Senior Golden Sneakers -March 2011

Wow, that is great about the new car! So glad you posted the pic! Tell her to take you all to the beach this summer!

Marie, april fools day is weigh day for me too! Now how about that for a weigh in day!
going tobrowse recipes at the link you sent, thank you.
i got a book/magazine 'The Mayo Clinic Home Remedies'. Going to browse it to
Chili sounds good, i was surprised how many carbs are in chili, even no bean kind. I guess they add sugar or corn syrup. Homemade would be the way to avoid all of that.
it is raining buckets here and will be colder tomorrow. Our cats are so lazy on rainy days, they dont want to move. We had a good meal in the restaurant here. Lots of vegetables.
Judi said food costs have gone up in the UK. I guess it is everywhere. The gardeners will get renewed appreciation as costs keep going up. I would say farmers, but there about all gobbled up by the big corporations who havve 'growers'. Last summer was our communities first annual farmers market. It did very well, the local farms sold a lot of food. Lots of crafts, baked goods, and soaps and scented candles.
we bought lots of okra and put it in the freezer. It was eaten quickly. If we keep working all summer like we do now, we wont need any frozen foods or refrigerated either! The company just sent a message to all the drivers via satellite. That they are busy and please plan on going unless you schedule some time off. So I will get with Jim to see when we want to take off.
Have a good evening

There have been some some posts on here about the earthquake in New Zealand. I have friends and classmates who spend their winters in New Brighton which is 20 minutes from Christchurch. Their son, Steven lives there. I hadn't heard from them until tonight and thought you may want to read a first-hand account of events there.

Dear Family and Friends,

We just had another after-shock so some of you may have gotten a blank message as I clicked on the wrong button, sorry.

First of all, thanks for all your kind thoughts and prayers. We have been so blessed, not like many others in the area. 11 days later and our lives are starting to get back to something called “normal”. Our electric power was restored 2 days ago, yesterday it was water and today the internet. Wow….where to begin. Steven tells us that he has been keeping some of you informed about our general improving conditions but we thought we’d fill you in more detail if you’re interested in our quake experiences.

On the 22nd we had planned to take a morning bus to the city centre, see the flower show in the cathedral, have lunch, visit the main library and spend the day enjoying the city. We got lucky, Susan e-mailed us and we agreed to Skype with her and we changed our plans. Instead of being in one of two buses that were flattened by rubble, or in the the cathedral which collapsed, or the library which will need to be taken down, or the restaurant that was destroyed, we were Skyping with the Petrofskes around 12:50 pm when the quake hit.

Steven had come home for lunch and a chance to say hello. The building he would have been in was badly damaged and will have to be taken down. I guess the Schanen luck continues. Being less than 10 miles from the epicenter, the eastern suburbs, like New Brighton, took a major hit.

What a strange sensation is was to feel the floor drop and then start shaking. The house swayed a good 6 to 12 inches from side to side with all sorts of things flying about, off shelves and out of cupboards. When it finally stopped after more than a minute (they tell us), I (Ann) had a small cut from some broken glass and multiple bruises from being bounced around under the computer desk. Paul’s first thought was to check the structural integrity of the house, but Steven made us all sit down, get our pulses back to normal and calm down a bit. He said this was much worse than the first quake when they only lost a few wine glasses and all their services were intact. Now we had lots of broken glass, empty shelves and liquids all over the kitchen floor, pictures off the walls or tilted at odd angles.

His house as you can imagine has a few new cracks but is fine. He went to check on an elderly Dutch neighbor across the street but she was not home and her dog was hysterical with lots of broken pottery and things on the floor. Her neighbor came to check on us and told us where the house key was hidden so we could get the dog out. The lady was at some sort of day-care facility and was evacuated, we didn’t know where.

A few minutes ago, another neighbor came by with the news that she was evacuated to Auckland, in the north island, and we don’t know when she’ll be coming back. Now Gus has another dog to play with and who knows how long Jessie will be with us. We are also looking after a next door neighbor’s cat. They left the week before on a holiday and have stayed away with their two children and enrolled them in school where they are staying for now.

The time since the quake has been filled with all sorts of interesting experiences and problems. We think if you really want to meet and know people, try it during an emergency. Food, water and toilets were the first problems to be worked on. We took stock of what food we had and planned to eat what would spoil first. Surprisingly the Fisher and Paykel freezer section kept everything frozen for about 5 days. On Sunday a truck from some church was parked on our street handing out food packages. It was very humbling to be on the receiving end of food donations but we were very happy to get them. We have been cooking on the “barby” and one night even made a pizza. Now we have added a recipe called “quake pizza” to our cook book. Some nights we dined by candlelight to save our 2 flashlights.

We have kept up with the news by listening to a battery radio, the only means of communication we had. A day or so later, it was announced that a water tanker was delivered to a school near by and the fellows went with lots of empty containers. Turns out somebody forgot the spigots so they had to come back later. All this water had to be boiled before we could us it for cooking and brushing teeth so that kept us busy part of each day.

On Sunday, Steven and some of his workmates went to the office to retrieve equipment and he brought home a gas generator for us to us. We ran it 4 hours a day to keep the frig cold. Besides cleaning up all our messes here, we cleaned up the 2 neighbors kitchens as best we could. Steven took pictures first for the insurance companies. Paul and I cleared out their frigs and freezers and filled their waste bins. We have no idea when any of them will be back at this point.

Monday we had a real treat. Steven’s boss’s son invited us to his undamaged house to do a load of wash and we all took showers, how nice was that? Then we came home, I hung up wash and Steven went to meet with the people from his office and plan how to get going at a temporary location. It’s been a hectic week for him and I’m sure the weekend didn’t come soon enough.

A wee bit about the toilet (no pun intended)…since Steven has a rain barrel the water was used for occasional flushes. There is also a porta-loo at the end of the street along with postings of the latest health warnings. We have had over 700 after-shocks since the big one (several as I’m writing) and we’ve taped all the cupboard doors shut to prevent further damage. We think our years of scouting and camping have helped us get through things. We’ve been visited by a council volunteer who gathered info and asked us if we needed any help psychologically. We said we are our own support group.

They tell everyone to talk about their experiences and that’s what I am doing. Thanks for listening. We’ve kept busy with day to day things, lots of reading and playing gin. I’ve also had knitting.

That’s about it for now. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. Paul may have some pictures at a future date! Love to you all,

The Survivors, Ann, Paul and Steven

Thanks, Connie. First hand knowledge of survival and the right way to handle things. That Stephen is very level-headed, isnt he.
im glad they are getting the utilities back, comparitively soon. Ooopps, battery needs a charge

I failed to mention that these are not young folks, but our age. Paul will be 70 on May 1st, and Ann will be 70 in December. They live in Wisconsin 8 months of the year but spend December through March in New Zealand. I was so relieved to hear from them.

:flowerforyou: Sandy, I think you are very disciplined....you don't eat the fast food and junk food that you used to and you keep adding exercise to your day and as long as you keep participating in MFP you are keeping your weight loss journey near the top of your priority list

:flowerforyou: Phoebe, my first indications of weight loss were the ways my clothes fit that were different, so your longer pants probably are an indication that things are going well.

:flowerforyou: Marie, I remember a lot of the different food plans you've been on in the two years I've known you.....having a sponsor/partner in this new one might just be the thing you need.

:flowerforyou: Elli, glad to hear that you got to the gym this morning.:bigsmile: did the dogs talk you into taking them for a walk?

:flowerforyou: Judy, one of the hardest things for me to do is turn down food that someone has lovingly prepared......fortunately that doesn't happen often and most of my friends know that my eating is "different"

:flowerforyou: Marilyn, I've been watching what I eat for over two years and I don't feel deprived.......except occasionally I have fantasies of eating the whole jar of peanut butter:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

:flowerforyou: Connie, thanks for sharing the letter from your friends in New Zealand.

:flowerforyou: Gayla, you are such a great mom to Neil......you always come from a place of love.

:flowerforyou: I went to a gathering this evening that included homemade chocolate cake and I thanked the hostess and didn't eat the cake.:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

Struggling to finish my tax returns this weekend :grumble: but when I opened thisemail, I knew I had to post it for all my dear cat lovers out there!
______________________________________________________________________________________________:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
Chap Stick
We had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died. Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on the mat in our bathroom. We have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old.

The middle one is Eli. Eli really loved chap stick. LOVED it. He kept asking to use my chap stick and then losing it.

Finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom that I kept my chap stick and explained he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer after he finished because I used it sometimes several times a day.

That year, on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around to try to get ready for church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box.

I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.

We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car, and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally go into the bathroom.

There was Eli. He was applying my chap stick very carefully to Jack's rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped..."

Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right - their little bottoms do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind. And the only question to ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth!?!

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever, because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize... they've been using your chap stick on the cat's butt.


:ohwell: Buzz

Welcome jeri ....you have come to the right site.

Thanks Connie, for the info on your friends. To me, that makes their good coping skills understandable, their ages, I mean. With maturity often comes wisdom, and I love being around wise people, hoping it will rub off!
Gayla, congrats on your patience, once again, with the certain person who is making Neils life stressful. I wish it was your clone working there, you would be so much better at the job. I wonder about this persons training.
Barbie, congrats to you on the chocolate NOT cake. Lol.
ms. Mae, 30 hours awake is tough, and I dont know how you did it. Are you caught up now? I hope so, for your sake, and I hope you dont get sick again.
Hi Jeri, and welcome. Here in the states, I've noticed a bit more attention is being given to the gluten free diet. Mixes are arriving on shelves, and recipes abound. Congrats on your losses so far, and be careful on your exercise regimen.
Buzz, what a cute story! It may be just the ticket for my cat with a chapped backside, although, Im not sure she will let me try it!
lynn, I know Irene was going to her sons in OR. Maybe she doesnt access. She was going for a couple of weeks, I Think.
Be safe

Oh Buzz, what a wonderful story! We have a shop in York that only sells things to do with cats, and one of their best sellers is a cat shaped holer for your teatowels, and guess where you put the towel?
Well winter seems to be hanging on over ther!After our big freeze in December we've gone back to our usual spring weather.
Welcome Jeri!
Ah Gigi! I have nightmares about losing my passport! Which reminds me I must renew it.
Gayla, it must be so hard for you. If it's anything like the UK then the carers in homes are paid minimum wages. No one , even the nurses appear to have a vocation these days.
Sunny again, but cold, and the village is full of walkers who go down all the small footpaths, even the ones that don't go anywhere! But it's on the map so away they go.
Quark is " virtually fat free soft cheese" 21 cals/ 30g. It's ok mixed into something but you wouldn't spread it on a cracker. Well you could but it's very bland.
I did The 30 Day Shred again yesterday, (2 days running) and today my thighs feel very heavy so I'm going to treat my knees to some consideration and give them a rest!
I hope that your weather is sunny and you all have a peaceful Sunday. Judi.

:flowerforyou: Welcome, Jeri, I hope you will enjoy being part of this group and learn some useful tools for your weight loss journey. I'm sure your meal planning with gluten, dairy, and eggs not being part of it, is a challenge. On the other hand, you have the perfect response to the offer of a lovingly made homemade dessert

---

since you can have neither flour nor eggs, it wouldn't be rude to say "no, thank you" to chocolate cake or most other desserts.

:flowerforyou: my friend who has been on a many year weight loss and maintenance journey with a 12 step program, tells people "that's not my food" when offered something that is not on her food plan.....it works for her and I have adopted her thinking as one more tool for me.

:flowerforyou: today is my Isagenix cleanse day so everything is off limits beyond the cleanse day products.....I'll give myself a break from exercise except going to the dog park and maybe some walking around the house to add some more steps to the count on my pedometer.........I wonder how many of my steps are related just to dog walking and getting up and down to let the cats in and out :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

:flowerforyou: Gigi, OMG I can't imagine the terror of misplacing your passport in a foreign country....crossing national borders is a nerve wracking experience under the best of circumstances

:flowerforyou: Sandy, Bryanna looks so happy with her new car......when I got my drivers' license my parents allowed me to drive the family cars if I learned how to change a tire and washed the cars every week.:laugh: :laugh:

:flowerforyou: It's not actually raining here but the sky looks threatening.

happy sunday! I love weekends. I made it to the gym again this morning early. And yes BARBIE - the dogs did talk me into a walk yesterday. we just got a little bundled up (well, I did neway!:laugh: ) Now i'm cooking - rib eye steaks, 5 cheese ziti and homemade sourdough bread that will be going home with my kids. Definitely Not "my" food! I'm so amazed (BARBIE) that you don't feel deprived. I've been doing this for 5 years now (since i lost 40 lbs with Metabolic Research) and i STILL feel deprived sometimes - either that or i give in to the temptation. You never seem to............you amaze me! How often do you do your cleanse? and on those day you only use the isagenix products? I just like food too much!


MAE - i don't know how you do 30 hours straight. There's no way i can do that anymore. I'm going to quit complaining about working too much. You humble me!:embarassed:


BUZZ - omg - the chap stick story. TOO funny!!!!!!:laugh: just the way he looked at you and said "chapped"! Dakota, my younger boy, used to eat the crunchy cat food. His older bro or i would catch him with a mouthful and he'd smile around it and say "it's sweet!"

Hi JERI and welcome to the best group around! You'll get all the support here. Although, i don't know if any of us are gluten, egg, dairy restricted. That's tough! We all do lots of different stuff for exercise from dancing around our kitchens (which i've been doing today), treadmills and gym equipment, exercise tapes to yoga of all different types! Just don't get bored with what you do. I like to change it up as much as i can.

JUDI - thanks for explaining quark - that sounds like very usefull stuff! When you say 2 days running, how far, for how long do you run? It's just not something i'm good at. I alternate with walking, but really only jog for 5 minutes at a time........

MARIE - you're about 7 weeks ahead of us - as a rule we're safe to plant everything on Mother's Day. Of course, i get lettuce, onions, garlic in before that.........

On Tuesday i get to BABYSIT for Kodi Grace - for the first time they're leaving her! Just for a couple hours, her Mom has to give a safety meeting that morning. I'm SO excited!:happy: :happy:

Everyone have a great Sunday!

l, e

Jeri, I dont get to exercise much. I did join a gym but when working, I dont have time to go. I go when I am home, and generally do the recumbent bike. That is all I feel comfortable with right now. I have a strong dislike for treadmills, just the feeling of never being able to 'catch up' gives me the creeps!
Marie, please tell Alice how much I admire her for being such a good daughter. She obviously loves you both so much, but she should know that it shows in her actions.
i know you are looking forward to garden season too. Jim says he wants to do a soil test this year before planting it. I think there may be too many cat 'visits' in there, and the ph is affected. Lol!
we are doing laundry in a truck stop, e are in the tv room while I type this, the room is full of drivers, watching nascar racing and talking about big animals in the road. Bad language notwithstanding, they are funny stories. One blew his horn at a moose, and the moose attacked his truck!
Dh loves nascar, so he is happy, and I have my phone and a readers digest. It is the feb issue, on the cover is an article about the new science of dieting. It confirms the met B theories. Very interesting.
Hope you all are having a safe and happy Sunday. Monday for Judy in NZ.

Oh Marie, I am so sad to hear that about Alice. Tell her she is in my prayers. I am sure that she will be fine, but Im sorry she has to go thru it at all.
I'm. Sorry and angry for what has happened to your granddaughter. She has given him more than he should have by way of second chances. Hope she is finished with him now. I think it is one of the most cowardly things a person, male or female, can do to another.
Grrrrrr!
love you Marie

Hello ladies;

BARBIE, put that peanut butter fantacy into real yummy quarter sized peanut butter cookies, you have options to cut out ingredients and replace with lower fat and sugar, one every now and then would be nice, especially as a treat for keeping your health strong.:happy:

CONNIE, thankyou for sharing the letter, best wishes to your friends.

BUZZ, I'm hiding my chapsticks from now on. Grandchildren can make surprise entrances into our lives, so I'm getting practiced, I have five cats in the house!:laugh:

JERI, welcome, I have a sister that is gluten intolerant and another sister who is lactose intolerant. I do know of some of your woes, but hang in there, you can make some healthy foods that are very filling. If you find you are under a bit of pressure by trying to loose weight and exercising at the same time, try to tell yourself you are portioning your foods better, and substituting better filling foods to make the calories work for you. The exercise is there so you can see how the better choices are working the calories to shape the body better.---There is always a better side of the truth that is not so bad to listen to. Good luck in your journey!:drinker:

MARIE <<<HUGS>>>:flowerforyou: Alice will have a good chance if the doctor is right. :flowerforyou: Hopes to your granddaughter that she can get help with her emotions and recuperate to a stronger person. Is there a womens' shelter around her somewhere she can get help from. They can do a lot for her, set her up with a safe home if the boyfriend gets out on bail or what ever the case in the near future.. if she feels he will come back for her. My hopes something works out for her.

Well so far so good on the exercises, my pelvic muscles are getting sore from using, so I am lessoning my sets to do just a few, tomorrow I will go back to the routine. Forgot to weigh in this morning, will do tomorrow. To all a good day, catch you tomorrow after the dentist!

Marilyn

:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: WOW! Read ALL the posts to here, and enjoyed every one, met new members, learned new veggie tricks, almost lost my breath along with Barb's wallet , and Connie, what a wonderful story (real) from NZ!! I can't recall everything but it was good to be with you all again, and loved the song we had to "Get up" with until it made me go P from all the shakin'! HELLO again.
Wanted to ask GIGI where she stays in South Florida that she prefers coming into Ft Lauderdale. That airport drives us nuts, it's so huge, and we love Palm Beach International Airport, which is north of where we live, and smaller. Let me know where, and I hope your Mom can get the help she and her kidneys need! Appreciated your story about Rome airport and your Passport. Almost a nightmare :sick: !
As I said earlier, we have tickets to see Mal Z Lawrence tonight and he can be so funny...which I need tonight! So gotta cover all those black and blue marks (still there on my cheekbones!) and dress in my best jeans, and strut on out! Love you all...
Buzz

Hello again,

Marie - you're a rock girl so much going on in your life and I'm so glad you're sharing with all of us, I know that helps the stress and gives some relief to be able to help your love ones:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: So very sorry about Alice I know in my heart she will be fine, I will burn a candle for her on friday morning at the church, so our prayers will be with you and Alice, your granddaugther needs to get out of that relationship, needs help and hope she gets it.:noway: :noway: hope she got all the help she need for take care of her face. What a jerk:explode: :explode: :explode:

Buzz - We're staying with our daugther in Sunrise, we're flying into Miami Airport because we did not have any other way, flights were not possible during the time we needed to come, the Fort Lauderdale airport is much smaller and a lot close to Sunrise.
My Mom was take to the Emergency room yesterday because she was in a lot of pain, got a precription and she is feeling better
today, I will be taking her to the Dr's on wednesday afternoon, I will feel better after I get to talk to the Dr.

Jeri - I go to the Gym at least 4 time a week, that works for me.

Hope everyone will have a good evening,

Gigi