Well now we are thinking of a Nordictrack instead of Bowflex...We can buy one right here in our small town and have it delivered and set up and we don't have to mess with doing that...these suckers are very heavy...and my DH has a lot on his plate right now.... I posted this at the KT but I'll post it here too... I have been walking indoors for the last week since the weather is so nasty...I set up a little routine of walking through the kitchen and dining room and circling the table and the bar...It is actually kind of fun and I put on my ear phones and listen to the tv and I carry 3 pound weights to boost it a bit....I have been doing the 10K steps as a guide...I figure with a 10 K walk and a normal 2 thousand day I am getting some exercise...My Beloved DH is going to buy me a treadmill as I really don't like to get out and walk on our country road...I doubt anything would happen but you never know when some jerk might be desperate enough to want to do an old fat woman...LOL I am going to concentrate on eating good for the next week...I just have to get some pounds off or I can see myself screwing up big time...I am at a point so close to saying ..who gives a crap that it's not funny...and I know that is the wrong thing to do...I just have to re-commit to getting these last 10 pounds off...my body seems to be fighting it so bad.. I am going to give up bread altogether for a week or so and see if that helps...I only eat whole grain and not that much but I can't think of anything else drastic to do...I hope you all are eating good...there is no excuse for me not following my program...It's a good one and not that strict...

Sam - What sacrilege!!! LOL Having 2 roses of the same type. LOL Yeah, having more than one type would be beautiful in landscaping, but I gotta have as many different types of roses as possible. I just gotta. :) Jim - seems like my soil DOES have all the microbrial good stuff in it. Apparently for potted soils, the place I use, just adds sand to the garden soil, and calls it potting soil (which is what I use). See below: The BigYellowBag® made its first appearance in Southwestern Ontario. Since then, it has been making its way across Canada and the United States! When it comes to getting our ‘stock’ of soil, we don’t just go with the closest or cheapest suppliers. We search out the best quality soil and stock it, sometimes for years in advance, to make certain we can consistently offer the highest quality of soil to our customers. Different types of soil have different levels of nutrients. One will have more phosphorus, another more nitrogen, and so on. Using third-party laboratories and professional agronomists, we test the soils we’re purchasing from our suppliers to determine the quality of these levels. Once we know the properties of the soils, we blend them to create a perfect balance that offers the best level of nutrients, minerals and soil texture to stimulate plant growth. After we’ve mixed the soil, we screen it several times, making sure that there aren’t any stones or clumps in the blend. Then we get it tested again to make sure that our Black Garden Soil’s nutritional properties fall within optimal ranges. We all know the saying “you are what you eat,” and we want to make sure your garden or lawn is getting the best ‘food’ possible from our Black Garden Soil. Quality Active Soil Does Make A Difference! Soil is home to many living things and has an important job to do for the environment. It’s full of organisms, mineral and organic matter and provides moisture, air and nutrients. A good quality soil is a vibrant mix loaded with microscopic life containing good bacteria and beneficial funghi; which help the soil cycle nutrients, decompose, help hold the soil together and improve soil structure. BigYellowBag& Black Garden Soil is comprised of a combination of black loam, peat loam, very-well-decomposed manure and a touch of mineral soil. These ingredients encourage microbial activity, which aid in plant growth. This soil is specially blended to enrich and balance the local soil conditions found in each BigYellowBag® area. Approximately one cubic yard in size, the bags can yield enough soil for the average home’s use. ------------------- So I conclude that my soil should be just like garden soil. I guess. So I'm going to continue using worm compost, but I'm going to use Straw's magic recipe. I'm quite excited about the change of using gypsum, etc. I'll let you all know if it's made a difference. Thanks for all of your fantastic advice. Carol

Thanks everyone for all your help and suggestions. We decided to go ahead with the proform and it will be delivered before xmas so on xmas day, we'll have several strong bodies around if we need to move it or need help with assembly...or disassembling the old one. I talked to DH about the elliptical and we decided in the future we will probably trash the old nordic trak (from the 80s!) and replace it with an elliptical. But for now, we'll stick with the treadmill.

Artemis, being outdoors...yes! I have mostly been swimming. The pool heater from a local eBay seller has been wonderful. A while back I added some exercises with an exercise noodle. However, as much as I love it my body is getting too accustomed to it and I’m plateauing . I‘m also sort of tired of my many exercise video’s. Think I’ll start using my husbands new toy, the Snode magnetic fly wheel exercise bike. This is sitting in the living room for now but will eventually be in part of the guest room. My son turned us on to this inexpensive $330 bike. You can use zwift, peloton, fygnz & kinomap apps with but the easiest for us is to turn on YouTube and use the free GCN 30min, 45min and more vids. I have only so far used this newish bike while watching a tv show. You can not hear any sound from this bike while using. It also doesn’t take up much space. Me, looking through some of the free GCN YouTube vids. Most of these are designed around a geared bike workout but would be easy enough to adapt. EDITED to add... Further YouTube searches bring up some choices more up my ally, mixed workouts. There are many in non GNC as well.