Hello all, I'm Dody's sister. I do have to say it's a struggle for her. She is doing everything right even down to the exercise. (Isn't shoveling snow exercise?) Now she has some obsticles to over come because she has a very bad back, she has four stints in and more recently rotor cuff surgery. On top of that, she suffers from vertigo. Kodows to you Dody. Myself on the other hand, do not belong to any diet club. I've been fortunate that I was skinny all my life and only in the the past two or three years have started gaining weight. Slowly it snuck up on me. One day I looked in the mirrow and ouch.. there it was, an innertube above what used to be my waiste line. Month by month, it was insidious as it crept up on me. Enough already!!!! So Dody loaned me a slider for WW foods and sent several websites. Wonderful!! I lost two pounds in the first two days, and the third pound the next. Then two days later had regained one pound. and it has stayed there, unchanging for over a week. This morning however, the scales blinked on the one pound less mark and settled on the original number.. Grrrrrrrrrrrr... well, that tells me that maybe it will come off all in good time. It did make me a little happier, because, I've given up my doritos and chips and yummies and exchanging for fruit and cheerios and oatmeal. Which in it self is a hardship, if you had any idea of how much I love doritos. So here I am useing the 18 points.. I really dare not go less then that and I only go over it every couple of days or so. I know we are allowed 30 something extra a week.. (I'm right, yeah?)

Tiskers, Sounds like you're doing the same extensive DIY that we did/are still doing! I have one question --- if hubby is that handy, why aren't you installing the cabinets yourselves? WE saved $2000 doing that. That was the easiest $2K we saved on the whole reno. Mind you, my DH is an engineer (electrical- so he did all the re-wiring and new wiring), and really really good at drawings and figuring things out. One day (perhaps when it's all done), I will sit down and figure out how much we have saved DIY. WE gutted a 25 X 10.5 space- including removing ceiling (which wasn't pleasant as it was an older house with no vapour barrier)- bits of insulation were 'everywhere'! We tore down a wall (that was fun)- removed aluminum wiring- rerouted plumbing/venting re-wired/installed all new electrical/appliances. Changed windows- now, that was an area that I subbed out, ie manufacturing and installation of new windows. That delayed us by quite a bit- they were more than 2 months late, as we had to take out old windows to reframe- we did it to be ready for scheduled delivery... and we ended up living with plastic sheeting for windows for months! Check your timelines. We had to have drywall up and painted for a set period of time (forget exactly), so that it could all dry before cabinets went in. Since we weren't drywalling until windows were in, we got behind right from the start. Luckily our cabinet supplier had room to hold the cabinets for us until we were ready. Flooring was also subbed out, and when we missed our original time, had to wait awhile until he could reschedule. Appliance store also agreed to hold appliances for us for several months. We originally planned a July 30th finish date. With delays, we then hoped to be in before Christmas. Granite was finally installed end of November- had to be re-ordered, and replacement pieces weren't installed until April 08, so of course we couldn't put up backsplash or finish off back of peninsula. Not to belabour the point, but as of Nov 24 08, we are still waiting for the last pieces we subbed out to a carpenter- finishing off our cabinets (original order was screwed up- long story). Hired him in August, and supposedly will get our order this week (not holding my breath). As I've said here before, my mistake in saying we wanted to be finished before Christmas, was in not specifying the year!!! So, advice? Money to be saved is real. In these times, priceless. Luckily, your DH can do all the work. If you don't have to sub out to anyone for anything, you're ahead of the game. But, if you have to depend on anyone else, be prepared for delays, and make sure your suppliers are OK with them.

LOL Plllog :) I'd love to meet your knob and puller heh heh Do you only knock when the red light is on? :oP I actually am greeted by name at Vintage Hardware heh heh The owner came out to meet me (they want to reproduce my ceiling medallions) last time I was in. He purchased another home we were looking at last year. They're not green :) But they're local and it's important to me to support the communities we live in whenever we can. I'm going to have him over as soon as I finish unpacking so he can go through the house. He has never been here and is dying to get a peek at the brass and the medallions and he's a wealth of period information which I really need. Are you local? And who's your tile person? I'm not sure what we're doing about tile...we have several original fireplaces that need replacement pieces or have had some made but they're badly done. Someday we'll get around to fixing them as well (mind you the kitchen comes first because I'm tired of cooking on the back porch LOL). Carbon footprints...those are always buzz words Dh gets a giggle out of. We were up on the slope in ANWAR and this dude was bragging about his carbon footprint being so much smaller than ours because he does not own a car. DH did some calculations for the dork overnight and came back to show him his real carbon footprint in comparison to someone who commutes 30 miles a day. His was way larger...see he wasn't counting the carbon footprint his FLIGHT TO WORK weekly cost :) DOH again...sometimes it's all about perception and being cool, not being green at all. Avoiding exotic woods and not driving a Hummer to work are two easy and real green steps :) Ride sharing in your Hummer...not so much :P

I have a friend who has tried every single weight loss scheme out there. Literally everything but bariatric surgery. She's done Medifast, Isagenix, dozens of different MLM weight loss schemes, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, Zumba classes-she'll drop about 20 lbs then gain it plus. I think she had her best weight loss with Medifast, but she quit that after a few months and gained it back. She's also Type II diabetic but won't do what she needs to do to lose the weight. She takes medication instead. I got notice from my health care team that my A1C was in the pre-diabetic range-that is super scary! So I started to change my diet-and so far I've lost almost 30 lbs. I just don't eat sweets, added sugar, extra carbs-and it's coming off. My last blood draw I was out of the pre-diabetes range! I'm going to keep at it-I need to lose more but I'm doing it the old fashioned way-healthy eating and exercise. My BFF ran into an old friend who'd lost 50lbs-she was on some crazy scheme diet where she could only eat a super restrictive diet. It was utterly unsustainable. Sure, she lost 50lbs, but had to be miserable! I'm working on my BFF to eat sanely (she's another Type II diabetic) but she keeps carbs & candy in her home...she's not a fan of veggies & fruit. I've got her at least bringing healthier snacks with her to work and eating a lunch during the day instead of starving herself then gorging when she got home. I wish there was an easy way to drop pounds-a pill or a drink-but nope. It's all about intake and output-fewer calories in-more calories out (burned) and you will lose weight.