BJean

Green I'm in agreement your the approach to the natural/herbal debate. My son gets so irritated when he reads something boasting its' "organic" qualities. He argues that almost everything is organic, so what does that really tell us and why should we pay more for it. I said something similar in an earlier post about us Cowboys being in Iraq. The real shame and pity of it, besides the financial cost to America and the depletion of our military "defense" forces, is the cost of American lives! Can you believe that this administration can and did send real live people over there, watch them die, bring them home in caskets, and with a straight face, tell Americans that it is to liberate the Iraqi people? I mentioned the same thing about No. Koreans and South Africans. Where is BuSh when they need him? As far as the Swiffer products, I hate to further the cause of lining Procter & Gamble's pockets, but I have to tell you that as far as I'm concerned the Swiffer Duster is the best invention since plantation shutters!!!

Hey ya'll, I just got back from Target and I found a frozen Butterball turkey that is already stuffed. The instructiions say NOT to defrost before cooking. I guess I've now heard everything! Has anyone tried one of these? If so, how did it taste?

I'll bite. What's the 12 Level experiment?

I had an advertising class in college that addressed not only un-truths in advertising, but we also looked at tricks used in print ads. It is astounding if you have never seen the tricks and learned how they are used to make most people feel or think a certain way about a product. When it comes to poliltics, it's a much scarier proposition. Lives hang in the balance. Elections also are manipulated by "spin" or in the case of some commentators, lies are used. Many people are convinced by the spin and lies, and many people are not. Many people feel helpless to do anything to point out the un-truth of the spin because there it was on TV or in the press, for all to see. It feels like you're an alien baby in your own country. In England you see so many stories printed that are scandalous and outrageous, but everyone seems to know that liberties are taken and that the rags are so much rubbish and the public reads or listens for entertainment much of the time. Wish that were true in the U.S. of A.

MOM: I am pleased and somewhat surprised to report that I am down 1 lb. also. I'm like gonnabethin, I've had much more success just prior to the Christmas Challenge start, but I'm going to hopefully do better next week. Start of challenge 192 First weigh in 10/16....191.

Sunnshyne411: Thanks darlin'. Appreciate those encouraging words! I too have had some BM problems. In fact, more than I'd like to admit. My doc told me to keep some Dulcolax suppositories in my 'fridge, just in case that happened. I've only used it once and didn't notice help right away. So I've just been hanging in there. But I can tell you this, the times I have had a decent BM, I have lost weight. Coincidence, I think not. LOL

See, I told you this was a place to read and learn. I am surprised to learn that a rectangle can have four equal sides. Far out. All of your other examples were quite clear. I am very guilty of using unreferenced pronouns. Just ask my DH - who is fond of pointing out each and every case of my constructing a sentence containing unreferenced pronouns. He'll thank you, I am sure. Words are powerful; so are feelings. If one wishes to convey a feeling, she better use well constructed sentences, that is, if she wants any sympathy. Huh? Can feelings be conveyed? Should I have used express instead of convey? See, I'm just a silly twit wanting to communicate via the written word and I just didn't spend enough time conjugating sentences when I was in the 9th grade. Forget college. I had a couple of lit classes and that was about it.

Duh. Well I thought a rectangle never had four sides the same length. Thus, a square couldn't be a rectangle and a rectangle couldn't be a square. Hmmm. And I thought I did pretty well in Geometry. Guess I'm too far removed from the 9th grade.

Wow Erin the turkey thing sounds great. I think I'll try it this week. Thanks!

Huh? Is it too late for me or am I just the lame brain I seem to be right now? A square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not a square. Huh?

MOM: Evenin' to you too. I am really worried about tomorrow's weigh in. I sure hope I haven't gained. But I won't be surprised if I have. This weekend was less than perfect. I'm finally understanding why people get so anxious for their first fill. I don't get mine until a week from Tuesday. And I can hardly wait! When do you get yours? Thanks again for tallying all the stats!

Lifelongband: My DH ALWAYS overcooks the chicken on the grill. People try to be polite, but when you have to cut off the charred skin and the middle is really dry, it's hard to gag it down! For me now, it's impossible. What kind of cake pan? Do you cover it? What did you say you put on it?

Lifelongband: My port incision and surrounding lumpy area sometimes complains when I wear a waistband right at that spot. It has caused me more than once to unbutton my trousers in the car. I told the dietician that I thought I could feel some of the tubing and she said that I will be able to feel even more when I lose more weight. Creepy! And your idea for chicken is good: pretend it's cake! LOL

Green: Do you watch the needle pierce the skin? Well I can't. I can't even watch someone else (like one of my kids) get an injection. I'm not actually afraid of needles, but I just cannot watch the procedure. My Mom always said that if you will concentrate on relaxing your hands and think about something other than what's happening at that moment, it will make a huge difference. It does work for me! When I have tried to think of something else, I've even been guilty of mentally undressing the dentist, and even the dental assistant when it was a long, unpleasant root canal. I actually had to work hard to keep from laughing! Quite the hilarious diversion.

Amen T.O.M.! I have been guilty of jumping into the middle of a discussion elsewhere at LBT and after my post the silence was deafening. (so to speak) Catholic=Liberal? Even the dictionary changes the definition of words from time to time.

One thing I've noticed about eating chicken is that dark meat goes down easier than white. I've always eaten chicken breasts and cooked almost exclusively with them. Now I gravitate to the thigh and leg and I'm much happier. The area around my port hurts sometimes too. That incision is still looking reddish and a little angry - although it doesn't actually hurt. Anyone have that? All my other incisions only have a little pink where the scar is.

Once again, Green, you hit the nail on the head. We're relieved to be able to have a voice here, without having to worry about being politically correct and without the usual experience of discussing such passionate subjects in a room where someone with opposing views is trying to shout us down. It is very interesting to read comments and stories that push someone else's buttons. Many people will not discuss these topics because of their controversial nature. It's nice to hear personal stories and gain insight on a particular subject that we might not otherwise be privy to. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading everything that has been posted here on Rants & Raves, and I've enjoyed being able to tell my stories too.

Mindy: You are very courageous for telling your story. I don't know why so many people say that women use abortion as birth control. I doubt very seriously that women can either afford or want to go through a surgical procedure as a form of birth control. I think that most women have an abortion because of circumstances very similar to yours and the others we have read about here. It had to be really rough to have a child when you were that young and depend on your parents for so many years. But you have come through it and you have managed to go on to marry a good man and make a good home for yourself and your sons. Beautiful outcome. Congratulations. BJ

I totally agree. Fish definitely goes down easier than chicken! I was also surprised that I could eat ground round. I made patties and did one of my mother's old favorites - smothered them with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup. I didn't actually eat much of the soup, but it soaked into the patties enough that it kept them from being difficult to swallow. My dietician suggested some Kashi (same co. that makes the cereals) frozen dinners. They're new and she was satisfied with the calorie and protein content, plus she said they are very tasty. I have Healthy Choice dinners fairly often because they are so low calorie and they are satisfying. She also told me that if I have a day that I haven't been able to meet the protein requirement, I can have a glass of skim milk with some protein powder. So far, I haven't lost any hair. Thank goodness! Anyone out there who's having that problem?

gailannr: Good Ostrich lesson. See there, like I said before, this is a fun place to read and learn.

Oh yeah, it wasn't her typing that was lacking, it was her speling. Oh who needs spelling when you have those lovely pillows to comfort your sad little boss when he's sharing the story of how his wife mistreats him.

TOM: I'm surprised that Carlene took your comment personally. One of the reasons that the Priest's comments were so hurtful at the time (1970s), when he refused christening to my S & BIL's baby, was HIS emphasis on the fact that they had not contributed money to the church. At that time, although I am not positive about this, I thought that the belief of Catholics was that until their child was christened, he/she was not cleansed of sin and therefore bound for hell if he/she died prior to christening or baptism. Another point to ponder was the discussion about communion and what it represents in different churches. I remember that if you were Catholic and had sinned (and this was different in the 70s from the current rules today), and had not gone to confession that you could not take communion. When they ran short on priests (that's my take on it) and they decided that you didn't have to confess about certain sins, venial (?) you could just ask God for forgiveness yourself and go ahead and take communion. Maybe that's the reason so many Catholics today are taking communion and practicing birth control, among other things, when it isn't officially acceptable according the Pope. The Pope (Vatican) does make the rules, girls and boys, and if your Catholic Church isn't adhering to the rules, it gets super-confusing for someone who's trying to understand all about the importance of communion and other sacraments. Of course some of you may have read about my experience with annulment. In Virginia it was absolute - no way. In the same year in Arizona, they provided the help we needed. The Catholic Church has many many things about it that I love. Other things confuse me. But that is true with almost any organized religion I have any knowledge of. And as for entrance into heaven... all you have to do is be "saved" and be baptised in the Southern Baptist Church and you're in like flynn. In fact, if you don't become "saved" and get baptised in the Baptist Church, you just aren't getting into heaven. Case closed as far as they are concerned. And btw, once "saved" in the Baptist Church, always "saved". And when comparing Catholic to Baptist, the Catholics recognize all the sacraments of other churches, whereas the Baptists believe that in all things, it's their way or the highway. And don't you be takin' communion if you aren't a "saved" baptised Southern Baptist, because they are every bit as strict on that as any other church. In our Baptist Church back then, if you were even visiting from another Southern Baptist Church, you did not take communion without permission from the pastor. At least these are some of the things I learned back in the l960s when I became a member. As I'm learning here right now, there's not much telling what's gone on since I stopped supporting all of them.

Carlene: First of all congratulations on your sucessful marriages and annulments and you must be a very wonderful, thoughtful and smart lady to have been able to work all these things out over the years. Not to mention persistent. I don't know when your annulments took place. Ours was in the 70s and money was definitely involved. We were part of the Tucson diocese. I had to answer (at the downtown cathedral in the presence of church administrators) 2.5 hours of written questions. My ex was asked to fill out a similar set of questions as were all the members of my family and his. That was all done by mail. It took many months and there was definitely no guarantee (according to everyone involved) that the annulment would be granted. My first marriage was in the Baptist Church. I was baptised Methodist as a child and then later, prior to my wedding, baptised in the Baptist Church. I too had to furnish my birth certificate and baptismal certificate for the annulment. My husband does not take communion. He did receive special dispensation (if that is the correct term) to take communion when he was the best man at his brother's wedding. I am not sure why that was such a big deal, but it was. I think DH had mixed emotions about it. As for money... the brother mentioned above and his DW moved to Lubbock in the 70s when she was preggers with her first born. They were new to town and she had some complications with her pregnancy and so they did not go to church without fail every week right away and did not get envelopes to use every week like they normally would have. After Jeff was born, they called to make arrangements for his christening. They were told that the church would not consider a christening since the parents had not been donating regularly to the church coffers. They protested and said that they had been donating every time they attended church, but that since she had been confined to her bed off and on, it was not every week. The priest said that he had no way of knowing if they had contributed or attended church since he had no record of their attendance and they had not signed up for tithing envelopes when they arrived in Lubbock. The answer continued to be no. Now this couple were both raised in the Catholic Church, attended Catholic Parocial schools and came from very strong (and very large) German Catholic families. They were horrified that their son would not be christened in a timely manner and shed many, many tears over it. This was the beginning of the end for them and their relationship with the Catholic Church. That wound never healed and she now sings choir in the Episcopal Church where they live and he just doesn't go. You may think that story was exaggerated for effect, but I assure you it went down just as I told it (except for my choice of words).

LOL! You crack me up!!

LOL! You crack me up!