Happy Wednesday Everyone

Hello there Haven't been on here in a few days. Went on vacation to Nashville TN. What a wonderful time we had. I have a mentally challenged older sister and I take her on a special trip every year. Its really hard to find things or places that she gets excited about but when I asked if she would like to go to the Grand Ol Opry her eyes lit up and so I started planning our trip about a month ago. We stayed at the OpryLand Hotel and then went to the Opry show. It was great and affordable. It was $55.00 per person and that included your room and your Opry ticket. Just thought I would share that... SOOOO how is evryone doing on their journey??? Me I'm at a stopped spot...scales haven't moved in about 3 weeks now. Just thought I would check in and let everyone know that I am thinking about you and wishing you well. Have a great afternoon. My work week is Mon-Thur 10 hour days so this is my over the hump day. Glad tomorrow is my friday its been a very long week this week. See ya Alfie

Your sister is very blessed to have you for a sister. Sounds like you go over and beyond to make her life more special than it is. You gave her a memory she'll have for the rest of her life. I'm doing well with my weight loss. I'm just shy of 8 months and I've lost 85 pounds. Not bad considering my limitations on exercising. Heck, lets be honest here - I haven't been exercising at all. The weight is still coming off and the skin is starting to really hang. Life in general really bites right now. I know that we all have to have challenges to help us grow so I should be a giant right now. Maybe I need to handle my challenges a little better so I don't have to continue to go through them - haha. Glad you're home and had a wonderful time. I've missed you and wondered what had happened to you. Melody

Hi Melody Good to hear from you too!! I have been real busy at work and then planning our trip took some time to. She is such a special spirit..I'm the lucky one just to know her. She had meningitis (DIDN'T SPELL THAT RIGHT..HAHA) when she was about 4 and had such a high fever they couldn't get it down in time to keep her from having brain damage ...She is only mildly retarded but she can't stay by herself..no one is a stranger and every adult is an authority figure to her so she would do whatever they asked of her. But you know she has a memory like a steel trap when it comes to dates and places and peoples names. She just can't handle the daily life issues. But she has a smile that will light up the night. She stayed with us for about four years and then another sister quit working and so she is with her now. Much easier on her than having to get up so early with me and go stay with someone till I got off work. Have been very blessed with sisters in our Ward that we have hired for her to stay with. You said you were having lots of growing pains these days...sorry to hear that..I know what you mean though. As far as the excercising goes I sure don't do as much as I need to. Been trying to get better..starting to have wings in the darndest places haha... Take care and sorry this got so long...just needed to chat. Talk to you soon Alfie

Wow Alfie that sounds like a fun trip! I went there last year for the Time out for women and wlaked around the ryman theater area. It was a fun mix of old and new. I am just about to hit my one year mark on Sunday. I started out at 253#'s and am down to 160 as of the last 2 mornings. I have been a slow loser the whole way but it keeps coming off. I have lost 111 Inches. I am always amazed at how fast our bodies change during this whole process. I feel fluffy in spots and then I'll feel deflated other days. My arms where really big when I started out and have gone down tremendously. I had bat wings at first but they have really started to firm up. All I do is light weights ( 5#'s or less) a couple times a week. It really does seem to help. I just do some lifts while I'm watching TV at night. I have a treadmill that I get on once a week if I'm lucky. I try to walk at work as much as I can. It is good to hear from you all! Hang in there! Jane