phyllser

Hope you have a GREAT trip and a good time with family this weekend with a minimum of DRAMA!! Hope the scale behaves for you soon! I had a good loss this week, but now mine says I'm up a little! Very frustrating because I haven't done anything to deserve it and the weekend festivities aren't even here yet!

Good to see some posts here! It gets too quiet for too long! And good to see some new posters. Hope you all are having a wonderful 4th of July weekend. Weather her in the Pacific NW is GREAT! PERFECT! Sunshine and warm, but not too hot! Love i!

LOL! He just had too much frustration to deal with yesterday. He's fine now. He cheered up after he had his glass of wine yesterday afternoon. I'm having a lot of computer problems this week. Internet seems to be okay now, but Outlook won't open, so have to get my mail from gmail site and I can't synch my Blackberry... extrememly frustrating! TOPS ladies were talking about these Orowheat rolls the other day.. they're like hamburger buns but half the thickness and only 100 caloires. I bought some... they come in Whole Wheat and Multigrain. Pretty goood... but a whole one is still a bit much for me. Also, the Hebrew National hot dogs that Karri talks about... they're usually $5.49 but Safeway has them on sale right now for $2.99. I bought two packages... only 40 calories each.

Thank you, thank you! I wish I could truly enjoy. Glad someone else is rejoicing with me~~ Someone I live with is in a horrible, nasty foul mood today! He had to have "photos", digital, I think, taken of his eyes this morning, and apparently it was not a pleasant procedure and 4 hours later his eyes are still bothering him. But he was in the tank prior to that... frustrations over registering this '53 Chevy our SIL gave him, getting insurance and title, etc. It wasn't THAT complicated, but he doesn't do well with that kind of stuff. So he was tossing insurance papers around the living room and having a temper tantrum bright and early this morning! Ane whenever he can't find what he needs, it's MY fault!

Janet, Karla is taunting us with those Margarita references... she says she's going to win the current challenge and WE have to buy her a Margarita!

ADORABLE BABY!! What a cutie! I love her grin! I'm doing better... especialy not that I have that surgery date. Looking forward to more mobility, more exercise, more walking without pain, etc. I am so glad he agreed to do the surgery this summer because I'm afraid if I had to wait until next summer, our wonderful politicians may have totally screwed up our health care system by then and I'd be looking at more delays, red tape, etc. I do think maybe that 50 mg of Zoloft might not be enough as I still feel kind of dragged out. I can't get back for a reassessment until I'm on it a couple of weeks, and then it's time for our trip... so will have to wait until early August. Our weather has really been fairly nice, though I wish it was a little warmer. Everyone will be complaining (except for me) if it really hits 80 today and tomorrow is supposed to be warmer. People will be whining about it being too hot and I'll just be warming up!! LOL

Hi, I am having major problems with my MS Outlook program... will not even open now... and I use it to totally organize my life... my address book, my calendar, and, of course, my email... all comes through Outlook. I don't know if recently downloaded updates have screwed it up or what but I am extremely frustrated I've been getting these "unable to open folder" messages for days, but if I closed and repopened the program, it would fix it for a little while. Now it won't even open. I'm trying to do a repair, but don't know if it's going to work or not. In the meantime, I'm going to have to go to the gmail site to read my email. So.... GOOD news... my knee replacement surgery is scheduled for Aug. 25. I was expecting resistance, but.. none at all. He just reiterated his concerns about infection... 1-2 % for most people, slightly increased by 1/2-1 % for "obese patients". As I said two weeks ago.... my internet research did NOT support that theory at all. He told me all the degrees of infection that could involve and how he would treat them down to the worse case scenario. Interesting tidbit... while I was waiting in the examining room... I was reading all the stuff on the walls... testing my new contacts to see how well I can read. One thing posted was a list of all the Rx, OTC, herbs, etc. to discontinue 1-2 weeks prior to surgery and guess what was on the list??? PAPAYA!! Apparently it increases the risk of bleeding! WHO KNEW!! I DO need to curtail my use of that stuff! I'm going to a knee replacement pre-op class on Aug. 6th, pre-op appt on the Aug. 13th and check in at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 25th. He said traveling south for the winter should not be a problem. I'm assuming I'll probably have to be in the area for about 6 weeks, though. If rehab goes well, maybe we can get out of here by Oct. 1st. We'll just have to wait and see.

Sorry to hear about your incredibly BAD day! Ortho appt is Thurs but I already have a bad feeling about it. His nurse called me the end of last week to say that they'd gotten all the pre-op tests from my primary care doc and the doctor wanted me to come in to "talk to him". I asked if he was ready to give me a surgery date and she said "he'll talk to you about that when you come in." So I'm thinking he's going to try to talk me out of it again. Saw the pulmonary guy last week and have a repeat sleep study scheduled for next week. Zoloft... slight improvement after one week. WA state bike riders are militant. Wouldn't DARE yell at one! They rule the road. A lot of the streets/roads have bike lanes. And there are miles and miles of trails. Glad your Dad is doing better! Candice..... hope you had a HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

Janet... I'd be willing to bet that the AOL browser is your culprit! Use Internet explorer or Firefox. I set Firefox as my default browser because I was having trouble with some sites using Internet Explorer. And I say that having a SIL who works for Microsoft! TOPS weigh in today... down 2.2 lb, 1.2 last week. But not much of a net loss for the month because I had that gain three weeks ago. Out to dinner tonight with three neighbor ladies. We just went across the street to a sports bar but I had the best prime rib ever! It was so nice and tender and very lean. I had 1/3 of a baked potato, small cup of tomato soup and ate 5-6 oz of the prime rib. Brought the rest home to Earl but told him he can't have the baked potato!

So glad you had such a nice visit with your folks. How can you forget your camera??! LOL I bought one small enough to fit in my purse, so it's always there with an extra battery to boot! Our son has a small plane... one that he built himself... an RV-6. It took him 13 yrs to build it.... in the midst of it, Dx of choroidal melanoma which eventually took his eye, so it was quite a triumph when he flew it for the first time last Oct.! DH had a private pilot's license for a few years, too. He took his first flying lesson his very first day of retirement. I was disappointed when he gave it up because it gave him so much pleasure. Now he just flies remote control airplanes.

Good Saturday Morning, Friends! Things going okay here. Busy day yesterday. Well, I slept a little late... 8:15 a.m.... about an hour later than my usual. DH was at DD's cutting lawn until SIL came out and stopped him because he wanted DGS to put in some manual labor for a change! LOL So he got back earlier than usual with a plan for the day. He wanted to go see "Up" in the afternoon and then go out for early dinner. Then DD called on her way back from working out (with weights) and wanted to go for a walk with us. We took our lake loop... which takes about an hour, and by then it was time to go to the movie! "Up" was fun..3D... cute. Dinner was okay, but I'd been wanting to try the carne asada expecting thin strips of grilled steak but it came in bigger pieces and was quite chewy. I gave about half of it to Earl. Served with black beans, a little rice and chopped lettuce and tomatoes. Not huge portions like Mexican is usually served, so that was good. Feeling better.... 5th day on Rx. Sunny day today.. supposed to take ferry ride and go out to dinner with Primetimers but Earl does not sound too enthusiastic about it so he may want to bow out on those plans.

WOW! Don, that IS GOOD news! You're doing GREAT!! I'm sure your doc will be quite pleased when you see her next week! You waited so patiently for SO long to have your surgery. It's a real blessing to see you doing so well! How's your wfe doing?

You're TOO funny! Can't believe you let them get away with playing games while you're taxed with fixing their dinner! What's up with that!!?? You're having too much fun... after N.O. cruise, we need to plan a trip to FRANCE!! EARL control what I spend on wine??? Are you kidding me?? What makes you think I am allowed to buy wine?? LOL!! I do occasionally get away with putting a bottle in HIS shopping cart, but not often! We usually buy TWO BUCK CHUCK, which is actually three bucks here in WA. Or else he buys BOXED wine! Not worth drinking, IMHO! But I lost control of the kitchen and the shopping a LONG time ago. Karri... 2 weeks would be good... doc prepared me that it might take 4-6 weeks for the Zoloft to kick in. Actually I am taking is a generic form... Sertraline. Saw pulmonary doc today.. have a repeat sleep study in two weeks. Thinks my CPAP undoubtedly needs to be re calibrated b/o weight loss. Very tight today... started when I ate lobster tail last night. I didn't cut it up in tiny bites like I did last week. So it felt like I was stuck.. all night. Had a tough time eating bf today & only ate 1/2 of my little baby omelet. Primetimers today and lunch was noodles w/tomato sauce and meatballs (Costco, I think). Then there was chef salad, fruit cocktail, ice cream and some kind of biscuit cake for desert. Paper divided plates.... filled up one of the small sections w/noodles-meatballs, put a little fruit cocktail in the other, and chef salad in the big part. Could only eat a couple of bites of salad... gave the rest to Earl, a few chunks of fruit, ate the noodles and meatballs. Took desert and picked at it a little...teeny little bites of ice cream and a few crumbs of cake, and then I pretty much bolted for the BR where I lost the ice cream and slimed a lot! TMI, huh?! Sorry! So, then we went to Costco but I didn't go in because I was afraid I might be really stupid and take a bite of some samples. After dr appt, I went straight to my scooter and went and got a latte. May be psychological, but drinking one always seems to settle my stomach and help things go down. It worked, but not right away.... took an hour or so. If it hadn't I wouldn't have been able to eat any dinner. We had spaghetti sauce w/gr. turkey over fr. style green beans. Small portion and I ate REAL slow. Went down okay, but I'm still hearing and feeling some gurgling! I know it would be a good idea to start journalling again but it seems like such a pain. But the pulmonologist has me on an abbreviated form... I have to fill out this chart for the next two weeks... there's a square for every hour of the day. I have to blacken in the squares when I'm sleeping, if I get up to BR... put a B in that square, M for meals, C for caffeine drinks, A for alcholol, S for snacks (not sex). Arrow down when I go to sleep, arrow up when I wake up. Sound like fun??? It IS a form of journalling, so maybe it'll get me back in the habit. For those who stuck with me through this, SORRY it's SO LONG!!

This is a GREAT idea, Kevin! I wish I could say I had some recipes to contribute, but I'm just not that creative in the kitchen. I guess the most creative thing I've done in the last two years is to make spaghetti sauce w/healthy ingredients.... canned diced tomatoes, canned tomato sauce or puree, ground turkey, sliced mushrooms, onion, garlic, a dash of red wine, Italian seasoning. And then serve it over french style green Beans instead of Pasta. One of my favorite "bandster" meals. Had it this week. Sprinkled some Feta cheese on top instead of the usual Parmesean/Romano. I know some people on other threads who are much more creative than I so I will try to direct them over here. Keep us posted on your efforts.

Boy! I'm really confused now! I thought we'd just figured out that Green was a guy! Had my pre-op physical today including chest x-ray (with my necklace on... forgot!), EKG, five tubes of blood and urinalysis. That should cover it. They said they'll be faxing everything to the ortho surgeon tomorrow, so it'll all be there for him when I see him next week. My doc wasn't available so I saw this other young chick... I think she was about 12 yrs old. Fairly thorough, but I still like my doctor best. We talked about my meds and she agreed to start me on Zoloft...50 mg. So we'll see how that goes. Wants me to follow up with my doc in about a month, but it'll have to wait until after my trip east. Tomorrow I see a new pulmonologist.. want to see if my CPAP needs to be readjusted. Settings are still set up as prior to weight loss so I'm thinking it's time for a check on that. No follow up on that in about 5 years, so it's time. Did almost 30 minutes on Wii last night... 10 minutes walking in place. Then I couldn't get any good scores on my favorites... balance exercises, because I could barely move my knee after the 10 minutes of walking! Frustrating!

Look for me on FB, too ladies. Phyllis Hand. I am a FarmTown Fanatic, too!

I'm very sad to hear about Green... had forgotten about her. Do you know what happened? Remind me alittle bit about her because I remember her, but no details come to mind at the moment.

Okay.. I know! I really think I need an anti-depressant and maybe boost to my thyroid Rx. Shoes off... always. We're both in the habit of taking our shoes off at the door. In fact, I have slippers that live at youngest DD's house right by the door. And their carpets are a disaster! Other DD, Tracy... I used to have slippers there but DGD was always wearing them and they were never by the door..usually in her room! She moved out a year ago so I guess I can take a pair over there again! I have really come to prefer my taters without gravy, too. One of my favorite treats... which I probably haven't had in about a year... is KFC mashed potatoes w/their cole slaw! Very weird, I know, but I love their cole slaw and like to mix it with mashed potatoes. Earl will make me instant potatoes if I ask, but we usually don't have milk in the house so then he makes them with water. YUCK! don't care about the butter either. Albertson's has lobster tails on sale through tomorrow... $4.99. So I bought some last week. He overcooked them, of course, and gave me hot I can't believe it's not butter with it. I don't like fake margerine. And i am quite happy and content to have my lobster without it anyway. I tried BBQ oysters a few weeks ago and really liked them. Thought I didn't like oysters. Now I'm thinking of getting some of those at Albertson's, too... $6.99 for a dozen. I was thinking I'd saute some garlic and onion in a little olive oil, drizzle it over the top of the oysters (in the half shell) and broil in my little counter top broiler oven for a couple of minutes. Maybe sprinkle just a tiny bit of grated mozarella on top. Does that sound good??? EArl probably won't eat them. I am just completely bored with what we've been eating. I want CHANGE! After the pizza incident at lunch time I decided I want spaghetti for dinner tonight! I am perfectly content with having meat sauce served over french style green beans. I miss my pasta terribly, but I'll eat it the green beans and pretend its pasta. And maybe I'll sprinkle some feta cheese on top.

Yeah, Kari.. what's up with the hot fudge sundae? LOL If I was going to have a treat, it wouldn't be something like that. As much as I'd enjoy it, I'd pick spaghetti, mashed potatoes and gravy, or something like that! Tell me how you do your cauliflower. I've tried it and wasn't impressed with how they turned out. Mashed potatoes... one thing I REALLY miss!! It's just downright COLD here! It's definitely not RIGHT!! After reading all your hypothyroid stuff... I'm wondering if my Synthroid needs to be bumped up a little. I am SO COLD all the time. No BP problem, but I"m on 2 Rx for elevated BP. So I've been running about 110/50. Hair is definitely thinning, too, but no dizziness... depression, though. I have always had my "down" days, but last couple of weeks... feeling VERY down! Had a good cry today because DH was eating leftover pizza for lunch! Well, that and i only lost 1.2 lb today... weekly TOPS weigh in. Four weeks away from 2 yr Bandiversary and I wanted to be below 200 by then. That's not going to happen. Sometimes it feels like it will NEVER happen. BOO HOO, woe is me!! Dr. appt tomorrow, but not with my regular doc. She is a young gal with kids so she only works until 1:30pm every day and they couldn't get me in for pre-op physical (for knee surgery) until the first week in Aug. So I agreed to see a different doc tomorrow. Don't know if I should ask her, but maybe need an anti-depressant and Synthroid increased.

Hi, Linda, So how did the day go??? Dad's Day Pig-Out.....?? Did you go out to eat? We were pleasantly surprised when DGD, DGS and even SIL's older daughter & her two little ones showed up for church this morning... so we had quite a crowd when we went to lunch afterwards. DD & SIL are both doing WW, so we were sitting with them and we all ordered salads... the younger folks were eating sandwiches w/fries! We ate at Canyon's... I think it's a chain. Salads are very good, but they're huge! I saved half of mind and just finished it for dinner... I like the "Emporer's" something or other.. kind of Asian with sesame dressing and grilled chicken breast. I'm getting discouraged again. Hope I have a loss tomorrow morning (TOPS day). I, too, know what I need to do to get going again! Scale went up last week. It better be down this week! My stupid bathroom scale says I'm down, but who knows. I can move it around to five different places on the bathroom floor and get five different weights, sometimes with a 10 lb span! Ridiculous! DH picked out a CHEAP scale when we got a new one last summer! The Wii is usually pretty close to accurate... as long as the little feet don't fall off! I haven't been on it much lately. Knee has been acting up. I was doing 45-55 minutes but now I can barely make 30 minutes. I stopped doing so many of the balance exercises and doing some bowling, golf, baseball.. so I am at least doing something. Going to try some balance exercise tonight and see how it goes. I got my pre-op letter from the ortho surgeon yesterday.. so I can make an appt with my primary care doc now that I"m armed with the list of stuff he wants her to do prior to surgery. Want to get it all done by my next appt with surgeon on July 2.

Welcome! What makes you think something might be wrong?

Yeah, there wouldn't be a good response here either, but I don't really care at the moment!! Would serve him right for not going with me! LOL

I agree!! I'm just now getting in to some size 18s, too, and it's GREAT! Two years ago it was 3x, 4x, 28-30. I just don't want to get too content at this weight! Through this whole journey, I always have a few things in the next smaller size that I am looking forward to wearing... helps keep me motivated! Of course, there were a few things I didn't try on often enough and by the time I did..... too big or almost too big and didn't get to wear them very long!

I've heard lots of good things about Dr. Kuri. There seem to be a lot of people up here in the Pacific NW who have used him. They seem to have a very supportive staff. I've corresponded with them just to get general information and to ask questions, get referrals for plastic surgery.

I was thinking the same thing! Never any trouble here... nothing but support, encouragement, and we administer "tough love" to one another when necessary. But this type of attitude is counter productive. Notice the name: "Headhunter", and the "I void warranties".... not so positive there either! LOL