This has been on my mind for a few days, so I decided to go ahead and post it.

I am wondering if there are a few folks here from the Colorado Springs area who might be interested in getting together, say, once a month to share tips, tricks, recipes, all that. When I think about the possibilities, I imagine a fairly small group of people that would meet somewhere VERY public, and talk about lowcarb issues as well as the struggles.

I would hope that it would be the sort of group that could support one another in good times and bad, but not a group where people are obligated to lots of meetings or responsibilities. Just a chance to get together, talk about the struggles, offer tips and support to one another, maybe even do clothing swaps from time to time. From there, it could go anywhere, I suppose. Exercise partnerships might form, even phone support 'lifelines'. The possibilities are endless!

If I hear from a person or two here that is interested, I'm going to look for an appropriate meeting place. I might even try to find out if there are any Colorado Springs doctors that have patients they'd refer to such a support group. Who knows?

I promis that I am not a psycho (well, no more than the average person on the street). You can check my journal to see a little bit about what I'm like.

If you're interested, please reply. I think this could be really beneficial!

Thanks,
-Catinhat

Yes, I'm interested, Cat, but C-Spgs is a bit far for me....I'm about 40 or 50 miles northeast of there. It's a good idea, though! Hope it works for you!

And if there's anyone out there near Castle Rock, I'd like to hear from you for the same support group idea. Thanks! :-)

Hmm. . . if there were a few here and a few there, we could try Monument!!

-Catinhat

I'm game. I hear about some of the other get togethers that people have and it sounds like they have a pretty good time.

One thought to get the ball rolling might be to meet in Castle Rock in mid-July when Joanie comes to town to visit her sister. Her and I are planning to get together and it might be really nice to get some others together at the same time. I'll run it past Joanie.

That would be cool with me. Let me know what you find out, OK? I'd just like to find some folks to meet with from time to time - nothing too formal or organized. Thanks!
-Catinhat

Yes, let me know, too, if the Castle Rock thing works out! It sounds like a great idea. :-)

Joanie will be in town and available on July 18th through the 20th. During that time frame I will be available the 18th and most of the 19th. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions about where to meet in the greater metropolitan Castle Rock area?

Hey gang...

The get-together sounds really fun. There are a bunch of us here in MD who have been doing it and we really have a great time. We've become good friends! In fact, this Sunday night, we're all going to kareoke at a local watering hole and I may even SING!

As Bill said, I'll be in Castle Rock in mid-July and I would love to meet up with you guys. I will be visiting my sister and won't have a car, so Bill and I may have to work something out. I'll be in touch with him when I arrive to find out the final details.

CatinHat, I took a look at your profile and laughed out loud when I saw "laundry" under interests...I do a lot of laundry, but I wouldn't say I'm interested in it!

I'll check in here frequently to see what's going on. Good luck getting together -- you won't regret it!

Castle Rock has several great restaurants and a wonderful outlet mall. There's also a WalMart Super Center and a new Target...if anyone's interested in shopping. I'm not too sure where any of the parks are, though. What kind of place were you all thinking of meeting? And mid-July is good for me....I think. <gg> It depends on when my dh is traveling again.

I've never been to the Outlet Shops there - I've been past them often enough though! And there are a couple of decent restaurants there in the parking lot if I recall correctly and probably something in the mall complex itself. That sounds like a real good suggestion to me.

Well, the outlets sound like fun - I've never been to them either. I haven't really spent any time in Castle Rock before, so anything is fine with me. I have to work the 19th, but I'm off the 18th and the 20th. Off the 21st too, but I think we're going to the annual family picnic where I work - it's that evening.

I think that getting together and sharing a meal would be fun, especially if we can arrange with somewhere to have a big table and stay there awhile - long enough to chat some afterward. Does anyone have a specific place in mind?

Joanie, I was once told that a hobby is 'something you do in your spare time'. With that definition, laundry pretty much qualifies

I hope this works out - I think it could be really fun and meaningful!!

-Catinhat

When Lisa and Theresa and I first met, we did it at a local Outback Steak House. Well, we gabbed and gabbed, to the point that I felt bad for the poor waiter, who probably wanted to "turn over" our table to a new customer. When we finally did leave, we ended up gabbing for another hour outside. Outback is very low-carb friendly, but they are a bit pricy if you end up eating steak. There's probably other good places in CR, too. I'm curious...which stores are in the outlet center?! Might have to do me some shopping there!

Hmmm...let's see...there's a Mikasa, Revere and Corning Ware, Carter's stores...all kinds of music, videos, jewelry, perfume outlets, there's a Saks, Gap, Bugle Boy, and leather goods stores...oh, just name it, it's probably there! LOL It's a nice open air mall and they're adding new stores all the time. Next to the mall, is a Black Eyed Pea, Jarre's Ranch (locally owned, VERY good, a tad pricey), an Applebee's, McDonald's (blech) and I think one or two others. Now we're talking the 18th or the 20th here???

Well, I like Blackeyed Pea, but it's pretty much carb heaven, isn't it? I do think they have some salads w/ grilled meats that would work. I don't generally go to Applebee's so I don't even know what they have. Does anyone know?

I'm totally flexible anyway - whatever works for everyone else will work for me. If eating out is too much of a challenge, we could try a time of day between meals and look for somewhere 'starbucks-like' and meet for coffee? I don't drink coffee, but surely they'd have diet soda, no? I may be the one person on the planet whose never been to Starbucks. ...

-Catinhat

LOL! Well, I'm sure it's a small club but I've only been to Starbucks once...and it was because a friend wanted to go! I'm not a coffee drinker and don't plan to start. I'm sure there's something like that around, though. The mall has a food court with the usual junk food joints and a big seating area. You could get a diet soda there.