On this fine Sunday morn, let me add a little preaching. Mow high, mow when it needs it, use the right amount and timing of organic fetilizer and water appropriately cures 95 percent of all the grass problems I see on this board. Maybe more. End of "sermon". And, mostly preaching to the choir, I know. ;)

you are not whiney, you had a big scare on top of all the huge changes you have been thru! stop and take stock of all of the good things your surgery has brought, this is a bump in the long road, albeit a scarey unpredictable one at that but you are ok now. my friend who had the surgery a few yrs ago has had a few bumps in her journey but would not change a thing, she is much happier and healthier. have you looked int a support group in your area? my friend had to go to a group every week for the first yr as part of her surgery follow-up and still gets together w/ them once a month. BTW how is your son doing??? i hope he loves college! congrats on the weight loss and quitting bp meds! i hope you take it easy and rest! ~ liz

Hi to my Smaller Homes friends! I appreciate your support and care more than you can know. I have been working toward a weight loss diet since the first of the year. I need to lose almost 200 lbs. In the past I have done liquid protein diets, both without and with other foods. This time, I am going to use the liquid protein to replace some meals and to use between my smaller meals. I figure that doing weight loss this way is a more sustainable way, and that I will likely need to use the liquid protein for some meals the rest of my life. Falling into the fast-food/drive-through habit is too easy for me, since I am on the road for my job. If I can leave the house with a liquid protein packet making a nice cappucino-like drink in home-brewed coffee, I won't be stopping for breakfast with bacon and white-flour breading. That saves a few hundred calories right there! I am trying to leave some snacking (a few individual Dove chocolates at night, a handful of pretzels, some air-popped popcorn) in my diet so that I learn to eat the way I always revert to - but with moderation, instead. DH is the sodium-sleuth, and since he does most of the shopping, I can eat low sodium if I do not sabotage his efforts! We still get take-out, but mostly Middle Eastern, and I get salads with some meat most of the time. So that is my plan - to establish better habits overall, use liquid protein drinks to keep my nutrition up, and eat fewer calories while avoiding sodium and white carbs. I started PT this week. We started with my ankles because that is where the worst pain is. Stan, my PT Man (a genius!) first studied my walk and added to my orthotics (he made them) to correct my left foot's roll. I am doing strengthening exercises, too. Next is my elbows, then my hand. Once I am done with the PT, I plan to get into that nice warm pool at the community center of a nearby suburb a few days a week to work out in the water. I am walking almost as fast as I used to walk as I cruise through my nursing homes, but get out of breath. No major heart pains since the one I had in my first week back at work. I am working to recognize my patterns of tension, worry, and stress. I drive around doing deep, slow breathing exercises and relaxing my shoulders! My biggest, best, and most time consuming change has been working my sauna into my schedule. I have done 30 to 60 minute sessions before bed, a 40 minute session as soon as I got home for work, and even a short 15 minute session before showering to go to work. It feels SO GOOD! I wake up without stiffness if I use it at night. As a matter of fact, it is warmed up for me now, and I am going to go indulge in a full hour in the baking, far-infrared 130 degree little cabin in our smallest bedroom right now!

yes, i have had it, i too am one crispy critter. i do not want to hear the word "GC" again and i hope a big wind gust blows away my project folder that is now jammed with stuff... i am glad however to know that means i am doing it right. thankfully 6 months from construction start i now have running water and counters! painting needs to be finished and i am moving back into the kitchen this weekend sans backsplash and working finish electrical. i will work on that in the next few weeks. the prospect of not warming food in a microwave on a folding table and not eating off my lap in a dust covered livingroom is beyond exciting. as others have stated, it has taken about 2x as long and cost more than anticipated! the cats however might be bummed out. they have really perfected their technique of dashing across boxes, temp tables, microwave and other kitchen supplies, up the mantle, down the mantle, across the couch and chairs, up the stairs, down the stairs ... they like this obstacle course and might miss the stacks and stacks of stuff everywhere! i have learned a TON (first remodel). the original fantasy of completing a bathroom remodel next year (in a house with only 1 bathroom) has been put on hold due to need to replenish funds and recover sanity.