What's New Monday Edition

Good morning Cindy and everyone......

Another COLD day again. The winds have died down so that makes it not quite so harsh.

I need to get out and do my Christmas Shopping.....gosh I am behind. I just can't get with it this year! I may give in and do more of it on the internet. Many places  offer free shipping this time of year.

I have a heavy work load again so I best get with it. I will check back in later.

Hope you all are doing well and can find something to smile about today! My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Love you all....hugs....connie d

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone.  I knew you'd accept my post with open arms.

I don't have much to say.  Or, should I say much good to say these days.  Am fighting depression big time.  I am seeing a therapist and am on antidepressants and such.  Don't worry about me.  I'll crawl out of the hole I'm in one way or the other.

I do read OFF every day.  It helps me to feel connected to people who are very much alive to me.  I rejoice in your successes and feel your sadness. 

Ron is doing pretty well.  His wl journey has been much more successfull than mine as he's maintaining a healthy weight.  I, on the other hand, have gained a lot and am completely out of control. 

I know that some of you don't know me at all.  But, believe me when I say that I love you all.  Staying in touch, by reading your posts, keeps me connected to those who are alive and want to survive. 

Sorry, if I'm dragging you down with this post.  I don't want to do that.

Stay well. 

Cindy P.

Hi Cindy and my OFF family:

Wow, what a blast from the past! Haven't seen you in a long time. What have you been up to?

It's cold and gray here in West Michigan. Hope that doesn't mean more snow. We had enough over the weekend. Just really nasty. My knee really hurts today and so does my elbow. It really bites to get old. Now, it's not just my lower body that hurts but my upper body too ... I always said that as long as I could sit, I could work but now I have parts in my arm that hurt too. The brace didn't do a whole lot for me yesterday ... when I was baking, I had it on because it hurt to stir (I had to use the mixer to cream the butter and sugar, which I've never done before). I need either a better mixer or a better food processor. Something to wish for for Christmas ... fat chance of getting that. As I said before, my Christmas wishes are much simpler: healthier knee, healthy Diva, secure job.

I got pissed at my mom yesterday. I told her about Diva going home to her other mom and why; I said I was upset about having to let her go but I couldn't think of a better solution. My mom says, "I'm upset that your carpet has cat poop on it and is dirty." I don't care about the carpet; it can be cleaned. In fact, the Nature's Miracle has taken out the smell. I don't smell a thing. And my cleaning lady is bringing her shampooer tomorrow to get the stains. So it can be fixed. I'm more worried about my cat's health. I love my cat. Carpet is just a thing; Diva is my baby. My mother doesn't understand this ... it really ticked me off. She did this before when my cat Kittle had diabetes ... she said, "You should just put him to sleep." I wanted to say to her, "How would you like it if you had diabetes and we put you to sleep?" The funny thing is, she now has diabetes. I never made that comment to her ... but you don't destroy an animal with a chronic disease that can be treated ...you treat it if you can ... and I want to help Diva as much as I can. I was just frustrated and I'm glad that Diva's former mommy can help her by taking her back for awhile. The good is Diva hasn't gone out of the box for two days now. Since she escaped one day from her prison, I don't think I can lock her up again. That obviously wasn't a solution.

I got one more batch of cookies baked yesterday ... funny story ... it was my peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with splenda. Well, I had the first two cookies sheet in the oven and was cleaning up and realized I hadn't put the splenda in. So I grabbed the cookie sheets out of the oven, took the dough off, put it back in the mixing bowl and added the splenda (it did have brown sugar in it ... last year I used brown sugar splenda and they burned so I didn't use it this year). They turned out OK, but some of the chocolate chips were already melted so the dough was a little browner than it should be. Oh well, they taste good.

Anyway, I should get going. Need to wrap some presents today. Have a good day. Stay warm if you're in the cold North.