Gator, they must have a different sort of gator in Mississippi than they do in Florida, where I grew up, because the ones around us ate people's dogs and occasionally an arm or leg! I'm afraid my only up close and personal experience with them was throwing tennis balls at them from a rowboat (I know, dumb, but I was young). Tennis balls float, and if you are VERY careful, you can retrieve it and throw it again! (Oh, in case you wondered, gators don't like to play ball)

Donald, I know what you mean about watching other people swarm all over the Valentine goodies like a swarm of starving bees. What kind of office do you work in? From your photo, I can picture you on WWF, but have a hard time placing you in an office! Congratulations on maintaining your distance from the carb wagon! My DH brought me a dozen roses for Valentine's Day...completely inedible........well, maybe if you candied them....oops, forget I said that. And steak and salad is exactly what I eat when we're out, too. Just had a great sirloin at Tumbleweed's last Friday night.

Dee, if you have taken Prednisone, you know how difficult any kind of weight loss can be while on it. I am only taking a small maintenance dose (2.5mg a day) now, but must learn to deal with it because I have to take it forever.

Welcome, Lili, and wishing you great success getting back "on the wagon". You found a great group to lose with.

Thanks, all, for your support as I go to Joplin, MO to the doctor next Tuesday. My biggest problem is going to be getting on that plane! It's a Jetstream 41 Turboprop (33 seater) and I don't like to fly and have NEVER flown on a prop plane or anything smaller than 100 passengers. My sister (encouraging soul that she is) said the last time she flew on one, that it was so rough they were all holding hands and singing, "Kumbayah"! The airport in Joplin is I think in the middle of a cornfield, and no large planes fly in there, and it's an 8 hr drive from my house, so............

........a couple of Xanax and I'll be off.

Well, I do have to admit, my pets do tend to snack on an occasional small canine that has the misfortune of wandering too close to the waterline. I guess that's why my neighborhood is so quiet.

My 15 yr old daughter was jogging in the neighborhood a couple of years ago, and was 2 pit bulls that had escaped from their yard, decided to make her a meal, which put her in the hospital. I have yet to hear of a jogger being chased down and attacked by one of them lovable gators!

Debbie, I have read that you are actually safer in a small turbo prop plane than those huge jumbo jets. The reasoning was that the turbo props have 4 - 5 times more power than is actually required to fly the plane, which makes it more maneuverable, and overall a safer ride, albeit maybe a little bumpier and noisier. The big jumbos have a much smaller power ratio for their size. So be glad you're flying a small plane!

Good luck on your trip and be sure to keep us posted.

In the post above, delete the word "was" from that second paragraph, and it will make more sense. Sorry!

Debbie, try not to worry too much about that prop plane. I'm not much into flying either, but I've managed a few trips on prop planes. While I was nervous at first and hoping they wouldn't fly any higher than my comfort level (only as high as the tree tops!), I soon relaxed and found the ride to be rather enjoyable. It's sort of like flying in a RV!

Good luck and I hope you'll be feeling better soon.

P.S. Contrary to my appearance, I do work in an office. I'm MArketing & Communications Director for a publishing company. I like wieght lifting though so that explains the WWF appearance!

Donald