Apples2

:thumbup::woot::wow: Too funny, Meredith. Not offended. I brought it up and was just responding to what you said. You could never offend me that easily.

Great..as of now it looks like getting all the corn in might not happen. DH takes everything in stride so I will leave it in his hands. Sooooooooo cold here today and snowing. It's costing way to much to dry the corn with this cold weather. We have never had a harvest such as this. It hasn't gotten much above 15 degrees today. We will take it all as it comes. No sense worrying about something we have no control over. I thought of you, Great, each time I posted today about the FL trip. Just wishing you were coming and how you were feeling about not being there. Linda....forgot to mention about your leg and your upcoming surgery. You're in my thoughts and prayers that your surgery date stays the same. We have a friend getting his second new hip (50 yrs old) this Friday. He is in so much pain. Cannot wait to see him walk pain free again. The best to you on everything on your plate at this time. You should be in pretty good shape by the time this FL trip comes along. I am so excited about it. Gotta watch it around DH so he doesn't think I am thinking more of our 3 day girl thing than spending 6 weeks away with him. LOL.

Meredith....see my last post on the times. We must have been posting at the same time. Fly in any time on Thursday. We can always check luggage and sit by the pool if condos aren't ready. The rep I talked to today said sometimes it is possible to check in about noon. Anxious to see your wreath. Sounds interesting. I just pulled one out of the closet that I made 30 yrs ago. Still looks pretty good. Plugging away at house decorating but keep having to run outside to help guys so I feel as if I'm spinning my wheels. Think I will do what I can today and after the dryers are quite, I will work into the early morning to get this done. NO INTERUPTIONS that way. Once you get to know me, Meredith, you will see that I'm far from an "old lady" as I bet most of us over 50 that post here are. I see the person, not the age. Heck, I just lost my best friend in life and she was 89. She was such a free spirit and NEVER judged anyone. That's what I loved about her. Back at it.

Janet....I take you were asking for the "for sure" dates? Check in Feb 11, 4pm...checkout Feb 14, 11am. This will give us all time (I think) to get back to our "honeys" for VD!:thumbup:

Got you marked down, Cheri. Booking tickets isn't so bad. Just have your daughter do it for you if you want. If you want a good deal, have her start looking now and book when you know it's affordable for you. Otherwise, you will miss out.

OK...it's done. We have: Three - 3 bedroom condos, 2 bathrooms, sleeps 8 max with 3 double beds plus a sleeper sofa. The options with the 2 twin beds are already gone since yesterday so I just went ahead and booked before our options got shorter and shorter. One snag...on the options, rates, etc. pages, they did not list that there is a $75 rate for cleaning if the stay is shorter than 5 days. That $75 needs to be paid at check-in. The breakdown is: Three-3BR condos for 3 nights $648 17% down payment, which was paid by me this date $114 ($114 includes a $6 booking fee Balance with tax (which will be put on my cr card 14 days prior to arrival) $607.50 Total cost: $721.50 Any questions??????????????

I think you're right, Linda. You guys don't want to be on top of each other. Gotta think of the common living areas and bathrooms, too. Having the two 3 BR would make things not too croweded. I'll say it again...so happy you are gonna make it!

Just got an email from the Villas. Don't know if it's a ploy just to get us to book but the rep said they are going fast. Only a few left. Let's wrap this up, girls. We def have a 3 br for Janet, Eva and Karen. What do you guys want to do. Have me book one other 3 BR or 2- 3 BR????????? Should have an answer soon. Let me know today, please. Chop, Chop!

Thought I saw you drive by. You're my kind of girl. If a friend backed out, I would go to a party alone also. Did just that last night. Was a very nice party. The kids (21-28) were whooping it up. Their friend is completely done in Air Force after 6 yrs and heading to Germany to be with his wife. (DH's business partner's son). So happy I went even if DH could not make it. Did you find that Christmassy sweater or top you were looking for? DH is absolutely killing himself working in this cold and climbing all those stairs every 15 min or so. I try to relieve him as much as I can. I think we are going to give it two more days and forget the rest till spring. Have NEVER not gotten the crop in from the field in his 41 yrs of farming. We still have smiles on our faces so it's OK. I just worry about his knees. Knee caps keep popping sideways. He's wearing a double brace on one of them and one on the other. We will be done soon so you guys don't have to listen to the gonings on of the farmers any more till next year. Back at ya later.

Alright, Deb....I love you already. You are a girl after my own heart. TJMaxx and I are best friends! Be careful with the pork. I know we are all different and get stuck on diff things. I, for some reason, can eat it at noon but not for an evening meal. Go figure. Crab cakes sound so good. Have not had them for awhile. Think the last time was when we were in FL last year at Joe's Crab Shack. I make a lot of steel cut oatmeal. DH watches what he eats (usually it's steel cut oats followed by a donut:lol:). I make up a pot and cook with raisins. I freeze in little Glad cups and throw in freezer. Just defrost in mircrowave. DH uses SF maple syrup on his and I use brown sugar. I'm in maintenance stage and allow differents treats. I also throw a few chopped dates in mine. So happy to hear that you are journaling your intake. I really does make a difference in your daily life. Makes you take a look at what you are putting into your mouth and when you take a look at it and you've gotten to your max allowed for the day...you're done. Have fun tonight with your book club. Can I come? I'm an avid reader. Just wish I had more time this time of the year. Take care.

Gosh...I'm junking up this thread with way too many posts. Wanted to add. 2 BR condo has 2 double beds and a sleeper sofa. 3 BR condo has 3 double beds and sleeper sofa.

How cool is that, Meredith? You're comitting to 3 nights with a bunch of old ladies. Bless your heart! And on the condo thing...you guys can pack as many ppl as you like in a condo and split the cost. Does not matter. You can bring sleeping bags if you want and camp on the floor. It's all up to the rest of you how you want your accomodations to be. How was the movie? What did you watch? or...did you watch it from behind your eyelids????????????:w00t:

Woohoo!!!!!!! Linda's a definate for FL! Oh...and soooooo cute on the parade with DGD. I love kids. If my DS's would just get busy......

Bummer LauraK...I just think you are such a neat person and hoping you could come. Next time, OK?:w00t:

Mornin' Jewel...so nice to see your posts and that they are more positive sounding than last week. Sounds like you have determination to make this work and so happy you got your surgery date. Way to go, girl! Hang in there on the boring thing with your menu. Just try to take your mind OFF of the food and onto something else. Grab the kiddo and take a walk, have MIL watch him while you take a bath, brush your teeth, pick up a book....anything that will take your mind off of the food. I would eat my meal and then promptly leave the dining area. I would wait to do the dishes just so I was not tempted to over-eat. Even if it was heading to the basement to do a load of laundry that wasn't full enough to start a load. You will find that it takes longer for our brains to catch up with our stomach when it comes to hunger. BTW...good job on leaving the soda alone. Check in often....we are interested in how you are doing and how you are doing it. Have a good Sunday and stay strong. BTW...I admire you for going to school and having a little one. You should be very proud of yourself. :w00t:

OK girls, here's the deal... Made a call to the Villas this morning to double check on rates. I had it wrong but it worked out to be pretty good. A 2-BR (with a max of sleeping 6) is $189 for all three nights. A 3-BR (with a max of sleeping 8) is $216. Pretty low rent, I would say.

Deb...was in a hurry when I posted that post and forgot a couple of your questions. We all met here on this thread and other threads. A couple of us were banded at the same time. Some are more seasoned bandsters and we have some very new ones banded about the same time as you. I think each one of us are different in the length of time it took us to reach goal. It's kind of like trying to compare how much fill you have in the same size band as someone else has. We are all different, metabolisms are different, how each of us gets to the "sweet spot" or restriction is different. Any other questions, don't be afraid to ask. There's usually someone here with an answer or some advice to help you along. One of the things that got me through this process is following other's advice and watching their progress from the start.

Hey Deb...welcome to the group. Sounds like you will fit right in on our thread. We love seeing new people. I hope you will take the time to re-visit us here daily so we can follow along as you work towards your goal. We have people in all stages of their weightloss journey. First of all, congrats on the weight you have lost so far. You are doing great! As far as the exercise goes...it's something not too many of us like at the start. You are at the stage where you most likely are noticing that you are able to move better and better each day. Just set aside 30 minutes a day and get moving. Walk, ride bike, climb the stairs in your house (that is something I did cuz gyms are too far away for me to join). Any type of exercise will be benefitial. Fill us in on what you eat on a dialy basis and how you,re doing with that part. Do you keep a food journal or post your intake on a website? For me, this was huge. It made me accountable. Nice to meet you, Deb. Come back often and good luck!:w00t:

Cheri...your vent made me suck my hot chocolate down the windpipe. I LOVE Barney Fife. But, in my mind, I can imagine what you are going through. Sounds like my friends DH. She would rather NOT have him do projects than to do them. Good goin' on the exercise this morning, Janet. Got mine with the fifteen trips out to the bin site and all the trips up and down the stairs this morning. I should wear an odometer on days like this. Got three batches of fudge made this morning. Make goodies every year for the elderly neighbors who used to farm and now we farm their land. DH takes it to them and has a good visit with them. It will be a little later this year than usual. Anyway, made and cut and in the frig in the basement and ready to deliver. Have my cookie exchange on Monday night but will not get started on those till tomorrow. Have too much other stuff going on today. Gotta travel a little over an hour to a party for a young man that just got done with his stint in the Army. His parents are friends of ours. DH will be unable to go. They live near the closest Walmart. Need some things but don't know if I want to get in on the crowd. Might just stop in one of the little towns at a market to get what I need. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Got some cards addressed to my LB friends. Still need some addresses. Will find out what is going on with that tomorrow.

:wink2: Cheri...the booking dates on the condos would be Feb 11-14 as the checkout date at 11am. Check in time on the 11th would be 4pm. I hope this will work for you. We have been in the Orlando in Feb many different years. Last year was the only year we experienced cold weather. The natives said it was an unusually cold Feb. It was about 60-65 during the day and got down in the 20's at night. Most years we have been there in Feb, it has been beautiful weather...usually 70-80's with high 50's at night. My guess would be to make sure and bring a sweater or sweatshirt type jacket or spring weather jacket for the evenings. Swimsuit for day!

Mornin' Gang... Up at 4:30 am along with DH. He had to get up and go out to bin site to transfer some corn out of the dryers into other bins. He's been back in twice already for breakfast and coffee. One good thing about the short span of sleep time lately...we sleep really good. Still plugging away with corn harvest. Toughest year we have had in getting in the crop in 30 years. Tough on the body and tough on the equipment. Very expensive year for corn drying. At least double if not more. We're still smiling and I haven't run away yet, so life is good. Eva, I'm good with getting a 3 bedroom with you. Janet? So happy you are coming and we can finally meet. I think we have Meredith and Arlene and Linda that we are waiting for on an answer definate answer, right? As to your ? about the resort being on a lake. Don't think so. Just says it's located in the Lake Buena Vista area and the next thing it say is: "On the doorstep of the fabulous Lake Buena Vista Factory Store". That's their way of putting the lure out for us girls! Sorry things might not work for you to come to FL, Cheri. Was hoping each and every one of you guys could make the trip. I understand though. OK...would like to get this thing wrapped up here in a couple of days but Arelene is gone for a couple of weeks. We could always book an extra 2 BR and back off on it by the cancellation date. I am thinking we should have 2-3 BR and 1-2 BR. Does that sound about right?

Sounds good...let's meet in Bangkok for lunch!:wink2:

Ppl that leave the home for work every day relish the type of day you had today, Janet. I haven't left the farm yard for a few days...I can't remember. Think it was late Monday when I made a quick farm trip and quick trip back. Anyway, by noon today I was begging DH to break something just so I would have a reason to get in the truck and go. Well, low and behold, he broke something. (some belts on some pulleys by the corn dryer). I jumped in my truck so fast you would think I was off to a fire. I was gone a total of a entire hour. Did not get a bit of decorating today. Cleaned and then kept getting interrupted to run outside and help. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. No karoke tonight, Janet?

So far we have myself, Janet, you (maybe your mom), and Julie. Waiting on the others. Janet and I plan on getting a 2 bedroom together. Not sure how you guys want to opt for sleeping arrangements or how many to a condo? You'll just have to let me know b/4 I book. Happy you are coming, Melissa. How far are you from Covington? My son lives there and we have driven from Silver Springs, FL a couple of times. Nice drive.

A cozy, flat and old fuzzy scarf????????