September B.E.S.T. Chatter

Hi Ladies,
I just wanted to stop in and say "HI"
Been very busy lately with showers, I am making a wedding cake Oct. 8 and possibly a 25th Anniversary cake Oct. 2 and house sitting Oct 1 - 9, so will be MIA.
I got a Bridal Shower invitation that is a Mad Hatters Shower, I will be at 7 Springs this weekend for a ladies retreat (WOOHOO!!!!) so will miss it but I took a straw hat and decorated with Dish cloths, sponges tied with ribbon to look like bows and linen tea towels attached to the top and pulled through slits to look like ribbon to tie under your chin. I found a straw bag and filled it with tea towels and kitchen stuff with a pair of gloves sticking out the top with tissue paper, I will take it to my girlfriend to take. She said she will wear the hat. It really sounds like a fun shower. I went to two showers last weekend. We have weddings Oct. 1-8& 15, Annivesary party the 2nd and a baby shower on the 22nd. It will be a busy but fun month.
Good news regarding DHs eyes and knees, he should have an appointment for his eyes the beginning of October and somehow his caseworker is going to help him get through the system with getting his knees done and possibly being back to work in approximately 16 months! To be honest with you, I am looking forward to house sitting to get out of here for a bit. We do need a break from each other.
There is a Johnny Appleseed Festival going on this weekend in our town and they are honoring veterans, my dad who is 93 and another 93 year old veteran are the grand marshals. It is so exciting for him to do that. I am so sorry I won't be here to see him, but DH and my DSs are going as well as some other family members. I am sure it will be very touching to see the local veterans honored.
Have a great day all, I am off to see the lady whose house I am sitting with her little fur babies.
BTW - We picked up our grandson and brought him home with us yesterday. He likes it here. LOL We had so much fun just having him with us for a few hours, without the parents! They only called twice. They went out to dinner and did some grocery shopping and missed their little punkin ALOT.

Hi Ladies,

I hope everyone is doing well.

Margo ... you are always doing so much fun stuff. Your Mad Hatters brial shower gift sounds so cute!!. Great news about DH. Have a great time on your retreat, those are always so refreshing.

Not much going on here, studying, sewing, studying, studying, sewing and studying some more. I kept telling myself I was not going to take another quilting class until I finished a project I already had going ... yeah right . The quilt we are making is really pretty and it does use a different technique I have not tried (my justifcation). Now I need to decide on colors and start getting my fabrics together. I also joined a group (on-line) that is making quilt blocks, the group is called "Quilting the Psalm's" I can't remember exactly how many blocks there are, but each week the lady sends out a meditation and a portion of a Psalm to think about as we work on our square. I am going to keep the colors simple, red and off-white, helps the brain not go into over-load trying to figure out colors and corrdinating them for 2 quilts.

Love you guys and miss our more lively chats :-)

Good morning all,
Yes, I'm back - after 6 months???? Hope you all will have me! Seeing most everyone on another site, I never felt like I was gone.
I am so glad that our weather has taken a turn for cooler...note the "er" part...still hitting 90's but after 70 days of 100+ temps this summer, that feels cool!
Planning on a trip north to Ohio to see the kids/grandkids (now ages 5 and 2). I will travel
with my daughter in law's grandparents - they also live in Texas and only the wife drives now (she's about 65 - husband is about 80 and doesn't drive)...they asked if I'd go and share the driving part. After doing that drive by myself this summer, I'm glad to go and share!

Today I am home crashing - have a "bug" of some sort, so did not go to water aerobics and will cancel my other obligation for this afternoon.

And speaking of water aerobics - I have been given my own classes to teach - every Thursday I have 2 morning classes...back to back. Hoping to get another class or two or at least some more subbing jobs.

Glad to be back and hope to keep it up!

HI Ladies,
Retreat was wonderful! The speaker was Dr. RoseAnne Coleman from Tenessee. If you ever get the chance to hear her, go. I had so much fun with my sis and friend. Our Hotel room was beautiful and I am thinking I really don't want to go back to the Chalet. LOL We shall see.
Great news! DH has an appointment to see his eye Dr/Surgeon next Monday and Tuesday and then the surgery will come soon after. WOOHOO!! Then we will see about knee surgery. I am Praising God for this good news for him.
Barri, I love that you sew so much, I just got out some material yesterday and hope to make some things for Christmas. I have a Steelers Blanket in the making for a good friend.
Ali, it is so good to see you. I am happy for you that you have the aerobics classes to teach. Have a wonderful trip to Ohio to see the grands.
We kept our Sweet Prince overnight Tuesday, he was an Angel, fed him at 11:30 and he didn't get up until 7:00. He doesn't sleep that well for his momma, I think she fusses over him too much. LOL I will try to gently talk to her about it. We will have him overnight again Saturday! LOVE IT! I hope he sleeps as well, I will be speaking and singing in church Sunday for Friends Day, so I need my rest.
I need to go and get some things done. Love you all!

Margo, it is wonderful to hear your positive news! Good luck to DH on surgeries and enjoy your little angel!
Barri, Ali, Nanette, Dawn, Melissa, Valorie, PJ, Kim and of course Nancy who has kept up with me on the daily thread, I am sending my best and I hope more of you will have time to visit soon!

I am starting to feel comfortable with my new weight which is a relief. I am committed to tracking my food forever, as it will be way too easy to think I have things under control and then lose track. I feel like a couple of people are eyeing me, waiting to see me gain again. Others are very supportive. I used to think, jealously, that if someone was at goal then the battle was won, but it is very clear now that being mindful and tracking are part of the forever battle.

Hope to see you on the daily thread when you have time,

hey Ladies,
Sorry I haven't been around. Summer has come to an end and fall is in the air.
The news said yesterday-enjoy the last day of sun. Wow did that sound so final and depressing. LOL. But we had good hard rain last night and the sun is shining as I write so what do they know.
DH is working today so I'm enjoying a day to myself, just got home from church and plan to do some napping, cooking, sewing and possibly go to a knitting help class to get started on my socks.
The gardening is coming to an end too, try and make myself go out each day and either harvest the last of something and freeze it or pull stuff out and get it cleaned up for next year.
Health is doing good, thankful for that, need to fine tune my diet again, and lose the 5 lbs I put on this summer.
Good to Catch up with you all
Desk-great job at reaching your goal- maintaining is the key, just keep up the good work.
Margo-enjoy that little guy, you are blessed.
Ali-good to hear from you-great job on the classes
Barri- miss you too, wishing you the best on studying, and enjoy the sewing.
I'm sewing a quilted landscape that I'm designing its of the lighthouse here just 5 miles from where I live, with Mt rainer in the background and the sand and beach grass in the foreground, having a lot of fun doing it, shoot, I told myself the same thing that I wasn't going to buy/start new projects but hey I'm also working on skirts for the 3 little girls I babysit and a table runner, need variety right?
Hugs to all that are missing.
Valorie

Hi everyone. I am asking everyone to pray for Barri. She was hit by a car yesterday and has a broken leg, broken arm and had to get stitches in her head. She will be ok but has a long road to recovery. As I hear more news I will post it on here and on another site that I see some of you on. She is very lucky that she did not suffer any back or head trauma. She will be coming home from the hospital on Tuesday.

Margo enjoy your grandson and great news about your dh having his surgery so soon.

I don't remember if I posted it but my oldest son graduated high school and also earned his Eagle Scout. We are very proud of him especially since he missed 3 months of school this past spring because he had lyme disease. We thought it was gone but now the drs say it has to be treated with multiple antibiotics and he must be on them for at least 3 months to really get the lyme out of his system because some of his symptoms have come back.

Desk it sounds like you have met your goal weight. Congratulations and keep up the good work!

Hi to everyone I missed and will be back to post on how Barri is doing. Hugs to everyone.

I didn't see an October thread, so will post here.
Praying for Barri...so sorry to hear of her accident. Thanks for sharing Nanette.
I took a Continuing Ed class today for water aerobics...now I am TIRED !
So I'm just chillin' tonight, and DH is doing the same!
Desk, since I've been out of the loop - how did you do it? I have the workout part down, but the food stuff drives me batty...with food allergies and all the stuff I CAN'T eat, you'd think I'd be slim as can be...NOT.
Happy October all!
Ali

Nanette, thanks so much for letting us know about Barri. Prayers and strongest healing energy headed her way. Poor Barri

Ali, I took an online class called Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less through work, and lost my first 20 lbs during the class from January to April. The class gave me direction in reading labels and making healthier choices, but the biggest things were learning portion control and tracking every bit of food and every bit of exercise. I track all my food and exercise ONLINE, using two apps, myfitnesspal.com and sparkpeople.com, so basically I'm counting calories, but the apps do it for me. It has been easy. The next ten lbs came of slowly because the boost from the class was over. So I joined it again in August and now I am focusing on learning how to maintain. I will have to track my food and exercise for the rest of my life, but it's not hard and it's encouraging to see my progress graphed out in those apps. BTW, ESMMWL is available to the public online.

I am still working on body image, but I did buy some jeans and they fit right off the shelf - in size 8! That is my newest motivation because in the back of my mind I'm thinking I will outgrow them as I always have done, but gosh, size 8 - I never even wore that size as a kid, I shot right past into size 12 as early as I can remember. So as I exercise and portion my food, I think to myself, I can do this, I can maintain, I can and I will be a size 8. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I found those jeans actually fit me. I'm still stunned.

to everyone, come on back to the daily thread when you can! It's been lonely over there!

Thanks for lettingus know Nan, about Barri.

Desk that is awesome, you go girl.