Introduction
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Actually, the walk along the riverfront was foggy and cold but I still enjoyed the exercise and the company. It was beautiful and sunny at my house when I left, but when I got to the riverwalk it was gloomy. Glad I wore a jacket! Our elevation is about 100 ft higher where I live (kind of at the foothills of a mountain range), so we're often above the fog that lingers in the valley below.
I also weighed this morning (not my regular weigh in day either). I was up .4 pounds. That'll teach me to stay off the scale until weigh day, which for me is Friday.
Funny that you are dealing with taxes, too. I am only on here right now because I am procrastinating starting on my tax return, which is due by Thursday. I hate, hate, hate taxes, but I am too miserly to pay an accountant to do it for me. I went for a walk with another friend this morning, but that will probably be my only exercise today. Better get busy. Ugh.0 -
thank you for the support i think my main goals right now are to try and eat more snacks instead of bingeing at the end of the night (by binge i mean a large dinner) tonight i think i waited too long and even though ate im still feeling hungry i know i need to focus on exercise too but with my depression its a struggle just to drag myself to shower let alone work out i know it will help but some days its a struggle just to crawl out of bed and im sure if i was in my own room thats what i would probably be doing0
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Hey Embera - A binge for me is a bag of spicy doritos, a bar of chocolate, half a package of cookies, anything salty that's not nailed down...you get the picture. A large dinner? Maybe it's over your calorie intake for the day but it's probably not also doing a job on your cholesterol, heart and what else all that processed junk food batters.
I hope you can see the positive in that. I sure can. Five points for your healthier choices!
Maybe if you could find a friend to walk with or a game/tv series you only do/watch when you're exercising, that would help. My personal fav is an online spades partner game with betting (fake money).
My scale finally went down under 163 - not by much but I'm celebrating (with one madjool date - weeee).
162.4 today. I've now officially lost more than 5 pounds (5.3
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Only 22.4 to go. At this rate, that'll take until spring. On the up side, I could still be gaining weight and make it to 200 pounds by spring. I'll take my victories where I can find them.
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Good morning all! How's everyone? I was sick yesterday. A very short lived stomach bug. Most of the younger grandchildren had it the past 3 weeks, so not surprised I finally got it. Good thing...I woke up feeling fine today. Another good thing......I was at 181.1 this AM. lol.....that's what you get when you don't eat much the day before. I did have some toast for breakfast and tea already......so not expecting 181.1 tomorrow AM but I'm getting closer to 179.9. Oh to see those 170's again. Getting impatient. So....I'm watching 4 grandchildren today (my son's kids.....his 2 kids that are in school are off today for teachers in-service) and tonight I sleep at my daughter the nurse's house to watch her 4 kids. Her husband works night shift and Tracy is working a 12 hour night shift tonight too. My son had dropped off his 4 kids here this AM, so I am just trying to get some stuff done around here because once I leave to take his kids home to their house, I'll head to Tracy's house and then tomorrow I'm back at my son's house to watch 2 of his children again. I won't be back home until tomorrow evening. My life is crazier now than before I retired from teaching!
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when i binge i eat because it tastes good not cuz im that hungry and i usally get indigestion from it if i over do it to much lately sadly enough ive eaten candy as lunch like we had pumpkin Swiss rolls and thats what i had for lunch one day i felt pretty bad about it but i didnt end up going over either0
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thank you for the support i think my main goals right now are to try and eat more snacks instead of bingeing at the end of the night (by binge i mean a large dinner) tonight i think i waited too long and even though ate im still feeling hungry i know i need to focus on exercise too but with my depression its a struggle just to drag myself to shower let alone work out i know it will help but some days its a struggle just to crawl out of bed and im sure if i was in my own room thats what i would probably be doing
Embera- have you gotten any help for your depression? Or talked to anyone about it? I've seen you mention it a couple times and in relation to your eating. I hope that you can get a handle on things very soon or get some help if you need to.0 -
Hey Lin! Glad you're feeling better! Sounds like you've got a crazy busy life these days with watching all the grandkids. I only have one so far, but I am retired and I am super busy most days. I can't even imagine watching grandkids on top of all the running around I do. I wonder how I ever got anything done when I was working! Nice to see a weight loss even if it was from not feeling well for a day. You will see the 170's again in no time!
Aliza - Congrats on seeing the weight loss, too! 5.3 pounds is a big deal, especially when you get into your middle age. I used to drop 5 pounds in a week with no problem (in my 20's and 30's), but now it is a matter of weeks if not months to see a pound or two.
I have just now edged into the 150's (159.8 as of yesterday). I haven't seen that number "5" on the scale in probably 5 years so it's pretty exciting. That being said, it has taken me 9.5 months to lose about 19 pounds so it is a slow process. You just have to enjoy the journey (as everyone calls it), but it really is a journey, with a lot of detours. I'm having fun along the way and getting to know some amazing people, too!0 -
Good morning everyone,
NZ - been missing you! Hope to hear from you one of these days soon.
WHOO HOO!! Yay, Rae! Seeing that 5 on the scale must be a rush. I'm hoping to have it soon. (but know it'll probably take at least a month) Ah yes, I remember the days well when I could get rid of 5 pounds in a week. Long gone.
Now I have a feeling, Lin, like the one my friends have when I talk about my grandmother rounds. Whew! That's a LOT of grandmothering you do. Do you enjoy it?
Twice a week I pick up grandchildren from their various day cares/schools to be with them until a parent comes home from work and a third time a week I visit with another set of grandkids (we have 4 households of kids in the country and one out of the country). On the one hand, it's a choice I make because I want to build and maintain relationships with our grandchildren. On the other, it gets a bit much at times.
Embera, I second Rae's suggestion that you might consider getting professional help for your depression. It's so often not something that's doable on your own.
Today's my busiest teaching day of the week. I teach 3 classes and one of them is out of the studio. My classes are at full capacity this semester: nine students in each of three classes in the studio and over 20 in the class I teach at the local high school. I'm planning on getting half an hour in on the stepper, too, as yoga doesn't burn many calories. We'll see how I hold up. The last class of the day is my most advanced class. Hmm. Perhaps not the most skillful of scheduling decisions.
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This afternoon I typed a whole bunch here...and my finger hit some key and "poof" all my writing went away.
I'll try again.
Aliza....so I usually watch grandchildren (some not all of them) 5 days a week......and yes, it does sometimes seem a bit much. However, I made the decision to watch them because I can't justify my own kids paying so much for daycare when I can watch their kids for free. The cost for daycare is through the roof. The daughter and the daughter in law that I am watching the kids for are both nurses. Yes, they make good money, but if they had to pay for full time daycare for 2 kids each, which they would have to......that's a huge chunk of their paycheck. Plus being nurses, they don't always have the best schedules so daycare wouldn't necessarily work for them anyway.
But....the thing that makes it a bit much at times is that they (my son and my youngest daughter) both live 45 minutes away from me. So I'm driving a lot. Plus having the 3 girl scout troops of my granddaughters that live right here in my town....I'm rushing home some days to make it to meetings. Plus, I was considering a zumba class.....but I couldn't fit it into my schedule with running back and forth watching kids AND the girl scout meetings. However.....it won't be like this forever. Next September my life will get a lot easier when 2 of the boys I watch will start kindergarten and I believe my son and his wife are considering putting their little girl in preschool 2 days a week then. So come next September, I may only be watching 2 little kids 3 days a week. Much easier.
Rae.....congrats on making it into the 150's. I am so jealous!!!!! But I am so close to the 170's right now. Should be there by next week sometime. My motivation is strong right now!
Amber......I also agree you should seek help for your depression. Everyone gets stressed out in life at one time or another. Talk to your doctor and see what they say. Stress can play havoc with your health. You need to take care of yourself.
So everyone, I am home now. Just finished dinner and going to troll around the internet and fb for awhile. I went to a sleep specialist today because the cardiologist I saw suggested that since they can't find anything wrong with me that could have caused the 2 AFIB episodes I had, then they are wondering if I don't have sleep apnea. I don't snore, but I do gasp for breath on occasion when I am falling asleep....and the 2 AFib episdoes both occurred when I had been asleep. In 2 weeks I will pick up the monitor I have to wear to see if I have sleep apnea. I will be able to sleep in my own bed....yay!....after I hook myself up to the monitor. Doctor said he needs 4 hours of sleep data to determine if I have it. So, we'll see.
I've been feeling pretty good, but I'm not overly happy with the meds the cardiologist has me on. Lowers the pulse and blood pressure which normally I have low blood pressure to begin with. Wish I didn't have to take anything. But he said that should I have another AFIB episode, the meds will keep my pulse down a bit. Hopefully once the sleep apnea results come back, the cardiologist will take me off the meds because they make me feel tired and just a bit weird.
Now I'm going to go troll fb and the internet for a bit. Have a nice evening everyone!
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Hello all,
I have just finished reading your intro thread and would very much like to join your group. I'm 55 and have put on weight every year of my 24 year marrage and I'm ready for a change. And, I love the idea of little challenges to keep things interesting.
This group has a very rich and interesting vibe and I look forward to being a part of this support network.
A little more about me:
I live in Round Rock, Texas and really look forward to the fall weather rolling in. This past weekend got as high as 97 degrees. Whew!!! Loved reading about the cool weather in NJ and OR.
I have to 2 boys.
I don't have any grandchildren but hopefully soon as my oldest son got married on May 2. I just can not wait. Any advice on how often I can ask if there is a bun in the oven would be appreviated.
My youngest son is interested in animation. He has an uncanny gift of capturing movement and expression in very minimalistic sketches. As early as kindergarten you could see it in his stick figures. I'm really excited for him and look forward to hearing about that sort of work.
My husband and I both work in the software development industry. My last project got scaled back and I was one of five who lost their position so I'm taking this time to get some momentum going on the weight loss effort.
Stats:
Starting Weight: 183
Goal Weight: 110 as I am only 5 ft tall
Today's Weight: 181
Look forward to sharing the journey.
Ya'll have a good evening. And yes we really do say ya'll.
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CJ - Hi and welcome!
I grew up in San Antonio and Round Rock sounds very familiar. Where is it?
Unfortunately, I think the answer to how often you can safely ask if there's a bun in the oven is probably "never". But, then, maybe with enough humor it might be tolerated once a year or so. Our oldest daughter waited 4 years to get pregnant because (as she told me) she didn't want to give up being the solitary focus of her husband's heart. Two children and 9 years later, I think she would report that she shares her husband's heart joyfully with their two girls. (p.s. I could've told her that, right?)
We have 13 grandchildren now and I have a feeling another is on the way. If anyone would've asked me at 20 if this would be a possibility in my life I would've probably said "No way, ya'll." Yep, we Texans really do say "ya'll" indeed.
Everyone - How's the October challenge going?
I'm doing fine with the calorie intake and exercise. Not so much on the weight loss.
Have lost 1 of the 3 pounds. That sounded like such a modest challenge initially but maybe in November I'll adjust it to 2 pounds. What do you guys think?
Lin - I hear you about saving your children the astronomical day care costs they'd have to pay. How wonderful for your kids and grandkids that you have the time and the heart to be there for them.
Nurses, imho, are among the MOST needed and important parts of health and recovery and vastly unappreciated financially.
Btw, day care in Israel, while expensive, is less so than in the States and extremely widespread and mostly excellent. Some of my children have decided to forego afternoon day care (regular day care is until 14:00) so I fill in at two of my kids' homes once a week, the other grandparents take a day or two (I live further away than everyone else) and an aunt fills in, too. One son-in-law is a chef so that he can arrange his shifts to accommodate the days when there's not a grandparent or sibling around. One daughter-in-law just left a career as a hot shot lawyer to go back to get a teaching certificate so that she could be with her children more. My son is a hotshot lawyer, too, and having TWO of those in the family basically means craziness for the kids.
In short, it really does take a village to raise a child. I bet your kids are thankful that you're their village.
If you reported your discomfort regarding the meds your cardiologist has you on and she still wants you to continue with them I think I'd get a second opinion. I'm big on second opinions and not so big on meds.
Rae - I'm trying to enjoy the journey and 95% of most days that works. Then there are the pangs from time to time. "Still the same number on the scale? SERIOUSLY?!" I feel so much better than before I started eating moderately and exercising daily and I think I look a lot better. My clothes all fit (well, not the size 10 skinny jeans but I only keep those as a whimsical dream). I have more energy. My mantra will be "It's the journey. It's the journey. It's the journey." Thanks for the reminder.
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Aliza.....my 2 favorite nurses here both told me to just keep taking the meds for the next 3 weeks.
That's when I see the cardiologist again. Their reasoning is that it's only for 3 more weeks and since I only had the AFib episodes 2 1/2 weeks ago, it wouldn't hurt to be proactive in that if I should have another episode, I'll at least be on some meds. So....I'm just going to hang in there for 3 more weeks. By then, we should have the sleep apnea test results too.
Hello there CJ! I have 3 kids, 12 grandchildren. Years ago I always asked when I was going to be a grandmother again. Somewhere after grandchild #6 I think I stopped asking. lol But....12 is going to be it since all the men made sure there will be no more. Of the 12, the oldest 3 are girls (my girl scouts!) and the youngest is a girl. Yep...8 boys in the middle. Love them all!
We are close to the same weight right now....I'm at 181.1. However, I do have 6.5 inches on you so I'd be happy being in the 150's or 160's. For now, the weight seems to be coming off pretty fast. I'm sticking to 1400 calories or so a day. Not doing much formal exercise yet but I'll get back into that soon enough. Running after kids and cleaning my house are my exercise for now.
The only place in Texas I've visited is the Houston area. My sister lived in Spring for a few years. She's in Buffalo, NY now. You know....6 feet of snow possible in October, lol. What a difference!
Oh Aliza.....I meant to ask....you are not anywhere near any fighting in Israel are you? Just yesterday that was a big headline on cnn. So sad what this world is like. Hope you and your family are safe.
Talk to ya'll later!
Lin
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Yay...I figured out how to put up a picture of myself in my profile! Unfortunately on the laptop I'm on right now, I don't have many photos of me to choose from. Anyway, that's me back in February at the Hoover dam. I weighed the most I ever weighed back then. Started back on a diet soon after this pic was taken. My hair is a bit shorter now, and a bit darker now....and I'm a bit skinnier now too!
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Thanks for the welcome ya'll. Starting today my goal is 1200 calories/day, 6,000 steps/day, getting to the gym at least twice a week, and swimming once a week. Hate housework, we've always had a housekeeper till now, oh well. The idea that housework burns calories eases the pain and suffering. Ooh the agony!!!
One little thing that helped in college was to "win the week". Everything that would be covered for the semester was written on one calendar and all I had to do was win the week. This is the approach I'm taking with the weight loss and hopefully I'll be shouting "I WIN! I WIN!" at the end of each day. And I hope you will be shouting that too.
Aliza - Well what do you know -- I grew up in San Antonio too. Left in 1994 to move to Round Rock which is 20 miles north of Austin. Where did you go to school? I went to Jefferson High School and eventually graduated from Texas State, formerly Southwest Texas State University.
Lin - I know exactly where Spring is. We did a mother/daughter weekend there a few years back. Mom and I and about 16 others had a great time shopping the weekend away.
That's all for now. Ya'll have a great day.
CJ
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Hey CJ! I went to Thomas Jefferson, too. My actual graduating class is 1970 but I skipped a year and graduated in 1969. As far as friends and reunions, though, it's 1970.
We're having our 45th soon but, sadly, I won't be able to go. It's next weekend and that's also my husband's 65th bday so I couldn't be abroad. Well, I could be but I chose not to be.
I split a breakfast with one of my daughters today - nothing super high in calories - omelet with 2 eggs, salad, a roll, some salad. Between a tablespoon of egg salad and a tablespoon of sundried tomato spread and a roll it was a huge amount of calories. Skipped lunch (something we're not supposed to do, right?) and plan on eating a regular Sabbath meal. With the hour on the stepper the day is turning out okay goal wise but when I figured out the calories for that breakfast it was a shocker!
The terrorists have been crazy for the past 2-3 weeks. Yesterday and today were quiet but for days and days they were stabbing unsuspecting people (women standing at bus stops, kids on bicycles) in all sorts of cities with no rhyme or reason. So I guess everyone was "near the fighting". I actually bought a little hand sized canister of pepper spray (anyone who knows me knows how out of character that is!) I didn't refrain from doing the things I always do but I did them with a lot more awareness of my surroundings.
Thanks for asking.
And, yes, it is terribly sad that people, regardless of the reason, commit violence against other people. More than sad. Quite tragic. I worry about where the world's headed. But also really believe that I can only change my own behavior and actions and try to live my life with compassion and forgiveness.
Yesterday I took one of our granddaughters out to a mall where we bought her a birthday dress (Elsa and Anna, what else?) and new shoes, an ice cream and unhealthy candies and she played in the gymboree for a couple of hours. She had a great time...and so did I. I slept over at their house (about a 2 hour drive from our house) and went to her birthday party at her kindergarten this morning. She's 5. The party was great. Lots of fun. I made the cake and my daughter decorated it with Elsa and Anna decorations. I didn't try it
but it sure LOOKED good.
I'm doubtful I'll see any number change by next week but am hoping all the same.
How's everyone else doing?
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in seeing a counslor now and have an apt on the 26 to finaly get some meds im hoping my teeth are really detremining whati eat right now im in constant pain and can most of the time struggle threw it but its still not great when i bite too hard i have to stop completely for a min i cant wait to have them removed0
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CJ- welcome to our little group! Technically, I can say ya'll, too! My father was in the Air Force and we moved around a lot. I spent much of my childhood in Biloxi, MS, as well as other parts south. I was actually born in Roswell, NM, so I get a lot of "alien" jokes when people hear that. I recently spent some time in New Orleans and, even after many years in Oregon, I found myself slipping back into the southern drawl just from hearing it around me. It was just as hot and humid as I remember! Oregon is normally very temperate and where I live can be quite cool and rainy. This year has been an exception. We have had one of the hottest and driest years on record and it has still been in the 80's this week, which is quite rare for October here. We are finally supposed to get some rain this weekend, which is really needed. I've had several trees die on my property. Fire danger has been extreme and we've had wildfires all over the state.
You have some great goals - 1200 calories, plus the 6000 steps a day! That's pretty close to where I started on MFP and I lost pretty quickly. What I found after a couple months was that I felt I needed a bit more to eat in order to step up my exercise. I increased my daily calories to about 1400 and also increased my exercise. I'm still losing even though it's slower, but I feel like my fitness level and stamina have increased substantially.
Lin and Aliza - I'm pretty jealous of all those little grandchildren! I only have the one little guy and he was a long time coming. I had my kids pretty young on purpose, hoping to be a young grandma. My oldest son and his wife decided to do the "career" thing first, moved to LA for their jobs, and didn't decide to have kids until they'd been married 8 years and then had fertility difficulties, so it was another couple of years before my grandson came along. At least they moved closer to us beforehand. They're about 2 hours away, so I don't get to babysit all that often, but we do see them once or twice a month. We also Skype with them frequently. Youngest son and his wife have also been trying for a baby for the past 3 years, gone through some fertility treatments, but no success yet. As far as how/when to ask about grandbabies - I had to bite my tongue for a very long time. However, other people (grandma, aunts, uncles, acquaintances) asked frequently enough that I didn't have to.
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AEPHubinc2015 wrote: »The terrorists have been crazy for the past 2-3 weeks. Yesterday and today were quiet but for days and days they were stabbing unsuspecting people (women standing at bus stops, kids on bicycles) in all sorts of cities with no rhyme or reason. So I guess everyone was "near the fighting". I actually bought a little hand sized canister of pepper spray (anyone who knows me knows how out of character that is!) I didn't refrain from doing the things I always do but I did them with a lot more awareness of my surroundings.
Thanks for asking.
And, yes, it is terribly sad that people, regardless of the reason, commit violence against other people. More than sad. Quite tragic. I worry about where the world's headed. But also really believe that I can only change my own behavior and actions and try to live my life with compassion and forgiveness.
I also have seen the news reports about Israel and have wondered/worried about you! There seems to be such unrest everywhere. You are right, though. It is terribly sad that people commit such horrible acts of violence against others but you can't let it paralyze you. Here in Oregon we just recently had another school shooting at a small community college. My husband's nephew goes to school there, but thank God he didn't have class that day. There have been several other school shootings here in the past few years, as well as one in a shopping mall. It does make me nervous at times, but we have to live our lives. I actually was in a mass shooting in a pub when I was only 21 years old, nearly 35 years ago. It was the first time I had ever gone to a pub, since I had just had my 21st birthday. There were 6 people killed and 22 others injured by a lone shooter. To this day nobody knows why he did it. For a long time I was afraid to go to a bar or restaurant or sporting event, but I made myself get out and do it. I still find myself very cautious when I'm out and about, but that's not such a bad thing.
That's great that you are able to spend time doing fun things with your grandchildren. At least you are teaching them not to be afraid. I imagine that's hard at times.
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Hi ya'll!
Ugh! Had a challenging day. My hubby loves the Pflugerville Pfall Pfestival Chili Cook Off. Oooh yeah...that's how you spell it. You get 20 2-oz cups and 20 tickets for $5. Cookers fill your cup and you drop a ticket in their bucket if you like it. There is some really awesome chili there. My favorite this year was brisket chili, nice smoky flavor in the mix made it distinctively different and delicious. Last year it was a pumpkin chili and that was as good as it was unique. Eight 2-oz cups and one funnel cake later I'm calling it a day as far as food goes. Fortunately I get to mop the floors tonight - that should burn down a few cals.
Liza - wow, I admire your bravery in carrying on with life in the midst of all the tragic shooting. I image it took some getting use to - if you can really get use to it at all. You must count your blessings to have your grandchildren around you.
Rae - thanks for the positive feedback on the 1200 cal/6000 steps plan. I'm really going to work it. On another note...the Oregon shooting. OMG again, when I read about them it seems so senseless. Like in Israel, innocents getting killed, when will it ever stops? As always events like these are in my prayers.
Battery is going down on my laptop and the floors are calling. Ya'll have a great evening and talk to you soon.
CJ
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161.8
2.4 lbs. since starting October. Hoping for that last .6 pounds by the end of the month. Two birthday celebrations coming up so who knows. My husband and I will be staying at a hotel Thursday night for his 65th birthday. Some of the kids will be coming for coffee and dessert on Thurs. p.m. and the rest are coming for brunch on Friday a.m.
Wow, Rae, all those crazy, senseless shootings! Of course we read about the Oregon school shootings and have wondered, along with everyone else, what that shooter's agenda was. Organized religion? Classmates? What? And your pub experience...horrific.
The barbaric killings in the Middle East are clearly based on religious fanatacism and the Arab educational system which teaches racism and hatred (most of the most recent terrorist knifings have been carried out by teenagers!). But I speculate a lot on where the senseless violence in the US comes from. Any ideas?
My best Texas friend's daughter lives in Pflugerville and my friend visits her there almost every Monday. I wonder if they were to that Chili Cook Off. I'll have to ask her. What year did you graduate from Thomas Jefferson, CJ?
I started wearing a pedometer about three weeks ago. At first I was shocked at how few steps I take during the day. My goal is 10,000 a day. My hour on the stepper is almost 5000 but if I'm having a day where I actually can block out time to work on my book, I might only add another 2000 steps. Aside from wanting to lose weight, there's been so much written lately about how being sedentary is the new smoking as far as being a health hazard that I really want to MOVE MORE!
Embera, what's going on with your teeth? Are you grinding them? When are you going to be able to get to a dentist. Please remind me - do you live in a remote place? I've heard that tooth pain is about as bad as it gets. Hope you're feeling better soon.
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Pretty quiet out there. Not much posting on the weekend?
Have any of you been taking periodic measurements like they suggest on this site? I haven't but my body looks very different and I now wish I had. The weight comes off so slowly, maybe the change in measurements would be more encouraging. How about you?
Another long day coming up. Good things. Meeting a friend for coffee who just arrived from Canada. Meeting another friend at the photography gallery where she works for a lecture on the current exhibit. Meeting my husband for dinner and a movie. Unfortunately, every single meeting involves food. I hope to stay on track. We shall see.
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Good morning, ladies! I didn't post this weekend because I was super busy. Wasn't even online at all. Saturday I was shopping all day. Grocery shopping, Halloween shopping for craft stuff for 2 girl scout meetings this week, birthday shopping for my oldest granddaughter. Yesterday we had the whole family here for our annual pumpkin carving party. I made tons of food, had crafts for the kids to do, and of course they did carve pumpkins. Evidently there was a pumpkin shortage this year or something here on the east coast. Something about the weather not being good for pumpkin growing so most of the pumpkins are on the small size. Anyway.....the bigger pumpkins you could find were really expensive, but my husband (his name is Ron) found some big ones at Lowes that were not way over priced...so he picked up 14 of them. lol Food ofcourse was crazy this weekend. Yes, I had salad....but I also ate everything else I made. So....scale gods were not kind to me this AM....hahahaha.
For my oldest granddaughter's 18th birthday which is coming up on Oct. 28th, I decided to make her a money cake to mark the occasion. If you don't know what a money cake is, google dollar bill cake or money cake. I should take a photo of it and post it on here so you girls can see it. It came out so nice. I went with the Halloween theme. It didn't take too long to assemble.....but I had been working on it for several weeks on and off. The hardest part was finding $2 bills. I went to 4 banks before one of them had $2 bills. The cake has 3 layers. The bigger bottom layer has $5 bills rolled up around it, the middle layer has $2 bills, and the top layer has $1 bills. I love the Halloween decorations I embellished the cake with. Her 2 sisters saw the cake yesterday when I showed it to my daughters and DIL. The 15 year old sister wants to know if I'll make her a money cake. lol...I told her she has to wait for her 18th birthday.
So...I'm home today. Trying to clean up from yesterday's party. My youngest granddaughter stayed overnight here with me so I didn't have to go to my son's house early this AM. But I will be going to his house later this afternoon....then I'm sleeping at my youngest daughter's house (lives down the street from her brother) while she works night shift at the hospital. Tomorrow I'll be back at my son's house all day....but I have to be home by 6 pm for one of the girl scout meetings here. Back to my son's on Wednesday, but then I have to be back home again by 6 for girl scout meeting #2 for the week. Hopefully I can be home on Thursday...even if I have 2 of the little kids with me. Friday I'm back at my son's, but then my youngest daughter's 2 youngest boys are coming back to sleep at my house on Friday night because she has something to go to and her husband is camping out with the 2 older boys with their Cub Scout dens. See.........I have no time for myself during the week! But with all the running after these kids, I should be a lot skinnier than I am, lol.
Ok.....so I ate a cupcake for breakfast. It was a toss up between 80 calorie yogurt or cupcake. Cupcake won. But...I should be good the rest of the day.
CJ......my husband thinks he makes the best chili on the planet. It is good....it's even better because I don't have to make it!
Aliza.....I took my measurements just last week. The last time I had taken them was back in June. I was down a couple of pounds last week from where I had been last June so I decided to see if the measurements had changed. Well......The were down just a hair. But my 16's in jeans are all fitting really nice. Almost in a 14. Can't wait. Have fun with all your activities today.....and good luck with all the food temptations!
Amber.....yeah, what is this with your teeth? Don't think you had mentioned that before. Also, glad to hear you are seeing a counselor.
Rae.....my sister also had 3 kids....and her kids are close in age to mine which means they are all in their 30's. But her kids all decided to wait to have kids. So here I was with 12 grandchildren and my sister had none. Well, her oldest daughter finally had a little boy late last year......but they had infertility troubles and had to have in vitro. I think they have another fertilized egg or 2 frozen. Don't know if or when my sister's other 2 children will try and have children. All I know is my sister would love to have more grandchildren.
Enough for now......dryer just beeped. Time to get back to cleaning this house. Talk to you all later.
Lin
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Good morning, all,
I love Halloween but it's not celebrated in Israel. I love the feeling of autumn that comes along with Halloween!
Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in Israel, either, but I started the tradition of celebrating it with friends about 7 years ago. I realized that I'd unconsciously scheduled business trips to the US every year around Thanksgiving so I'd be there to celebrate it. I knew that I'd be retiring the following year and didn't want to give up Thanksgiving. Voila! New tradition.
All the food stuff yesterday went just fine. Stayed within my 1200 calories without too much trouble. We have a party this evening that also, of course, includes food. Even harder than a restaurant is all that standing around and sitting around with friends with finger food all around. Will there come a day when it's not a challenge?
I'll be weighing in on Thursday a.m. this week instead of Friday since we'll be at a hotel Thursday evening until Friday afternoon. Not expecting any thrilling news but, hopefully, no terrible news.
You sound so incredibly busy with your grandchildren and girl scouts, Lin! Do you mostly enjoy it? And an 18 year old granddaughter? Wow! That must be fun.
Annual check up this morning. See ya'0 -
Good luck on your check up, Aliza. While watching grandchildren can be tiring at times in so far as there are times I wish I had more time for myself.....but that will change in a few months as kids grow up, start school, etc......I love watching them and I really do love being a girl scout leader. I've been a leader for over 25 years. First with my own girls, now with my 3 oldest granddaughers. I've been the leader of my 18 yo granddaughter's troop for 13 years. It's been wonderful watching these young ladies grow up. All the girls in the troops call me grandma C. When I quit teaching 10 years ago, girl scouts sort of filled the void of not having a job to go to every day....but 3 troops, it is a job! Trying to plan badge work, community service, trips, games, crafts for 3 troops and each troop has 2 meetings a month....well, it does keep me busy. Sometimes I can just repeat stuff I did with the older troop for the 2 younger troops...but it's still work to make it relevant to each group. Plus, with the older girls (we have a meeting tonight) I make dinner for them. Most of them come to my house directly from after school stuff (sports, theater, debate club, etc), so they are ravenous. The first meeting I had with them when they were in 9th grade, I saw them filling up on cookies and chips at my house.....and that's when I realized that more than half of them hadn't been home for dinner yet. So....I feed them. Tonight I am making them breakfast for dinner.......one of their favorites, french toast!
I am not looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. Every holiday is done at my house. We just have the most room I guess. It's usually my 3 kids and their families, my mom and dad and brother who never married, my sister in law, and some friends of my kids with their own kids that don't have anywhere else to go. Although everyone that comes brings something, I do most of the cooking and baking.....and cleaning. My oldest daughter and her girls have always been a big help to me at any holiday. But this year they won't be at my house for Thanksgiving. Her husband decided at the end of the summer that after 18+ years of being together, he doesn't want to be married anymore. This has been tough for everyone in my family. My poor daughter was in shock, didn't see it coming. I think she is still in denial. The guy moved out and in with some girl he met through people he works with. He does go to their house twice a week to see the kids, and my daughter still has access to his paycheck to pay bills. But.....what a mess. The kids seem okay. He was never much of an involved father anyway. If it didn't involve going to the movies or video games, he generally wasn't interested. Not that he was a bad guy....we all just thought he seemed very self-centered and all about himself. But my daughter loves him. So this year, my daughter is taking her kids out to Michigan to visit with his brother and the brother's family. I don't think my son in law is going. I hope not. Anyway, his brother's wife is a high school counselor and she has been very helpful to my 18 yo granddaughter as far as talking about college applications, etc. So my daughter decided to take the kids there for a few days to visit. I wish they weren't going, but I know my grandchildren do like their cousins out there that they rarely see. My daugher is still in limbo though. They started mediation, but haven't done anything as far as I know besides the 2 initial visits with the mediator. I think my daughter just wants him to come back. Truthfully, I hope he doesn't. She is still in her mid-30's and is super smart. She can make a wonderful life for herself and her kids without him. Oh well....I've kind of stepped back and I'm just watching from the sidelines. If she needs me, I'll be here for her. She knows that. For now, I'm there for the kids when they need me. But I sure wish I could make things better for her. It's tough when you see one of your kids so sad and lost and you can't make it better for them.
But....right now I am at my youngest daughter's house and her kids just all woke up. I hear them coming down the stairs, lol. Better go take care of them. Talk later, all. Have a great day! Lin
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Hi Lin,
What a mess! Relationships can be such hard work. I hear you about not being enthusiastic about the prospect of your son-in-law coming back, regardless of your daughter wanting him back. We've been quite lucky as far as the people our children married but I could do without one of our sons-in-law. He's very respectful and considerate of me, he adores our daughter and is an attentive dad but his values are far from those we raised our kids with and I worry that those 3 adorable grandchildren are being brought up with way too much money, an emphasis on having fun (neither necessarily bad things) but little else. If he took up with a younger woman and left, I doubt I'd be hoping for him to return either.
Most of my yoga and meditation students are beautiful, successful young women between the ages of 20-35. I used to be surprised when they shared their feelings of low self-esteem with me but I've become sadly accustomed to it. It seems to be a malaise of young women everywhere. They have such high expectations for themselves - to be fit and gorgeous and sexy wives, patient and nurturing mothers (always), successful, competent professionals and attentive, committed daughters and siblings. Whew! Tough challenge. I think that sometimes all those expectations and low self-esteem keep them in marriages with men who don't appreciate them NEARLY enough.
My annual involves blood tests which won't get done until Sunday and other kinds of things that take awhile. But, in general, things look good. Blood pressure like last year (relatively low), weight two pounds less than last year (yay!). Mammogram and bone density scan yet to come. One of my sisters had breast cancer about 9 years ago and though she and I were both tested negative for the gene, I get a mammogram every year.
Btw, we have excellent national health insurance in Israel so none of these medical things cost me anything.
About to get on the elliptical thingy. I bought a new one that will be delivered tomorrow. I've had this one for over 10 years. It's had it.
I weighed in at 160.2 at the doctor's office today so I may have made my October 3 lbs. goal but I'll wait to see what my scale says on Thursday am before celebrating (how does one celebrate weight loss? with an apple?)
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Low self esteem esteem is exactly what I am worried about with my daughter. She is educated, smart, beautiful, creative, talented...and a good mom.......but son in law has always been a killer to her self esteem. My daughter found herself in a position of having a terrible boss the past few months too. Young guy, new to the company and trying to prove himself, doesn't like women, made my daughter's life hell. Luckily, her company caught on to the guy when he was over in England on a business trip and other people from Europe complained to the head of the company about him. Results......my daughter is no longer under him and is loving her job again. However......that took a toll on her too. In the spring she gained about 30 pounds and was unhappy with her weight. Well.....son in law when he told her he didn't want to be married anymore......told her she was fat, and he didn't like her curly hair, and a whole bunch of things that were so stupid. He was grasping at straws trying to justify why he wanted to leave. So what does my daughter do? Well, she has lost weight which isn't a bad thing, and she did cut her hair, and she started taking kick boxing classes, but she also basically shut down from our family. She says she needs time to sort through everything. Meanwhile, we just wait on the sidelines like I said ready to help when she needs it. Her sister and brother both saw her at my house this weekend...and they agree she is not acting normal at all. I say lets just give her time and space. She had gone to a counselor a couple of times, but according to her the counselor told her she needs to distance herself from the family and work things out herself. Not sure if that was good advice. The problem was the counselor saw both my daughter and son in law the first week he told her he wanted a divorce, so not sure what was said to the counselor by either of them; But after that, son in law refused to go to counseling so my daughter went on her own. Not sure if telling her to avoid her family was a good idea. Counselor even told her that she should try and take some time off (mini vacation) from her kids.
What counselor is going to tell a mom going through a divorce that? The kids need their mom more than ever I would think. Even if she is sad, she should be with them. They are sad too. No kid wants their parents to split up. Oh well. My hope is that he doesn't come back..;.and she eventually will get over him and see she has a life without him. A better life. Hope it doesn't take too long though.
I just had all those test done too......pap, mammogram, bone density, heart echo, blood work, etc. Everything came back fine. Then I had the 2 Afib episodes. I think they were caused by stress from my daughter's situation. Doctor said stress wouldn't cause them. Hmmm? Sleep apnea test next week. We'll see about that.
talk later...
lin0 -
There's so much research out there connecting stress with physical ailments that I had to check to see if I'd see a link between stress and Atrial Fibrillation. Surprise - there definitely are doctors who think that it can be a factor in triggering an episode. I even saw an entire blog about Afib and an article there which claimed that 3/4 of the people interviewed said that they were under a significant amount of stress leading up to their Afib experiences.
Of course, sleep apnea, obesity, caffeine, alcohol, overactive thyroid and a bunch of other things are listed, too.
In short - who knows? could be. When do you go back to try to figure it all out?
Pretty low for your son-in-law to call your daughter out for the things about herself that she feels bad about to begin with. ARGH!
Off to the party0 -
Well......I don't do caffeine, don't drink alcohol, don't do drugs, I am not obese, and my thyroid has been checked 4 times the past 2 months. Heart echo, stress test, chest xray, ekg....all normal. So sleep apnea is the last thing they are considering. Next week sleep apnea test, follow up with sleep doctor and cardiologist the following week (early November). In the meantime, feeling great.
The weekend of the afib episodes was very stressful......that was the weekend my youngest daughter and my son called their sister and tried to talk to her about what was going on with her and her husband and she blamed it on me for putting them up to it. I didn't....but somehow I became the scapegoat in all this. However, that was also the weekend that my daughter decided to leave for a few days and went to stay with a girlfriend. She called my son in law to come home and stay with the kids. He didn't want to, but had no choice. I had to go over to their house before he arrived and stay with the younger kids. Then when he showed up, he wanted to talk to me about how my daughter was abandoning her kids. aarrrgghhh.....I wanted to strangle him. He, out of the blue, left her and the kids 2 months ago and he thinks she abandoned the kids? Anyway.....2 days later, my daughter did go home...only because her sister and her brother called her and told her to get her butt back home with the kids. Anyway, things have been awkward between her and the rest of our family ever since. But....atleast she's home, and the kids seem okay. Son in law only goes home 2 days a week to see the kids. However, my daughter has been going to the movies and ball games with him and the kids on his visiting days. Not sure that is a great idea if she is suppose to be trying to learn how to live without him. Oh well. We all know she wants him back. The rest of us all hope that he doesn't come back. It's going to be a lonngggg couple of months, me thinks!
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Hello gals,
You've been quite busy these past few days. Great news, my new daughter-in-law said she was off the Pill and they are ready to get started on the family. Hippy! We had a great Sunday lunch with my son and his wife, her parents and brother, and my son Sean. I think we are going to make it a monthly thing. Jason and Rita live and work in south Austin and its been a challenge getting together on a regular basis but we are going to make and effort.
Aliza - what took you to Israel and how long have you been there? Sounds so exciting writing a book, what's it about? I had aspirations of being a writer as a kid, and a veterinarian, and a flight attendant, and a zoo keeper...
Lin - Sorry to hear about your daughter's marriage breaking up. I've never been divorced but I did break an engagement. I was under a dark cloud for almost a year. At the time I was back in college and my grades and attendance began to slip when a professor reached out and said this pain will pass in time. Thought happiness would never make an appearance but I hung on to those words for a long time. Your daughter will need her own space to grieve but I do agree with you that going on outings with her husband and kids seems a little awkward but what can we do but be there or our kids.
Amber - Hi Amber, I'm glad to hear you are going through counseling. I went when I broke the engagement and when I was going through some very stressful time at work and both time it was very helpful.
Got to go for now. Hubby is calling.
BTW - had a couple of 1200 cal/6,000 steps days so I'm counting 2 wins this month. Haven't weighed though and I'm to scared to measure.
Ya'll have a great day.
CJ
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i do think i grind them cuz i clench them a lot especially in my sleep but one is impacted and the other has a giant cavity and is also turning sideways both are right side wisdom teeth ive been fighting with insurance so im hoping to make an appointment soon but i need to make a deposit and i need my grandmothers card for that
ive ben fighting with myself internally about my relationships with men for a long time and i think im finaly getting a handle on things which feels really good (i used to kinda feel i need validated threw sex but im doing lots better)
another great thing that happened is my ex in flordia finally got a phone again so ive been talking to him im hoping to get pics of my daughter and maybe even talk to her on skype or something but life isnt too bad at the moment the other day when i finally weighed myself i had lost 8lb which im really proud of even tho i havent been logging like i need to
and btw AEPHubinc2015 i live in buffalo ny so im close to everything even tho they want to send me somewhere far to get the oral surgery like an hour drive0
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