Messages By: brenbiel

Bren -- way to go!  I'm so happy for you!

Hope everyone enjoyed Mother's Day.  Mine was wonderful -- a real memory-builder out in the beauty of nature with all of our kids, and grandkids.  Even our grumpy 19 yr. old daughter came for part of it and seemed to enjoy herself.

But I've been harbouring a cold, so haven't been able to hold little Umi for about 4 days now.  :-(   I'm going to have some serious catching up to do as soon as this scratchy throat clears!

Maybe I'll try to attach a couple pictures.

Brenda

Hi everyone,

I'm still sick, so haven't done a lot of IE recently. I've been wearing a pedometer tracking my number of steps recently, trying to aim for the 10,000/day. I hope to get to my goal more consistently once I'm finally feeling well again.

Things have been very busy (but good) over the past month, as our son's family moved out of their apartment and into our home, storing everything in our basement. We really enjoyed having them stay with us then until it was time for their flight to Japan, which happened last Thursday. It was difficult to see them go, but they're excited and we have their promise that they'll be back in 3 or 3 1/2 years. (Before Umi starts school.) Would you believe that little Umi (5 months) lasted the entire flight (13 hours) without crying at all! That's my boy. :-)

Linda, I hadn't heard that news about the Chapman family. How very sad!

Bye for now,
Brenda.

Just a quick hello before crashing for the night. We've had an exciting reunion of sorts, as Phil's half-brother from Switzerland whom he has never met, arrived on the 1st with his lovely wife. We've had a wonderful time visiting -- a dream come true, particularly for both Jean-Paul and Dad. Tomorrow we drive back to Toronto to pick up their 17 yr. old son for 10 more days before they all return. So, more house guests -- which has been great, despite the fact that my routines seem to fly out the window. It's all good though.

Still trying to concentrate on making some healthier choices, moving a little more etc., but I'm still making too many bad choices at other times. Kind of two steps forward, two backwards. Frustrating!

Hope everyone's doing well.

Brenda.

Bren and Deb, it's so good to see you still here. I'm sorry, it's been ages since I've checked in. I've really struggled for a long time now, have regained 2/3 of the weight I had lost, and was feeling so frustrated. I've really been battling with sugar and have wondered how on earth I just cut it out cold turkey back in '03. However, the good news is that I continued to exercise -- not as consistently and as enthusiastically as I did 5 years ago, but considering that prior to that, I NEVER exercised at all, I'm glad that at least that key has continued. If not, I'd probably have regained it all.

Over the past couple years I've had many "fresh starts" that quickly fizzled out once again, so I hesitate to sound too enthused about my current better efforts. However, I'm trying to throw out the rear view mirror, and focus on today -- which has been another good one.

So, that's where I stand. Just wanted to pop in, say hello and wish you (and any others here) well. I'll try to check in again soon. So glad I found you still here. :-)