Skywatch Friday 7/31

I don't remember how I found this blog, but they have an awesome linkup.  Simply post a picture of the sky!  There are all sorts of beautiful submissions and I really like stuff like this, so I'm joining in.

Washington Monument, Washington DC

taken while on vacation

#TFTLS

I'm still around!

We were on vacation from 7/17 thru 7/24 and now everything is crazy with trying to get caught up at work and getting everything ready for Miss Angela's grad party next weekend.

We put around 2200 miles on my car and it even got to sit for 2 full days!  Posts coming soon, but here's a few quick peeks...

Be back soon!

#TFTLS

I lost the vacation pounds!

Hooray!  Was down 3.3 lbs since Saturday!  I guess the lady behind the counter was correct, they just didn't have a chance to settle anyplace and I was able to get rid of them! 

Anyhooo, Sunday I got back on the tracking wagon and did pretty good.  

 Activity points were average to meh.  18 for the week.

I'm skipping the nightly walk with the dog tonight.  I wore heels to work yesterday, which was fine, but I had to stop at the store and order the graduation cake for next weekend - and of course I parked at the wrong side of the store and had to walk to the opposite side for the bakery and to the back to get oatmeal.  So the balls of my feets felt raw.  I still walked last night, but I'll give them a rest tonight.  Tomorrow the plan is to mow the lawn and we'll see how I feel after that if I take him.  I probably will, just because I'm a sucker for puppy-dog eyes. 

So I have a question for anyone out there.  The hubby & I were in the car the other day.  We were sitting at a red light and I was idly watching a woman jog by.  I commented that I wondered what it was like to be so tiny.  It wasn't that she was super skinny, she was just short and petite and fit .... little!  There's no possible way I could ever have a physique like hers.  Besides being a full head taller than her, I have shoulders like a linebacker.  No amount of weight loss would ever change that.  It's kind of depressing, actually.  No one would ever look at me and think I was a fragile flower and would go out of their way to help me if I needed anything physical done.  Randy said it was OK, because I was tough and could take care of things myself.  Is that really such a good thing?  I can't even decide why this bothered me so much.  

Genetics are a weird thing.  There is no doubt that my sister Linda and I are related.  Besides having a lot of the same facial features, she's even bigger than I am.  The sister Laurie is short & thin & doesn't look like either of us.  Laurie looks taller here, because she's closer to the camera.  And you see how short Mom is. I never knew Dad's Mom, so maybe we got out shapes from her?  But Mom's Mom and Grandma were both similar in shape to Mom.  

Which goes on to...how the hell did I spawn this scrawny little thing?

I'm hoping she was telling someone abut how excited she was to be getting ready to ride on a monster truck!!! (at Digger's Dungeon, Kill Devil Hills, NC)

Did I ever really ask my question?  Have you ever felt envy combined with disappointment and a little disgust that you know there's a shape you'll never be?  I know it's pointless to even think about it, but equating small=helpless and big=capable is a kind of stereotyping, isn't it? 

It's not fair, dammit!  

#SnS

Going back under my rock....

Actually I'm peeking out.  We just got back from vacation on Friday so I got up early-ish Saturday morning and went to a WW meeting so I could see how bad the damage was.  Up 2 lbs, which I guess wasn't too bad, considering.  The lady who weighed me in said the good thing about vacation pounds is that the weight floats around and hasn't decided on where to settle, so its easy to get rid of.  Heehee!  Hope she's right!  I didn't like the Saturday morning leader.  She wasn't particularly interesting and did a Christmas in July meeting, but I won a gift so I can't dislike her too much.  I got an actual set of measuring cups instead of the graduated 1 cup that I've been using.  

I'm not posting my tracking, since it clearly didn't happen.  I can honestly say - I did make good choices about 1/2 the time.  We did a TON of walking (when we weren't stuck in the car) but water was pretty scarce.  That was the worst part. There were several days I could tell I was dehydrated.

32 activity points!

I also racked up 6 points on Wednesday.  

Anyhooo, we left Friday the 17th, drove into Virginia.  Saturday, we made it to the coast for a reunion with a bunch of people I was in the Navy with.  Saturday night we spent in North Carolina.  Sunday we went to Digger's Dungeon, home of the monster truck GraveDigger, then we went to Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers took their first flight.  Sunday night we made it to Maryland. Monday we went to the beach between Maryland & Delaware (just to say we went to Delaware!) and did a lot of driving. Tuesday we hopped on the Metro and  went to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.  Then walked around Washington DC - the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Wall, Korean War Veterans Memorial (OMG - so touching!!) and the WWII Memorial.  Dinner was at the Hard Rock Cafe.  Wednesday we hopped on the Metro again and went to see the Lone Sailor statue, the Naval Heritage Museum, the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, and finally onto Arlington National Cemetery.  Even tho we took the trolley around the cemetery, we still did a lot of walking.  Thursday we decided we needed to at least drive by the White House since we were close, and the Capitol, the Pentagon and the Air Force Memorial (no idea it existed - very cool!) Thursday night we were in Pennsylvania.  Friday morning we stopped by the Flight 93 Memorial and from there we were only 6 hours from home.  We got home around 7:30 Friday night.

Then we had a wedding to go to Saturday night, and had to retrieve the dog from my sister Sunday.  I'm sort of torn with my opinion of the DJ at the wedding.  You'd think after the first couple songs when the dance floor was a ghost town that he'd change up his selections.  Nope.  When he did finally play something good, the floor was packed!  Then he'd play crap and **crickets**.  So it was good since I was still tired & sore from all the walking, I didn't feel the need to dance.  But it was bad that we didn't hardly feel the need to dance!!

Whew.  We were busy!

HERE is a link to my FB album.  Let's see if that works - I've never tried this before.

As an initiated Shellback (a Navy tradition when crossing the Equator) 

I had to pay my respects to King Neptune on Virginia Beach. 

OMG, those N. Carolinans sure know how to do BBQ!!!  I had the turkey-que, but it came with baked beans & hush puppies & cole slaw.  And I devoured every bite.

So that's the deal here.  I'm still going to my Wednesday meeting, since I miss my fearless leader, Dez!   I've got a few minor challenges coming up.  This weekend is the grad party of one of Miss Angela's dance buddies and next weekend is hers!  I was doing fine at work today, calmly dealing with all that had piled up while I was gone - then I got an email from my sister asking how plans were coming along and if I needed any help?  BAM - stress!  I had a hard time concentrating on work after that.  I ordered the M&Ms in her school colors tonight and most food places that I've checked on only need 3-5 days or less to make up party trays.  I'm going to order the cake on my way home from work tomorrow.   But I digress.

Heehee, my other sister kept the dog while we were on vacation and apparently he got in the habit of taking a walk every night.  He came up around 9:30 pm and pressed his chin on my leg - a sure sign he wants my attention.  I took him outside and he just stood on the patio and looked at me before it dawned on me what he really wanted.  Luckily I was wearing a light colored top (almost dark out), so I grabbed his leash and we got a .8 mile walk in around the neighborhood.  That apparently made him happy, since he's snoring away now!

#SnS

Friday Funnies 071715

It's been a while!

#TFTLS

Middle of July already??

Seriously Mother Nature - you're really being a bitch this year.  I've seen a couple tiny baby crickets in my flower beds, but I sure haven't heard them chirping yet!  Of course crickets aren't too happy for the same reason I have to get up at night and close my window!!  It's supposed to go down to 52* tonight!

Update on my booboo - the story in case you missed it is in the post before this one. I was able to cut the end of my nail off where the slice happened.  It's gonna be a while before the dried yuck underneath grows out, but I can handle this.  I've still been wearing the splint most of the day.  I took it off tonight so I could color my hair and there's only tiny little twinges when I type - and it may just be from it feeling weird with a super short nail.

Yeah, I will neaten that up - as much as I can anyway. 

And moisturize!

Talk about Karma.  I got home from work Monday in a bad mood and stomped out the get the evil lawnmower to cut the grass because it hasn't been done since it bit me.  I did one strip across the back of the patio, up the side and across the front....hit a bit of the edging sticking out of the flower bed and the opposite front wheel broke!  Randy took it apart and the wheel bearing housing was shot!  Even tho it could have gone at any time, I imagine it felt the hate radiating off me and just decided to break.  Randy and I both have some time off work, so his happy butt can get out there tomorrow and fix the mower (he ordered the parts online and we got them today) and then use it!  Just those few minutes bent the hell out of my splint so I'm using that as an excuse. 

So grad party plans are moving right along.  I should have the invites ready to be sent out in the next few days.  How evil am I?  I printed out the info, along with one of Miss Angela's pictures to glue inside these LOVELY glitter notecards - this pic doesn't do them justice.  They are seriously bright & really pretty (and shed glitter insanely Muahahaha!)  But I'm only sending those to the few non-tech-savvy people we know (my Mom, etc) and then we'll create a FaceBook event for everyone else. 

We've figured out food & seating & all the rest of that good stuff.  I just need to order the cake, M&Ms and the main dishes of chicken & ribs & taters. 

Heehee, Angel started back to dance last night for the summer session.  Tuesday nights are for the new All Star team and the teacher is working on building endurance, so they had to take tennis shoes & arm weights.  Angel trudged into the house after class last night and announced she was dead.  They had to run 6 laps around the building.  Funny that these kids can dance for hours, but die running.  Must be a different kind of endurance.  

So since I was home today, I ran a million errands that are just easier during the day (hello - animal control for the dog's license that I missed mailing in last winter) and I had lunch with my sister.  I feel accomplished almost!  I bought myself some new shorts and a couple new tops since most of mine are dark colored and /or really big now.    

My toes are really ugly and demented in heels.

Chester took over Jack's crate.  He had been feeling needy since he's got a booboo on the end of his tail.  Randy said he accidentally slammed it in the bathroom door one morning but it didn't look like it was a couple days old.  So he got some extra lovings.     

Speaking of Chester - tonight he was watching Bob Ross videos on YouTube with me (ignore the junk on the desk and don't judge!  I recently also got subscribed to this guy who does 18th century cooking)

Oh man - Maddie is telling me its bedtime.  Let's see tomorrow's excitement?  Breakfast at this place Angel went to with her friends last weekend.....getting the oil changed in her car.....and folding a freakin' mountain of laundry that is currently taking up half the couch while Randy mows the lawn.  Still sounds better than being at work! 

I need to do a Friday Funnies post, I've been collecting some good ones!

Later!

#TFTLS

Updates & catchups & stuff

So if there was a way to limp on the keyboard, I'd be doing it!  Quick recap, last Thursday I had one of those moments where you think back and just know you used exactly 0% common sense.  I cleared the side chute of the lawnmower while it was running and yes, I got a major booboo.  

I felt my finger get hit and yanked it back out.  I looked at it and saw (in the midst of the clippings) that there was some blood.  So I started up to the house.  Randy was sitting on the patio and looked up as I went by.  I showed him my now dripping hand and said I got a booboo.  He freaked out!  I went in the kitchen and put my hand under the faucet.  He was asking me questions that I don't remember and I announced that I was feeling dizzy & nauseous.  He wanted me to lay down in bed, but I'd been mowing for close to 2 hours, so I was sweaty & bug sprayed & dirty.  So I opted to lay on the kitchen floor.  Of course the cat had to come flop against me, because I needed fresh cat hair stuck to me.  Randy made me laugh, tho.  He said if I wanted him to finish the yard, I could have just asked! 

So I didn't get any of the brick-work I wanted to do Friday, expect for unloading the bricks out of the back of my car and lining them along the flowerbed.  It was hazy & nice out so it would have been perfect.  But instead we sat on our butts on the patio under the awning. Saturday was the 4th, so we were up early to go work at the parade in my hometown of Clawson.  Randy works in staging and I'm about 1/4 mile down the road, conveniently at the corner where my family has always sat. Anyhooo, of course I had to show Mom & my sister Laurie what I'd done before wrapping it up.  Laurie asked when the last time I'd had a Tetanus shot was.....?  I couldn't remember, but I was sure it had been within 10 years.  But I begrudgingly agreed to go to the doctor's office for a booster.  There was an urgent care place on my way home that was open 7 days.  

So after the parade, and visiting and lunch and a polar bear dip in Mom's pool (these 50 degree nights are killer!) I went to the dr.  After explaining how stoopid I'd been and no, I'd never done such a thing before and alcohol was NOT involved, but I'd been hurrying so I could get involved in it - they ordered my Tetanus shot, Dermabond to glue my nail shut and x-rays, just in case. 

Heehee, I got to flip off the tech!

Just saying- there's a reason it's called DERMAbond - it might work on skin, but it doesn't on nails.  It never dried and just collected lint & cat hair.  So I scraped it off.  

So anyway, yesterday morning I got a call from the radiologist.  The doc who saw me didn't see anything on my x-rays but apparently there was indeed a fracture on my fingertip.  I have to assume it's the brighter white part of my fingertip in the x-ray.  So they hooked me up with this crazy huge obnoxious splint that I refuse to wear out in public.  

I modified it to wear to work today.  Definitely less phallic-like. 

 My nails are crazy long right now - how did the blade not hit them??  And the skin on each side of my nail is perfectly fine.  Only my nail got sliced!  Someone was definitely looking out for my stupid self. 

Anyhoo, I have no idea how long I need to wear that thing.  I got a referral to a hand specialist, but that probably won't happen.  So I'll wear the splint for work and when I go places to protect it - happily.  I slapped the side of the dryer yesterday morning getting a shirt out for Randy and I almost cried!  

Here's me and my stinky dawg. 

 I got my first tomato!  

We had the option to order t-shirts for the upcoming WestPac reunion and they arrived today.  They are pretty freakin' awesome.  This is the front chest part.... 

 ...and the back.  Perth & Hobart are crossed off because we had to extend our time in the Gulf and didn't make it down that far south.  We made a point of crossing the equator so we could do our Shellback initiations, but that's it. 

I'm looking forward to the reunion! It's gonna be pretty fun, seeing some old friends and such. I think the Lincoln is still in drydock so we probably won't get to visit and show our families where we used to live / work. Someone mentioned contacting the public affairs office of another carrier to see if we could get on it. It's not the same, but it would do. I'll have to ask that on the FB page.

So that's about all that's going on so far.  Randy just fired up the grill for burgers so I have to go take care of the inside goodies.  Later!

#TFTLS

Well.....crap.

There goes all my grand plans to heave bricks out of the back of my car and line the flower beds with them this weekend.

Just a wee bit swollen!

And a wee bit bruised.

So you know the picture on a lawn mower that a moron can understand to NOT put your hand there??  Yeah, I did that.  Luckily the blade hit and just sliced my nail and didn't remover any fingertip.

This was not one of my brilliant, shining moments.

It's kind of a bummer that I'm not able to do much with my right hand (but I can hold a beverage!!!) since today is pleasantly mid 70s and slightly hazy so it would ideal to be doing stuff other than sitting on the patio. But I'm really not complaining!

Part 2 here

#TFTLS

Happy July! Weigh In & Update 7/1

Woohoo!  Down 1.5 lbs tonight!  I don't know why it always seems to help when I'm tracking both on eTools and the Plan & Track book.

I even took notes in my P&T book at the meeting tonight.  Warm & Fuzzy Dez was gone and Kick Butt Dez was leader tonight - she cracks me up!  I love when she doesn't follow the weekly handout thingy and goes off on her own tangent. Tonight was about the difference between being interested in Weight Watchers and really being committed.  My favorite line from her tonight was "Be like a postage stamp and stick with it until you get there (to goal)".

So let's see what I did this week.

Yet again, I didn't track well on Saturday.  First, Miss Angela and I went to one of her friend's grad party - this girl was her duet partner in dance so we couldn't not go!  I did have a regular Mt. Dew while I was there, along with a good scoop of fruit.  We didn't stay long, it was raining so everyone was in the house & it was packed!  Then Angel & I parted ways - her to yet another grad party and me to the NWS Office for Field Day with the usual group of radio geeks. I usually plan my visits there in time for dinner and the meteorologist's launching the nightly weather balloon.  So dinner was not a pretty thing.  But I took a fruit tray out with me and munched on that.

Activity started out pretty good for last week, then sorta fizzled.  20 APs is average-ish. It could be higher, since the weather's been quite lovely (except for the inch of rain we got yesterday) but definitely not summer-hot.

I had to take my WW bling off my purse.  Since I changed purses, it doesn't seem safe.  I lost one of my 16 week clapping hands and my little silver running man came off at work.  Luckily the cleaning guy left it on my desk.  I would have been mad if I'd lost that one! 

So I stopped at the hardware store tonight and took my dogtags in with me so I could measure out an appropriate length of ball chain so I could hang my bling on the rear-view mirror of my car.  And I find myself looking at my tags often while driving, so this should be a good place for it. 

Oh man - we went out to dinner last night to Max & Erma's.  I chose the Cabo Shrimp Salad off their "Guilt Free" menu - which means 550 calories or less.  I couldn't see the stats on my phone, so I looked them up at home.

16 points!  I almost fainted!  I thought about the salad I had and couldn't figure out where the hell 34 grams of fat came from!  I had lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, radishes (which I discovered I don't like) and like 5 or 6 decent sized shrimp.  And 2 smallish tortillas.  Then I realized there had been no dressing or tortilla strips on mine.  I'd had to ask for some honey mustard, which I dipped out of.  So I tracked everything separately and it was much more reasonable.  Their French Onion soup is 9 points.  It's good so I guess it worth it. 

So the plan for this holiday weekend....we don't usually do much so it shouldn't be too difficult. Angel's already up north til Sunday.  Randy & I both have Friday off work and with some luck, we'll both get out early tomorrow.  Saturday we'll be up early to do radio communications along one of the local parade routes like we usually do.  The main reason we do this is because the guy who coordinates the hams has a neighbor that is an adorable old man who happens to have an ice cream machine that he sets up in his driveway for anyone who wants to stop in and say hi.  Sorry Gerald, we came over to see Mr. Fletcher!  Of course we will be grilling some meats.

But physical labor will be happening.  I'm going to stop on my way home tomorrow and probably Friday morning and get more bricks to put out around the big maples in the front yard.  I took the dog for a walk tonight and stopped in someone's yard to look at their flower beds ringed in the same brick and counted them.  I'm gonna need around 25 bricks for each ring and I've only got 40 so far.  Better get busy.  I also need 24 edging bricks for the side flower bed.  That's a lot of lifting and the ones for around the trees are heavy!  I don't like to put more than 20 in my Vue at one time.  They fit well and it doesn't squat too much.

Painting might happen, too.  I've had the paint for the focal wall in the living room for so long that it probably needs to be shaken again.  Painting NEEDS to happen!

Ugh.  I need a clone.

So how are you surviving this long holiday weekend?

#SnS