Hi everyone, my weekend kinda sucked! I had to work saturday and it rained most of the day Sunday, so I didn't get a chance to go out and walk at all. I was supposed to take my brother out for a walk, because he can't go out by himself yet. He's still using a walker to get around but is doing very well. I really have to get back to exercising. As far as food planning goes, I really should, but never do. I just have never been that organized. Maybe someday. Beginning Weight: 349 Last Week: 184 This Week: 184 Gain: 0 Total Loss: 165 Have a great week, Phyllis

You dropped a whole size! How cool! Wanda

No such luck CeCe! We got all of the painting finished and cleaned 2 rooms of carpet. Now I am finishing the cleaning one room at a time and putting up new blinds and hardware as needed. I spent 2 full hours last night working on the kitchen, again. The sad thing is, 2 hours and I only finished cleaning 4 cabinets. Yep, that is how dirty this place is/was. One thing is for sure, when it is finished to my standards, it will look like a brand new place. The rentors were bad but I blame myself just as much. I should have been doing monthly checks from the get go. You can bet if we decide to rent it again, I will be on top of anyone living there. I also know that it probably should have been painted several years ago. Well, you live and learn. We will be "moving in" this weekend for sure. I say moving in but it is really just moving in clothing. We still have to get beds, living room furniture, dining furniture and on and on and on. People have been very generous and we have plenty of dishes, pans and etc. I have been promised 2 beds from reliable sources, they just haven't arrived. We are going to borrow the little plastic table and chairs from my friend for the dinning room. Living room will come later. I am not really worried about that. Someone gave us a small television with dvd player. So we have the basics covered. We will be glad to have our own place with a door to the bedroom! Yeah, privacy! I will get a new stove and a new dryer this weekend too. I have a washer that was in my garage. That is a funny story. About 6-8 months ago I decided I could no longer live without the new state of the art front loader washer and dryer set. We paid about $2000 (on credit card) for this lovely LG set (still making payments too). Well, after I had been using it for a while I noticed my clothes just weren't getting clean. I mean every little spot remained. I decided about 2 months ago that it was either replace my new washer with my old faithful one that was in the garage or go out and buy my family a new wardrobe. My DH grumbled and complained the whole time he was doing the switchout for me. But he did it and the new washer went right into the garage. Now I get to use it again! I will eventually replace it with a regular washer but not till some other things get done. Has anyone else had any problems with the new front loaders? They just don't have enough water go in to get the clothes clean. Maybe it is just the LG or maybe it was just the one I had that has a defect. I could never even see the water or soap on the glass front. Oh sorry for the rant. D.J. has been a trooper. He is so resiliant it is unbelievable. I can tell there are days and times when he feels displaced. He gets very clingy and whinny some evenings. He loves his aunt and uncle but he wants some privacy and private time with Mommy and Daddy too. He really loves all of the motorcycles, atv's, tractors and other big boy toys that uncle Gary and his boys have around. If it has wheels, they have it in one of their 4 garages. they like their toys and so does D.J. Even on his worst day, if you tell him he can go ride the motorcycles, he perks right up. Funny little thing. I still haven't had "time" to work out at the gym. I am hoping to get there tomorrow afternoon. I am working 0700 to 1600 this week so I should have an hour to myself before daycare closes. Hugs, Valorie

You are right to be worried. He shouldn't seem drugged or sleepy at all. Actually if we get Kathryn's dose too high she can't sleep at all. My advice it so have a child psychiatrist make the diagnosis and medication recomendations and if they don't want input from the school - Run the other way. The behaviors that indicate ADD or ADHD must be observed across all settings - so if the problem is only at home or only at school - it isn't ADD or ADHD. I have seen doctors that will just prescribe about anything and may not have a good grasp of what the effects are in the brain. Just my 2 cents. Like I said this is an issue that is very close to my heart. Are his parents worried about the sleeping? I know I was concerned that the medication would change my Kathryn and they haven't changed her personality at all. She continues to be vibrant, a champion of the underdog, stubbort, exceedingly sweet sometimes and exceedingly .... (what is the oposite of sweet) sometimes. Good Luck, Trudy

Sorry I'm a day late It was Monday from hell and it isn't looking too much better today. My SIL is doing great and got to go home on Friday they were down at the Mayo for 38 days. I'm still struggling to get back to my swimming and exercising. Too much stuff going on. My eating is absolutely out of control. So my goals for the rest of this week is be very concious of what I'm eating and exercise. Beginning weight 298.5 Last week: 156.2 this week: 158.2 Gain of 2.0 Lbs Total loss 140.3 BMI 28.9 I did drop a size while I was gone and had to go and rebuy some of the summer clothes I'd bought at least I hadn't taken the tags off anything. Everyone have a fabulous week. Deb