's motd Friday January 15, 2010

[Guest guest]

MY VISIT BACK TO THE POCONOS

Friday, 15 January 2010

This morning, after getting up and having my bowl of cereal for breakfast, I was thinking about what a great time I had going back to the Poconos last weekend. (It had been a while since I was last there.) Oh, what a beautiful place it is. The Mt. Airy Casino, where I was appearing had been there for decades. But they demolished it and built a brand new gorgeous hotel and casino.

And oh, it was really cold in the Poconos, I'm talking only 11 degrees! So as soon as we arrived at Mt. Airy, I rushed in and there in the middle of the lobby stood the most beautiful waterfall...with these charming fiberglass polar bears in it. (So cute!) There were a lot of ladies in the lobby who'd come to Mr. Airy for my Healthy Weekend. I was as excited to see them as they were to see me and I gave them all lots of hugs and kisses.That Friday night, I hosted a dinner for all of them and the chef cooked my oven fried chicken recipe for everyone to enjoy. There were hundreds and hundreds of people in the ballroom. In fact, I was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the crowd when I walked in. I think a couple of crystals popped off my tank top when I saw just how many people were there. LOL.

I went from table to table saying hello to everyone. And I knew a lot of their faces already because I'd met them either on one of my cruises, at one of my mall appearances or even at Slimmons. It was so good to see them all. We laughed together, we cried together and we took lots of photos together. And get this, some of young people in attendance came up to tell me that their mothers or even their grandmothers used to do my workouts. They told me that sometimes they would even join in working out with them! Now how cute is that?After dinner, I signed books for a while before going up to my beautiful room for a good night's sleep. The next morning when I went down to the ballroom, all of the tables and chairs had been removed. We had to have room for me to teach my Sweatin' To The Oldies 5 class! I took all of the songs from Sweatin' 5 and played them for the excited and packed room as we all had one great time...sweatin' together!

The sound system was great and, I have to tell ya', it looked like everyone had rehearsed all of the moves before they got there. Boy, I was really impressed! They even sang along to all of the songs from Sweatin' 5 like Soul Man and Ain't To Proud To Beg.After our class was over, I stayed for a couple of hours, signed autographs and shed many more tears with my friends who'd come out to see me. It was so wonderful to see so many people I knew and those new people I'd never met who'd only seen me on their TV screens. One of the reasons I was crying was because many of the ladies that I knew personally had put on quite a bit of weight. As I hugged them, they shared with me their stories of weight-gain. And as they did, there was so much sadness in their eyes.I listened to their stories, hugged them again and, as I did, I whispered into their ears..."I know you're going to do better this year. You're going to lose between 50 and 60 pounds in 2010 and when you do, you're just going to feel so glorious!" When I lifted my head from their ears, I could see a big smile beaming from their faces.Look, we all know how to get down on ourselves and how to put ourselves in a real funk of a mood. We all know how to overeat and we all now how easy it is to gain back the weight we work so hard to lose. I mean, from gaining back ten pounds to 100 pounds or...maybe even more. Now, if you're like one of those ladies I met last weekend, let me whisper a little something into your ear...

"You are going to do better this year! You're going to lose between 50 and 60 pounds in 2010. And you're going to feel so glorious when you do!"I believe that and you should believe it, too. And...when you do believe it, a big smile will beam across your face. Then you'll get ready to set some milestones for yourself. Yes, you will reach those milestones and then you'll set some new ones for yourself. I just know it!Love,

[Guest guest]

>I was thinking about what a great time I had going back to the Poconos

last weekend. (It had been a while since I was last there.) Oh, what a

beautiful place it is. The Mt. Airy Casino, where I was appearing had

been there for decades. But they demolished it and built a brand new

gorgeous hotel and casino.

I really wished we could have gone to see . We've been to the

Poconos a few times on day trips and last stayed for a vacation (Our

last vacation away from home, actually) on our honeymoon 32 years ago.

Financially we just couldn't swing it.

>And oh, it was really cold in the Poconos, I'm talking only 11 degrees!

We're having a heat wave now - all the way up to 47 yesterday and

probably again today.

>And get this, some of young people in attendance came up to tell me

that their mothers or even their grandmothers used to do my workouts.

Go ahead, Dickie! Rub it in about how old we're all getting! LOL My own

26 year old son used to work out with me to your videos when he was a

toddler, too.

Sue in NJ