TerriDoodle

Thank you, Laura. That helps us move forward.... Tracy, it's very sad that you chose this...but at least you apparently have a clear conscience about it. That's something, I guess.

Tracy, I've reported your post...so you can blame me when it disappears. You can feel whatever you like, but posting it on a public board...and then having the gall to put words in MY mouth!!? I don't think so!! You have ALL irritated me at one point or another....BIG DEAL... I have never, nor will I ever, be so rude and immature as to come here and blast one of my sisters. If I have a beef with her....one that is worthy of addressing in an ADULT manner, then I will do so in a PM or email. THAT IS THE ISSUE I HAVE.

Wow. That's some nasty shit going on here! TracyK - Sorry girlfriend, but you handled that very badly. Michelle - ((((Hugs)))) Love you all!

Jane - I watched Hoarders the other night too....and it left me with the same feeling...like I BETTER GET OFF MY ASS AND GET BUSY AROUND HERE!!! :w00t: :thumbup: :sneaky: Haydee - good thing is that exercise releases the dopamine you're missing now. :thumbup: Try it! I packed boxes ALL DAY today. The movers come starting tomorrow afternoon...and then we gotta UNPACK on the other side starting Monday. I am so freaking tired I can't even see straight and I have nonstop STUFF going on for the next 4-5 days. :blushing: But I'm going to JAX to see my girlfriend so I guess I can sleep on the plane!

Michelle, you know as well as I do that she'll be struggling just like we are 2.5 years down the road! Except that hers will most likely also include malnutrition complications! :thumbdown:

Haydee - There is a scientific basis for the way you feel, you're not just imagining it. You have reinforced the food=pleasure connection for 30-something years...creating very real, physical neurological connections that take TIME to re-direct. That's why people tell you to be good to yourself and find other ways to derive pleasure for yourself...it helps to create NEW pleasure pathways in your brain. (Same for addicts/alcoholics.) But that all takes time.... it takes about 90 days to really get over the hump. That's what the addiction specialist told us at the rehab center....and that guy knew his stuff!

Laura -- that is just AWFUL!!! I did a research paper on SIDS in college and it's hard to believe they've made so little progress in understanding it. I'm so very sorry for your friend Jenn - I'm thinking about you and hoping your day is better. I just got back from one of the many training sessions I'll be taking this next month so that I can work the hotline at the Houston Area Women's Center (domestic and sexual abuse, shelter, advocacy, etc.). Tonight's session was so interesting. I know I'm really going to get into this. I've wanted to work there for years and years and finally am in a position to do it. 74 hours of training, too... isn't that cool? More tomorrow.....I'm BEAT. XOXO

Well, Janie -- while you're sleeping in on MONDAY, I'll be reporting for work at 7:00AM and packing more boxes! Heard from Evan last night and he sounded good. He had already earned some money doing some temp work and is going to update/revamp the website for the business. So far, so good. TracyK - I've enjoyed my time being restriction-free, but I have gained weight! I'm going for a fill in early Sept., but going for *moderate* restriction to see if I can find a sweeter spot than this one! Laura - how's your latest fill treating you?

Hi everyone! I'm alive...but barely! Sorry to have not been around but seriously, I have been emotionally FRIED. People keep telling me how "strong" I am....and I guess they think that because I'm not a blubbering bucket of tears....but on the inside I hurt more than I can ever recall hurting before. Down to the bone kind of hurt. Stress at work is at an all-time high as well because we are gearing up for a huge office move (4 floors and 150 people) ....there is so much to do! I just don't know how anybody handles these issues without an army of support behind them. It is the most counter-intuitive thing in the world to kick your child out of the house knowing he is essentially going to be 'homeless'. We didn't let him go hungry and filled up his tank a time or two, but other than that he was on his own to figure out where to go from 'here'. I can't even begin to tell you what it was really like for me. I hope I never have to do it again, because I don't know if I can. Anyway - long story short - he left for a sober living house in another town yesterday. It's in the same town as his rehab center, up in the beautiful Texas hill country, and it's a great house most highly recommended by his counselors. I talked to the house manager yesterday and he sounds like one of God's angels for sure. I can breathe again..... for now. Now I have to get dressed and go to the office on my day off to pack more boxes. See ya'll later.

Y'know....this detachment thing is a LOT harder in practice than it is in theory!! :biggrin:

ALERT TRACY! Tax free weekend is NEXT weekend, not this one. Sorry!

Thanks Heather. I've been watching Intervention (on A&E) for about 2 years! I even record it on DVR! I don't know why I'm so fascinated by it, but I am. Yep, I've learned a lot from that show! My hubby just thinks I"m weird for watching it so regularly. As a matter of fact, the only shows I record are Intervention, Obsessed (about OCD) and In Treatment (fictional psychotherapist)...LOL. Hmmmm. Maybe i could use a little 'treatment' myself! :thumbup:

Hi girls - Just wanted to check in and say hi. Been catching up on posts and seems like the usual ups and downs for us. We've known each other (daily!) for so long now, it's easy to see that difficulties come in waves, eh? I'm doing alright, just this underlying tension and sadness in my days. It did help to talk to Evan briefly yesterday and he sounded 'alright'. He's staying with his gf's family for a few days and SAYS he's looking for a halfway house. I didn't pry too much, just kept it light and let him know that I love him. The reading I have done on co-dependency, boundaries, addiction, etc....have all helped me tremendously in coping with this situation. I can't imagine where I'd be mentally if I didn't have that!! Seriously. This house would be in chaos and it's not. My heart just hurts and I'm eating very badly -- and hit a new post-op high this week which doesn't help anything at all. Hannah and I went to the gym last night and I swam for 1/2 hour and got in the hot tub. We're packing at work (moving Aug 28) and my back was killing me! That light workout helped. More packing today! Thanks for all your support. I'm so glad we have each other! PS= Jane, that is way too funny about the colonoscopy!!

Hi girlz - I am so not in a good place. Thanks for your support .... I'll work thru it.

Hi all -- I am heartbroken today. Evan 'broke the rules' and I had to ask him to find another place to live. It's not something I wanted to do but something I had to do to give him the best shot at a real recovery. I'm sad

Sounds wonderful, Nikki! Thanks!

Hi there - glad you are asking these questions! I would recommend that you stay with full liquids/mushie foods for another couple of days. When you start to add solids again, GO SLOWLY. At the very first sign of any distress, stop eating and consciously try to relax. I'd say if you continue to have this issue after 10 days, consider going in for a slight unfill. If it gets WORSE it could mean you've irritated your stoma with trying to get solids in too fast. If at any time you are having trouble getting liquids down, call your doctor. I am amazed at how many people will go days without being able to get liquids down and become dangerously dehydrated. DO NOT let that happen! Good luck!

G'morning! Jenn - you make the most wonderful-sounding dishes! You must be a great cook! Zucchini pancakes sound yummy -- post that recipe in the recipe thread for us, k? Is your trouble sleeping related to the Lyme disease? Maybe the antidepressants? So frustrating, I know. I picked up Hannah from camp yesterday -- I was so excited to see her after 2 weeks. We walked in the door and she promptly went to her room, go on her phone and computer! LOL What a teenager! So I go lay down and take a (3-hour!) nap, next thing I know the 2 kids are waking me up for money to go to a concert!! HA! That's all I'm good for, apparently. LOL So I saw Hannah for a total of about 40 minutes yesterday. I'll show her -- I'm gonna drag her to church with me this morning, then the gym, then the grocery store. I went to an Al-Anon meeting last night and it was a heartbreaker. I'll tell ya folks, there are people out there who have it a LOT worse than us. My co-dependent self just wants it all to be FIXED right now. I'm working on it. Can't wait to go to church this morning. I'm so glad to be back. I have to restrain myself from volunteering for something or another -- I just love that place! But I also applied to volunteer to the Houston Area Women's Center and am saving my free time for that. I have wanted to work there for YEARS and it's finally time. Ya'll have a great day! Love you! PS - Pam - way to kick ass!!! Pics please!

Oh...meant to ask....SUZIE, are things better at your house??

Hey Everybody- Kat = Your new baby is so precious! CONGRATULATIONS and have fun!! Pam said it: he's lucky to have such a wonderful grandma! Jenn - CONGRATS to you, too!!! That was the boost you needed! When you set your mind to something you really are stubborn and you DO IT. I'm so happy for you! Not a whole lot going on with me except that I didn't go to the gym all week and I ate carbs and chocolate. I've completely fallen off the wagon that I was on for one whole week. :thumbup: I really have no idea what that is about. The only thing I can correlate is that I've been feeling a bit depressed this week. Lots of thoughts running 'round my head. Trying real hard not to be down on myself because I believe thoughts are creative, just trying to 'observe w/o judgement'. Evan may have found a job, finally. Lowe's (hardware) called him in to help take inventory and to "observe his work ethic". Interesting way to interview, but makes sense! It would be so good for him if he could get back to work again. Idle hands are the devil's workshop....and you can take that to the bank. Ya'll have a great day...and those of you with cooler temps....COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!!! XOXO!

July 14, 2009 Our Government Is Officially Insane In the bizarre through-the-looking-glass world of Washington these days, maybe it should come as no surprise that the reaction to the failure of the stimulus bill is to call for more of the same. The deficit today crossed the startling trillion dollar threshold, a number never before even contemplated for a full year of federal borrowing, but that we have now breezed through in just half a year. Such a deficit represents a crushing future tax burden for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren -- who will pay back every penny with interest. The so-called stimulus bill was slammed through on partisan lines despite the overwhelming anger of almost everyone who was paying attention. The bill, we were told, was our economic salvation (purely a coincidence, of course, that it happened to contain every item on the left's big government wish list). Now the verdict is in, and it's ugly. Unemployment -- which the stimulus was supposed to keep under 8 percent -- is officially at 9.5 percent, and is 16.5 percent if you include people who have given up looking for work and part-time workers who wish they were full-time. Businesses continue to slash investment, close facilities, and hoard cash. The economy remains firmly in recession, with recovery now long overdue. The average post-World War II recession lasts 10 months; we are now 19 months into this one with no end in sight. So, in the bizarre through-the-looking-glass world of Washington these days, maybe it should come as no surprise that the reaction to the abject failure of the stimulus is to call for more of the same. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said the stimulus didn't work because is wasn't "as targeted as it should've been" and "we need to go back to this and do this again. We need to do more of that." If the old quote often attributed to Einstein is true, then Dodd and other supporters of another stimulus are insane -- they want to make the same mistake again and expect a different result. We should know better. The new stimulus being floated has been called "Stimulus 2," but that ignores the failed Bush stimulus from last year. Of course, we most famously stimulated ourselves into oblivion back in the 1930s, when ever-bigger spending packages spiraled us deeper and deeper into the Great Depression. In May 1939 FDR's Henry Morgenthau, the Treasury Secretary, gave up on spending, saying: "We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work." It's actually pretty simple economics. The government does not create resources by spending; it simply moves them around. Every dollar the government spends has to come from somewhere, but the only three options all make people poorer. Higher taxes take money out of people's pockets, and deny them the freedom to spend, save, or invest that money according to their own values. Simply printing money is inflationary, and destroys the value of every American's savings, slams people on fixed incomes with higher prices, and creates a huge hurdle to new investment. The only other option, which we have relied on to the tune of over a trillion dollars already this year, is to borrow. But borrowing is no free lunch either; every dollar borrowed by the government is a dollar no longer available for private investment. Moreover, we have to pay back all the money we've borrowed, with interest, meaning that in the long-run the only two options are huge tax hikes or skyrocketing inflation. Quite simply, it is impossible for government spending to make us richer when every way the government can raise money makes us poorer. We can't afford another stimulus, a government takeover of health care, the cap-and-trade energy takeover, or any other radical big government policies. A six-month deficit of over a trillion dollars is enough. Taxpayers deserve some time to pause, catch their breath, and worry about their own jobs, lives, and families. Washington has "helped" quite enough; it needs to leave people alone. Phil Kerpen is director of policy for Americans for Prosperity, which runs the anti-stimulus Web site No Stimulus!. He can be reached through Phil Kerpen | Economic Policy Analysis and Advocacy

Hazel West -- hands down!! The lighting is superb and the technical camera skills are outstanding. Hazel West!!

I went out last night with my girly-friends and had 3 glasses of wine, then we had dinner. I came home and ate TWO HUGE brownies. It's a sure thing: alcohol increases my sugar cravings and decreases my control. Period. Note to self: Do not drink alcohol!

Has anyone read Same Kind of Different as Me?

Wah. I fell off the sugar wagon yesterday and am paying the price with bloat and lethargy today. Grrrr. SOME DAY I WILL LEARN!! Back to Day 1. Jenn - I'm rooting for you kid. My sister is having a hysterectomy today -- it was found that she has uterine cancer but she made me promise not to worry...so I'm not (yet). Just say a little prayer if you would. Al-anon is awesome. I'm really enjoying my meetings. Evan's doing really well. Now, if he would just find a job!