Thank you all so much for your support and caring. I love you all. Im going to get myself going today. I have mopped around the house enough. The rest of my life Is going to be happy. I am going to do what it takes to live a stress free life. and live a long happy life. Something ticked me off. My older twin sisters ask me if the surgery made my heart worse. I was in shock. I said If I didnt have this surgery. I would not be alive. This surgery saved my life. I feel better than I did last year bad heart or not. Getting this weight off saved my life. I will not tolorate someone blaming my heart problems on this surgery. I had a heart attack in 2003 tried to get this surgery in 2000. If I did have the surgery then. I would not have a weak heart........ Hugs Barb

wow what a concept...kids driving us nuts.. I believe there is a reason they do that - they want to see just how far they can push mommy until she snaps! You're not alone...we've all been there...my girls are 17 months apart - they are best friends now that they are 20 & 22 - when they were little they could play together for hours and then suddenly one would do something the other didn't like and all hell would break loose. They would drive me crazy and I would end up yelling at them - of course 5 minutes later they were best friends again and mom was completely stressed out. My youngest was very shy and timid until she got to know where she was and her surroundings - then she was wildfire...I think I liked it better when she was shy and timid I remember taking them to my girlfriends about a 2 1/2 hour drive - they slept about 1 1/2 hours of the drive and the remainder of it was fighting with me...I used to tell people that they were going to read about my arrest in the newspaper one day They used to run around and pretend that I didn't exist - God forbid they should listen to me (that's my version - if you ask others I had incredible kids that were extremely respectful and very polite)- it's all a test - BUT our love for them is unconditional and we would do anything for them. I am still here (no arrest) and can tell you that they will get better - now I want them to come with me places and they don't want to go! We just can't seem to win Good luck - it will get better Linda

that is so true. thanks, koukla

Hi Barb, hang in there. You have been thru so much, you could get thru this too. Just have faith. We need you here. YOu are our friend. Sincerely, Koukla

Hi Linda, Sorry that the link didn't work. I sent out an email like that too and it didn't work. Oh, well. Thanks for all the compliments. Some years, I REALLY went all out and made top notch costumes for the kids. Hours and hours at the machine sewing. I love to sew. I've let it go in the past year, but feel the bug coming back! I'm self taught (well, had sewing in home ec in junior high!) and make curtains and drapes and clothes sometimes too. These costumes took less than two hours to whip together. I didn't finish seams and just cut the notches on the bottoms with scissors, where other years they would have been trimmed with my serger with no raw edges! I've relaxed in recent years. Afterall, we only wore them a couple of hours... The kids wore walmart bought costumes last night...much easier! Thanks for telling me I look good, too. I feel physically great! As far as having a great mom, my kids drove me NUTSO that night. There were a ton of kids there for them to play with...did they play? NO, they wanted to be in the hotel lobby (right next to the pool where the party was and I could see them) playing by themselves and causing trouble! I was SO pissed. My daughter got to go in swimming after the contest and had a blast, she's a fish. My son, however is a bit timid about swimming and needs Mama to hold on to...and I wouldn't go in. SO, it was off to bed early! You wouldn't have thought of me as a great mom when I was screaming at them back in the room about how disrespectful they are of me! Thanks, paula