OMG you guys are makeing me blush! thanks so much for all the nice compliments! looks like I have alot to live up to! dont know if I can stand the preasure LOL! Luvs it would be great if those crafters would come and join us here! we have the friendliest fourm I have seen yet! you and others have made it that way! JayOkie dont know a thing about selling crafts, did two shows 20 something years ago, like everyone I could use some extra cash for christmas, priceing is so very hard for me, and wouldnt know how to start, do you sell by mail? Jen you are too kind! and have such a way with words! always love reading your post, are you a writer by trade or craft? if not you should be! Shysue thanks for shareing the link, and your kind words! we all love geting compliments and knowing what others think of our crafts Happy Crafting oddie

Thank you for the kind words ROB33, but I guess our views on this are just different. To me health and wellness (mentally and physically) are the responsibly of the parent and are of equal importance to all other parental care. You can set them up for a lifetime with good eating habits and exercise. It’s really not all that difficult. If you do not have the money for a trainer simply have small areas set up in a basement or extra bedroom or whatever and carefully choose age appropriate exercise cd’s. All you need is a matt and hand weights (weights after a certain age). If it is a young pre-teen they seem to enjoy martial arts type cardio workouts. Keep a variety as what one likes the other may not. My kids are adults now but you know what? They still use workout cd’s, one has added a gym to his room for cross train and the other alternates home workout cd’s with periodic health club visits. And, I never told them they were fat and ugly to get them to use the cd’s either. I simply told them I was ordering some workouts and asked if there was any type of workout they might be interested in. Then, I also did the workouts to set an example. Edited to add… I had times frames I gave the kids for my workouts so there were no run-ins on the space. I did not set their workout times. I gave them time to play around a bit with sampling different workouts. After a time I just came out and asked what their favorite was. After being told I sought out other similar type cd’s so they wouldn’t get bored…and, I was encouraging but not pushy. This post was edited by jterrilynn on Wed, Aug 13, 14 at 10:28

I had an ablation about 6 years ago. I had previously had surgery to remove a couple of fibroids and that helped considerably, but a year later I was still having bleeding issues and I had the ablation. (my doctor had suggested it at the time of the fibroid removal, but I didn't want to do them both at the same time). My periods didn't stop, but I discovered Light tampons, and only needed about 5 of them a month. I haven't heard of women having hormonal problems after ablation. I certainly didn't have any problems with my procedure, which was done with the balloon method. I had cramping for less than 12 hours, then felt fine. You do need to use birth control, because you can conceive, but there is no where for the embryo to implant without the lining, so a pregnancy could be dangerous. I think that it's important to know why you are having bleeding problems. For example,if you have fibroids like I did, an ablation isn't going to remove the underlying problem.

I have one friend who has been on replacement hormones, for about 8 years. She says she will be weaning off them soon, to see if she has less severe symptoms now, so that she no longer feels the need for them. The rest of our circle of lady friends, who are not on any, all complain of dry skin, some have thinning hair, etc. Our friend on HRT does not have dry skin and does seem to be looking younger than us now. I think for the first few years post menopause, the rest of us didn't really look any older than her. But by about the fourth year, we all seemed to be showing more deep wrinkles around the eyes, 'old lady hands' and crepey neck skin, and she clearly didn't seem to be aging at the same rate as us, physically. Her own sister, who is 3 years younger than her, but not on HRT, now looks a year or so older than her. So to be perfectly honest, I do believe that being on HRT does keep one looking more youthful. As well, the estrogen we lose through menopause, is what causes women to then have the same rate of cardiovascular disease as men. So clearly, there are great benefits to not being depleted of estrogen, because it keeps our arteries more healthy, just as it does for our hair, skin and nails. But prolonged use of HRT can of course be risky for some women. On my mother's side, I have cousins who have died of both breast and ovarian cancer. I know that just like birth control pills, HRT has changed through the years. They're always improving the exact science of getting the hormone dosage to not be higher than what it needs to be, to lessen any health risk. If I had no family history with breast and ovarian cancer, I might consider being on them, mostly to stave off the risk of heart disease. Each individual has to weigh the pros and cons.