I'm here to help...

[Great2BThin 5]

WOoHOO!! Arlene, you are doing great!

Not much on tap for me today. I had pretty much put everything on hold thinking my parents would be here. DH is checking his schedule to see if he can meet me for lunch. And I have a $10 off coupon for a $10 or more purchase at Penneys so might go see what I can find before it expires today.

Weather was gorgeous yesterday, we hit 82. Supposed to be some storms moving in though by the weekend, hopefully not big snow storms. By april 1 I am ready for spring, big time!!

[LittleOleMeinFL 1]

Hello guys~

Don't have too long to chit chat- getting last minute stuff done before my trip to NC tomorrow! The weather is supposed to be nice there- so looking forward to some spring weather. They have so many things in bloom right now, will try to get some photos by the lake. Will even try and talk my Dad into going out on the boat. Mom said he is really down this week b/c they weren't able to remove the nephrostomy tube. Everything else is looking really good and he is shocking all his doctors. We won't know for sure until after chemo round #6 when they can do the repeat PET scan. He will start #5 on Monday- so the end is in sight for chemo. I hope Nelson's presence will perk him up some.

Apples~ OMW, you are too much! So nice of you to think of him. You do too much! He loves you guys and asks frequently how you are. Thank you in advance. : )

Julie~ We are crossing fingers and toes- hoping you get some answers today!

Janet~ Post of pic of you in your zebra dress!

Arlene~WTG on the 8!!! that is awesome! Your hard work is paying off! woooohoo

Eva~ (said in best Wall-E voice) Love your invites and the bug! One of Nelson's favorite movies of all time is Herbie. I had a VW Rabbit back in undergrad- It had a bumper sticker that said 0 to 60 in sixty minutes! LMAO. ; ) Too cute that you had "A rib". This band is amazing. We had date night too (funny that you guys are on the same schedule). We went to Toojays- a NY style Deli. I ordered 1/2 cup chicken noodle soup/ 1/2 turkey sandwich. Had the broth and only 5 bites of the sandwich. (less than a 1/4 of sandwich). So glad my band is still working. I didn't have pain but was full.

Femme~Get rid of the cake and ice cream! You are doing so good with the exercise, keep it up! Not sure about the Mederma, but highly unlikely it really works. I also scar pretty bad. Best thing to do for scars is use sunscreen if in the sun. Other thing you can do is moisturize and massage them. I went to a dermatologist for mine and they injected them with cortisone to break them up a little. They are flatter but stretched out a little wider. Also as I have lost weight they wrinkled up a little. I hope that after I get to goal and keep it off for a year- that most of the scars will be cut off with PS. Sometimes you can just have a scar revision- where they cut out the scar and then resew the skin with more delicate sutures. When there is less tension on the skin, they tend not to get so thick. Depends how much they bother you.

ok girlies... I am off to run errands and clean and pack and.....

peasout.. Laura

[ljv52 2]

Good morning all! Arlene, congrats on the 8 lbs. that's fabulous and fantastic!

Laura, so happy you are feeling better! Hope you have a great trip -- so happy you and Nelson are visiting your folks, that should help cheer them both up!

Lori, glad you are learning to accept compliments with a "thank you" - I have a hard time with that myself - I always tend to say, "thanks BUT I have more to lose" which isn't good - I remember reading in the Beck book that we need to learn to say a simple "thank you" as the people giving the compliments think we look great and don't need to hear that we think we need to lose more or wish we were in a smaller size, etc.

Jessica, have a great time in Boston -- should be great weather for you. Glad you're getting away - your brother and his family will be so proud of what you've accomplished!!!

Apples, I don't live as badly out in the sticks as you do (we have population of about 10,000 in my town), but after living in LA area for so long, for me it seems worse cause I have to travel at least 30 miles to the closest (and very small) mall and 65 miles to get to Des Moines. So for me, I think of it as the "sticks". We do have a small JC Penney store, but doesn't have a lot of selection cause it's very small. There's a wedding shop and another clothing store (very small and quite pricey) but except for Walmart, that's it. I'm used to being close to huge malls. What I miss the most are Ross and Marshalls. I don't get to Des Moines often and when I do DH wants to tag along and I can't shop "freely" when he's there waiting for me. I must go sometime by myself or some girlfriends. He doesn't understand my need to buy clothes because he doesn't wear out clothes -- for instance he has a jogging suit that he wore this weekend that he bought 10 years ago when we were in Mason City for my son's wedding (where we were this past weekend), so he was bragging about how long ago that it was when he bought it. I have to practically demand that he buy new clothes sometimes. Whereas I am constantly buying clothes.

Deb, you gotta either take the offending food to work and let them eat it, freeze it for the next time someone comes over or throw it out. I do all three - as Janet has said, better in thee (the trash) than in me. But I am lucky that I work with a bunch of young college kids who come in to work at night so I can leave food here and they skarf (sp?) it up and I don't have to feel guilty about it cause none of them have weight issues. I did that with my leftover tiramisu last week - it was too delish for me to have around my house -- I wanted it gone so I told my DH -- eat what you want now cause it's going bye bye tomorrow. Great going on the weight loss though and the zumba!!!

I have belonged to our Y here in town but it's really OLD and decrepit -- plus the ONLY bike they had there was in a separate room with some machines but it always was hotter than heck in there and the machines they did have were really old. They only have 5 treadmills and most of them don't work correctly -- we basically used the Y just for Water aerobics, but that's why i was so excited to get a "REAL" gym here at last. I stopped going this winter to water aerobics cause it was just too cold in the pool and in the changing rooms -- I would literally shiver during the whole work out -- everything is just so old it just doesn't work right.

Eva, those invitations were so adorable. You are so creative.

Julie, hope the doctor visit goes well today. Be sure and post what he says as we are all anxious to hear.

Joyce, I can't remember how long you've been posting here, but I had a total hip replacement Dec. 8 and frankly, it was a breeze compared to the years I suffered with my bad hip. So if they tell you you need a new hip I recommend you allow that to help keep you on track with your weight loss and exercise as much as possible because that really helps you if and when you need to have a new hip -- my surgery was amazingly easy for me as I was in great shape and had super strong leg muscles.

I gotta run and do a big project for work. I'll be back. Linda

[Charlene K 1]

I just got back from the weight loss class. I saw the PA and she said to up my Water. Then I went to nutrition class. I really think it is more like behavior class. Today's class was about the excuses we make or I would call it ....lies we tell to ourselves. Anyway, I officially lost 8lbs.....my scale weighs two lbs lighter than the doc's. I am still fired up to change my ways.

Thanks gang for the support!

Julie......what did the dr say about your pain?

[Apples2 19]

I just got back from the weight loss class. I saw the PA and she said to up my Water. Then I went to nutrition class. I really think it is more like behavior class. Today's class was about the excuses we make or I would call it ....lies we tell to ourselves. Anyway, I officially lost 8lbs.....my scale weighs two lbs lighter than the doc's. I am still fired up to change my ways.

Thanks gang for the support!

Julie......what did the dr say about your pain?

I declare today "Gold Star Award" for Arlene day. Way to go, Arlene. And, what sounds even better is that you are EXCITED to continue on with your plan with your doc. I just love hearing the positive things coming from you right now, Arlene.:frown:

[Apples2 19]

Linda...your DH just does not know the difference between the "Want or Need" factor. WOMEN want (clothes, shoes, purses, Flexies)....MEN need (work boots, plaid shirts, jeans, plaid shirts, Gold toed sock and more plaid shirts)!

[phyllser 3]

Linda...your DH just does not know the difference between the "Want or Need" factor. WOMEN want (clothes, shoes, purses, Flexies)....MEN need (work boots, plaid shirts, jeans, plaid shirts, Gold toed sock and more plaid shirts)!

You got that right! Linda's DH sounds exactly like mine! I made him buy new sandals the other day because he was wearing his crocs EVERYWHERE and they died about 2 years ago! They look awful! The insides of his tennis shoes are all torn up, too. They are NEXT on my list!

It's very windy here today, and much cooler... like in the 60's. And it's supposed to be pretty nasty tomorrow. Even colder, 40 mph winds, possible rain and thunderstorms. So we made a big crockpot full of Chilli today! Had a little for lunch.< /span>

It's DELICIOUS!

[Apples2 19]

You got that right! Linda's DH sounds exactly like mine! I made him buy new sandals the other day because he was wearing his crocs EVERYWHERE and they died about 2 years ago! They look awful! The insides of his tennis shoes are all torn up, too. They are NEXT on my list!

It's very windy here today, and much cooler... like in the 60's. And it's supposed to be pretty nasty tomorrow. Even colder, 40 mph winds, possible rain and thunderstorms. So we made a big crockpot full of Chilli today! Had a little for lunch.< /span>

It's DELICIOUS!

Ick..really cold weather for you guys. We getting in the 70's the last couple of days and supposedly the rest of the week. We are pretending that it's summer. Even gave the dog a bath in the pond last night. He said "Ahhhhh"!

[ladykcusa 1]

Way to go Arlene. Well done, lady.

Laura - enjoy your trip to see your parents - hope you get Dad out on the boat.

Anxious to hear from Julie.

DJD - dengenerative joint disease - PT said it is the same as arthritis. Surgeon does NOT feel surgery is necessary for another 5 to 10 years and agreed with me that physical therapy would get me back on track. Three days a week for 6 weeks will make me a new gal. The staff worked with me to rehab my knee last year and I enjoy all of them.

Welcome to Debbee - lots of great information here from great ladies.

[Charlene K 1]

I declare today "Gold Star Award" for Arlene day. Way to go, Arlene. And, what sounds even better is that you are EXCITED to continue on with your plan with your doc. I just love hearing the positive things coming from you right now, Arlene.:frown:

Thanks Apples! I graciously accept the Gold Star Award. I haven't felt this good about my journey in a long time.

[1day at a time 2]

Melissa - WTG on logging your food - I guess you haven't gotten the beck book - it tells you what to write on those sticky notes - heck on yours - write - LBT - HELP...

LOL I am reading the book but have not gotten to that part yet.

[LittleOleMeinFL 1]

APPLES!!!!!!!!!!! Your package came today!!!!!!!! Nelson loves his farming game! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! : ) He saw it sitting in front of the door and said- look! It has my name on it! And she wrote each word in a different color- AND.. she put cute Easter stickers all over it! He loved the doggy card also. You are tooooo much! Just had to tell you how quick it got here! HUGGGGSSSSSS!

A pic to show you what we did after school today...

[llkb4me 1]

Arlene, Way to go on the lose.

Eva, love the invites, they are beautiful.

Laura K

[ocotillo 0]

Phyl, I swear you are the chili queen. I think you've posted about making chili more than anyone I know. It's great food for the crock pot and for chilly weather. When are you heading back to the north? DH has a problem buying shoes too...he'll do it but rarely and it's like torture for him.

Joyce, that's good that you aren't going to need surgery for quite a while. Just don't let it get so bad you can't move anymore. Of course, I'm sure you know that already.

Apples, LOL on the plaid shirts....for my DH it's t-shirts and white button downs if he has to dress up. Dog bath in the pond...guess you pond doesn't smell bad like some of the ones around here. Glimmer got her birthday bone today and a little special attention. She seems to be a happy B-day dog.

Charlene...CONGRATS!! Wow, glad to hear how well your program is working. Yep, it seems it's just what you needed to do.

Linda, you are so good about getting rid of that tempting food. I have to throw stuff out too because if it's here, I'll eat it (at least stuff like chocolate). So are you still going to join the new gym? Too bad about the Y...you want to support organizations like that, but they have to keep up their equipment. I can't stand cold pools either.

Laura...have a safe trip. Are you flying commercial or using your "connection"? Guess the weather warmed up where you are...pool time already! I bet the flowers will be lovely in NC...yep, take picts. Hope you Dad is feeling a little better when you get there. Give your Mom a little break.

Thanks everyone for the compliments. I appreciate it. It's funny you mentioned about saying "thank you" with out the buts....because it's been a hard lesson for me too. I've had a couple of girl friends get after me a lot about that and even though I don't always feel like accepting the compliment, I'm learning to say thanks and leave it at that. It's really hard.

I had to stop off at a different store after work tonight...it's the one where I get my dog meds from. I was sort of amazed at how many truly big people there were there today. Now, I still fit right in with that assesment, but I used to be the exception...now I'm not and I don't think this bodes well for our nation. I believe there were more overweight people at the store than normal sized people. It's a little depressing.

Okay on that note...I'm going to check out Facebook again. A couple of high school people recently contacted me and I need to go update something.

I'll try checking in again later.

EVa

[IndioGirl55 32]

Good Evening Gang

Yep Eva - as you on this journey - you will start noticing these things more and more - You are on your way to being not one of them..

CHARLENE - WTG GIRL - YES GOLD STAR 8 OF THEM !!!!! This is what you need - this motivation will help keep you on track..

Deb - Congrats on your 4 lbs - even with the extras - but the combination of that and exercise is what's doing it - but girl - my dad & mom - depression parents 1920 & 1930 - my mom from texas they were poor - I grew up w/clean plate - straving kids in Africa - throw the crap way !!!!

Karen thanks for the artical - I am going to email it to him ;0)

Julie - Laurak - Linda - Melissa - Jewel - Judy (where are you) who am I forgeting - don't mean to but Gang - I'm sorry - but it's 8:11 and I need to go eat - work is a b - I am never going to have any free time -

I'm off friday and tomorrow I don't go to the gym - so I promise to write more..

xoxox

Janet