They also sell those syrups in the grocery stores in the coffee section. You can also purchase the syrups at Starbucks, regular and sugar-free! I think theirs are about $6.

Steve,  Thank You!!! Dad is very proud of me! He went clothes shopping for me the other day, and had me trying on outfits he wanted to see me in and was crying his eyes off.... He is so sweet =) Thank You Steve, I will have fun with the girls.

Susan, Thank You!!!! I am happy to be the Courtney I am right now... Its SO Much more easier to be a teen age girl now, and go out with the girls, and be able to dress like the girls... I LOVE IT!!!! And being healthier is awesome too!!!!

Congrats on the century mark.  You are looking great.  I'll bet your dad is pretty proud of you, huh?

keep up the good work and have a good time with the girls.   Give my best to your dad too.

Steve

its such a GREAT Feeling!!!! U R  doing VERY Well, and look fantasatic =) CONGRATZZZZZZ

I am wearing a size Medium now, Large in some styles... I NEVER Thought I would be wearing a size smaller than 2X... WOW!!! I went to DEBS Today, I LOVE That store, and My Dad cried his eyes off when I got in a pair of SKINNY Jeans size 14, A black Long Sweater size Medium, and Calf high boots that zip up,my lifetime goal, and I cried abut that.... Also Im wearing cowboy boots now... I LOVE Being able to wear boots.... I CAN FINALLY be the Teen Age girl Ive always wanted to be, and dress like the girls in my age group!!!!

Not dead.  Just busy.

Y'all know I've been in the middle of a remodel that was going RELATIVELY well until the carpet got installed.  It started literally coming apart from almost the moment they put it in.  So for a couple of weeks, we were jumping through hoops (taking photos of the damage, scheduling walk-throughs of our house for the lowes managers to actually LOOK at the carpet, etc) so that the local store could warrenty the carpet back to the manufacturer.  (The manufacturer has tested a SAMPLE of the carpet 3 times and swears nothing is wrong.  All evidence to the contrary.)  In any event, I finally got made a week or so ago and told them that I was SICK of jumping through hoops - I was SICK of my furniture being all over the house (we had moved it for the 1st install and never moved it back because we were continually told that they WOULD make sure it was replaced that they just had to go through their warranty process 1st) - that I was SICK of not being able to finish installing base boards/molding (we were told not to or they'd just have to be torn back up to install the replacement carpet) - that I was SICK of this whole affair, blah blah blah.  The manager asked if I could take some more pictures.  I FLIPPED OUT.  What are MORE pictures going to show?  The same damage that they had already actually SAW with their own eyes?  The same damage that the INSTALLER saw with his own eyes?  WTF?  (I pretty  much said some version of those exact things.)  So the manager called me back and said that my replacement carpet had been ordered.  End of jumping through hoops for me.  So that's where the story ends happily, right?  I wish.  The new carpet came in at the end of this week.  They laid it out at Lowes to make certain that its backing was solid & sturdy.  Even though it was from a different batch, it was also defective on one side (backing coming off so that the loops would have come up on it too).  So they called me the day they were supposed to install it (Friday) and said they weren't coming and explained about the replacement carpet.  (Keep in mind, this is AFTER my entire family had spent Thursday night taking furniture apart & moving it (along with every single thing we own that was on the carpeted areas of the house) into the kitchen & bathroom where there's vinyl.  So anyway, my husband spent Friday and some of Saturday moving everything BACK into the carpeted areas of the house.  Lowes has at least done right by us.  After this second batch was bad, they agreed to upgrade us for free to another carpet of our choosing.  Late Friday afternoon, I went by and picked out a higher quality replacement on their dime.  I showed it to my husband on Saturday.  He wanted more of a pattern than I picked out, but he's fine with what I chose.  It's a little darker than our carpet was, but it's still berber and a higher quality berber supposedly.  So that's where we're at.  If they can't put a rush on the order, it will take 2 - 3 weeks to special order it.  If they can, it should be in within the week.  So either way, my husband wrapped up our base boards/moldings and put them in the basement.  We are sick of stepping over them in our living room floor. 

My daughter and son are also involved in a lot more activities this year than they have been previously.  My daughter started cheering this year.  All us parents were forewarned when they had the try-out meeting at the end of last year about how much work cheerleading was for the girls and the parents.  I did listen.  I just didn't understand until we started living it.  It is constant.  Practice for a few hours every Wednesday afternoon.  Games every Thursday afternoon.  Fundraisers.  Run-through meetings.  It's definately a commitment.  But my daughter loves it, so it's worth it.  She loves it so much that I'll be sick if she doesn't make it every year from now on because I know how much she loves it. 

My son is in football.  They practice EVERY SINGLE AFTERNOON, then have their games every single Friday.  Add that to FCA meetings/activities and band functions and his plate is full too.  Some days/nights, I make 4 trips to the school (because my daughter's activities NEVER end when my son's do - she usually gets out around 5 or 5:30 - while he invariably gets out about 6 or 6:30).  If it was up to them, I'd even TAKE them to school each morning at different times.  My daughter likes to be there at 7:10 while my son likes to be there closer to 7:30.  But I put my foot down and told them that I was dropping them off ONE TIME.  So either my daughter would have to be later than she liked or my son would have to be earlier than he liked.  They compromised and usually both get dropped off around 7:15.  I am a beck-and-call-mom enough when I HAVE to be.  I am NOT going to do it just to suit their preferences if you know what I mean. 

In any event, I'm doing good otherwise.

I'm still in my 125 - 130 pound comfort zone.  I'm closer to 130 than 125 lately, but as long as I don't pass 130, I refuse to freak out. 

My mom is having plastic surgery in mid-November.  She wanted me to do it with her.  I always said I wouldn't - but honestly... I do NOT want my MOM to have a better body than me and it would be nice to have my clothes fit without "tucking in" my stomach skin.  It would also be nice to have breasts.  (I have 2 walnut size breasts covered in skin which fills in a size 34D.  My actual walnut sized breast tissue underneath all that skin could fit into a training bra.  I know... my daughter still had one and I put it on just to see.  These are the same breasts that my GYN sent me to have a mammogram for last year because he thought the walnuts may be tumors.  Mammographs of each reveiled that they were not, in fact, tumors.... they were just the only actual breast tissue I had left.)  So anyway, I almost backed out a few times, but talking with my hubby (who I figured wouldn't care one way or another - but turns out he really wants me to have it), I decided to go ahead and do it.  So, I've borrowed the money from Carecredit.com and I went in with her so we'd get a multiple-person discount.  I'm having a tummy tuck and breast augmentation with implants.  My mom is having ALMOST the same thing done.  She goes in on the 12th (I think!) and I go in on the 20th.  Wish us luck. 

(Sorry this post is filled with run-on sentences, etc.  I'm typing it fast because I have a hair appointment today that I have to leave for now.  I missed my appointment yesterday because I count on that reminder phone call to remind me to come and noone called me - so I missed it.  So I cannot miss this one.)

I miss all y'all and hope I can make it to group in November.  If not, I'll see y'all in January?!?!?

Wen