Great2BThin

Hope you feel better soon Kristi! We have dreary rainy weather today but that's better than snow! Jewel, congrats to Jake. Think of all the packing as exercise! Good luck on the move!

Linda, I am so sorry for your loss, heartbreaking.

First of, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Eva!!!! and also to Apples DH!! Linda, so sorry to hear of your brother. Can you try to get out there and see him before he passes to say good bye? Hugs to you. DD just called and I am going to do my first babysitting! She is going back to work this weekend and therefore works on Sat the 30th. We were going to be going to Denver that day anyway for my Grandma's 102nd birthday on the first so she asked if I wanted to babysit on Sat. as her DH has a class he is taking that day. So I jumped on it, it will just be from 8am til noon. Regarding the few who said to get a 2nd opinion on my neck/throat thing, this was my 2nd opinion. I feel confident in the dr, he used to practice at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, etc. So I am going to go with the 4 weeks of Prilosec and follow up with him next month. I had just never heard of this type of reflux but did some googling, it's also called Silent reflux sometimes I discovered. Melissa, good luck on the job interviews. meat cutting sounds like hard work. My DFIL is a retired butcher, lifting and moving those sides of beef around. Janet, glad the vertigo seems to be improving some. I can't imagine feeling dizzy all the time. Laura, poor Nelson with the ball hitting him. So much for conquering that fear or did it help anyway? maybe now that it happened and he survived he'll be okay?? I always hated it when my son wanted to play catcher, he was so tall and couldn't scrunch down far and got hit easily.

Forgot to ask Linda just saw the tornado damage in Iowa on the news is that by you?

Still can't find the font when posting from iPad. Phyl, any idea? I know you have one and are techy. Eva, thanks for asking, the grandbaby is good. She went to the dr and went from 6 lbs 7 oz to 8 lbs 3 oz in three weeks. Sheds having some troubles nursing so may switch to formula. She's six weeks old already. I went to the dr today for a weird throat neck issue i am having. The ENT dr thinks it could be something called phyangeal (sp) acid reflux. I have no other symptoms like heartburn, taste in my mouth, etc but the back of my larynx is a little irritated. Laura or Phyl any ideas have you heard of this? I don't feel too tight or anything. I see my lap band dr in Denver on May 3 so will mention it to him as well. I am to take Prilosec twice a day aforementioned four weeks and go back. I also have an inflamed or benign lymph node that hurts. He said it was very confident it was nothing like a growth or anything.

Good morning! At least it stopped snowing and the sun is shining. Think it might hit 60 today. DH is glad he fertilized before all this moisture hit so hopefully we'll have a green lawn soon. Arlene, I can post from my IPad but can't figure out how to get my font and color. So when you don't see my color you know I was on my Ipad. LOL If you figure that part out let me know. Oh and I think Linda said her bro was 62. Apples, good to see you posting. Get concerned when you vanish. HOpe the family issues are soon over. Eva, bet your cushions are going to be so nice!

Great pics of Laura and Meredith! Thanks for sharing. Meredith, you have such a tiny waist.

Welcome Merrimish, my guess is that it is from being too tight or swollen after surgery. As you heal the swelling should go down and that go away, but to be sure you might want to call you dr and ask. Good afternoon, well it stopped snowing so hopefully we will get some spring finally. I am very excited, DH & I booked our vacation yesterday. We are going on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise next month. Last year we went on a Western and enjoyed it so much so looking very forward to it. It leaves from Venice, Italy and goes to 2 places in Croatia, Izmir, Turkey, and Athens, Greece. We are going a day ahead and spending a day in Venice, it's been a dream of mine to ride a gondoloa. Told DH he had to seranade me. LOL He looked at me and with no thought at all said he had the song already, a country song, called something like Woman, you don't treat me no good no more or something like that and then he cracked up laughing. LOL We saw this cruise a week ago and then I didn't book it as this week was so hectic and when I looked yesterday it went down in price so I jumped on it. Apples, miss ya, I've been gone awhile from the boards but haven't seen you post for awhile. Hope all is well. Janet, hope that vertigo clears up, is it affecting your exercise? Do you get nauseous? Eva, wanna do my lawn chairs? We have some that the hailstorm last May in Denver on our moving day destroyed. The insurance totalled them out and gave us money for them, but DH has it in his head he is going to restrap them, but there they sit in the meantime. They were so comfortable he doesn't want to get rid of them. I got a kick out of you saying it was too cold for sandals the other day. When I was in WI it got to the 50's and shorts and sandals were out everywhere. LOL Arlene, soon you will have to color all those eggs you are boiling for Easter. LOL

Greetings! Well I think I am home for a bit now. My house looks very neglected so guess I know what I'll be doing with my time this week. Got laundry going now. I am having a hard time typing my fingers are frozen. DH wanted to organize the freezers in the garage. Number 1 it is freezing out there (snowing outside and freezers are in garage) plus handling all that cold stuff. We tend to buy stuff and put it on top so we needed to get the bottom stuff moved to the top and also see just what we have. He also wanted to see how much of his game meat he actually had left, therefore, that he needs to eat by summer so he can replenish. LOL He has very little left so that is good. We bought a bunch of filets for me at costco so we grill a lot and I have one of those and he has his deer or elk. I also got laundry going and we just got home from Target and buying a 'pack and play' so we have a place for DGB to sleep when she comes to visit. DD is trying to work out a time to come visit but she wants to come while DH is home and he's travelling a lot. Our weather is awful. Here I carried a coat the whole time in Wisconsin and never wore it until I got off the plane in Utah yesterday. We have a huge snow coming down, by huge the big white puffy flakes, but they aren't sticking much. Last weekend we were sitting on the patio. GRRRR I am very behind in reading posts, but sounds like we have lots of vertigo going on. HOpe that all clears up. Is it caused by a virus or something? Regarding plastic surgery, I've heard of people that are never satisfied. I suppose that comes from poor self esteem as well and thinking if only my butt were different, or if only my tummy, etc. yet just like anything else, when you get it, it's not enough, etc. I hope Arlene's friend can be happy. If I could or would do anything it would be my legs. Linda, I hope your brother is doing better. Last I remember he wasn't well.

Just an update, thanks for the layover offers but we finally got on an hour delayed flight and am in flight now headed home. Gosh even if I had tons of money not sure I'd get that much plastic surgery not saying I'd never get any but that seems excessive to me any way. But if that's what she nneds to be happy then go for it as long as it does make her happy.

Here I sit stranded in Minnesot-tah, ya you betcha! Lol. Having troubles getting home. Most of the time my free, standby flight benefits are great but once in a while it's a real challenge. We got to the airport at 0-dark thirty this morning only to not get on. The flight filled up, no problem, the next one was wide open. That is until it had a mechanical and cancelled. Our choices now were very slim as all the cancelled people would be trying for the later flights in front of us. So rather than sit and wait for four and a half hours for the next flight we opted to rent a car and drive to MSP for three hours. Only to get here and have this flight full. We have two more shots or I might be shopping at the mall tonight. I'm exhausted too. This trip has turned very costly but I am very glad I came. It was good to see my aunt and cousins and pay my respects but also to reconnect with my roots. I've been reading, okay, skimming trying to keep up. Sounds like I missed an interesting show on dr oz, though I generally don't like to watch those shows, Oprah, him, Dr Phil, etc.

Good evening from Wisconsin. Just have time for a quick checking. Just got home from my cousins house and saw family I hadn't seen in over 20 years. I am so glad I came. Family is hanging in there but tomorrow will be tough the funeral and all. Trying to read and keep up but a, falling behind here. Will be back soon.

Hi there, this is a quick check in from Denver. Sorry I've been a bad board buddy this week just not much time to post but trying to keep up reading. I came to Denver today to see grandma and grand baby. Tomorrow it's surgeon (also happens to be my lapband doc) with DD to see about her gall bladder. He usually only does bariatrics but he's seeing het because she's my daughter which I thought was awesome. I fly home tomorrow afternoon. Then on wednesday am leaving for Wisconsin for my uncles funeral. He died yesterday. My parents aren't even going. Some other stuff going on that I don't care to mention but have been under lots of stress. Also got my first ever stye in my eye it was awful. I will be back more regular soon. In the mean time I miss you and sorry I haven't kept up on responding individually.

Just testing a post from my iPad. Good night

Yes I am going on Monday to Denver to see Grandma and grandbaby. Life is just full of 'Grands'! LOL Okay regarding this external hard drive, do you mean you save like everything on it versus your computer? I really don't have much on a computer other than photos and many times I just make discs of those. Is it something like saving things on a disc? I feel overwhelmed by technology LOL Apples, we are looking at doing another Mediterranean cruise, last 2 times we did the Western and this time may do the Eastern out of Venice. I have DH just about convinced to go, well he's convinced it's just finding the week he can be away. Looks like we'd leave 2 days after my birthday! Hope FIL does good on his trip home. Will he be staying far from you? Did he eventually have a say in the place? Vitamin D, I am low on it as is DH we both take supplements, mine is RX strength his is just some OTC from costco that his doc recommended. I also usually show low on B1 and potassium. Arlene, since you like 'diet books' have you seen 'Made to Crave'? it's not a food plan in fact you follow your own healthy plan, but it delves more into cravings and dealing with those but with a spiritual bent. I think you'd like it. We are having a beautiful but windy day out. DH is loving working in the yard, he's redoing his pond and waterfall he wasn't happy with it. I am going to go sit and supervise while I educate myself on all things Ipad. Phyl, what do I need for my Ipad? I know you jsut got one. I got the cover for it in pink, do I need somethign on the back? how do you carry your's around? are there cases?

Good morning. Just a quick check in. DH is working from home today, he's doing conference calls in the other room, gosh they sound boring. He says they are. If you saw my FB post yesterday, I got a new IPad2!! Wasn't really looking for one but thought they would be fun. I was at Walmart and what is there all by itself in a case crying out to me? I've been saving my change for along time for a splurge purchase and this was it. Was on the phone a lot of the evening with DS who was helping me set it up. I am so dumb when it comes to that stuff but hopefully when it's all set up it will be easy. Happy Birthday to Glimmer! Safe travels to our travellers, enjoy the sunshine! I am in the process of finding and booking our vacation in May. WOOHOO!!

If you are supposed to be on Clear Liquids then why would you push it to something that is not. Follow what your post op directions say exactly, you need to heal. If it says clear liquids, then don't push it.

Back from dinner, it was good. I ate the toppings off half a small pizza basically. I miss pizza sometimes and this satisfied that. Okay, so what's an external hard drive? Should I be doing something I am not like backing stuff up? Janet, sorry about the dizziness. That's exciting your DIL is getting the sleeve. I forget does your son have weight issues as well? Maybe as she eats differently after her surgery it will have a beneficial affect on the entire family. Eva, poor little turtle. I had a dog commit suicide growing up. My mom threw her ball, and she ran so hard and fast and missed a corner and ran right into the brick of the house and killed herself. It was so tragic to see happen. I just sobbed. At least she went out doing something she loved, full force. Julie, I forget is your DD having a boy or girl? do they have aname? I remember she's due on my birthday.

Good afternoon. Busy day and haven't been here much, now DH just came home and we may go to dinner. Cheesecake FActory I think and I know that's by a Carters baby outlet! LOL Melissa, how do you mean your DH didn't drop Cobra on purpose? Did they just take it away from you? I agree with the others, find other ways to cut costs or plan, plan, plan, for those medical expenses. Hope you find something that works. Arlene, yep, gotta start looking for the next thing as far as diets, revisions, etc. go. You know what to do, just gotta do it. (talking to myself here too). I've stopped stressing so much about the food and am working on the head issues, ie) the Boundaries book, etc. I believe I am getting somewhere with all that. Apples, I've been organizing as well, couldn't tell it by the looks of my computer room and kitchen, but it's the mess before the neat. LOL I am going through photos and recipes and cupboards. Sorry no more time for more personals, DH is calling, think he's hungry, it's only 3 and he's wanting to go to dinner. Does that mean we are getting old? LOL think he skipped lunch is the problem.

I think I found a new hair person. I really liked her. She has a salon with it's own enterance at her home. She put a little red in my dark brown and I like it and it's a little shorter. From there I decided why not more pampering and went and got a pedicure. LOL After my meloncholy kind of day yesterday it was perfect, I got a real springy pink. At least my toes say spring even if mother nature is not. LOL Cheri, for the most part, no I am not lonely. I think yesterday was just a combination of things that just piled up. The little email arguement I had with my mother, DH being out of town, news about my uncle, my Grandma emailing me and wishing I was there, and then running errands and finding myself in my old area of town and memories they just took their toll. I went there for a specific one of a kind store, I didn't go there to feel the memories. LOL I don't want to work because I do want my free time to take off for Denver whenever I want, to take off with DH on his trips, etc. I have connected with many old friends and made many new ones. So all in all pretty good, but do get homesick once in a while. I am going to Denver next week to hold that baby. LauraK, sounds like you had a nice visit in Vegas. DH just called from there, he's connecting there on his way home and has a meeting with the manager there. Karen, hope FIL doesn't lose use of his hand. Did the black out have to be reported to the DMV? Will he lose his license? Arlene, one thing I love about you is your honesty. You plug along and have a slip up and are so honest to reveal it here. Doesn't sound like it was too bad a slip up either. Sounds like you are liking the 17 Day Diet. My McD's friend is starting that as well.

WooHoo, Sandy, on getting off the meds!! I am trying out a new hair person this morning. The bariatric support group I went to in January was about make overs. This gal did all their hair and I discovered lives about 6 blocks from me and works from her home. So thought I'd try her out. Hopefully I'll look younger soon. LOL As for visiting my uncle. I've thought of it. But he's not really aware of anything at this point and was concerned of being a burden on my cousins as they try to juggle things. Though I'd help them juggle. I told them I was avaiable for anything. I read the most amazing book last night, I'd been hearing about it and saw it at costco yesterday. It's called Heaven is for Real and is about a 4 yr old boys near death experience and visit to heaven and back. It was a quick read as I read it in a couple hours last night. Well better go get ready for my hair appt!

Good afternoon. Very busy day for me and emotional as well. I have been on a Quest to find old fashioned stationery for my Grandma who loves to write letters, not note cards, not designed paper for a computer printer, but boxed stationery with matching envelopes. Do you know how hard that is to find? no one writes letters any more. I've also been on a quest for recipe cards and dividers for a new recipe box I got. No one knows what they are either, they just send me to the index cards. So I decided to try a Hallmark store. To do that I had to go to another town or so over, which is the town I lived in the other 2 times I lived in UT, where my kids grew up, where they went to school etc. As I drove past their high school I got all teary eyed and as I got deeper and deeper into our old stomping grounds it just kept on. Then I stopped and got lunch (nugget day) at McD's and it was our old McD's we spent hours in at the playland (which is no longer there). I guess DH was right when we bought a home, he wouldn't even consider living in our old neighborhood etc. as he knew how I'd be. To top it off, before I left on my quest this morning, I got an email from my cousins. My uncle is dying in Wisconsin. My family is not close at all, probably because my parents weren't close and we moved away, but these cousins and my sister and I were inseperable when we were younger. I have seen my uncle only a handful of times in my adult years (he was also my Godfather growing up). So that kindda hit too. When he dies I think I will try and go back up there for the funeral. It would be wonderful to reconnect with some cousins etc. we have somewhat on FB. And I miss that little grandbaby something fierce. I am going to see her next Monday, unless I am going to Wisconsin. Sandy, we got our Foodsaver for the exact reason, deer and elk meat. It was the year DH had 3 deer as well. Now I love the thing. His meat supply is getting low and he has hunting plans this fall for UT, CO and SD so should be getting filled up. LOL Julie, for the exact reason your daughter doesn't want you to have the band is the exact reason to get the band. So I could be healthy and live longer to be there for my grandkids. My family also loves me no matter what size I am, but I need to be thinner and healthier to live longer. If I lost my band, I think I'd explore other options like the sleeve or bypass even. Do you know if you can get another band or one of the other procedures yet? Sorry the weekend was so stressful for you. Karen, hows FIL doing? Linda, that GD sure is cute peeling those carrots! Well I am going to go work on my recipe cards now that I spent who knows what on gas running all over town looking for my supplies!

Good almost afternoon. Just got home from church and the day is turning out to be quite nice. We woke up to the white stuff on the ground but the sun is out, the sky is bright blue and it's supposed to be in the 50's now. DH is going to go play in the mud he said, he's just chomping at the bit to work in the yard. His pond had a bit of settling, think it is from the house being new construction and the dirt having been dug up etc, and now it is settling. He needs to level it out. Karen, so sorry to hear about FIL. Does he just go to AZ for winters? Will he be coming back to MN? Thank goodness it wasn't more serious and hope it's nothing serious that caused the blackout. Linda, sounds like lots of cooking. How do you do your meatballs with the mushroom gravy? Sounds yummy. We did cooking yeterday too. We had made that 23 lb turkey on Friday so cooked up the carcas and left overs and made a turkey noodle type thing and then froze it in FoodSaver individual servings. Cheri, hope your pain is better. My joints have been acting up as well. I seem to be getting arthritis everywhere. Already had my knees done, now my hips (both) bother me, my shoulders, an ankle and several fingers. Really concerns me down the road.

Here they say you can plant outside on Mothers' Day. DH has his seedlings growing in the house under lights now. With the looks of it outside today, spring is never going to appear! Our rain turned to snow. Good day to be cooking a turkey inside. Linda, any dr reports yet???

Good morning! Well today is day 5 of the Pouch test. And well, not to be a naysayer, but I really didn't get much out of it besides hunger! LOL My restriction feels no different. I had let a lot of bad habits back into my daily routine and it stopped some of those, but with the right mindset that I had going into this I could've probably just went back to eating pure Protein a few days and accomplished the same thing and forgotten the liquid days. Those were the worst. I know some of you think highly of it, but not sure I will do it again. If I need to get back to basics again, I will just go to mushies or solid Proteins only for a few days. I hope that doesn't mean I have a stretched pouch or something, but I do have some restriction so that is good. I can get stuck on things once in a while when I am not paying attention. My only slip ups on the 5 days were the first day I had yogurt for Breakfast thinking it was on it since pudding was. And last night my halibut was battered. But I do feel good that I stuck to it for the 5 days. Today I am cooking a turkey. I got it out of the freezer on Sunday thinking DS was coming, DH likes to make some turkey and noodle thing with the left overs and freeze them in FoodSaver bags into individual meals that he takes to work. He'll have lots the turkey is over 20 lbs. I got it at Thanksgiving time when they were cheap. Yesterday I had a mess. I washed all my bedding. Upon taking the duvet cover off the down comforter I discovered my comforter had a hole in it. I had feathers everywhere. My hunting dog must've thought I shot a bird. LOL She was rolling in them, eating them, etc. It took me forever to clean those up and I am still finding feathers. As soon as you run the vaccuum in sends them floating in the air again. LOL Arlene, enjoy those 80's soon you'll be too hot. We have 50's and rain today. Julie, glad to see you feeling better. Weird that the band may have caused your shoulder pain all this time. Melissa, I am with you in the diet books. Heck I could've had my own library. Janet, glad the vertigo is gone. That would be awful. Karen, have fun on the date night, anxious to hear all about it.