Good morning, Peg and all! It's another rainy, cool (48 F.) day here in Dallas, but I'm just grateful to be here to complain. LOL

Had to get my car battery jumped again this morning so that I could finally get my battery replaced which I've now done. Went for the best Interstate battery so I'll have reliable transportation. I've spent way too much time in the apartment these last couple of weeks, and I need to be able to get out at least once a day. It's so comfy and cozy in here that I don't mind being a homebody, but it's not all that good to be anti-social, and it's not good for my car either. ;)

Jan, I am keeping you and Bobby in my daily prayers and always in my thoughts. Hold on tight to one another and fight this battle together. Always remember that where there's life, there's hope, as I said last week. Borrow my comforting mantra if you need it: Let go and let God. It has seen me through the entire divorce process and I'm still somewhat sane!

(((Maddie and Rog))) Always sending good thoughts for y'all.

I slept badly, so I'm going to lie down for a much-needed nap now. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Good afternoon.

Carolyntx, I can't' believe you said "Let go and let God." Last night when I felt like I was getting a little anxious, I took deep breaths to calm down, all the while repeating "Let go, let God."

Today has been a good day. Being Martin Luther King holiday, we didn't have any traffic going to New Orleans for Bobby's CT scan. It was supposed to be raining, but has been a beautiful, sunny day, temps in the 50's. We were able to get in and get out in no time. On the way back, instead of coming straight home, we drove by a new house that a co-worker of Bobby's is building, and walked through it. It's really gorgeous and big and on the water, with panoramic views of the Gulf. That was kind of fun (it doesn't take much for us.)

I'm reading the book "There's No Place Like Hope" to help us get through this. The author was given a diagnosis of Stage IV cancer and was told to get her affairs in order, yet she lived 15 more years. Very inspirational stuff.

Peggy, you sound so organized! But I have to ask - What are pepperettes?

Hope it's a good week for all of us. Take care.
Jan

Yippee! Went to water aerobics first, then to WW weigh-in this morning, and I'd lost 2.0 pounds this week! (Last week was kind of disappointing, with only a .2 pound loss.) It seems to work that way for me, small losses or gains one week, then a significant loss following. It would be so easy to get discouraged on the weeks when I show a minor gain, and I know I've kept on the program. Exercising makes a huge difference. I'm in the pool three days a week, and at the gym three days/week. I just seem to need the exercise to keep the weight loss going. Have to say, though, my habitual posture was terrible, but it's getting a lot better. Last fall I had a nerve impingement in my neck that turned out to be entirely related to my life-long habit of thrusting my head forward (think turtle.) Tucking my chin under and standing up straighter has made all the difference: the pain goes away instantly.

Congratulations NWroselady! It's so worth hanging in there and riding through what can appear to be a setback.

Jan a pepperette is a spicy smoked sausage with tons of fat. Tasty yes, but not my idea of a snack. DH loves those things.

Carolyntx it is important to our health to get out. Glad you car is sorted.

I'm not always organized but I'm trying. Sure helps me a great deal. DH has decided to start cutting back on his smoking with the goal to quitting, so I have another reason to get organized - I want to keep healthy munchies to grab in the fridge. He likes to keep his fingers busy so bags of seeded sunflower seeds help him. Today he asked if it's cheaper to make salsa than buying the jarred chip dip...I make mine raw and simple - which also works well on just lettuce or on top of cooked pasta. If you are interested this is what I 'sort' of do:

Chop up:

5 tomatoes (or more)
1/2 green pepper (or any colour)
1/2 cucumber
1 clove garlic (or less)
1 small cooking onion

Add:
1 tbsp of chilli powder or tex mix
3 tbsp of water (or more if needed) or vegetable cocktail, V8
1 tsp lemon or lime juice

Stir, toss in bowl. Cover and set in fridge. Let sit for a few hours or overnight (better) before use. When nosing around in fridge, stir up stuff.

Adjust everything to taste - more chopped tomato, less garlic. I like everything raw. Chop stuff finer if you want.

Cheers,
Peggy

Peggy, that salsa sounds deeeelish! I'm not a big fan of garlic and raw onions (and my body does not react well to it), but I love tomatoes. May do a version of it if we ever get good tomatoes back in NJ. Never thought about putting cucs in it, but I love, love, love cucs!

Working from home again today because we have ice and snow. Not driving in it.

Need to get back to working out a problem here.

Check in everyone, and congrats to the 'losers'!

Make today count!
Dee

Good morning!

Dee I'm making today count for sure. I'm charged. Feeling happy being back surrounded by friends. Happy because Peggy is taking care of Peggy again.

Dee working from home is a smart move. Always found I got more done at home than being side tracked in an office. DH is the same too.

Maddie - Keep taking steps forward. You and Rog are with us in our hearts too. Continue to take care of yourself as well. It's too easy to let ourselves slide when caring for others. I continue to send positive vibes your way.

Jan I'm interested in the book you are reading. Hope is powerful. The human spirit is amazing. Both of you in my thoughts. I'm going to check Amazon for the write up and reviews.

Ooops, haven't had breakfast yet - better get off my tush. Lots to do today.

As Dee says - Let's make today count!

Whhhooooo Hooooooo!

Hi all!

Ahhh...it's been nice having a 4 day weekend-we had today off also--but I've spent it studying.

Well, Rog had an appointment with a GP yesterday, and the dr basically told him that he needs to lose weight and eat right. His triglyerides dropped from 600+ in early Dec to 430 on NYE. They're still way up, but at least they're heading in the right direction. The dr said that he could go to a cardiologist, but to wait until he goes back in 3 months, and then reevaulate where to go from there. So, really no news, but I'm not feelign as dire as I was.

"Let go, and let G0d." Words of wisdom--sometimes, I forget this, and work myself into a tizzy, and realize that I have done all that I can do, and remember this phrase. I truly believe this.

Gotta go--test tomorrow--wish me luck!

Hugs,

Maddie

PS--where's Marci and Tikanis?

Good luck Maddie! Now don't despair that is good news Rog is moving in the right direction. I'm still sending good thoughts to both of you.

Not a bad day today at all. Did a few more things around here, stuck to my plan for food. I'm starting to find how much I have forgotten to enjoy the taste of fresh salad, enjoying the textures of the food. I looked at a cookie earlier and thought about that lovely mandarin orange dressing for my salad. I believe the salad was more satisfying. And I really enjoyed my pasta too. I did not over do it either. Trying to remember portion sizes, balanced meals. It's sooooo heaven to have a kitchen again instead of just a microwave and BBQ.

BTW my salsa recipe - I forgot, I use a hand held blender or regular blender and pulse it a bit for the sauce. If it's too watery or needs a little more thickening you can use olive oil to suit your taste.

Not much more tonight on my radar - catching up on news, articles of interest and chilling out. Just have the dishes to kill and I'm done for the day.

LOL to all,
Peggy

P.S. it still means 'lots of love' to me.

((((Jannie))))((((Maddie)))) You are both in my thoughts and prayers...

I didn't do well this week. I was sick part of last week, and so Bob did the food fixing mostly and he fries everything.. I swear he would heat water in a frying pan .. lol So, I ate toasted cheese sandwiches, and burgers and fries... I was too sick to go out and walk much, so I pretty much just layed around grumbling like a slug.. and I ended up gaining a half pound.. GRR$R .. and this week has been rainy and cold. I did go out walking one day and got caught in the rain... got kind of soaked and ended up with a bad case of chills.. thank God I did not get sick again though.

However, tomorrow is a new day and hopefully I can get back on the wagon and fix my own food .... I will not complain about Bob fixing food for me because he is doing better than he has in two years. Six months ago, I though he was dying, and now it seems that God has layed His hand upon him and he is now doing so much better.. and I am grateful... even if it means eating fried stuff. =0)..

I hope you all are doing well and getting healthy..

CS

CS you will recover from last week. Getting over an illness is priority. Glad you are getting back on your feet. At least DH did his best which counts.

Today I'm scratchy eyed again, mild headache (gave that to tylenol to deal with) and a wee bit stuffed up. Not playing with it - I'll take a mild decongestant if needed and tell it to go away. And my vitamin packed fruit smoothie will get it some more - so take that! Not going to interfere with my day. And there's always a hot shower in my arsenal.

Been yakking at lot about food sticker shock on KT, with DH and friends. We are going to get tough ourselves with our own clipboards and calculators from now on. Sounds extreme but we want to know where our dollars are going now and how we can shop smarter. In Canada it can get confusing - some things sell both in metric and imperial. Some break down the price by 100g some don't. With everything climbing it's going to get harder to spot a real bargain. So we are starting to make notes on things. Yes it will take longer to shop and I plan to bring the info home to an excel spreadsheet. On future trips I can print out the sheet and start real comparison. Every penny counts.

And home cooking will become more and more around here, with more bulk cooking and freezing. Thank heavens for the internet for recipe ideas. Don't want to get bored with my food.

How are you handling the sticker prices now that they will be rising?

Not the cheeriest of morning topics but it's in the news and on my mind.

Let's have a great day today, shake our butts where we can, say hi to friends and keep on our journey.

Cheers,
Peggy

Bob fell this morning and broke his hip. There is a thread on the Kitchen Table forum asking for prayers with the hope that this does not bring on another stroke.

This is awful news.

Just in case you don't visit KT.

(((((((((((((((((CS and Bob)))))))))))))))

Our support is on it's way to you and Bob.

Here is a link that might be useful: CS's Prayer Request

Oh, no, I hate to hear that. I was so touched by her post yesterday about God laying his hands upon him and him doing so much better. They will definitely be in my prayers.

Someone once said that they believed our Purgatory was while we are here on earth, lately I truly believe it.

Prayers and hugs for ((Jan and Bobby)), (Maddie and Rog)), ((CS and Bob))

Boy, that's lots of hugs. Sincerely hope they all help along with many prayers.

Getting excited, new carpet FINALLY goes in Friday 1/21 in spite of snow prediction. Unless an Act of God forces them to cancel me IT'S GOING IN. I told everyone I hope they have clean socks they have to take their shoes off the rest of the winter :-)

Have got to get myself back on track. Peggy, your salsa sounds wonderful.

Take care and stay safe - will be in touch!!

Donna

New carpet! Can I come and roll around on it? We just have a concrete floor for the moment - but feels great when the sun is on it.

Oh I have not had my salsa yet - that's for lunch today on a bed of lettuce. I like to let it age a wee bit in the fridge. I suppose if I cooked it I could freeze it in ziplock baggies - but it never lasts that long and I only make about 4 cups. Salads, tacos, pasta topping, chip dip. Nice change anyway.

Getting my closets done right now in the house - finally. I just hung up our winter coats and put boots in the closet. Wonderful. Right now the bedroom closet is being put in. I asked the builder to put shelves up both sides, 2 poles across and up top a half shelf - full shelf would not be accessible. Maximizing the space to the fullest. They're using the while melamine shelving boards to build it - first time in my life I'm having a closet made for my needs. How cool is that, eh?

I feel like snoozing the sun is so warm in here. We've stopped heating with the wood stove for the afternoon and any sunny afternoon because it gets too hot in this new south facing home. Wild.

Gotta have my lunch and get outside to bring down more wood. Life is grand today. Just grand.

Catch ya later!
Peggy

Prayers and hugs for ((Jan and Bobby)), ((Maddie and Rog)), ((CS and Bob)).

Carolyn~I hope that I will be better about getting out of my apartment when we get to Midland & are around the kids. It has been good the past couple of years here & I have been pretty busy with friends. I truly am going to miss them. I know you feel the same way. I've already gotten a puppy to help me keep the "blues" away.

McPeg~I love, love, love your enthusiasm for life. I think that the groceries will be cheaper when we move than they are here. Everyone talks about how much more expensive they are in the middle of Florida. The truckers have to go out of the way to get here. We noticed it when we got here 10 years ago. We thought things would be cheaper & we were surprised at how expensive they were.

Donna~New carpet! How exciting!!! We need that in the bedrooms of the house. I think the one I'm going to use as a scraproom may not have any in it when we redo it though. We shall see. :)

Dee~So glad that you are able to work from home & don't have to get out in that weather.

Well, I just wanted to check in. We were busy all day yesterday. We HAVE to start packing tomorrow. It is already down to 2 months now. The time is already flying by. Patti :)

Great to hear from you Patti! I've missed things being away. Hope your packing goes well. Too bad your there and I'm here...I had a ton of good boxes you could have had.

Today was not a bad day at all. I had taco restaurant style chips with my salsa. It's all been added to my WW tracker for today. Again, I'm working on portion sizes to relearn, adjust habits. I enjoyed the salsa. DH said it was missing something. I agreed. Added some Tex Mex seasoning and he put hot taco sauce in his bowl (no thanks). I also could have put another clove of garlic in it - but garlic powder did the trick. Fun way to add fresh veggies to a meal that's for sure.

Got some more wood down from the pile (fresh air), unloaded some more from the trailer - almost done with that job. We've given the trailer to our builder who can use it. It paid for itself and then some, got us through a tough time. Now its ready to go to a new owner who knows trailers and can give it the tlc it needs. Once that's gone it opens our back road/trail towards our friends across the field and our back 40.

Getting outdoors everyday is imperative for my health. I don't want to be a hermit or get cabin fever. Routine is helpful too. I'll be glad when my routine switches from settling in to working on other things. But hey, we home finally!

How was your day today?

Cheers,
Peggy

Hello there!

Oh my, hugs to all who need them! (((HUGS!!!))) Ni8ce to "see" so many people checking in here. I need to go back a few weeks and read up....

I allowed myself to get WAY to busy with my business last year and this year I am bound and determined to take it down a notch; not slowing it down so much, just being better organized so that the endless reams of paperwork don't overshadow the actual nursing care! (novel concept)

Beautiful weather here in Crazy California today. Time to think about taking the kayak out! Hurray!

Off to read up....!

Tikanis

TGIF

[[[[[[[[BIG, TREMENDOUS HUGS TO EVERYONE]]]]]]]] because, really, who doesn't need a hug?

I awoke sick again this morning. It snowed so I'm working from home, but going to call the doctor when his staff gets in at 11am.

QOD: What are you planning for the weekend? We were going to meet friends for dinner tonight, but I may suggest we postpone. My girlfriend has 3 grandchildren that she is watching tomorrow and Sunday. Don't want them exposed to something I have. Tomorrow we planned on taking down the Snow Village (all day affair), and Sunday we were going to just kick back with a fire and football on TV.

Enjoy your day.
Enjoy your weekend.
Dee

Happy late afternoon Saturday! I'm pooped today. DH keeps waking up at 4am which wakes me up every morning. Today I just caved to being tired. If nothing much gets done today that's fine - I'm too tired. At least we have doctor appointments booked in a week's time. I'm pushing DH because I've had enough. He is fighting depression and trying hard not to show it - unfortunately he wakes at 4am when he is in this pattern. His doc had him on some great medication while we were in the trailer and over time his mood not only lifted but he slept so much better - we both did. I just need a pill renewal but it never hurts to check in.

It's 2:30 and I've only done dishes today. Now I'm getting dressed to bring in some wood while DH is snow blowing the snow (it takes him about an hour with the drive). The fresh air will do both of us a world of good. Maybe then I'll have an appetite - it's really hard for me to eat when I'm tired.

Fresh air, here I come!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend,
Peggy

Tuesday afternoon (after a successful Monday weigh-in at WW) I had a total meltdown! I was just sitting around watching TV and got an unexpected yen for chocolate chip cookies. I rushed into the kitchen, dug out an old package of choc. chips that have been sitting in the pantry unmolested for 2 years (!) and made half a recipe of choc. chip cookies (26 cookies.) Over the course of the day I ate 20 of them. I couldn't bring myself to throw out the remaining six, even though I felt slightly sick, so I stashed them away in the cookie jar and finished them off Wed at lunchtime. What was I thinking! The scales bounced up two pounds. I've been back on the program since but it hasn't come off yet. I keep telling myself that I shouldn't beat myself up for a momentary aberration, but I'm still mad at myself.

Hi, don't you get extra points to use during the week? I do the old points system where we get an extra 30pts per week. Oh and are you drinking lots of water - I find that helps recovery a lot. Keep moving forward. I've had blips this week too - must be a January blah thing. Let it go and for heavens sake....

THROW THOSE COOKIES OUT!

Trust me, I get weak knee'd at the site of cookies.

LOL
Peggy

Can't throw them out - I've already eaten them all! Oh well, this morning the two pounds had come off. As the WW leader says, it's fresh fat! I'm feeling better about myself tonight because I had a yen for Chinese food, called my favorite restaurant for delivery, and ordered vegetable chow yuk and a mixture of chicken, shrimp and scallops with three different kinds of mushrooms. Those two dishes will feed me for three meals, and there isn't any fried food.

Hello, and thank you Peggy for letting everyone here know.

He had two pins placed in his leg up near his hip area... the break was clean with no bone smashed or pieces floating around.. so that was good. And at 82 yeara old, he has osteopenia, not osteoporosis, which is another plus. They had him up walking a bit already and has been transferred to a rehab center for a couple of weeks... I have been running back and forth and not eating right... Sandwiches, fries, burgers, sub sandwiches, chips... just whatevr is quick and handy... I long for real food...and now that Bob is in the rehab center I can cook real food again. He is only 30 miles away so lots easier to go every day.

Once bob is home then maybve I can get back on track and eat like a normal human and get some worth while excercise...

It is going to work out just the way God has it all planned... but I am not sure I like this plan thus far.. LOL

I will touch base when I am able...

Hugs to all, and prayers for all that need prayer...

CS