Getting Myself Ready

[willows]

Hi Corina.......................

We live just outside of Plymouth in one of the most beautiful area's here called 'the south hams' our village is almost set back in time with its steep hill down to the quay , we only have a chemist, post office and a small grocery store for us all.

We are always having hoards of 'grockles' come to see our village and stay for the day, they all seem to love going to the waterside pubs that we have, I must admit it is so lovely sitting in the gardens of the pubs with a meal watching the water and all the boats go by.

If you look up Plymouth on a map you will see that on the east side is all small villages , we are one of these.

Last night we had the most horrendous storm here, it lasted most of the night and was so loud with thunder and lightning , our church got struck twice by lightning , but thank God no damage was done to it as it is such a beautiful old building and pretty church yard all full of flowers .

We are not going to the beach as I have been awake all night 'dripping' sweat becuase every lightning flash or thunder rumble made me jump ..............and if I'm surprised at all I sweat, sweat, sweat, , it is almost as if my clonidine drugs are not working again , and I only started them again this week !!!!

so Mike , Chris ( his mate) and I are going to have coffee in a little coffee shop in Plymouth and the boys are going to play basketball on a place called 'The Hoe' ..........you can look this up as well ( Google earth)

Right better go now , more drugs to take and more drips to mop

I'll be back on again on Wednesday night ( hopefully ) after I've waved 'bye....bye' to my eye critter and he's gone of to pathology ....................Willows.............getting slimmer bye the day

[willows]

So tomorrow I'm off to the royal eye infirmary to have my critter taken out ..................I'm not worried about this in fact I have been looking forward to it ................unlit now

Clever clogs here is now running a temperature of 101 and felling like I've run a marathon holding six bags of shopping and wearing plaster casts on each leg ............to the hip I ache at this time in some very strange places !!!!

The back of my legs at the joint to my bum is killing me ............like I've run up and down 1000 steps or been working out on one of those 'step master 'things ................and my back like I've been hauling bags of coal up the stairs all night

Mind you I did have some strange dreams last night, which is something I never do , so now I'm wondering if may be I have been hauling coal or running around the village all night in my sleep Oh , my ..........I hope not ........... ...................my hairs not quite long enough to cover everything !!!!!!

I've have just dragged myself down stairs for a while having slept most of the day and now dont know why I bothered as I'm now feeling worse than I did in bed ....................bye, bye I'm going to lay down again.

Willows.

[willows]

Well..................I'm back minus the critter.

What an eventful time day +night it was ..........................I discovered I'm allergic to 'iodine' after the event

Got to the hospital and having done all the normal logging in with the nurse , who's face was a picture when I handed over my drugs list . Then saw the surgeon ................mmmmmm such a nice man looked more like a school boy than a doctor, but may be that's because I'm getting old

Anyhow everything was signed ,sealed and sorted and I was taken in to the anesthetics room stuck on a trolley and the surgeon came in to 'freeze ' my critter . Silly hat on my long hair and me wearing a cast off of some 'christian Dior ' dress than had been used as a floor cloth by mistake !!!!

In theatre the surgeon than washed most of my face with iodine , why to this day he washes all of my face when he only had to wash my right eyelid and my be above this I'll never no.....but he did , and that is when I started to think 'here , something not quite right now'.

He has done a wonderful job on the critter cutting to parallel lines above and below then burning it out and sewing the nice clean line up with one long fine stitch.

Back on the ward my eyes started to water............stream........blur.......... double vision........face burning .........now feeling rather unwell.

The nurse washed my face as best she could and although she managed after loads of saline and clothes had been used in me to remove most of the iodine.............it had gone into my left eye, which by now resembled a golf ball............a red one !!!!!!

So I duly spent another hour being given anesthetic eye drops, washes , antibiotic drops and antihistamines.

Hubby was called back to the hospital and I was allowed to come home 'under his supervision' ............supervision being the optic word here as I was still having double vision and was unstable on my feet.

Laying on the bed at some 6 pm all the local anesthetic 'wore off' along with the eye drops and my eye's started to SCREAM at me , quietly at first but building to a crescendo of ' we are in pain and swelling , do something ' cold compresses placed on them by hubby and son, who were by now getting alarmed at the look of my eye's , warm water rinses , fans ................three hours of this and all I ended up with is two eyes looking like I am dracula's daughter having had a good nights feed !!!! eyes sticking out of my head feeling like they are going to burst and I'd cried ( not on purpose ) so much I could hardly close my eyes any more

So at 9.30 pm another dash was made back to the A & E of the royal eye infirmary , me holding wet tissues over my eyes under dark glasses.

The duty doctor confirmed that I now need a full course of antibiotics as well as some false tears , owing the the rather bad allergic reaction I'd had to the iodine and that .............wait for it..............I could look like the monsters mother from the deep for a few days yet

Well its morning now and having survived the night my eye's are still looking like I've been crying for a month and are still 'rather' ............ha , dont make me laugh , blood shot and as well as this I am now sporting a nice black eye from the critter site ............................oh happy days !!!!!

I suppose it could have been worse , at least I can see a bit now and my hubby hasn't got two heads

So its those horrible greasy eye creams and drops for the next two weeks and hope that I never see another bottle of iodine again in my life !

Ha, and the surgeon said to me ' ah ! this is a nice critter , pop this out in one go ( its the size of a marble now) and you will have virtually no scar and no after pain to deal with ...........................OOOOOOoooooh! wash his mouth out with soap if I get my hands on him again

Willows.

[willows]

Managed to get half a nights sleep last night with the aid of a v pillow wrapped around my neck to keep my head still. I did on a couple of occasions slid down the bed and lay my right hand side of my face against the bedclothes .............................ouch ! that woke me up quickly .

I have a small amount of 'crispy' stitching sticking out of the end of the thing, which if caught on the bedclothes makes me want to jump rather and every so often now the scar 'twangs' at me as the burnt nerves wake up.

Most disconcerting as its like a small electric shock in the eye lid or a Nat with a tiny cattle prod getting its own back for all its fellow Nat's I've splatted .

Well never mind that I'll take my mind of stuffing my face for a while !!!!

Next weigh in on Sunday and this time I'll take a tape measure to the vital bits and see how much inches have done a runner from the old bod!!!!

Remember excess in the mouth ................. means excess on the waist.........keep smiling Willows.

[willows]

Well its Sunday and another weigh in day for us both.

Mike has now lost a total of 10lbs in the 5 weeks and 1 inch of his chest and waist !

Despite the few off days I've had over the past week or so I to have now lost a total of 10lbs ............and whats better still; 1 inch of my bust, waist, hips and thighs ..............( loud cheer and applause by hubby here )

I am definitely slowing down , but the good news is that I tried on my suit yesterday and even if I loose not another pound by August 20th I can still wear it and feel O.K. ..................... BUT ...........you know what us girls are like , looking at everything from every angle I still think a another 7 -10 lbs will make it hang better .

As for my eye , well the stitches are so small it looks like a doll has sewn them ! I still haven't managed to wash my hair as yet yuck, yuck, yuck ..........but better hair that needs a good wash, than I get it wet and start off something , as you may know yourself , if its going to happen to anyone it will be you !

So ................today Mike has two of his mates round and hubby and I are doing a basic Roast chicken dinner , but with new boiled potatoes, honey glazed carrots, broccoli, green beans and a light chicken gravy ...........no roast pots or stuffing or Yorkshire puds and thick chicken gravy for the boys or us .

No that any of us three miss it now , Mike who was hooked on a brand of crisp that 'pops' and you cant stop ................has stopped !!!!! he has been known in the past to eat a whole tub of them in one sitting now he has an apple or banana instead ..............ah , at last its sinking in with my family , just take away the rubbish and substitute something crisp crunchy and full of fibre and vitamins .

Keeping up the good work and not scratching my stitches ( unless asleep and that doesn't count )

Willows.

[willows]

Another wonderful sunny day here in glorious Devon UK.

Mike went to work yesterday , he is just 15 years old and still at college full-time , but has to do a weeks work experience so he's working at a friends bike shop in the nearest small town to us ( about 10 mles away)

This friend has built his company up from a back street car repairers to a huge auto shop , petrol station and car wash , bike shop ( cycles, motor bikes and 4 wheelers) bike repair and parts .

Mike is absolutely loving it and came home yesterday rather 'chuffed ' with himself as he had built a ladies bike from the parts given to him in a huge box!!!

He was also feeling very happy with himself as his trousers kept slipping down when we bought them for him he was moaning as they were so tight they hurt him , now its the other way around ..............can't win can you !!!!

He's still taking his packet lunch to work and his boss also noticed that his food looked rather nice and not the normal stuff his work experience kids bring in .

Mike told him he was on a diet , to which his boss said 'your joking '!!!! 'NOPE.' was Mikes reply ...........'and I'm loosing weight '

So now I've been asked if I can type out a lunch time diet sheet giving all the items I put in Mikes box and an average calorie count per box as the boss man is also getting 'rather large ' ..............and that's being kind !!!!!

Today Mikes got chicken tikka sandwich , a bag of low fat crisps ( less than 100 cals a bag) an apple and a large bottle of low cal drink. He's also allowed to buy a 'water ice ' lolly from the freezer if he wants to.

I am so proud of my son at this time, he has struggled with his own medical conditions since he was just 4 years old and is at this time on 4 medications to keep him fit and well , so loosing this weight and still being happy , helpful and just a really ' nice lad' I'm smiling here because I'm his mum.

Willows ............mum to a nice lad.................big smile on her face ( if you could see it )

[goldicedance]

You should be proud of him. My husband has been waging a weight battle all his life. He claims he weighed 90 pounds when he was born. A few years ago, he had gastric bypass surgery and now he is down about 125 pounds. Many doctors are now convinced that gastric bypass may be the only solution. Tell your son that we are proud of him as well. I hope he is getting some exercise at the same time as his healthful menus. Could you pack my lunch?

[willows]

Thank you goldicedance...............if you pay the fare to USA and back I'd be delighted to pack your lunch ( only kidding as I'm not allowed to fly )

Mike is exercising every other night , you see we live by a wonderful river that leads out to the sea ( called the Plymouth Sound) and Mike was bought a semi dry suit in the spring of this year , so he gets himself 'kitted out' in his wetsuit and fins and swims across the river to his mates house then they both mess about racing up and down , watching the tide.

Its very safe in the harbour section and everyone in and around the village knows that all the local village kids do this and keep a watch out for silly boat men who come into the key side pubs for a beer and sound a very loud horn to warn them of swimmers.

I've been in bed the last 24-36 hours with another bout of 'my flu' that isn't flu and stomach contractions that have you rolled in a ball, sweats, and such joint pain I cant stand, but what the heck ...............here's another lovely day and I can forget about the last few days again.

My eyes healing nicely , the stitches are now white and looking like they may come away soon.

Well hope that your husband manages to keep it off , fruit , thats the answer to all ..........fruit ' strawberries, raspberries , pineapple all dribbling thick fresh raspberry sauce ..............right thats me in the kitchen with the fruit bowl again...............bye , bye for now Willows.

[willows]

Its the last day of Mikes work experience today and boy is he tired.

I have tried telling my friend who runs the shop / repair service that he is just 4 months post-viral and so must be allowed to sit down if he feels tired ( not all the time though ) but because they have never had anyone who is not 100% well work for them , they dont seem to understand ........which is typical !

Poor boy when I picked him up at 3.30pm last night , what with the heat and standing didn't know if he was coming or going and ..............went to bed at 9 pm !!!!!

He's still been good on his diet this week although in his words ' I've been starving hungry all the time' , but I suppose this is to be expected if you have gone from sitting in a classroom all day to standing and building bikes, cleaning units and serving customers all day , a bit of a culture shock or what !!

OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! just had a bit of a shock and a huge load of palpitations...........I went to move the next load of towels to go into the washing machine and sitting underneath the top one was a HUGE black hairy spider .............AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Cant stand the things

Right lets get back to what I was nattering on about ........

I've started getting some of my clothes together now ( the wedding is the whole weekend ) tried on this wonderful white camisole top with a sheer long sleeved tunic top over , its white with silver sequins on the cuffs, around the neck and at the bottom a very sleek cool looking top and great with some off white linen trousers ......right thats one evening sorted NOT!!!!

Hubby came in and said ' darling its very nice BUT..............I dont think its the sort of thing you should wear for the wedding , given the fact that there will be a number of elderly men there ' ?????

Me , standing there with a 'what' look on my face , cant think what he's on about ??? it covers all my body except hands, feet and head !!!

Hubby stood me in front of my full length mirror and then took his flash light and held it behind me ...............'OH .....MY' You could see every hair on my top half, every scar, dimple , mole .........well you name it , you could see it .

So back to the drawing board

Next weigh in this Sunday and as the weather is so hot here I'm BBQ-ing all weekend , its loads of chicken breasts, salmon and sirloin steaks on the fire for us lot here in glorious Devon by the sea..

Happy eating ................Willows.

[willows]

Big black hairy spider continues..................

If any of you have read the post about us being burgled then you will know that hubby has a new camera again, well he 'Just' had to take a picture of the thing ............yuck !!!

Its on the following link if you want to see it ' be warned it not just a picture of the spider, he gets VERY close in ' !!!!!

mmmmmmm, lovely dear but not the sort of thing I'd want framed and stick on the wall .

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=191633

It makes my stomach churn ! ...............oh ! an idea comes to mind ?????

If hubby keeps popping out of places brandishing large spiders at me , may be my bowels will suddenly spring into life again ( if you know what I mean) just hope I get to the loo in time or dont pass out with the shock ..............that's seeing the spider not seeing hubby !!!!!!

Willows.

[willows]

Not a good day here in lovely Devon...............'ITS SO HOT' ............to hot for me to move in at this time.

I dont know about you but when it gets very hot ( about 74...75 +) I cant breath properly and get short breathed as well as that all I want to do is sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep .

So far today , well since 12 midnight last night in fact , I've.............

Sat up in bed because of the horrendous hip/leg/foot pains , all night with that v pillow jammed under my neck to keep me from slipping down the bed ............ha ! looked round at one point and there was hubby mouth wide open snoring his head off with a click. click in between ...........oh, it was tempting to stick an ice cube in his mouth or better still a feather up his nose !!! that would shut him up

So having been awake most of the night with the heat and pain, got up at 9am...........had a shower, and then another hours rest as I was knackered again then pottered about in the lounge , had lunch and then feel asleep from 1.30 om until 5.30 pm .............what an 'eventful day I've had '.........NOT

I had one of those strange dreams as well , dont know if its me or something others get , well I know I was asleep when Mike came into the room but I was trying to wake up but couldnt , he stood beside my bed and said quietly 'mum its after 5 , you need to wake up and take your meds'...... ...........but however much I tried to tell him I could hear him and was awake , I couldnt move , I hate it when I do this.

It took me 30 mins to get myself awake after that .

Well the good news is ;

Mike has lost yet another pound from his ever decreasing bod and me just 1/2 lb..........well 1/2 lb off is better than 1/2 lb on but I think this hot weather and me constantly going to sleep at all hours isn't helping much .

Never mind there's 5 weeks to go and I may suddenly 'kick into gear again' I've done this in the past , so there's always hope on the horizon, never give up hope thats another of my many motto's.

Bye for now and drink loads in this weather guys , keep a hat on your head and lots of sun screen on if you do venture out doors ................keep smiling .

Willows. 'pear chomping' at this minute !!!!

[willows]

Oh , my ...............did I say it was hot at the week end?

Ha ! thats nothing to what we have now , its hit 100 + here .

So I'm being held to ransom by my own body in the bedroom..............

Just walking down the stairs is causeing problems , eating, drinking , washing, sleeping ..............all gone to pot dont know if its night or day at the minute, sleeping from 6 am until 12 pm then trying to eat then to hot to .........what you have to remember is that in the UK we dont have air conditioning just a fan and the windows open .................no dont open the windows as all the bugs come in and bite the living daylights out of me

Right think the best place for me is laying in the pond outside with the frogs, toads and newts second thoughts hubby's just informed me the waters in the mid 70's to 80's so even thats no good, and the thought of those slimy things slithering on my bod , well would you

Roll on the winter when I can freeze and moan about a red nose again.

Willows..........confused, hot, tired and in need of an arctic holiday please.!!!

[willows]

Well...............I'm still stuck in the upstairs bedroom most of the day , in fact I haven't been outside for so long I cant remember when I last went out , I hope I'm not turning into a hermit !

Mike is on line to hitting a stone of weight loss by Sunday as he is suffering with the heat and just cant seem to eat much at all, drink, drink, drink is all he seems to want to do at this time. It has been so hot at his college , which is up on the moors near to us, that they are now saying if it goes up one more degree they will close it down as they to have no air conditioning at all.

My hubby has once again decided to 'kiss the floor'

Last night at about 3 am I heard a loud bang followed by a number of words that are unrepeatable ..........from downstairs.

Hubby has taken to sleeping still in the 'natural state' in the door way of the big windows, so far no one has tried to enter the house at night via this way or any other, mind you one look at this large body laying 'natural' in the open window would make the local cats run a mile let alone a human

My stitches are still firmly embedded just under the eye brow with still no sign of 'going walkabout' which is annoying as I really need to get some moisturizer on this bit so I dont look like a sheet of and paper for the do..............which is fast and furiously approaching.

I still have to get Mikes suit trousers turned up , which I have written on a stick it and plastered all over the inside of my wardrobe doors and on my own wedding suit, so hopefully I will get them done next week.

Well, I think I will have to go shopping tomorrow and great the world again, with a large hat on and sunglasses, looking rather like a spy or more likely someone who's just had plastic surgery and wants to hide

Bye for now, hope the weather is being kind to you all and not holding you to ransom in the bedroom to................I wouldn't mind if I was being held by some 6 foot bronzed 25 year old with naughty intentions.............but the weather!!!!

Mind you what would I do with a 25 year old bronzed god ..............get him to wash the kitchen floor probably !!!!

Willows.........help I'm going heat mad here .

[nadine]

Willows-

You always make me laugh--

Love the comments about your outfit and the hubby holding the flashlight to get his point across-LOL

[willows]

It was a flashlight but not the normal sort of flashlight , its on a miners helmet Nadine !!!!

You can imagine what he looked like doing it on his hands and knees , talk about a lunatic.

Did you see the spider,? horrible man what he wrote , you wait I'll get my own back on him one day, when he's asleep I'll find a nice fat worm and stick it on his forehead ...........nice and cooling for him until he wakes up ...............trouble is what would I get back ?????

Well we have rain here guys, big ploppy drops that if you could run you might be able to dodge.

Ahhhhhhhh ! cool air, now just wait for the nose to go red ha !!! weather.

Willows.

[willows]

Well its Sunday, sorry I haven't been back before now but been stuck in bed again.

Mike hit the 1 stone off his bod target today he is no pleased with himself, I said that if he could 'loose the bod , I'd buy him an ipod'.............so he's now the proud owner of a 1mb white one.

I've been in bed a few days now and haven't lost a thing so this monday I'm going to adopt a new strategy ( tell you in the week what it is )

Also ...............the 'dissolving stitches' in my eye lid wound ...........didn't dissolve!!! they just got tighter and tighter and sorer and sorer and the scar started to bulge with the tightness.

I was getting a bit worried abut this as with only that 4 week length of 'sorting my bod out' before the wedding I didn't want to go with a very red angry scar still................called the hospital and lo and behold I've now had them out .

Boy, Oh Boy does that feel better!!!! so now I have just a flat red scar on the lid and hopefully with these new scar removal plasters you can stick on the scar to reduce it , in 4 weeks it wont be noticeable ( fingers crossed)

So I'm resting today after a bad week , eating loads of fruit and veggies still .

Well today its cold salmon for luncheon ( cooked on the BBQ) with an assortment of veggies ( all cut or sliced small ) these include; broccoli, mangetout, green beans, carrots, sweetcorn, mushrooms, peppers, and beansprouts..............these I stir fry in a very hot wok , no oil added just a spoon of soy sauce...........heat wok to smoking add veggies and soy and 'keep moving' you'll know when they are done as they all change colour and do slightly brown ...............so place your salmon on top of this pile ( on a plate please) and 'dig in' !!!!!

Keep up the good work if your trying like me to 'shift the weight' ..................back soon with my new strategy.

Willows................stitch free and eating veggies by the ton again

[willows]

Right , I'm back with my strange , well not that strange really way of 'kick starting ' the diet again................it is a follows; FRUIT SALAD.

I am going to eat fruit salad for 5 days only , But remember I take multi viamins ( a-z and 100grams C-vit ) each and every day so I am now worried about lack of all the essential vitamins and minerals while I go 'veggie'.

The salad is a bit off the old scale as well and I have given you the recipe below , you may want to try this as an after dinner dessert or a 'one day drop off'.

YOU WILL NEED;

1 pineapple. 2 large plums. 2 large peaches, 2 apples. 2 pears. 1/2 tub strawberry's. 1 pomegranate. 1 large orange. 1/4 small cup f lemon juice + 1 dessert spoon of sugar substitute.

First; peel pineapple and store 1/2 in the fridge for another day ( cover in cling film ) chop the rest into even size squares and place into a large bowl

Then; half the plums , peaches and pears discarding all stones and cores , slice these evenly and place in the bowl.

The; hull the strawberries and cut into half , add to bowl.

Then; 1/2 and 1/4 apples taking the core out of them and slice thinly into the bowl.

Then; half the pomegranate and 'pop out' the seeds straight into the bowl ( now filling up nicely) try not to get the pith with the seeds as that tastes really dry and yucky

Right last thing; squeeze the orange into a small dish or jug add the lemon juice and the sugar substitute and mix well, then pour the whole lot over the fruits in the bowl and with q big spoon carefully mix it all around ( I put on disposable plastic gloves and use my hands for this .....very satisfieing ! )

Your fruit salad is now ready to eat ...............I covered mine with a foil lid and put it in the fridge for an hour to chill , it keeps for about 24 hours as the lemon orange/juice stops the fruit going brown.

So far I've had salad for breakfast .........lunch and now dinner as well as this I'm drinking like a fish , thats coffee, waters and low cal drinks.

I do not suggest you try this unless you have asked your doctor or specialist first and have there full approval.

My own doctor is well aware of my 'fruity days ' and has said as long as I stick to my vitamins etc she doesn't have a problem, in fact given the high cholesterol I have she doesn't mind at all. Also the more weight I cans shift the less likely I am to suffer a heart attack again or what I think is worse for me, heart failure again............no thanks not again .

So with Mike having lost his Stone now and looking SO good, I am now going 100 % fruity

Sunday I will post in again and tell you how I'm getting on, have I spent days on the loo wishing I hadn't done it and the big question will the inches burn away in time ..............its now just 27 days to go and counting

If , as I'm sure a number of you who read my posts are wondering why I'm so adamant that I have to look 'the bis' well come on guys its obvious isn't it ????

I'm the second wife ..........his first will be at the wedding along with the grandparents and the rest of her family , we do get on , but come on guys , I'm sure she will be doing just the same, neither of us want to look anything other than , slim, immaculate, totally 100% beautifully turned out at our best.............my problem is I have the condition, the first wife is what I'd call normal..............now do you understand why I'm trying my hardest to look my best? I dont mind normally what I look like ( well up to a point ) but no way am I going to look anything other than ............wow !!!!!

I did it before for a wedding last August , so I can , I will do it again. It isn't just a case of letting my husband , son and step-daughter down...............but myself .

Willows................chomping away on fruit salad each and every day this week ..........and loving it.

[willows]

Well............dont make me cough.......laugh ........or sneeze!!!!!

Eating fruit for 3 days none stop has had some unwanted side effects...............no.........dont say 'we told you so' ........one has to learn the hard way , but in this case 'not the hard way' !!!!

So having spent most of last night 'forging' a track to the bathroom and back to bed and to the bathroom and back to bed ...... ......... .......... .

I'm not eating much at all today, my own fault I will admit , a vast mixture of fruit, excessive hot weather and a digestive system that been laying 'dormant as a dormouse ' for years been woken up so violently is NOT the quick answer to my predicament it seems, more likely a way for the soft tissue manufacturers of the worlds to increasing there sales quickly

Yep............I did loose 3 lb's in this short time, but the pain........... and soreness I have suffered all night cancel out any weight loss I may have achieved, and I've spent most of the day trying to get my drugs back into my circulation without my doctors intervention .

Never mind , that will teach me that 'sure and steady if the only way ' .

Back to the drawing board I'm afraid ,sitting on a cushion ( dont you dare laugh !!!)

Back again on Sunday with another weigh in and hopefully a lot less soreness..............am I am idiot or what ?

Willows...............

[willows]

I've come on tonight instead of tomorrow morning for a change. As from tomorrow we have just 21 days left to 'the day'

Mike ..........loud applause has now lost a total of 15 lb's and he reminded me that he started before I logged onto here ,so in fact his start weight was 13 stone 3 lbs!!! Making it a grand total of 1 stone 4 lbs he's lost in all and not what I keep quoting ..........men , must be accurate .

So Mike now weighs in at 11 stone and 13 lbs.

Well me , thats a bit tricky , I feel a bit of a wash out because here is my son losing much more than me, though if I think about it he's 200% more active so I must not think so badly given what has gone on in the past few days .

I have now lost just under 1 stone in all...........start weigh was 11 stone 11 lbs ..........I'm now 10 stone 12 lbs and holding.............still battling on .

I thought I would tell you all , who ever you are who read this post but never speak to me what I'm doing for my daughter + son in law as a wedding present . ...........we have decided to give them some money to do what they want with but.........in a special way.

I have bought a bottle of champagne and two tall 'ribbon cut ' crystal glasses ( in a pretty gold box) these will go into a larger box with gold tissue plus sprinkles of white confetti all over ......then another gift , wrapped in gold paper is a box containing a wonderful silver 3 tiered wedding cake that pulls apart ( a trinket box) in which we will try and push all the money into, this will have a funny label on about the contents .......then a beautiful gold/pink /white large square perfumed candle ( wrapped) ........a large box of rather delicious champagne truffles .......all prettied up............a huge box of bath goodies like; bath oil, massage oil, soaps, talc's, candles..........all sorts of stuff.............all wrapped and make pretty with confetti.

This box will be wrapped in gold and made as pretty as I can with bows ad silk flowers all in gold and cream ( her wedding colours).

As the couple are not going on honeymoon ( funds wont allow) but staying in the honeymoon suit , I have given them strict instructions to open this box on their wedding night ASAP ...............so they will be able to sit in a wonderful bathroom all lite with perfumed romantic candles while drinking champagne and eating chocolates..........(must remember to put a lighter in the box as well) now isn't that the most romantic way to start married life ................

Willows.

[willows]

Panic...............Panic...............Panic.....................

I've just tried on my wedding suit, you know the one that's made of chiffon with long sleeves, well after 3 mins of being in it I couldnt take it off again as it was stuck to me , talk about hot, I'd be no hotter if I went in a full length fur coat

So having given my outfit a great deal of thought..... I'm now panicking .

I've had a look about jolly old eBay and seen an outfit in the 'mother of the bride' section, a blue suit , hat and bag............not the normal thing I'd go for especially as its second hand but its my size and it looks rather nice , but having spent and arm, leg and left ear on the pink chiffon suit and all the accessory's last year, I dont want to spend another arm, leg and right ear on another new suit.

After all ,I'd have no arms to hold my hubby with , no legs to dance with and I wouldn't be able to hear the music so no point in going ( ha.!!!!on form today guys)

If I'm lucky I may win the bid by the end of the afternoon............all my extremities are crossed here.

Mikes just informed me he's lost yet another pound this week already....dont ask about me I've been in bed for two days having passed out at the top of the stairs and head banged hubby's waist as I sat down 'well out of it ' according to hubby and son ( luckily hubby was coming up and caught me ) then the next day woke up with the room swimming and wanting to heave ...............another session of back and forth to the bathroom ............then so tired I had to sleep for a whole day .

So this week has gone , just disappeared and I'm still tired and feeling 'blurrrrr'.............well if there is anyone up there watching me please let me win the blue suit as its cotton and has no sleeves and I can flap around in it and keep cool, yet still look the part .............also please dont let me pass out until after the ceremony ..........or preferably not at all!!!!

Willows...........unable to keep her feet flat.

[willows]

Well................... 20 mins to the finish and I was hanging over hubby's shoulder being told in no uncertain terms to 'go away'

!0 mins and still no one had outed me......hubby sweating now

5 mins and hubby shifting a lot in the seat telling me 'stop trying to see over his shoulder or I'll turn the computer off '

2 mins and his one hand is hovering over the keys .........me ? well I'm in the kitchen trying not to have an angina attack with all the stress as I really, really want this outfit ( but so does someone Else)

1 min.......30 seconds........20 seconds......10...9...8...7...6..5..4..3..2..1.........................?

Guess who's' going to the wedding in a rather nice cornflower blue designer three piece suit with matching large brimmed hat and hand bag me, me, me, me, me, me, me, ......got it

A very happy willows who is now going to lay down as her heartbeat is skipping, palping and cartwheeling but who cares !!!!!

[willows]

Suffering today from the excitement of yesterday..............yes, hubby did tell me to calm down , but its hard to ,especially when you've never won anything in your life before, not even a raffle in all my 50 years.

And probably like you ?, I cant say that we have had a wonderfully exciting life full off things 'always going right ' so for once actually getting or doing something right the first time ...............made my day .

Now I'm teetering on one of those ' on the knees head down the toilet jobs, head banging , blood pressure up and down , face pains, ear running , sweating like a sumo wrestler ........I want to die days'

I look like I've seen a ghost, feel like I've run a marathon and act like someones thrown away my power pack

Never mind.............just been told that my new suit / stuff has been posted !!!

Tomorrow is my 4th Wedding anniversary , married to my crazy, wonderful, loving , lunatic of a hubby for 4 of the most perfect years of my life .

We get each other a token gift and a card and always go for a meal ( son, hubby and myself).

But as the wedding is only 15 days away we have decided this year to have the meal out on the Saturday of the weekend away instead.

I am also now wondering what hubby has bought me ???????

I bought him a new DVD , we both just love the 'pink panther', BUT..............hubby asked me if it was blue topaz or aguamarina that I didn't like earlier this week I do hope he hasn't gone silly .

I'll let you know tomorrow when I weigh son and me in ( if I'm upright !!!!!)

I'm doing sons suit trousers tomorrow ( taking them up) ..............boy am I getting excited ...........must somehow keep calm or I know I'll make myself fell worse and worse , any suggestions as to how to ???? ................?????????

Willows...............pale, palpitating ...........but with the perfect suit

[willows]

Well.............silly, wonderful, crazy hubby who was supposed to have just bought me a 'token present' ..........we said we would do this for the in between anniversaries like 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and for the 10th something big....like a cruise or something to remember.

Anyhow box in a small carrier ........?

It was a 2 carat bright blue topaz and diamond pendent !!!!!! so beautiful.......his card had a wonderful line in it that he had underlined which said ......

' I just want you to know that should trouble call'

'I am here for you always ......to catch you when you fall'!!!!!!

Yes, dear twice in one week .............kissy , kissy love you loads.........Willows.

[willows]

Came back to add..............

Forgot to say............mike had lost another pound this week so he's now down to a loss of 19 pounds in all ..........his stomach is as flat as a pancake now, he even looks good in his wet-suit , hes' so chuffed with himself. He is at the right weight for his height /age now and so doesn't need to shift anymore in the next two weeks, just not go silly , but then I dont think he will do this , when he was at his heaviest he didn't want to go swimming on our beach....now he's turning into a fish!!!!

Well as for me, I'm still stuck at just under that 14 pounds loss..........I think its a combination of the heat, water retention, hormones , resting most of the day ( inactive) and drugs being messed around with.....but I am not going to just give up now.

With still two weeks to go I'm still going to stick it out til the end.

I'm now going to try and dye a pair of shoes to match the suit that should be arriving Monday or Tuesday of this week ( excitment shhhhhhh!) you can get this paint on stuff from in town, as I have a brand new pair of satin sling backs ( bought really cheaply in a sale last year and stored for just an event like this to dye if needed) so watch this space to see if I dye my shoes..........my hands or the kitchen units!

Well now only 13 days to go and boy my spare bedroom is a mess, the present box half done, half packed suitcases, both the boys suits in suit bags ready , clean pressed, trousers right length , shirts, ties, shoes.........blimey it looks like a car boot sale in there

Willows..........back in 7 days after my dyeing and the suit , hat + bag arrives. XXXXX

[willows]

It arrived today ............cannot say in perfect condition because the postman had either kicked the box or thrown something heavy on it

The suit and handbag were fine ,the skirt is full length , which I didn't expect , but which is brilliant as I dont have to worry about untanned lillywhite legs anymore. The skirt has a pattern of peacocks feathers on it in shades of blue and a bit of cream. The short sleeved top that goes under the jacket is pale blue ( as in the skirt colours)

The jacket's plain colour of cornflower blue is also in the skirt, boy the jacket is nice its made of a fabric that feels like a soft suede ( but not ) and it has one button which is highly decorated with a checkered design on it ..........the bag and hat of exactly the same cornflower blue and fabric as the jacket ..............I've just steamed the hat to get the bumps out of it which the postman made and that to is now perfect again thank goodness.

Yes, I have tried it on and it fits perfectly and looks really nice, sort of a cross between posh and elegant ..........polgant or maybe eleosh !!!!!!.

I'm going to wash the skirt and the top and have the jacket dry cleaned this week ............well thats that sorted, I've even got some rather nice sandals to match in silver with a pale blue/pale green/pale lilac Cris's-cross strap on the toe section , I bought these when we went on our caribbean cruise 5 years ago and then wore them for my own wedding , now out they can come again for my daughters.

Time is going fast now ...................still have a room thats looking more like a jumble sale then a bedroom.

Willows............very happy with her suit .