Senior Golden Sneakers - December 2010

weaklink109

Hi Everyone,

I noticed it was almost midnite here on the West Coast and no new thread, so I went ahead and started December.

Welcome to all the group and any newbies that would like to tag along. We are all pretty much over 50, and some of us are farther away from it than others, but we are a fun supportive group.

BTW, Marie, regarding your coffee creamer dilemma. Ask your dietician if you could use the unsweetened version of vanilla flavored almond milk. It is available in the dairy case at Walmart, as well as smaller containers in the same place they keep the unrefrigerated soy milk. I know almond milk is lower in sugar than skim milk, and I know Barbiecat swears by it.

Barb

Oldbat61

Hello everyone. Have been using this site since early September but have not come across this thread before. I'm 62, a widow and I live in the UK. I have lost just over 12lbs since September and find MFP really helps because I can keep track of my calorie intake and the amount of exercise I am taking, as well as having lots of supportive messages from other uses of the threads.

Best wishes to my fellow Senior Golden Sneakers.

Pam

CALIECAT

Thanks Barbs for starting our new thread for Dec can't believe Dec is here already. Got to get busy and get me gift card for the family ready.
We are off to the store today to get our grocery shopping done.

Oldbat--- That you are not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to our group. Be sure you post you bithdate Month and date so we can get you on our birthday lidt So glad you found us Hope ypu enjpy your journing with us.
My name is Marie and I am almost the oldest here Buzz came along and beat me But she gets around a lot better than I do. A real sweetheart too.
We really try to help one and another.

Barbs thanks for the tip but it dosn't Help my coffee I like the richness of coffee creamer I am using coconut milk now. I will be making Barbie squash soup today. I have one pkg of frozen winter suash and will pick up another one this mornring . But need to get onlineget her recipe I think I will buy a big jar of apple sauce to put in it

Hello to all the rest of you
Have a good day
Marie

Sandydur

Thank you Barb for starting the December Forum, it did slip my mind as I do have so much going on lately. I will be back later with a longer post. I have a doctor's appointment to re -check my Piriformis Syndrome, which is better with the medicine but the medicine is making me gain weight which I don't like.

Oldbat61

Marie, many thanks for the warm welcome. My birthday is 12 July. Pam

Sandydur

Happy Wednesday, bingo night!!!

I went to the doctor and she is sending me for back therapy to strengthen my back. She refilled two of my prescriptions but I am going to not take them for a few days to see if my back feels better on its own. I gained 7 pounds because of the prednisone and I am not happy. I asked when I could exercise again and she said do what you can according to how much pain I get. I have been watching my calories, drinking tons of water and no wine and I gained weight. I am soooooo frustrated. I really hope this is temporary with the medicine because I was so happy with losing what I did.

Enough complaining. Welcome Pam!!! I have added you to the birthday list which can be found on the community pages.
You are with a great group of people who really,really support each other whether for weight issues, diet issues or even some personal issues. I hope you keep coming back and let us get to know you.

Trying to put up some inside decorations before bingo, have a good day!!

lyn54

Oh! Sandy I fully understand about the prednisone. That is why I am on mfp because i had to take really strong steroids a year ago. I am glad you were only on it a week. I gained 12 pounds in one week and was too sick to eat. They are wonderful but bittersweet!:ohwell:
I hope the physcial therapy helps you. It really has me. I am starting back again this week.

Connie: thinking of you.
Welcome Pam!

Thank you, ladies for this site!!! and Marie for inviting me here.:flowerforyou:

have a good day all

CALIECAT

Happy Wednesday, bingo night!!!

I went to the doctor and she is sending me for back therapy to strengthen my back. She refilled two of my prescriptions but I am going to not take them for a few days to see if my back feels better on its own. I gained 7 pounds because of the prednisone and I am not happy. I asked when I could exercise again and she said do what you can according to how much pain I get. I have been watching my calories, drinking tons of water and no wine and I gained weight. I am soooooo frustrated. I really hope this is temporary with the medicine because I was so happy with losing what I did.

Enough complaining. Welcome Pam!!! I have added you to the birthday list which can be found on the community pages.
You are with a great group of people who really,really support each other whether for weight issues, diet issues or even some personal issues. I hope you keep coming back and let us get to know you.

Trying to put up some inside decorations before bingo, have a good day!!

Sandy I see that Daisy has a playmate How cute. All this pain medications is really rought on our bodies. I have been taken hhem for all these falls I have been having. I just got an email about these diet drinks with aspartane and it said how we are posin our bodies with the, stuff. Will be clearing my pantry out and if it has aspartane out it goes. I am glad I have decided to get off of all that stuff. I bought me a big jug of unsweeten tea today to drink. Maybe that is why my balance is off so much and been falling too much.

Lafla

Happy December to you all. I love the Christmas season (but not the shopping so much). I have to get some lists together today so I can get a start next week. We have a puzzle on the go here and Dave just came in from outside and asked if I had finished it yet. I guess I should get at that. We will need the dining room table for dinner this weekend (Dave's birthday). We want to be able to show them that we did it!! It really is a tough one.Tomorrow I go for my physical (ugh) and I know he will be asking about the weight that I have gained this year. It is too easy to blame it on stress but that is my story and I am sticking to it!

Connie -- thinking about you.

Marie -- I will be interested to hear what Alice says about the new WW program. I have to decided to go back but am hoping there will be a lifetime member discount announced soon. I know I should go right now but the plan is to wait until January. Until then I will try to behave myself. Enjoy your soup, sounds yummy.

Sandy -- So sorry for the wieght gain but glad it helped with the pain. Darn drugs!! Go slow with the exercise.

Pam -- Welcome here. Can't wait to get to know you.

Take care everyone and keep smiling. Gayla

tlp8rb

Welcome Pam. I've been to your country and spent some lovely days and weeks in the south, Cornwall, Devon, Hants, Dorset and Devon.

Visited the hospital this morning and my hubby was sitting in a chair. He'd been on a short walk and I helped him with some broth, Jello and apple sauce. He's lost a day - thought it was Tuesday. They said when he woke up last night he saw the clock and it said 7:00 and he asked why he hadn't been taken to the operating room yet.

My daughter visited him again this afternoon before she headed back home. She said he'd had roast beef for lunch, taken two more walks and was napping. The anesthesiologist that was in his ICU room yesterday morning told her her father was a very lucky man as he flat lined twice. The nurses are calling him a "tough, old bird" as he is refusing any pain medication. I will go back into town later this afternoon to run some errands for him and spend an hour visiting. I don't like driving at night so will try to get home before it gets too dark.

Can't quite figure out my mood. I should be over the moon but am feeling low. Slept about ten hours last night but am still hang-dog tired today.:frown:

viliberty1957

Welcome, Pam. You'll like it here. God Bless!

CALIECAT

Hey !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have not seen anyone set their goals for this month.



Mine is to realyl sssssssstick with this unprocessed diet And leave off all chemocal made sweets. Sholud have follow Barbie years ago.patatoes, white flour. sugar.

What is your goal for thi month?

barbiecat

:bigsmile: just stopping by to say hello before taking the dogs to run around at the dog park.
:bigsmile:

bushman124

Hi everyone, my daughter found this thread and posted a comment "mom I found a thread for you, its people over 50" I called her to tell her that was great but I didn't know what a thread was or how to get there. So, she talked me through it and I read everything that everyone wrote. What a nice group of ladies! I would love to join your group. My name is JoAn, my birth date is 1/24/47 (age 63). I've been married to my husband 9 1/2 years, retired, have 9 grandchildren from my 4 children and my husband has 8 grandchildren with 2 more coming in early spring from his 4 children. My daughter talked me into joing MFP and I am so glad she did. I am finally losing weight and feeling better than I have in quite some time. Looking forward to following others, more in my age group, on their journey to getting better health! :flowerforyou: God Bless.

CALIECAT

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: Welcome JoAn , Never seen it spell like that before. Cute way. So glad you come to join us. Glad your daughter seen us to tell you. about us. We are a group of some mighty nice ladies and Gents We are also Animals lovers I have a Jack Russell name Sammy. and a little bit spoiled. hope to get to know you better. We are just one big happy family here.
Be seeing you. Marie
:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

gigi46

Happy Wednesday everyone!!!

Welcome Pam, you're doing great 12 pounds lost since September that is fantastic. This group will keep you on track and will help in so many way. Is like a big family when I don't get to post or read what everyone has been up to, I miss it so, everyone is very special, you're going to love being part of this group.

Marie - How did the Squash Soup turn out, sounds so good. Keep drinking water is the best thing for you instead of the sweeteners, they're like the worst thing for your body.:grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

Sandy -- don't give up I know you're frostrated - I this will be temporary, just take care of yourself Good luck at Bingo tonight.:drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

Connie - hope everyday your hubby is getting better and things are going according to plan. Take care of yourself and make sure you're resting. Our prayers are with both of you:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

JoAn Welcome, sound like you have a great daughter, back in April my daugther got me to join the MFP family the best thing ever happen to me, she show me how to get friends and one of the ladies (Gayla) after we became friends she told me about this Fantastic Group:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: has been great. I have 3 daughters all over the USA , we get to travel a lot to see them. We're planning to retire this December, we can't wait. I have been married for 43 years and seems like it was yesterday:smooched: :smooched: :smooched: We have 3 grandchildren and they're precious to us. Hope to get to know
you better.:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Gayla - Hope things are good with Neil, take care and don't work to hard decorating.

Hope everyone has a great evening and have fun.

Gigi

jeffrey71

Hi Everyone!

I have been released from the knee surgeon! Ok to do what I can do without excess pain. I am good to run! But, no marathons! I have an appointment with a surgeon coming up to assess my abdominal tear. I will keep you posted. It is snowing here today and the roads are slick and the ground covered. Yuck!

Welcome to all the new folks! I am glad to see you all here!

I have entered a couple of triathlons for this summer! LOL

Jeffrey

bushman124

Thanks for the warm welcome. I am looking forward to getting to know everybody too. I also have a pet, he's my walking buddy, Kirby is a dachsund, terrior, miniature pincher mix and he's my shadow. He is 12 years young and when I married my husband we became fast friends, in fact just between you and me I'm sure he likes me best!

CALIECAT

Good Jeffrey Just in time so you can shovel the snow I remember how well you like that job.

Hi Kirby What a nice name. I bet you do like walking. My Sammy does too.



Gigi The soup was delioious. I made plenty so want have to cook for a few days. Thanks Barbiecat for the recipe

Buzz did you ever make that mushrooms soup? I have gone soup Mad.

gigi46

Hello Again,

Congratulations Jeffrey so happy for you.:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

JoAn - when I went to see your page I notice that you're in Elkhart, IN I used to work in Elkhart at Bock Industries back when I
was young in the Accounting Dept. My husband Mike is from South Bend Indiana, we visit his brothers all the time, is only 3 hours from Morton, IL, we were there in September. We lived there for 7 years before Mike got transfer to Illinois. Just wanted you to know, I like your home town. Welcome again:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Good night everyone

Gigi

weaklink109

Welcome newbies.

Marie, I also like the richness of coffee creamer, so what I do is mix the unsweetened vanilla almond milk about 50/50 with non-fat half and half (Land O' Lakes brand is available at the Walmart in my area.)

Connie, Glad to hear it sounds like your hubby is recovering well.

Marie, you asked about goals. Mine is to get through December maintaining within 5 lbs. of my lowest weight. In January, I will start in again and try to get another 25 lbs. off by April of next year.

So long for now.


Barb

Oldbat61

Hi everyone and thank you all so much for the warm welcome.

Just to let you know a bit more about me. My darling husband, Stephen, suffered a massive stroke and died in August 2009. It has been a hard year as I retired just about when he died and then moved home before Christmas last year. However, the move was closer to one of my three children. I have two daughters and one son and seven grandchildren. My daughter Dawn lives just 10 minutes drive away and she has four children - Ollie 18, Emma 16, Ruby 6 and Louise 3. Where I used to live was 3 hours drive away so visits were not that frequent. Now I see my Dawn and the family most weeks, sometimes two or three times a week, and it has been wonderful to spend time with them all. I have been able to have special time with the older ones - going to see a film, shopping or having a meal out; and have had fun with the little girls taking them to the beach in the summer and just having fun. My eldest daughter, Stephanie, lives in the NW of England, near Blackpool a big seaside town. She has three girls, Mikkala 17, Bella 15 and Sabrina nearly 10. It is about a 6 hour drive to them from where I live in Sussex (which is in the South of England) but I have managed to see them quite a lot this year; I am spending Christmas with them and that will be my 6th visit this year. My son Graham lives with his partner in London. It is about a 90 minute drive but there is also a very good rail connection so I have also managed a lot of visits to them too this year. It has been lovely to get into London to the shops, the museums, the restaurants, the theatres and the tourist sights - think I will be going a lot more next year.

We have had a lot of snow here overnight, about 8-12 inches so I have been doing my good neighbour bit; I have cleared and salted my front path and my neighbour's (she's 80). My bungalow is part of a managed complex for seniors, so I then joined two of my friends (like me they are fitter than most) and we have cleared and salted the paths around the complex. I have managed to burn nearly 500 cals doing that - better than my Pilates class (which was cancelled this week due to the bad weather!!). :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: So am now indoors, keeping lovely and warm with a cup of coffee that has had a tot of brandy added to it :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: - I'm feeling very sinful. :happy: :happy: :happy: :happy:

Anyway, think that's all my news for now. Oh, my goal is to hopefully have lost a stone (14lbs) by the end of the year even with Christmas goodies. But, I am not going to stress and will just make sure to knuckle down to stricte calorie counting and exercise come the New Year.

Pam

CALIECAT

Pam enjoy reading your post. We have not had anyone living in Uk to post on this thread . Sholud be quite interesting and educational too. A stone lost is equal to our 14 lb? Sorry to hear about you husband but glad you are living close to one of your daughters, My daughter Alice lives about an hour drive away from me , but she comes out every other Sunday and we goe out for Lunch and she helps me with my computer I make a list of things I need help on My other daughter , Kathy lives about an hour away in the other directions My son lives in St. Louis, Mo. My husband and i lived by ourself I don't drive anymore [ bad eyesight] and I really miss getting out on my own but so thankful I have a husb and to take me where I want to go.

Again welcome to our group

-Marie

Oldbat61

Marie, good to read a bit more about you. Where abouts in USA do you live? For the last few years my husband and I took a lot of cruises - he was disabled and in a wheelchair, so a cruise was a very safe holiday for him and much more relaxing for me. We liked Carnival so would visit the States and spend some time sightseeing before joining a cruise in Florida or LA. Apart from Florida and California we also spent some time in Tennessee, New Mexico and Virginia. I certainly enjoyed our trips and we were always made to feel very welcome; everyone was so helpful.

Have just spent a couple of hours helping decorate the communal lounge and dining room in our complex. It does look great now that the lights, Christmas trees and decorations are up. On Saturday we are having our Christmas lunch; we have it early as some of the residents will be spending the holidays with family and/or friends in other parts of the country. By celebrating early we hope that the bulk of our community is able to join in.

Anyway, bye for now from a chilly UK.

Pam

bushman124

Happy Thursday Everyone! It's a cold winter day here in Elkhart, Indiana. After watching my stories, I think I'll venture out in the cold and take Kirby for a walk. Something about the cold weather that is so invigorating!

Gigi, what a small world. I lived in South Bend all my life until I married my husband, Dave. He actually is from Duluth, MN and was transferred to Elkhart with McGladrey & Co. He now has his own accounting firm which I work at about once a week since I retired.

Pam, so sorry about your husband. What an incredible loss and adjustment you have had to go through and, I'm sure, still going through. I am happy to hear that you live near your daughter now.

Well, today the place that I have scheduled knee replacement surgery for in January called to tell me that I would have to come and pick up a walker and stockings before the surgery. OMG, a walker, isn't that just for old people! I don't know if any of you remember the movie "Brian's Song", it was a movie about the baseball player, Brian Piccalo and his best friend Gayle Sayers. Well Gayle Sayers had his knee replacement surgery right here in Elkhart by Dr. Klassen, the same doctor that will be doing my surgery. So..., I think I am in good hands! Hope you all have a great day, be talking to you later.

JoAn

delraybuzz

:happy: :flowerforyou: Well, what a lovely start to December, and a warm welcome to Pam, Lynn and JoAn! :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

There is so much here, that I am going to attempt to post using either Word (?) or Notepad ( ???) and then copy and paste. I missed yesterday, so anxious to chat with all my newfound friends! Wish me luck...

And Marie...you made my day with your lovely compliment! Thank you, love!

Back as soon as I've had lunch and figure out how to do the aforementioned posting! Remember, I can't touch type :blushing: !

Sandydur

Happy Busy Thursday!! I didn't take any pain or relaxer pills yesterday since I was going to bingo and wanted to drive. By the time I got home I was in a lot of pain.. The day before I had told my husband that my wrist was hurting and yesterday AFTER the doctor's appointment it was swollen. I had taken the meds before bed to help me sleep and this morning I was still in pain, so I went back to the doctor. I told her I wanted an MRI on my back and she had an x ray done of my wrist. The x ray showed nothing, she thinks it is an arthritis flare up. I am going this afternoon for an ultra sound of the wrist to rule out a blood clot and I have scheduled the MRI for 6:00 tonight. I just want to know what is going on and get it fixed, I don't want to live on pain pills the rest of my life. :noway:

Welcome to Pam, Lynn and JoAn. I love this group and they are very patient and listen to all my complaints. :blushing: It doesn't matter whether you check in once a week or everyday some one is always here to listen. Our common goal is to lose weight and maintain a healthy life style and with the support of each other it really works. I had done so well getting to my goal but these medicines are adding pounds. I am going to be patient and hopefully once I get these health issues figured out I can go back to my normal routine of exercise and diet.

My goal for this week is too get my inside Christmas decorations done. My goal for December is to get back to my goal.

Pam, my son just got back from business in London, he was there for six weeks. JoAn, when I was a child we had a summer place we went to in Bass Lake, Indiana. I still have a cousin who lives in the area. I was going to have knee replacement in September but changed my mind and canceled. Everyone who has had it or knows of someone who has had it said it was great.
I just wasn't ready and we had other health issues with my step son to worry about. Be sure to post a picture of your pup, we are animal lovers here.

Lynn, I hope your husband is doing well and is grateful for his second chance at life.

Time to get ready for the ultra sound, have a good afternoon.

CALIECAT

Connie. So glad to hear your husband is coming along nicely. But do take care of yourself too.

delraybuzz

BARB...so glad you started this month and left the link for newbies like me to find us here! I got lost last month and posted in October instead of November! Oerhaps it was you who found and redirected me, so double thanks! :smooched:
PAM...Happy to meet you across the “puddle”, and compliments on losing the 12 pounds! :drinker: This is such a wonderful thread, and they made me feel part of the group immediately! Sorry for your loss, and you sound like a determined “survivor”, so you'll make it through with lots of support! And I concur with Marie that you don't sound like an “oldbat”!!! By the way, I live in South Florida.
MARIE...Thanks for the sweet words, and I must say, although I like hot coffee BLACK, I love my flavored lightener in my iced coffee. When I realized how much fat and how many calories I was taking in, thanks to MFP, I quit drinking iced coffee! This website has really opened my eyes, as even in Weight Watchers, I never journalized so completely before! Nutritionally, it has been a wake-up call! Anyway, I just sent an email to Brooks Restaurant for the soup recipe to remind them, and in case they lost my email address! LOL! Also wanted to recommend you ask your Doctor or therapist for some simple balance exercises. Balance becomes a real problem is we “get better” (Never older!) :noway:
SANDY... If the darn medication is helping you, forget the weight for now. Mine came off within weeks of stopping. Of course I regained it and more, but it's getting under control once more. You have done incredibly well, and will again when you come through this painful period. Oh, by the way, prednisone retains water, so the more you drink, the more distressing the scale becomes. My advice: STOP WEIGHING while on Prednisone! (I couldn't follow that advice!!!!)...just read about your latest, and hope the pictures show NOTHING more serious than arthritis! Keep us informed :sad: :
LYNN...Did I miss you before, or shall I welcome you now? Glad Marie invited you in! Whatever your problem is/was, we certainly wish you a speedy recovery! :flowerforyou:
GAYLA...What fun that puzzle must be! I have a dear friend who received a roll up kind of mat that allows her to clear her dining table without losing the almost-finished puzzle! She has actually framed a couple of the most intricate ones she did of Hong Kong, where her son lives! It's a bit early, but a very happy birthday celebration to Dave! His is close to yours, I recall!
CONNIE...one never expects the “after the fact” blues, but you held yourself together in anticipation for awhile, probably not even recognizing your emotions and certainly never letting DH see them, so now it's over successfully, your emotions just take over and you cannot feel elation! :flowerforyou: Eventually, you will BOTH feel great and celebrate in style! Didn't he plan to celebrate at Christmas? SUPER! In the meantime, we are all here for whatever kind of support you would like! I truly relate as I've experienced that reaction after a long period of care taking, only I came down with pneumonia as a result! So don't feel there's anything wrong with your reaction! :ohwell:
IRENE...You always add nice thoughts to this thread. :flowerforyou:
JoAn...We feel the same about MFP, and this thread, and I hope I do as well as you with the weight loss. Keep up the good work! Sounds like we are 2 lucky ladies to have a second (in my case, 3rd) opportunity at love and a new life. After 33 years, we still feel like newlyweds! And I'll bet Kirby is favoring you, too! We both had 3 kids and now there are 8 blended grandkids, all in their 20s!!! Time marches on...
GIGI... I know you are looking forward to retirement. You will probably wonder how you ever found the time to work!!!
JEFFREY...What an attitude! Triathlons, yet, after knee surgery! I certainly hope the hernia is one easily taken care of, and I've 2 friends who successfully overcame the problem, and with your determination, we'll all be cheering you on this summer! Where are you entering? What a guy! :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
By the way, JoAn, walkers are NOT just for the elderly! And you will use it for only a short period and will be grateful to have it! Lots of luck with the knee!

I forgot about goals for the month; let me just try for a pound a week loss, and I hope I can do it! Got through Thanksgiving OK. Now onto better discipline!!!
Hope I can move this over to our thread! Well, I did, and I'll bet you're sorry!!! Too long, but love you all!

barbiecat

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
The dogs and I have just come back from the dog park where it was warmer and drier than it has been in a long time. While we were gone, Jake cleaned the bathrooms and tidied up some piles of paper that have been accumulating for a long time.

Barb, thanks for finding time in your busy schedule to get the new thread for December started..Maintaining your weight in December is a great goal

Pam, I’m sorry to hear about your husband and glad to hear how well you have found ways to keep your life moving….you sound like a very fit, energetic, and positive person…..I think you’ll be a great addition to our group…..welcome.

Connie, I’m not surprised that you’re tired after all the stress of waiting for your husband to go through that surgery….get the rest you need and let others help you as much as they are willing….don’t worry about how you are feeling, just take it one moment at a time

Lynn, good luck on the physical therapy

Marie, I’m glad you liked the soup….it sounds like you found an easy way to make it.

Sandy, your body is certainly not treating you well right now….I hope you were able to get all your decorations up…..I know how much you like them…..we don’t decorate much but we’ve put up what we have and are happy with the results…since we decorate for Hanukkah, not Christmas we had to have them up by yesterday and they’ll be all put away in a little over a week…..I know you’re grateful that the medication can deal with the pain….why don’t you stay away from the scale for awhile (can you imagine me suggesting that, since I’m the one who weighs myself twice a day LOL)

Gayla, your puzzle sounds like fun…..we can’t do puzzles here because of the cats….they would lie down on it or steal and chew the pieces….we used to do puzzles when we went to RV rallies.

Buzz, once you try writing your post in word or notepad you will be so glad you got out of your comfort zone and tried it…..one nice thing is that you can save it as you go along, close it for awhile if you have to do something else and use the spell checker before you copy and paste

Jeffrey, glad you’re released to exercise more----a triathlon sounds almost as strenuous as a marathon----you are amazing….I hope the other surgery doesn’t’ slow your training too much---will the snow slow your training or do you just have special shoes for running on slick surfaces?

Gigi, your retirement is coming up so quickly….are all your preparations for it coming along as they should?

JoAn, welcome to the group….this is a supportive and kind group of men and women who share their successes and challenges and encourage each other…we are glad to have you with us…when I found MFP almost two years ago, I had never posted on any on line community but it was so easy to do here and now I post regularly on three different threads and have made friends that mean as much to me as my face to face friends at home….if your dog gets to walk with you, I’m sure he likes you best….a good friend of mine recently had knee replacement surgery and she says it’s not for sissies but now that she’s almost recovered and about to go back to work she is so grateful to be able to walk and run without the pain that she’s had for so long.

To the new members----I live in NW Washington State at the top of the Olympic Peninsula….we have views of mountains when we walk or drive anywhere…..I live with my fabulous husband, Jake, two Standard Poodles (Brandy and Sasha) and two spoiled cats (Bernie and Haifa). I go to line dance classes three days a week, take the dogs to the off leash dog park almost every day and walk for 30-40 minutes while I watch them play, and try to do a lot of exercise in other ways. Losing weight has made me more energetic and don’t sit still for long.

weaklink109

Barbie,

Regarding your kitties" propensity for pawing at puzzles," here is an idea. Do the puzzle and when you are not working on it, put a tablecloth over it so inquiring paws can't reach it. Just a thought.

Barb