BJean

aw shucks, we could do some serious WWL chair throwing (or WWF, or whatever the pro wrestling show is) and then have hot, sweaty sex. Wait a minute, did I get this thread mixed up with a different one? Hmmm, my testosterone level might need to be checked. Seriously, Susan I do understand the need for intervention sometimes. I've seen some rough posts occasionally that were very hurtful. That's uncalled for and you're right to put a stop to it. But for the most part, a little venting of the spleen now and then is good for what ails us. (Usually hormone power surges for the women)

You know the funniest part of the story was that, get ready... she said it went all the way down into her shoes. I didn't have the nerve to ask if she was able to save them. To make matters worse, she was in her office attire. Bless her heart is right. Guess it's a good lesson for all of us: leave them hot fudge sundaes alone.

Feel sorry for the police officer, huh? An acquaintance of mine who had a surgery that left her with the dumping syndrome drove home one day (out in the country, 20 minutes from town) and her big ice cream sundae dessert for lunch kicked in. She had no choice, she pooped her pants. Said it was pure-de-awful and knew it was all over the car seat under her. She was so anxious to get home and so preoccupied that she didn't see the little highway patrol man on the side of the road holding the radar gun. Yep. She was speeding. He pulled her over. She started crying and almost refused to roll down the window. When she did, he just tapped the side of her car and told her to get on home. Insult to injury, huh? :thumbup:

snowbird- awesome post. I totally agree with everything you said. I hate it when they shut down a thread because I've seen this happen many times. And when the anger is spent and reasonable heads prevail, we can go to bed feeling better instead of mad, just as you said. It's like having a spat with your spouse. If you are stopped in the middle of an argument, the anger grows and the next round gets worse. If you're able to talk it out, you can go to bed and have sex. :thumbup:

Elenation, you win! Whew! I thought I was long-winded. You win in the longest posting of personal thoughts category. Go girl. I have no desire to take each point and offer up rebuttal. But I will say, with all due respect, your powers of reason and logic astound me.

My opposition to banning abortion is based on the idea that the government can interfere in a woman's life. This right to rule a woman's life is is based on the belief of some people, that the government should control a woman by telling her what she must do under any (or practically any) circumstances in the event that she becomes pregnant. Some people believe that it is correct for the government to intervene in women's lives because it may protect the life of the fetus. In fact they believe that in each and every case of pregnancy, a woman should be forced to continue the pregnancy, no matter what the circumstances or conditions are that could endanger the life of the woman. (Although some believe that certain exceptions should be permitted, i.e., rape or incest.) The people who believe in taking women's right's away in this matter, want to be the decider in any and all cases. This faith driven belief is understandable since they believe that they are saving lives. Innocent lives. However that belief is not shared by everyone and not even shared by some scientific studies. There is huge controversy surrounding when life begins. But that is not the issue as far as I am concerned. The issue is that the government is a faceless entity, that has no powers of reason or reasonable thought or ability to determine whether the fate of the woman is truly in jeopardy or not. It is unconscionable for us to think that it is right or fair for this horrendous decision to be put into the hands of the government. In fact, a decision of this magnitude, of this importance, of this complexity, of this extremely personal nature, has no business being made by the goverment, the right to lifers or religious leaders or the Pope or anyone else but the people who are directly involved. Some of you say that you have no desire to take women's rights away but that is exactly what you are wanting to do. You are wanting to make this hugely personal and life changing decision for all women to in effect, be yours. Never mind the situation or the people who are actually involved. You believe that you are saving lives and that saving the life of a baby trumps everything. If your issue is truly to save lives, then I say go help these women you want to control. Help provide thousands and thousands of women the needed education about sex and birth control. For those who unintentionally become pregnant, convince them that you have a way to save their lives and the lives of their babies. Then come through on your promises. Once you do that, and you have provided clear and meaningful ways to help the thousands of women who find themselves in the unfortunate circumstance of not being able to handle an unwanted and unplanned pregnancy, then you will be able to actually back up your beliefs in a very real and viable way. Thousands of babies lives will be spared due to your assistance. It will be a new day in this country and one where we can all hold our heads up high, a day where no one is casting aspersions on the unfortunate women who are pregnant without any kind of support. Those women who are desperate and in deep dispair. Yes, lives can be saved. But if you believe that making abortion illegal will stop all the abortions, you are wrong. It will prevent some abortions and save some lives, but they will be a drop in the bucket compared to what the number is that you could save if you actually worked out financial, educational and practical ways to help all of these women. Organize a movement. You can even get the government involved. You can help women and save unborn babies and both will save lives. Outlawing abortion does not accomplish what you say that you want. We know that. We've seen the babies in trash cans. We've seen women who have committed suicide when abortion was illegal and was not readily attainable. We've seen the millions of cases of horrible child abuse heaped on innocent children by the emotionally unstable parents of children who were not wanted. Let's get real and help women. Let's stop treating pregnant women like they are carrying a commodity that the government can make decisions about. If you really want to save lives, this is how you'll do it. If you just want to control women and make them do your bidding, with utterly no regard for their personal circumstances, then keep on opposing women's rights. Keep on trying to make the medical procedure of abortion illegal.

Elenation: That's what McCain said when? I remember him saying that type of thing too. It is my understanding that he is now equivocating on the issue.

Wow, tink. I am flattered. That means a lot to me. I am very thankful that we are able to say what we think and be able to express our feelings without being censured. Wouldn't it be horrible to live in a country like North Korea, where the government literally tells them what to think and how to behave? Or China where they actually believe it is acceptable to govern reproduction.

What a turn on. Black ooze seeping from your mate's backside. Be still my heart.

Thanks for all the support! When you lose enough to get out of the original pain you're in, and you're feeling amazingly better, it is too easy to go on cruise control. Especially with the band since it is not as hard to overeat as it was before the band. I'm finding this next step on my journey to be very hard. The motivation isn't as strong much of the time and so I fight that. I look so much better but when I see myself in a really honest mirror, I am surprised to see that I am still fat. Then I think about what I weigh and I know there's no way that it's acceptable! And I remember how much I've lost and I know that if I lose the rest, I will feel even that much better than I do now. I need to strap on that Body Bugg again. That was really helping me and I need to do what karey said and restart internet prescription. Okay! I'm doing it! Good luck to you all this week! Thanks for your push in the right direction Wasa! Cori there's a lot of wisdom in your post. Karey if you are able to stick to that diet for even 2 weeks, you will see a significant loss. All the fruit reminds me of the Beverly Hills Diet that I did a couple of times. I had trouble processing that much fruit, but I wasn't hungry. I'm like Cori, if you start feeling the least bit weird, check in with the doc. I know you're smart and you won't take any chances!

I actually was remembering a song when I wrote "two hearts beat as one"... in the context of my post, it was a figure of speech, a romantic ideal and a sweet thought. I've had babies. I have had the initial guesses of whether it's a boy or girl based on whether the heartbeat is rapid or slower. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck. It's interesting that you would choose to defend against the meaning of that figure of speech but you want us to expect "separate" to mean whatever you and them good ole' boys think it should mean. Whatever. tink: There's no doubt that you and I disagree on this topic. It's obvious that you are as passionate about your beliefs as I am mine. That's okay with me. You have the freedom to make the choices you believe in and so do I, right now. However, you feel it is the right thing to do to take mine away when it comes to what you believe in. I think you should not have that right. And it is just as important to me as it is to you. Or maybe even more so. We are hardly a pen stroke away from changing the law on abortion, but with the Supreme Court that we have now, it is probably only a matter of time. Trust me, I will organize the troops, march on Washington, lobby Congress, and do everything in my power - short of killing those who disagree with me - to keep women's right to choose, the law of the land. kimaly: I am very offended that you have accused me of just wanting to argue. I hate to argue. But I do believe that I have rights that I absolutely must fight for. And this issue is not the only issue I believe in. Obviously whoever is president and the majority in congress have a lot of power and I will also fight to get people elected who share my beliefs. It may be offensive to you, but it is vital to me that my rights and those of other women not be taken away. Please understand that I will would also fight just as hard if the government wanted to tell women, under any circumstances, that they had to have an abortion.

You're really smart for your age, RSG! tarheeluv: What do you think Obama will do as president? I'm curious to know what you think we should be afraid of. I'm not being cute. I'm serious. I know you may not be a registered Democrat, but I did notice that N.C. didn't go all out for him in the primaries. A respectable showing, but certainly not a landslide.

plain we're sort of in the same neighborhood. I'm not far from Dallas. I've been to Texarkana. Nice little town. A whole lotta them banjo pickers out in the boonies around there. Gotta be careful what you say about politics in that 'hood.

Well you don't sound baffled. More like you have a pretty good grip on it. Of course I don't expect you're a sociologist doing all sorts of studies on the problem. But I always enjoy hearing about your homeland and your assessment of situations. Thanks for your response. I trust you're feeling a little better?

That's funny!

Julie my doc swears that a drop can make a significant difference. He's seen it time and again in his practice. He said that when he first started realizing it he just could hardly believe it, but as time went on, with some people, it is very accurate. So now he is very conservative with fills. He would rather take it slow and easy than get someone filled so tight that they can't swallow their own saliva. Btw, he also says that if someone is too restricted it can cause such a problem that they actually gain weight because the only foods they can keep down are ice cream and chocolate and other super high calorie stuff. This fill business is tricky and trial and error is about the only good approach, except for things like your barium swallow. Doing a barium swallow should tell you a lot and get you where you want to be. My doc avoids xrays/floroscopes, etc., if he can, but only because they're expensive. He does say that they can be an invaluable tool. Hope your test reveals all! bj

um, sorry if that was too gross. It was a kid thing. You know how gross kids can be... I'm just the messenger. :thumbup:

julie: The only reason I asked is because I have found that my band tightens when I fly. I guess if yours didn't, that has nothing to do with your problem. Good luck with your adjustment. Hope you are able to get it just exactly perfect. I'm going tomorrow too. In some ways I dread it because I usually spend a week of sporadic tight and loose episodes after an adjustment that keep me on my take-small-bites-and-chew-chew-chew toes. :thumbup:

I'm curious green. Why do you think that there is a Jamacian black teen problem? Do you think that they are really angry individuals because of their perceived plight in life in general, or are they angry because of the way they actually are treated? Or do you think that they are mimicking some of the gang behavior that is so heavily reported in the mainstream media in the U.S.? Since gangsta rap and all that are really popular now. Do you think that has anything to do with it? Or is your guess (I'm assuming a guess) that it is due to something quite different?

Talk about innappropriate, when I was a kid someone told me what a fink was. They said a fink is someone who farts in the bathtub and then bites the bubble. Geez! For a while I actually believed them. I guess it would be one way to clear out a hot tub.

Wow Becky, you're an inspiration! Way to go. I'd love to weigh what you weigh. Can you share how you did it? If you've already told your story and I missed it, I apologize. karey: you're doing it?! I hadn't read that you made the decision. I would love the details too. And how did you find your doctor? What do the 500 calories a day consist of? You sound like an ice cream freak like me. A day without ice cream for me is a day to be proud of! It's as important to my success as exercising is, I think. At least for the time being. Someday I WILL be able to have one scoop and feel satisfied!

:thumbup: Mind mentioning where you and them banjo pickers live? (That's a joke. I have nothing against banjo players. In fact, I'm crazy about Steve Martin.)

Yup, when a mother's heart beats faster, so does a baby's. kimaly: I am sorry if I offended you with my beliefs, but obviously you misunderstood. I did not equate someone ordered to murder their own child and someone choosing to get rid of the problem as being the same thing. My analogy was lost on you, for sure. I probably didn't explain it well enough. I am very strong in my belief that women should not be told that they either should have an abortion or that they should not have an abortion. The government should not have that control over a woman in our society. I do not agree that a fertilized egg is a separate entity. But whether I believe that any person who has an abortion is killing her baby is, to me, irrelevant to the debate. The debate to me, IMHO, is whether the law should be able to tell women what to do when they are faced with such a decision. There are plenty of valid reasons why a woman might need to undergo an abortion and it is not for the state to decide what those reasons are and pass judgement on a woman who makes a choice that it (the government, whoever that is) may not agree with. If you find this debate distasteful and my posts in particular to be disgusting, then by all means, opt out. This thread is definitely not for the faint of heart. You should hear some of the arguments against abortion. It gets unbelievably graphic and vile.

A great way to get some space between you and the other people at a movie! A great way to pay someone in an elevator back when they've been bad mouthing someone in the office. You let loose just before you walk out the door and leave them in your wake.

Hi ya'll. I've been needing to lose 20 lbs. for months. I apologize for not having an informative ticker, but I'm a doofus. I will tell you that I'm down to 175 and I want to be at 155 really bad. After that, I will tackle another 10 or so, but if I can just get down to 155, it will restore my confidence. I have had a devil of a time with restriction too. I am due to see the doc this week again. Sometimes just the activity of removing the liquid and replacing it, even with just a tiny bit added, does a whole lot for me. I haven't had a fill in a couple of months. I've found that I shouldn't go that long without having it checked. julie you haven't been on an airplane have you? To get the weight off, I plan to get back on the recumbent bike, do Water aerobics, and my free weight upper body routine. I have to be very careful or I overdo it and then I lose a week trying to get my knees working again. There's a fine balance I'm still trying to figure out in the exercise department. I also plan to have more salads - I can't eat much salad and it is so filling that I can lose weight that way. Also, true confession time: I have been allowing myself to occasionally share a dessert with DH when we're out. We had completely stopped that but have started talking ourselves into it again. That's over and done with! Good luck to all of you. Let's git 'er done!! It's gonna be a great feeling when we lose this sack o' lard! BJean