might submit to a contest. I have to talk to my teacher about it tomorrow then I'll make my final decision. It's 31 pages, double spaced, long or 9,230 words. Who thought I could be so full of crap...LOL. food good today. Not eating white carbs after 2pm. You know, those baby steps. Have a great night ladies. Eva

Morning, Janet, glad you had a good week. Sounds exhausting! I was lucky because Apples was here long enough and she had her own place that we didn't have to do everything while she was here. In fact we missed doing a lot of stuff. Sandy, I knew you could explain the no band thing really well. Glad you are having fun on your trip. Charlene, something Apples taught me while she was here was to take the yolks out of the hard boiled egg. I have the hardest time with them anyway and they have so many more calories than the white. So I've been cutting them in half and the dog gets a 1/2 yolk. Julie, hope every day finds you stronger and feeling better! Cheri, sorry you had the fainting thing going on yesterday. I rarely can go 4 hours without something to eat, of course except at night. Apples always has Protein bars around and I found that to be useful, so now I'm carrying at least one around too....just in case. Got another huge download from my part-part time job, so now I really have to get to work...school today. 8 more weeks and then we're done. I don't know if it's the weather or the inversion table, but my hips are talking to me today....storm front coming through too, however. I never believed that about the weather, but I'm really starting to. Have a good day ladies! Eva

MissAvery, The decision has to be yours. Sandy who posts on this thread is not banded and has lost significant weight on her own. She is on vacation right now, but you might want to go back to earlier posts and see what she has to say. The band is only a tool and you still have to eat right to lose weight. I'm one of those that doesn't eat right and I lost about 40 pounds but haven't lost any in quite a while. There are many others that have lost more than 100 pounds and have kept it off for a couple of years with the band. They all say it's a tool. If you need the tool, then get banded. If you can do it by yourself, it's a lot cheaper. My problem is sticking to anything. The band has helped me not gain the 40 pounds back. I am forced to eat smaller portions so I do not regret doing it, but I'm not using the tool like I should. Cheri, thanks for the info. I think I finally found the spot that works for me and I can really feel it in and I think it's going to take a while to work up to some time. LauraK, have fun on your trip. Great, gas is around $3.22 here. Tucson has the lowest gas prices in the state and I don't know why.

Charlene, oh so cool you are going to have veggies! I'm keeping the veggie planting under control...not sure if I will be around this summer to tend them. I had a boiled egg for Breakfast today. I've been splitting the yolks and giving the dog 1/2. Lori, welcome back. You mentioned driving through Wyoming? I had to look at a map to see why but then I saw I-80 might be quicker than any other route. Glad you had a good visit with your family even if your Grandma is losing it a little. The mind wanders. Your DH might be right about the zucchini...they're usually prolific once they're producing. Linda, thanks for the emails...I just cut and pasted that to a document so I could keep it. It is basic stuff but there is some interesting things too. Poor little Merry, but a lot of dogs are that way. I don't know what we can do to help them. Glimmer is afraid too but she doesn't try and crawl in bed with me. 9:30 is late, at least for us "older folks". I used to sleep until 10 or 11...no way now. Apples, I can just imagine Tanker trying to crawl in bed with you...big baby. Wishing you blue skies and warm weather. Glad you had fun with your kids. How'd the baby sitting go? Kristi, sounds like everything is going so well for you. eggs are wonderful aren't they? I love them for breakfast, but I tend to get stuck on them sometimes in the morning, so I'm eating them later in the day. Jessica, I can't believe you don't have access to Water. I hope it isn't for too long during the day. Good for you in doing the pouch test. Everyone's restriction is different so it's hard to say what yours is. I bought an inversion table (thing) today. It's harder than it looks but I didn't spend much $$. Only $87 for a $199 one that was on sale and the last one. So I got a 10% discount on the $89 sale price. I've actually done it a couple of times and the problem isn't getting upside down, it's getting back up. Need to work on that. I'm really hoping it will help my back. I need to work on some work stuff that I've been ignoring. Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday. Eva