julygirl56

So sorry to hear about your loss. She had many happy years with you and you will hold those memories close to your heart. And remember this isn't Goodbye to Crystal, it's only "See you Later". She'll be sitting at the end of the Rainbow Bridge when it is your time to join her. lyn

Heidi, I just read your message from January. Congratulations on the weight loss. lyn

One of our cats is like that. When Domino (tuxedo kitty) decides I've been at the computer too long he sits beside me and talks until I give up and move away from the keyboard. Guess you can tell who's the boss around here. lyn

I haven't been on the Forum in a while and just read this. Mary, I am SO sorry to hear about your stepson. Your family is in my prayers and will be for a long time to come. I know the feeling of losing someone suddenly in an accident. My youngest sister was killed in an auto accident just 2 months after her 20th birthday. She's been gone for 22 years now. Not a week goes by that something doesn't remind me of her. It's the memories of all the things he's done to make you smile that will get you through this. And, if those memories make you cry, so be it. Slowly, over time the tears will lessen and you will think of him with smiles. The one thing that got me through my sisters death was something that my daughter said a month after the funeral. She was 2 years old at the time. We were sitting outside, enjoying the sunshine and my daughter was looking through a story book that my sister had given her. It made me sad to think that Mary Pat would never read the book to Kimi again and I started to cry. Kimi asked why I was crying and I told her it was because 'Pat Pat" (Kimi's nickname for my sister) was gone and that I missed her. She said...Don't cry Mommy, Pat Pat is here. She's whispering to us in the wind and smiling to us in the sunshine. Out of the mouths of babes! Hugs to you and your family. lyn

You all make me smile! And I want to add my THANKS to Tracy and Deb. You do a fantastic job!

I've watched "Meet Me in St. Louis" with Judy Garland about 50 times. The first time obviously for the movie and music. Then I started watching it to get ideas for my Pierce. I find myself doing that while I watch HGTV. There are so many Victorian houses on a lot of their shows. lyn

Congratulations Muriel and Chris. lyn

Holly, you've got me beat. I'm lucky if I can walk a mile and a half. I'd never make it to 7, never mind 8 or 9 miles! lyn

Goals for this year....... Lose the last 30 pounds I want gone. Finally get us moved into our new house (we've owned it since Sept. 2009). Finish clearing out all the stuff we DON'T need or use anymore. Find time to work on my Pierce (haven't touched it in 3 years.) Find a job to help pay off car loans and house mortgage.

Doing Genealogy research is a blast. I've always known that my father's paternal side of the family came from England. William, (1st generation) came to America, settled in Chelmsford, Massachusetts and built a tavern. It still stands today and is called "The Manning Manse". One side is a tiny family museum, the other side is a restaurant. Our family has reunions there every June. One interesting fact I didn't know was that William came from a small town called Colchester, in England. My daughter and I were doing some research for a genealogy report she had to do for school and we found that interesting little tidbit. What makes it even better is.... we live in Colchester, Vermont. Our family has a book that was published when my paternal grandfather was a baby. It is a family genealogy that starts with William and goes to my grandfathers generation, which is the 12th. The family Association is in the process of gathering all the information it needs to publish a second book. It will start with my fathers generation and continue to the present. On my mother's side I have a genealogy for both her maternal grandfather and grandmother's sides of the family. My maternal great-grandmother came to the United States from Canada with 2 of her sisters. They went to Lowell, Massachusetts to work in the shirt factories. They were the oldest children and needed to help with the family. They sent money back to the family farm to help support the other 6 children. I myself have been researching my mother's paternal side of the family. Only finding bits and pieces, but it's Interesting and I'm not giving up yet. lyn

Holly, I definitely know what you mean! Once I hit 50 keeping my weight where I wanted it became a day to day challenge. lyn

I absolutely feel the same way. This site has been a God send. There have been many days in the last few years that I haven't even wanted to get out of bed each morning. I get on here and read all that's new and it cheers me up. Thank you all for being the wonderful on-line friends that you are. lyn

Holly, you and I must have shared the same Holiday Fairy that helped us keep the weight off. Now, if that same Fairy could find a way to help me lose the rest of the pounds that I want to, I'll love her forever!!!! lyn

Hello Everyone, Well, the Holidays have come and gone and I didn't even gain an ounce. Don't ask me how that miracle happened. We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house and I cooked everything, except the turkey, days ahead. I even sampled as I was stirring and baking. Somebody somewhere must like me. Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas or a nice Kwanzaa. Wishing everyone a peaceful New Year. lyn

Decided to take a break from my sewing machine. Been sitting at it, off and on, since 10 AM this morning. I've gotten lots of Christmas gifts finished tho. 3 fleece blankets, a trio of pillows for my MIL, body pillows for our great-nieces and great-nephews and 4 shirts for my DH. I also finished knitting a shrug for one friend and an afghan for another. Still need to finish a lacy shawl for my best friend. Will finish decorating the house tomorrow, after we get our tree. Can't wait to get it all finished. It will be our 1st Christmas in the new house. Once the decorating is done I will need to start wrapping our gifts. I need a another week to be all caught up for Christmas!!! lyn

My husband used to be a USPS carrier. He had a rural route here in Vermont and he busted his butt to deliver to his customers. One of his co-workers was the exact opposite. He was the laziest thing that my DH had ever seen. He also had a bigger route than my husband but always managed to get back to the post office before any of the other carriers. We eventually all found out why, because his wife caught him and turned him in to his superiors. He was hiding all of the sales flyers and magazines in his garage so he didn't have to deliver them. After being investigated he got fired. The investigators found 10 years worth of magazines and flyers in the garage. Talk about stupidity. It was bad enough that he hid them, but to leave them there for all those years! We have no complaints about our carrier. It's been the same man for the 22 years we have lived here. The development we live in has it's own post office. It makes it easier for the carrier to deliver our mail. All of our boxes are in one building, rather than him driving to 250 homes. He does deliver large packages to our homes. He always leaves them right by the front door. UPS and FED EX deliver right to the door too. Guess we're lucky. lyn

So sorry to hear about Simon. I also have a tuxedo kitty and can't imagine not having Domino around. lyn

Goodness, you all must be extra busy. No one has been here since the middle of September. Hope you are all doing well. Steve and I have become the laziest things. Unfortunately for him he's put 10 pounds back on. Surprisingly I am still @ 158. I have been really good about watching what I eat. I am also the only one still moving boxes into the new house. Climbing 15 stairs up and then back down to carry everything into the house. Then the things that need to go on the 2nd floor get toted up another 18 stairs. Must say that my calf muscles are getting a workout! I also go for 4 or 5 walks a day now. We got a dog at the end of June. She is part Beagle and loves to go for nice long walks. Especially in the woods behind our house. Sometimes she gets a scent and we jog. It's a great way for me to get a little extra exercise. lyn

Tried to see if there was a club in Vermont. I can't get the link to work for me. Could someone else try it and let me know. Thanks......lyn

Rosalind, I could have a dollhouse in every room. I would really like that, unfortunately we have a 9 month old kitten that loves to jump on my Pierce. So far she has broken off the roof cresting and the porch railings. Thank goodness the house needs to be renovated anyways. I guess I should look at it as 'Bella' being a sub-contractor and she's saved me the work of removing all of that stuff. And, hopefully as she gets older she won't be interested in the houses anymore than her 2 big brothers are. lyn

OMG! Everyone is doing so well. I haven't been on here in ages! Steve and I have been bad and haven't been to the gym since April. We are still continuing to eat low fat and low sodium meals and have been for 16 months now, since his heart attack. Thankfully we haven't put any weight on since we stopped exercising. Reason for not going to the gym......we bought a house and have been slowly moving into it. Going from a 934 sq. ft. mobile home to a 2240 sq. ft. house is keeping us fit. Having a staircase to climb, carrying boxes, is a serious workout. We've been toting furniture too! Steve has gone from mowing 1/4 of an acre to 1 and 1/2 acres and all the rooms have LOTS more area to clean. Once we are totally moved in (which I hope is soon) and settled we will get back to the gym. And I'm actually looking forward to it. lyn

I've always thought that flea markets, auctions and second hand stores were so much fun to shop in. The last six months I've had lots of fun. I have been going to our 2 Goodwill stores, the second-hand furniture store and 2 second-hand stores run by the hospital auxiliary. DH and I bought an 1880 Queen Anne Victorian house in September and I have been looking for items to furnish it with. I found an amazing antique vanity and bench for $125.00 at the 2nd hand furniture store. The ones in the antique stores are $500 and up. Too rich for my blood! Now all of the antiques I inherited from my maternal great-gramma and gramma have the proper home to live in. Some time in the next 2 weeks or so I am going to check out a store I just learned about. It is a salvage store that only carries architectural items. Most of the items have been salvaged from Victorian homes here in Vermont. We'll be looking for a chandelier for the dining room and crystal door knobs, for now. Can't wait to see what they have available!!! lyn

Heidi, Guess what! We actually went to PF today. I felt really good after we got through. Steve even said thata he's missed exercising. Now I just have to keep him motivated. Planet Fitness really isn't that busy whenever we go. We usually get there around 11AM and work out for about an hour and 20 minutes. The only reason I don't like it is because no one is the least bit friendly. We say hello to the people on the machines around us and they look at us like we have 3 heads. Steve brings headphones with him and I have been bringing a book for the treadmill and the elliptical. Makes the time go by faster. lyn

Hello Everyone!! Haven't been on here since November 12th!! Haven't done a heck of a lot of exercising either. Shortly after the last time I was on here, my daughter and I came down with this nasty cough and cold. Never shook it until the beginning of December. No exercising the weeks I was sick. Steve didn't go for those 4 weeks either. But I guess he got his exercise. Deer hunting season here in Vermont starts 2 weeks before Thanksgiving and ends the Saturday after Thanksgiving. He was out every morning @ 4:30AM to go traipsing in the woods for 8 or 9 hours. He also went hunting the 1st two weeks in December. It's a different kind of deer season, with a muzzle loader instead of a rifle. So, he didn't go exercise for those 2 weeks either. Then he came down with the nasty cough and cold and had that until just before Christmas. We got in 4 or 5 days of exercise in November and December combined. NOT GOOD! January was pretty much a wash too. We went 5 times in the whole month. So far in February we haven't gone at all. I can't get Steve out of bed in the mornings to go. I knew this would happen. I told him that he would slack off if we didn't continue to go to the Cardio Gym. And he told me back last July when I said that, that I would be wrong. Wish I had made a bet with him now......I'd be rich!!! Guess I will just have to start going alone, even as much as I hate Planet Fitness!! We both put on weight around the Holidays. (Don't know exactly how much because our new digital scale that we got last April doesn't work anymore). I feel tired most of the time and don't want to do anything. I hate feeling this way. I felt so much better when we were exercising. I had so much energy and was getting up in the mornings to start my day, instead of sleeping until noon like we used to and are doing again! (Of course part of that is because Steve works until 1AM and I wait up for him. We also don't go to bed until 2 or 2:30AM. He's too wound from work to go right to bed when he gets home). Maybe I will try walking in our Mall too. We have the same thing here. We can get into the Mall at 6AM. Two circuits around the Mall is one mile. Certainly don't want to walk outside, the weather has been realllly cold around here lately.

No Hobby Lobby's in vermont either! lyn