BJean

I was so busy in the other room I wasn't watching when that happened. I could hear it though and when I heard it get down to just Jordin left I was going into shock when he announced no one was going home this week. Dirty pool. hear an ant passing gas? That's gotta be really quiet dude.

laurend: Family dynamics ain't all their cracked up to be, huh? Especially around holidays. I found that my kids usually acted up around Christmas, which was confounding because we told them that Santa wouldn't leave them gifts if they were bad. I guess it didn't take them long to figure out that was just another part of the whole fictional storybook Christmas picture. :rolleyes Eddie: Good news. I hope it makes a difference and you get some positive feedback from the insurance company!

Denise: I have had exactly the same results as you. I had an aggressive fill not long ago because my weight loss had slowed. Afterwards I was very restricted. I could only eat a very small amount of food at one time. It was difficult to take in enough to keep the hunger at bay. Consequently once I learned that ice cream was painless and helped me feel satisfied, I fell off the wagon and haven't been losing since. I am very discouraged. I no longer have that much restriction but I'm also not as hungry as when I was extremely restricted. That seems totally backwards. Unfortunately I too am on HRT and I can't exercise much because of my extremely bad knees. I was doing Water aerobics and it was helping my knees but it made me even hungrier. The neat thing about the pre and post op diets was that I had no problem sticking to very low calorie foods in very small quantities. I am not sure if I have just hit a "set point" and will eventually be able to get back to aggressive weight loss or if this is where I'm bound to stay. If you figure it out, please share!

Mr. Yo, how much more weight do you think you can stand to lose? Things could get a little, shall we say, cumbersome.

laura, your last sentence was pretty apropos considering we're on a penis thread. And Faithmd, I didn't know there was such a thing as an oral gyno. What a concept! Would take a lot of the stress out of having to put up with that freakin' stainless steel shoe horn doo-dad. :nervous

lisah you and the girls need to try to be happy whatcha got. When you get to be my age, they don't always show up with those bad boys! :faint:

When I was little my sister and I wanted bikes. We begged and pleaded for a bike, Christmas after Christmas. Finally, when we were Freshman and Sophomore in high school, my dad finally came across with a bike. Right, one bike for us to share. It was a used bike, beat up and rusty and ugly. Not only that, it was a boys bike for pete's sake. I don't know how tall I was then, but I'm only 5'2" now so you can imagine me trying to ride that thing. Impossible without impaling my private parts. Mom scolded my sister and me for not acting more grateful. We would have been thankful for a coupla gift cheques that Christmas!

I honestly dislike gift cards. My kids think they're great. They just have to go to a store they know you like and plop down some $$. One size fits all. Little envelope, no muss, no fuss. I think the whole idea behind a gift is that you care enough about the givee to take the time to figure out something they would like and then go put the purchase on it, wrap it and worry with exchanging it if it is the wrong size or type or whatever. Guess that's the Martha Stewart in me. The kids think it's all about just getting something they really want. No need for surprise or the excitement of ripping open a beautifully wrapped present after guessing what's inside. Yuk. How impersonal. We could just be exchanging money as far as I'm concerned. Realistically their approach may have come about because I may have been off-target with my selections from time to time. You think? Sigh. In my defense I have to tell you that they dearly love the stockings. To this day. Last year I decided not to do them and they all had a fit. I wind up spending more on the stocking stuffers than on the gifts these days. Poor Santa. Sux when the kids get too old for oranges and candy and cheap plastic toys. Your parents probably had the smartest approach all along.

Me too Wheet. I think they appear more pointy too like real girls instead of like a large mass of I dunno what.

Yeah lisah! My point exactly!

Michelle: I am WAY jealous! I love snow! We rarely get any.

karey: I have only used the whey protein powder. It tastes good in vanilla or chocolate. They suggested I mix a little sf/ff instant pudding mix with vanilla and I tried banana pudding. Geez, it's really good. You mix it with half water and half ice cubes in a blender. But I'm mostly hooked on mixing the chocolate with skim milk (or even 2%) and no ice. It makes the best quick breakfast I've ever tried. It doesn't mix completely but I don't mind. I just get really tired of cleaning the blender. BTW, my doc's office charges $30 for the container that you can get online for $18 (I think.) If you try it, let me know what you think. It was all I had for the week post surgery. Now I just use it when I don't think I've been having enough protein.

airwayman: If you weren't married, I'd propose. Just think... a man who uses double sided tape for wrapping gifts. Wow.

gee tanks, comrade in humor!

Now that's funny! I just got a mental image of M. Bolton without hair. *snicker* You're right though, his voice is high like Bolton's. Maybe Phil should get a clue and not go near a pop song. High voices in country music seem to be more acceptable. I mean it's all about whining about their dead dog/wife/girlfriend/Chevy or something, so who cares.

Yup, just like boobs. The maternal kind, not husbands.

Carlene: I loved your post 2579. I'm headed out too. I have no business getting this emotionally involved in a debate with people who are so opposite from me philosophically. I'm way too old for this stuff.

funnyd: Hate?? You criticize me for saying that you're actions cause you to seem like a snob? I don't hate you. You're quite right, I do not know you. But you're also right when you say that I have read the posts you've made here. That's all I am going on. But why would you post differently than you really feel, differently than who you are? My personal experience with philanthrophy has caused me to feel the way I do. I don't want to start listing all of the organizations and people who I have been affiliated with for the past 20 years because if I did, I would be just like you. But I can assure you that MOST (but certainly not ALL) of the people with whom I've worked to benefit charitable causes have been exactly like you sound. It's like putting notches on their crystal studded belts. It may get the job done for the charity (thank God), but it's distasteful to see them gloat over their latest "project." I apologize if I have come down too hard on you. Let me assure you that I do absolutely not hate you. However after reading post after post of yours, I believe I have a good idea of what you're about. Anyone who has to list ad nauseum all the wonderful things that they do, to the extent you post percentages and all that, is reveling in the glory of their own existence. As far as I'm concerned if someone is a truly charitable and caring person, their giving would be done anomyously.

funnyd: Who cares what charitable work you do? The people you help may, but who here cares? I'm really ashamed of both of you who are saying that you're doing all this great and wonderful charitable work and then accuse the opposition of not doing anything. You both sound disengenuous. You, funnyd because you want your money and your time to be spent ONLY the way you want it. (Not necessarily where it is needed as far as the majority of needy people is concerned.) You don't want your tax dollars spent on pamphlets that help women to learn about abortion resources. You, you, you. That's what you're all about. The fact is funnyd you are completely wrong about the government. Most programs were not bad from the beginning. And for you to say that the government helping people is causing them to be needy is bullshit. If you really believed that, you wouldn't think of giving anyone who needed help. Of course people take advantage of the system. Of course you and your conservative co-horts believe that government assistance of any kind is bad. But you are dead wrong and you, and they, sound like very greedy selfish money-grubbing snobs.

P.S. When she was bulimic, I got the eating part down right but kept forgetting to frow-up. :rolleyes

Many people over the years have said I look like Jane Fonda. That's not always a good thing in some circles. But I'm ticked. She's decided that we're not getting any cosmetic surgery in our old age. And yes, she IS older than I am.

Eddie: Triple post. It will make you feel even better. Most of the people who have had insurance help with the surgery say that they were turned down multiple times. You have to be very persistent and just let them know that you're not going away. Here's my experience: I was flatly turned down. My insurance company said that they never (N-E-V-E-R) pay for any type of bariatric surgery. We scrounged up the moo-la and I proceeded to have the usual tests run to make sure I was a good candidate for the band. I knew I had a hiatal hernia - for 20 years I've known. In some cases a very large hiatal hernia will prevent you being able to get the band. After my doc read the xrays, he determined that mine was not too big. He said that he would fix the hernia while he was placing the band and it would cost another $2000 which brought the bill to $20,000. We sucked it up and went forward with the surgery. He and the hospital submitted all of the pre-surgery test bills as well as the surgical bills to my insurance company and guess what!? The insurance company sent us an check for $9,900.!! We were elated. They determined that that amount was due to the portion of the surgery that was for the hiatal hernia repair (which they do normally cover.) So, there are many avenues to explore. Lots of people find out they have a need for gallbladder surgery and that can work for them with the insurance companies. Anyway after making a short story long, hang in there. Where there's a will there's a way. Just keep making phone calls and being insistent and there's a chance that you'll either wear them down or find a loop hole. Good luck!

faithmd: Thank you so much for such an eloquent and educated post. Like lisah, we share many of the same beliefs about this subject and it was refreshing to read a post from someone with first hand knowledge of many aspects of the equation. Green: I also agree with you about the characterization of some of the people of the U.S. who worship their "... own - often lily white flesh - while discounting the value of all other flesh...." And it is very hypocritical. As for charity, many, many good people here in the U.S. do charitable work. Some do it because they believe it is their duty. Some are involved because their church compels them to. And then there are lots of folks who do charitable work because of how it makes them look to the outside world and because it makes them feel superior. Some people never give any time or money to the needy. If all Americans could be depended upon to do their fair share to help the downtrodden and citizens with special needs, we wouldn't need the government to intervene and impose taxes to do the job. But it makes no sense whatsoever for us to ignore segments of our society who are diadvantaged, ill, uneducated, etc. First of all, it just isn't right. And secondly, if we do not take care of our own, our glorious empire will crumble around us. So funnyd, just because you're generous, willing and able to do lots of charity work, doesn't mean that your next door neighbor is as willing to get involved with it. We might be able to count on you, but there are many many many more people who can't be counted on. Consequently there is an absolute necessity for taxes and government assistance for some of our less fortunate Americans. Proper handling of the programs may have suffered over the years, but it can be fixed if we choose to fix it. marjon9 has it completely right.

P.S. Thanks for the feedback Teach!

Well frankly, I'm glad Heather Mills got kicked off not only because she made me nervous, but for a couple of other reasons too. 1) She claimed Paul McCartney physically abused her. a. Paul McCartney has smoked dope for years, I can't see him as getting all that physical. b. Have you heard all of his music? No one who's that milque toast could be violent. 2. She seemed to be milking her handicap for all it was worth. The fall didn't look accidental to me. Ok. So I'm a little harsh. and 3. She treated Paul McCartney badly. Whose side did she think people would take anyway?golddiggerHe's an icon in the music industry and she's a star because of what? Her fund raising activities? Guess that must make me famous on some level.not. Ok so maybe I had a couple more than a couple of reasons. She seems sweet and all, but I'll bet that's what Paul thought when he asked her to marry him. If any of you have info to the contrary, I'm willing to listen. er, read.