ifyourstomachoffendsyou

Watching Celtic Woman Christmas. Voices are so ethereal. Attended Bedside Baptist myself today (Church of the Inner Spring). Very cold and blowing snow. Undoubtedly ice under the snow because we had rain yesterday. Just recouping from my party. Went very well. Everybody seemed to have a good time. Just sitting in my chair reading, watching TV and now on computer. Don't feel like doing anything. Bakc to reality tomorrow. My parents are also struggling. My father is going down hill physically and mentally. My mother wants to be part of everything and is unwilling to admit her physical limits. Both are grieving the slow loss of their independance. My father fell down the front steps at Halloween and broke his nose and cracked ribs. He insists on driving. My brother in MI wants them to move into independant then assisted and then nursing care type facility by him but my mother doesn't like Grand Rapids. They don't know people there and Chicago has always been the center of family activity for their kids and grandkids. My baby sister whose family they spend the most time with (she still has elementary and high school aged children) is here and I live close as do all my kids. My brother Johnnie comes out from CA at least once a year and my TN sister comes here once a year. Various grown grandchildren from out of state also stop in. My mom is fearful no one would come to MI and she's right. We'd have to stay in hotels or go up and back in a day. Just not centrally located. My brother has had cancer more than once and although he is currently doing well if he dies my mom would be stuck there (all assets are given to this community, a common arrangement). She'd also be stuck there if my dad died and his condition is the reason she'd have to give up her home and move there. Very difficult decision for her to make. She hates making decisions and avoids it, but this isn't going to go away. I've talked to her about Ken and I selling our house and moving in with them but she dislikes that just as much. She really doesn't want to share her space. She and my dad sleep in separate bedrooms because of his restlessness and snoring and she gets up and moves to the living room lounge chair halfway through the night because of her back. Their small back bedroom is a little den for them. The space in the basement that could easily be converted to a bedroom is where my dad watches sports. Having him in the basement a lot gives her space away from him upstairs which she really needs. Also, the thought of going through all their things and getting rid of almost everything in order to move is unimaginable for her. They've been in that house since I was 13yrs old--that's @45 yrs. I think she'd love it if my dad went to live with or by my brother and she could stay in her house. Unfortunately, their basement steps are narrow and steep. The steps are not long enough. You can always feel the front of your foot sticking out over the edge. Not the best for aging people. And their laundry is in the basement. My youngest sister was telling me how my dad started crying at her house. She and her kids were gathered around the piano playing and singing Christmas carols and he choked up. He said how this was what its all about and how he wanted all his family to know the Lord and how he missed his kids. I feel so bad for him. Most of their friends are dead, or very limited in what they can do. Or they've moved away to live near their kids. This highly mobile society has made it very difficult for children to be there for their aging parents. My siblings are scattered all over the United States. We all work. I live the closest but work 10 hour days. There are no good solutions. There was a time when it was taken for granted that parents would be taken in by their children. The "grossefamilia" was very much accepted. Multi-generations have always lived with each other except in modern American culture. And I should say that that's mostly white modern American culture. Now parents cherish their independance, children don't want, and often can't, because of their working lifestyle, take them in, and we all get squeezed into these guilt inducing dilemmas. I don't know the answers. Nobody wants to hurt their parents feelings or force them into solutions they don't want. It often takes a serious incident to bring things to a head, and break through denial. We all hope and pray that our parents don't kill someone or each other while driving old, or lay somewhere injured and unable to get help. Fortunately, my parents, who have few expenses and live off their social security and a bit of pension, do have at least one child who can help support them financially or they wouldn't even be able to get into the facility by my brother's. But, maybe there are some intermediate steps. If I weren't working, I could help them and also help my own children more. But I need to bring in an income. I'm too far away from retirement and would not be content to live off social security. Don't know how people make it on just social security. I think they're all living in Florida in tiny apartments or trailers. Anyway, enough pontificating. Gotta get back on the high Protein train again. Cheri

Jessica, congratulations on everything. You do, indeed, rock! I'm actually sitting with my feet up for a while before guests start arriving. I've been cleaning all day. I actually did a lot of vacuuming, something I never do because of the fake knees. Just took some Tylenol because I'm aching. Ken has been working full time and could not help me clean. Drywall powder everywhere. Still don't have the basement floor or bathroom done but that didn't seem to keep people from having fun at Thanksgiving. I did no cooking. People are bringing appetizers or desserts and we're ordering pizza. Should be more than enough food. Can't think of anything I forgot but there always is. Cheri

Jessica, congratulations on everything. You do, indeed, rock! I'm actually sitting with my feet up for a while before guests start arriving. I've been cleaning all day. I actually did a lot of vacuuming, something I never do because of the fake knees. Just took some Tylenol because I'm aching. Ken has been working full time and could not help me clean. Drywall powder everywhere. Still don't have the basement floor or bathroom done but that didn't seem to keep people from having fun at Thanksgiving. I did no cooking. People are bringing appetizers or Desserts and we're ordering pizza. Should be more than enough food. Can't think of anything I forgot but there always is. Cheri

Julie, vicodin keeps me awake. Maybe you should try the muscle relaxers and xanax like Charlene suggested. The meds for my Sjogren's Syndrome gradually reduced my pain considerable. Need a lot less anti-inflammatory now. Seldom take Tylenol. Just the SS med's and one anti-inflammatory. Hope you get to the bottom of it. Cheri

So sorry Julie, on the pain. I've got my co-workers coming to my house tonight for our Christmas party. I also have a small cold. Just gotta get my house ready. People are bringing appetizers and Desserts. I collected $ to order pizza. But there's a lot of picking up and cleaning to do, so I won't be posting much. Cheri

Saw a special on ADHD on public TV last night. Had a comic doing a lot of the demonstrativing and talking about his own ADHD. Very well done. Saw myself in almost every sentence. I'd love to make parents of suspected ADHD kids sit and watch this video. Not very likely to happen. I'm thinking about going in and trying medication again for the ADHD just to help me not get back into medicating the ADHD with food. ADHD people are the least likely to succeed with maintaining weight loss. I'm struggling with the call of the carbs and needing them to help me focus and stay on task. The Joi situation has really triggered the craving for comfort foods which are always carbs. Went to Walgreens and picked up some Zicam and Zinc lozenges. I have good immunity and if I catch a cold and take the Zicam and zinc lozenges I can usually get away with a mild version. Constant exposure to snot nosed kids has kept my immunity very high. Arlene, I wondered when you were going to give up the oatmeal. Figured you'd figure it out sooner or later. Wanna go back to school tonight to see the Christmas program. Trying to decide what to eat for supper. I'm doing an all Protein day. If I can, I'll do it tomorrow too. Should make up for some of the carbs I've been eating. Cheri

Thanks Linda. The man who committed the murders was the 18 year old boyfriend of the 17 year old daughter. It appears he murdered mom because she saw him kill her daughter. Then he murdered the 11 year old, my Joi, because she saw him kill her mom. He was found very quickly because he was seen and he had blood on him when found. Don't think he'll ever get out of jail. I had a good day today. Got rushed and hugged by a classroom full of third graders when I went to their class for something. When I find myself getting angry at a child I've been stopping myself and asking them for a hug. I tell them I don't want to yell at them and that I love them. Then I very gently tell them what I want from them. I've been getting a lot of spontaneous hugs from kids now. It's amazing how they respond to love. Cheri

Arlene, sounds like WW is going low-glycemic. It's healthy eating but with your sensitivity to carbs you may have to eliminate even low-glycemic carbs to lose weight. Or do a couple of days of no carbs to lose and then do the low glycemic to maintain. I alternated during weight loss and I go back to no carb to take off any weight gain. Also, just a few lbs weight gain, including that caused by salt, can make your stomach swollen and your band tight. I find that just a few lbs makes a huge difference. When my weight is down and I'm not eating salt, I don't pb and vice versa. Eva, I am going to Europe in June. The concert was unbelievable. We're doing a number of spirituals for Martin Luther Kings Birthday celebration in South Holland and a couple more concerts before we leave for Europe. Cheri

OK. Let's see if I can rewrite. Funeral went OK. Three 1/2 hours long. Huge line for the wake. Oldest girl, Jade, went to Morgan Park High School and just about all her classmates seem to be there. Worst part was the viewing. Joi actually had a net over her and I didn't recognize her. Whatever this psychopath did to her, it changed her face. I just glanced at her. But I became very angry at whoever hurt her that much. This morning during before school care I went into the gym to see if any of my before school students had shown. They hadn't so I watched the little kids who were there. They were up on the stage. The attendant had put on the Christmas music they'll be performing Thursday night at the K-3rd Christmas program. The kindergartners and first graders were trying to do their praise dance. One of my students, a second grade girl, saw they were struggling and got in front of them and started leading them through all the motions and steps. This is a child who has struggled to learn to read but she took charge of those kids like a pro and smilingly led them through the routine. Joi could not master the steps of adding fractions, but she too could remember and gracefully perform each routine she learned as a praise dancer. I wonder which steps she's finding useful in heaven? I doubt she's doing fractions. Cheri

Crazy thing lost my last post. I'll CBL and try to rewrite it. Cheri

You'all are makin me scared to travel to Europe next summer. Fortunately, the travel agency is letting us know about a lot of it, but I know I set off alarms while being frisked. Two fake knees, a screw in the elbow, lapband, probably the fillings in my teeth not to mention bra hooks and jewelry. My mother has a metal plate in her head--wonder what that would do. I know she can't have an MRI. I agree that its not making us any safer. Israel uses different, less invasive procedures, according to Newsweek, and they're more security conscious than anyone and have more years of experience. They train their people to spot anomalies like one way tickets and strange answers to simple questions. Their people are well-trained, not on coffee breaks. Most of the current U.S.A. procedures are reactions to failed attempts by terrorists and not even likely to be tried again. My concert yesterday was incredible. The acoustics were phenomenal and we had 771 people in attendance in addition to the choir. Give you the chills kind of beautiful music. Funeral tomorrow. Three caskets. That will be hard, but I feel like I'll mostly be grieving for other's grief. That's always hard for me. Yesterday, three young girls were praise dancing in our church and Joi was a beautifully graceful praise dancer. Very serene, elegant and graceful. I cried then. But each day it gets easier. We can talk about how silly she could be. Bit of an airhead, chatty Kathy type, into clothes and hair, very girly girl. Always laughing. But never mean. Not a mean bone in her body. I miss her. But I also feel like Mikey's death in September hardened me just a little. And I think about those children for whom death is commonplace. Boys who don't expect to live to adulthood. Who seek a family in the gangs and structure in prison life because their is no other life apparantly available to them. I am trying to be especially gentle with the kids. So, I'm tired now. Better get to bed. Cheri

Janet, sounds wonderful. Just what the Dr. ordered--for all of us, if we could do it. Sunshine. Warmth. Water. Fun. Oh yah! Sang in both services this morning. Will sing this afternoon in my big choir concert. Gonna be great. Cheri

Chris, sorry about the back, shoulder and your dad. The Lord bless and keep all of you. I love this font size. Those who use 4 are so much easier to read. Its really easy to do. Just use Fast Reply. When you click in the window you'll be given choices on the top. You can click on your size and color and then start typing, or, when you're done, highlight your text and click on size and color. How is this light grey? It seems easy on my eyes and no one uses it. I wear a lot of grey. It's a great neutral color on me. Gotta be at dress rehearsal at noon. Gonna go Water my plants and then walk at the community center before then. We've got snow on the ground outside and I won't risk falling on a hidden slippery spot. Gettin' too old for that. Cheri

PS I hate to tell you cake people this, but cake without thick frosting has no value. I don't eat cake for the cake. Never have. My motto has always been, Have a little cake with your frosting. And now, I would probably pb on the cake, so, I tend to take a piece and lick off the frosting and throw the cake out. My mother used to skimp on chocolate chips in the Cookies. Make me mad. I always liked a little cookie with the chocolate chips and never ate the cookies for their own sake. So often people use margarines like Imperial that always taste badly to me in cakes and cookies. I can also taste the baking soda frequently. Wierd, huh? Well, think I'm gonna go spend my Kohl's cash yet tonight. Gotta be at dress rehearsal for my concert tomorrow at noon and it'll take all afternoon. Concert Sunday afternoon. I am totally looking forward to it, especially after this past week. Christmas parade just went past my house with Santa and Mrs. Claus on top of a firetruck. My Chicago "suburb" of Thornton is actually a small town that's been here forever. So we still have some fun small town events like this. Gotta run. Cheri

Hi everyone. Enjoyed hearing from all of you. THanks for all your condolences on the loss of my student. Funeral is next Tues. Kids are really struggling. Some of the teachers don't realize what's going on on the insides because they look all back to normal but as I talk to them they tell me they're not sleeping at night, or they have to sleep with someone else. One eighth grade boy told me he asked his mother if he could sleep in her bed . Some are dreaming of being killed with Joi, Others are dreaming of killing the killer. They're scared they're going to die. They can't stop thinking about what Joi went through and how scared she was before she died. They think the sixth grade class is cursed. And, of course, they miss Joi. I brought some of this up to the principal who emphasized to the teachers that they needed to be pro-active in having their children see the counselors who've been coming to the school. As a result, a lot of the children went to the counselor today. The sixth-graders had gone the other day but they all went again today. Seventh and eighth graders went and I think some 5th graders may have gone. I told the fourth grade teacher what some of her kids were thinking and she'll make sure they see the counselor next week. They'll be available again the day after the funeral and possibly the rest of the week. I've encouraged the kids to go to the counselor and talk about some of these things. One of the things I've told the kids that I hope will help them cope with thinking about what Joi went through and how terrified she was is to imagine the angels coming down and swooping up Joi and holding her close and comforting her, "It's OK. It's over now. You're safe. He can't hurt you anymore. No one can ever hurt you again. No more pain, no more sorrow. Just perfect joy and love in the presence of your Savior." That comforts me and changes the image of stark terror that my mind would otherwise not be able to escape. Cheri

My earlier post is missing. Just wanted to say to Julie that Sjogren's Syndrome is what I was diagnosed with. So now we have the Myofascial Syndrome and the Sjogren's Syndrome in common. I have a lot less pain and need less meds since going on the fake quinine they treat it with. Gotta go to bed. In survival mode. Cheri

Hi everyone. Had a fairly normal day today. Still think about Joi frequently but the immediate visceral response to the horror of her death is past. She was killed by her older sister's boyfriend who is in custody. Let's just say that a pattern of vitimization was going on in that family and they let a known abuser into their apartment instead of calling the police. Just a pattern of bad choices. Just like Mikey's death. A series of bad choices by more than one person. However, the South Side of Chicago is a tough place to live and grow up. I've been hugging my students and telling them I love them. Told them to remind me to do that everyday. Also trying to remind myself when I get exasperated that I don't want my last memory of contact with them to be of me scolding them. I tell them that too. Might be a tad manipulative but they do stop and think before continuing to irritate me. Most hug me back and tell me they love me too. Newer kids are a little reserved but most have known me for years or are young enough that they'll take all the love they can get. Only got 4 hours of sleep last night so will be hitting the hay early. I have read everyone's posts but am just not able to respond. I do appreciate your condolences. Yesterday I felt like my heart was encased in concrete. Such heaviness. My stomach was in a vice and I felt like I was slogging my way through Jello. Much better today. Thursday is my busiest day. I have a very busy weekend planned. Dress rehearsal most of the day Saturday. Singing in my church both services in the a.m. and big Christmas concert for South Suburban Community CHorale in the p.m. Also have singing practice for my church tomorrow nite so lots of singing which is always a huge spiritual boost for me. Weeping lasts for the night but joy comes in the morning. Cheri

Hi Everyone, I am reeling from some terrible news. Another student was killed sometime Monday evening along with her 17 yr. old sister and mother. A boyfriend of the older sister or ex of the mother is suspected. The three were stabbed to death multiple times. My student was another 6th grader whom I've taught since 1rst grade. That class and the whole school are reeling. I somehow got through the day at work and am currently engaging in chocolate therapy to take the edge off the pain. I saw this child everyday. She was an exquisite young lady. Touch of attitude but what do you expect in sixth grade? She was an incredible praise dancer. Graceful and beautiful. The older sister was a graduate of RCS. Both had been with us since pre-school. Please pray for us. Cheri

Back to work today. Forgot how long I'm there. 10 hours. Gonna cut back I think. Just too much. Just don't know how I'll fit in all the kids in manageable groups. Gotta go to choir now. Big concert the 5th. Also got Kohl's bucks to spend. Hope to go tomorrow night. Good thing God holds my future in his hands. I sure don't know how long I can keep teaching. Don't know how I can afford to retire. Cheri

So, two and a half days of barely there carbs and high Protein and I dropped 5 lbs. Only got out to exercise 1 time although I did do a lot of house cleaning on Thurs.and I still lost the weight. Meredith and Tex this is the only way I can lose weight. I can't count calories or keep a food plan or journal my food. I'm too ADHD and have always been terrible at any kind of record keeping. I lose or mislay journals and lists. I don't count carbs either. I just know which foods have very low carbs. I don't worry about fat or calories. For example, half and half has less sugar than lowfat or skim milk. I also need more lowfat and skim milk to make my coffee look and taste right than I need half and half. Half and half in my coffee is much more satisfying and holds off hunger because of the fat in it and since its not combined with sugar or any other carbs I burn and don't store the fat. That's the good thing about a very low carb diet. You can eat higher fat foods and feel more satisfied for longer periods of time without shooting up your blood sugar. When you shoot up your blood sugar you store the fat instead of burning it, because you are metabolizing or burning the sugar and other carbs you ate instead of the fat. That's why Cookies, cake, ice cream, etc. put on so much weight. They combine sugar and fat. Salty crunchy Snacks are also basically very simple carbs that digest fast and shoot up your blood sugar causing you to store all the fat they contain. The salt in them makes you retain Water and raises your blood pressure. When I am in weight loss mode I also eliminate fruit because no matter their nutritional advantages, there is still quickly digestible carbs in them that raise your blood sugar level, especially if you are insulin resistant which most overweight people are. I am careful with vegetables for the same reason. They may be low glycemic but large amounts still can contribute to higher blood sugar. So for a couple of days I avoid them. After I lose a chunk of weight, I then add veggies and some fruit back in my diet, often in a night time salad for supper that has feta cheese and cashews for protein to keep my sugar level. This is during maintenance phase. During this time I have occasional treats. During my weight loss phase I would lose weight and then strive to maintain before doing a couple more days of strict low carb. Now that I'm at maintenance I use the 2-4 lb rule. If I've gained beyond my range ((158-162 lbs) I go back for a few days on very low carb until its off again. I currently am using leftover turkey in its own gelled juice for meals. I scraped the fat off the top since it solidifies on top of the juice once its cold. The gelled juice gells from the bone marrow dissolved in it from slow cooking my turkey. It's good for you like Gelatin is good for you. I also use peel top cans of chicken or tuna at work. However, that gets boring so once in a while I buy one of those spit roasted chickens at the grocery store and strip the left over meat and store it frozen in meal size baggies. Then I bring along a condiment or sauce to add to it. I found that pesto was a good one, hummus tasted good, hot sauce was great. Hot sauce has almost no carbs. Pesto and hummus both have low glycemic soluble Fiber carbs and olive oil and are good for you but probably shouldn't be used on an extrememely low carb day. Mustards that aren't combined with honey or other carbs also make good sauces. BBQ sauce, ketchup are chock full of carbs. Real mayo made with good for you oils is actually a much better choice despite the higher fat content. Just don't add carbs to it. Olive oil and vinegar/lemon with spices is also a good flavoring and moistener for the chicken which can have a tendancy to get stuck and cause you to pb. A little sour cream is not a bad choice as long as its not combined with carbs. A little butter and lemon with spices is also a better choice than a sauce with carbs. The other day at the restaurant I picked an appetizer for my supper/lunch that was mushrooms stuffed with sausage with a little mozzarella cheese and cooked chopped tomato sauce (like a lumpy spaghetti sauce) on top. The mushrooms took the place of Pasta which is high carb and can make me pb. I drink a Protein Drink for Breakfast and have some Protein Bars (not granola bars) with very low carbs (no real sugar) and some sugar free treats to keep me going between meals. Be careful, these can really give you gas and loosen your bowels, so don't overeat them. Propel fitness water often gets me through cravings and so does decaf with half and half. Hopefully there's a few ideas there that will help you. Get acquainted with the glycemic index so you can find out what carbs are can be safely added back into your lifestyle in limited quantities during maintenance intervals. By the way, I don't do this perfectly. If I have a day where I'm totally craving carbs I will substitute a high carb treat for a meal. Today I knew I was going to a movie so I had popcorn instead of lunch and I went to the bookstore and had peppermint mocha decaf latte. Rest of the day was fine and tomorrow I'll be back on low carb. This works for me and may not work for others. As always, take what you want from this and leave the rest. Cheri

Second day of almost no carbs. Band no longer tight and was down 3 lbs already this morning. That's all it takes for me. High Protein drinks and meat, and almost 0 carbs and I immediately drop Water and weight. Got out and walked today even though it was upper 20's out. Just layered up and the sun was out so I was fine. I have almost all my Christmas shopping done. I bought all my younger grandchildren a pillow pet and a toy and my two older step-granddaughters some cute clothes at Kohl's. All adult women are getting necklaces and earings, and my DH is picking up something for each adult male from Menards. We spend more on the grandchildren's presents than the adult children. With 10 adult children (including spouses) and 7 grandchildren I keep it simple. $30-40/ grandchild and $10-15/adult child. Everyone gets the same thing, No muss no fuss. No getting up at 3 a.m. or searching the internet for ads. Found great deals on everything at Kohl's. I really don't like shopping for people. I give them all gift receipts and don't ever expect to see them wearing or using anything I give them. LOL. Got all my plants (geraniums) cleaned up and placed in the front window. Many of them are blooming, so my living room looks really cheerful. Going to go see Harry Potter tomorrow after church. Haven't seen a movie for a long time. Not since Avatar. I hauled out the last Harry Potter book and have been skimming through it to refresh my memory. Wish I were J K Rowlling. What an amazing imagination. Slept in till 7 this morning so don't know why I'm tired. I know if I go to bed I won't sleep. But my eyes have trouble at night if I've been reading or on the computer. Nothing interesting on TV and hardly anyone's been posting on here today. Need a new night-time hobby. Something that'll capture my interest and keep me from snacking. Cheri

Charlene, one of my uncles who wasn't there is an alcoholic and a number of us think my aunt has a problem. My uncle who died could also drink large amounts of beer, but I only saw him at big gatherings so I don't know what he was like on a day to day basis. They're all huge men (6'5"-6'7")and that makes a difference in alcohol metabolism. I actually participated in my alcoholic uncle's intervention. He's still very active in AA. I never see my youngest uncle who was 4 when I was born. He lives in Montreal and hasn't been out here in years and years. He's in his 60's and still competes in decathlons. My aunt ran until her joints wouldn't let her anymore. The uncle who was there at the party has also always prided himself on staying in shape. The other two uncles, the alcoholic and the deceased uncle, were more massive, like football players not basketball players, and developed guts. My brothers are also very tall and one has the massive build and struggles more with his weight, and the other is more like a basketball player and has continued till recently playing basketball and swimming and has had less trouble. I noticed he's finally getting a gut. I've got the bigger frame of me and my sisters. They are taller than me and have the leaner frames. I am the shortest (5'9") of all my aunts and uncles and my mom and I'm the shortest of my siblings. My mom got the heavier frame but my dad who was 6'3" before starting to shrink has a very lean build. All big people but all highly coordinated and athletic. Huge ADHD tendancies running through us all. Very restless, unable to sit unless focused on a project. I find family characteristics to be fascinating as you can tell from all I've written. I've noticed a lot of similarities in what goes wrong with us as we're aging as well. Laura, sad news about your dad but not unexpected on your part. I'm glad you were able to have such a great Thanksgiving with them. Had trouble viewing your pictures when I clicked on them because they more than filled my computer screen. What's up with that? But you all looked so happy. Nels looks like he could be you and your husband's physical child. I have to go trim back all my geraniums which are currently in my basement. I keep them all alive in my living room windows all winter. Keeps my living room amazingly cheerful. But right now they're full of dead leaves since we left them out until frost. They're messy but worth it. Cheri

Hi all, Ate only Protein today to make up for yesterday. Was tight this morning from weight and Water gain from the past few days. My party for 22 went really well. I did stuffing and Turkey and everyone else brought the rest. Unbelievable food. Used my basement even without carpeting and working bathroom and we did just fine. Had our big flat screen set up downstairs with the Wii. Upstairs had a smaller flatscreen available for keeping track of football games. Was able to seat everyone downstairs, 15 adults all in a row and all 7 grandkids around this 70's style corner table with benches on two sides and chairs on two sides. People wandered afterwards from upstairs to down as did all the kids. Had cars and pencils and markers in the basement and Barbies and their accoutrements in the little den upstairs. Then I kept my grandsons overnite so DD and her DH could do the Black Friday thing early in the morning. David made about 10 Miis for the Wii. He created a character for each of his friends. We also built a lego ranch with house, Smithy, barn and corral. Took them to a McDonald's playland for breakfast so my DH could get some sleep when he got home from work. Then at 2:30 met some relatives at a restaurant who were visiting from Atlanta. Afterwards went to my mom's with some of them. My mother's sister and her DH and DD were there as well as one of my mother's brothers and his wife. So was my deceased uncle's wife and three of her grandchildren. As a child I was very close to this family as I lived with them the first year of my life while my father was stationed in Japan during the Korean War. The visiting aunt was 6 yrs. old when I was born. I was in some ways the youngest child in that family and at the same time the oldest child in mine. I have birth order characteristics of both. Didn't realize how disfunctional that family was until I was in my 20's and found out my grandfather sexually abused my mother and that my aunt has few memories of her childhood but displays all the characteristics of someone sexually abused. I know there was a lot of yelling and fighting and that my grandfather had a pretty heavy hand with the kids as well. There were 6 of them. Huge powerful boys all over 6' 5" tall, all highly intelligent, neurotic, athletic, physically attractive and creatively gifted. I've always felt emotionally connected to them and it was good to see them. Most of them took pride in staying thin and in shape and the aunt and uncle present were two of those so they were very vocal about complimenting me on my weight loss and getting in shape. However, neither one has struggled with food addiction, so, although I accepted their compliments gracefully, inwardly, I almost wished they'd not made so much of it. It was like I was finally getting on board with their own physical obsession. Janet, I think my aunt had a "little work" done. Much fewer wrinkles than the last time I saw her. Whatever they did, they did a good job. She was gaunt and wrinkled before though she had her model's figure. Now her face looked filled out and less wrinkled but she's still very thin. She's an artist who is building quite a reputation in the Atlanta area--work is reminiscent of Georgia O'Keefe. She may not eat but she surely does drink a lot of wine. My husband is now back to working 5 nights a week for the rest of this year and is going to continue into next year. That's good because my tutoring has died down with all the holidays and with my one student making the basketball team and having practices. However, he will be sleeping days instead of doing all the extras he normally does. Always a trade-off. So food was good today. First day its been good in a week. One holiday gotten through, but events scheduled all the way through Christmas day--including 2 more parties at my house. Haven't exercised in two days and its %&$#cold outside, so will try to get to the community center to walk tomorrow and Sunday. Gotta call my son and try to tie him down to a timeline on the basement bathroom so we can get the basement finished. Not my favorite thing to do. Cheri

Hi all, Happy Thanksgiving. Just taking a break from cooking and cleaning. Today I am thankful for all of you. I am thankful that God is a God of second, third, fourth, and so on chances. I surely know that I have made major mistakes in the past and continue to do so. But I am forgiven as long as I acknowledge my shortcomings, change my behaviors, and forgive others theirs. What a relief and what a release. Jodi, you may want to consider that you are blessing those who make you their chessed by receiving their blessing without trying to "pay" them back. Receive with a grateful heart and pass the blessing on to someone else. Cheri

So, I went to Fast Reply and clicked my font size and color and started typing. How easy was that? Gotta get going on getting ready for tomorrow. Have decided not to sweat the small stuff. My basement will not have a toilet but my DH did manage to get the floor pretty clean. It's pretty ugly but, they're there for the food and fellowship. Poor DH has been scheduled to work for 5 midnights. He's only been working 2 per week. The security co. he works for really does some things bass-akwards. Worked last night and now the next 4 nights. No prior notification that he'd be working Thanksgiving. My daughter is leaving her boys at my house overnight tomorrow so she can do the Black Friday allnighter and dayer. I'll be on my own with them as he'll either be at work or sleeping. Just finished my supper salad. So now it's time to get to work. Love you all. Have a great Thanksgiving. God is good all the time. All the time God is good. Cheri