Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Pre-Thanksgiving thoughts....

I've been doing really well with the WW 'travelling tracker' this week. Like really been paying much closer attention to portions & what I shovel into my face & if I'm really even hungry or not.  I just bought one of the WW Success Kits, so I may continue to use the notebook tracker, as well as my eTools.  I can always pretend that I need to turn it in.  We'll see how the scale agrees or disagrees.

I don't know if I'll be able to get on to blog much tomorrow after my meeting, which is why I'm on now.  I'll be going straight to the 4pm meeting after work, and then I'll have to pack up the family & stuff and head to my sister's house.  We'll be going out for dinner, then hanging out for the evening.  Then spend all day Thursday there.

Friday will suck.  I have to work - I was going to attempt to get out of it, but my coworker's sister passed away last weekend and her services are Friday afternoon.  Crap.  I hate covering for her, since 90% of my day is spent doing her work and I get way behind in my own.   She's been out since last Thursday, too.  I do need to leave a little early, tho.  Friday night, we have tickets to Crossroads Village / Huckleberry RR for the tree lighting & carols & fireworks & train ride & all that fun stuff.  It really is a lot of fun.  Sort of our way to usher in the Christmas season.  As of Friday, I will no longer be offended at my neighbors who have had their tree up in their front window for the past week (I keep hoping their cat knocks it over) and I may even listen to some music.

The only problem is that I'm gimpy.  Crossroads Village means a lot of walking!  I got out of bed around 4am yesterday and as I walked to the bathroom, something popped in the back of my knee.  I went back to bed, but when I got up with my alarm, it popped a couple more times.  It hurt like crazy all day yesterday with occasional shooting pains & it was nasty swollen and I could feel the fluid in there. It was worse with my knee brace on!  And of course I had to go grocery shopping and such.  Last night I took the dog outside and bent over to pick up a branch off the patio and twisted slightly - I thought I was going to cry and would have to call Randy to come help me back in the house. It was bad.

Today I felt like I was walking like Asimo....


It doesn't hurt as bad, but I still can't bend it enough to use the stairs gracefully or get in the car without grabbing my leg to pull it in or anything.  It's still swollen, too. Since I'm walking funny, the muscles in both legs hurt & ache.  Hopefully by Friday it'll be better. I'll just take a bunch of aspirin before we go. 

Now I'm really glad Zumba is done til the beginning of the year! There's no way I could do it. 

So Thanksgiving.  Maybe if it was just one meal it would be different.  But we start Wednesday & if I didn't have to work - it would go thru Saturday.  It still does, I just get a reprieve.  I'll just have to be careful with the mindless snacking that tends to happen.  My WW leader, Eileen says to imagine her sitting next to me.  I just don't know how that would work, she seems like she'd be fun to hang out with.  But I'm pretty sure she'd do some silent judging if I reached for the chips or whatever. I'll keep that in mind. 

Oh yeah, Saturday will probably mean more walking - my sister mentioned going to this antique store that has 2 stories and the upper floor is a lot of holiday (Halloweeny) stuff.  Squeee! 
 
So I need to do something to keep my mind off the munchies. Would it be weird to take a picture of Eileen, print it out & glue her face to one of those cheesy wooden masks on a stick from Joann Fabrics?   Too much?

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Craft Show Hauls

Mom & the sisters & I go to at least 2 craft shows every year. We went to the second one today - the other was 2 weeks ago.  We usually end up in pairs - Laurie says she drops back to stay with Mom, since she doesn't move as fast anymore, Mom says she stays back with Laurie since she has to stop and look at ALL the things.  Linda & I end up waiting at the end of the row / hall / wherever.   We have a good time. 

The first one is Christmas in Clawson at the high school - the same school me & all my siblings graduated from.  Mom always runs into some she knows.  She worked at both of the elementary schools for a lot of years before retiring.

I couldn't resist this guy!  The cutest spider ever!
I brought him home just in time to be put in the tote with the rest of the H'ween items. 
 I buy a wood ornament every year.  This year, the old man had this witchy one!
 I'll probably put this on the Mother-in-laws Christmas gift. 
 Jack needed some bandannas for non Fall / Winter holidays - it was tough finding a non-girly Valentine's one! And I'm pretty sure they cut up a real flag for the first one!
 Raggedy Ann & Andy really called to me. 
 These stained glass stockings will go nicely with my trees that I bought a couple years ago from the same guy. 
 I didn't know I needed one of these til I saw it.  A scissors holder.  Mine are just floating around inside my sewing bag, so this'll be handy. 
 And the 14th consecutive year's personalized ornament from the same ladies - I keep a spreadsheet on what shapes I have and who on it.  I have a special smaller tree just for these ornaments. 

Today we went to Eisenhower HS "Santa's Craft Castle"
Laurie usually runs into someone she knows and this year I did, too!  A girl I used to work with.  Glad I was people watching while waiting for Mom & Laurie.

I had to get this huge deer!  I got a red one last year, so the green sparkly deer was needed.  They're so FABULOUS!
They also had a purple one.
 Thanksgiving stuff kept catching my eye.
 This is about as deep as a shoe box.  I'm going to give it to Miss Angela for Christmas.
I was happy to find one in her school colors.
 I don't know why I bought special homemade peanut butter dog treats for the stupid dog who is happy eating cat or horse poop.
I
Stained glass Gingy.  
 The pic doesn't do these earrings justice.
They're Swarovski crystal so they really sparkle!
 I got a cobalt blue ornament like this one last year.
Someone put a LOT of work into these!

Tonight Miss Angela went to a movie with a friend, 
so I hit all 3 Salvation Armies in the area.  
Scored a nutcracker from each one and all were between 25 - 40% off! 

And since Thanksgiving stuff kept waving at me, I found a porcelain Pilgrim girl!
She was brand new, still had her feet wrapped in bubble wrap and the store tag zip-tied to her wrist.

She is currently in the living room, facing the wall.
Angel's friend told me the doll was staring at her & she saw the eyes move.
They do look like of red here, but I thought was from the flash.  They're brown.

So that's all that's going on around here.  Randy will finally be home tomorrow!  
(Today - since it's after midnight)

Any good plans for Thanksgiving?

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Back in the saddle again!

For Realz this time!

With yet another gain under my belt this week (and I'm starting to feel it in my jeans) - this week at my WW meeting, I volunteered to take home the "Travelling Tracker".  I think this is gonna be good for me.  It's simply one of the spiral notebook trackers and someone different has been taking it home each week, and filling it out.  So far, they've been averaging 3+ lbs loss each week with it.  It's kinda neat to go back and see what others have been eating - makes for some new ideas, too. Whoever had it last enjoyed (and tracked) a rum & diet Coke each night!  Heehee!
Yup.  I can totally understand the gain. 

Since the weather was extremely crappy last night, I went from the meeting, back to the studio to wait for Angel to get done with all her classes instead of going home.  I'm sorta bummed that Zumba is done til the beginning of the year, but I digress.  I took that time to figure out exactly what I was going to eat today and the Points values for them.  I even included snacks!  I have my pad of paper in front of me, with tomorrow's figured out so far, gonna work on the weekend next.  Randy has been out of town all week and comes home Sunday - that's when it'll get tough.  He is a total saboteur to me.  I'd really like to get his happy butt on plan with me.  I fear for his health sometimes.  

I know this is what I should have been doing forever, but somehow excuses kept popping up.  I knew what I needed to do, but just hadn't made myself sit down and PLAN!  So here I am.

Like I said, this is going to be good for me.  I'm really paying attention to how I feel in regards to hunger and not giving in to mindless nomming.   I actually an surprised at how OK I feel.  I feel like I want to snack right now but not because I'm really hungry.  7pm is a normal person's dinner time, but I told Angel when I picked her up tonight, we'd stop at Wendy's.  Sadly she doesn't get out of dance til 9:15.  But I already have one of their Apple Pecan Chicken salads written down in the tracker.   They are really good and only 9 Points!  So I shall have something to drink and maybe a 2 point bar instead.

I also went out this afternoon & got my first snow-shovelling activity points of the season!  Woohoo.  We only have a few inches, but the wind is blowing and it's too damn cold!!  This was the second time Miss Angela has driven in the snow this week.  I heard her & her duet partner talking at the studio last night that they want to wait til spring to take their driving tests for their licenses. Sorry, Sunshines.  You live in Michigan.  Driving in snow is inevitable!
Since I just bought my Vue in August, this is also my first time in a long time driving an SUV in snow.  Totally different  I thought because it's heavier than my Escort, it wouldn't slide as easily.  WRONG!  So I'm pretty glad the girl gets to drive the Escort.  It's a good old car, even with the small hole in the floorboard!

Monday, November 17, 2014

Happy Monday!

OMG, I'm actually posting!!  Let me look......oh, I last posted a real post on the 8th - that's not too bad!  

Last Saturday we had a "dance intensive" at the studio. Normally during November we spend an entire weekend in Dearborn at a hotel for a full convention, but Terina, the owner, decided to have 6 other instructors come in and teach for the day at 'home'.  I know there was some mild disappointment at first, but it ended up being a pretty fun day!  I volunteered to help out.  I was kept running all day between the 2 rooms, taking pictures. Kids 12 & under were in one room and 13 & over in the other.  At the end of the day, I uploaded 917 pictures off my camera!  I narrowed it down to 250ish to give to Terina to put on her digital photo frame and for the studio website.  These are some of my favorites - of course they're mostly of Miss Angela!  I tried to be unbiased and get pics of everyone, but it was my time & camera, so there's plenty of my kid that I'll put here!! 

Miss Angela during warm up. 
 little girls' ballet
 Flying Angela
 The girl in the front row on the right looks like art. 
Angel is the 3rd one over from her. 
 Maddie in action!
 Look!  A camera!
She still keeps her knees wrapped up after falling at the beginning of the season - It's been easily 2 months now and they're still not 100%.  The doctor said she did a doozy on them - most likely dislocating the kneecaps but they immediately popped back in.  They told her to listen to her body, if something hurts - don't do it!  So the wraps are mostly for protection. 
 Super girl!
 Trouble X 2
 Sassy Struts (and Angel changed her top)
 Lyrical
 Kayla & Anna in flight
 Nugget Technique (can't call it the little girl's since Daniel was in it!)
I think this is only the 3rd year Daniel has danced - he's amazing!  
Glad his dad let him be in more classes this year. 
 Even the teachers joined in this tap class. 
  Heehee, look at the facials of the 2 girls behind Miss Angela! 
 Nugget hiphop
 Corey was the hiphop teacher - he's amazing!  
Besides being a great story-teller, he is a phenomenal dancer! 

So there were a bunch to still-sore kids at the studio tonight.  I caught the tail end of Angel's small group jazz and none of them were giving it their all.  Their teacher even told me Saturday that she knew she was going to be sore! 

So Randy is in Arkansas. He left last Thursday and won't be back til this Sunday.  He always goes to Fayetteville to visit his best friend for his birthday, which happens to coincide with a certain radio contest they like to do together.  Now that the contest is done, they'll just more or less hang out, messing around with radio stuff and other gadgetry.  He may even come home with a new car, I wouldn't be surprised.  He can get a somewhat older used car from Arkansas and it'll be in a lot better shape than anything that has gone thru multiple Michigan winters with all the road salt & stuff. 

So other than this week being fairly quiet with Randy gone, it's gonna be along the lines of normal.  Poor little Maddie kitty misses him!  He is her person, for sure!  I did some grocery shopping tonight and stopped for cat food. Cleaned the hall bathroom & washed towels.  Can you handle the excitement??   Angel got to drive in snow for the first time.  We had about an inch by the time I picked her up from the studio and it was blowing pretty good.  It was hard to see the lines on the road.  
But she did well!

But for now - it's bedtime.  Chester is enjoying me tossing the extra pillow to the other side of the bed, since he will lay on it like a human.  He's going to get spoiled - oh wait.  Too late for that! 

In closing - 3 years ago today my baby boy, Skeeter passed away.  I got him as a kitten and he slept with me for over 11 years.  Funny that I woke up one day last week thinking of him, and within the past couple days, over 45 people have suddenly decided to repin a pin on Pinterest that I put up months ago - a tattoo of an outline of a cat with heart-shaped paw prints.....and not one person changed my caption.  It said "for my Skeeter?"


Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Happy Veterans Day !!

***************************************
...and a big hand salute to those who served
before me, with me and after me....

Bootcamp
Mar - May 1992
NTTC Corry Station, Pensacola FL
CT'M' A-School (that I dropped out of)
May - Sept 1992
USS Canopus AS-34 Decommissioning Crew
Sept 1992 - Dec 1994
USS Abraham Lincoln CVN-72
Dec 1994 - Apr 1997
Naval Station Evertt, WA
Apr 1997 - Mar 2000