The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Aerie]

40 pounds gooooooonnnnnneeeee! WHOOO HOOOOO! Can ya tell I'm excited? I almost fainted when I got on the scale this morning and it said 189.9. I'd been hovering for a while so it was unexpected. Yeah for me and yeah for MF!

[JeepGirl]

Awesome Doc!! That Rocks!! You Rock!!

[Aerie]

Jeep where are you planning your reward trip to?

[Aerie]

Why oh f*%$ng why does my beloved husband think it is my f*$%ng responsibility to clean this house? And it doesn't matter how much I work or how much money I make, both as you know are considerable. It's some f*$#%ng man gene or something.

[Serendipity]

Hiring help saved my marriage!!!!

When both of you work, it's just not fair for you to spend your free time cleaning, while hubby goes golfing or hunting or whatever. It was hunting for mine. He would take off Saturday mornings early, spend all day out, show up at home starving and saying "What's for dinner?"GRRRRRRRR.....I had the kids and cleaning and laundry to do all day. I mean, I was working all week with him....side by side, then the weekend would come.....I worked, he played. Finally, after a year of this, I rebelled. I said if he wanted to hunt, we had to have help so that I could pursue my hobbies, too. All the resentment I had vanished almost immediately. He was happier, too....less guilt, I guess.

We had times when money was tight, but it was never suggested that we lose the help.......hubby knew how happy it made me to be free of the drudgery. I cooked more, too, and he loves to eat. Another huge benefit was that I had much more time to spend with the kids, so everybody won.

Now the kids are gone, but we keep the help because we like to know that if we want to take off, the home obligations are taken care of. Ahhhhh, more time to spend together.

[DogMa]

My cousin didn't work outside the home when the kids were babies, but she made a deal with her husband later on. She'd work only if they hired someone to clean the house every week.

Even single, when I was working a million hours, I had a service come in. It was fabulous.

[Aerie]

I'm doing it! Thanks guys. I'm such a neat freak but as I mentioned before my house is tiny and I have a few pets, and of course I work a ton. Can you give me an idea about what your home service does and what the actual cost is?

[Serendipity]

I'm sure the cost varies greatly with location, but I pay $80/wk for the complete cleaning of my house including all sweeping, mopping, dusting, bathrooms, kitchen, windows as needed. I have a mother daughter pair who have my house down to a T. They do weekly cleaning and always have time to do a few extras as needed. My house is 3000 sq. ft. BTW, I always make sure the clutter is gone before they come.

I also have a lady who comes once/week to help with laundry and ironing. She's been with us for 27 years.....she's 83 yrs. old and going strong. She's just like family to us, so although we really don't need her to come, we would never suggest to her that she isn't needed. It's funny, though. I can't trust her with much more than the sheets, lol. She's ruined many dress shirts by slopping bleach around.

[Aerie]

Okay guys I'm so happy right now. Hubby just called to say he heard Lyle Lovett was comming to NC. I went to Ticketmaster and bout two tix then booked a room at the Marriot for two nights. The show is in Asheville NC. I've never been to the Biltmoore (If you don't know its the USA's largest home and it's set it the beautiful NC mountainsof Asheville) The house/castle is supposed to be gorgeous and they have a winery and so on. Anyways our room has a King size bed, Jacuzzi tub, and private balconey. I am so very happy and the best part is it's for this Thursday so no long wait.

Lyle Lovett is my ABSOLUTE favorite artist. I've seen him in concert many, many times. WOOO HOOOO I can't wait. I wonder what size jean I'll be wearing by then?

[Aerie]

I write a weekly editorial for my local paper. Thought you guys might like this one.

I don’t want to offend anyone. Although I don’t own a gun or a bow and have never shot an animal I have plenty of respect for responsible firearm owners and hunters. My husband has a small rifle collection and a bow. Each year he hunts a single deer which we send to the butcher for processing. Usually my relatives fight over who got the sausage last year and whose turn it is to get the tenderloin. My grandmother’s beef stew never tastes as good as it does at the end of deer season.

What boils my blood however, are the absolutely irresponsible fools that think the world is their shooting gallery and that the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission regulations don’t apply to them. I don’t really care what anyone’s particular opinion about hunting is, but the law is the law and we are all expected to abide by it.

Last Wednesday a Good Samaritan brought a Canada goose to the hospital with an arrow in its chest. The arrow had pierced the bird’s right side, traveled through the chest cavity then pierced the bird’s left side before becoming firmly lodged. Dr. Pamela Cuevas DVM, the veterinarian on duty that day said, “I’ve never seen anything like it. The arrow was protruding almost symmetrically from either side of this poor bird”.

Amazingly, the bird was alive and fairly stable when it arrived. “Of course heart and lung trauma were our main concerns,” she continued. After sedating the painful and terrified bird she took a series of X-rays to determine if any major organs were damaged and to help make a plan for the removal of the arrow. According to Dr. Cuevas, “The arrow just missed his heart.” After initial stabilization the arrow was carefully removed and antibiotics and pain medications were administered. “The goose recovered well from the surgery and was eating, preening his feathers and hissing at the staff by Thursday afternoon. He will need to stay on medications for a while”, said Dr. Cuevas. “Then we’ll need to transport him to a federally licensed rehabilitator to care for him. He’s still got a long way to go.”

Canada geese have been a federally protected species since the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 which was drafted to protect many species of migrating birds, including the Canada goose. There are two basic populations of these beautiful birds; migratory geese, those that fly to Alaska and Canada annually and resident geese, those that live primarily in the same location all year round. Recently there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the rapidly growing resident Canada geese population. Resident geese can cause formidable damage to agricultural lands, waterways, and residential areas. They also cause hazardous takeoff and landing conditions at airports.

On August 11, 2006 a news release was issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in direct response to these growing concerns. After almost 5 years of study and debate over the issue of resident Canada geese the federal government ruled to ease some regulations allowing state governments to institute programs specifically aimed at controlling the numbers of resident Canada geese while impacting migratory Canada geese as little as possible.

Currently in North Carolina any shooting of Canada geese is subject to strict regulations and according to the 2006-2007 N.C. Inland Fishing, Hunting and Trapping Regulations Digest; “It is unlawful to hunt Canada geese without having federal Harvest Information Program Certification in addition to all applicable state and federal licenses.” There are harsh state and federal penalties for violating these regulations. The way the law is written a violation of a state regulation regarding these birds also constitutes a federal violation. In short, it’s a federal crime.

So what about this particular goose? He’s doing well and will soon be released from the hospital. A federally licensed rehabilitator will keep him until he is completely healed and an appropriate location for his release can be located. In the meantime, if you have any information about who shot this Canada goose with an arrow please report it to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission at 1-800-662-7137. A fully downloadable version of the final federal ruling is available at www (dot )fws (dot) gov

[JeepGirl]

WOW Doc--thanks for sharing that. We hunt but the rules are always followed to a "T" there is no cause for stuff like that to happen.
We have a pair of Geese that live at a pund near us for half the yr. This yr when they came one went to the wrong pond, a few days later we saw it walking down the road to the right one to meet its mate. They had 3 babies this yr and the kids loved watching them grow!

Ohh Biltmore!! I love love Biltmore. We went 2 yrs ago for our Anny and stayed at the Biltmore Inn. Ohh is was awesome! I hope you are planning on going there. The price is totally worth it! If you can ever go at Christmas or Spring when the flowers in bloom it is Stunning as well! We went on the behind-the-scense tour--I recommend that as well!

As for where we are going when I reach goal..I dont know yet LOL It started out as Hawaii..then I was looking at Fiji*Love those huts on the beach* then yesterday I found was looking to Turtle Island so it is still up in the air LOL When I am feeling discouraged all I do is go to google and do an island search and I am back in the game!

[Aerie]

If we reach goal at the same time lets go together! That way when we get sick of our hubby's we can lay on the beach and order drinks from the cute island boys

[ascicles]

My favorite hunting story is the one where a guy shoots a deer, but doesn't kill it. Five years later, the deer kills the man while he is hunting.

[TheShadow]

Ooooh I just went to the Biltmore estate last month! We went to NC lookig at future retirement possibilities and we loved Asheville. It's a little higher than we have budgeted for our retirement home, but a great little town. The estate is fabulous. I've been to Hearst castle and I like the Biltmore much more. First of all Hearst castle is in very poor taste in my opinion, very gaudy and the Biltmore is so elegant. The grounds and teh conservatory garden are beautiful and you can also wine taste on site and rent horses or bicycles to tour the grounds. It has 8000 acres!Have fun.

I can't believe the insensitivity of people who are cruel to animals. I want to scream when I see things like this poor goose. Thank goodness he was rescued and saved. I'm not a religious person, but it always reminds me of something from the bible..."whatsoever you do for the least of my bretheren, you do unto me."

[JeepGirl]

Tis a deal Doc! My hubby hates the beach but when I said thats where I wanted to go as my big reward he couldnt say no lol