I just saw your posting on my thread about yellow leaves. Glad to hear you pinched back some of your plants. Don't worry, they will be fine! It is the right thing to do. For Valentines day, my husband and children brought me to a nursery, I bought two established mother geraniums, brought them home, and cut off all the new growth, 11 pieces off each plant. All that was left was a fairly woody stalk, and a couple leaves on both plants, to which, my enthusastic 4 year old yanked off! My husband was horrified, having no idea with what I wanted them for. He is thinking "Gee, I did good getting those plants for her" and then he walks into the room to see that I have hacked them to pieces! I potted all the cuttings, and then left the mother plants alone. I now have the results, 22 baby Pelargoniums growing and thriving, and 2 mother Pelargoniums sporting their own new leaves! It really is incredible!

Your situation is unfortunate. That said it not healthy to be overweight, either emotionally or physically, and it is important to take steps to remedy the issue rather than accept it as is. A nutritionist/registered dietitian is in the best position to make an evaluation of your predicament and recommend an appropriate diet. Nutritionists/registered dietitians know exactly what the body needs based on your activity level, medications you take etc. Unlike all the lay suggestions you make get from those around you, the nutritionist will actually have a helpful and healthy way forward. Some of the nutritionists will even shop with you for food. The know about food psychology and how to deal with cravings and will-power issues. At the end of the day though you need to help yourself. You have an opportunity to change, unfortunately, opportunity is missed by most because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work. You need to decide whether the work is worth it. You won't know what's involved until you go talk to a nutritionist/registered dietitian. Best of luck.

What can I say--I feel you pain. My MIL has been with us for a little over a year now. I have recently quit my job of 9 years to stay home with her. She is 85 and her mobility is not good, confused on a daily basis, short term memory is bad and right now trying to keep her dressed seems to be the new thing with her. All in all she is a joy--pleasant and loveable but a real handfull sometimes. She stayed alone while my DH and I worked for nearly a year. I lived in fear that she would fall or get hurt while we were gone. We came home and found the house full of smoke and we knew we were really pushing our luck with this. She (for some reason) filled a skillet full of oil, placed it on the stove, turned it on and walked into the other room and forgot it. She didn't even see the smoke. She apparently fell asleep cause she said a loud noise woke her up--smoke alarms. And she still didn't notice the smoke. We came in just in the nick of time. I didn't go back to work. The first week I was home with her I was amazed at how good she was at "hiding" her confusion. Somedays she shines like a little star but others not so good and we are having a lot more not so good right now. I'm really suprised she didn't get hurt--we were so lucky. I REALLY miss going to dinner and running to the store or just going somewhere. It seems like my life revolves around how she is today. I miss doing things with just my husband or daughter. We sort of do shifts--one of us stays with her so the other can get out for a while. Like you we couldn't get any straight answers about the legalitys of leaving her home alone--and still can't . I guess we just have to go with our judgment with this. I keep telling myself how wonderful she's been to me through the years and how I"ll be in that shape one day. It's not easy.

I agree that if your cat isn't used to traveling, leave him home. I think the longest I've left my cats for was around a little over a week, maybe 8 or 9 days - I really don't remember. We had neighbors come and check on them every day, and feed them and such. They did fine. I wouldn't make a habit of it though. There was a lady that came into the nursery I work at looking for flea control for her cat and her home. One of the things I recommended was to vacuum every day. She said she couldn't ask her neighbor to do that. Turns out the lady was a flight attendant and was only home 1 or 2 days a week - the neighbor took care of the cat the rest of the time. That, to me, is abuse. That, to me, is her neighbor's cat that just happens to live in her house. Sad. But, that's not what you're doing. Thinking of traveling with cats reminds me of the book, "The Cat Who Went to Paris." I don't remember the author's name, but it was a non-fiction account of his life with his cat, and how they went everywhere together. It's an amusing book that I recommend to cat lovers. Sally