phyllser

Okay.... 216 lb this morning. I will try to get my water in but probably can't. Having trouble drinking between meals. Got in one cup of coffee this morning. My Crystal Lite is next to me, but just finished my omelet 1/2 hour ago, so not for a while. I overslept this morning.... 8:15am. Earl got up so early and woke me up, and then I couldn't go back to sleep and when I finally did, I slept really hard. Woke up in a bad mood... especially when I found out he was headed back to cut DD & SIL lawn AGAIN!! Has only not gone over to cut lawn two days since the day we got home. Keeps telling me it was so long that he has to keep lowering the blade little by little. All it means to me is being stranded here with no car day after day after day for 4-6 hours. I will go get my nails done today! That will fix him! LOL ... and maybe I'll buy lottery tickets, too. He hates when I do that. Of course, he never knows because I hide them... like he hides his cigarettes! Okay.... like I said... bad mood today!! I'm done now! I will fix buttons on my pants.... my black dress pants... no zippers... FOUR buttons on each side. I hate that. Buttons were all loose when I bought them and now they're all about to fall off. So I'm going to fix them all and then take them to the dry cleaners. Hee hee! He would HATE that, too. He's too cheap to take ANYTHING to the dry cleaner, and they really could be washed, but I want them pressed nicely.

Thanks, Charlene... I appreciate everyone's compliments! I'm so sorry to hear of all your problems and challenges. I know how hard it is to stay on track in the midst of all that going on in your life. Are you in a support group of any kind Or getting any emotional support from anyone?? You can't walk through all that's going on by yourself. What kind of support system do you have on a daily basis??

I'm in! I'll weigh in on the Wii in the morning.

Meredith, Congrats on getting your date. I remember that as being a very exciting day for me. My surgeon's office called while I was cruising around the neighborhood on my scooter. When I got back, first thing I saw was a big note DH had taped on the screen door.... "Your surgery date is July 20th"! I was ecstatic! My PCP says the surgeon is supposed to tell you or PCP what he wants done for "clearance".... EKG, bloodwork, chest x-ray, cardaic workup??? My PCP won't do anything until the surgeon makes it clear what is required for "clearance".

So glad you're back, Ruby! Keep hangin' out with us! We need each other!

Congrats, Meredith! That is wonderful news! God is good!

I wish I had seen that sooner, too. I just got back from a cruise a few days ago and only problems I had were my own doing... eating too much or too fast. We had very relaxing and enjoyable meals. For the most part I made good, band-friendly choices and I did not feel deprived in any way. One night I had to leave the table during dessert, but it was my fault. I was full but stupidly decided to "taste"my dessert anyway. Very often, when I know I am at capacity, even a tiny bite of something sweet will cause an adverse reaction... like I think I'm going to lose it RIGHT NOW. As it was, I excused myself and went to the rest room where I did a little "sliming", but that's all that came up. Sorry>> TMI! Over the course of the week, I ate some things I normally wouldn't, like some carbs.. potatoes, a little rice, etc. And some Desserts, a few drinks, but overall... I did not over indulge and what I gained was 1.8 lb and it's already gone. I ate lots of fish... smoked salmon with my breakfast every morning, lobster tail two different nights, red snapper another night. Twice I had lamb and once prime rib. We did the buffet twice for lunch, but... not a good idea... too many choices and too many temptations, so we didn't go back. Well, I know DH was sneaking up there sometimes between lunch and dinner for a piece of pizza or a hamburger... but he gained NINE lbs!!

Uhhh..... it's the SAME dress, Janet! That dress LOVES to go on cruises. Candace gave it to me with some other clothes when we were at M of A. She didn't wear the jacket... I wanted to cover up my arms.... and I was FREEZING! Seems like they kept ALL areas of that ship COLD! I don't like my coffee iced even in hot weather. I always get SF, FF, triple or quad shot, but 16 oz, so it's usually around $4. Skagway Starbucks price was almost DOUBLE! Papaya tabs just help settle your stomach down and help you digest. They're chewable and taste pleasant. When that doesn't help, I slowly drink a small can of pineapple juice.

Yeah! Love that dress! And LOVE the way it travels! Wow! You can't MAKE it wrinkle! I like your jewelry! Looks great with the dress.

I am so glad you came back to LBT!!! We really missed you! Sounds like a fun place to live. We enjoy our RV park neighborhood more than our actual home! Neighbors here are okay, but not that kind of fellowship you are describing. While we were gone on cruise, single mom with young girl, cat and dog who barks incessantly moved in to condo right over our heads! Owner moved out last month and moved in with her boyfriend. She was a night shift worker so it was always quiet up there except when her son & grandsons were visiting. As for old cars.... DD & SIL GAVE Earl an already restored '53 Chevy for his birthday! Haven't said anything or posted photo on FB because SIL doesn't really want his sisters to know & they're both on FB. His Dad gave it to DGD before he died, but they didn't really want her driving it so they bought her a different car and "traded" with her. But SIL doesn't want to maintain it and he also has his old resotred Mustang from his HS days, thus he turned it over to Earl. So I think he has it running, but needs brake work before we take it out. Church is having a "Hot Rods & Hogs" show next month, so hoping to have it ready to drive by then. What's your farm name??? Are we farm neighbors/friends?? I don't remember! And Parking Wars... ALL my cars and Earl's were ticketed while we were gone! And someone has a tow truck on his street! What a pain! Skinny Latte.... SF Hazelnut... extra shot... 16 oz. Do you want to know what I paid for one in Skagway AK???? Usually $3.80-4.10 in CA & WA. They charged me $7.50!!! DH almost dropped his teeth! He was carrying a travel mug of cold coffee left over from breakfast with him at he time. So he went in a liquor store next door and bought one of those teeny bottles of Bailey's for $3 and put it in his cold coffee and was very proud that he'd paid half of what I paid for my Starbucks!

Santa Cruz, Monterey..... I love those places and I love seafood! And Gilroy is one of my favorite places! We live in WA and winter in Desert Hot Springs CA. We stop at Gilroy coming and going each trip. Stay at the RV park behind Target. Always go to Garlic World. I'm a NY native, too... Buffalo. I love that garlic smell in Gilroy, too! Would really enjoy that Garlic Festival, too! Long, your cruise sounds exactly like one we did a few years back... well, it's probably around 10 years ago now! Time flies!! Really enjoyed it. We just got back from an Alaska cruise yesterday, but our DD & SIL finished a Greek cruise yesterday. Now they're in Rome and then going to London before they come home. I love to travel!

Thanks for the welcome home, Karla. Still reading! And I had to work on my virtual "farms" this morning! Forgot to tell you guys.... one afternoon when I'd had a little wine, or maybe it was my "Northern Lights".... I talked all my Sr. Citizen, elderly friends in to getting airbrush tattoos with me... all except Earl, that is! I "negotiated" with the guy who was doing them (on the ship) and he gave us a "2 for 1" rate... $4.25 each! So I have a bright blue butterfly on my lower leg, which is supposed to go away in 5-7 days! But it's been about 3-4 days now and it shows no signs of fading so far! HAH!! Got on the Wii Fit to weigh this morning. Earl gained NINE lb!! Phyl gained just under TWO lb!

Okay.. I'm back.. and I'm reading and uploading photos to FB, reading, uploading photos, trying to work my farm, reading more LBT!! I'm NOT going ziplining or bungy jumping. I ate too much on the cruise, but not too many carbs, sampled a few desserts and drank too much wine and "Northern Lights".. don't ask. And now that we're home.... can't eat. Breakfast on the ship this morning... 2 eggs over easy, sm amt of potatoes and some smoked salmon. Was home by lunch and couldn't eat. Had a small, thin slice of white cheese and a few Wheat Thins crumbs! Did go have a latte across the street and rode around the neighborhood. One of the grocery stores was grilling steak outside. Got a small sample... tight, tight, tight. Earl BBQd steak for dinner. I think he said we were splitting 5 1/2 oz. I couldn't eat it all. And can't drink anything. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I need to go to bed! Will read more tomorrow. Hope I can lie down to sleep. It desn't feel good right now and it's been well over 5 hrs since we had dinner.

Good Morning! Last post before leaving. About to hit the shower and get ready to leave. They don't start checking in until 12 noon, supposed to be onboard by 3pm. I'm sure we'll be there by 11 a.m.! DH won't pay the approx $20 a day to park in the ramp across the street from the cruise terminal so we have to drive down to DD's... a little over an hour south, so she can drive us back north to Seattle and drop us off! So, I guess I'll be ready to leave by 9 a.m. So... I guess I'll have 200 pages to read when I get back, right??? :scared2::biggrin::biggrin::wub: Will try to upload a few photos to FB when we're in port and wll post from Blackberry if I can. HUGS!

I have a laptop, but I'm not taking it. Internet connection to expensive on the ship and I don't feel like lugging it around anyway. I have my Blackberry, but it seems like if you aren't actually going to each thread and signing in to LBT, the posts of emails stop coming. So I'll probably be able to read the posts for a day or two, but then they'll quit coming. I should be able to get on Facebook... but only when we're in port. But that was my almost 87 yr old mother that just got a laptop for Mother's Day. We all chipped in for it. She's been using WebTV for several years, but she signed up for FB a couple of weeks ago (!), and then my niece showed her how it looked on a laptop, and that you could see everyone's photos, etc., then she decided she wanted a laptop. Then yesterday my sister and a Verizon Tech person far away in another country got her internet/DSL set up. So now she's not only got a laptop but she's high speed as well! :grouphug::biggrin::hurray: Glad you finally got a fast connection! Cruise... good idea for #7s! Mexican Riviera, like Janet took a couple of months ago, would be fun... and warm, and not too expensive. I don't think you should be having pain when you eat. Maybe you're a little too tight. It does take some getting used to... until you figure out what you can eat when. I'm tight in the morning... very small eggbeaters omelet is about all I can handle. But... what is really weird is that when.. once in a great while... we go out for breakfast... I don't seem to have a problem... eat a bit of an omelet, a little bit of hash browns, and maybe even 1/2 a toasted english muffin sometimes. It is the only time I use catsup with my breakfast... maybe that's why it all slides down so easy????? So... we'll see how it goes on the cruise... in my head, I am planning to eat breakfast upstairs at the buffet. Then I can order a small eggbeaters omelet.. they'll probably have smoked salmon, mozarella cheese. I usually have a hot latte before lunch... to loosen things up a bit. Then I have a small salad most days. Dinner time is a little better. I can eat my 4 oz meat/fish and some veggies. The only time I ever have any pain is when I deserve it because I pushed it and ate more than I know I should have. Okay... as for the third suitcase....Earl decided he wanted to take two bottles of wine with us for our room. Hopefully, it will not get confiscated during the boarding process. So, he had no choice but to take another small (very small) suitcase to accomodate two bottles of wine. So I think his clothes are wrapped around it. I'll have more control of the packing when it's time to come home, so I'll find room for my "shopping".

Some days are busy, some days are really quiet, aren't they!!? I've been busy a good part of the day packing for the cruise and fighting with DH about packing for the cruise! :biggrin::thumbup: I had everything but my hanging stuff into about a 20" roll on. So he puts ALL his stuff in to the garment bag... and he's taking about 3 turtle neck/sweater combinations... his idea of dresing up, plus his suit (at my insistence). So he takes these sweaters and turtle necks and folds them and puts them ALL in one zipper pocket that goes right up against where the hanging stuff is. I told him there was no way the main zipper was going to close with that big bulk of stuff all in one place! But he had to find out the hard way, and then try to get the zipper open again so he could redistribute it all. We really need to pack one more small suitcase. We've NEVER gone on a cruise with the garment bag plus only ONE other suitcase! This is crazy! If he thinks I'm not going to buy anything because there's no place to put it, he's got another "think" coming! I've been telling him for weeks that I'm SHOPPING! I'm going to get a new Alaska sweatshirt to replace the one I just put in the Goodwill because it was too big. We're not doing too many excursions because this is our THIRD Alaska cruise and we've done the Meldenhall Glacier, the train trip in Skagway and all that stuff. I'm going to enjoy the shops this time! So that's where I am... packing, doing FB stuff, took my ususal cruise around the neighborhood today. DH was not feeling good and took a long nap. So I went and got my latte, went to RiteAid and got some more Papaya, went to the grocery store and got him some of his favorite hard rolls and got my hair cut and my eyebrows waxed! Pedicure yesterday. Manicure last weekend! I'm ready!

Exactly what procedures did you have done? I so much want to have my thighs done.

No, Thomas' parents have three little ones. I invited them because they wanted to do something special for their 20th anniv, which was last Dec. but they couldn't work it out. Other DD & SIL are going on their own cruise Sat... Greek Isles! Wish we were going there! They're sightseeing in Venice until then. Four people from our church are going with us. According to Norwegian website, this cruise can be booked last minute now for $299 for inside, $399 for ocean view and $599 for balcony. So tell me why agent wouldn't give me an upgrade when I called to ask last week...and I referred four other people to him! Farm game is fun, but extremely addicting! I'm always trying to make my farm (and Earl's) prettier, and saving money for upgrades! We like this stuff because of our addictive personalities, but I guess there are worse things we could be doing! I don't particulary like Adam and was hoping finalists would be Kris and Danny!

Good Morning, Gang! Yesterday was a busy day. Left to take DD & SIL to the airport... yeah, Tracy & Jim (Adam & Alisha--but they did not go). They will be gone 2 1/2 wks.... arrive in Venice today, Royal Carribean/Splendour of the Seas cruise through the Greek Isles Saturday.. 7 days. Then they go to Rome for a couple of days, then London. So, after dropping them off, since we were in the "south end", we went to visit a friend for an hour, then to other DD for about an hour... only she & Thomas were home. Then we headed back home but wasted an hour trying to find this Comcast office where we were supposed to pick up some kind of converter for our back TV so DH can still watch Fox News. New building, new address and TomTom couldn't find it so neither could we until we found someone who knew where it was and gave us directions. Then when we finally found it, they told DH that person on the phone gave him faulty information and we don't really need that converter! Frusrating. So, left the house at 9:30 a.m. and home SIX HOURS later! So then I took my afternoon cruise... RiteAid has Papaya 2 for 1 this week. They only had 3, so gave me the 3rd one 1/2 price and talked the girl in to a rain check for 4 more! I will stock up for winter whle we're home since I have a RiteAid right across the street. Of course, while I was out, I got my SF FF latte, too. After that... FB, Farm Town, Parking Wars, read email, watch Biggest Loser and American Idol! Today... Primetimers at church and then pedicure. And if DH doesn't bring me suitcases from the RV today I will FLIP OUT! He was there again this morning, even had a note and still forgot. Alaska cruise on Saturday and no packing done yet. Suitcases I want to use are in storage compartment in the RV!! I have a "stack" of clothes on a chair behind the bedroom door and some others separated in my closet, but best start putting them in a suitcase pretty soon!!

Pill probably started the problem, then the chicken. Liquids only right after a fill, then mushy with gradual return to normal over a few days. Hope things are better today.

Ruby, Glad you're back. We missed you. Dear Abby column today is devoted to WLS. Read it if you get a chance. Off to airport soon.... DD & SIL leaving for trip to Europe. Four days until our Alaska cruise. Much to do.

After all that venting, I had a great afternoon/evening. DD & I went to get our nails done while SIL & DH did things like wash cars, cut their lawn, try to fix broken tractor, etc. We were gone over two hours and they didn't even call us! We topped off the afternoon at Starbucks before we went home. Then I hemmed two prs of pants for her... they're leaving for 2 1/2 wk trip to Europe on Tues. and DD made us a really good chicken casserole while I was working on the pants. AND we had a glass of wine before dinner. Casserole was great and it was the first time I was able to eat very much in DAYS. So I probably ate too much. I have the recipe.

Oh, I was just in the kitchen getting my lunch salad. It reminded me of another thing DH does because we're so POOR! Wet paper towels get spread out on the counter top to dry out so they can be reused!! GIVE ME A BREAK!!! He is a SICK man! I wore a t-shirt special for him today. It says, "I see your lips are moving but all I hear is BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!!" I showed it to him when he was complaining about DD & I going for manicures this afternoon. :tt2::biggrin::biggrin::eek::biggrin::biggrin:

Fund raiser??? Don't be silly! We lost a lot, but there's still plenty there. If I told you how much you would laugh at all this ridiculousness! He just won't use it! And I know another factor is that he says he's researched PS on legs on the internet and he read some scarey stories and is convinced it's very dangerous surgery because of risk of blood vessel and nerve damage. So, it's not just the money. I've wanted to buy another car for 2 years! We have ONE car, so if he's off cutting lawn for SIL or flying his RC airplanes, he's gone up to 5-6 hours and I'm stuck. And the car we have is 7 yrs old with 91+ K miles on it.. driven miles. At least another 50K of towed miles that don't show. Yeah, it runs okay. Just put money in to it to fix the emission system, brake job and a new tire... ONE new tire. He was so proud of himself because the tire guy was able to match the spare which is still new and not the pretend tire type... so he only had to buy one tire instead of two. :tt2: And he says we'll reconsider buying a new car at the end of the summer! Yeah, right! :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: I WILL get these legs done. Fear not! Just have to back off for a day or two while my emotions settle down. Haven't been able to eat much all week... and that is probably contributing to some extent, but just plain tight this week. DH insists on cooking everything from frozen, and then it ends up getting over cooked. So, had small piece of fish one night that I couldn't finish. Last night, maybe 3 oz piece of pork chop, that was too lean to begin with, and then got over cooked, so I don't know if I even got an ounce of it down. Then good thing I've been keeping a little zip lock bag with paper towels in it next to my chair... TMI.... sliming in to the bag for a while, but nothing else came up. Many hours later I got down a calcium chew and one of those little Jello pudding cups. Haven't been able to drink much all week. My latte every morning, usually, is justified by... need the warm liquid so I can loosen up enough to eat lunch! And yesterday, lunch was a small bowl of chicken noodle (which was really barley) soup at Safeway during my 3 hr cruise around the neighborhood. OH... one of the grocery stores was grilling tri-tip out by the front door, so I had a small piece of that as a chaser an hour or so later. :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: It was SO good!

DH is what happened to the Mexico idea. He nixed it big time. As in threw a fit. Hope you get everything worked out with your Mom & her Medicaid. Insurance is a bad word! Sorry, Janet.. I guess I should say MEDICAL INSURANCE!! And I used to be a pre-cert nurse! That was a few years ago when "medical necessity" meant something. And when real nurses did the reviewing. Hmmmmm. Good suggestions. I especially like the one about doing them both at once... PS & total knee. I'm going to be in hell anyway. Why not! Think about how much faster you could plant your crops!!