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Good morning, Y’all!

We finally made it home.  We spent all day Tuesday at
Niagara Falls, mostly on the Canadian side.  And we saw just about everything you could want to see.  And we got the royal treatment.

Ok, let me begin at the beginning.  Micheal started talking to a lady in the hotel lobby that sets up
Niagara tours for a company.  Micheal bought us an 8 hour tour which started at
Goat Island and ended with the ‘Walk Behind the Falls’.

And we did EVERYTHING!!!!  Dave (our tour guide) arranged for us to see most everything without having to climb any stairs.  We did end up going down one flight and up one short (maybe half) flight.  Oh wait a minute.  I didn’t tell you…Micheal and I were the only ones on the tour!!!!

Yup, it was just us and the tour guide so we weren’t rushed and we got to see everything we wanted to see and some that we didn’t think about or expect to see.  Dave was an excellent tour guide.  He’s a 65 year old Canadian who’s been doing this for 11 years.  He locked up the bus and went right along with us on some parts and pointed things out (his job was to mainly get the tourists from one spot to the next and into the hands of the individual site guides & workers).  But he took that extra step and came with us so he could give us more details.

Yes, we went on the Maid of the Mist.  And we got soaked.  We saw the American and horseshoe falls.  And we had lunch on the 33 floor of the Hilton on the Canadian side.  Our table was right in front of windows that offered a dynamic view of both falls, and you could see almost forever.  I sat there at lunched and bawled!  I told Micheal that 10 years ago I never dreamed I’d ever get to see Niagara Falls except in pictures and on TV and now here I was sitting in a restaurant, 33 stories above the ground, in Canada, looking down on both falls at the same time!!  Now just how unbelievable is that?  We got to go behind the falls, (the horseshoe) and we saw the butterfly conservatory and the floral clock.  It was absolutely fantastic!

Micheal and Dave estimated we walked more than 5 miles and I believe them.  My legs are still sore, but I’m not quite in as bad shape as I was afraid I would be.  But the pain was worth it.  That was a trip and tour that I’ll never forget.

Now to more serious matters.  Somebody please explain something for me.  How can you eat a salad and baked chicken for dinner, weigh yourself, have nothing else before bedtime except water, go to the bathroom several times before bedtime and during the night, wake up the next morning and have a healthy bowel movement, then weigh more than you did right after eating dinner.  I just don’t understand it.  Can somebody explain it in a way that I can understand it?  It just does NOT make any sense to me.

I get so damned frustrated with this whole weight loss thing that I just want to throw up my hands and say forget it.  How can I consistently eat healthy and still not lose weight or will even gain weight.  I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle…what a pun!!!  I’m fighting a battle where I’m not losing any weight, and am in fact GAINING!!!!  HOW CAN THAT HAPPEN???????  I’m just so sick and tired of watching every single tiny morsel that goes into my mouth, counting points & calories obsessively, and not seeing any positive results. 

If somebody can explain this to me, please do.  I’ve heard everything about starvation mode, and I’ve preached to others about that and muscle gain (yeah, right, my clothes are getting tighter) and shaking things up to everybody else.  I’ve done all that.  How do you think I already know all that if I haven’t already done it?  I want to know just what the hell is going on so I can finally get this damned weight off once and for all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And no, I’m not taking any meds.  I know that’s what some are thinking, it’s because of meds.  I’ll take a pain pill maybe once every 2 weeks or so but that’s it.  Once or twice every couple of weeks I might have a couple of drinks.  That’s it.  I’m at a loss and ready to just give up.

Ok, enough venting.  I’m gonna go read some blogs.

Y’all have a great day!!!

Well one last blog before we hit the road.

Most everything’s packed.  Micheal decided he didn’t want to load the truck last night because of the heat and humidity and a slight chance of rain, so he’s gonna do it when he gets back from work.  It may take an hour total, so no biggie.  I still need to pack our pillows (yeah, we carry our own pillows when we travel) and toiletries (after I get my shower which I’ll do after I post this).  Other than that we’re ready to go.

Micheal called me from work Friday and told me he’d been ambushed (something he’d been trying to avoid).  One of the girls that works for him made a bunch of cupcakes with a peanut M&M stuck in the top of each.  She also had an ice cream cake shaped like a giant yellow peanut M&M!  AND she had about 25lbs worth of bags of peanut M&M’s!!!  It all came as a result of Micheal always having a big bag of peanut M&M’s sitting on his desk.  Yup!  I’d say he got ambushed!!!  It was so funny!!!  The bad thing is we had to pack that mess, but at least he’ll have something to munch on during the trip home (as long as he keeps them out of my reach!).

I’m in pretty good shape to travel.  I’m not hurting as bad as the past couple of weeks, but it’s gonna be tolerable. 

The next two weeks will be spent mostly on the road…home then Charleston and
Virginia Beach.  I’m gonna try my best to keep my eating in check, but you all know how it is when you’re traveling.

Well, gotta go get my shower and finish packing the last minute stuff.  I’ll try to post again after we get home.

Y’all have a great day!!!!!

Good morning, Y’all.

Gonna be a busy weekend here.  We’ll be leaving
Massachusetts Monday afternoon instead of the following Saturday.

  They decided since Micheal wasn’t doing anything anyway, that there was no reason for him to stay another week.  The only thing keeping us from leaving this weekend is he has a quarterly review to go over with one of his employees, but he’s on vacation and won’t be back til Monday.  So, we’re gonna load the truck Sunday evening, I’ll take Micheal to work Monday morning then go get my nails done, and pick him up as soon as he’s finished at about 10:30 or 11:00.

Micheal is going to be doing all the packing.  He’s afraid it will do me in and I’ll be in extreme pain while we’re traveling so we decided he’d take care of that.  We’re gonna load the truck Sunday night.  I’ll take Micheal to work Monday morning.  He’ll go to his 10:00 meeting and I’ll go get my nails done, then I’ll pick him up and we’ll head out.  We’re gonna spend Monday and Tuesday nights at
Niagara Falls then we should be home Wednesday evening, depending on weather.  There’s been a lot of flooding between here and home.  So after Sunday, I probably won’t be on again til Thursday. 

The plan is that we’re gonna drive to
Niagara Falls Monday and spend the night there. Tuesday we’re gonna go running around, maybe do the Maid of the Mist and who knows, spend Tuesday night there then head home Wednesday morning. The next week will be busy.  Micheal has an interview in Charleston, SC Wednesday (the 3rd) then he has to be in
Virginia Beach on Thursday and Friday to meet with his current boss.  We’ll head out driving to Charleston on Monday (Labor Day), stop and spend the night somewhere, then go on to Charleston.  After Micheal’s interview we’ll drive up to VB for a couple of nights and head home on Saturday.  And while we’re in
Virginia Beach, we’ll go to our favorite dance club.  Yeah, all I can manage is the slow dances, but those are the ones we really enjoy anyway. From there, we don’t know where we’re going.  It’s always one adventure after another for us, so we don’t really care where we go. 

Today I’m working on transferring files from the desktop computer to my laptop and I’ll use it while we’re doing all our traveling the next couple of weeks.  Micheal has already cautioned me not to overdue so I’ll be able to enjoy
Niagara Falls.  That’s one order that I’m gonna follow!!

So that’s what’s going on in my life right now!  The weight loss is still at a standstill, but I’ll eventually get there.  Next time we get settled somewhere for a couple of months or more, I’ll find a doctor and see what can be done about the pain and maybe get a diet regimen that will work for me.

I’m off to read some blogs.  Y’all have a great day!!

Good morning, Y’all! 

The past few days have been busy around here.  Friday morning I got my partial, finally!!  Then I was supposed to meet a lady from my Weight Watcher’s thread for lunch, but by 1:00 she still hadn’t shown and I decided not to wait anymore.  We were supposed to be meeting at the mall, and I did a lot of walking while I was waiting for her to not show, so the day wasn’t a total loss.

Saturday we drove down to
Dartmouth to meet another friend and her family for lunch.  She has two little boys, 2 & 4 years old, so after lunch we took them to a nearby park to play.

When we left for
Dartmouth we hooked up the GPS since we’d never been in that area before.  Well, luckily I’d mapped the route on the computer and printed directions cuz the GPS had taken a dump!!  Yup, the GPS I bought for Micheal for Christmas, only a few months ago, took a dump.  That’s what we get for being cheap and buying an off-brand.  We’d already been displeased with it because a lot of times we’d put in an address and it wouldn’t take us to the exact address.  Sometimes we’d end up a few blocks away and have to figure it out on our own.  But at least it put us in the general area, for the most part.  Like I said, thank goodness for internet maps!  The only consolation to me is I let him pick it out himself!!

In spite of the problems with it, that GPS helped us find our way back to the main highway when we’d have to get off for something and end up not sure where we were.  And if there were traffic problems, we could hop off the freeway and drive for awhile in the general direction we wanted to go, then the GPS would get us back to the freeway.

With all the traveling we do, a GPS is a very good investment, so Sunday we spent the day out shopping for a new one.  We didn’t settle for the cheapest one we could find this time.  We got one that was highly recommended.  And of course we had to take it for a test drive.  It works so much better than the old one.  I like it a lot better (I wouldn’t even use the old one when I was alone cuz it sometimes got confusing).  This one gives much more detail and more clearly.  And it has this really sexy male voice!  Of course Micheal set it up to use the female voice, but when I’m by myself, I can switch it over to the other one!!

So, that was Friday, Saturday and Sunday, three days in a row, that I spent a lot of time out walking, plus the trips up and down the stairs (sometimes more than once each day).  Now I’m paying for it.  Sunday evening and yesterday I couldn’t even walk around the apartment without my cane.  I managed to cook dinner Sunday night, but last night it wasn’t gonna happen so Micheal ordered a pizza.  The good thing was I wasn’t able to eat much of it.

I’ve decided that for the next 10 days I’m gonna take it easy.  I don’t want to be in more pain than I normally am for the trip home.  We won’t be home long before we’re on the road again.  Micheal’s boss wants him to come down to
Virginia Beach for his quarterly review the end of the week that we get home.  Of course the whole trip will be paid for by the company, and it’s gonna be a Thursday and Friday, so maybe we can make it down to our favorite club while we’re there.  I won’t be able to dance much except for the slow songs, but we still enjoy it.

The weight loss journey is still at a standstill.  At least I’m not gaining any of the weight back that I’d lost.  So that’s a bit of a consolation.  But I’ll still be happy to start losing again.

Micheal is being courted very heavily by a couple of different companies for full-time permanent positions, so if he takes one of those, I’ll be able to find a doctor to help me, and maybe get started back with Weight Watchers.

Ok, I’m done for now.  I’m gonna go read a few blogs.

Y’all have a great day!!!

Good morning, Y’all!

Not much going on around here.  Getting excited about going home in a few days.  Yeah, more like 2 ½ weeks, but saying a few days sounds like less time. 

Haven’t done much the past couple of days.  Yesterday I took Micheal to work and went out shopping for a while.  Today I’m gonna hang here and rest.  I have a lot to do the next few days, getting ready to head home, but I don’t want to over-do.

I’m having fun with my new camera.  I still have a lot to learn about it, and I have to get everything set up so I can download the pictures.  I have to figure out an easy way to set them up to share.  We’ve been talking about setting up our own website so we can download pix and video to share, just haven’t done it yet.  Maybe we need to start working on that.

Still hanging in there with the dieting, just not going anywhere.  That stinks.  If I could just start losing again…  Sometimes I wonder if I’ve got somebody else’s body and they’re controlling it instead of me!!!  Doctors keep telling me I’m just eating too much, but I know that’s not the case.  I can follow the Weight Watcher’s plan to a “T” and log every bite I put in my mouth and I still don’t lose see any progress.  Maybe I should just quite working the plan for a while and start over again in a couple of weeks.  The only fear there is that I’ll gain back more of the weight that I’ve already lost.  I sure don’t want to do that.  At least Micheal loves me no matter.  That really helps a lot.

I can’t help but believe that losing some more weight will help the pain situation.  And I sure would be happy to have that ease up.  I’m so tired of hurting all the time.  And I’d love to just toss this stupid cane in some river or lake and not have to use it anymore.  I guess I just have to be patient.  Is there such a thing as trying to hard when it comes to weight loss??

Well, I’m off to read some blogs.

Y’all have a great day!!!

Good morning, Y’all!

Nothing much new around here.  My weight is still holding on the same plateau…up a couple of pounds one day, back down the next.  Down a couple of pounds one day, back up the next.  I’ve tried everything I know about - shaking things up, no carb, vegan, changing diets, fasting - everything short of pills, I’ve tried it.  Maybe my body will finally decide to cooperate with me one of these days.

Still don’t have my new partial yet.  She said it will be ready by this next Friday.  I sure hope so.  Maybe when I can chew properly again, my weight loss will pick back up.  Yeah, right!

Spent this past Saturday out driving around and didn’t do anything yesterday.  I’ve started packing a few things getting ready to go back home.  Hopefully we’ll be there more than just a couple of days.

On the trip home we’re gonna go to
Niagara Falls again.  Maybe this time we’ll see it in all of its glory instead of frozen like it was the last time.  Funny thing is Micheal’s boss told him that we should take our time going home and enjoy the trip (at the company’s expense), and even mentioned stopping at the falls since it was practically on the way.  That was awfully sweet of him.

Micheal got a call about a job just a little north of
Chicago that looks promising.  Well, it looks promising as far as getting the job is concerned.  That’s not really an area where I’d want to spent the winter (it’s less than 10 miles from the lake shore, so can you say ‘lake effect snow?).  I’d really prefer somewhere sunnier, but if that’s where his work leads us, I’ll be able to live with it.

Well, off to read a few blogs.

Ya’ll have a great day!

Good morning, Y’all!

I’m gonna try to get back into the habit of blogging every day.  I still haven’t gotten used to the new BuddySlim, but I will eventually.

No word yet on any of the potential jobs for Micheal.  But we’re not worried about it.  If nothing else comes along, he always has the company he’s working for now.  We may not necessarily like where they send us, but it will be a paycheck til something else comes along.

Besides, I’ve managed to set us up a pretty good nest egg the past few months, so we could actually go a couple of weeks with no paycheck if we wanted.  I’d prefer not to do that as I want to get that nest egg built a little bigger.  And I want to get the truck and credit cards paid off.  Micheal said if we weren’t married, he’d be flat broke because he’s always had trouble curbing his spending.  He still goes on shopping sprees once in a while, but usually with me along to oversee!

Speaking of which - I didn’t tell you yet…while we were home last time Micheal bought me a new laptop and a new digital camera.  Well actually, he bought the laptop for himself, but it wasn’t really what he wanted so he gave it to me.  He’ll probably buy himself another one.  But he bought the camera for me!  It’s an Olympus SLR with two lenses and a detachable flash.  Now I just have to learn how to use it.  We went to Borders and Micheal got me 3 books on digital photography that he said would help.  I’ve read all of one of them and parts of the other two.

This past Saturday we went out driving around town and I got pix of a few of the big old churches around here.  There are some beautiful churches in
New England…some almost look like castles!  I have a nail appointment in the morning, so I may go try to get pix of some more…if the weather will cooperate.  It’s supposed to rain tomorrow.

The diet is still going as usual.  I’m watching what I eat and keeping the calories with range.  Maybe I need to shake things up again.

As for the pain…it’s still here this morning.  I spiked my coffee with a little Disaronna.  Maybe that will help.  I have pain pills left from when I had the teeth pulled last month, but I hate taking them because they make me so lethargic.  The alcohol takes the edge off and doesn’t make me so sleepy.  Sounds like an excuse to drink, doesn’t it?  No, I don’t have a drinking problem.  I usually go days, sometimes weeks without alcohol.  If we finally get settled into one place for an extended period, I’m gonna locate a doctor that has a lot of experience with Fibro and Psoriatic Arthritis who can maybe offer a little help that doesn’t include mood inhancers

Ok, that’s about it for now.  I’m gonna go read some blogs.

Y’all have a great day!

Hey Y’all!

Yup, I know.  It’s been a while.  Just a lot on my mind here.  Micheal’s looking for another job.  Since his company has been bought out there have been a lot of people let go, and a lot demoted.  His department has been eliminated and his boss wants to send us to
New Jersey next, but only for a couple of months.  Micheal doesn’t want to go to
New Jersey and I’m not keen on it so he’s looking to see what else might be out there.  We’re looking to go to the Southeast, but we’ll take just about anywhere.  We’d just prefer not to be in the North during winter.

As for the diet area…I’m still hanging in on the same plateau I’ve been on for months.  Maybe one of these days my body will wake up and decide to do what I want it to do.  But as long as I’m not gaining I’m not gonna panic.  And when things settle down a bit maybe I’ll start going to Weight Watcher’s again.  But as long as we’re moving around I’m not gonna do that.  Every time I change meeting areas they want to charge me registration fees all over again.   I don’t think that’s fair and I’m not gonna do that. 

There’s not been anything new going on, other than the job situation.  I still have my good days and my bad days.  Lately the bad have outnumbered the good but I just take it in stride and hope the morning is gonna bring a good day.