phyllser

Joanne... our son had a radiation "plaque" on the back of his eye for 7 days back about 6 yrs or so ago when he was diagnosed with eye cancer. I was surprised that they didn't restrict his visitors... his kids were about 6-13 yrs old at the time. And DIL had us take them over to visit him about every day, as I remember. Glad to hear you are doing SO well! STEPS??? I'm still struggling with steps and doing step exercises EVERY day! Sorry for the band setback, but you'll do fine. I'm betting those pills and the water so close after your breakfast played a role in all of that! Hope you get to go home today! Night nurses are sometimes cranky!! They don't get enough quality sleep. But that one sure had a chip on her shoulder. I can't say enough about how great all the nurses were when I was in. Always had the names on the board, too. I think once I reminded them that they needed to be changed. Well, you folks were mighty busy while I was gone yesterday and I can't remember any more of the conversations. Laura... again, I'm so very sorry for all that you're going through with your Dad. I know we all wish we could give you a big hug!

Hi, Ladies! Weigh in was not good. I've been wavering between 199-200 for about a month now! Probably need to cut my wine down, #1, and I've been "hungry" the past few nights and had maybe 6 crackers and a little cheese... 35 cal wedge. Gotta make some changes. It was a fun day, though. Little Italian place we went to for lunch was nice... good food, and they had a lunch menu. Today's special... 1/2 order of lasagna... so that's what we both had... just a shallow little boat shaped bowl, not very much cheese or meat, less than 1/2 c noodles, excellent sauce. Had bowl of minestrone soup with it. Mission Inn was impressive. I'm loading some more photos besides the ones I sent to FB by mobile. Beautiful light display. We shopped at a bunch of the little shops and big antique mall. Dinner reservations they had open were either 4pm or 8:30pm! So we took the 4 pm. But it worked out perfect because we ate in the outdoor courtyard and it was light out when we were seated but dark by the time we were finished and the lights were fantastic. They were very slow, so it was 5pm before we had our entrees. We had "stuffed" mushroom appetizer... but it was a thin slice of a big portabella mushroom.... "stuffing" seemed to be ricotta cheese with some small spinach leaves on top. It was kind of strange because the whole thing was floating in a white wine sauce. It was good though... and I don' think the calories were bad. We both chose roasted chicken breast w/garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus spears. Chicken was very tender, not over cooked, so I didn't have any trouble getting it down. Didn't eat it all. Oh.... Did I mention I had a Cosmo??? Never mind what we had later while walking around looking at all the lights! A couple of sweet treats! OH NO!

Good Morning! I"m up now, too! TOPS this morning so I have only a short time to scan emails, maybe read the paper and get out of here. Wii says I'm up 1/2 lb but Earl has the RV slightly tipped and I think it's not weighing very accurately. Anyways, I haven't been in the BR yet. But, it's probably not going to be great. I may just be a turtle today....?? Think the place Earl's picked out in Banning is "Guy's". It's Italian so he's probably after pizza. I'll find something.

Morning routine, salad for lunch, volunteer in activities office. Then watched some Judge Judy, had 2 small glasses of wine and went out to the desert to watch Earl fly his plane. Neighbors came out, too. Pork loin out of the freezer for dinner. Cooked some weeks ago. Had a little steamed butternut squash with it, and a little applesauce. Watching TV. Writing cards. Tomorrow we're going to have lunch in Banning.. some place Earl found on the internet... on our way to Riverside to see the Christmas lights at Mission Inn.

Glad the "procedure" went well! Our SIL had to have TWO this past summer.. about 2 months apart, because he was not sufficiently cleaned out the first time! And he wouldn't take any anesthesia because he wanted to go to work afterwards! I'm pretty tough when it comes to pain, but I don't think I'd want to do that without a little light anesthesia! Joanne's quilts are PRO level! Have you seen any pictures of her quilts??? AMAZING!! Hope our Lori is doing well!! She had her first knee done AFTER mine!! Brave to be doing the other one so soon, but have to admit I'm a little jealous because I'd like to get the other one done and get it over with too!!

I'm sorry! I think that sounds like a bunch of crap!! Like Janet said... don't do anything until after Christmas... heck, even after the 1st of the year... then two things I would NOT do are move your comfy chair and do away with the sewing/quilting stuff!! They're making excuses for why the house didn't sell yet and it's just a combination of the economy and the time of year. I would NOT lower the price either! I sure agree with everything you said about Karla's situation!! As for Tracy, she thought it was sorta funny, but she was also freaking and concerned! I think it was good for her to see the challenges we face! You need to get a little more assertive with that doctor!! You need the meds to even you out right now... Holidays have their unique challenges in themselves and you have a lot of other things going on!!!

Thinking of Lori this morning... probably in surgery by now. Meredith... GREAT pictures! You look wonderful, and happy. Laura, so sorry about the news about your Dad. Very difficult and sad situation and I'm so sorry... hugs!!

Haven't cooked it yet, but I better do it tomorrow!! We didn't feel like cooking much of anything after a full day of activities. So we had beans and wienies... the 45 calorie ones.

OH....I did LOTS of floor nursing, and the answer to your question is YES!!! A couple of individuals come to mind instantly!!

I haven't had a colonoscopy since banding, but the last two I DID have, I didn't have to drink that stuff. I had to take pills and drink two small bottles of that stuff that comes in a green bottle. It was much more tolerable than the gallon of "Go Lightly"!! Heck, I couldn't drink a gallon of that stuff BEFORE banding! I got halfway through before it started gagging me!

Steph, So sorry for where you're at emotionally right now. My first thought, too, was that maybe you need antidepressant adjusted or changed. This can be a very difficult time of year. Very common to have problems with depression at Christmas time. Not that that will help you feel any better! But, hugs from me, too! You KNOW we CARE!! Karla, sorry about the "perfect house" disappointment! That's a real bummer! Nice house, too! Janet, glad to hear things went well with Karri. I had two people having surgery on my prayer list for today... Karri & Terrie!! LOL! Didn't get back from all my activities today until almost 3pm! Then we had to go to the post office to mail a package! So it's been a busy day! Made 3 prs of earrings today.. Christmas trees, and other dangly earrings to match the two bracelets I made a couple of weeks ago. When I got home, Earl had already crashed his new helicopter in the desert and broke one of the blades!! He was supposed to put it back in the box and let me wrap it up!! So I guess I can play with my iTouch some more tonight. I won't crash it or break it, though. He did resurrect my wireless mouse! Dried it all out, but he'd messed up the buttons trying to take it apart this morning, so then he had to fix that! Good thing he's handy with stuff like that!

I think Ruby is having PS, too, but don't know any details and can't remember how I found that out! :thumbup: Keeping Karri in my prayers this morning. She should be in surgery right now. And a neighbor of mine in WA who is having knee replacement this morning with same doc I had. We did Christmas shopping for each other yesterday afternoon, and I decided to let Earl pick out his own RC helicopter at the hobby shop. So then he wanted to play with it last night... charge the battery, sync it with the controller, etc. So he gave me my iTouch to charge it and play with it. I just sent my sister an email.... I need HELP!! Can't figure out how to sync it with my music, photos, contacts, etc. I did manage to get it signed on to our WiFi network, but only after a long and labored process of trying to figure out what our password is!! Neither of us could remember and I finally figured out how to go to my online site that gives all the info about our network and there it was!! A long and complicated password that neither of us would EVER remember!!! Today will be a busy day... water aerobics, beading class, book club... all back to back!! Leaving in about 30 minutes and probably won't be back until at least 2:30 pm! Oh, Earl dropped my wireless mouse into my hot cup of coffee first thing this morning. Don't ask how that hapened! It's complicated! So now he's trying to dry it out, but we think it's probably dead! So I'm back to the touch pad! For now.

Hi, Just chatted with Linda a little... filled her in on Candice's retirement, Karri & Ruby's surgery. She is very busy... last week of the semester, working on new curriculum, family challenges. Don't think I told you this funny story.... Old couple live across the street.. friends of ours, about 85 & 75 and he has alzheimer's.. not bad, but tells the same stories, asks the same questions, over and over. He's a funny old guy, and little... skinny, short. So last week he's in Costco with his wife..they both push grocery carts because they don't walk too well. So, wife looks up to see him standing there with his pants around his ankles and looking puzzled... like he can't quite figure out what's wrong but knows something is!! Hmmmm... I can't walk! So she catches up with him.. he says, "can you help me with this"?? And they proceed to pull the pants back up. So she's had everyone in stitches with this story all week. Today I had this bright idea... he's Jewish.. So we went to Walmart and I bought a Happy Hanukkah card and a pair of suspenders. I Put them in a gift bag and took them over to him.. Told him "Happy Hanukkah, Max!" and "I heard you had a little incident at Costco last week!! So his wife is falling out of her chair laughing as he pulls the suspenders out of the bag. And, Max... you would've thought I gave him a million bucks! He was tickled pink and wanted me to help him put them on. It was a kick!! IN THE PANTS!! LOL!

Yeah, Christmas shopping is a hassle! I used to enjoy it. Not anymore! Teenage grandchildren just want money anyway.. so I bought a bunch of American Express gift cards. Thought of a few things for Tracy and Jim. DIL always gives me good ideas.. she and Chris like those "Life is Good" t-shirts, so they're each getting one of those but don't have another idea for them yet. Little grandkids got theirs before we left. Since DD sort of misplaced our Christmas gifts last year we decided we'd have Christmas with them the day before we left to come down here. Chipped in with sisters for my Mom but no one has good ideas for Uncle Ed! Dear old Uncle Ed! Bless his pea pickin' little heart! Maybe a megaphone so I can hear him better when he yells at me or Earl!! LOL I bugged Steph today on FB, too! Love you all but wish our other band sisters would come back. Ug... Earl just handed me my dinner. Small leftover piece of tilapia, 45 calorie hot dog because the fish is so small, and the mashed butternut squash with cinnamon and mega garlic that he made yesterday! Bye... guess I'll eat it, such as it is. I'm a bitch for complaining, huh!! LOL

I have Wii and the new Wii Fit Plus. I use them both quite a bit when we're at home but not so much when we're in the RV in the winter. For one thing... it's a little harder on a 26" screen than on the 42" flat screen at home!! And, here I do Water aerobics usually 5X a week, and there's very little floor space or room to swing those golf clubs, tennis rackets, etc. I do like the balance games and the new Plus has some new ones that I really like. With my new knee... I could probably do those step exercises now, but that would be a real problem here with so little flor space! Definitely a good investment, though, I think. Yeah, they use the "grand ballroom" at a local hotel/spa for those big gatherings. But I think most of the Red Hat groups in the area were invited. Heck we had ladies from Rancho Cucamunga, Hemet, etc. an hour or more away. But our "small" group Christmas party was yesterday and there were 30 of us there. However, by mid-January that number will swell to over 50 probably, because we're primarilly a group of "snowbirds"... not all , but most. Apples cookbook... what a GREAT idea!! She could even call it, "Apples, and Other Things"! LOL That's a good idea! What spices do you use? I love to make BIG pots of soup. Can't you freeze some? There's a single lady here in the park...at least, I'm pretty sure she's single. I don't actually know her.. but I know the story. She makes BIG pots of soup all the time. She fills up little plastic containers with some of it which she then puts in our Asst. Chaplain's freezer.. which is outside on his porch. Then he and his wife always have soup in there to take to people who are sick or just got out of the hospital, etc. We just made a crock pot full of chili this week.. I mean filled TO THE BRIM! And I bought extra plastic storage containers so we could add to his stash. But, it's almost gone and I didn't do it!! It's been a chilly week and we enjoyed having it for lunch or dinner quite a few times this week. OH... do you know what I saw in the Target flyer today?? It's a TRIPLE crockpot. Base with 3 separate controls and three big pots fit in to it. Never saw anything like that. It'd be great for Apples when she's cooking for all those men! I saw the steel cut oats in costco this week. I've never bought any before. I didn't get it because it was in such a big bag and I usually have omelets for Breakfast. DH would have protested had I put it in his basket! Maybe I can find a smaller amount in one of the grocery stores. I think I looked in WalMart and they didn't have any.

Yes.... another military wife chiming in... in the states it's called a contingency offer... You put an offer on the house you want to buy that is "contingent" on the sale of YOUR home. We did lose a house that way once, but ended up with a better one in the same neighborhood, so I got over it!

Janet, Someone brought dates to the Red Hat party today fixed with bacon like you told me... she stuffed them with pecans, wrapped them in small pieces of bacon and baked them in the oven. I had to try one.. VERY good! Seems like a strange combination... bacon and dates, but sure was good! YES, ANOTHER Red Hat Party! This was just our group- 30 women there. I won two door prizes besides our gift exchange, so I came home loaded with goodies... Stuffed Santa, little snowman thingy, big glove potholder with bag of brownie mix inside. Thursday all the area groups were invited and there were over 200 women there. Any suggestions for cooking butternut squash?? Talked DH in to buying one the other day. He cut it up while I was gone and cooked half of it. He put cinnamon in it and a LOT of garlic. Then he mashed it. I think the only thing I like mashed is potatoes! And WAY too much garlic in this even though I am a big fan of garlic. So, I'm supposed to cook the other half the way I want to cook it. But we never bought it before and I don't KNOW how I want to cook it!

If it's not too late, I better change that length to 26". I measured the pants I wore to Red Hats today and they were 25! 27" might be a little long. As long as I had the measuring tape out, I took measurements again. Since pre-op measurements, I've lost 11" in my waist, 11" in bust (53 to 42), hips... 68" to 49",!! I won't bore you with the rest, but I was pretty shocked. Good thing I didn't lose any height!! I'm still 5 ft tall, thank God! Sorry about the chicken. I love chicken, but I eat it very carefully and not very often.

Okay.... I measured a whole bunch of pants!! 27 inches is the right length. You are a sWEETHEART to do this! I owe you!

Linda, You sound about as excited about your hip as I was about my knee a couple of months ago! So glad you are doing well! It's wonderful to regain mobility, isn't it!!? Now if I can just get his knee strong enough to go up steps! I'm working on it. Yeah, SIL had the grandkids calling me "The Graminator" after my surgery! I loved it! What was really special was our 7 yr old DGD telling me repeatedly that she was praying for me "every day"! She would tell me that on the phone, and whenever we saw the kids, etc. It was really sweet.

Karla, I don't have a good solution or strategy for dealing with holiday temptations! Back at the beginning, though, I had a "3 bite rule" that worked for me. I could have a treat now and then, especially when everyone else was indulging... but only THREE BITES! I have to say I don't always follow that rule, but if I do decide to have some desert... it's always a very small portion. Like at the Red Hat party the other day... desserts were spread out on two tables... two kinds of pudding and two kinds of cake, one of which was carrot cake... my very favorite! So I went straight to the carrot cake, but one of the waitresses was still slicing it up, so I asked her to cut one of her pieces she was about to put on a plate in half for me. SO... it was a few more bites than three but it was a very small piece and it satisfied me. Holidays and special occasions will always be a struggle for us. We have to find the best way to cope. This past month I have just held my own... no weight loss for a month, but I had my birthday, Thanksgiving and a bunch of parties! I have to do better next month. We're going up to our son's for Christmas and DIL already has a large turkey in the freezer for dinner. I LOVE turkey! I LOVE the stuffing. I LOVE the cranberries, and the taters and gravy! I'll have some of each. But probably only a bite or two of dessert, if any. DS has to have CHOCOLATE pie, and I can take it or leave it. Pumpkin pie, the same. Planning ahead... how you are going to respond to being surrounded by foods you love and people who are enjoying it helps! Then, Janet always tells us... we have to ramp up our exercise, and minimize your intake the rest of that day. Card games were fun last night. We usually play games with these folks several times every winter. They have a really nice double wide mobile, so we always go to their place. So this time, we decided we'd bring the snacks. We got some low fat cream cheese spread... onion and chive, bag of carrots, low fat cheese... those little 35 calorie "Laughing Cow" I think they're called. And they brought out some stick pretzels to dip...we're all watching calories. My friend and I had just discussed how to deal with snacks when playing cards, etc. the day before, so we had a plan. We played a game called "Jokers and Pegs"... 3X, gals won twice, guys once. So then we decided to play a game of "Hand and Foot". Guys beat us soundly! I guess we were all having fun. Got there at 6pm and left at 10:30pm!! My friend is always wanting to play "just one more game"!

Welcome, Nancy! This is a great place for support, encouragement and advice. Glad to have you join us! Welcome to you, too, Becky! Always great to have newcomers join our 60+ thread! You are NOT too old to begin this journey and you won't be sorry! I'd do it again in a heartbeat. If you click on my ticker, it should take you to the site where you can build your own. It's a little tricky to get it in to your signature here... go to "User CP" at the top, click on "Edit Signature" in the left column and then copy/paste the code on your ticker page... I believe the right one is the BBC code. If you have any problems let us know. There is a tutorial here somewhere.. I can find it if I do a little research. It will walk you through posting your ticker.

Glad to hear everything went so well! I bet you had the same anesthesia that I had for my knee replacement... nerve block and spinal?? And then light anesthesia. I had a GREAT nurse anesthetist, too. He explained things so well, and he was so skilled I never felt a bit of discomfort even getting the nerve block in my groin. I was awake before I got out of the surgical suite and talked my way through the recovery room. SO glad you had a positive experience, too, and that you are doing so well!!

Thanks for that bead link. Our instructor is always talking about "Firemountain", but I hadn't taken the time to see if they were online! Are you serious about those pants!! Sure, I wear about any kind of pants. Size 18 should fit. But.. you'll hem them for me!! WOW!! That's awfully sweet of you! I just asked DH where he put my sewing basket... back outsde in storage... because I have 5 pairs of pants to hem... by hand, unless I borrow neighbors sewing machine! I will measure inseam when I get back from the pool. Yesterday was WILD!! TOPS in the morning.. Supposed to be ther about 7:45 a.m. and Earl woke me up at 7:30! I was FAST asleep. So I rushed to get out of here... bathing suit, wash face, etc. I was up 4/10 lb! Then hot tub, no time for water aerobics. Shower, dress up in all my Red Hat stuff, off to the Christmas party. Then stop on way home to buy Toys for TOts for Marine Band Concert. HOme... quick change in to Christmas sweatshrt and out to dinner with 2 other couples, then to concert. Earl likes to get there before the doors open so we get front seats! Doors were to open at 6:15 p.m. We were there 30 minutes before that!! But by the time we used rest room... they opened the doors way early! So we got seats right behind the dignitary section! There were probably 50 people there from our park... heck... I gave away 29 tickets myself including ours! Two trips downtown to beg for tickets in two different offices!! :rolleyes2: Concert was GREAT, but not quite as entertaining as previous years because they didn't do any goofy stuff and we always enjoy that! Gotta go... time for pool! Party was great fun but I need to get to know more people. Two ladies next to me were from our group but other ladies at our table were from somewhere else... Hemet, Cathedral City... I don't remember. But they weren't particularly friendly.