Weight Loss

I have looked for twins and poked around other groups without finding a real support group.

I am 48, 5'5", SW 151, CW 134, GW 128

I am the school teaching mother of three in their upper teens, wife of my 3 lbs from goal hubby.

SO...

Anyone interested?

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY 4th OF JULY EVERYBODY!!!!!! I have to get a gold star this a.m......I don't know if its because of being in pain or what but I have actually officially lost 40 lbs I am now at 130 which was my 2nd goal!!!! Now to KEEP it off!!!! WHOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Have a safe and happy holiday girls. I'll be safely here at home!  Connie

Greetings all!  I am now back in sunny Bermuda after my travels in Ireland, England and France - 5 weeks in all!!! The first 4 weeks was a blast, really enjoyed catching up with family and friends, and the south of france was MAGNIFIQUE  especially all the wonderful food and wine!!!!

Unfortuately my 24 year old niece (In N. Ireland) has been in hospital for the past 2 weeks, fighting off a nasty viral or bacterial infection......docs have not been able to diagnose anything specific yet, but are focusing on encaphalitis and meningitis....definite inflammation on the lining of the brain.  Poor kid...she was with us in France, home for 3 days, then in hospital in the blink of an eye...not good.  So my 4 week trip turned into 5 weeks as I took some extra time to go and spend more time with the family. 

Arrived home last night and have decided to try to not get on the scales until Tuesday morning (my normal weighin day).  Although based on how I "feel" I am hoping that there has not been too much weight gain.  I ate and drank plenty during my trip....but in France especially everything was so fresh and nice that we ate quite healthily. 

I havent had the opportunity to read through all the recent posts, but hope everyone is well and enjoying their summer!  Happy Belated 4th to all you Americans!!!!!!!!!

Will be in touch again soon.....gotta go fight my mountain of laundry

Oh my gosh Suz that sounds like a wonderful trip! Any pictures to share? Hope your niece is better soon. Glad that you are back safely and back WITH US! It's been kind of quiet lately with everyone BUT ME traveling! LOL. You will have to read and catch up with all the craziness we've been through in the last few weeks! Talk to everybody soon. My arm is feeling quite a bit better today!  Connie 

Hello all!

I am back, and up at our cabin where a thunderstorm chased me inside long enough to finally sit down and post!

Seattle was good, family time is always weird for our family, my sisters and I don't share the same values so it can get awkward at times. But no blow up or anything, just me rolling my eyes and having to count to ten a time or two. Sister the judge just doesn't get it that sister Christian school teacher can't/won't/wouldn't buy $300 shoes, or might not agree with her politics.

My mom really appreciated me spending a few days after the Seattle time with her in Oregon. My Dad is hiking in England with my middle daughter right now, so she is lonely . I hauled two van loads of junk to the Salvation Army after clearing out some closets for her!

Wow Suz that was an amazing trip you took! (need a emotocon that is green with envy to put in here!) I'm sure made all the better by having family connections. I hope they get your niece on the mend quickly!

Connie, huge congratulations on GOAL!!!! For you to have been able to keep loosing, right down to goal, when you were in such pain is a true testament to your strength! welcome to maintenance! hey, now that two of us have hit goal, we could start the party up here!  Oh my! I just pictured you and I partying by ourselves without the calming effect of the rest of our group! (where is that emotocon with the red horns and tail?)

Jenny, congrats on 8 pounds!Isn't it funny how the memory of how exhausting little ones are fades as we move on to new stages with our own kids? hope that pesky ankle heals up soon.

Sue/Skin, hope Gettysburg and the scouting events are going well!

Sue/Chuck, Are you are keeping cool? the Wizard of Oz was a big family event for us too. I can sill picture the print of the material on the chair I always hide behind when the flying monkeys came out!! (and 'hear' my older sisters laughing at me). I agree completely about the comfort of this group being, in part, because we share some life experiences! The other part, of course, is because you are all such COOL individuals!

I am trying to settle into maintenance, but my trip and now my period are making the scales jump around some.

Well, birds are starting to sing, and the sun is peeking out...which means garden, lake, and hammock are calling!

Alylou

Aly Aly Aly!!!!! I am so glad you are back!!!!! I have really missed you! Not that I haven't also missed the other girls but still I am so happy to hear from you! Boy I tell you the rain and thunderstorms just love you don't they!?! You need to come and visit me! We are still in a drought. It rained just a smidge on the 4th (naturally) but not enough to help with all of the dried out trees grass MOUNTAINS...... Well at one point I actually got down to 128 then went to 129 ate pizza hut to celebrate and (i mean ate a whole pizza too all weekend) and now this a.m. I am at 132but BOY OH BOY was it ever fun!!!! heeheehee! Anyway someday when we do all get together we will have to go through all of our posts together and discuss the actual events as they TRULY unfolded 'cause (although some would be sad) the most would probably be fun to rehash and hear each one tell the TRUE story with our faces being the emotocons!!!!!!! I really wish that we did all at least live just a couple hours drive from eachother. We could have such a blast HELPING eachother cope with this "live life healthy food is not the enemy" group of fabulous forty/fifty year young women! Don't you all agree??? Anyway I have the chiro 3x this week and then i begin the one to twox a week and hopefully I will be ALLLLL better! I am feeling alot less pain and numbness so thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers seriously! Now if we can get word from the rest of our group things will begin to get back to normal.....were we EVER normal?????? Anyway do you see how many times I write anyway? LOL  GLAD YOU ARE BACK!   Connie 

Hi All,

Wow! I had a REALLY crazy week! I told you all that my sister came with her two littles girls Mon-Wed, then my son had his wisdom teeth out Wed which went well. He was very funny when I went into the recovery room... a happy drunk. Doesn't remember a thing. Then my sis-in-law came with her husband on Thursday with their 23 yr old son and his punk-ska (?) band and they ALL crashed at our house Thursday-Sat. Nice "kids" despite the scary tattoos and the screaming songs. We went to see them perform... eek. I kept my fingers in my ears the whole time. I felt very OLD. Then we packed my son off to Delaware with his pain meds. I feel kinda bad but he was okay and said he was up to it as long as he could rest on Sunday. I would've had him wait for a week but he was getting a ride down with my sis so it was free one way travel. Bad mom?

So now I'm back in my comfortable rut and back to the loser forum.

Aly-glad you're back. I absolutely know about weird times with sisters. My one sister who was visiting and I get along with very well but the other one... well, it's always tense when we're together. But it sounds like your visit was good overall and that's a blessing. And isn't it nice to give back to our parents when they need help? My mom drives me crazy at times but it's still nice to do something to help her.

Connie-that's terrific about meeting your goal! I will put you on a pedestal now and strive to emulate your success. And two pounds either way... well, what the heck. You gotta have a life too besides being a loser. And I'm picturing you and Aly together taste testing all the drink recipes... yahoo!

Suzenf-glad to have you back too. And the trip sounds great until the extra week. Scary about your niece. That brain stuff is so unpredictable and worrisome. I hope she's ok soon. And very wise choice not to get on the scales for a while after your excellent food and wine in France! I don't know that I would have the self control.

Let's see... Axe-how was the potluck? Sue/Mom-sorry about the gym experience... I'll look at the post later. Sue/Skn-you're life sounds like mine... a bit crazy with kid stuff. Fun but busy! And where's everyone else??

I posted a photo of Rusty I got from the trainer. I wish that were me riding him with the long blond hair and the skinny bod but alas, it's the trainer's assistant. I also put a more recent photo of me from our business's web site so you can see me in my graying glory.

Have a great day you losers! -Jenny

Ahhh, what a happy morning to see 2 of "our girls" back - great to hear from you Suzen and Aly, too. I loved reading all the recent posts -- and was laughing and smiling about the "too loud punk band" that Jenny endured! You know that quote don't you: "if the music's too loud, you're too old". I always see that on some 13-year-old's t-shirt. Loved your new pics, too, Jenn. Frankly, I think you look gorgeous with your gray hair. And, I checked out the food photos on your website: they made my mouth water. Especially the one of the drenched berries!. I could never lose weight with those photos around. Girls: if you haven't seen Jenn&husband's website - you gotta' take a look. Connie, so glad you are feeling better - and boy, I wish I could've eaten that pizza with you! Congrats to you on your reaching goal - WOW! So great. Suz - you'll have to tell us some anecdotes about your trip, when you finish all that laundry! (And pictures, too please). I'm praying for your niece's recovery. Aly- I second Connie's point: please send some rain over here, will ya'? Aly, I liked your description of your 2 sisters and their differing points of view. Family:  love 'em or, hmmm, love 'em. What else can you do? Axe and Skn- hope all is well - thinking of you this Monday, too.

Quick update on stuff around here:  HOT HOT HOT. Okay, that's all.  LOL.  We spent 2 1/2 days in Flagstaff (cool moutains, cloudy skies, elevation 7000 feet) seeing my daughter on the mid-camp break at her music camp. It was a great time. She's a very quiet person, and I love to observe her around friends who make her laugh out loud and act a little crazy, because we don't see that too often. So, we're back in town and I'll try to get back to this diet, er. . "lifestyle", once again. The scale was kind to me this AM, but I am very suspicious - because I didn't eat well lately - we'll give it a few days and see.  I'm going back to the gym today - and I'll just ignore that wicked trainer (for those of you who read my other post on that issue.)

Again, I just want to say how great I feel when I wake up and get to hear from all of you. You ladies are all my favorite 'losers'.   Sue

Hey Sue/Mom,

I just read your post about the trainer during my lunch break. What a jerk! And most of the replies were exactly what I think. I disagree with the one who said the jerk trainer is right. Mostly because from what you wrote about your diet... er... lifestyle, etc. I don't think anyone can say for sure one way or the other. Did you give this trainer a food diary?

And the negativity was SO counterproductive!! If it had been me I would've crumpled into a ball and snuck out the door never to be seen again! Obviously this person doesn't know any sports psychology with regards to (ahem) vintage women.

I say you are to be commended for doing the exercise and supported in your quest to be more fit even if you aren't perfect, which of course no one is. Do not accept anything less. You deserve to be treated with dignity and respect no matter what!!

And thanks for the compliments on the photography... it gets easier to ignore the food as long as the client doesn't offer any... it's hard to refuse without offending if they're sticking it right under your nose. Also on my lovely gray hair. I tried coloring it but I'm too lazy to keep it up

We visited NAU the last time we were in Tucson in April. What a nice campus. I want to go there! Is that where the music camp is?

Jenny

Hi

Jenny LOVED the punk-ska stuff! LOL not sure how I would have felt about them camping at my place. locked up my daughters probably! Also loved the term "vintage" applied to us! Like a good wine! I have some strawberries I just picked for jam sitting here that look like you should take their picture! You do lovely work.

Sue, I love flagstaff, such a pretty town. I too read about your stupid trainer: obviously just wanted to make you "sick" so you would buy lots of their services. GRRRR. Let me and Connie at the jerk: we'll beat him up for you!

Ahhh, Connie you do love me! You know girl, I can tell you feel better by the number of exclamation marks you use !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope all your pain just fades away! and Jenny's right: you, me, and a bunch of new drink recipes = funny picture!(now where is the emotocon with a drinking glass...?) Pizza hut! As my girls would say: Pizza Hut is the devil! I would have clocked 5 lbs easy! you got off light! (pun intended).

I am sitting by the window looking out at the lake, a few boats fishing, the resident eagle is hunting, and I am waiting for all of you! *sigh*

Our much loved 84 yo neighbor is arriving tonight. Being brought by his daughter, he loves his old cabin, built by his Grandpa and Dad many years ago. When I am 84 I hope my family is as willing to drop everything to drive me 8 hours so I can have a few weeks in paradise! (actually on Paradise, as that is the name of our road!) He is about 4 ft tall and talks with a true UPer accent.  Hmmm, maybe you all aren't as familiar with the UP (Upper Peninsula)...UPers sound like Canadians crossed with Larry the Cable Guy.

Anyway, I am gushing. I had better start cleaning those berries before I start thinking about how good they would be in white wine....uh oh......

Alylou

OK Jen I will take the pedestal seat for a day or two!!!! Yes Aly I feel pretty good today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!! OK?! Sue seriously the trainer IS a man so he is just a flip away from being re-trained!!!! Think of the exercise and calories you would burn taking care of that situation! LOL I just wanted to say good morning to everyone but have to go get ready. I have a busy day today with my little mom. Have a great day. I will check out all these pictures and things this afternoon that I have been reading about. Sorry I have neglected to do so before now friends...but you know my vintage body just wasn't willing to work with me 'till now!     Connie 

Well having just read the last couple of pages of posts I can see everyone has had their fair share of trials and tribulations lately - guess we all get a turn every now and then!!  I won't take the time to try to address everyone individally but hope everyone is doing better now!!!!

Thank you all for your kind thoughts towards my niece, we will take all the good will and prayers we can right about now....but the good news is that she finally seems to be showing small signs of progress... I just spoke to my sister in Belfast this morning and apparently the doctors see some slight improvements, so that's encouraging.  They still do not have any answers as to what has made her so ill and she has dropped 14lbs in weight so they predict it will be a long slow road to recovery for her. 

My trip to France was a blast - in spite of there being 15 of us together in a lovely rental villa for a week.  This included my parents (aged 80 and 85) my mother in law (77)  my sister, her hubby and her family of 3, my brother and his partner/girlfriend (whatever term you like to use!) and my daughter's friend from university.  Meal times were crazy fun....and we couldn't keep up with enough bottles of wine most nights.  We did have a few family "squabbles" normally caused by my older brother (he's 56) acting worse than the teenagers.  He has been through a divorce and bankruptcy over the past couple of years and my sis and I think he may be on the verge of a booze problem.....but dare not say anything to mum and dad- yikes!!  Anyways... in general everything went well, and after most of the gang left, our little family of 3 went on to enjoy 3 wonderful days in Cannes, and then hubby and I had the last 4 days on our own in a lovely country hotel back up in the hills above Nice (in a lovely little village called St. Paul de vence).  I have hundreds of photos.....yawn!!! lol.....but will post a few into my profile later.

FINALLY......weighed myself this morning....and I didn't gain any weight!!!! Of course this means that I have gone 5 weeks and not lost anything either.....but oh well.  It's hot as heck here in Bermuda right now and I have been enjoyng bbq's and wine most nights since our return so i will really need to kick myself into gear to get back to my calorie counting.  I want to be a LOSER again, ha ha........

Woah.....just realised this is long....apologies !!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, I feel like I've just watched a lovely travelogue on places to relax this summer - Suz's description of her trip, expecially the hotel in Nice (I do think they should pronounce it nIce to rhyme with ice, though) and Aly's eagle circling the lake --- both such relaxing images.

So - post some more pictures, people - oh, yeah, vintage Connie - we gotta' finally see you one of these days, too. I do love your cat icon, but come on Miss-met-goal-weight-and-arm-is-getting-bette r, let's see a couple of Catmama pictures (or should we start calling you the sexy catwoman?) Seriously, I am glad to hear your arm is getting better.

Suz- glad to hear things are on the upturn for your niece.

Jen- if you were in Tucson, you were at the University of AZ. If you were in Flagstaff (a nice town in the tall pines), then you were at Northern Az. Univ. (ie. NAU). Arizona is basically 3 city state - Tucson in the south, Phoenix and surrounding communities (Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe,etc) in the middle, and Flagstaff/Williams in the north. Each city has it's own state university. Not very creative, are we? My daughter is at her music camp in Flagstaff at NAU - probably the prettiest campus, at least in terms of natural surroundings. U of A in Tucson has a more traditional old-style campus feel, and ASU in Phoenix (actually Tempe) is modern and not too pretty at all -- and huge - 40,000+ students!!! OK, enough geography lesson for today, class.

Thanks, Jen and everyone for your support about my wicked evil trainer session. Oh, and surprise, the trainer was a woman! Yesterday she came up to me at the gym and was all nice, like "oh you got your hair done" - grrrr.

Off to swelter in the heat --- do any of you know what "virga" is? It is when the atmosphere is so hot and dry, that it is raining, but the rain fails to reach the ground - it just evaporates on the way down. We are in the middle of that right now; hopefully, in a few weeks, when we get a little more humidity in the air, the summer rains will come. That helps cool things down a little.

Bye all - Sue/Chuck/Mom

Hi to everyone!

Sue, I learned something...didn't know that about virga. but I must admit you gave me a start, before I re-read the word I thought you were going to get far too personal about your hubby! Hot and steamy indeed!       I bet the evil trainer had green skin, wore a tall pointy black hat, and called you "my pretty"!

Suz, So impressed you didn't gain! Good Girl!!  I have written down your St. Paul de vence on my places to see list. sounds wonderful! do you speak French?  did you have many communication issues? Still pulling for your niece. We are hearing about Bertha being aimed at you all...How do you deal with being the bullseye for a hurricane?

Connie, OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am glad you are able to help your Mum again, and I think it is dear how you refer to her as your "little mom", I get such a picture of her needing your help and protection...It is sweet. Boy was I right in guessing you would help me take on Sue's evil trainer! But if she is the WW of the W, all we need is a bucket of water!

hope everyone else is having good summer fun and not too busy!

Wicked tired from spending most of the day putting neighbor's far too complicated and heavy dock in the lake. Job is done, but I'm done in!

Gnite, Alylou

OK my dear sweet friends....I am feeling so umm LESS TRAVELED reading all of your vacation spots and such! I'm thinking maybe I may have to have arm troubles and just meet you guys at the cabin without letting Oprah and the rest of the world hear only of my Pina Colada escapades (teachers did I msp?). You know someone else needs to join the group that has never been out of their back yard and THEN I would feel much better! Yes Aly I have ventured farther than even my FRONT yard! As for my little mom...after her bouts with breast cancer(2x) she lost weight (she was not a big woman before) but at this time she only weighs 100lbs and is 5'3. she has had arthritis and now osterioporosis so she is sooooo fragile but HAVING SUCH A GOOD DAUGHTER she is doing very well all considered. She had her hair cut and all curly yesterday and it was just too sweet. I think when she feels good and "dolls" up a bit she gets a little bit of a CATtitude um I mean attitude like me um I mean my brothers um my friends um YOU GUYS ON YOUR TRIPS around the world LOL! It was a good day out for both of us though. Did I mention she felt SO good she had me changing beds washing folding cleaning etc...and me with my arm in recovery!!! I am sore today but fine. I wouldn't have it any other way. Oh yeah sorry about assuming the trainer was a man. How MAN like was that!!LOL Let's see what else do I need to ramble on to you all about? How are our HORSES? I wonder how the China trip is going? Do you think Veganmamma misses us? LOL Sorry but WHO REALLY CARES! I just had to finally say that! 1000 pardons. ONE MORE THING about the trainer comments. Aly really do you think that was nice about throwing a bucket of water on her after that house fell on her sister????? Bye "yall"   Connie

Morning All! 

This mornings posts made me chuckle, thanks ladies!

Will report first on my niece.....has started eating a little bit over the past day or so and also taking her fluids orally, so drip will come out tomorrow if she keeps that up!!  Also responding to questions....not always making complete sense, but quite alert a lot of the time....encouraging!  Prayers (and meds!) are working  (and for the record I am not generally a very religious person but do have enough faith to call on it in extreme times!)

Aly... I would definitely recommend visiting the South of France...the scenery is spectacular, and whilst Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo etc. are all nice places to visit I would recommend being about 20 - 30 mins up into the hills....such a contrast!!!  I speak only a little French....high school stuck with me... but my daughter is still keeping it as a minor at uni...so I spent a few weeks using some software she has to brush up on mine before I went....I managed to get by most of the time.  The supermarket cashiers/butchers etc. was the biggest challenge, lol.  And my husband was hilarious when he kept accidentally throwing in some basic Spanish or Italian words by mistake, lol.  All good fun. 

We have recently been discussing potential "retirement" locations...in spite of having residency in Bermuda the cost of living here is extremely high. Housing (we rent due to local laws protecting the more reasonably priced properties for "Bermudians" only) and health care here is also astronomical.  Hence, when hubby retires (and he wants to do it early..as in maybe another 3 or 4 years) we will probably not stick around for too long.  Not sure we want to go back to Ireland...so we spent Sunday morning browsing French property prices on the internet......ahhhh to dream, lol !! 

Big Bertha...yes, we are keeping a close eye on the storm track - it is always a little unsettling to know that storms are out there...we have been through 2 actual "direct hits" and many, many, many "near misses" where the weather has been nasty, but luckily managed to come through unscathed.  Bermuda is much better off than most of the Caribbean / Florida / Gulf Coast etc. in that we have much sturdier concrete construction and roofs...so our level of damage is usually less than those other places.  Mind you if a category 4 or 5 storm came crashing over us, not sure how we would fare!!!  Fingers crossed xxx

Well it's 10am here and I need to go waken my 19 year old...we have to head to the airport to pick up her excess baggage (from college) that we shipped over....then...speaking of hurricanes, I need to go stock up on candles and batteries etc........JUST IN CASE!

Talk to you all soon.

Suze    

Oh Aly -- get your mind out of the gutter, LOL, VIRGA!! You really had me laughing out loud. My 12 year old asked "what's so funny?" as he heard me laughing and I had to, ahem, improvise an answer!

We are scooting out to a dentist visit and then doing some other errands. So. . . .I'll keep this to a brief "hello".

Connie - glad you had such a nice time with your sweet mom. She DOES have a good daughter. (you made me LOL about veganmamma, too)

Suze - you keep an eye on that nasty Bertha.

Hey, "nasty Bertha" . . maybe that's what I should call that trainer?? thanks to all for offering to douse her with water - good idea!

Hi to Jenny, SknSue and others (Axe, Soph, etc if they are still with us). Hope we will hear from our Betsy about her new daughter soon. What ever happened to caverlady? We all were nice and she never wrote back. Oh well.

One quick note -- for those of us who AREN'T at maintenance yet (grumble, growl) just kidding, and need inspiration - take a look at the profile and photos of a CC member, about our age, who goes by KAUFMKK. Her weight loss journey is amazing.

Later, my friends, Sue

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Almost 36 hours with no new posts.....is this good enough ladies??? !!!

Where is everyone??????

I'm lonely, lol.......

Talk soon.... hope you are all okay

Suze xx

Gutter mind here! Sue I loved the visual of you trying to invent a cover story for your giggles!

Suz, I sounds like Bertha is not going to worry you...I am glad. Yous is a very international family, retiring in the south of France sounds dreamy, but also so...Foreign...You are admirably adventurous spirits!

Connie, sister smister, dunk her! and I too LOLed about VM. Your mother is blessed with a terrific daughter, may we all have someone as caring when we need help.  Travel is not the only way to know the world, we can know much by knowing how to love and how to be a solid friend, and how to hold up under life's burdens...all of which I believe you excel at.   Wow... was that me being that serious?

Today was rainy for the first part so I have launched on my first knitting project since I was pregnant with my oldest: 20 years ago! I am excited to say the sweater is on its way. Kinda like riding a bike, wobbly for the the first few tries but got the hang of it pretty quick. Then the sun came out and the teens all drifted towards my dock, so I pulled the wake boards and screaming teens till the sun set. What energy and vitality they have...I get a kick out of them all.

Now it is late, and the day has opened the spigot in my toe and emptied me out...so I will say ..

gnite, Alylou

Oh girls girls girls! Lightning hit my neighbors house and took out her computer completely...she was standing at her kitchen sink knife in hand preparing dinner for her hubby and WHAM lightning lit up her whole kitchen. She had just walked away (thank the Lord sincerely!) Anyway I heard the loud boom (sounded like a shotgun blast in my bathroom) but was ok except for the MAJOR cat claw that I have now on my boob where my senior scaredy cat was sitting when the storm started!!!! OUCH! I told my neighbor that my computer was fine BUT I was wrong! It ony knocked out my modem and At&t just came and brought a new one so WAHLAH here I am back rambling to you girls as usual!!! That was too scarey though! I told Judy (my neighbor and fellow P.C. drinker) that I was gonna have to watch my language and alcohol consumption just in case that was a "little warning" from above! LOL My cats have definitely sprouted wings like little angels ever since!   Now I know when they misbehave I need to sound like a lightning bolt.....hmmmmm Aly any ideas on how to do that? No there is no particular reason that I am asking YOU! LOL Well you do teach at a christian school so I figure you have some tips.....Hey I went to Catholic school (yes with the little maroon plaid uniforms) so I know that the NUNS had they're ways of keeping EVEN ME in line soooo.........? Ok before you all start wishing the lightning hadn't missed!!! Just joking GOD! I will go for now.  Connie  

Wow, Connie, the lightning sounds scary; glad you and the neighbor are safe. - I can relate. A few years ago our neighbor's house burnt down from a direct lightning hit. It was the middle of the night, and the "electrical storm" (as they call it in AZ, when there is all this thunder and lightning but no rain) was intense. There were lots of seemingly close calls, and then one BANG like you described as a shotgun. I remember looking up to see our ceiling fan over the bed suddenly reeling and rocking. I thought we had been hit. After checking everything out and seeing nothing, we finally went back to bed -- then about 20 minutes later the street was filled with fire engines and flames about 30 feet high were shooting out of our neighbor's house 3 doors down. Thankfully, she wasn't home at the time and even her dogs were rescued. But the house was a total loss. Very sad.

Well, enough of that. We did actually get RAIN, sweet RAIN yesterday. First time in months! And it is cloudy and overcast today - I love it! It's still about 100* out, but I love the change of pace.

My dear daughter comes home from her 2 week musical adventure tomorrow. I'll be happy to have her home. She seems ready to come home, too. Plus, she's excited to see the "new" (okay a 1999) car we got for her while she was away. It was purchased with money she saved up, but we found such a good deal while she was gone, we didn't dare wait. Her first car - remember those days?

Happy knitting, Alylou; keep an eye out for Bertha, Suze; Jenny? how are you?

bye all, Sue/Chuck/Mom