HEALTHY CHOICES GETTING TO KNOW YOU POST

I'll go ahead and start and you can join in.

My name is Maureen/mojazz.  Birthday is 11/12 and have been married for 44 yrs.  Worked for first 10 yrs. of marriage, but stayed home to have 2 children and never got back in the working mode.  Was very involved in 4H during kids’ growing years.  Seem to always have plenty to do at home with gardening, cooking and enjoying a 2 yr old granddaughter.  I have 4 grandchildren who live in CA with my son and his wife.  Daughter here is a single mom.  We moved to Salt Lake City area of UT 13 yrs ago because of DH’s work, but I was a CA native before that.  When we retire in June, I think it would be nice to live somewhere with milder weather in the winter.

My turn to step up to the mike...

I'm Verna aka vammie.  I am less young than Maureen as I turned 65 last July.  I am a retired RN and a widow.  I live in north Texas with my four-legged fur princess, Molly.  I am active in my church and do some other volunteer work in the community.  I had a paralyzing illness in 1993 and have used a wheelchair since that time.  I have met several in this group...Shirley/Groucho, Missycat who is not active with us any more, NursePat and GrannyB who also is not active much anymore.

I enjoy cooking and use my church groups as guinea pigs for the new recipes.  I like to travel and am planning a Caribbean vacation this spring.  I have two grown children, two grown grandkids and two precious great-granddaughters, Keri and Kendal.  Keri will be 4 the end of March and Kendal just turned one. 

I am valiantly working to declutter my house (when you live in a wheelchair, you need things close so as to be able to reach them)....(well, it sounds good...better than saying I'm a slob!!).  I am decluttering in order to sell my home and buy one closer to the church which is in the next town over, but across the bridge over the lake.

Looking forward to learning more about everyone!

vammie

I'm Martie,  Birthday is 10/17, married for 50 years in March 08,  Worked for as a supervisor for an insurance company for 38 years, retired at age 60.   I have one son, age 48 who lives in Atlanta and one grandaughter who in a sophomore in college.    I live at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountain in western South Carolina, grew up in N. Carolina.   Always thought we would retire to Fla. but DH had his first heart attack at age 41 and was forced into retirement at age 45 so we decided we needed to stay closer to his doctors.  Love dogs, but have not had one since our son's died when he was in the Air Force.  My hobbies is cooking, collecting cookbooks, but I think at my age space is running out so I need to be choosy about what cookbooks I buy anymore.  All  the outside work is mine since DH had a defribrilator put in, he is very limited on lifting and using power tools, I enjoy the outside work if I can keep it up.  Our hospitals have a lot of medical seminars and I attend most of them with a group of friends.  An easy way to learn new things and ask doctors questions.                                Welcome to our group

My name is Barb.  Birthday is 4/29.  I am 65 yrs. young.[;)  My DH and I have been married 47 years. Our anniversary is 9-12.  We have 2 children, a son 45 and daughter 40.  Each has 2 girls, giving us a grand total of 4 granddaughters, all of whom live close to us.

We live in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, where I was born and raised.   We have known each other since I was 9 yrs. old.,  when he moved in 3 doors down.

We have a cat, named Bob who I swear is part real Bobcat.  He looks like one and often acts like one.  We also have 2 puppies, Rosie and Zoe.  They are sisters, and are terri-poos.  

They are busy little girls and sometimes I wonder if we will keep our sanity with them until the mature.

I was a stay at home Mom  when my children were small  then I worked for many years until I retired to be free to travel with my DH when he worked our of town.  

Now that we are both retired, we like to spend most of our time at home.  We have 4 acres to take care of so that keeps us busy in the summers.   We also have a view of both Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams and I never tire of it.

This group is a HUGE  part of my life.  We have been together through some very happy and very sad times but we have been together , and that's what has been so special about these things.  I have felt so much encouragement and love and learned so much from everyone here that I can't begin to tell you how important your friendship is to me.

 I go by lusi on this board, but my real name is Luanne.  I am orignially from Rockford, Illinois and still consider it "home".  I have lived overseas for 25 years in places like Switzerland, Zimbabwe and now in Finland.  My husband is Finnish, and we have two boys, aged 19 and 17.   The older one is now studying at a college in Iowa.  I'm 54 years old and have been married for 22 years.  

I am a teacher, currently teaching English in a Finnish primary school.  English is a compulsary subject from grade 3 here.  DH has had a long career doing relief and devleopment work mostly in Africa.  He travels a lot.

Singing is a serious hobby for me, and I do a lot of it!   I also love cooking and quilting.  This BB helps keep me in touch with life back home, and is a great support in my quest to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  

I hate to iron, by the way!

lusi 

Hello,
My name is Shirley. I was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y on April 3, 1936.
I moved to Danbury, Ct. in 1955 when I married my first husband.
I have two DDs. They are four years apart in age. I have four grandchildren, two boys and two girls.

My second husband and I were married 37 years, he passed away on Oct 21st or 2007.

My oldest daughter and granddaughter are living with me so I feel blessed.

Groucho was my husband pet name for me. 

I love to cook and try new recipes quite often.

I enjoy getting together with family and friends as often as possible.
I also enjoy my church activities. I am a member of the Altar Guild and Episcopal Church Women.

I use to enjoy reading and hope to do so again. I do enjoy watching movies.
I collect Lenox birds (mostly the Christmas collection now) and Iris and Herringbone iridescent Depression glass.
After retiring I started gaining weight. The last two years I have tried several times to lose weight but could not stay motivated. My husband was battling cancer for the last two years. I was taking care of him at home ~~where he passed with his love ones close by.

I have made such dear friends on this forum. We all want to live a healthier life style.

I will go next. My name is Jo Lynn/jolaff and I just turned 51 in November. My husband and I have been married for 31½ years. We live on a farm in SE Washington state near the Idaho border. I am an Office Manager in a small law firm in a town 7 miles from where we live. We have two children - our dd (30), dsoil, and our 2-year-old dgs live in Colorado (just north of Denver) and our ds (27) is single and works for us on the farm. Between working full time, helping out on the farm, and helping my mom (she is recently widowed and lives in an retirement apartment about 45 miles away), I don’t have time for any "real" hobbies at the moment. I do enjoy cooking (mostly baking), reading cookbooks, and coming to this website in my spare time.  I consider the people in this group some of my closest friends - they are wonderful and I’m not sure what I would do without them.

Jo Lynn

Hi Everyone!  My name is Mary.  I am 63 live in Georgetown TX, married for 43 yrs, have 2 children (my son is retiring from the Navy next month!), 3 grandchildren and retired from an airline 8 yrs ago.  I grew up in Chicago and Glenview IL.  My husband and I moved to TX 8 yrs ago as our daughter lives here.  Our son and famiy lived all over for many years.  They have settled in Florida as it was the last station he was assigned to serve.  I started my official healthy choices Jan 1.  It seems that I am always on a diet. I just need to stick to it.  I joined WW.  I hate to say it, but I am a lifetime member and still have to start back and lose about 60 pounds.  I have been faithfully eating healthy this past week.  I weigh in Thur morning.  I need to stay motivated and eating right!

Hi Vammie!  Missed you at the get together.  Hope to see you soon.  Can't remember when we said we'd try to get together again.

Hey Mary...good to see you!  I missed being at the last meeting but had just had surgery and didn't think it wise to travel that far two days post op. 

This is a really neat group of folks.  We have become very close.  Bettie, also from Georgetown, used to post with us more often.  She drops in every now and then.  Did you get to meet her in Waco?

Stop by daily to visit here.  Most of us have been on WW or are currently on it.

vammie

I debated posting anything but thought if everyone else can, so can I.

My birthday is April 9, and our anniversary is June 8.  This year will be 35 years. We have 2 grown sons and a grandson.  I've been a nurse for 17 years, 15 of those in the VA system.  My husband is an ordained minister, but went back to school and is now a licensed clinical social worker with certification in anger management. 

We both love to travel, and have decided that cruising is our vacatin of choice. I am also an Amtrak fan, and have made several trips that way.  Who wants company?! 

We have an 8 year old grand-dog named Anastasia (Ana for short) who technically belongs to our younger son but has been with us since she was about 8 months old. She is a lab/husky mix who doesn't yet realize she is a dog!

If any of y'all are ever in Texas, let me know!!  Pat

Okay, about me…

I was born Oct 19, 1949 in Chicago, IL. I grew up in the suburbs, in Rolling Meadows, IL. I got married at the very young age of 17 to Jack. We are still married (41 years on April 1, 2008) and have 2 children, Ken will be 40 on March 10, 2008 and Bonnie is 36. Ken is married to Christine, no children. Bonnie is engaged to Carl, to be married on October 4,2008. Ken owns an auto repair business in Wood Dale, C & K Auto Clinic. Bonnie is a graphic and web designer.

When Jack was in the Air Force we lived in Alexandria, Louisiana (where DS was born) and also Guam. We really enjoyed getting together with the Northern IL group a few years ago.

I work full time in the Finance Dept of my town. I do utility billing, for water and sewer. Most of you have heard my horror stories on turn off day.

Jack works as Chief Engineer of the Federal Reserve Bank on LaSalle St in Chicago. We have no retirement plans but will probably work many more years since we don’t get full SS until age 66.  We have always had dogs but currently have no pets.

I enjoy cooking and baking, crocheting, car trips, watching TV, reading novels and cookbooks.

I became a WW Life Member in 1986 but have not kept up with it. I just got back to my goal weight last fall (2007)and hope to maintain until DD’s wedding.

I guess that’s it, prob more than you wanted to know! Sue

  I don't know what happened to my post.  I will update another day.

bump