I have more sympathy for your situation than I can express. My greatest fear is loosing shade. I fought with Com Ed for 6 years about a mulberry jungle I have inherited on my rear easement line. It has a single ComEd line for street lighting running through them and I didn't want to cut them down and break their power line. They show no interest. Their attitude is when it breaks they will fix it. If I break it I will be billed for the repair. I've had my fill fighting with thousands of mulberry seedlings, poison ivy, wild grape, and tons of mosquitoes, So finally I plant to remove all the underbrush and build a new bed there. Knowing how that goes, my greatest fear is that after all the work a storm will cause the line to break. Then ComEd will come in and cut down all the trees on the easement including the black walnut with an already established hosta garden under it. In doing it they will be merciless and totally destroy everything I have done and the habitat to redevelop my hosta gardens. Les

You Guys and Gals are way to FUNNY!!!! HHHAAA HAA HEE HEEE............... LOL!!!! K, I was also thinking about What might be sprayed on my keyboard when i read Jen's post!!! Couldn't stop the shoulders from moving.. I was laughing out loud!! : ) Jen.. You would have been right with me when i had to Beg from a restaurant... Good thing TSA wasn't watching me "OPERATE!!!" That would have been the deciding factor if i was to be locked up or not... I was Quick!!! LOL.. You just wait and see.. I know you will be thinking of me when you visit CA!!! Can't wait to hear your story!!! : ) Dave, You had to bring up the nails... LOL. You are right. It is Plumeria Sap. It is the latest trend here in Southern Virginia!! I think im going to sharpen my teeth and go and see what i can trim... LMAO!!! Hey Andrew... LOL!!! You are really making me laugh.. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud as i read these post... Those cuttings were pretty Huge.. Im sure your cutting was similar to mine in size since it was the "PSYCHO" This tree has made a name for itself... They were the largest cuttings i have ever seen. The TSA were probably so stunned at what i was bringing thru security.. They had to write a new section on what size cuttings were allowed after they saw mine... : ) Bill, LOL... To kind... Thank you!!! Laura

Trailrunner - I was reading some of this to DH last night, he thought they sounded like great ideas btw, and when I was done reading the first thing he said to me was,"Wow, I can't believe people take the time to type that much out trying to help someone. " Ha. Gotcha on the wear them only for running. Oh I know not to wear the orthotics and insoles at the same time. I know now (didn't at first years ago!) to take out the pads shoes come with first. Powerstep is the brand of inserts I bought from the Podiatrist. Heard of or any thoughts on them? I forget what name my orthotics are they don't say anything on them but they came in a bag that did. The bottom is hard plastic but the top is blue firm foamy stuff. He said something about it being new stuff. Do you think the Podiatrist would give me a hard time about "put a good padded front made of the new high tech triple layer stuff they have or....you can get a good insert and cut it to fit flush with the front of the orthotic"? Guess I won't know until I try but I'm picturing them wanting to know what I'm diagnosing myself since they apparently didn't think I needed that. Oh, well. I wondered how the ball of my foot was getting any support if I'm use my new orthotics in shoes I took the insole out since there's nothing there. In the past (I'm sure from wearing heels) I've had pain in the balls of my feet. I tried to tell him this too while I was there but he wasn't interested in hearing it since I wasn't having pain. Thanks for the heads up about the glucosamine. I think it actually might be what DH takes! I need to check that out. He gets on me about how I really should take it. I can take all three of those types of pills. That does sound like a lot! I'm guessing it just kills the pain longer? Does that help with the healing process at all. Perhaps that's a dumb question. I checked out that roadrunner site and the chart and I'm not sure if I'm N or PN. I'm under 150lbs and I do under 25 miles a week for N but the PN says, you run races or enjoy fast running. I like fast running. When I said I never considered myself a runner it's because I normally don't do more than 3 miles at a time and normally it's intervals. The thought of a 50 or even 10 mile race makes me cringe. Figured I'd ask but thought N would probably be my best bet regardless? Also, the NB shoes look like they're for trail running and I'm normally on a treadmill, does this matter? I really like that site. It even tells you to order sizes up for some shoes. The current ones I have are on there and it does say to order 1/2 size bigger. Go figure. Onlines shoes didn't tell me that! How's this for the laces? It still feels kind of tight around the top. Probably just the poor fitted shoes. For now, I'll rest from running. I have other sneakers I can wear for biking or whatever. By the time I'm ready to hopefully run again I'll make sure to have good sneakers. Seww - Thanks for the link. It seems very common here that even running stores have people in them that don't really know what they're doing. They just find the size in the back room. I'm at least going to go and attempt to try some on in person. Deedee - Oh my, I laughed out loud when I read that. That wasn't real nice of him! For a long time I thought I must be the only person with wider feet! One time on ebay I bought a really nice and expensive pair of heels. I did not know B meant narrow (I think it's B - whichever one is narrow). There is no way I can wear them. Not possible. It was funny even trying to put them on. They're in my closet because I couldn't resell them. Nobody in the world has a size 5 narrow foot either. :)

I stumbled on this topic and was so glad to see that I am not the only one who has struggled with this. I have been having issues for the past 3 years. My periods stopped almost exactly 2 years ago. I had gotten so bad in the past 6 months that I could not walk when I got out of bed in the morning and could barely walk after sitting for longer than 10 minutes. I finally found a combination of things that have been working for me. I hope it may help somebody else! I admit that my diet has been terrible. I've had a bad case of the "busys" and I have relied heavily on the "bag and box" convenience approach. I read that people who eat a lot of fast/convenience food have magnesium and potassium deficiencies--which affect muscles. I began eating a banana--sometimes with peanut butter for breakfast. I eat baked potatoes (with all the good stuff; even then it 's better for me than fast food!). I concentrated on getting food with real nutrients; particularly potassium. You can google and find lots of options. I began taking a magnesium supplement. I only take about 1/2 the therapeutic dose. Do some research and find out which formulations are best absorbed to avoid diarrhea. I found out that artificial sweeteners can have an affect on nerves over time. (I recalled working with a client in my past job who turned to drinking Listerine as a source of alcohol. It permanently damaged the muscles in his legs.) I have been a HEAVY diet coke drinker for decades. I limit the diet soda to one or two small bottles per week and I began drinking water. Lots of it. I bought a compact fold-up exercise bike so that I could get in non-weight bearing exercise. The treadmill just seemed to aggravate things, especially my foot that had begun swelling. The bike allows me to work my legs--releasing lactic acid build-up that can lead to tightness--without causing new problems. A rowing machine might work too. I do at least 30 minutes a day, sometimes breaking it up into two or three sessions. I like the bike because it is totally silent and I can stop for brief breaks. I watch TV while riding. (I've read that deep tissue massage is also excellent in releasing lactic acid build-up, but I haven't tried it.) I began taking vitamin D3 for muscles and bones. I began taking Krill oil to help with inflammation--and it's just plain good for the human body. On mornings when I am still feeling pretty tight by 9:00am or so, I take 600mg ibuprofen. Previously, this did nothing to help. Now, it makes all the difference. I can feel it within an hour and one dose is all I need for all day. It took about 6 weeks, but the difference has been amazing. My stiffness is not totally gone, but it is remarkably lower!!! I can stand up and loosen up in a few seconds.