green

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal.

Yep, we women do tend to outlast our men. I had an aunt who married a guy who was 11 years younger than herself. She still outlasted him, alas! And went quite bananas after he was gone. She lived on for quite a few years.... That Okie term is cute.:success1:

Not only does Green grumble but so does her cat. He was sitting on the window sill beside where she works on her computer. She had the window cracked open. The inside cat likes to smell the great outdoors. She heard the cat hiss and spit and figured that there must be another cat out there. Turns out the animal was chasing off an old man who was delivering flyers, probably trying to eke out his meager pension. This is a big black cat. Green is sure that the effect was quite sinister.

North of the border there were two parties of ex-pats on election night in my city who got reported on in the local news. A gang of democrats were drinking beer and watching the election coverage on television in a pub and in a downtown posh bar a collection of Republicans were drinking "Republican red" wine and likewise watching the coverage. The next day a columnist in our national conservative newspaper complained that it is impossible to find books written by conservative pundits in bookstores and in libraries in this country. She is undoubtedly correct on this score.

Wheezy, talk to your doc about the stress. Maybe he or she can help. Who knows? The fact that the psycho is now doing a 180 is not going to relieve the stress of being around her. You are simply waiting for the other shoe (work boot) to fall.

Mmmm. Always loved water, always hated sodas or any sweetened drinks for that matter. Real strong coffee or tea with skim milk is good. Carbs and cheese made green a fat grrl!

In my case the tipping point was my vanity. I had always viewed myself as less vain about myself than many women I've observed, and certainly more relaxed about the business of ageing. This is because I have never been one to go to spas, get manicures or pedicures and I hate getting my hair done. And my ironing board and I are strangers. But after I went through (early) menopause I began to gain weight. At first I didn't mind this but when I was given a new drug cocktail to treat my depression I exploded. Clothes that I had bought for myself at the beginning of the season were too small by the end of the season. I had never been fat when I was younger! My body was out of control! And I knew it was only going to get worse as I got older. I was both humiliated and embarassed by my new big body. I hated it. There were times when I would lie awake at nights loathing my body and if there were emergency lipo clinics I would have phoned a cab to take me to one. Of course I am aware that this all sounds very dramatic but my relationship with my own body was on the skids. I thought of liposuction and a tummy tuck. My tenant told me about lap band surgery and about the Toronto Lap Band Centre. Surgery of this nature certainly seemed less invasive and painful than body resculpting and this seemed like a good thing to me. My only concern then was whether I was fat enough. What was the minimum cut-off point? I booked an appointment with the TLBC and must say that my first impression was not favourable. I was kept waiting for almost an hour. Once I was interviewed I was reassured that I was a candidate for the band and I was very well treated. At this point I should tell you that my frustration with my body was such that I signed on for the operation and cut the TLBC a cheque for the full amount before leaving. I first saw them in late July. I was banded on Sept 7. I was lucky. Money was not an object for me. (By the way, there are ways of funding the operation for those who don't have the funds.) How do I feel about it now? Well, I have lost 15 and a half pounds in eight weeks. This works out to a nice steady weight loss of almost 2 lbs per week. Had I weighed more when I had gone in for the operation I believe that my weight loss would have been more dramatic. As for me, well, I have lost weight off my face, my waistline does not compete with my boobs, friends have been commenting on my weight loss, and I can throw my clothes into the dryer. I am eating a lot less both at home and in restaurants and I am doing this without feeling any sense of hardship. It might be argued that those 15 and a half lbs that I have lost have cost me a thousand bucks per but I find myself content with my choice. I think that the band bodes well for my weight management issues in the long run. I do find myself functioning quite, well, entirely differently with respect to my food intake and to my approach to food. This has been a lengthy response to your inquiry and I hope that it has been helpful to you. Good luck to you on your journey.

My post-op experience was like Cloe's. The first week I lived on water, apple juice and broth but I really didn't feel hungry. The feelings of hunger didn't reoccur until some weeks after I had had the surgery and so following the post-op diet was really easy. Remember, too, that while the portions are small there are many little snacks. It seems that you are always having half a cup of something or other. Certainly you should try out this protein water to see if it is okay, Yasmina. It could be a good thing to have on hand for that first week. My 1st week was devoid of protein. You will need chewable vitamins and a pill crusher for your meds. I found the experience surprisingly easy and I am a sissy!

I have gotten out of my habit of eating lots of carbs. This is a good thing. The carb thing was a serious addiction. Unfortunately I am eating fewer vegies. I am afraid that they will get caught on the band and my favourite way of eating them was by mixing 'em up with carbs and cheese. Mmmm. I am still trying to figure out an answer to the vegie dilemna.

Actually my own significant other is nine years younger than I am and registers as very good looking on the good lookin' scale. :kiss2: When I met him he was a diamond in the rough. I had to clean him up and teach him how to dress. It's become a bit of a chore to keep up with him now that I am in the land of old fartdom and sometimes I wish I was with some broke down old geezer with bad eyesight and forests of nose and ear hair! Life would be a little easier. Still, we've been together for over 20 years now. Maybe love is blind.... :bandit Or maybe the dude just lurvs sausages. :hungry: He is German on his mother's side.

Magic box steal spirit, eh. Very few pictures of Green exist for this very reason.

Green will curse her for you if you want. Here is Green's Curse: may you grow to weigh 450 lbs, parking lot lady!

I've read the coverage on the two sites provided on this thread and now I don't know what to think. Logic tells me that any kind of work done on a child that young doesn't make sense and yet the kid is doing much, much better post surgery. She looks better, is motivated, and is much happier. Prior to the surgery she had suffered a painful, socially marginalized childhood and was looking forward to a sad adolescence. It is hard to say what is more damaging in the long run.

That Mr. P has always loved Mrs. P is not in question, neither that he has always been a good and loyal mate. You are a loyal friend to his wife and his current behaviour is causing you some degree of pain. It might, however, be wise for you to find out what is going on with him, himself. It strikes me that this man has had a lot on his plate. His wife of many years has been extremely ill and will remain so until she dies. He has certainly done a lot of grieving already. Then too, we don't know what kind of private arrangements the pair of them have come to with respect to his life. She may be anxious that he find himself some female company. Men often don't appear to be as well-equipped for "widowhood" as we are. Perhaps you should sit down and talk with him. You could tell him about your concerns and find out what his feelings are. This is a sad situation.

Cell Phone Manners and Things I Hate would probably good discussion threads.... I also hate people who talk in movie theatres.

The former GF is lucky. She doesn't have K-fed anymore but she probably does have big cash payments coming in thanx to him hooking up with Spears. LOL

Your holiday sounds wonderful, Wheezy, and I am envious!!! I've got a crazy idea about your current problem. Both my friend who is a teacher and my brother who is a doctor say that they gain weight when they are working even though they eat the same. They claim that this is caused by stress. My teacher friend says that stress is very fattening! Are you feeling any stress? Could this be interfering with the band? Stress can also cause hairloss. This same friend of mine lost a bunch of hers while she was going through a stressful episode. Do get in touch with the TLBC about lack of weight loss.

Hurrah for Steve! Thumbs down for Spears!

*loud snickers from green*

God or nature made Adam and Eve but that same power also made Steve.

Sometimes a sausage is just a sausage but I do prefer a man with small buns.:biggrin1:

Theft, like prostitution, will always be with us. Theft happens at all levels of society. There are the little guys who practise welfare fraud or steal from your local supermarket, practices which the rest of us find abhorent, and there are the big fish, such as those behind Enron. Corruption on this scale may harm the middle class as much for we see people's savings' plans suddenly seriously compromised or even wiped out. This may make a difference when it comes to retirement or to sending a child or two off to university. The United States has always, unlike Europe, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, avoided any policies that have smacked of socialism. By doing so, it may be argued that you have left the middle class in a vulnerable position. The rich are rich and will always be unaffected by the dysfunctional behaviour of the poor. They will not have their homes broken into, nor will they be mugged. Neither will the collapse of an Enron stop them from sending their kids to the right schools and, well, interfere with the quality of their lives. It strikes me that it is the middle class, and it is the middle class that is the backbone of any modern nation, is occupying a precarious position. You are one serious disease away from financial stress, and if that doesn't get you, another Enron could, and you have to deal with the violence of disenfranchised, under-educated, drug-addled poor people who might car-jack you or break into your houses.

Re Green the sausage: all that I can say about that is thank God that October and Oktoberfest are over. I have had Germans salivatin' over me ever since I started wearing these jeans! They're chasing me with their giant buns! Ooh....:kiss2:

You raise an interesting set of questions in this post, ones that would merit a lengthy thread of their own. How far should the state go? Should the state become a "nanny state" by enacting laws for our protection? There was the time of Prohibition when alcohol was banned because it was deemed bad for us. Now we see laws which infringe upon the rights of smokers. Should there be anti-obesity laws as well, and if so, what kind? Should fast food restaurants be banned. Should we have the right to sue them? Should the obese individual be required to pay for his or her own health costs? For that matter there is the tricky matter of medical technology outstripping itself. Let me explain. Though it is now possible to save extremely premature infants, the chances are high that these poor kids will have ongoing developmental problems; they are more likely to have medical problems throughout their lives. This means that from their birth on they will be a greater charge on the health system, whether it is private or not. How do you feel about your insurance premiums going up when it concerns the care of one of these infants? Or should the state adopt a hands-off approach? Where does one person's right end and the next person's right begin? I think that this is an interesting question.

Congratulations on the weight loss, Yoda, and don't eat that caribou (or the fudge)!!!