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Good morning, Buddies.

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Slow weekend here.  We didn?t do much of anything.  Well, we re-arranged the living room.  There is a long sofa and a love seat here.  They had the love seat beside the TV and the sofa across from it.  We didn?t like the sofa.  It was just toooo long!!  So we switched them around so we can sit on the love seat and watch TV.  Ahhhhhh?togetherness!!!!!!

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Yesterday was another low-calorie day.  I undercut my normal range by about 300.  I sure hope cutting my calories for a few days jumpstarts the weight loss.  If it doesn?t, I don?t know what else to do.

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Micheal did have to work yesterday, but he was able to do it from home.  He set his laptop up on the table.  He?d work a while, then he?d take a break and sit with me awhile, then he?d work some more.  The fun thing about this job?Micheal is a salaried employee, but if he works over 40 hours a week for two or more weeks straight, he gets extra pay for those hours!  That money is going into the house down payment fund!!!  Well, Micheal says it?s going in the new car fund since we?re selling his car, but my truck will be paid off by the end of summer, so we don?t need a new car fund.  We find the silliest things to argue about!!!

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Ok, like I said, slow weekend so there?s not much to report.

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So, I?m gonna go read some blogs.

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Y?all have a wonderful day!!!!!

Good afternoon, Buddies.

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We?ve been having a lazy weekend.  Micheal got home around 5:30 Friday afternoon, parked the truck, and we never bothered to try to dig it out.

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When we got up yesterday morning, my truck had snow piled up past the back bumper (partly because of the snow plows), half way up the door on the driver?s side, and over the headlights against the curb.  Yesterday afternoon, some idiot that had parked next to us started digging his car out and was throwing the snow up against the side of, and behind our truck.  I stuck my head out the door and told him I would appreciate it if he didn?t bury my truck further while digging his car out.  He looked up at me, said ok, then proceeded to throw another shovel full of snow behind my truck!  I was soooooo tempted to go get a pan full of water and throw it on him!  But I didn?t.

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Well, this afternoon, Micheal went out, cleared enough snow from the side of the truck so he could get in and start it, then cleared the windshield.  Then he got in and backed it right out and into the cleared parking space across the drive with little effort!  Thank God for all-wheel drive!!!  Nobody else is gonna be able to park in that space til the plow clears it or it melts!  One guy stood there watching and shaking his head!  He?d been shoveling snow out from around and behind his car for over an hour and still hadn?t gotten it out yet!  He went back in before Micheal even got out of the truck and hasn?t been back to his car.

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I didn?t reach my minimum calories yesterday.  I fixed egg sandwiches for lunch and split pea soup for dinner.  I also had a handful of peanut M&M?s.  I ended up with about 400 calories below my minimum.  But I did have all my water.

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Today won?t be much better.  I had cereal for breakfast, nachos made with baked Doritos for lunch, and we?re having left-over split pea soup for dinner.  But I will get my water in.

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I?m cutting my calories for a few days hoping it will shake things up and get me started losing again.  I gotta do something!

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I?d like to get another 5 lbs off before my family reunion in Arkansas, Easter weekend.  And I already know I?ll have to have a seatbelt extender on the plane.

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We went online last night and booked our airline tickets, rental car and hotel room for our trip to Arkansas.  We managed to find round-trip, NON-STOP airline tickets for less than $25 each over what they would cost if we had to change planes somewhere.  So our flight will be around 3 ? hours as opposed to the 6+ hours it was gonna be if we had to layover and change planes somewhere.  I think that?s a pretty good trade off.  And we booked the hotel room at the same time, and got a king suite for less than $75!  That?s a suite?with a separate sitting room.  And the hotel has an indoor pool.

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We usually stay at Dad?s when we go down there, but his sleeper-sofa is just a bit too hard on my back.  And I have a couple of cousins that like to stay with him when they?re down, and they can?t afford hotel rooms.  So we decided we?d just get us a room.  If we find out the cousins aren?t gonna be staying with Dad, we can always cancel the hotel room and stay with him if my back?s doing ok.

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And, we?re flying to California the end of May.  I?d like to get a few more pounds off before then, too.

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Well, I?m gonna go read a blog or two, then watch a movie with Micheal.

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Have a wonderful rest-of-the-day!!!!

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Good morning Buddies!

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It?s a winter wonderland out there!  We got at least that foot of snow they were predicting!  The front of my truck is buried, and it?s parked nose in so, it may be drifts but it?s not from the plows.  And it all has a nice coating of ICE over it!

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Guess it?s a good thing we?re not planning to go anywhere today!

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Yesterday was another on track day.  I stayed well within my calorie range, as usual.  And I drank all my water, as usual.  And the scale isn?t moving, as usual.  I was up 5 lbs earlier in the week, and went back down 3, but I?m still right there, even with the trips up and down the stairs.  I?m gonna reset my ticker to 330 cuz I think those last 3 lost were just a fluke?they only stayed gone about a week.  I?m thinking about dropping my calorie range by about 200 calories to 1700-1900 and see what happens.

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I have a pot of split pea soup ready to start simmering for tonight?s dinner.  You can?t get much more low-fat than that!  And it will taste good on this cold, snow-covered day!

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Well, this was short one, but there?s not much happening.  Guess I?ll go read a few blogs.

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Hope everybody has a wonderful day!

 

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I managed to walk down the stairs, go to dinner and get groceries, then walk back up the stairs without feeling like I was gonna die!!  What nearly killed me was bending over my cart and taking out the bags of groceries to put them away!!!  But I?m ok this morning, at least pretty much!! 

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Yesterday was another lazy day.  Before Micheal left for work, we decided we?d go get groceries after he got home, since we?re supposed to get about a foot of snow today and tonight.  When he got home from work, I told him if I was gonna tackle those stairs, he was gonna have to take me out to dinner cuz I didn?t know if I?d be able to cook after we got back home.  He didn?t argue with that.

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We went to this place one of the guys at work was talking about.  Micheal didn?t know what kind of restaurant it was, just that it was good.  It turned out to be Italian.  And it wasn?t good?it was better than Olive Garden!  No, you didn?t get a big bowl of salad at no extra charge.  And there were no breadsticks?it was a small loaf of seasoned bread that was sliced, and it was better than the breadsticks.  And the food was better than Olive Garden.

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And they had the absolute best Tiramisu I?ve ever eaten, and we?ve had Tiramisu coast to coast and border to border.  Don?t get too excited.  I didn?t eat it all?not even nearly.  I only ate 3-4 small bites, and that wasn?t even 1/8^th of the serving.  The whole serving was about a 4×4 inch square!  I brought the rest home and I?ll nibble a little of it each day for 3-4 days.  And I?ll share it with Micheal.  But believe me, it was well worth the cheat, especially since I?ve not really cheated in a while.

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A bit or two of the Tiramisu will do me just fine!  Just a little of that flavor will keep me from wanting other sweets and bad stuff.  When my ex-father-in-law would see me taking only a small spoonful of a dessert, or cut off a real small piece of cake, he would get really upset and tell me he wouldn?t dirty his mouth up for just a couple of bites of something like that.  Well, I?d rather have a couple of bites and stop than to fight the craving or desire for it.  Besides, he was one of those men that could consume 5000+ calories a day (literally) and still stay skinny!

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Enough about that!!!  So this weekend will probably be a stay-at-home weekend, since we?re supposed to get about a foot of snow.  I can hope that they?re wrong about that, but?well, what good would that do?  We did pick up an ice scraper last night, since ours is at home.  But there?s not gonna be any time to pick up coats or anything like that before this mess hits.  Micheal?s short coat is fairly heavy, and he can park in the garage at work, so it won?t be too bad for him.  Jeez, we should have known better than to leave our coats and boots at home!  I guess it was just wishful thinking.

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Ok, I?m gonna go read some blogs.

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Hope y?all have a wonderful day!!!!

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Good morning, Buddies!!!

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Can?t believe it?slept even later this morning than yesterday!  Micheal?s alarm went off and I just kept right on sleeping.  I like spending that time with Micheal before he leaves for work, but about 15 minutes before he had to leave I got a nice wake-up?a kiss and ?good morning, gorgeous?.  So, I guess that makes up a bit for missed time.

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I guess I needed the sleep.  So I?ll have to make up that time with Micheal.

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And I may get to do that, big time this weekend.  It got up to 65 degrees here yesterday.  It?s raining right now, but the temp isn?t supposed to be as high today. It?s supposed to drop down below freezing tonight, and won?t get above freezing tomorrow with snow starting about noon tomorrow.  They?re talking about 10-12 inches!!!  And we left all our cold weather gear at home in Fort Wayne!  We thought all this nastiness was over!  Our coats, boots, scarves, gloves?it?s all at home.  Micheal brought his short coat and I brought my big heavy sweater.  Micheal even took the snow scraper out of the truck!  Happy happy, joy joy!!!!  Oh, we did bring our cowboy hats, if that counts!

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Ok so, whatever!!  If it happens, it happens and we?ll just deal with it.  Micheal?s gonna go to the grocery store this evening so we?ll be sure to have everything we need without having to get out on nasty roads.

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I did good again yesterday.  Stayed well within my calorie range, and even had room for a piece of the reduced-calorie, reduced-fat cherry cheesecake I made.

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Housekeeping showed up yesterday.  You talk about whirlwind efficiency!!  Three Portuguese women came in and 10 minutes later ? the bed was made with clean linens, the bathroom was scrubbed and the towels replaced, the kitchen was cleaned, the floors were mopped and the carpets were vacuumed!  Now granted, the kitchen was already clean, except for mopping the floor.  There was nothing dirty, but they cleaned as if it were.  The thing is, they were in and out so quickly and they were efficient and friendly!  I?m gonna have to give management a call and compliment the housekeeping staff!!  And they?ll get a nice tip when we leave!

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Now on a different note?some of you may get upset with me and quit reading at this point.  Yesterday a buddy wrote a blog that irritated me a little.  I just want to remind everybody that there are all types of people on here.  Some are really heavy and have a lot of weight to lose.  Some are fairly small, but still want to lose a few pounds and tone up.  And there are a lot of people right in the middle of all that.

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Here?s my point?we shouldn?t point fingers at any one group, weight range, whatever and belittle them in any way.  If someone wants their goal weight to be 200, that?s their business and if somebody else wants theirs to be 100, well that?s their business.  Yes, I have been known to ask that person with a goal of 100 if that is a safe weight for them, but ultimately, we don?t know what they truly look like or what they will look like when they reach goal, or what it will do to their health.

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Once several years ago, I got down to 145 lbs.  On me, because I?m very big boned, at 145 I looked emaciated. 

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Yes, I do agree that some people look just a little too skinny to me (I?m referring to models, actresses, etc.) but that?s way out of my control and it?s none of my business.

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On here, we may not know our Buddies personally, but they?re our Buddies.  If we think that someone is shooting for a weight that?s a bit too low, we can send them a private e-mail and express our concern, but we have to let them make that final choice and give them our support. 

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Bottom line?my Buddies will be my Buddies, whether they end up at a goal weight a bit lower than I want for myself, or even if they don?t reach goal at all.  I?m not going to judge anybody on here for their goal weight, their starting weight, their current weight, their slip-ups, or anything else.  That?s not what we?re here for.  We?re here to support and encourage each other in this journey, no matter where each of us want that journey to end.  And I know yesterday?s blog didn?t touch on some of this?I?m just throwing in the whole shebang.

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Ok, I?m gonna get off my soapbox and go read a few blogs.

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I hope everybody has a fantabulous day!!!!

Hiya, Buddies!!!

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Don?t know what it is, but I?m sleeping for a change - have been since we got here!  I?m usually up at least an hour before Micheal is, but lately I?ve slept til the alarm goes off, and I don?t want to get up then!  I?ve been averaging at least 6 hours a night where I normally average about 4-5 hours.  Believe me, I?m NOT complaining!

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The pain is better this morning, too.  The apartment complex manager offered to move us to a first floor apartment, but we?re gonna wait a bit and see how things go.  I?m not gonna go out til the weekend, at least, and if I don?t have any problem with the stairs then, we?ll stay put.  If I do, we?ll take her up on her offer.  I?m hoping this is just a flair-up of the fibro and it will pass soon.  It usually does.

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Yesterday wasn?t too bad.  I did manage to cook dinner last night?chicken breasts baked in cream of chicken soup, mashed potatoes and sweet peas?and I stayed well within my calorie range.  Actually, I just barely made it into my calorie range.  And I had all my water.  But the scale showed I was up 5 lbs this morning!  Ok, so I?m not gonna worry about it.  I know that can?t be right.  I?m probably retaining water for some reason (not TOM ? he doesn?t visit me anymore).

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Today is gonna be another relaxing lazy day.  I?m gonna take it easy til I?m back to normal?well as normal as it gets for me!  Everything?s unpacked, put away and organized.  The only thing that I need to do is empty the dishwasher, and there?s no hurry for that.  And we?re doing leftovers for dinner tonight, so I won?t have to cook.

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Besides, I have to be in good shape for Easter weekend.  We?re flying to Arkansas for the weekend for my family reunion.  We haven?t been down there since last summer!  And I?ve not seen some of my relatives in 10 years?not since Mom?s funeral.  So it will be nice seeing them again.

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Well, I?m off to read blogs.

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Ya?ll have a wonderful day!!!

Hey Ya?ll!!

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Yesterday was a rough day.  My knee was a lot better, but I wasn?t feeling so hot.  Got better during the day, but when Micheal got home, we decided to go pick up a few things we didn?t get on Saturday (and a few things we realized I forgot to pack!).  By the time we got home, I was done in.  I wasn?t even able to cook dinner.  So Micheal ordered pizza.  He got himself a large with everything (he only ate half) and got me a small Hawaiian.  I was only able to eat half of mine!!!!  I didn?t make it to my calorie range?I was a bit below?but I just had no appetite and just didn?t feel like eating.  I?ll do better today.

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But I?m feeling a little better this morning, and I?m not going anywhere til the weekend at least!  I?m gonna stay here and take care of me!

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We?ve come to the conclusion that we?re not getting any younger, so when we?re on the road, we need to allow more time for travel and stop more often and get out and walk around a bit instead of stopping, running to the bathroom, then jumping back in the truck and going again?in other words, more frequent and longer stops.  And if it?s feasible, we?ll fly, and ship what we can?t take on the plane.  But of course, the long trips will be cut drastically now since this project will be for at least 5 years!

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So, as somebody blogged yesterday?now is the time for me.  I have to start taking care of myself in all ways.  Which means for one thing, total dedication to getting this weight off.  I don?t necessarily want to do it because I?m unhappy with how I look.  I need to do it for health reasons.  And I know that, when I get the weight off, I won?t hurt as much or as bad?at least I hope I won?t.

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And I have got to quit smoking.  Yesterday I only smoked ? of a pack instead of the usual pack and a half, so that?s a start.  Micheal has even cut back.  He was smoking at least as much as me, but I noticed yesterday evening he smoked a lot less than usual.  I think we?ll confine our smoking to the patio.  Micheal won?t argue with that and it will curb both of us!  As a matter of fact, I?m gonna empty the ashtrays, put the little ones away and put the heavy one on the patio.  (I just stopped typing long enough to do that!)

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Yesterday I told Becky that, when she has a craving to eat to replace smoking, to send me an e-mail instead.  I?m gonna have to come up with some kind of crutch of my own.  I don?t have to worry too much about using food as a crutch since I?m not going to be getting out as much (no junk food!!), and I have mostly healthy stuff in the apartment.  But I need to find something to occupy my hands and mind when a craving hits.

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There is a swimming pool here at the complex, so as soon as it gets warm enough, I?m gonna be swimming as much as possible.  And yes, I did remember to pack our swimsuits!

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And, there is also a fitness center here.  After the pain eases up a bit more, and I feel able to, I might give that a try.  But I think I?ll do it when Micheal is able to go with me.

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So my new resolve is to get healthy all the way around!  If I don?t, I won?t live to see my grandkids grow up.  And I won?t have a lot of years left to spend with Micheal.  I?m not ready to die.  Well, I?m ready, but I?d rather wait a few more years.

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Before I go read blogs, I want to give a response of sorts to Dawnie?s blog from yesterday?

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If today was the last day of my life:

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- I?d call all my family and tell them I love them ? including the two sisters and the daughter who can?t be bothered with me.

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- I?d do my best to make amends with anybody I?ve wronged or offended, or at least apologize, and to forgive anybody that might have wronged or offended me.

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- I?d spend as much time as absolutely possible in Micheal?s arms.

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- I?d make sure that Micheal knows just how much I love him and that I want him to continue to live life to the fullest and find someone else to give his love to.

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- I?d thank God for giving me as much time here in this world as I?ve had, and for allowing me the pleasures and experiences I?ve had the past few years, and for the love of a wonderful man.

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So now I?m off to read blogs.

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I hope everybody has an absolutely fantastic day!!!

Good morning, Buddies!

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First off, I?ll let you know that the knee is doing much better!  I dosed myself heavily with ibuprofen yesterday and I guess that did the trick?and of course a little rest.  But I couldn?t keep myself off it all day.  There was just too much to do.  I still had stuff to unpack and put away.  But I didn?t even try to tackle those stairs.  That will come this evening.

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I haven?t gotten everything put away yet.  One of the kitchen counters has a bad burn on it, so they?re gonna replace that countertop sometime this week?I just don?t know when.  So I can?t put anything in the drawers beneath that countertop.  But I turned one hall closet into a pantry, so I have plenty of storage space.

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We have a dishwasher, which will save my back.  I won?t have to stand over the sink washing dishes.  I think that?s one of the hardest things on me.  And, believe it or not, this apartment complex has a housekeeping service!  You don?t even pay extra for it.  They go to every apartment in the complex at least once a week (if you want more you have to pay for it) and do the carpets, floors, beds, towels, and bathroom!  Now how great is that?!?!?!

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It?s gonna be a bit tougher getting used to this area.  There are a lot of narrow streets with parking on both sides of the street.  There are a lot of side streets where you have to practically pull out into the cross-street before you can see if anybody?s coming.  So you have to constantly be on the lookout for cars on the side streets.

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And there are a lot of hilly streets?steep hills!  And my truck is a 5-speed!  If you?ve ever driven a stick shift, you know how much fun steep hills are, especially if you have to stop going up one of them!!  And for some strange reason, people just love to pull right up on your back bumper on hills.  Go figure!

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I?m still being good with my eating.  I haven?t gone over my calorie range in at least a couple of weeks.  But I haven?t lost anymore either.  I?m gonna go another week and see if I have a loss, and if not, I?m gonna try making an adjustment in my calorie range.  Or maybe I just need to take a splurge day or two?  I always plan to have a splurge day either Saturday or Sunday every week, but when that day comes, I don?t take it!

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Well, I?m gonna go read some blogs.  I hope everybody has a wonderful day!

Good morning, Buddies!!

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Well, we got to Worcester about 1:30 yesterday afternoon, and by 2:30 I was beat, but the day wasn?t done yet.

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Where to start?

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I guess back at the beginning of the trip would be a good place!  I do believe this was the easiest trip we?ve made in a long time!  No traffic jams.  A minimum of idiots on the road.  The weather was pretty good?it did rain some yesterday coming through the Adirondacks and the temp dropped to 22, which made me a little tense, but there weren?t any problems?the road never iced up.

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Ok, so we got to Niagara Falls about 2:00 Friday.  Our hotel room overlooked the falls, but we couldn?t get a good look at it, so we took off walking?it was less than a quarter of a mile away.

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Now how many of you have heard that Niagara Falls can?t freeze?  Niagara Falls freezes!!!  When we got there it was 45 degrees.  The river was mostly frozen, and part of the falls was frozen.  We weren?t able to get to the Horseshoe Falls, but we did get a pretty good look at the American Falls, and if you look at my pics on here, you may be able to tell?but it was partially frozen.  There is supposed to be one long falls, but it looked like several small ones.  Some of what looks like water flowing, was actually water frozen!

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And the Maid of the Mist wasn?t running, and most everything else was shut down because it was ?off season?.  But I?m glad we went because it was beautiful!!

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Unfortunately you can?t get a really good view of either falls from the US side, and since they changed everything, we weren?t able to go to the Canada side because we haven?t gotten our passports yet, but we plan to do that this summer!  But we had a fantastic view of Canada from our room.  Friday night it was all lit up like a Christmas tree!  They even have Ferris wheel positioned where you could probably see the falls from it!  And at night, they turn on this bank of colored lights that shine into the falls and mist!  We could see the mist all lit up like a rainbow from our room.

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So, we left early yesterday morning and headed up here, and along the way we saw another phenomenon!  Lake Erie was totally frozen!  Yup.  It was just one huge block of snow covered ice!  And along the highway in New York state and in Massachusetts, the rock walls had cascades of ice on them?but the ice was all different colors?blue, green, yellow, orange?just pale shades.  Now back home on the news I heard an interview with this guy who said he went out and poured colored water over those ice cascades, but I just don?t think this was the case.  There was just too much of it, and some of the rock walls were high enough that it just wasn?t feasible that somebody DID it.  We were thinking maybe natural minerals and such leached out of the rock and colored the ice.  That?s just our thoughts on it.

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Our apartment?guess what?it?s on the second floor, and there is no elevator!  I made two trips up those stairs yesterday, when we first got here and then when we went out to find some dinner and get groceries.  Now my knee is killing me!!!  And all the walking at Niagara on Friday probably didn?t help.  But it?ll be ok, and I did use my cane at Niagara and I?m using it right now in the apartment!  So, I?m gonna be kinda sorta grounded while we?re here?at least for the next week or so.  My shopping trips aren?t gonna be as often, but that?s ok.  I have plenty to do!

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And today is gonna be a lazy day.  We?re both just totally wiped?as a matter of fact, Micheal is still asleep!

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Oh, and I was able to stay within my calorie allowance both days of traveling.  I didn?t get in all my water, but I?m making up for it today!

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Now I?m off to catch up on everybody?s blogs.  I read some last night after Micheal got the computer set up, but not nearly all of them.  And please, if I don?t comment on your blog, forgive me.  There are a lot to read!

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I hope everybody has a wonderful day!

Well, we made it to Massachusetts, and we?ve half-way settled into the apartment.  And I?m pooped.  It?s a second floor walkup!

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I?ll go into detail about our trip in the morning, just wanted to let everybody know we made it just fine!