I'm here to help...

[Great2BThin 5]

I hath returned with a new pair of shoes. Weren't on clearance but I got 'em anyway! LOL I needed some retail therapy today LOL Feeling kindda down and not sure why, maybe the fact I didn't sleep much last night and the whole baby shower thing. New shoes help! LOL

[ljv52 2]

Hi all. Good going on the shoes Great -- you deserve them, especially since you couldn't go to Denver this morning. Are you still heading to Hawaii this week? I can't remember your plans -- hope you can get out of your cold miserable weather for some beach and sunshine. Oh how I wish I could join you!! LOL.

Schools actually did close here after I was on line this morning. I was surprised - didn't seem that bad to me. Now it's dropped in temp -- from 28 this afternoon to 13 now. Brrr I have my heater blasting at work.

Arlene, how did your mom's appt. with doctor go on getting her wrist set? Did she have to have surgery? Hope not.

Hope Apples is enjoying some good weather.

Gotta run. Will try to cbl.

Linda

[Charlene K 1]

Linda, my DM's wrist is set in hot pink. It should heal in about 3-4 weeks. She is in the nursing home, but I am going to see if she will come stay with me for a week while I arrange for her to get help with bathing and maybe one meal a day in her apartment. She eats in the dining room everyday, but not all three meals. A lady cleans her apartment once a week. I think preferred living which is personal help everyday is in order before she makes the move to assisted living.

Sndy, Hugs! on you dealing with your dad. My in-laws would not move or get help. It was tough for about six months. I can relate......very stressful.

Lori, what kind of shoes did you get? I love DSW. The Weight Watcher point system has all changed. Most carbs have gone up a point......green veggies and fruit is 0 if eaten in moderation.

Melissa, glad you are enjoying the snow. The kids loved it when it snowed. I think it only snowed twice when they were growing up.

Julie, Thanks for checking in......miss your posts. HUGS! on your pain issues.

Janet.......thanks for the HUGS!

Apples......waiting for the green!!!

[ifyourstomachoffendsyou 1]

Sort of caught up. Skimmed. Had back to back meetings after school today. Need to go to bed early. Still getting over this cold. Not sick just dragged down. Half the school is sick. Trying to not relapse from constant exposure or catch some new bug while slightly under the weather.

Eva, I know what it is to have my life touched in a personal way by evil. My prayers are for all those impacted by the hatred of one human being.

Cheri

[Apples2 19]

As you all know, we made it to AZ and are settling in...thanks for updating for me, Eva. All caught up on posts....read a bit last night but DH was already in bed and did not take the time to post. The weather was beautiful today and looking forward to many more. When we were driving down and it finally got to 40 degrees, we rolled the windows down and took our coats off....felt like summer to us. Sandals are coming out tomorrow.

As you all have most likely guessed, Eva went way above and beyond anything we ever expected. The house is great...nice area and she even supplied us the basics to get us started. We were so tired when we got here that it was very nice to just rest a bit. Trip went great and even got here earlier than expected. Just hung out a bit today and did a few errands. Tanker has adjusted nicely. He was the BEST travel pup. Not one problem and even peed on command. Poor puppa.

DH is heading out tomorrow morning to visit with his dad and then we are all going over to meet Glimmer. Tanker is looking forward to his play date and we are looking forward to visiting with Eva (maybe DH) and getting to see where they live. I look forward to meeting her other creatures as well.

OK...going to hand the laptop back to DH. I thought I was going to have to pry those farm fingers from it in order to check in. LOL...

Hi to all...caught up and remember all that was said. Will take some time tomorrow morning while DH is gone to visit with you all. Sending WARM hugs to all. Missed you guys.

[Meredith2424 0]

Hello all.

Eva~ Oh, I see! I guess I missed that somewhere along the line. You gals are going to have so much fun! I think she will have a good time getting everything situated the way she likes it.

Janet~ Thank you! I just have to get my butt in gear and get to the gym again. After I sprained my ankle in mid-November it definately has not been the same and still causes me some pain. I'm just going to have to get in there and get on the recumbant bike and do some work with the weights.

Sandy~ Thanks to you as well! It's tough, but now that I'm back in the swing of things, its not as bad. It is definately a way of life and not a diet.

Lori~ So glad you got some shoes sister! I totally understand "retail therapy". Story of my life. So glad it snowed today or else I would have been out there running around buying something. Instead I shoveled and got some exercise. By the time I was done shoveling, I had to turn around and do it all over again! Ugh. I thought that my gf and your DD due dates were close to one another! I didn't realize they were on the same day. Try to relax about the shower. It will be ok.

Cheri~ Take it easy gf. Hope you feel better soon. It stinks when you aren't feeling 100%, but still have to function like you are at 100%. Ugh. Hugs.

Melissa~ Hope you had a fun day!

Arlene~ Sorry about your moms wrist. Hopefully you can get something figured out for her so she can get back on track. Poor thing.

Today I enjoyed day #2 of not being in classes. It was alright. I organized several drawers and got all of the bills from 2010 in their designated envelopes and filed away. I labeled and organized the envelopes for the bills for 2011, so we are ready to go. I don't do bills online. I do it the old school way, checks, envelopes, stamps, and all. Andrew thinks I'm nuts, I think I'm more organized this way like my mom. After all of that was squared away, I shoveled, turned around and had to shovel again! Salted the drive, as I found that the spots that were already salted from last weeks snow cleared more easily than other areas. Came in, showered, and made dinner for Andrew and I. Thats about it. Very uneventful. Andrew told me how much he loved "no school Meredith" because he gets a great home cooked meal every night. Can't blame him!

food for the day~

Breakfast: Slim Fast

Lunch: sf fudgsicle, sparkling cherry juice

Dinner: Baked chicken breast, barilla plus Protein penne Pasta, marinara sauce

Snack: ? Probably will have a grapefruit with a little bit of sugar on top. not more than 35 cal worth tho!

So far have only eaten about 550-600 cal. I will prob get up to about 750 with the grapefruit and "topping".

Going to play in the snow tomorrow with the kiddies!

Night, Meredith

[IndioGirl55 32]

Good evening gang... Back from boot camp - had a good workout..

Apples glad you could ck in - think you need to get your own laptop lol we miss you junking up the thread lol..

Lori - WTG on shoes - I have all these $10 off card for my bday from everyone - but the thing is you gotta spend $$$ to get the $10 off LOL and I just spent $500 for a french drain in my back yard..

I was just being nosey about your Dad since your rarely talk about him - Mine worked like your Dad - but I guess I was lucky my family was I love you kind of family - kisses and my sis use to joke that we kissed by before we went to the bath room - I got some neg stuff from my Mom but I know she loved me - and my Dad too - on my last bday card from them (dad & stepmom) (i was staying at their house taking care of them) said they were so blessed to have a daughter like me ;0) -

Charlene - if i remember correctly you weighed in today - WTG Congrats ...

Kelly - Don't know if I know Mike Smith My stepbro read dad was Ed Smith - not sure if mike w/his son or not - Chris was my bro friend and married to my gf sis - Yep our desert was small back in the day - doubt you would know it today

[Great2BThin 5]

Good evening. Apples glad you arrived safely. Hope Tanker has a good time on his date tomorrow! LOL

Arlene, the wrist must've been broken then? Can she not stay in rehab any longer? or do you just want her to come stay with you? I sure get about the sandwich generation. I joke that when DD has her baby I will be the center of a double decker sandwich with 2 generations before me and 2 generatons after me. I will have a granddaughter, daughter, mother and grandmother. DD wants a 5 generation photo real bad when little Katelyn gets here. I am really feeling the crunch in the middle of the sandwich today. Why am I the one that's expected to take care of so many things? After some retail therapy, I did take a stand, enough said. But along with some retail therapy, DH & I did go to a movie today and yes that thump you heard was me falling off the wagon and having popcorn. Maybe that extra workout yesterday will help with damage control. We saw Country Strong.

[ljv52 2]

Morning everyone. It's a balmy 8 degrees in my area this morning. No new snow, so life is good.

Great -- how was the movie? Haven't heard about that one yet. I hear ya on the popcorn - I can't stand to smell it without eating it so that's why I take my own with me in a big purse -- but if I didn't, I'd be buying it there too. i'm just lucky they don't check purses here, but they probably would in a larger area. I forgot to mention before tha myDH got me a little rug to work out on too -- he was worried about the carpet wearing out as well. LOL. It cracked me up when you said that. I guess we should be happy they think we'll work out so hard that we'll make holes in the carpet. LOL.

Just a warning to you all - I bought some really cheap sf popsicles at Walmart -- I had some last night for the first time and they gave me terrible terrible gas. I had it all night, in fact still have it -- had a hard time sleeping with it. so they will go in the trash. It has to be them cause everything else I ate yesterday is my usual food and I don't normally have it that bad. Since that's the only new thing, it must have been them. Sometimes it doesn't pay to try to save money.

Did you watch Biggest Loser? I couldn't believe how badly that one team did in that challenge - didn't look that hard -- but they sure couldn't get their act together. My girlfriend heard Jilian is pregnant - and then her "not feeling well" made me wonder if that is true. Glad the ranch team won the weigh in so they didn't have to send anyone home. So far it's been interesting -- I think that one girl who's already liost over 100 pounds will do really well - I really like her attitude. Love the Tongan man - sorry I can't remember their names yet.

Apples, glad you checked in and glad you are in warm weather. I watch NBC news and they are taping live from Tucson and the weather looked marvelous. You deserve the break. Hope you relax now and enjoy - hope Tanker has a lovely play date tomorrow. Will be looking for pics on fb.

Meredith good job on the organizing - It surprises me that you don't pay bills on line, but sounds like you have it all under control.

Have fun playing in the snow today.

Time to get my act together and head out to Water aerobics. Hope you all have a lovely day. Lori, hope your Mom will fly out soon so DD can ger her 5 generation pic -- that is really a neat thing - not many family get to have pics like that.

Later

[ljv52 2]

LOl that play date for Tanker is today -- sorry -- by the way, I can't do any multi quotes and even quotes don't always work. I also can't go in and edit anything -- how long are they going to make us suffer with this site not working correctly?

[Apples2 19]

Good Morning Friends....

Nice morning even though it is still dark. Tanker and I have already been out for a bit to sit on the screened in porch. He munched his BF and is now back in bed. I am still on MN time and wide awake at 4:30. DH is still snuggled in.

We are just loving this vacation already. As I stated last night, we love the house and the area. Eva has spoiled us with and think she busted her butt the last couple of weeks in order to get ready for us. For example....BF is going to be home-canned peach sauce and peach preserves for our toast. Gonna stop cuz don't want to embarrass her. You know the saying "People Pleaser"? Well, she's not a people pleaser....she just plain pleases people.

For over 30 years (besides vacations) I have lived in a very rural area where a person just does not jump in the vehicle to get milk. I feel pulled because DH will NEVER retire and I am fine with that. I just hope he is able to farm until the day he leaves this earth. But, at some point I would love to live closer to town. So, that said, I feel like I died and went to heaven. I am able to just drive up the street to the Safeway. I don't have to drive 70 miles to do a little shopping (tiny mall). Or drive 2.5 hours for a variety of shops. But, what I am going to enjoy most is the weather and just to be able to step out the door without freezing the nose off my face.

Lined up cable/internet to be hooked up tomorrow monring. It's been kind of nice without TV for a couple of days but having news withdrawl.

Great....You never go to the movies without having your popcorn, do you? So, that's a planned treat, right? One of the things that caused me to be obese was "bad foods"...."guilty foods". I would go on a diet and be soooooo strict. If I lost my control and ate something "bad", I would beat myself up and call myself a loser and give up and go back to my way of eating crap. Consider the popcorn a planned treat once in awhile and allow for the calories if you can. If not, get right back after it and do a double douse of exercise.

On the DD's MIL issues...control freak? The world was created just for her? Ummmmmmm...wouldn't this be about her new grandbaby and wouldn't she want to just love that mommy up and see to it that she has a wonderful shower? Selfish lady. I would have a tough time changing scheduled shower just for her. It would be different if she had an excuse that counted. I wish your DD all the luck in the world with this woman. I hope she can stand strong. MIL needs to know she cannot walk on her.

Arlene....your poor mom. You are such a good DD. Hugs

Sandy....with your dad was as open as Arlene's mom with getting the help he needs (but not all help from you). Hugs to you, too.

Julie....sorry you are suffering again. Do you have an appt scheduled to see what you can do? Hugs.

Way to go Meredith! Pays to have a plan and you must be feeling so good about getting back on track. I can feel it in your posts.

As I said last night, I am caught up on all the posts. You girls were pretty busy those couple of days. I'll pop back on later. Now I am just going to pretend that I live in Tucson, this is my house and my neighborhood and that I work at a little boutique just up the road. LOL

[Apples2 19]

Good Morning Linda...we must have been posting about the same time or I missed your post b/4 I started posting. Not a good thing you have cold weather but it works out perfect for me. I forgot to ask someone to take over the bitching and moaning I do about our cold. I think you can step right in and do it. Thanks. (hugs on the weather)

[IndioGirl55 32]

Good Morning Gang...

Apples - I can't imagine living so far from a store :0) - Glad you are having a good time ... What's the weather for Tuscon - it's suppose to be 74 here today ;0)

Linda - Watched 1/2 of BL last night - will watch the rest tonite hopefully

Lori - Can't go to the show w/o popcorn - no biggie - your treat..

Meredith - Can't believe you don't pay bills online - stamps cost $$$ - Online banking free and quicker ;0) it's the only way to go and you don't need to keep copies of bills - I have a spread sheet that I put amount due for each and I throw the bills away - no need to keep them - I only get paper statements for Ranches and Bro's Estate -

Well - I had uneventful evening too - watched my soap - little of BL - dinner Fish Rice Squash - Popcorn and too many choc Calcium they are like candy but the good effect is no problem in morning tmi ;0)

Off to shower - CBL

[Great2BThin 5]

Good morning! I am feeling the sodium affects of my popcorn last night. Even my lips feel chapped and puffy, rings tight, etc. Drinking lots of Water today. Also feeling the affects of all those squats yesterday but not like I did last week, so must be strengthening those muscles.

According to the weather app on my phone we are supposed to get to 33 degrees today. Above freezing for the first time since Dec 29. I hope so. While I love living some place where we have all the seasons the constant cold and inversions here get me down. But I have the beach to look forward to on Sunday!

Linda, I watched Biggest Loser. Wish they would show more of the contestants off the ranch. I don't think Jillian was sick because she was pregnant. I 'liked' her and Bob on Facebook and she just posted recently a photo from a photo shoot where she is covered in paper towels getting a spray tan for a magazine cover, she sure didn't look pregnant and I would think would look it by now since that show is taped months in advance. I like Jesse (Samoan dude) too, the wrestler (gotta root for the home guy) and the gal that lost 100 lbs already. Oh and the last guy to weigh that's over 500 he's funny. Sorry those popsicles got ya. I used to get those a lot but haven't in a long time.

Karen, glad you are all settled in and enjoying the AZ weather. Being so far from things is the one thing I always tell Dh I don't know if I could stand. He used to talk about going back to SD and farming a lot years ago. I was surprised to hear they had SAfeway there. They went bankrupt in UT years ago and a few years ago in Denver closed up the stores that were near me though DD just told me she still has one down by her. Is Glimmer a girl dog? Maybe Tanker will fall in love. LOL

Janet, thanks, the popcorn was just that a treat. BAck on track, it didn't derail me.

[llkb4me 1]

Apples, I already jumped on that band wagon and did the B & W about cold weather and Joyce climbed right aboard with me. So Linda climb on we will be a trio of B & W's . lol Glad you are in the warmth and sunshine,

Great, I love Born shoes, nothing better to lift the spirits than retail therapy.

Got to get ready to head to the post office for the mail. This means, coat, boots, gloves and only to walk a block and a half.

LauraK