Orchids&Dragons

The Arlington meeting is at USMD at I-20 & Matlock. That wouldn't be bad for you at all. (OK relatively speaking - given that it's 5:00 traffic) That's the hospital where I had my surgery.

Texas had the "Don't mess with Texas" slogan waaaaay before Greg Abbott.

Celtic Princess has a nice ring to it although Celtic Peasant would have been much more likely! I sure wish you lived closer. It would be great to hang out together! For my boys, I stuck with apostles: Ian (John), Andrew and Thomas. My daughter is Theresa. So I've got the saints pretty well covered. I stopped having babies when they started coming in litters! Andrew and Thomas are identical twins and that was more than enough to scare me out of the baby-making business. Besides, I had them 2 weeks before I turned 37, so it was time for me to quit anyway. I was one of 5 and have 24 first cousins, so I always wanted a larger family. I didn't get married until I was 30, so I had to make quick work of it!

I got a standing desk about 8-10 months ago and love it. I have major lower back issues and the ability to sit/stand as needed is wonderful. If at all possible, try to check out several before they purchase one for you because they are definitely NOT all the same. Off Topic but interesting - my husband is a Dragon64. He's the largest dragon in my collection

Hmmm, maybe that's why Contrave did absolutely nothing for me.

I love blistered tomatoes! Do you grill them in a basket?

When I first met my surgeon and he asked why I wanted the surgery, I told him that I'm not here to tell you I can't lose weight. I've lost hundreds of pounds. I just keep finding them again. I need help to maintain. After years of failure, I thought this was my best chance.

Congrats on your successful weight loss and, even better, maintenance! You look awesome.

Try your liquids in various forms: cold water, warm decaf tea/broth, frozen popsicles. You can add a bit of protein shake to decaf tea/coffee to imitate lattes. You will probably find that one temperature suits you better than the others and it will change as your stomach heals. Don't go too hot, yet. That can cause discomfort. Hope you feel better soon.

Congrats on your surgery and glad you're doing well! Welcome to the boards!

There's a support meeting in Mansfield tonight and one in Arlington next Tuesday if you're interested. I don't know where in Dallas you are, so I don't know if these would be at all convenient. I'm going to both of these.

I'm a red-head, too. 100% Irish, grandparents from the "old country" Used to try to smush my freckles together, to no avail! Now my skin is a permanent ruddy tone - from years of sun damage. Dermatologists love me - I walk into their office and they start thinking about summer homes on the beach!

So ask him "so, why haven't you?"

We used to get bats in our attic in New York.

Nah, we're up near Fort Worth. Enjoy the tubing!

OK, I went to the grocery store after work to pick up a rotisserie chicken and some veggies - good so far. Picked up 6 cans of tuna on sale, still good. 2 loaves of bread - not for me - still good. Wandered down the produce aisle and what do I see? The most gorgeous pears! Beautiful, gold with a rosy blush. Temptation! I picked them up - perfectly ripe - soft but not bruised. I succumbed and brought them home. I still could have made good choices, but . . . No, I did not eat protein first! Yes, I washed off one of those beauties and ate nearly 1/3 of it before the consequences of my actions caught up with me. Now I'm guiltily sitting here stuffed to my tonsils but it was worth it! I think the snake offered Eve a pear and the Bible just got it wrong! Who else needs to confess?

Yes, I was being light-hearted!

Long drive from Houston, just saying . . . But you're welcome anytime. We can actually watch bats fly between the trees when we're in the pool. We definitely do high-SPFs, but especially when the kids were little, it was just so hard to keep them totally covered. And anytime I missed a spot, the burns were horrendous.

Fluffy, do you still limit your quantity to 1/2 cup or have you eased up on that as you increased calories?

Oh, man! You are just rubbing salt into the sunburn of those of us who are melanin-challenged! All my fat is unhappy fat! Fish-belly white or bright red are the only choices I get My natural skin color is closest akin to a fluorescent light bulb! Since all the public pools close at sundown, we put in our own pool so that the kids could swim after dark.

I make 1/2 serving of oatmeal (with hi-pro milk), with cinnamon & splenda and add a little applesauce for flavor. I can't eat the whole thing, but really enjoy what I can manage. Good luck!

How terrifying! I'm so glad you were able to recover! Best wishes for smoother sailing from here on out!

And they thought taking a drug that can have major cardiac side effects was better than surgery? Holy cow!

Hope all goes well MIZ60!

No, I live closer to Fort Worth. But she helped me find a meeting close to me and was very nice. But feel free to contact me if you'd like!