Tales of the Scale and Other Things

How many fresh starts does one person get?

2008-08-02T17:17:00.003-04:00

Well, here I am again. Determined to make a fresh start. I have been having headaches lately. Really, really bad ones. Yesterday was so bad, that I left work early. Since it was, you got it, the first day of a new month, I swore to God that if He would stop my headache, I would mend my ways and get my life under control. That includes blogging.

So, here I am. Yesterday, I couldn't. It hurt to use my eyes. Today is marginally better. At least the eyes focus. When the head stops feeling like a dead weight on top of my shoulders, I will start walking again. Right now, the very thought of moving makes me nauseous so I only do it very slowly.

So wish me luck in my fresh start. And in getting rid of these headaches!!

Hail to the (Pasta) Queen!

2008-06-10T21:35:00.005-04:00

Here's a video from the Pasta Queen.

I can't believe that it's been almost two years since I first came across Jeanette Fulda' blog, Half of Me. This lady is one terrific writer and her weightloss philosophy really rocks. I wanted to be just like her, so I got my own blog... and then proceeded to ignore it for long stretches of time. Wouldn't you know that it was a contest by the Pasta Queen that got me to post my first entry in two months!!

Just a walk in the Park

2008-04-09T20:37:00.003-04:00

Today, I did something that I didn't think I could do. I walked to Resevoir Park. Then I walked around it and back home.

Yes, my foot was really sore and when I got to the band shell which is probably the farthest thing from my house, I thought, I can't do this anymore. And then I thought, well, I can't crawl home so I have to keep walking. And I did.

I did the whole trip in 35 minutes which is really good considering my weight gain since I have been there last. I thought I'd be gasping for breath when I got there (the road is straight uphill) but I wasn't. I walked what I consider backwards so I would be walking down the tallest hill in the park. But other than that it was great.

Which is good because my BP was up at the doctor's. Not as up as it was at the new gynecologist but up.

But I had lost weight since I had been there and he was very encouraging that I could do this as I had done it in the past.

Go, me!!!

Life on the Beach!!!

2008-04-04T20:17:00.009-04:00

HooYa!! I am living life on the beach. South Beach, that is!! It's a long story.

I went to a new doctor. I became a patient of the Women's Center for Health and Wellness. I saw Rebecca Gatesman, CRNP. BUT... before she even got in the room, the nice girl took my blood pressure. And said, "Yowza!" Really, she did. I laughed. But my BP was roughly 170/100. Which is high. Very high. Now, I am going to say that I was extremely nervous. I was trembling all over. Which does push the mercury. But. That. Was. It.

It was like I faced the demon right there and said, enough is enough. I am 53 years old and I weigh 250 pounds. I have high blood pressure for which I take meds already and I have already had a cardiac stent implanted. So, I took off for the beach.

I took a short trip there in January of 2006 or 2007 but it didn't work out. I was frustrated by the job I had then and just was so unhappy that I overate. But this day in the doctor's office, it all gelled for me. From the fact that I have been taking lousy care of this body that God gave me, that I really needed to do something before God decided that if I was going to treat His gift to me so shabbily that He would recall it. Think about it.

And, since I am a really busy person, I needed something easy to stick with. So, it was the Beach! I had gotten a little magazine a few weeks earlier, Prevention Guide, The South Beach Diet 2-week Quick Start Plan. It's basically Phase 1 in a magazine. But it had some recipes I've tried before and some that looked really interesting. Like Oven Roasted Vegetables. Now, can I say Yowza? This recipe is delicious!! So, I'm going to do the food blog, diet blog thing and post the recipe. Complete with picture!!! Looks yummy, right?

Oven Roasted Vegetables (from the South Beach Diet 2-Week Quickstart Plan)

1 medium zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces

1 medium summer squash, cut into bite-size pieces

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces

1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces

1 lb. fresh asparagus, cut into bite-size pieces

1 medium red onion, sliced (actually, I just chunked mine up into, you guess it, bite-size pieces!)

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

(I chose to use Mrs. Dash's table blend, remember that blood pressure!)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (F). Place zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers, asparagus and onion in large roasting pan. Toss with oil, salt and pepper to mix and coat.

Spread in single layer in pan. Roast 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are lightly browned and tender.

Serves 4

How easy is that? I had it the first night with the first grilled chicken of the season. The second day I had leftovers for lunch. I made a fresh batch today and, it being Friday, I just added some 2% shredded mozzarella cheese and called it a meal. And, there's plenty left over for leftovers.

I have also started walking again and trying to work in the routine from my personal trainer. So, I am on my way with more optimism than I have felt in a while.

If you are familiar with the South Beach Diet you will know that the first part, Phase 1, is all lean protein and vegetables. And you can lose a lot of weight fast. Which gets you excited about being on the Plan and being successful. Then you taper it down to Phase 2 which is the rest of your weight loss experience. Then Phase 3 is maintenance. My motto now is Phase 3, here I come!! And, with these oven roasted veggies to help, I'm sure I'll be successful!!

5 Parables

2008-04-04T18:56:00.004-04:00

My good friend, Kimberlee, has tapped me for the famous 5 Parables Meme. Thanks for that. Really. However, she did tell me that I could wait until I recovered from Easter to do it. And, I'm feeling recovered enough now to put my mind to which of the parables are my five favorites.

So, #1, top of the heap, is the Persistent Widow. I just love this one. Can we picture the scene? The judge, who didn't care about anyone or anything, even God, on his throne, the little bent widow, who felt she had been wronged, coming in and giving him what for. Over, and over, and over again. Until he finally decided enough was enough and judged in her favor. Which is why I've been saying a prayer for my daughter's academic success over and over and over again.

Maybe the Lord needs to see how serious we are about something, how much we want it, before He grants our prayers. We are to pray always without becoming weary. And, if you read the end of the verse in the Bible, Jesus is talking about the future when He says, "But, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?" I believe this refers to the second coming and always try to keep in the front of my mind that I need to pray and be faithful because, should the Son of Man come during my tenure, I want him to find people of faith hanging around waiting in joyful hope for Him.

#2: The Nasty Tenants . There's this poor guy who works himself to the bone developing a piece of property - grapevines, wine press, even a tower, until he is prosperous. Then he decides to go on a trip so he has to has to have someone keep watch over his vineyard. He leases his vineyard to some tenants. I have to believe that this man was smart enough to check out their references. He thought they were good enough to let them work his property. So, the guy goes on his journey and the time comes for someone to collect the rent. The first guy gets beaten, the second guy gets beaten, so the owner sends his son. So, these fools think, hey, let's kill the son. The owner will be so depressed he'll stay away and the land will be ours by default. Were they nuts?

Now, maybe it's because I have always been a tenant that this parable impresses me. The relationship between owner and tenant is best if it is one of respect. Of course, the landowner is God, and the son is Jesus, and those who do not believe are the tenants. I always have felt that I needed to keep my rented property in good shape so the owner would keep renting to me. (Psychic hot-line note: I was the typical un-tidy teen so when I was getting married, my father said to me, you better learn to keep your apartment tidy or your landlord is going to throw you out on the street. Being the teen I was at the time I was married, I always wanted us to not have to move back home after being thrown out so therefore... yup, you got it). Anyway, as a tenant, I always think these guys give us a bad rap. So, again with the praying. There are times when I would like to be not such a good tenant but going back to that Second Coming, I want to be prepared. Which brings us to #3.

The Ten Virgins. These girls, all very nice I'm sure, are going out to greet the bridegroom who is coming to get married. So, they grab their lamps and go. Five of them were foolish and five of them were wise. Meaning they brought extra oil for their lamps. So, when the guy finally shows up, the five foolish girls are out of oil and ask the five wise girls to give them some. Which they don't do because they don't know if they'll have enough to get the bridegroom to the wedding. (Can I digress here and say, you have to love a culture that let's the women bring the guy to the wedding?) There was a time when I thought the five wise virgins should have shared their oil. But now, I get it. At least I think I do. The lamps are our souls. We can't make anyone else a better, more faithful person. We can only look out for ourselves. We can pray like all-get-out for the other folks in our lives, but ultimately, they're on their own. We all need to be sure that we are, each one of us, ready for the Bridegroom when He comes.

Whew! Getting to #4!! The parable of the two sons. This one is for Caroline. A man has two sons. He goes to the first one and asks him to go work in the vineyard. The son tells his dad no, but then goes and works anyway. The second son, say, sure, Dad, I'll be happy to. And then goes on reading his papyrus roll and munching on dates. Or something like that. First, this parable always makes Caroline and I laugh. She always, always, always, when I ask her to do something, smiles sweetly at me and says, no. Even as she is turning to do it. She has done this since she was tiny. I prefer to think that she just likes to make believe that it was her idea to do whatever it is that I have asked her to do. I mean, she does lots work around the house, she always kept her room neat and tidy, and she always did the laundry during the summers. She just always says no. And, maybe that's sort of how we are with God. We have things we have to do. And, let's be honest, there are times when we don't really feel much like doing them. So we say no. But, then like all good children we realize what would happen if we really made our Parent angry and we get to gettin'!

For #5, I'm going to break the rules. No shock there for me!! I'm not going to name a parable, I'm going to tell you my favorite verse in the Bible. When Jesus is in the garden praying before he is captured, He asks God, "Is there someway around my having to do this?" Now, He knows that God is all-powerful and can do whatever He feels like, so, He asks Him. But then, he says, "Not my will but yours be done." In other words, "I'll stick with the plan if You think that's best." And he does. As a human, he must have known the horrible pain he was going to suffer. He was a carpenter. He must have smashed his thumb at least once. He could only imagine what He was going to suffer on our behalf. But He did it. For us. And, that's what keeps me going day after day, when I think that things can't get any worse, I know that God has a plan and that I am part of that plan and I just have to keep that faith and I'll be fine.

Because we are promised that God knows our names and the number of hairs on our heads. Now, I have really thick hair and if God knows that much about me, then he knows everything else too and that's when I just lay myself in His hands and let him hold me. Because He knows what I need.

The end. Amen. Alleluia!!

He is (almost) Risen!!

2008-03-22T16:40:00.007-04:00

Today went better than I had hoped. We were actually done decorating at 11:35 AM. I had wanted to be done by Noon. Praise God!! When Fr. Dan came out of the confessional, he was just sorta looking around and I went over to him and said that the goal was that we were in a garden meeting the Resurrected Lord in the middle. So, there are two large "natural" garden areas on each side of the Sanctuary and the Sanctuary itself, the Risen Lord, is very formal. He did not change a thing. I can't wait for tonight!!!

One side of the "garden"...

The other side:
Close up of the fountain beside the baptismal font. My mother said, "That looks like its outside somewhere!"

The Risen Lord!!

Holy Week

2008-03-21T20:50:00.013-04:00

One of the things I do that brings me the most joy is being on the decorating committee of my parish church. It's especially interesting now that I am also the parish secretary. But I still love the planning that goes into the decorations that will help set the mood of these most solemn, holy liturgies. Some of the tiniest details are discussed and discussed again, thrown out and then reconsidered. And, don't even start about the flowers!! How many, which color, where should they be?

Here are some of my Holy Week memories:

Tennebrae, the Service of light and darkness..

(thanks, Kimberlee)

Holy Thursday flowers...

The Altar of Repose on Good Friday morning before being dismantled. It's a garden setting because we can take time and wait with Jesus as He prays in the garden.

Behind the scenes Good Friday Morning...

Fr. Dan stacking chair to be used for Easter Vigil Mass.

My good friend Peggy spends time making the posies prettier...

Good Friday. But about 10 AM. After getting it all figured out we took a picture for posterity. After we venerate the crucifix, Fr. Dan will turn around and place it on the red cloth so we can continue to meditate on it as we receive Holy Communion.

And, it's not over yet!! Tomorrow is Holy Saturday. A good time will be had by all who gather to decorate!!

Sheesh!

2008-02-16T10:33:00.004-05:00

I can't believe how long its been since I posted! I am proud to say that I am actually down 2 pounds since Ash Wednesday. How's that for a Lenten Fast??

So, Rob and I had a huge fight last night and ever since then I have had the worst pain in my gut. Sorta makes me nervous but I'm trying not to make too much of it. After all, I have been on antibiotics for two weeks, and showing little sign of improvement, so that could be part of it. And maybe its my guardian angel pushing on my stomach to make me want to eat less!

So, I have another sinus infection. Which explains the antibiotics. I now have to go for x-rays of my head. Yeah, me! Mostly it means that I feel like crap.

I did find out that I know someone who is a personal trainer and I signed up for sessions with her!! My first one is Wednesday night and, since her studio is a block from work, I'm going to get the added benefit of walking to the studio and back! She teaches yoga (OK, folks, $10 a session!!) and weight/aerobic training. At first, we are going to do one session a week and I'll work out at home since I have all the equipment. If that doesn't work out, then I will start working out at ther studio. But I feel very empowered by the whole thing! It was so frustrating when I started back on the treadmill in January to have my knee act up enough that I had to stop. So, we are going to start with yoga for strength and flexibility and I'm not sure what else.

I would put a before picture up, but I think I will put this picture up from my favorite website. Can you believe some guy actually proposed using the site on St. Valentine's day? How cute is that? Anyway, I'm hoping that I can make the picture work right!

Yup, there it is! That kitty is so much cuter than me!!

So-So 4 lbs

2008-01-19T22:08:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm not doing so bad. I've actually lost some weight. My knee is swollen like a soft ball so I'm not hitting the treadmill right now, but I'm hoping to get that straightened out and be back on track, so to speak. Rob needs to get back to swimming so I'm going to force him to wait until I get off work so we can go together. Or else!

Our mentor couple is coming tomorrow so I'm making a Cooking Light breakfast casserole It sounds yummy. The only reviewer raved about it in her review but only gave it 4 stars. If it turns out a winner I'll review it and bounce it up a star. It sounds great! I'm not doing the orange flavoring tho, and I bought vanilla cool whip for on top. Yummy!!!

Then I have off for Martin Luthur King's Bday so I get to spend the day doing nothing! Can't beat that! However, I have to get my car to the shop so they can figure out why it's stalling after I spent almost five hundred dollars getting it inspected. Sheesh!

But, all in all, I think it will be fun to have a day off even if it means that I have to do 5 days worth of work in 4. And, God bless Paul, who needs to have surgery to get his heart zapper fixed. So I will also be doing the bulletin. Yea!!

Well, I'm feeling snack-ish so I am going to go indulge in one of my 100-calorie somethings!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-05T11:10:00.000-05:00

Goodness, I love this site!!

This is also my new mantra! Death by cardiac arrest? You missed! Inability to move due to arthritis? You missed! I got back on my treadmill this morning. I almost, well I did sorta, cried. Standing on that platform felt so good. I walked for 20 minutes and worked up a sweat. I also plan to hit the Friendship Center for physical activity, like swimming, but I think I am going back to my first love. Walking twice a day on the treadmill. AND, I finally found a pair of walking shoes that I think are not going to aggravate the tendon issue in my foot. Thank you, Easy Spirit!

Anyway, that's it for now. Gotta run and get my nails done!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-30T09:46:00.000-05:00

OK, I have an addiction. I love icanhascheezburger.com. And, you will too. Check out my little blogger kitty over on the left!!

Other than that, I am typing on my new laptop. Yes, Santa was berry, berry good to me! This will lead to a whole organizational revolution in my life and you will begin to hear lots more from me. No longer do I have to brave the bowels of the basement in order to post something on my blog. Now, I can just go right down the hall to my own little retreat room and type away.

Ri-iigt!! Well, we'll see.

So Good

2007-11-24T09:40:00.000-05:00

OK, I don't get around to blogging all that much. But, I'm busy! I'm part of that wonderful phenomenon, The Sandwich Generation. You know, the older Mom and the not-quite-out-of-the-nest child. There is 32 years between my Mom and I and 32 years between my daughter and I. How's that for being a sandwich. And they're both named Caroline!! So, I'm the filling in a Caroline sandwich!

We had a great Thanksgiving. It always turns out to be the best Thanksgiving ever. Why is that? I really need to get a camera though. Others took pictures and I have to wait for them to email me so I can post them! Oh, and Caroline took the cutest picture of Bella Thanksgiving night. She was curled on her bed in front of the fireplace with her banky bunched under her head. What a sweetie pie she is! My mother in law couldn't get over the fact that during dinner the table was awash in turkey carcass but my very large wonderful collie didn't touch it. She's a good baby. I wish Caroline would have been so easy to train!!

Today, Caroline and I are going to the mall to get her hair cut and maybe do some shopping! A teeny bit. Just ideas for Christmas... Ummm... Sure......

Of Mysteries and Miracles

2007-11-08T08:17:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that I added a page element. It is a list of meditations on the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. Sr. Janet is an English Franciscan nun and I really do invite you to read these told-in-the-first-person reflections on the Rosary.

Yesterday we visited the harbor at Soufriere (Sue-free-ay). We had seen the harbor in a picture in one of the dive magazines. Now we have our own!

Why yes, that is a very old church. How clever of you to notice! It is the one of the things that made me really want to go on this trip. To see that church. And I did!!

It was really gorgeous inside. I love going to far off places and finding Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament at home in a tabernacle. It brings to mind that quote from someone I should probably know, "...in all the tabernacles in all the world." It's about honoring the name of Jesus.

Inside the Church it was rather well worn but I kept thinking of all the people who had worshiped here and sung hymns, been married and been buried. There is a definite shrine to St. Bernadette here but I couldn't find the name of the Church anywhere. I would have loved to find someone who could have told me a little about this Church but there was no one around except the chickens and they weren't talking!

And, finally, just as I was leaving I looked up and saw these statues, so I immediately stopped and said a quick prayer for my friend Mary. Love you, Honey!!

Thank you, John!

2007-11-06T15:27:00.000-05:00

The good thing about going on vacation with a bunch of people you know is that sometimes they don't bring their own computers along and need somewhere to offload their pictures. John, and his wife, Anne, are with us and he's taken bunches of pictures already. Enough that he needed to free up some space on his camera's memory stick. So, he's storing them on our laptop. Hmmm, I wonder if Rob told him that I am the ultimate picture thief...

Rob and I the night we arrived. All the beer...

Dominican coastline.

Rob underwater. Hey, I could have said, in the tub!

Gee, I wonder who else needs some free space on their memory cards???

A word about home...

2007-11-06T11:56:00.001-05:00

I never posted about Caroline's birthday, mainly because I didn't have any pictures. And, I was very busy getting ready to come to Domenica. So, since she just sent me some pictures, here we go. Caroline turned 21 on October 24th. She, despite her faults, is the 2nd best thing that ever happened to me. Yes, Rob is the first, and without him, I wouldn't have her so there ya go.

Anyway, we are very proud of our baby and how she got to be 21 is anyone's guess. It really was just yesterday that she was given to us and drinking out of a bottle. Now, that she's 21, she seems to be drinking out of another kind of bottle. Ah, youth!!

Caroline and Emily have always been very close. They call each other the Godsisters. It comes from Rob being Emily's mom Jane's Godfather. I am Jane's confirmation sponsor. Jane is Caroline's Godmother and Confirmation sponsor. I am also Emily's Godmother. Anyway, as you can see, they are very close and love each other bunches!

Then, we have the gratuitous picture of Caroline and Rich. He's a very nice guy that she's been dating for several years. I see from this picture that she is getting comfortable with their height distance and not trying to jump up to his height.

I love you, Peep!!! Happy 21st and many, many more!!

My Mon

2007-11-06T10:22:00.000-05:00

A great time above or below the water!

Dominica

2007-11-06T07:50:00.000-05:00

Dominica (pronounced Dom-in-eek-a) sits midway along the Eastern Caribbean archipelago, just a few miles from Martinique to the south and Guadeloupe to the north. Its location is 15 degrees North latitude and 61 degrees West longitude.

The island's official name is the Commonwealth of Dominica,which is mostly referenced in official communiqué and to distinguish the island from its northerly Caribbean sister, the Dominican Republic. The indigenous Carib Indians named the island Waitukubuli which means "tall is her body" in the carib language.

The island is sparsely populated with around 70,000 people inhabiting its 289.5 square miles. A significant portion of the population lives in and around the capital city, Roseau. Dominica is an arcadia of unspoiled nature. Tropical forest coats two thirds of the island, which nourishes 1,200 plant species. Rivers, lakes, streams, and waterfalls abound, fed by the islands high annual rainfall. Its volcanic physique points to extensive geothermal activity above and below sea level.

Got that? There will be a quiz later. The whole "tall is her body thing" is explained by the two huge mountain peaks in the center of the island. Think about it. We are about 5 minutes from Roseau by car.

As I said, when we arrived, it was Dominican Independence Weekend. Twenty nine years ago the British turned over the rule of the island to the Dominicans. It's a really big deal to these people. Even the staff of the restaurant attached to the hotel was represented in the parade in Roseau. They carried a large basked filled with the fruits of the island and decorated with bows made out of the Dominican plaid. It has been sitting proudly in the dining room all weekend. When you talk to them about it, they smile so proudly. It makes me think of what the US must have been like in the late 1790s.

There is the whole Caribbean "Mon" thing going on at the same time, so they do know how to party. Sunday night the local club was jah-min' until 4:30. Thanks again, Sue and Jeff, for that ipod. Put in the earpieces and turn up the volume and fall asleep.

Of course, I am in a resort being catered to by folks who are looking to be tipped at the end of my stay which may be why they are all very friendly. But this AM I chose to work on the computer in the dining room (a real keyboard, yea!!!) and they are having a blast in the kitchen. Of course, they are probably laughing about the Americans, but they do seem to be concerned to limit they don't have to go to.

There have been several instances where I have been approached with concern for my likes or dislikes when it was totally unnecessary. Like the guy who is what appears to be the somellier. I passed him on the road Sunday AM on my aborted attempt to get to church. Remember, we had just gotten in Saturday night. He stopped and apologized that he couldn't give me a free bus pass from the hotel because of the holiday. How did he even remember me? I don't even remember seeing him, but then there was all that beer... and rum punch... The gardener stopped this AM to ask after my cut leg (don't ask) and on the whale watching expedition the one receptionist who was on board, Amy, handed me my first rum punch of the day saying she remembered how much I liked it. (Yup, it's good stuff) She also mentioned they didn't have the fresh nutmeg to grate on top of it. I do remember seeing her but she caught that out of the whole crowd of us?

Except for the lady who won't bring Jeff any more bread... But every trip needs something to take back home and to remember with laughter, and I'm pretty sure that Jeff will never be able to eat anywhere, with anyone, in this group again without having a bread issue chuckle. So, even that lady has served her purpose if not Jeff...

Welcome to Dominica!

2007-11-05T07:06:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted, but starting a new job at 53 is not as easy as I thought it would be. I finally think I am catching on and then someone says, "Do you know you have to do....?" And, then I have to say, "Why, no, I don't know that." But all is good.

When I was interviewed for the job, I told them that we had planned a trip and that I would need vacation after two months on the job. They agreed and here we are! We is not only Rob and I but a group of fun folks from Divers Descent Scuba in Hersey.

We left Harrisburg Friday night and stayed in Philadelphia at an airport hotel in order to leave early Saturday AM for Dominica in the Eastern Caribbean. We arrived in Dominica and the first thing we did was buy the airport out of beer. All the beer...The local beer is Kubuli and it goes down very smooth! The ride from the airport to our hotel was only 35 miles but it took almost two hours. Not due to traffic but to the mountain range that runs the length of the island. Which we had to drive over. Necessitating another stop for beer along the way. All the beer... There is basically a one lane road that runs over the mountain and vehicles coming against you are subject to a Dominican game of "chicken" to see which one will pull over to allow the other the right of way. Good thing we had all the beer to dull the senses. We thought it was hilarious! Along the drive we saw the valley were they shot most of Jurrasic Park and the cove where they shot most of Pirates of the Carribean. Hello, could we just see Johnny Depp????

When we arrived at our hotel, the first thing they did was give us complementary rum punch. After all the beer... This was not your usual sickening sweet rum punch. It is reminescent of pumpking pie in flavor. They even grate nutmeg over the top. Fresh, local nutmeg. Let's just say, yum. After all the beer...

We arrived on Dominican Independence Weekend and all the women have been wearing the traditional Domenican plaid. A lively combination of red, orange, yellow, green, purple... all the colors of the rainbows always seen somewhere over the island.

Yesterday was Sunday and I had checked out where the local church was and what time the Mass was. Unfortunately, the staff had the Mass times wrong so I walked the whole way into town to find the Church doors locked. An odd feeling for me who usually has 24/7 access. Today is the actual independence day so I can't call the church office until tomorrow to find out if there is daily Mass and when it is. Sigh! And I just went to confession before I left!!

I am trying to give more time to religion while I am hanging around doing nothing so I did investigate some websites last night. Only to find out that Fr. Kevin is in the Saint Augustine province of Capuchins. St. Augustine, whose mother, Saint Monica, is running around heaven with her hands over her ears, yelling at God, make her stop, make her stop! I have been praying to Saint Monica to intercede on Caroline's behalf for years now!! Go figure!

This is an after breakfast post so I am not thinking as clearly (all the beer..)as I could be(and rum punch), so I will save the tale of our whale watching trip until later.

It's My Birthday!

2007-09-16T18:48:00.000-04:00

I turned 53 today. Who knew? I remember when 53 seemed to be the age of a really old person. My mother wasn't even 53 when I got married!! When she was 53, she was older. Hmmmm....

Nope, I don't feel any older. I think it has something to do with being with the same man since I was 19. All the years blur and I can't imagine that much time has passed. But it has, and I am happy to have lived it all.

I don't think I look my age, but I could stand to lose weight and get back to getting into some sort of shape. But that's starting slowly now that my stress level has gone down.

I am happy and hope that God grants me more years of happiness!!

New Job Benefits

2007-09-09T21:14:00.000-04:00

Well, I have survived two weeks in my new position as Secretary at St. Margaret Mary Parish. And the good news is..... I lost 5 pounds!!!! Who knew? Well, actually I was hoping that would happen. No more frustration eating going on here! I eat a Baker's Breakfast Cookie in the morning for breakfast. When I come home for lunch, I eat a sandwich made with low sodium cold cuts, some crunchies, a 100 calorie pack of pringles and a banana. Just because I love bananas!! Caroline's pediatrician called them the "everything" fruit. No matter what you needed, bananas did it for you. OK, back to me. Then I eat a good dinner. I even went out and bought a raft-load of Dreamfield's pasta. It is very good. The only thing I'm down on is dairy and I even that out by eating fat free ice cream. I'm just hoping this effect last. But you have no idea how wonderful it is to love going to work in the morning. I still haven't got everything settled in my mind yet, but I am getting there. Now, I know that I really need to prioritize. There are somethings that must get done every day and somethings that if they don't get done every day, you can catch up in a slow time later in the week. I think I am getting the hang of it tho.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehan, Adieu!!

2007-08-26T09:55:00.000-04:00

So, quoting the famous movie Sound of Music, I bid goodbye to a seven year career at the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. At times it was great, at times it was fun, and even at times it was great fun. But it is now over!

Of course, I cried myself silly the entire week. Which doesn't mean to say that I was sad, I just cry really easy. Some call it the gift of tears. Me, I call it a pain in the midway point between my neck and my knees.

So tomorrow I start the new job at St. Margaret Mary. I am really happy to be going to work there. Yesterday after Mass, Father Dan asked if it was really going to happen on Monday and I said yes and asked him which one of us should worry more. He pointed to his own chest as I laughed and agreed.

Now, let's switch subjects and let me tell you something I read on Half of Me the benevolent regime of the Pasta Queen. As I went about my business this week of going out to lunch every single day, I kept saying, next week it will all be different. No stress (HAHAHAHAHAHA), a planned breakfast and going home for lunch where I can plan what I eat, I came across this quote. I think I'm going to print it out and put it on my bathroom mirror:

I'm always looking out for Future Me, and I hope that bitch is grateful for it.

That about says it all.

Monday!!

2007-08-20T09:45:00.000-04:00

OK, today is the first day of my last week here at this job. I have very mixed feelings but in general I am extremely grateful to have found my new job which I start next Monday!

In fact, I stopped at the new job this AM on the way to this job and one of the people there happily said, Are you starting today? Now, that made me feel good that people are really looking forward to my working there.

Me, as I said, I have mixed feelings.

Also, I have mixed feelings this AM about my weight. I know that I am an emotional eater. And, the emotions have been running really high lately. I am worried that I am putting all my eggs in the "I will be able to stop overeating when I start the new job because there will be no spawn of the devil that I have to deal with" basket.

That's not to say that I am only taking the new job for that reason. This has been my dream job for a lot of years. I applied another time back in the 90s but for a mix-up in communication, I didn't get the job. Which, actually worked out because the pastor at the time and I would have killed each other.

Of course, back then, the pay wasn't great and now its better. Very good in fact. Excellent, even. And, it's really true what they say about bread cast upon the water, and what goes around comes around, etc. I have been a serious volunteer at the parish for many years. I have donated thousands (no, I don't think I am exaggerating) of hours and, having realized that I am organized and capable, I was offered the job.

So, while I have enjoyed many aspects of this job, and I will probably cry my eyes out this week, I really, really am thrilled to be moving on to my new job. And hopefully, weighing less as I go about my business!!

I do have to say that I did go to the Friendship Center several times last week. I think three times all together. And, I plan to go tonight. I have to see how this goes with Rob waiting for dinner until I am back from exercising to eat. I have a feeling that's not going to work. Also, I now realize that I forgot to get something out for dinner. Sigh..... thank goodness that I have tomato sauce in the freezer!!

Yea!!!! We did it!!!!

2007-08-07T13:24:00.000-04:00

OK, I am so happy to announce that we finally did it. I have wanted to do it for about a year, but we didn't think we could. But we did. I am so excited!!

We joined The Friendship Center!!

What were you thinking?

And, speaking of Caroline...

2007-08-06T13:39:00.000-04:00

Check out this girl's shoes! My baby asked for a pair of red high heels. First pair of grown up shoes that she's ever had. Sniffle! My baby is growing up!!

How I feel about leaving this job...

2007-08-06T13:26:00.000-04:00

I just always picture gospel choirs shouting out "Alleluia!" And that about says it for me. I cannot wait to start my new job at St. Margaret Mary Parish. I have to wait until the 27th of this month tho. Today I talked to the parish Business Manager and he (again) told me how happy he was that I would be joining the staff. I told him (again) that I wanted him to tell me that after my first really big screw up!!

Yesterday, we celebrated Rob's birthday. Golly, I love that guy. We had a fantastic dinner thanks to a bunch of great stuff being on sale at Sam's Club. I found that I was able to eat half of things and that was fine. Caroline is the one that told me about it She eats half of everything. I've even seen her cut a McDonald's double cheeseburger in half and just eat one half. So, I decided to try it last night. I cut a steak in half and only took a half. Same for the bread slice. Caroline and I shared. The only other thing I ate during the meal was shrimp, salad and grilled asparagus so I ate all I wanted of the veggies I wanted and about 5 shrimp. But, when it came to pineapple upside down cake, there was no halving anything. For both Caroline and myself.

Today I brought left over salad and shrimp for lunch with yogurt for dessert. Add in a slice of bread and I was a happy camper. Tonight we are going to take some cake over to my mom after we join the Friendship Center. Yup. We are going to spend hundreds of dollars in an effort to get fit. But I'm happy. Talk about pure motivation. I can't waste that much money! And, they have all kinds of fitness equipment. Even just walking around on Saturday, shopping for Rob's presents had my foot throwing a fit yesterday and today. I think I'm going to be a real big fan of the recumbent bikes!!

OK, lunch is over. I gotta go!

Happy Birthday, Honey!!

2007-08-05T14:56:00.000-04:00

My High School Sweetheart
Daddy and Caroline

Robbie,

For all the life, that added all those lines...

36 years and counting!

I Love You!!

Motivation!!!

2007-08-02T11:35:00.000-04:00

Motivation comes in all forms. One that works for me is pictures of myself. Mostly because I avoid looking in the mirror except for putting on my make-up. And, that's a very small mirror...

Last Saturday, I was at a baby shower for my best friend Mary Lou's daughter. This is a picture from the shower. I was trying to be funny and cross my eyes. That my have been cute when I was younger and thinner, but now it just makes me look stupid!

The timing of my trying to get serious about losing weight and this picture arriving in my email is just to good to be coincidental. It's Thursday and I'm starting to waiver and... Yikes!! Is that really the me that I want to be?

Well, I'm fine with my personality, I just don't want to look like that any longer!

Thanks, Millie!!

One More Time!

2007-07-30T09:22:00.001-04:00

OK, its Monday. And, I am really going to give this the another try. I am almost as heavy as when I was the heaviest. Did that make sense?

Anyway, I woke up this AM, got on the treadmill, and managed to get to work on time. I told them that I was practicing for the new job. What a way to rub it in right?

Today I am taking Sr. Clare out to lunch for her birthday. We'll probably go to Sammy's which is her favorite place. I don't think I'll do the buffet but I really like their tuna melts. The eggplant rollatini is excellent also.

Tonight Caroline will be home as she stops by on her way from Rich's. I can't wait to see her and give her a big ol' Mommy hug!!!!

Meez Got the JOB!!!

2007-07-14T09:37:00.000-04:00

Meez is dancing on air, as you can see, because I got my dream job!!! I don't start until the end of August, but just knowing that its out there makes every day just a little easier. My current job knows I'm leaving so I feel great posting this!! I am so remembering a line from that old song, "Signs" - “Thank you, Lord, for thinkin’ about me, I’m alive and doin’ fine!"

I'm really into Meez crocs!!!

2007-07-11T19:25:00.001-04:00

This is so much fun! I love the fact that I can put pink crocs on my meez!! 'Cause you know I have pair... with jibbits of course! I only have one jibbit tho.

I really bought the crocs for the Church festival. I always ruin my good sneakers by dumping cheese sauce or ketchup on them. HA! Gotta it taken care of this year! I'm just praying they don't melt if I dump cheese sauce on them.

Oh, yeah, I got a pair of flip flops too. But I'm not wearing those to the festival.

Alice!!

2007-07-05T15:05:00.000-04:00

I've been doing so well on my diet this week!

Until today.

And Alice.

I told her she is the devil!! Don't get me wrong. I love Alice. She makes life around this office bearable. She is hysterically funny and her family is more dysfunctional than mine!! Which is saying something! Alice took a walk today during her lunch hour. And she came back with a cannoli and a frappachino for us!!! So, we spent a great time, slurping down our frozen confection and trying to make the cannolies last forever.

Oh, well, that's why WW gives you bonus points!!!

Another Hot Flash for Meez!!!

2007-07-02T16:35:00.000-04:00

I really wish I was this skinny!!! But I couldn't find a place to plump her up!! Thanks, Kimberlee! This was lots of fun!!

Homework's done!!

2007-06-29T14:57:00.000-04:00

My friend Danielle, over at Danielle Daily, is working on a new project and I volunteered to help by supplying my opinions. It's something I love doing anyway!! Today, I, and a lot of others, got an email from Danielle with several questions that she wanted us to answer. As this is a Friday before a "holiday weekend" and I lived through a PCHA Board meeting and a Social Concerns Department meeting this week, I am taking it pretty easy today at work. Also, both my bosses are off so there's no one who will need anything today. Anyway, I took the time today to answer Danielle's questions and they really made me think a lot about being a mom. Here is a taste of what I sent to her.

I remember once when I was visiting my sister, her son was about 5 or 6 and he was telling Caroline, who was in high school, that he couldn't do something on the computer. My sister and I, supposedly busy in the kitchen, both ended up teary-eyed after Caroline, putting her hand gently on his head, said to him, “Of course you can, Buddy. Let’s give it one more try.” And then she took him over, and helped him with it. Actually, I looked at my sister, and whispered, “Where did that come from?” And, smiling back at me, she said, “You raised her. It came from you.”

That was when I learned what I had contributed to my child as her mom. When I see her now, loving, happy, successful in school, living on her own, I see my own worth. When she calls, crying and laughing at the same time because a big bug is crawling over her kitchen floor and she needs me to talk her down from the ceiling and into dealing with it, I feel my own worth.

However, life has not always been simple. The year she was in 7th grade and the first year of college were a disaster!! I started going to daily Mass to pray for Caroline and, one day, I was sitting in Church after Mass, it popped into my mind that if anyone knew about the pains of motherhood, it was St. Monica. I have prayed St. Monica’s ears off for this child and she came through every time. I think if you always remember that God comes first and raise your children that way, then no matter what, they turn out great.

I posted this because it really is how I feel about motherhood and it's always good for my loyal readers to learn more about me!! When your children are little and you're all tired and cranky, it seems like motherhood is this all consuming ordeal that you will never get ahead of. But you do. Day by day, year by year, you mother and your children grow. If you do your job, they grow up and away. Independent, on their own. Still yours, but in an entirely
different way. One that still consumes your love, but you are able trust them to make decisions as they go about their way in the world.

I have stopped Mothers in stores who are frustrated and yelling at their crying children by gently saying, You know, you might not believe me now, but someday you will miss this so much you will wish for just this moment back." They look at me disbelievingly until they see the tears in my eyes.

Blech!!

2007-06-25T13:46:00.000-04:00

I have another sinus infection. I feel awful!! I was at the Doctor's this morning and got another prescription for antibiotics. I stopped at home and left it with Rob so he would take it in and get it filled for me. I feel like my head is a melon and I just wish I could split it open and scoop out all the er... junk. Yes, for those of my many (teehee) readers, I have a deviated septum which is most likely the culprit BUT I'M NOT GETTING IT FIXED!! So there. Our ED just had his fixed and now he's worse off than he was before. And he's not the only one I know that felt worse after the surgery. As long as my doc is happy to keep writing for the Zpacs, I'll keep taking them.

In the meantime, just be glad you don't have to hear me blow my nose!!!

Gratutitously Beautiful Picture of Gina

2007-06-21T12:45:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to share the beauty with the world. Was there ever a cuter ballerina since Caroline stopped taking ballet lessons??

Hey, she's my niece, Goddaughter and namesake!!

To Each His Own

2007-06-21T12:18:00.000-04:00

Well, it was Father's Day this past Sunday. Since Rob is an avid diver, we headed en famille to Dutch Springs along with some of his friends from the dive shop. Rob had a great time. But, here's the thing. He was under the water most of the time. He did surface for lunch between dives.

I, however, had an excellent day on the surface with Caroline, the daughter who is now living away from home and came to see him for Father's Day. We rented a paddle boat which was so much fun as to be unbelievable. And we went into the water for a bit. Which was so cold as to be unbelievable. And we talked and talked and talked while we were getting crispy tans despite the amount of lotion we applied. All this was interupted by bathroom runs. Hey, they were air conditioned!!

I will say that they spent the day together on Monday. At one point, Caroline called me and after asking her question, she happily stated, Hey, Daddy and I are bonding!!

It's a parenthood perk when, while you are still praying for your child to follow the right course, you get to enjoy so much the person they have become. Although, when she falls asleep in the back seat, (yes, she is wearing a lapbelt), she still looks like my baby...

Not So Much

2007-06-13T13:40:00.000-04:00

OK, I haven't been really good about posting lately. I know that. But, I really don't think anyone is reading this blog but me, so that's probably not a problem.

However, I have to say that I have been on thyroid medication for about a month now, and I really feel that it's making a difference. I don't feel that I want to jump out of bed and go running through my day, but I do feel that I am more focused and able to accomplish more in my day than before. There's not so much mental moaning about how tired I am, or how busy I am, I just seem to be able to get the stuff done that I need to do during the day. Which is excellent. I hadn't really noticed anything until last week (they say it can take 4 to 6 weeks for you to notice any effect) and then I stopped a minute and said, Hey...

But that's all for now. Maybe more news later!!

Surprise!!

2007-05-30T14:50:00.000-04:00

What it the best part about your child living out of town? When she surprises you and comes for an unplanned visit. Just because she loves you and wants a hug. Ummm.... yeah. Why am I seeing dollar signs shimmering in the air??

But maybe I am wrong. She has been concerned about her grandmother and, thankfully, we are very close, so maybe she just really needed to be home for a bit. I'm just happy she's here!! No matter why.

In case you missed me

2007-05-24T09:28:00.000-04:00

Well, here I am! It's been quite a couple of weeks. On Sunday, May 6, I was already to enjoy a day of total relaxation. My husband was working daylight so it was just going to be Bella and Mommie enjoying the day. Then at 10:30 AM my brother called. My mother had fallen.

My mother is 84 and lives independently. She does use a walker since her hip replacement surgery two years ago, but other than that, she does pretty good. She is pretty spoiled by us as we worked out a plan after my dad died 14 years ago to have dinner with her every night so she wouldn't be alone. Then it got to be, "Oh, why can't you have dinner with me" when the occassional thing would come up. I will say, that since one of my nights was Saturday, I have actually sacrificed a lot of socializing in order to be with my mom. But, hey, she's not going to live forever so I did it.

Now, as I rushed to her apartment, I wondered what we would be facing now. Mom had so severely fractured her femur that she lost several inches of it. The doctors were able to plate and screw some of it together but some of the pieces were so small that they just had to remove them. She can not weight-bear for 8 weeks. Which meant finding a skilled nursing facility. RIGHT NOW!! It meant dealing with a less than professional social worker in the hospital.

But, after a very sincere pray for God's gracious help, I was able to get her placed in the facility that was our first choice. She is there, but is, of course, hating it. She ate in the dining room for the first time yesterday, and was screaming at me last night because "all those people drool in their food!" But, I know there is a separate dining room for the droolers. Unless, of course, they did put her in the droolers dining room by mistake, which actually would be incredibly funny in my eyes. I was tempted to tell her that it was no fun visiting someone who yelled at them and if she wanted me to keep visiting she should consider being a little nicer.

Of course, this facility is fantastic. The Jewish Home of Greater Harrisburg has been wonderful. We know several people who have been there for rehab and have nothing but praise for the facility and the staff. Don't tell my mom, she hates it there and thinks everyone is terrible. Sigh!
But, hey, she's well taken care of, well fed, and she has more visitors than she lets me know. But since I am in contact with our Church staff and the facility staff, I know she is enjoying herself. Even as she beats me up. But I am used to it after my childhood. I actually can just let it go now. Also, there is the Residence which is behind the nursing home. They have apartments there that we are trying to convince her to move into. But she is totally resistant to the idea. Which makes us crazy, because the place is fantastic!!!!!!!

So, that is were I've been. Dealing with all that. But now I am ready to get back to real life. My life. So, there you have it. My latest little journey. Stay tuned for more.

It's ABCs Fault!

2007-05-03T20:37:00.000-04:00

OK, I had a miserable day yesterday. On several levels but the most important one was the candy I bought and ate. One thing I have figured out is that I need sleep. I am not the night owl I once was. However, ABC moved my favorite show from a very respectable 9:00 PM to 10:00!! What am I supposed to do??

One very bad habit I have that I really need to break is that I eat for many reasons other than hunger. I literally sometimes eat to keep myself awake. Which is what I did last night. We had to make a Wal-mart run (hey, I buy water there, it's cheap!!) and a bag of mega M&Ms jumped off the shelf and attached itself to my hand. And, while trying to keep myself awake in order to watch Lost, I ate way too many of them.

Please do not ask what I am doing while typing this. I will be forced to admit that I am downing some M&Ms on the side. Well, Grey's Anatomy is a two hour season ender tonight!!

For someone who is usually asleep by 10, that's a problem!! And, its all ABCs fault!!!

Weekly Weigh In

2007-05-01T11:11:00.000-04:00

OK, so between Dancing with the Stars and 24, I never got to post yesterday. So here goes:

The first week I lost 3 pounds!!

You have to love that honeymoon phase of a diet. Of course, I know its water. But I don't care!!

It's 3 pounds less I have to lose. And that makes me happy. After the walk in the Park on Saturday, I took Sunday off. I don't exercise on Sunday. In fact, I try not to do much on Sunday (Hello, day of rest!!) besides going to Church, reading, relaxing and cooking a simple meal.

OK, by simple meal, I usually mean having Rob grill something this time of year. During the winter I might make a big batch of soup or sauce. Which, is pretty simple once you get through all the chopping and dicing at the beginning. And, if you are really organized and do all that on Saturday, you're pretty much home free on Sunday.

So, today I went to the doctor and he decided to test my throid levels. I just can't imagine that being the problem, but I meet a lot of the criteria for hypothroidism. I can picture myself on medicine and hopping out of bed at first light and going all day long without feeling like a slug. OK, I'll wait for that to happen. But, I'm not holding my breath.

"My Reservoir Park"

2007-04-28T10:08:00.000-04:00

Last spring and early summer, before I injured my ankle which led to my slide down the slippery slope of lack of exercise leading to weight gain, I used to take the dog for walks in Reservoir Park. When we started she was only 6 months old and at first it was a challenge getting her to walk nicely while tethered to me by her leash. She is border trained so she is used to running freely in our yard. But she is a very intelligent animal so she learned quickly. She is also a very beautiful animal so the few people that saw her in her gorgeous puppiness would make a real fuss over her.

Now that I've started using the treadmill again, every time I use the word "walk" the poor dog gets excited. As I stated earlier in this blog, I hadn't felt ready to tackle the long and steep incline to get from my house to the park, so I did take her around the block which was positively not what she had in mind.

Today, when I got home from Church I knew that I needed to get on the treadmill to make up for my lack of exercise yesterday. It's a mild day today with some weak sun so as I walked from the van to the house, I looked up towards the Park and decided, today is the day. I came in the house long enough to leash the dog and off we went.

At first she couldn't quite understand my slower pace, but she soon got the hang of it. After we had reached the park, and the level road, we matched our pace to something like what we had been able to achieve last year and... it felt wonderful!!

I have to say that people who know I walk in Reservoir Park, always caution me that I should be very careful. Yes, I do acknowledge that years ago, there was a terrible drug trafficking problem up there. But that seems to be taken care of now. In fact, if I see more than two other people up there, I wonder where the crowd came from. Today, we passed one guy jogging. There were two worker bees walking around. That's it.

Of course, the dog loved the jogging guy. "Look, Mommy!" she seemed to say, "Let's move like that guy!" After speaking to her sternly, she settled down and we were able to continue our walk. I was pleasantly surprised when we got back to the house and I checked the time that it had only taken me 10 minutes more than it had last year.

At the top of the park, sits the National Civil War Museum which is pictured above. The only time there are lots of people in the park is when there is a big do going on at the Museum. It's such a lovely park, that I can hardly believe that it doesn't seem to be used all that much by the people in the area. But, on the other hand, it's nice to have "my very own" Park!!

Friday Already??

2007-04-27T11:13:00.000-04:00

What a busy week I've had! I forgot how much time an hour on the treadmill can take up in my day. But, except for this morning, I have stuck to the treadmill. Which is a major victory. I wish I could say that I stuck to my eating plan. But each day is a fresh start and I'm doing pretty good today. Of course, the motivation today is having caught sight of my silhouette in the hall mirror today as I was getting ready to go to work. There I was, in my longer, dark-wash jeans with my "pop of color" pink shirt and those actually comfy, pointy-toed shoes, thinking I was looking really good when I turned to switch the bedroom light off and then turned my head and YIKES!! Talk about pure motivation! So today, I've been fairly good but its like that Internet thing that goes around twice a year.

Dear God, so far today, I've stuck to my diet,
not spent any money unnecessarily, and
I haven't said a bad word about anyone,
but in a moment I'm going to get out of bed
and then I'll really need your help

It always makes me laugh because I see myself in it. My biggest problem is that when it comes to food, there is no control in my life. I was raised to think that food equaled everything good. And while you may be picturing family dinners with platters of fried chicken and mashed potatoes, ummm, no. Not in my life.

My daddy owned a pharmacy. Complete with SODA FOUNTAIN!! And, from the time I was born (old time stroller in the corner of the store) until I was 8, my mom worked with him. My mom still tells me that I was the best baby she had. I was the only one that never fell off the soda fountain stool. Yup, when we got old enough to sit, we were placed on the end soda fountain stool and that's where we spent our days thumbing through comics. Play outside? That was a gravel parking lot and one of the few times my brother and I were actually allowed outside the store in the summer, I climbed into the tire-burning area (yeah, they did that back in the day) of the gas station next door and got covered head to toe in burnt rubber. And, while I was sitting on my stool, people would come up and buy me stuff. By the time I was in first grade, all my molars were gone because I had chewed enough bubble gumballs to rot them right out of my mouth.

Then we went to school. The store delivery person took us to school and picked us up afterwards. There is something about eating breakfast at a soda fountain counter that conjures up thoughts of omelets and pancakes. No, we didn't do that. We had chocolate milk and tastykake. How healthy could a pack of peanut butter tandykakes and chocolate milk be? HAHAHA!! If you're taking time to actually think about it, you're in my league.

My husband tell me that his favorite after school snack was a bowl of cereal. Piker! My favorite after school snack was an ice cream soda! Please remember this was not a teenager in a Happy Days kind of sweet shop. This was a first grader stuffed into a Catholic school uniform!!! And I was the Boss's daughter! Can I have an extra scoop of ice cream? Sure you can, Honey. Want some extra syrup too?

I have a terrible time limiting my intake of food because that is my comfort. My mom and dad were too busy to give more than a cursory glance to anything I wanted to show them. And even after she stopped working, Mom was never Donna Reed. She was a tense, stern woman who really valued her leisure time. That sounds like I'm bitter, but I don't really think I am. Do I wish my life had been different? Of course! I would love to have been raised by a stay at home mom who taught me good nutrition and the value of exercise. I wasn't. I have faced that and moved on.

There have been times in my life when I have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for years. That was before I stopped smoking. I quit my 3 pack a day habit when my then two year old daughter took a lollipop stick and "smoked" it with me. Now, I always say I won't die of lung cancer, I'll die of heart disease. I have already had one cardiac stent implanted. That was two weeks before my 50th birthday. Next month I go see the cardiologist for my annual checkup. Something tells me he ain't gonna be happy.

In recent months, I have been laughingly telling my husband that most men are told to take a good look at the girl's mother. That is who she is going to become. Poor guy! I've turned into HIS mother!! I was married so young that I was still in the formative stage of my life and I adapted her lifestyle to meet my own needs.

Except for the whole food thing. I have real problems getting past the food thing. The older I get, the scarier my life gets, and the more I need food. Instead of saying, hey, I need to go to bed earlier now, I eat to keep myself awake. And, still my husband laughingly tells our friends that I can't keep my eyes open after 10 PM. Thank God some of them tell him, "neither can I." Unfortunately, Rob is going to be one of those old men that only need 3 hours sleep a night. Me, the older I get the more sleep I need. At this point, I have to have a full 8 hours or I am toast the next day. However, here's a dirty little secret of Rob's. He doesn't count into his sleep the nap he takes every afternoon. Yeah. Moving on, Honey!!

I did try to make really nutritious meals when my daughter was growing up and that was the longest time that I was in reasonable shape. But then she grew up and got a job in a pizza shop. Thanks, kid. And, of course, she was too young to drive so you'd have to take her and, as long as you were there you may as well eat... Did I mention they also sold Hershey's ice cream? Talk about a walk around in my childhood memories!! I saved that treat for when she needed to be picked up. With all that I ballooned to my highest weight ever!!

I'm only 15 pounds from that now.

My daughter went to college a little chubby. And then did the whole freshman 15. The last couple of times she came home to visit, I told her I was concerned by her weight loss. Was she stressed? Did she need help? No, she told me, I only eat half of whatever I want. I eat anything, but I always cut it in half. And, actually that struck me as so intelligent. I think I'm at the place where I'm ready to learn from my child.

First Week Weigh-In

2007-04-23T19:49:00.000-04:00

OK, so this is supposed to be among other things, a weight loss blog. I weighed in today. It being Monday and all I figured that would be a good day to start this latest effort to reduce my caboose. And, it gave me the weekend to eat everything that wasn't nailed down. And drink just a bit too!!

I had my first excursion to Texas Roadhouse on Saturday. At one point in my life, I could have eaten my way through the place. But I am happy to say that I didn't. I was with company that I really like talking to, so I chose to leave the ordering to others instead of not talking while studying the menu. I ate steak and (gasp) a loaded potato, but I have to say that the potato got really icky tasting about half way through. So I left it.

Now, you may be asking yourself, when is she getting back to the diet stuff. OK, I'll do it. I weighed in today at 235 pounds. That's pretty hefty for someone who's only 5'2". I decided to let the picture on the side be my starting picture, and take another one when I lose ten pounds. Of course, then I'll look just like that picture because that was about 10 pounds ago.

I did pretty good today with proper eating. And I still have food planned to eat today. We'll see if I do or if I just decide to skip it.

I hit the treadmill this AM and then after work when I told Rob I was going to "Go walk," the dog got all excited, so I decided to take her out for a stroll. Except I'm not ready to hit the park yet and I just took her around the block but she was really antsy the whole time. So we did one lap around the block; then I brought her back and came down to hit the treadmill. Which is always OK because in the afternoon I tape the Bold and the Beautiful and watch it while I'm walking. Is anyone dumber than Ridge Forester?

Also, if you are into weight loss blogs, Pasta Queen at Half of Me has a wonderful post today. Actually, I mentioned earlier that she is my inspiration for this blog. One of the things that I needed to learn before being ready to lose weight is that my fat is not me. I am me whether I am fat or thin. I'm not a better person when I'm thin, I'm just a thinner person. Do people judge me by my appearance? Yes. And I think the important thing is... it USED to matter. Doesn't bother me anymore. If they pass me by because I am fat, they will never know what they missed. And, if they would do that, I probably wouldn't like them anyway!!

Happy Birthday Austin!!

2007-04-20T20:45:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!! How can it be that you are 10 years old already? My very favorite nephew!! Our first conversations were stories that I emailed you after you were born. Your mom and I used to refer to me as Aunt Nettie (for internet). How can it be that your chubby cheeked cherubness has grown into an extremely tall, slender young man in such a short time! You are a shining example of all that is good in the world. Continue to grow, in age, in wisdom, in happiness. I wish all the best for you in your life. I love you!!!

You go, Girl!

2007-04-20T16:52:00.000-04:00

There are moments when you are raising a child that you think, will this child who is throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of your living room in front of your in-laws ever become a rational adult?

Will this child who, after having decided that she didn't want to participate in the kindergarten concert in Church, stuck her finger in her nose and kept it there for the entire concert, ever be a mature adult?

And then, in what seems like the blink of an eye, you send her off to college after seeing glimpses of rational thought and maturity. But then you worry… will be able to function on her own? Will she do her assignments? Will she go to class? Will she be tempted to get drunk and stay that way? You try not to hear the whirring of the helicopter-parent blades as you call more often than you should.

And then, gradually you realize that this temper-tantrum throwing, nose-picking child, has turned into the most marvelous adult. When you call and she can’t talk because she is going into a Resident Life Advisory Board meeting. When she calls and tells you that she “adopted” a soldier. When she mentions what happened in church. When she tells you that the VP, Mission asked if she would like to be an extraordinary minister.

When you get an email from your child showing you that, in the face of the latest national tragedy, she wished to express the sympathy, caring and concern of her peers.

"Mom, I was on facebook and all the schools had some kind of memorial and I knew we should have something too so I made one.

"You go, Girl!!

You go, Girl 2

2007-04-19T16:36:00.000-04:00

Virginia Tech

2007-04-18T14:22:00.000-04:00

My heart goes out to all the students and families of the Virginia Tech students. The unimaginable horror stuns me.

April 17, 2007

2007-04-17T11:12:00.000-04:00

I spend a lot of time reading other people's blogs. What is the attraction? Because I can? Because it helps to know that other people are experiencing the same things as you? Because if you try to share with your co-workers, they usually try to one-up you? At least mine do.

Here's the thing, as I've been reading these blogs, I've started to think I can do this. One weight loss blog I read just mentioned the accountability that blogging brings. Thank you, Pasta Queen! Another blog is a recipe blog. Thank you, Kayln and your kitchen. And, then there are the Mom blogs. Danielle and Kimberlee are leading the lives that I have left behind. Having an only child who is now in college kinda makes for a really empty nest, ya know? And, let's not forget Margaret who sometimes makes me think that she's living my life. Except for being a teacher and author and all that stuff. But the only child in college thing, having graduated from the same schools, etc., lends an eerie similarity to our lives.

So, here it is, my first post. This blog, as its name implies, will be about a lot of other things. My attempt to lose weight, my love of cooking, my religion, my family and friends, and other assorted stuff.

What am I going to discuss this first time out? Not much, I really need to get back to work...