bitteroldhag

As I noted in my reply, it has finally quit raining and I gave away all 8 dogs. So I'm left with my 4 dogs and the neighbor dog, Stevie. She has gotten in two fights with my dogs, but I discovered that hitting them in the face with a flyswatter stops the fights. I had my carpets cleaned yesterday and all is well. They were pretty gross what with 7 puppies pooping on them. Some of the puppies worked out that they should go on the puppy pads, but many did not. Apparently there is a dearth of German Shepherds here because I ran an ad in the newspaper and about 50 people called. I gave the last puppy away to a nice teacher and his wife. That dog will be spoiled. Meanwhile, we have peace and I love it. Thanks for the good words.

I live in Tahlequah. It has finally stopped raining and I gave away all 8 dogs. There is a God.

I was lucky to give away 5 dogs to good homes. But I still have three female puppies and Stevie, the neighbor dog. It cost me $185 dollars to have the 7 puppies' shots and wormed. And then the people who apparently "owned" the mother dog sent a note to me that they wanted the dogs back or they would call the police. I sent the remaining dogs back with a note saying I assumed they would reimburse the $185. I haven't heard from them again. Today the kids who supposedly "own" the dogs came down, and I told them to take the puppies home. The little boy took one home but none of his friends would help him take the others. Apparently this story has made the rounds of the neighborhood and folks are on my side. The puppy showed up back here within an hour. So I have 8 dogs and 2 cats and mother. I slept all day today because I was so exhausted and the mold is killing me. But the puppies are really cute and I hope to find good homes for them. I gave the mother and a puppy to some friends who must have spent $500 getting ready for them. They are in hog heaven. My friend's husband was really worried about getting the dogs, but he spends his time hugging them and is clearly enthralled with them. It's nice to know that they got a really good home. Another puppy went to my mother's nurses aide. They were at the creek near their house and a neighbor begged her for the puppy. So she took another puppy after she gave him the first puppy. But I note dog sexism. My remaining dogs are females and no one wants a female. I would love to have a female since all of my dogs are male. Okay, I currently have 4 females and 4 males, but I'd like to reduce the dog population around the house. I am afraid that I will be stuck with 8 dogs and all this rain. Isn't life exciting?

I fed the stray dog in the neighborhood, a German Shepherd. She then brought me 7!!!! puppies. I am still trying to give them away. Amazing how many people don't want pure German Shepherd puppies. I have already spent $185 on them and that was with the vet's discount. I hope to get rid of them soon. Maybe I should charge for them because no one seems to want free puppies.

I don't do any exercise and have lost 66% of excess weight. I still would like to lose 20 more pounds but I don't want to weigh 120 pounds. At my age, I'd look like a mummy if I did that. I'm pretty happy with my weight loss so far.

Altering is a good idea assuming we had any tailors in our town. We don't. We have some women who sew, not very well. So I just look for bargains on new or used clothes.

God, I'm terrified of those steroid injections. My doc said they last from 2 to 6 weeks and I'm not willing to have them that often. I went to physical therapy and it helped a lot. My back quit hurting all the time. Lately, I've been bad about doing the exercises, but if my back starts hurting, I'm only too willing. I couldn't believe physical therapy helped that much. I love those stretches.

Lord, I feel better. I am still at 180 but I don't exercise. I do some exercises for my back (I have stenosis of the 4th and 5th vertebrae) but I will be 60 years old on July 26 and I hate exercise. I don't want to exercise. I don't have that much life left to worry about that. I currently have 9 dogs and my 87 year old mother to take care of,not to mention the two cats. I am too pooped to exercise. My mother has rarely exercised and she's 87, for God's sake. We have never been all that physical. But I'm happy with my 40 pound weight loss. I would never have managed that without the band. A friend who weighed at least 300 pounds now weighs slightly less than I do, but she had gastric bypass. She's got all sorts of skin hanging from her neck, arms, etc. She had a tummy tuck but I haven't seen her since then. I'm still happy I had the lapband surgery. <u typer 2 diabetes is MUCH better. I take one pill a day and my sugar stays very reasonable. In fact, I don't eat until about 3 p.m. and then I eat all Protein and fat, so I really don't have much diabetes anymore. If I get over that, the whole thing will have been worth it. But I'm glad I'm not the only one who hasn't dropped 100 pounds. Of course, if I had, I'd weigh 120 and be one big wrinkle. Unfortunately, my friend with the 16 ccs in her band has gained 60 pounds. But her husband is dying and she's under serious stress. Stress puts on pounds. She has no restriction in her band because her stomach has to recover from that quack's ministrations. I'd sue the guy, but she's too nice. I hope to lose 20 more pounds someday but if I don't, I don't. I'm happy with the results I have gotten.

I'm so glad to hear that others have the same problem. I am slowly getting clothes that fit, but I watch "What Not to Wear" and it's unnerving me. Our local Goodwill doesn't have much since they ship the good stuff to the cities, but I haven't given up. But my wardrobe has really shrunk. I buy stuff on eBay since we don't have a good Salvation Army place. But I may try the Salvation Army in Tulsa. They have some really nice clothes. I once saw a leather coat there. Unfortunately, it was about a size 5, but there's always hope. Luckily, we have a Goodys here which helps a lot though one never knows what size to buy. It's amazing how sizes differ in women's clothes. Why can't we be like men and just buy whatever fits our necks.

We had steaks cooked on the grill. The problem was that my gas grill wouldn't work. So I got $16 worth of propane and hooked it up. It worked. When it came time to cook the steaks, it wouldn't work. I beat it with a wrench and knocked off a lot of rush, but it refused to work. Luckily my friend had a little charcoal grill so she got it, some charcoal and some lighter fluid and we cooked the steaks. They were wonderful. Very tender so I could eat mine. Of course, I beat the crap out of them with a meat mallet before we cooked them. I now have a little charcoal grill that my friend donated to me, some charcoal and some lighter fluid. I may have steaks again before long assuming I can afford them. I gave the gas grill away and am determined to go low tech in future.

Clinton lying about oral sex never seemed to be that awful to me. I would have lied too. But let us remember Richard Nixon who committed crimes and was close to impeachment. He resigned rather than be impeached. Also let us remember how absolutely awful the Republican party was during Clinton's presidency. They were witch hunting and finally found a witch. George W. Bush has lied repeatedly to the public about just about everything. If he hasn't lied, he has kept information secret. Scooter Libby was the fall guy for the Bush administration which apparently sees no problem in outing a spy, despite the number of people who can be killed because of this. But then the Bush administration sees no problem with denying liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, no problem with torturing people and certainly no problem with invading a country that has nothing to do with terrorism. Cheney can't decide if his office is a member of the executive or the Congress. He has lied and refused information to Congress. This has got to be the worst administration in my lifetime and I lived through Nixon. I wish Dwight Eisenhower or Barry Goldwater were alive. They were decent Republicans. In fact, they were real Republicans and, though I'm a Democrat, I respected them. I do not respect the current Republican administration.:angry

I highly recommend Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. They are some of the best books I've read recently and I'm an English professor. They are tearjerkers, but have a lot of information on Afghanistan. Hosseini makes his characters so human that the reader can overlook the general chaos in Afghanistan. I'm going to teach a contemporary world literature course because I loved The Kite Runner so much. I also recommend anything by Isabel Allende. We are going to read House of Spirits for the class, but her other books are good too. She's so funny though she wrote a book for her daughter who died of porphyria, and it's a family history. It's still fascinating and one sees how very much she loved her daughter. Sorry, I tend to go for the literary stuff, but these books are not boring and I think people would like them. I read Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels repeatedly. He's a British guy and the Discworld is sort of a fantasy world but not really. His books are hilarious which is why I reread them all the time. His best books are about the Ankh-Morpork police starting with Guards, Guards. He also has some really good books about the witches of Lancre which are hilarious. The first one is a take-off on MacBeth and it's really funny. They feature Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick though when Magrat becomes queen of Lancre, Pratchett adds Agnes Nitt as the third witch. She's sort of fat but has a thin girl named Perdita living in her. Agnes can sing in harmony with herself. I love these books.

It hasn't rained for 2 days! Also I gave away 2 puppies so I only have 5 left. One of my former students and now a colleague is coming tomorrow to get two dogs. They are interested in the mother dog. My own mother suggested we adopt one of the puppies ourselves. Amazing! But my old Jasper isn't going to last forever and Ozzie's mange is not getting better. On the other hand the neighbor dog who spends most of her time here in the air conditioning got in a big fight with my dogs and I forced them to stay outside in the heat for awhile. They are acting much better now. She's a little grouchy, but the poor thing has lots of hair and the humidity is making it really hot now that the temp has hit 90 degrees. I feel really sorry for all the folks with very high temps. I hope it's dry there. It's not so bad if it's dry. Maybe it will dry out here someday. But there is hope that fall will come before long. Of course, my $10,000 garden is ruined. But this fall I will start replanting. There is always hope. I hope everyone's families are okay. It's just disgusting the way some men treat women. I just read Khaled Hosseini's book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and cried buckets at the end. He wrote The Kite Runner which is the best book I've read in years. He's originally from Afghanistan and is a physician in Northern California. At least he was until Kite Runner sold a zillion copies. I recommend it if you are a reader. All the dogs are asleep so I think I'll go to sleep myself.

Devana -- This is the coolest summer we've had in this area since early in the past century. That is nice, but the humidity is a killer. I'm beginning to wonder about this global warming stuff. Apparently global warming means it will be warm in the arctic and cold in Oklahoma.

Carlene -- You are in worse shape than I am. I have just locked the puppies in the garage though I don't know how the older dogs are going to get out to pee tonight. I hope they just hold it. It rained 4 times today, but the weatherman says there is hope. Of course, they've been saying that for weeks. We'll just have to hang in there and hope that it stops raining someday. I saw the pix of the floods in Texas. We have those in Oklahoma now. Coffeyville, KS is flooded. Maybe well can sell all this water to Colorado this year.

I am giving away clothes like crazy. I have been banded a year and have only lost 40 pounds, but all of my clothes from last year are too big. I have some great clothes that I like a lot, but they have to go. Luckily, I know some ladies who can wear them, but I'm going to go broke buying clothes that more or less fit. I went from a size 20 pants to a size 14 pants so I have a whole lot of expensive size 20 pants. Lately, I've noticed that all of my blouses are too big. They are 2X and seem to have a lot of unnecessary cloth. I bought some extra large Alfred Dunner blouses and they fit. So I'm going to have to buy more new clothes. It's wonderful, but expensive. I try on old outfits to see if they still fit. So far this summer, I've discarded 5 or more outfits but I haven't tried everything on. I did go shopping in the spring to get some summer clothes that fit but now I'll have to do it again in the fall. They don't tell you about the clothes expenses when you get the lapband. But I'm happy to buy new clothes and only hope I get some smaller ones before long. I'm glad I know some people who can wear the old ones. I go to a special Koret sale 3 or 4 times a year and all of those clothes are too big. My friend, Kayla, can wear them though they aren't exactly tight on her. But I'm glad Kayla is around to help me out. I think I've supplied a whole wardrobe for her and I still have some more to go. Isn't that wonderful?

NaturalBeauty -- Thanks for this info. I will try liquids not only because my pouch may be stretched, but because I PB a lot. Hopefully liquids will help all of these problems. Thanks, again.

Believe me, fat does make you look younger. I'll be 60 this year and after losing 40 pounds, I'm much more wrinkled than I was. I want to lose 20 more pounds, but no more because I'll look like dried fruit if I lose more.

Apparently you are reading Republican stats. I want good healthcare and I have insurance. I pay and pay and pay. Our insurance is lousy and I work for the state. I want the coverage that Congress has.

It has been raining here in Oklahoma for 2 months. It rains almost every day. I'm getting really irritated with all of this. Mildew is everywhere and moss is growing all over everything. I feel like I live in the tropics. Well, the plus side is that it's pretty cool. The minus to that is that the humidity is about 90%. I think we're all going to have to strip off like the Indians in South America because it's about 75 to 80 degrees, and everyone is sweating like champions. Usually it's about 100 degrees at this time of the year, but it is dry. We still sweat but we're not all nearly dead from allergies to mold and mildew. The weather this year has been really crappy. First we had the ice storm which destroyed many of our trees. I lost my last apple tree this year. Then we had a weeklong freeze that destroyed all the budding trees. I lost another, very expensive, weeping mulberry tree to that. Then it started raining and my red-tip photinias are dying of a fungus. It never clears up long enough to spray them with the anti-fungal stuff. I figure that the weather this year is going to cost me about $5,000 to repair all the damage. And I'm really grouchy. Constant cloudiness makes me grouchy. I went to Colorado for two glorious weeks of sunshine in May. Otherwise, I'd probably be suicidal. At least it hasn't flooded here like it has on the plains. Texas has those terrible floods just about every year. But Oklahoma has flooded too. Since I live on the side of a hill, I don't have problems with flooding except in the garage. The garage is where I have stashed the 6 or 7 puppies that a neighborhood dog had. We seem to have varying numbers of them. No one was feeding her and she was so terribly thin that I fed her. Well, she moved all the puppies to my house and has moved in herself. She's a lovely German Shepherd mix, but those puppies, while incredibly cute, are awful. Everytime I open the garage door they run into the house and hunt for places to poop or pee. They hang on their poor mother's boobs and the little devils have teeth. She has serious knockers what with feeding all those greedy little devils, and they are cut from the puppy teeth. Also they are covered with ticks since it has rained so much that no one can mow their yards. This is the worst tick season ever in my 16 years living here. I pick off about a dozen ticks from the mother dog every night and the little ones also have ticks, but I can't put tick killer on them because they are too young. So I pick ticks off of them too. I am a great lover of the garbage disposal because I can just grind up the ticks and they don't return from the dead. Next week I get to take 6 or possibly 7 puppies for shots and worming. Clearly I'll be broke after that and then I have to get shots for two older dogs and the mother. She'll have to have heartworm tests. Lord, charity can get expensive. Mother, who is now 87, thinks I'm crazy, but I just can't let a perfectly good mother dog die of starvation even if she does have obnoxious kids. But she's a problem too. Yesterday, we had company from Illinois so I had a big spread to feed them. I had a buffet set up on the bar in the kitchen. Angua, the mother dog, ate the potato salad in its bowl on the bar. She's tall and can reach the food. So I had to toss the potato salad. But that's not nearly as bad as the time my old dog, Jasper, ate two filet mignons off the counter. It takes a lot of potato salad to equal the cost of those filets. Well, I'm feeling better. I hope the folks in Texas and in the flooded areas of Oklahoma are doing okay. Maybe someday the sun will come out and we'll really get to sweat.

Well, hey, who gives a damn what they think? Families are a pain in the ass sometimes. Luckily, mine is small. But you need to stand up for yourself and quit worrying what other people think. Are they paying for your surgery? If not, they have no opinion. You are still young and care what others think. When you get as old as me, you won't care. I just assume others think I'm wonderful and if not, they can take a leap. It works well for me. So apply that very good mind of yours and just argue with anyone who gives you trouble. If someone gives you trouble, you might point out that the person appears to have a superiority complex and ask the person if they think you should be doomed to be fat forever. Turn the argument back on them. It works and they may admire you for it.

I didn't have to go to nutrition class. I didn't have to do stupid diets to prove my moral worth for the lapband. I just went to Mexico where they are interested in dirty old money, not moral superiority. I don't think I'd ever get a lapband in the U.S.

Good God. Buy Unjury. I love the chocolate. I mix it with milk and it's 100 calories. I have it for breakfast every day. It's expensive, but good.

Each person tolerates food differently. I just ate a sponge cake thing meant for strawberry shortcake. It went down fine. But I couldn't do that earlier in the day. I think the main thing is to concentrate on protein and veggies. If you have room left over, have something sweet though my Mexican doc told me that if I eat sweets I won't lose weight. I eat sweets and have been at a plateau for months. I don't care. I like sweets and my diabetes is just about gone. I was on steroids for my ears and steroids really run one's sugar up. Previously my sugar was in the 300s on steroids, but was 78 when I checked it one night the last round. Clearly the diabetes is not a problem now though I still take a pill in the morning. I think you should eat what you can tolerate with protein first, veggies and then whatever else. Good luck. You'll figure all this out eventually while you are getting much thinner.

Bingeing on soup is a lot different from what you used to binge on, no? I wouldn't worry about this too much. Have you had a fill? If not, you can eat just about anything with no problem. After you get filled, you will find that you can't eat as much as you used to. I think you're doing pretty well to just binge on soup. So don't worry. You're going to lose weight and I seriously doubt if you hurt anything.