WHATS HAPPENING FOR MONDAY!!!!!

 

It sure was hot today wasn’t it? Thought we were suppose to have some low humidity days. They got it wrong again huh?

Joe and I dosed ourselves really good with OFF and went over into the shade garden today and did some cleaning. Need to put down some insect repellant in the grass and all over. The mosquitoes seem to be really bad in the shade over there. This winter we are going to get a tree service to come in and get rid of a couple of trees that are in the way of where I want to put a nice above ground pool at next year.Other wise they will drop stuff into the pool all the time. One is a big Cedar and an Elm tree too . I guess we might could do it but there are some powerlines close so afraid that we might hit them. That wouldn’t be good at all.

 

WE are going to work over there again tomorrow , cleaning up a couple of flower beds and adding some soil there around the plants that I have in there. Have lots of Hostas and Astillbes. There. Have to go to Gainsville to see my brother and get a load of Horse Manure from him to mix into some dirt I have  

 

Just got off the phone with Vesta. She has been gone on vacation and then got back and the garden really needed care and tending so has been working there all the time.

Promised me she would be at the July meeting of the Circle of Friends. Sure hope so I miss her.

 

Got an email from Susan, Andrews  wife , she said we wouldn’t recognize him any more.

He promised he would get on and post we will see. I sure hope so I really miss him too. I know he was being kept really busy with school but hope he can get on for a few minutes once in a while. Thanks Susan for emailing me.

 

 

TAMMY: wow doesn’t that feel good to be able to work like that? I love to be that tired and it be from working just downright hard work. Of course I guess I am weird

I like working muscles but hate exercise. Lol unless it is completive.

Thanks for restarting the prayer post I know it means a lot to me to be able to go on one spot and see who all is needing prayer.

 

 

BRENDA: Hey good to see you again. Sorry you are in so much pain. And I will remember you and Dennis both in prayer for the pain you both are in.

Happy to know that you and Tammy are coming up next week to the meeting. Are you all going to stay overnight somewhere? Hopefully all of you will go out after the meeting , probably to Village Inn .

I just ignore most of my pain so I can work in my yard . My knees don’t bend but very little any more. My ortho guy says that he doesnt  see the snynvisk helping much anymore. I think I will have to have knee surgery before too much longer. I will only do surgeries like this in the late fall after the flowers no longer need me lol

 

I am really liking the ab lounger so far. I went on Amazon .com and found theres at a pretty good price. The shipping was as much as two of the chairs tho. So don’t know you may be able o find it locally for about the same price. My stomach muscles are a little sore but not bad and then I turn on my side and try to work the waist line, you know the love handles.?

 

Did you do your post on Word and then copy and paste it to the OH site? That may work best for you that have slow dial up.

I am having trouble with my keyboard. Im taking it into Radio shack tomorrow and see what is going on with it. Some times the letters don’t want to print. Ive had it for 6 months now and already have all the lettering worn off of all my keys. Lol It might just be worn out don’t know

 

SHEILA: I will bring you a sample of my protein powder to the meeting . it is 24 grams of protein per scoop but I had 8 oz of soy milk and that make it 30 grams.

I know this as  a fact that if you load your body up on protein before surgery you will heal better. And the protein is partially what makes you lose weight. Besides water and exercise.

LOL girl you are funny. The ab machine is called the AB Lounger. I got mine form Amazon.com , there are all sorts of places on line that you can find them .

 

I should know by the meeting if Sugar, my sister is going to be there on Saturday night. For the reunion. Ok? If she isnt then you and Mona are welcome to stay with us in the other bedroom. Ok? Will be fun I know.If she does stay then I know we can find someone that you can share a cabin with.

 

 

BEVERLY B.:

This is the protein powder that a lot of us really swear by and it taste great. I buy the vanilla flavor because I can make it into any flavor I have a taste for a the time.

This morning I made a cinnamon , carmel flavored on , Rianne said that and it sounded good and it was.

Slim fast doent have much protein does it? I don’t really know but seems like It has too many carbs. And not enough protein.

 

You aren’t alone , when  I was pre-op that was all  I could think about day and night. Felt like I was being a little self absorbed but had to be to get everything right.

 

 

JANET; Got an old wives helpful hint. To kill chiggers, and stop the itching almost immediately. Use bleach.plain common household bleach. Take a washclothe an pour a little bleach on it. Then rub that over all the chigger bites. It might burn slightly if you have scratche them raw but will be for just a minute.and it kills the chigger. Once they are gone it stops itching.

You can put the powder down in the dog pen and turn a sprinkler on the area if it isnt going to rain again soon.

We are going to do our yard this week sometime. It helps with mosquitoes

Too. Also ticks and fleas, and other creepy crawlies lol

Poor little Melissa. I certainly hope she gets to feeling better when she get off of that antibiotics. Maybe then she can get rested . I cant believe she came over to where your daughter was moving from in that heat. I guess she is trying to get her strength back.

Didn’t you say she has an appointment with her gyn this week sometime?

 

So is the frig still not working ? that is a bummer. Wish I had an extra one I would give it to you . I did have a small ref up until about 3 weeks ago and could have let you have it then till you got something else cause it wasn’t anything to look at but did work. See I knew there was a reason I didn’t want to get rid of that. Darn.

 

How long has it been with the kitty now? Hopefully a week will tell on her. That is such a shame . probably the snake bite wouldn’t have done as much damage if she hadn’t been so little.

Sorry about the argument with your mother. I have found that the quickest way to lose contact with your child is tell them their spouse isnt welcome. Even if the child is thinking the same thing they wont agree then. You just continue to do what you know is best to keep your relationship with your daughter working .

 

I agree about the intestinal infections after surgery. There have been a lot of them for it to be coincidence.

Sorry about the potty chair but im sure you will sell it and will help you all out. Maybe you will make enough on the sale to buy you a new ref. or get that one fixed. I had one do that once , there is a little part up in the top somewhere that does that. I cant for the life of me think of it. Has to do with the fan or something I think. Call the repair men and ask them they can maybe tell you what it is. Then you all can fix it.

 

If you can find an Ab lounger at a garage sale you shouldn’t have to pay more than 30.00 for it. Mine cost 27.00 but then that much in shipping too lol and it is brand new.

So even if you count the shipping it wasn’t more than 60 dollars.

 

CHERYL: cant wait to see the wedding pictures. Sounds like you had a beautiful simple wedding that meant something to you both. I think sometimes these 1000s of dollars wedding just get so out of hand an almost silly at times. I love the simple weddings that have meaning to both .

 

Honey I don’t know anything about the liver enzymes If you had blood work done before you had surgery maybe your pcp can look back at that and see how your doing now compared to then..

 

I certainly wish you would come to the COF support meeting this month. On the 23^rd. Would love to meet the new Mrs Bell.

 

 

Ok now we have two surgerys this morning. Rianne and Chelle. I know we all know that but just wanted to say one last little reminder . to pray for these two girls as they go into surgery , that God will watch over them and guide the surgeons hands. Hope to hear about them soon today.

 

LOVE AND JOY AND PEACE ABOUNDS

JAN

 

 

Hello Everyone,

We had a good day at church yesterday. My husband preached a great sermon, one that really makes you think. Am I really ready to stand before God when I die? Is he going to say "Welcome my child" or "Depart from me for I never knew you".

Our church was built back in 1950 and it has a basement that leaks and seems to always have water in it. Well you know with water there is mold!!! They've tried to fix it before but to no avail. It really needs to be replaced by a new church and tear the old building down.

I am allergic (as most people are) to mold. I don't know if I have said before or not but I play guitar and sing specials at church. Well you can imagine what that mold does to my throat!!!!

Well anyway I did manage to sing 2 songs and it didn't run anybody off so I guess it was tolerable. lol

Friday Dennis and I were over at Clearwater Lake to check out a new hike and bike trail they built. We walked it Friday and then Saturday we rode our 10 speeds. It's a good trail because most of it is asphalt and about 5 foot wide. A small part of it is gravel. It's 3 miles long. We are going to start going there 3 days a week and then 2 days do something at the house. I have slacked in the exercise department because it hurts my back and hip to walk a lot, although I can ride my bike easier. My weight loss is at a plateau and I am going to do some form of exercise and get my protein in each day because I need to lose 32 1/2 more pounds to get to my goal. Dr. H. said he thought I could lose down to 160# but I want to see 150#. He said I had probably another 6 months or so for the weight to come off pretty good. So I have got to step it up.

Jan ~~~~~ You said you were pretty busy at work Saturday, I was always told that was job security!! lol What is the proper way to measure yourself for a bra? Right now I’m wearing a 38 DD but I don’t know if that’s right because I do have a problem with boobs sticking out the top sometimes. I wish I would have lost more boob. I guess I really did lose a lot they look like long skinny flat balloons now but I would have liked to have lost more cause when you get done wadding them up they still fill that DD cup! I'm glad you heard from Susan about Andrew sure have wondered what happened to him. Yes Tammy and I are going to stay the night, not sure where at yet.  I write my post in Microsoft Works Word Processor and then paste it in. So maybe I won't loose it.

Tammy ~~~~~~~~~~~~ I got tired just reading your post! lol It does feel good to have more energy doesn’t it. I am having a problem with having no energy. I talked to Dr. H. about it last month and he said that I was taking the wrong calcium and was not absorbing my vitamin D very well. So he told which calcium to take and to start giving my B12 shots twice a month instead of one time so I did that this month and am hoping I start feeling more energy. Can’t wait to meet you Monday!

Sheila ~~~~~~~~ I use the ON (Optimum Nutrition) Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein Powder. I, like Jan have been using the Vanilla Ice Cream flavor. When you mix it with milk you count the protein in the milk and that’s where it adds up to 30gms. If you like pineapple I have been taking canned chunk pineapple and putting it in a freezer bag and freezing it. Then when I make a shake I use the frozen pineapple in it YUM.

Beverly ~~~~~~~~~ I feel for your pain. You have to watch the Slim Fast because I think even the High Protein one has quite a few carbohydrates. When you mix up your shake make sure it is REAL COLD because if it’s not I don’t care for it much.

Doesn’t it just infuriate you when someone does that with animals!! I mean I would like to do that to them!! When I look into a cat or dogs eyes I just melt. I can see the love that my fur babies have for me when I look into their eyes. You know they will love you no matter what, they don’t care how you look or whether you are heavy or skinny just as long as they can sit with you and you pet them. If people could be a little more that way the world would be a better place.

Janet ~~~~~~~~~~ I’m so sorry you are having such a horrible time now!

I just hate it the way your mom is treating you, she should be supporting you and not causing you more stress. My mother was the greatest mom a person could have ever wanted!! I miss her terribly, I will never get over missing her and daddy. My mom passed away a week after I turned 40. She was only 66, had a massive heart attack, runs in the family. Daddy passed away 5 years after that. I will pray for your sake that she start taking better care of herself, cause when we don’t take care of our self’s we really are cheating our families. I learned that after my WLS. I do hope you can get some of your health problems eradicated when your insurance kicks in.

I have been told the only thing left to help my back would be surgery. It scares me so much. I have had 2 sisters and an aunt and cousin have several back surgeries apiece and it hasn’t seemed to help them enough for me to say yes to it yet. And not to scare you but my cousin that had the surgery died after her last surgery from a blood clot exploding her heart, she was only 38. I know that with any surgery you have a risk of blood clots and I don’t think she moved around as much as she should have. But I guess I’m just gun shy.

I will be praying for you and your family and I do hope that things will start getting better for you. Love you.

P.S. Please give Mel my love and tell her I hope to see her next Monday.

Cheryl ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congratulations on getting married!! Sounds like you had a great wedding! I have had elevated enzymes quite a few times before due to fatty infiltrates in my liver. After my WLS my enzymes came down as I lost the weight. The last time I had blood work done they were just about normal.

Rianne and Chelle I pray you will be up and giving the nurses a run for their money within a few hours of your surgeries, God Bless You.

 

Well that’s it for me. I pray everyone has a wonderful day.

Talk to you all later.

Love Brenda

 

 

 

 

Brenda...      Girl, I almost hurt myself laughing so hard as I read the part of your post about measuring boobies....lol!!  I'm not sure either about the measuring. It's hard to find bras that fit when your big...the ones I have either slide up and everything falls out the bottom, dig in or make me look like I'm about to explode...lol        Somedays I seriously think I just need to roll them up like you said but I'm gonna use a clothes pins or chip clips to hold them in place!.....lol      I'm sure your singing didn't bother anyone but more importantly, I bet God loved it! Love & Prayers, Deb M

Morning all...      Jan...the OFF I'm using is OFF smooth n dry. I use the stuff in the spray bottle. They have wipes and pump spray too.      As for the mosquitos..plant lemon basil or probably anything with a citrus smell to it in the area where your having the problems. I have also noticed if I get out and spray for bugs in the early morning while the dew is still on I get better results. Also, don't forget to spray up in the trees, especially willows if you have them and watch which way the winds blowing...you don't want a face full of that stuff. Don't forget bushes high and low too.      Jan, before I forget could you send me a copy of the pic you have of me at the picnic...the one you have on your profile. Thank you!      As for the idea for keeping the kids safe....Amen! I am so tired of hearing about these kids being taken, killed and thrown away like yesterday's trash!      My next goal will be trying to get some law going about people text messaging and driving. I just saw on tv tonight about 5 teenage girls in a suv killed after hitting a semi head-on....they believe it was due to the suv driver busy with text messaging. They said a text showed up on a friend's phone just seconds after the collision time...how sad!!      As for prayer...my oldest sister Connie can use some. I got a strange message from her on my answering machine today! She called while I was at Church this morning but I didn't see the message until tonight...too late to call!  She sounded sick or depressed and I could tell that whatever was going on, she needed prayer. I don't think it was an emergency or no time would of been too late enough to call!      Church service was awesome this morning...the Good Lord was working on people before I ever got there! I love an spirit lead, emotionially filled service!       The sermon was about those of us that think we are perfect Christians, too perfect to see those that arn't as high up on that ladder! Some toes got stepped on at that service! Thank you Lord!!      My husband's middle son...the one that his mother abandoned at 1 year of age and that I have raised as one of my own has invited us to his wedding. Problem is, he believes he is pagan and the service is to be as such! I had to call my pastor to see if I would be breaking any rules by attending...lol He said everything should be fine as long as I don't participate in the service. I know I will be prayed up and wearing the Lord's armor that day! I can see it in the newspaper now...the Mother of the groom was dressed to the nines in full spirtual armor!!...lol If his real Mother shows up, I bet she will be dressed gothic....she was the last time we saw her!...Lord help us all!      It's kinda funny with David and I deciding to do our re-newing of vows next year, our 25th year together. Our kids are all wanting to get married too, not at the same time but believe it or not three out of the four of us want it in the same month and year...lol.       My daughter and her finacee would be October 4th, mine and David's would be October 25th and Roy and his finacee want theirs on Halloween (Oct. 31). The youngest son and his finacee haven't set a new date yet. The old one was cancelled and with his finacee being pregnant we have no idea what's going to happen there...she is due December 4th.      David and I originally got married in Vegas but I have always wanted to redo our vows in a Church service and now I have the perfect pastor! The probable date will be October 25, 2008 but don't write it in ink just yet. I will let you all know the for sure date as soon as I have one. You will be getting invitations as well.       I little bad news guys....David told me yesterday when he got home from work that he won't be able to get off work for the reunion, his boss is taking that week off for his vacation....I'm sorry!       We still have time though and you know what, I've heard rumor around here that we have some pretty good pray warriors on here with us and with what I'm hearing, our Lord does work miracles! Any of you hearing that?...lol      Well, I'm getting into novel length now so I need to sign off.... Love & Prayers to all and if your in need, your on my list...Deb M

Hi Jan and all. Can someone please fill me in on the reunion???? I have the banner 1/2 done and need to know time, place, cost etc. I posted earlier but guess it got lost. I am looking forward to being there. Hello again to all and and looking forward to catching up. Julia

Good morning Jan and board... I am glad to get back on here as We went on vacation then back and garden looked ready to burst at the seams I have been canning and putting things in the freezer, first garden I have had ina while. Julia it is so good to hear from you. Brenda bring your music with you to the reunion..I would love to hear you and I know everyone would.. Jan thinks for the phone call... How Is Mel doing? God bless those having surgery today...my prayers are with them. How are you doin Janet? so many new ones so welcome to you all........Vesta

 Jan, hahahaha silly me thats me a true blonde all these years hahaha what threw me was u said supper dupper ab lounger so tahts what i was looking for LOL i should of known it was a ab longer been looking for 1 for awhile but walmarts  are like a 100 bucks. i do have my spare room set up with a bike, buns and thighs rocker, a ablifterplus( dont like) and 1 of them OLD vibrater shaker thingey hahaha. and my living room is set up for aeroebic tapes and after today my computer will be in kitchen,,,my house wont look like a house but its clean and my 1st priority is for us to be able to have a place to workout.. sincei have been coming on here ive realized that i need to put ME 1ST so thats what im doing, is that so wrong of me? the kids dont understand now when mom says no i gotta do exercises and etc cant come out..just like the other day they wanted to take me out to eat at KFC well i took em but i also took em back to my house to eat and made me a shake, they wasnt to happy about that, but they have to realize 1 meal at KFC could throw me for a loop...to many times ive did that and then say well i start again tmrw and it could be tmrw or it could A WEEK OR A MONTH be4 i got back to it...so this time its gonna be ALL about ME 1st.....is that wrong of me im i being to selfish????   And as to my stopping smoking i have put it off a couple weeks dont think i can handle both same week a new diet and smoking, a friend told me the almanac says Aug2nd good day to quit so thats what im aiming for then i will have a month under my belt of this protein powder drink diet... which some body would hurry up and tell us about Rianna and Chelle im so excited to hear how they are, im saying a prayer all went good...time for me to shut up and go make my shake ( im late) and then move this computer to kitchen so we have more room for exercising equip..  HAve a GREAT day my friends Love

Hi Jan and OH Family, I cant believe its Monday already-Dang. I feel like I was robbed of time this past weekend and I hate that feeling~ Lets all say a prayer for our girls-Chelle and Rianne and that they have safe surgeries and speedy recoveries....It will be so nice to welcome them to our ever-growing bench! I just love them to pieces and cant wait to hear something about them today. I saw some posts about a Bonnie too-and although I dont know who that is-lets say a prayer for her as well. Thanks. Let me say-remember when I said that there was a black cloud following me around? Well-I got a call last night-about 6:30-and my daughter Stephanie and my dad were in a car accident last night. My dad was banged up pretty bad-and Steph was complaining of back pain and pain in the nape of her neck. They were rear-ended, not once-but twice-and the 90 year old man that hit them-when he got out of the car-didnt ask how they were doing-his first comment was-The Dr. said I could drive. He claims that his shoe got caught on the gas pedal. Dad broke away from him once when their bumpers stuck-and then they got rammed again! So-off to the ER for some x-rays and such and then they gave them both pain meds and some flexiril. Thank God it wasnt any worse than it was for them-and that the car can still be driven. Steph was upset because she had on her sleep pants (Tinkerbell jammies) and no shoes-they were just running to get a bite to eat-and the old man YELLED at Steph for not having her shoes on and told her that she shouldnt drive barefoot-and Steph wasnt driving!! They got all the names and phone numbers for all the witnesses-which is good so this old man doesnt tell everyone she was driving-she doesnt even have her permit yet and is afraid to drive everything but her little golf cart she gets to drive when she cleans rooms at the motel. She was such a wreck last night! Please pray for them both that they will be okay and recover quickly. Thanks. We got to swim with the boys yesterday, that was so much fun and relaxing (yay), then we took them to town to get an ice cream cone from McDonalds and I went to Food 4 Less to get some milk and misc items we needed. We came home, I made chicken, corn on the cob and salad for dinner and then we played a couple of games of horseshoes with Jon....He was funny in the truck, cause the ice cream was melting faster than he could lick it-and he got it on the inside of his elbow (cho**** cream) and I told him to lick it off-LOL-and he got the giggles so bad-that Mike couldnt drive because we were laughing so hard watching him trying to lick the inside of his elbow and giggling so hard I thought he was going to wet himself!! Then Mike tried fixing my phone-either the charger is broke or my battery life is gone and the battery needs replaced-since my phone has seen its better days-it doesnt matter really-just going to be on the hunt for a new one and go from there. Mike also tried fixing the fridge-there was nothing in the drain pan-the freezer is still working (thank God) because the deep freeze is full and we couldnt get all of the stuff in the freezer into the deep freeze. We have access to a fridge in the morton building-so we took some stuff out there. The fridge that is here is not ours-so Mike said we wont be paying to fix it-it says in our lease that IF the fridge goes out-its our responsibility to replace it-so we will end up buying a new one (even if its used-but new to us)-and it will be ours forever. They will have to come in and take the old one out and dispose of it however they want to-but Im not paying for it to be moved or disposed of, either. Dont get me wrong, I love the people we lease the house from, and one day it will be ours legally-but since its in the lease that it wont be replaced-thats fine-but Im not going to be responsible for disposal fees for something thats not mine. Question for anyone with a tip on this: We were swimming yesterday and this happens every year-but usually not this early in the year-but we ALL were getting bit by horse flies. Now-dont get me wrong, I am no wussy, but that HURTS like crap! Its like they land on you and before you can swat at it-its bitten you and it stings like its a wasp bite or something. It usually doesnt get like this until right before we close the pool for the year-so usually the end of August, beginning of September. Short of not being in the pool-does anyone know of anything to put out or spray around the pool area etc that will keep these from biting us? When we were out playing horseshoes-we thought we heard thunder (wasnt suppose to rain until Tues) and then saw a lot of lightning????? I couldnt believe it-I mean, it was hotter than hot out there, but-so anyway-came in the house and turned on the weather-and of course, there were a few scattered thunderstorms in our county-and of course, we got one! We had planned on getting back into the pool with the boys, but not with lightning going on! WE were thinking they could come work on the water main this morning or tomorrow morning before more rain hits....but it rained just enough to make the holes that are dug full of water again! Our little kitty was just miserable yesterday. I wrapped a towel around her and held her for a couple of hours-she just laid there and didnt even try to get out of the towel. The way she was looking at me-was that look like-Mommy, help me-I dont feel good-please fix it....Her eye was worse than it was the day we found her. Guess we stopped treating it too soon-we thought she was all cleared up and did it one extra day after it looked good. So-I cleaned her eye area real well-and then Mike cleaned her wound, soaked up all the puss on and around it-and then put medication on her. She really needed a bath again-that infection stinks and makes me want to vomit-but also-from using her mouth and paws to clean it herself-they have that "stuff" on them as well too....I figured I would bathe her today and hopefully she will be feeling better today than she did yesterday! Thats the worst she has looked since we found her. I believe Weds will be a week that we have had her. I gave her some chicken from dinner-just a bit-and she woofed it down like she has never eaten before. Maybe that will help put a little weight on the poor little gal-she isnt eating much of the dry or canned food we have given her, but she went to town on the chicken, so I took the left overs and put them in a baggie and will give her a little each day to at least make sure she is eating something! The heat index is suppose to be 96-97 again today and I have to go over to Granby and get the last load for the kids. Im not looking forward to that. As soon as both boys are up and have eaten breakfast I am leaving. When we get the load to their new place-I am going to stop and get Stephs prescriptions filled and then come home and get a long list of stuff done today~It should be interesting, because I have to see my mom today-and she is so mad-that whenever she called me after the accident-she was really sarcastic and hateful to me, still reeling from our arguement the other night and the fact that I dont agree with her. Well-that really upset me yesterday when she was still acting like a high school student or old woman nelly-She was just downright rude and very hateful...(she had left a message on my voice mail earlier in the day when we were in the pool and I didnt hear my phone ring that was so hateful that Mike wanted to call her back and let her have it-but I said that would just makes matters worse than they are now) I just told her point blank-Listen to me, because I am only going to tell you this, this ONE LAST TIME-you either get your attitude straightened out and quit talking to me the way you are-OR forget you have my phone number and DO NOT call me anymore. I am NOT going to tolerate your crap on top of everything else going on, just because we have a difference of opinions! Am I treating YOU like that? NO...It is what it is-and you can either just deal with it-OR I wont be talking to you either-thats your choice-but Im not accepting the mind games or behavior problems anymore...Its done. Period. How freaking immature is this? I just cant wrap my mind around the fact that my own mother, who I really do love-I really dont like very much as a person or what she stands for or what her morals are. I struggle with this constantly. I dont want to feel that way about her-really, I dont, but my mom has NEVER, and I really mean this-NEVER put anyone else before herself. Its always me, me, me.....I have never seen her happy, not once, not ever. My mom is so selfish that say-when I bought my first home and my friends threw me a house warming party-my mom wouldnt go. She didnt go to my brothers wedding when he got married, she promised to be at the births of my children and only went once, to Megans-of course, it was the first too-she doesnt really do the b-day parties or any other gatherings we have out here-she will make comments that well, all your friends are married and happy-and I feel out of place and so on. What the crap? When she lived with us last year-she said she was jelous of my relationship with Mike because we were so happy-and jelous that we have a nice home and a pool and so on-I dont understand because I dont rub it in anyones faces. Its not like I said-look at the pool and you cant swim in it-ya know? I would let her take my new car when hers broke down, the only thing I asked was that she not let it go below 1/4 tank of gas due to what our mechanic told us once-anyway-she would let it get down to E and say she didnt have money-but would stop at the store and get frosting or junk food-I could go on and on, but Im not-Im just overwhelmed with this right now-and in the back of my head-I ALWAYS think "I" need to change MY way of thinking because when she is gone-I will kick myself in the butt, but then she is so depressing to be around and drags everybody down-that I just cant take it for long-its like a viscous circle and she always tries to guilt me into doing what she wants. She tried telling me that the ONLY reason she said all those hateful things to Megan was because she didnt want Megan to have to go through what my mom went through with my dad and him never keeping a job etc....so-she is trying to MAKE Megan see something she doesnt see-and force her opinions and attitude on Megan-thinking IF she threatens Meg-Meg will choose her over Aaron. I just dont know what to do about it. Im pretty torn, and I know it will get uglier before it gets better, because she has been bad mouthing Aaron and Megan to Stephanie and then Steph repeats it and gets in the middle of it-not forming her own opinion, but doing what she thinks grams wants her to do! What a mess. So-we arent letting Steph stay over with them anymore except on Tues nights-when my dad is there with her, because she works Tues and Weds for my dad. Oh well, Im off that soap box for now-LOL...I gotta get this done, the boys are eating and then we have to get going.

**Jan-we did do a bleach rub down on Mike last night, right before he went to bed. He has been itching in his sleep and has dug several areas raw and they are bleeding etc-like behind his calfs and his knees-EW....We got some Benadryl tabs and he is taking that for the itching-hopefully it will be better now!

Yes, Mels appt with the Gyn is this Weds, the 18th. I hope they have some answers for her soon and she feels better. I miss her a lot. Im not sure if she is going to the COF next Monday or not. Will have to wait and see how she is doing.

**Sheila, so glad you will be at the COF group! Cant wait to meet you. Also-if you cant share a cabin with Jan and Joe-I bet we can find someone else you can share with. See ya soon!

**Cheryl-congrats on the wedding-sounds like it was perfect! I will be praying that everything works out for your testing. Take care and make sure and let us know what happens with that.

**Deb M-I LOVE your new picture!! You look wonderful!!! I agree with you totally about children AND the cell phone texting...as a general rule-I dont use my cell phone even when I am driving. I may if I had blue tooth or a head set-but since my head set broke-I usually dont talk-or I will pull over.  I will be saying prayers for your sister and I hope everything is okay with her. I cannot wait to get our invite for the wedding vow renewal-HOW COOL!!!  Oh....I am so bummed that you may not be coming to the reunion-darn it! I wanted a ride on the Harley!  We will have to figure something else out then, right?  I about wet myself when I read your response to Brendas post and the chip clips for your boobs-your too much!! My "girls" have gone down a bunch-but.....they are still MORE than enough! I just wish that they wouldnt look like those tribal boobs-long and skinny-like a straw with a little nipple on the end. For some reason, I had it in my head that they would stay plump and maybe just go down a bit-Can you say DREAM ON? Have you ever seen the movie-there is something about Mary? Well, her aunt or landlord or whomever that older lady is thats really tanned, but looks like leather and her boobs are-well, how do I describe it? You just go-EWWW. WEll, thats HOW I FEEL about mine-LOL LOL... Id be afraid to pin them up or use chip clips, cause if they got loose-someone is going to be taking a trip the ER-and how would we explain that? LOL....Glad to see you back-Missed you and love you.

**Brenda, I just want you to know I am praying for your pain and for Dennis too-I really really hope everything turns out and that the doctors will change things to get his diabetes under control and that you wont be in so much uncontrollable pain. It would be different if SOMETHING worked to rid us of this unbearable pain!! Im so sorry. I bet your singing is beautiful~and both of my girls have played the guitar at one time or another. They love it. Megan played the violin ALL through school and even played it at the country club a couple of times for b-day or anniversary parties-its sounds so beautiful ONCE they learn how to play it-LOL...I still have the DD cup too-YAH....tell me all about it. I was laughing so hard reading your post about cramming them in your bra-I always say I have to roll em' up and hope for the best-LOL...Im no expert by any means, but I THINK if they are coming out the top of your bra-or on the sides-that the cup size is too small. There is this little kid song about a bunny, I believe that talks about-Do your ears hang low-do they wobble to and fro-do you tie them in a knot, do you tie them in a bow? Well-I say that about my boobs now-LOL-do they hang low? YEP-do they wobble? YEP-LOL LOL...I would love to have a lift-at one of our groups, a plastic surgeon was there and he said prob by the time I get all my weight off and get to goal-that a lift wont do much-and may be even as small as an A or B cup once they remove the access skin-so maybe would want a small inplant if I wanted them to look full~Who wouldve ever thought it? Although, I must say since losing the weight-and getting a couple of bras at Lane Bryant-that even the underwire bras are so comfortable-I have never had a problem with the underwires-even in a DD-have you ever bought your bras there? I have 4 of them, 2 underwire (even have the small shoulder straps-not the big old honkin ones) and then 2 sports bras and they are all wonderful-I sleep in the sports bras-cause Im afraid I will roll over on one of them now and tear it off-LOL....At least when I lay down now-they dont go right for my throat anymore and suffocate me.....When I was bigger-I went on the gravitron ride at the carnival-and I was literally really choking when the ride stopped because my boobs were up around my ears and choking the breath out of me-Oh man, I NEVER went on that ride again and dont think I will chance it again anyway~~Oh-and Im sorry about your cousin or friend that died from the blood clot-I know that you can get them after ANY surgery-I got one in 99" after having knee surgery. I was fine for the 2 surgeries after, BUT...I wore those boots AND I also walked right away and often to prevent another one. I know that the only way out for me is spinal surgery as well-and just like you-Im deathly afraid of the complication rates with such a risky surgery-BUT-on the other hand-IF I do get paralyzed-at least I wont be in pain all the time like I am now-right? I just know I cant live like this much longer-the pain is so unbearable and so intense-that I truly feel worse off physically then I did before losing 165#. Now I know, had I not lost the weight, I would be in a wheelchair right now and even worse off than before-but it doesnt even help to look at that bright side when you cant move without crying, sleep or do anything...when you just want to throw yourself on the freeway to end your pain, theres a problem that needs to be taken care of-and I definitely have that problem. I cant wait to see you next week-its the high light of my month. Take care, your in my prayers and I love you. **Tammy-take care and I will call you soon-ok? Love ya. Well, Im off and running, well-waddling, really-but gotta get out of here and get to Megans house and get that last load for her. I will talk to you later and will be on later to check on our girls having surgery today. All my love and prayers to everyone. Janet

I itchy like your husband just from Missouri mosquitos.  I've lived other places and never had a reaction like I do here in Missouri.  They swell up to at least the size of a 50c piece, scab over and itch like crazy.  We went out to watch the fireworks and I failed to put spray on - how stupid of me.  After about 20 minutes you'd think I had ants in my pants, I couldn't stand still.  I was using the edge of my shoe to scratch my ankles and finally said to my DL "I have to go home NOW".  It turns out I've become sensitive to benadryl itch cream so my dermatologist recommended SARNA (available at  Walgreen) and it works very well with the itch.  The second part of not going insane with the itching is a wet town wrapped around where the bites are.  The coolness really helps with the pain and the towel keeps me from itching to scabs.  The next day I counted I had 15 bites all below the knees - ugh! Wish him well, I feel his pain (or itch).