Good morning!

Buddy is still with us. I just couldn't do it yesterday. I made some fresh chicken and he gobbled that up. I don't think there will be any improvement ... but I think he may have a few days left. He still drinks water and goes to the pan. While obviously not good, I don't think he is in pain. Sometime next week .....

Not having my Mother any more, and not being a mother, Mother's Day sorta goes over my head. Sometimes my step kids do send me a card. What's really unusual this year is none of the step kids remembered my birthday. Such is life.

Barb, what wonderful news about Larry!!!!! Oh, you must be so thrilled. And that was a good price for an air ticket to CO. Didn't you drive last year?

You depressed? Well, I would be, too, if I were in your shoes. I mean, your whole routine has been turned topsy-turvy! Maybe not exercising as regularly as you did is just your little way of "rebelling" against the current situation. All the tension and worry while Larry was in the hospital is perhaps being released. Regular exercise takes real commitment ... and your commitment has been elsewhere lately. Sheesh. Sorry. I seem to think I am a shrink.

Shelley, white roses? How beautiful! Gosh, I cannot think of the last time Bob gave me flowers. It may have something to do with the fact that they are expensive and then they DIE ... and I might have mentioned that fact years ago!

LOL about cleaning the bathrooms with make up on and your hair done! Shades of Ozzie and Harriet. But at least you did get the day off after all!

Judy, wow. You sounded PO'd about that lunch room! You sure get the GOLD STAR for stepping in and actually cleaning it. Yes, I wonder who will dare complain .....

Peg, moving, right? Hopefully next weekend will see you with your feet up, enjoying a glass of wine!

Donna, well, I am rooting for Yau Man. I was so relieved when he pulled out that immunity idol at the last second. He had a hunch. And did you see the look on Sondra's face? She wanted to get rid of him. HA! And Dreamz? What an ungrateful little turd. Don't forget .... tomorrow is the finale. I'll have to record Desperate Housewives.....

I just can't figure out how you do all you do with that bandage on! Gardening/working/walking the dogs .... I would use that leg as an excuse to lie in bed all day!

Was your hairdresser able to fix your "cut?" I smiled when I read that. I can just see you snipping away ......

Heather, am I reading your post right? You are on the internet while on the treadmill? If so, you get the multi-tasking award. I'd get a headache .....

Maybe today I will actually go to lunch with my friend. One thing after another has pushed it back ..... And maybe that danged tree ring will get done. Who wants to place bets?

Have a wonderful day! XXOO

__________________
Alida
5'1" ~ 59 years old
Highest weight: 165
Atkins 7/10/2004
160/126/125
RE-DO, January 2008:
167/162/135

Woohoo! It's a beautiful morning. I've got to find something to do outdoors today. Donna, somebody comes to cut our grass, and handing over the cash for that is the total extent of my involvement in yardwork. I think growing up as a transient with no emotional investment in any residence I ever lived in didn't cultivate my domestic gene sufficiently. And that goes for indoors, too.

Judy, yes indeed, Gold Star for that clean-up. From all I've read, a teachers' lounge is a pit--and if smoking is allowed, others STAY OUT. Of course, you're going to be the patsy from now on. But...it might be worth it. A cleaning binge like that is therapeutic. And by the way, 4:45 is "normal" for some of us (Alida)--it's falling into bed at 9 on the other end of the day that feels "not normal"--especially when it's still light outside.

In the workout realm, it's only my morning workouts at home that I've been skimping. I get four solid hours a week at the gym--weights and cardio (step and cycle). That's good enough for maintenance, and what I can manage to do at home is a bonus. The scales are back to 130 today--so that temporary (but lasting all week!) 2 lbs. seems to be gone. I WILLED it gone.

Shelley, once upon a time I told dh NOT to send me flowers. We were poorer then, and with one income (mine) it seemed like he was spending too much of MY money to give me a present that died. I should send myself flowers once in a while. They are truly lovely to have around. If I were Donna, I'd grow some. The pink peonies in our yard--the only holdover from the previous resident (40 years ago)--are starting to bloom. They are a hardy perennial, although I think the white one got frozen at some point--its buds are shrivelled and look unlikely to bloom. Isn't it remarkable that peonies require ants to bloom? Ants are crawling all over the buds. Have to be careful when you cut them and bring them in.

Peg is having a VERY busy day. Hope she'll find time for that glass of wine and us before she drops over on Sunday night.

Take care of you, my dears.

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Hi guys,
About to hop in the shower...STBO on my walk this morning...LOL. The sun is finally shinning, and we'll be up to 85-ish or so today. Hopefully that won't trigger anymore T-storms...we need to dry out.
Hoping today will be the start of my fitness walking again. So far, so good, on the heel, but we'll see what happens later in the day. Fingers crossed.

Alida...whew...that Buddy is hanging in. Poor wussy cat. I forget(CRS)...how old is Buddy? Man...the steps forgot to send you a card on your BD? I'm sorry for that.
Well, you are a critter mama, so Happy Mum's Day to you!

Barb...good news that Larry's labs are improving...yay! Grilled steaks are always a hit! What's not to love?
On the flower thing...when our Fu Kitty was still living, I couldn't have fresh flower bouqets. Instead of a heat seeking missile, she was a greenery seeking wussy cat and would EAT the fern and baby's breath in the bouguets DH would send me. Then you can guess whats next after an animal eats grass, plants, etc...yep...all over the carpet...ack. I tried everything...even putting my bouquets on my chest of drawers in the bedroom. She would LEAP upon the chest, usually knocking everything off of it, and still manage to eat the greenery and get sick. So, I said to heJJ with it.
But now, it's ok. Besides, it gets DH *off the hook* pretty easily, he feels good for bringing me flowers and I get to enjoy a fresh cut bouquet with no *nibblers* to worry about. Well...that was certainly long winded...you didn't ask for that now, did you? LOL.

Judy...you sound like me on the cleaning issue at work. I got so sick of the slobs I used to work with(years ago in L&D), that I put a sign on the fridge and microwave...
*CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, THIS IS NOT A SELF CLEANING MICROWAVE*...and the same on the fridge. Did it help? I think it did, at least a little. I always wondered if these slobs didn't clean up their messes at work, what the heck did their kitchens at home look like???....Ewwww...and aacckk! Some people.

Donna...how goes it today? Dressings off the leg? Swelling going down? Ballgames this weekend? Hope all is well for you, kiddo.

Heather...busy weekend for you, I bet. Have fun with your babes!!

Peg...hoping your moving is going well. You are in my thoughts today

Everyone else...youze guys are missed bunches! Hoping all of you are healthy and happy this day.

OK...I'm on the home stretch with induction...only 4 more days to go. Ketostix remain dark pink, and at times purple...yay! I may weigh in the morning, or may wait until Wednesday, day 14. Basically, this time around, I've KISSed it for the most part.
I may make half a recipe cheesecake to celebrate the day tomorrow; we'll see. So far though, sf jello has worked and why tempt the *craving Gods* and get tangled up in that all over again?

Alrighty, gals...everyone have a good weekend! You are all in my thoughts...and that makes me smile

later, chickadees
(((hugs)))
Shell

__________________
~~~~
Shelley
~~~~

Visit Kassie's Korner



Life deserves a treat now and again, but life also deserves being healthy[with required disipline] to make it worth living!

Gasp............gasp...............gasp........... .......well, you guys, I'm following along at a very slow pace! Went to the new place all day today with dd and her man and the kids. They put together all the stuff from IKEA. What a good job! The kids played tag in our new place. Littlest one asked that we have no furniture put in since is makes such a good place to play without it. Ha! We have several window boxes. You know.......the boxes under the window where you store things? She is a pistol! They had a good time hiding in them!

Tomorrow is the second to last day in this little apartment. We are so tired, we are just waiting for dark to come. Dh is ironing his suit for tomorrow. I still have to pack my bathroom, the china and the bottom of the hutch which has lots of breakable stuff. We have taken alot of stuff over ourselves. Trying to see (with new eyes, ha!) what we can take and what we still need to pack. It's hard. Gave away the double bed last night and still have the entertainment center to give away to a young women just setting up housekeeping. I felt good about that.

I'm babbling. I'll stop now. Love you all and be back tomorrow, I hope.

Peg

What a great day I had playing in the garden. I managed to fill 10 hanging baskets, and 14 pots. Tomorrow I have to plant another flat of annuals that I got for some colour. Once everything starts to bloom that patio will look so inviting.

Well guys...I got the haircut from heJJ today. I know, I know, I'm the one that cut my own hair but I have to say....I did a better job than the hairdresser did. This cut is sooooo short that it's spikey and I can't even get it in the curling iron. Plus...she didn't even try to curl it before ushering me out the door. I came home and coloured it hoping it might make it look a little better. I'll try to curl it again tomorrow.

The bandages came off today. Whew...what a relief. But..so far the swelling isn't going down. I guess it takes time. I unwound the tensor bandage slowly seeing as it was on so tight. (I had images of a blood clot or something happening if I did it quickly). Just behind my knee....where it had been hurting so badly all week...I found that the bandage under the tensor had pulled skin off my leg and it had been rubbing all week on the tensor. No wonder it hurt so damned much. It's about the size of a toonie (oops, okay a silver dollar for you guys lol) and just raw and seeping. Dh sugguested putting a gauze bandage on it. Stupid idea. When I took it off to let it get some air this afternoon I found it was stuck to the bandage. So, I yanked and had blood pouring down my leg. Guess I'll stick to shorts tomorrow (I'll hide in the backyard) and then capris the rest of the week.

Dh is in the frontyard right now....in the dark...putting together my park bench. The furkids love to sit in the frontyard and wait for their Daddy to come home from work so this will give me somewhere to sit while we wait. I won't leave them in the frontyard alone cause I'm always afraid they might get under the fence and get hit by a car. I know....paranoid mom.

Shelley: I'm so jealous of the white roses. I've only had longstemmed roses once in my life. An old boyfriend when I was in my 20's. But, I've cut a huge bouquet of fresh lilacs and my frontroom smells fantastic. Maybe I'll fantasize that a secret admirer sent them. lol

Alida: I'm so glad that Buddy is still around. I was worried about you. Love him while you can....which I'm sure you are doing.

Tomorrow night should be interesting with Survivor. I'm still routing for Yao Man.

Judy: I'd be right along with you cleaning that stupid fridge. Can't stand a mess. I'd trade you that fridge for the toilet that I have to clean that 13 guys use! Can't they ever hit the bowl? And the guys that pee on the seat....just gross!!

Peg: Awwww, please take a break and have a glass of wine. You poor kid...must be exhausted. Wish I lived closer so I could help you.

Just had to go outside and see the bench that dh has put together. Love it. And the miracle is...he didn't have any leftover parts. He always has leftovers! lol

Barb: Your peonies are way ahead of mine. Don't even have buds yet. But, I did find buds on the wisteria that I thought the winter had killed. Maybe I'll get flowers on it this year.

****
I got some good news on Friday. I've been writing to a girl in Alberta for about 10 years now. She went to the same highschool as me and I found her name there when I went to the Classmates.com website. We've only talked on the phone once...but we've been through a lot together. She's lost both her parents since we've been e-mailing and I lost my dad. Anyway, she's coming to BC with her husband this week so they can buy a new truck and motorhome and she wants us to try and get together! Of course, it had to be the busiest week we have with ballgames and loading the motorhome and taking off early on Friday. We're going to try and make it though. I'm excited and nervous....we're the same in so many ways and totally different in others. She's very well to do...just got home from Holland on Friday....but she's had hard times too. Sure hope we can set something up. I'll keep you posted.

I managed to get in a 2 mile walk tonight. Not as fast as I normally do....but it sure did feel good. The sun was shining and I didn't have to wear a sweater. In fact......don't be too shocked....I wore shorts. On the main street!! Now isn't that brave? Good thing we live in a small town and there aren't many people out after dinner. lol

That's it for me for today. It was a busy day....I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight...my poor furkids are crashed. Happy Mother's Day to everyone!! Everyone treat yourself to something special tomorrow.

__________________
Donna
238.5/166.4/150
I will see my goal weight again!

Happy Mother's Day!! Donna's idea is a good one--treat yourselves! Don't let the disappointment of ungrateful kids, grandkids, and stepkids spoil the occasion. (Realist chimes in.) You did your job, and to heck with 'em. I suppose only a non-mom could say that.

I'm joining my extended family for the baptism of the newest little one this morning, with brunch afterward. Looking forward to the fun.

Dh is feeling better and better. His color is improving--almost not yellow anymore. He's developed a craving for fresh strawberries, which are deliciously in season now. I'm enjoying them, too. Not the worst carb transgression. He also ate a little piece of the steak I charcoal-grilled last night. That's the most protein he's had in a month and a half. Life is good.

Peg, good to hear that you're surviving...more or less. Storage boxes under the windows? Sounds very handy.

Hope to hear from the whole gang pretty soon!

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

__________________
Alida
5'1" ~ 59 years old
Highest weight: 165
Atkins 7/10/2004
160/126/125
RE-DO, January 2008:
167/162/135

Sorry for writing my post in Comic Sans. For some reason the paragraph spaces did not show up. Sorta hard to read ....

__________________
Alida
5'1" ~ 59 years old
Highest weight: 165
Atkins 7/10/2004
160/126/125
RE-DO, January 2008:
167/162/135

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE! I actually slept in today until 9: 30 and woke up to the phone ringing...it was dd calling to wish me a happy day. I never, never sleep that late...must have been the fresh air yesterday.

Alida: I have never met the girl I'm writing too. She went to the same high school but was a year ahead of me. I just saw her name on the website and e-mailed her asking if she wanted to write. That was about 10 years ago. I e-mailed her this morning asking if her and her husband would like to come to our baseball campout this weekend. We'd get to spend more time together that way.

Yes, you can move your peonies. Do it in the fall after the leaves have dropped. You can even break them up and have several smaller plants then.

I'll post another picture soon....but defintely not with this haircut. lol

Barb: Enjoy your day with the new additon. Good news that Larry is feeling so much better. Getting more protein in him will help too.

Guess everyone else is sleeping in or being pampered. I've got a huge stack of ironing waiting for me, then to the store for the things I forgot yesterday (how can you forget toilet paper...duh), and then out in the garden again. The sore on my leg has turned into a scab so I won't need to worry about getting dirt in it. So....off to another busy day for me. Talk to you tomorrow.

__________________
Donna
238.5/166.4/150
I will see my goal weight again!

Hola!

Kinda late getting in here, but.....
Happy Mom's Day to all you wonderful gals!!!
Hope everyone's day was just perfect, and you did just what you wanted to do!

I pretty much did my usual Sunday thing. Grocery store run and some housekeeping...changed the linens and a few loads of laundry. I didn't knock myself out by any means! LOL!

Alida...well, that's a good sign if Buddy is eating and keeping it down. Also that he is still going to the sandbox is a good sign as well. Yanno...he might have another year or so. Our FuKitty was 15 when she died. A pampered indoor wussy cat does have a better survival rate, so ole' Bud might be good for a little while longer...guess ya just never know. You are a good fur mom and very much in tune with Buddy, so you'll know when he needs to cross the rainbow bridge. (((hugs)))

Barb...sounds like you had a delightful day all planned. Hope you had a terrific time. Did Larry feel well enough to accompany you?

Donna...Oh I hope you can meet up with your friend! It's just the most wonderful feeling...like the way I felt when we *converged* It's SOOOO wonderful to meet in person! I reconnected with my BFF after 36 years!!! She's the one in Denver that I visited back in March.
Anyhoo...I tracked her down with the help of the internet. Long story, but we have so much in common, it's almost scary!

Peg...hope you at least have most of the stuff moved. I really hope it's ALL moved, and you got to have a fabulous Mom's Day complete with dinner out and a Marita!



I decided to make myself a mom's day treat, but didn't want to go big guns with a cheesecake, so I *tweaked* the 3 min chocolate cake...for the better, I think. Topped it off with some cream cheese peanutbutter frosting. It cost me 8 net carbs, but it was worth it, I think.

Off to shower and get in one more bottle of water...then Desperate Housewives! I also plan to review some more in DANDR. I want to start OWL correctly and not blow it!

(((hugs to all)))...especially the MIAs
later chickadees
Shelley

__________________
~~~~
Shelley
~~~~

Visit Kassie's Korner



Life deserves a treat now and again, but life also deserves being healthy[with required disipline] to make it worth living!

Was a busy day yesterday. Took my mom to my church for the Mother Daughter luncheon. It was wonderful and the MEN cooked!! I even tried a special dish of liver sandwich's that the pastor made. It was surprisingly yummy. Today my Jay gave me a flower basket that he made at school. It was so nice and you could tell he worked very hard on it. Charlie painted a pot at church and we did hand lilies in them.

I am spoiling myself today. Had dh make dinner for the boys and we're working on the laundry (him mostly). I bought a bath pillow at Wal-mart today, a huge 64oz water bottle and a dry body brush. Spoiled lady I am!

---------------

Alida - I rarely win awards! Thanks for my multitask award for (which I'm currently doing) walking on my treadmill and playing here on the Internet. // You cracked me up on your comment of Bob staring at the old biddies who voted against the merge. I can just see them sweat! Hope it is a good day for you.

Barb - I didn't know that you used to be a transient. I know of only one person who lived that way and now she is a great mama and wife although she is very distrusting in people. She had run away from her very abusive father and lived on the streets and had rats as friends. // Confession, I loved your coconut chocolate recipe that I made to many batches Friday and Saturday. Now the cocoa is gone but it's left a bulging belly.

Shelley - I'm so proud of you!! You are doing so great on induction and will go into OWL with a bang.

Peg - That is so great that you are giving away your entertainment center to the lady just setting up housekeeping. I can imagine what a great blessing it must be for her to have something nice in her home and not having to pay back the expense of it.

Donna - I hope that you have a great time with your friend from high school. I talk to an old friend too that found me on there. I've known her since I was 13 and I'm not one for closeness so am thankful that she lives in Canada. I'm weird but like to just hang out with my family. My life one day will slow down, yeah right, to where I can form friendships where we hang out.

__________________

Hi Gang!

I'm reeeeeeaaaallllly tired. We've been packing all day, plus church and going over to the new place to put some things away. The van comes tomorrow to pick up our boxes and furniture and to go to the storage unit. I can't wait to see what that brings! I don't even remember what we stored besides our books and my piano.

We have noticed at the ofh that you have to add at least 10 mins to a half hour to every trip outside. People are SO friendly!! Everyone wants to meet us and to talk about where we have lived. (Remember that these are all retired missionaries and ministers) So nice to have a built in community!!! Tuesday will be our official introduction to the community. We will be introduced at lunchtime, which is the meal that everyone shares. At the last minute we were offered a carport and a storage cupboard. So glad! We can put some stuff there, most of Christmas. Also, it will be good to have the car covered.

More and more I am "growing" into the decision to go there. I like the space, though there are things that I wish were a little different. But, as dh says, "Nothing is ideal." I want to ask, "Why not??" LOL

See ya soon.
Peg

Hope you all had a great day..........

We took DMIL out to lunch. Had to wait an hour+ for a table. Food was adequate........visit was nice. And, then in the morning it will be Monday again. The good side of that is that it is the last week of classes before final exams. The downhill slide is picking up speed. I'll have a few days after school is out and then be off to Nebraska to read exams again.

Have a good week. I'll try to check in early tomorrow.

__________________
Judy
highest = 180, goal = 140
Every single time I put food in my mouth, it matters. No more fooling myself!

Good morning, my dears. Looks like another beautiful day ahead. But I washed the cars yesterday, so that pretty much guarantees rain real soon.

I had a good time with the family yesterday. They baptized NINE babies yesterday, and one of the daddies, too. I was in charge of my dad for the occasion, and he got worn out pretty early in the day, so that cut my partying short. Probably a good thing. I could have gone for at least one more Bloody Mary. Dh wasn't up to that much excitement.

Heather, I hasten to say that my "transient" days were not the result of poverty or deprivation of any kind. My dad was an Air Force officer. We moved frequently, but our life was quite privileged.

Peg, I'm loving the early reports on your new home. I hope the other women won't be too jealous to have such glamour-gal among them. You're so NOT the typical ex-missionary.

Judy, I can only imagine the zoo at school. Take a deep breath. No matter how old I get, I still experience the rhythm of the school year. My favorite part is fall, because I always looked forward to going back to school.

Shelley, good luck with OWL. I'm going to start keeping track in Fitday this week, so I will think of you every day as I do that. Every now and then, I think it's useful to get a nutritional check-up.

Time to clean up and get to work.

__________________
Barb L.
Atkins since Jan 2003
Maintenance as of 4/05


My Fitday Journal

Good morning!

What a lovely Mother's Day yesterday! We went to church to be with Mark for his last sermon. For such a small church, this event drew a large crowd. So many people came up to us after the service to tell us how much they will miss him. After the little "farewell get together" they had for him, we went to First Watch for brunch. It was all just so nice! Then Bob and I finally put down that tree ring. Took all of about 15 minutes. Afterward, we just looked at it and said "WOW." It's amazing what a difference those few stones make. Next week I'll add some flowers. And I decided that edging looked so good, we MUST remove that ugly black rubber edging around the plantings and replace it with the same stones. When done, I'll take a picture.

It sounds like most of us had a wonderful day!

Barb, LOL. You washed the cars and sure enough, it's supposed to rain tomorrow! Nine babies being baptized must have taken awhile, but what a nice way to celebrate Mother's Day at church.

Judy, I know this week will be hectic for you ... but the light is very bright at the end of the school tunnel! Remind me what papers you grade in Nebraska ....

Shelley, I taped Desperate Housewives because the Survivor Finale was on. I'll watch it tonight. Thanks for the "Buddy Support!" And, I had forgotten about that 3 minute Chocolate Cake. I'll bet that was much easier than the cheesecake, too. You are off to a good start for OWL!

Peg, today's the day! I hope the move will go smoothly for you, with NO glitches. LOL about your reply to your DH. I agree. Why not perfect! That's what you will be doing for the next few weeks ... making your new home the perfect place to be!

Heather, it sounds like you had a wonderful day yesterday, too!

Donna, I was so disappointed Yau Man didn't make it to the end. But Earl was my second choice and I am glad he won. I was not surprised he got all the votes. Boy, was I surprised to learn he's from Kansas City, KS! I am also disappointed they didn't give one of those "most popular" prizes away. We all know it would have been Yau Man. So on to China in the Fall. That should be interesting!

Thank you for the info on the Peonies. I want to do it now, but I'll wait until Fall.

As for your old school pen pal ... even if you didn't know each other, it will be so much fun to get together and share your memories!

LOL ... I wanted to see you in this haircut!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Off to start another week. Can't wait until Memorial Day so I can have a day OFF!! Have a wonderful day everyone. XXOO

__________________
Alida
5'1" ~ 59 years old
Highest weight: 165
Atkins 7/10/2004
160/126/125
RE-DO, January 2008:
167/162/135