Uh oh...MTP is on the prowl! ;)

They're shooting for 5 PM on Friday right now, but that could change.

After 2 years on mostly heavily cooked and/or pureed foods, both my kids can tolerate raw salad again. And my homemade strawberry vinaigrette was a hit!

Wow Clod, that's got to be a huge help to you, as well as a sign of progress for them.:thumb:

Thanks for the tip. The weather isn't looking so hot right now though.

Awesomness!

I'm stealing from either Dana or Sundae when i say that should be:

Awesomesauce! :)

Tomorrow morning I take my last antibiotic pill...I was able to stop the eye drops on Friday. In much better shape now than I was 10 days ago...and it'll be nice to stop pooping 5-7 times a day.

Good news, that.

I had a very amazing day.

I spent the day with a friend.

That, in itself, was great, but is not the amazing part. I've not known her very long, but we had one of those conversations that you just don't want to end. But then it did, and she let me know something that she had planned ... you see, I was visiting her at her business ... a holistic spa.

She surprised me by letting me know that she had arranged with one of her massage therapists to give me a full massage.

Oh man.

I've had amateur ones, but this was my first professional one.

It was genuinely amazing.

I'm still tingling.

I'm going to have to do this again.

I guess she didn't rub you the wrong way. ;)

I have a job interview tomorrow for a Service Desk Analyst job. Its a full time permanent position and it sounds like it will pay well!

Good luck, MTP!

Knock 'em dead, MTP!

Wolf, that's awesome! I've never had a professional massage.

MTP, good luck today!

Good massages are amazing amazing. Try a number of different massage people, their skill levels are all over the place. You will find someone who is outstanding.

What foot said. It's an art, and every massage therapist has their own style. Not to denigrate your friend, wolf, but in my experience the massage therapists who work out of spas tend to be in the lower range, skill-wise. Spas take a big cut of the money, so only the ones who are too young or too mediocre to maintain a steady list of clients take a contract there. The best are often the ones who work out of chiropractors' offices or have completely private studios of their own.

What does a massage cost?

Happy today?
Love.

A therapeutic massage will cost you about $50-60/hr over here. Some of that can be claimed through private health insurance if u have it usually.

Clod is right about the good ones usually being associated with health professionals.

It's about the same in the US. $65 for a one-hour massage is pretty common. I get one every 6-8 weeks, sooner if I have any kind of extra tension or back pain. My mom went through a long period where she would get one every single week.

The one thing to be prepared for if you've never done it before is you are expected to get naked. You lay underneath a sheet, and they fold it down to expose your back while they're working there, then they'll put it back and tuck the side over so they can get to one leg all the way up to your hip while still keeping your butt covered, etc. You don't have to, you can keep your underwear on if you're really uncomfortable with the idea, but the massage really works better without stuff in the way.

It's poor form to eat beans before a massage.

Pro massage is HIGHLY recommended. I've only had a few, but they left me feeling like the sun was shining a little brighter.

I'm off to the theatre tonight!!!

For a sad reason - this was supposed to be a treat for Mum (from Ste) - seeing her favourite actor at the Young Vic.
But she's been stricken with a terrible stomach - thinks it's because of a new drug she's taking - and daren't go. She could just have blown it off completely, instead she and Dad are paying for my fare, as they would have paid for hers. Steven has the tickets and is buying dinner, as he would have for Mum.

I can't pay them back, but I'll do a bit of brother-whispering. Mum says Ste is not to buy her a birthday present as he has already done so. I'll tell him not to buy ME one instead. Bless him, that'll be two years on the trot he's taken me out in lieu of a present!

I hate that Mum feels she had to give this up. But without too much detail she is actually wearing pads because even when she's a small distance from the loo she can still be surprised. I can understand why the prospect of an hour on a train, then the Tube and then a theatre performance would be horrible to her.

So I am torn between gratitude and excitement and genuine sympathy.

I have been very good about chores today (even planting flowers, whereas I am usually barred from anything garden related.)
Tomorrow I'll be back to chores. You'll be pleased to hear Mum hasn't done any ironing or cleaned the bathroom for at least a week now. I'm finally helping as I should.

I'm glad things are going well on the home front and you get to go to the theater!

Sorry for your mum, Sundae, but enjoy the treat!

After limey's comment I realize mine is a little bizzare. I meant with you seeming to get along with your mum, not with her health problems.

wearing size 8 jeans -and they're kinda slipping down a little. weird. I got pissed with people who suddenly noticed my weightloss after the stroke -I jokes I just didn't slow down enough for them to notice before......guess I'm experiencing the same thing. i saw the numbers change on the scale, so I "knew", but I guess I didn't really notice until I started trying to be active in the same old clothes :lol: I've never worn this size before, even pre-sprogs or as a teenager.

Also, I just decided to stop calling it "my" stroke. No-one says "my" car accident.

Finishing that tri did wonders for my perspective and self-esteem, apparently :D

Mind you don't disappear altogether, Monster ...

I start a new gig on Monday that will be in addition to what I'm doing now. Will be running a small route over to a few towns just went of KC. Pay is good and the location keeps me close to home. Only problem is starting at 6:00am every day...I'll manage though. Really looking forward to this.

Maybe it's a regionalism. I hear it around here. "My back just hasn't been the same since my accident." "Got my new car today. They had to total my old one after my accident."

I look forward to hearing what you come up with. I can't seem to find anything that's better than, "My Crohn's disease is really flaring up today."

They just wanted to make sure you didn't pop in during their orgy. ;)

They decided they could say what they wanted, because there's nothing to fear from a skinny monster. :haha:

Maybe it'll be, These whipworms are working wonders". :fingerx:

Yeah. It's a real thing. But I think I'll wait to see the results of double blind tests.

Nothing special. Just "the stroke". anyone can have one, it's not something special I accomplished, I don't want it any more. I'm sending it to the used stroke shop like a bad fashion choice. ;)

Ah. I tried that on for size and it didn't suit me. I felt like my Dad, talking about "the" war.

I'm still working with it. I might just call it Millicent.

Your quote is appropriate. I likey.

You go on with your bad skinny mini self. At some point, I plan to go get me some tenacity. It's great, what you've accomplished.

I'm super-happy with my size 16 jeans. I wore 22 for over a year.
I'll never get down to a size 8. No envy because of the health issues.

My aim is 14.

My Craig's list ad for an old lawnmower got quite a bit of response yesterday with 5 people contacting me within an hour of posting the ad.

Here it is:
http://houston.craigslist.org/grd/3764264408.html

I attempted to sell it last month and got no responses so I wrote a more interesting sales pitch. It's actually a true story.

That's good ad copy. It has just enough detail that you sound trustworthy. You explain its flaws upfront. If I were in the market, I would gravitate towards that ad. And $40 seems like a bargain.

This is the line that closes the deal:
Great ad.

Just had a call from a man who sounded Nigerian who said he really wanted my lawnmower but he lives 60 miles away and doesn't know how to fix lawnmowers and what is my bottom price... I hate when they ask that... just come and see it and make an offer I told him.

He also said my lawn in the pictures looked great and what was my secret!

He was trying to talk you down from $40?!

I don't need a lawn mower. But I wouldn't mind you looking at my lawn and telling me what's wrong. :D

People on craigslist will try to talk you down from anything.... And if you post it for free, they'll try and talk you into delivering it to them.

SOLD to the man with the heavy African accent for $30!

Not bad as I think it is going to need a carburetor rebuild kit and he was very polite and had when we loaded it into the trunk of his little car he had all kinds of religious hand outs so he was a MAN OF GOD! Cutting him a break was good karma and if the lawn mower isn't repairable I will need the extra karma! ;)

way to piss on my happy.tx. Must remember there are people fatter than me in Europe (with health issues) and send them my empty plate...[/dirtydancing]

yes, I know. But can't something big or even small just be about someone else just once?

With your regimen, practicing and running the kids around, you'd get skinny from not having time to eat. The way you've been beating yourself up, it's a wonder you aren't in a size 8 body bag. I admire your resilience. :vikingsmi

I think being a discussion board, most people are going to add their experiences to those expressed here.

Pretty sure everyone has at some point or another, had it 'all about me'.

Do you need more acknowledgement for your accomplishments monster? I thought everyone here had been very supportive of your recent journey and quite vociferous in their encouragement. Not sure why other people saying something about their own size is in some way offensive to you.

Maybe you're just having a bad day or something?

That's a shitty thing to say. As was your previous comment.

My God all the girl did was join in with the discussion. Sorry she broke some unwritten rules on when it is or is not ok to join in with her own experiences, ye know, like we all do.

Don't see how Sundae's comment shits on your happy. Don't see how it impacts at all on the direction of the thread. It's fairly standard in here when you post about something and another dwellar has something to say in that area that they post about it.


I don't think you would have made those remarks had someone else jumped in with their weightloss experience. You just said it because it was Sundae. And you clearly have a problem with her. I don't mean you wish her ill, and I know you care what happens to her. But you seem to hold her to an entirely different set of standards to everyone else and respond to her accordingly.

Can't remember if I told you.
If so, ignore.

Dads got charged for the outsanding amount left on his annual car insurance.
Mum took the phone call and was at her wit's end by the time she gave them credit card detail. Approx £170. Because Dad was "breaking his contract" with them.

NO.
I said.
NO.
You cannot ask for money when a man cannot use your services due to ill health. He had to surrender his driving licence and sell his car. The AA could not, in all conscience, ask him to continue to pay for car insurance he no longer needed.

So I drafted a letter. Mum tweaked it.
Mailed and including a line asking for a response within 10 days (as the threatening letter from the AA Repayments had done.)

Reply received. Apologies. Staff member was following company guidelines but should have referred this to Manager. Sorry for distress caused at time of personal crisis. Refund of money taken by credit card to follow. Cheque. Hmmmm. They refused a cheque as payment...

I still think Mum should have kept in my line regarding compensation for the distress caused. Doubt they'd have got anything, but if you don't ask you don't get.

Anyway, Mum was made up. She had no idea that this was erroneous, just saw it as part of the buggery of life. When the letter arrived she was out. She read it on her return and asked Dad if he'd shown it to me. "Why? It's nothing to do with her." Well, I didn't do it for the props anyway.

And it means the 'rents can go and see the John Wilson Orchestra in Cardiff again - something they thought they would have to miss. They'll stay in the E-Tap I introduced Mum to. £18.50 per night, per room. Nowhere near as nice as Ty Rosa, but closer to the centre and the place of performance, and a great budget deal.

And they'll go by MegaBus. No choice given they have no car, but it's actually much cheaper. I feel I have led them well.

That's outstanding Sundae! Very well done. £170 is real money.

Thanks for the removal :)

Houston has lousy public transportation, if you have no car you are hosed. We live 25 miles away from the downtown area and our suburban neighborhood only has morning and evening bus service that is direct... no stops between here and downtown. From there you would have to transfer and take more buses or the little train that runs from downtown to the medical center. We can't even take public transportation to either airport, just taxi cabs.

When my ship comes in and I take Dana and Limey to the States with me, Limey is our designated driver.
We'll cab it most of the time. And longer journeys will be plane or rail (OMG I covet your long distance rail services!)

But I expect - and you have confirmed - that there are places in the US that you really need a car for.
It's true in the UK too, but for different reasons.

Good for you for getting your dad's money back, Sundae. Maybe patient advocacy is your new calling?

Needs a like button - well done Sundae :)

If we had a like button, I'd have to like your post about having a like button...

If you make it to Philadelphia (Cellarland) you guys can couch surf in my basement. Just ignore the wooden stocks and pillories. I only use them to hang laundry.;)



....kidding.

....or am I?:eek: