Experimenting...

YAY PHILLY'S!!!

Still trying to quell the evening hunger. I tried more protein one day and that didn't help. The next day I tried red meat (since that is what I mostly ate in my fatty days) and that didn't help. Today I tried changing things around a little. I had my light lunch for breakfast and my heavier breakfast for lunch. This way I wasn't hungry until later so I just had dinner about a half hour ago. I hope this helps. I have found out over the past couple of weeks that having almonds in the evenings does not affect my sleep so I am enjoying them every evening.

Weather is warming up a little here. Don't have to light the logs in the day time right now.

Remember the picture I posted of one of my doggies with a red face from spaghetti? Well, he came home today with a red face again and it wasn't spaghetti. It was blood. I panicked at first until I realized that it wasn't him that was bleeding. He evidently found a carcase somewhere and really enjoyed himself. He even had blood on the top of his head. That is one of the reasons I wish the hunters would stay off this mountain or at the very least clean up after themselves instead of leaving the unwanted parts laying around. I had a really hard time cleaning him off. Sure didn't want to smell that after it warmed up on him.

Later blog-buds.

Well, Shoot...

Gained that pesky 2 pounds back again this week. Didn't do anything different than I did the week before, when I lost it. Average calorie count was within +/-25 of last weeks and the week before and the week before... Oh well...

Durn it was cold last night, in the low 20's (F). My heat pump never kicked off. I have fake propane logs as supplemental heat but I don't leave them burning a night. They sure are fired up this morning though. And my computer desk is setting right near them so this is the best seat in the house right now. We got about 5 inches of snow all together. A really wet snow. And the driveway is clear if I need to get off the mountain, but I can't for the life of me see a need. Thank goodness.

Sparkpeople sent me an article on loosing tummy fat. Here's the link to it. I know I've read several of your posts where that is a problem for you, just like me. It's really short and doesn't give you any quick fixes but makes sense.

Have a happy hump day.

Snow Sequel...

More snow pictures after it got daylight.

Can you tell I'm excited about this?

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Look, it snowed last night!! Actually it started around 5:00 PM yesterday. I was really surprised. I hadn't looked at a weather report lately and didn't expect it. I can't remember the last time we had snow this early. Oops, just remembered the last time. It was 2006 and my niece and nephew and I were at Snowshoe looking around on their visit. When we left home it was in the 60's and before we left Snowshoe we were walking in a blizzard. There was no snow here on my mountain when we got home. So maybe that really doesn't count. We're supposed to have 2-6 inches at my elevation.

I have a friend that I play a game with about snow. We compete to see who is the first to call and sing the song. I won yesterday!! I used to win all the time until she got caller ID. It's been kinda hard since then. Apparently yesterday she was so busy cooking supper that she forgot to look at the caller ID or just forgot about why I would be calling. We usually just talk in the mornings. Guess what I won! The satisfaction that I was first this year :o) Isn't that a great prize?

I have my Internet Explorer home page set to the National Weather Service and I usually don't look at it when I get on here, but it's about that time of year that I'd better start checking it out. I just lucked out this time with getting to the grocery store before a snow. Wonder if this is an omen of the winter we will have this year?

While I was in town yesterday I went to the court house and voted early. I was really surprised that I had to wait in line. Didn't expect that there'd be so many early voters.

Don't know what I'm going to do about my eating. I have no problems in the mornings and afternoons. I'm usually not hungry and have to make myself eat at normal times. Then after supper, all heck breaks loose. I know I've blogged about this before and you are probably tired of hearing about it. I don't know what the solution is though. It's not that I am craving junk in the evenings like I used to. I've pretty much kicked that habit. But it seems that a few hours after supper I get really hungry. I've tried eating a small amount like I do at breakfast and lunch and that doesn't help. I've tried eating a lot until I'm really full and that doesn't help. Granted that I'm eating the healthy stuff now instead of the bad stuff but most of my calorie intake is in the evenings. I've even tried to divide the calories up through out my meals and then I go way over in the evenings. I've tried water and that doesn't help either. The really funny thing about all of this is that when I was an unhealthy eating fatty, I rarely ate much in the evenings after supper. So it's not just a bad habit from a long time ago. Any suggestions?

Hope your Tuesday is a great one.

Soup on a Chilly Day...

Just got back from running errands in town. Not my usual day but I wanted to make a pot of Taco Soup and didn't have the stuff so I went a few days early. It's been pretty cold here and soup is always good on those cold days.

Company didn't come, I so sad. Actually I had put myself in the right frame of mind and was really disappointed when they called to let me know that one of them was sick and they didn't want to bring it to me. I'm sure they didn't feel like traveling sick either. I was upstairs changing the linens on the bed and cleaning when they called so the bed's clean if Y'ALL want to stop by.

Gonna go start the soup. Hope your Monday hasn't been too rough.

Think I'll Turn Into a Hermit...

JC, I can tell it is a cup size because now I'm fitting into a smaller cup size than last month.

Grammy, this is gun country. Lots of hunting and I was probably the only person in the whole county that didn't own a gun. I've been around them most of my life and love target practicing. Hopefully I will never have to use them for anything else. I don't hunt. I just can't stand the thought of killing any furry creature. There have been a lot of break ins in my area and I felt that I needed to have something to defer the problem if it arises. The man that sold me the shotgun said that if I chamber a shell after I hear someone entering my home that it would be enough to scare the person off. It's definitely a distinctive sound and one to be afraid of. Especially if it is a woman wielding the gun.

ARGH, I have company coming again tomorrow. Geesh, I need a vacation. I refuse to do anything special for them. They are the friends from VA and they don't expect anything special, thank goodness. I will have a clean bed for them and clean dishes and that's it.

I think after they leave I won't be answering the phone or door for anyone for at least 2 weeks. So for what ever reason YOU can not come for a visit. Besides I have oodles of crocheting to do before Christmas and at this rate I won't be finished.

Oh, I had sauerkraut and fat free beef wieners for supper and it was yummy. I've never cared for wieners in my kraut. I like kielbasa or Italian sausage, but this was really good and a whole lot healthier.

Later alligator..

CRS...

Okay, so I forgot. It's no big thing anyway. As you may or may not remember, Wednesday is my official weight in day. And yesterday I lost 2 pounds. Now don't go jumping for joy because there is no joy in it since I had gained those 2 pounds the week before. So I'm just back to where I was 2 weeks ago. Geesh, I wish I'd quit doing that. I know it's my fault for not being diligent, so I gotta quit that. And then there was yesterday's eating. I won't even go there. It would make you sick. But my NSV for the week is: Are you ready for this? And this I am excited about. Here goes without further hesitation...In the last month I've lost 5 pounds BUT I've also lost one inch in the waist (YAY), zero inches in the hips (oh, well) and (drum roll please) two inches in the bust (not so good since it was in the cup size but still happy). Now if I could just get the scales to be so accommodating I'd be one happy old lady (and I use the term lady loosely). So looking back if I would have been a good girl I could have lost 8 pounds instead of 5.

I've already planned my eating for today and entered it on line in SparkPeople where I usually enter my foods. I decided to enter my menu for the day and see if it will keep me on track better, instead of waiting for the end of the day and just enter what I ate. I will go there this evening and add or delete what is necessary. Wish me luck on the new endeavor.

I never did get in any target practice over the weekend with my new guns. Oh, I think I forgot to tell you that I bought a handgun and a shotgun. Now I really feel safe here on my secluded mountain. My biggest problem is trying to find a place to put the guns (don't have to worry about hiding them since I have no little ones in the house) so they are in easy reach at night. Especially since I'm sleeping on the couch and not in the bed. Think I will try going back up there this weekend and see if the sleeping is better now.

And remember the neighbors that are up here for bow season? Well, they must be throwing out their left over meals because my doggies came home the other day with red whisker's. Just like they do when I have left over spaghetti and give them some. So now when they go outside they make a bee line for the neighbors house and they aren't eating much supper right now. And they usually want a snack when I eat my bedtime snack and the past couple of days they just raise their heads and look at me and lay back down. I'll be glad when the neighbors are gone. I'm a little worried that they will get into some bones that will hurt them. I only give them the fake bones. (This picture was taken several years ago, but that's what he looked like.)

Ta ta blog-buds.

The Cookie Monster Strikes...

I remembered to pull the blinds last evening. And I didn't have that creepy feeling that I was being watched all evening. But I had a really restless night. This was the first night I tried the almonds. I had them about 2 hours before I went to sleep so I can't imagine they were the cause. There must have been animals moving around outside last night because the dogs barked a couple of times. Course I was already awake when they barked so they weren't the reason for my restless sleep.

Then to beat it all I woke up to the smell of chocolate chip cookies. Where the heck did that come from? I haven't had them in eons and haven't even thought about them. Sure am glad I don't have the makings for them in the house because today I'd be tempted to bake some. Hmmm, wonder if there is a light and healthy recipe for cookies? I doubt it so I'm not even going to go looking.

The fall colors sure were funny this year. Most of the ones that have changed in the past couple of weeks are off the trees already and there are still a lot of green trees left. I never did see a lot of the reds this year so maybe the ones that are still green are the ones that turn red. Guess it was the lack of rain at the end of the summer that caused some to start turning early.

I am hooked on Caramel Machiato (spelling?) coffee. I don't like the ones Starbucks makes. I don't even like Starbucks coffee at all because it's too strong. But I had an iced one several years ago and fell in love. Before I started this journey I improvised with vanilla syrup and caramel ice cream topping. Then when it ran out I just didn't replace it. But...when Cara was here visiting we went to a local coffee shop and they had the syrups in sugar free! Wow, I bought a bottle of both flavors. They are only 5 calories each for 1 tablespoon and I only use about a half tablespoon when fixing them so I am indulging myself every morning. I'm not one of those coffee drinkers though. I only have one cup in the mornings. And once in a blue moon I have one in the evenings. But I do look forward to my morning coffee now.

When my company was here they thought I was putting booze in my coffee in the mornings. I saw her pick up one of the bottles one day and read the label. When I asked her about it that's what she told me. She thought Auntie had turned into a boozer in her old age :o) Not me! I've probably mentioned it before that my parents were alcoholics and I learned early on what drinking could do to a family. It's one bad habit that I never picked up. I'm not a tee-totaler, I'll have a drink once in a while at a gathering or something but I just know when to stop and not to do it too often.

Wish I could think of something profound and encouraging to write about. But I'm just not made that way, I guess. I read a lot of your blogs and think why don't I inspire like that, but alas, I'm just an old lady that likes to ramble on about my life. Sorry to bore you so much with my ramblings but...that's just me.

Have a great hump day out there in blogland.

Just One of Those Days...

Yesterday was a really weird one for me. Don't think this has ever happened to me since I've been on this healthy living life style change. I couldn't think of any thing that I wanted to eat. I was hungry at the normal time in the morning so I fixed myself my usual half can of soup and 8 crackers. Got hungry again at the regular time in the afternoon and didn't want anything. I knew I'd be ravenous by supper if I didn't have lunch but I just couldn't think of anything that sounded good. I didn't even want bad stuff. I decided to eat a half a peanut butter sandwich which I knew would at least take care of the hunger but I really didn't want it even though I had gotten the shakes from hunger. Then came supper time. Nada, nothing, zilch sounded even remotely appetizing. I had some bacon thawed out and even considered a bacon and tomato sandwich which I LOVE. I didn't even want that. So out of necessity I fixed myself a salad and put some left over peas in it for filler. I even had some shrimp in the fridge but didn't eat it. Didn't want it! I also MADE myself eat some fruit later in the evening. So needless to say I didn't get all my nourishment requirements in yesterday nor my daily allotment of calories but the thought of food was just yucky to me. Gee, I wish that would happen more often. And to my surprise I'm still up on the scales this morning. Unless something drastic happens by tomorrow's official weigh-in I won't show a loss this week either. Drats! I know, I know, don't put too much "weight" (pun intended) on the numbers on that stupid square thing on the floor but, really folks.

I had a relaxing day with the house to myself. YAY!

I've got neighbors up for hunting season right now and they can see right into my cabin unless I pull the shades. But if I do that I won't be able to look outside at the beautiful colors so I didn't pull the shades yesterday. Didn't even think about it until it was really late last night but I didn't give them anything x-rated to look at. Will have to remember to pull them this evening when the sun goes down. The hunting cabin isn't really close and has a lot of trees and brush between them but this time of year with the brush dying off it makes it a pretty clear view. Luckily they only come at the beginning of bow season and again the week of Thanksgiving. Sometimes they will come up once in the summer to mow and do some clean up around their place so they aren't here that often. I've even gone over there and tried to talk to them but it is always several men and they aren't very friendly. Guess they just have the place as a get away from women.

Have you ever read Nicholas Sparks? I ordered three the last time I ordered books and I love his writing. My problem is that when I'm reading a really good author I devour one in about 3 days. Just can't seem to leave them alone very long. Finished one this weekend and have had to make myself not pick another one up for a couple of days so these will last me a little while at least. I have a table beside the TV where I put the books that I've already read and encourage company to go through them and take what they want. My pile is getting a little high right now and think I will have to take them to the local used book store and see about exchanging them for something I haven't read. The problem with that is that they don't usually have authors that I care for. Oh, well I at least will be recycling the books for someone else's pleasure of reading. If you like mysteries I've stumbled onto another couple of good authors. Colleen Thompson and Laura Griffin.

Have a great Tuesday out there in blogland.

Whinin'...

Whew! They're gone. Let me start out by saying that I did have some enjoyable moments with the niece and nephew. I'm a thinkin' that maybe I'm getting a little set in my ways. I'm certainly not "Suzie Homemaker" by a long shot, but they really got on my nerves. I do admit that I'm not a stickler for having a place for everything and everything in it's place but... I know how they live. I've visited them many times and they are not slobs in their home. I don't know if it is the fact that I'm the aunt and they feel like they can act like kids (they are in their mid forties) but it got ridiculous. She was worse than he was. It was so bad that last evening by dinner time I was a bear. I covered it up by saying that I was really hungry and that makes me grumpy. They had been gone on a hike and were late coming back for dinner so that excuse seemed to work. They are definitely not good guests. I just decided to say it like it was and told them when to clean up after themselves. And after I threatened to throw anything they left in the "middle" of the floor into the trash, that stopped. I thought I was lazy, but boy, she has me beat by a mile. Gonna have to ask her mom if she ever cleans her own house. Could be that he does it all.

Okay, enough of that whining. But I am glad to have my home back.

Eating was really good for me this weekend. I only had one day that I went over what I should have but I did it with healthy stuff so that ain't so bad.

I've been wondering... My dad had trouble sleeping any evening that he ate nuts before bedtime. Do any of you have that problem? I got myself some almonds this past week because I know how good they are for us and was thinking that I might save them for an evening snack but I wonder if it will affect me the way it did my dad. Guess the only way to find out is to give it a try. I'm really enjoying the WW Whitman's candy that I got. I have mint, caramel and coconut. Haven't tried the caramel yet but the other two are yummy. I just have to remember to limit them like anything else that is decadent. And with sweets that's not much of a problem for me thank goodness. My problem is the salty stuff and I think I have that one whipped as well. I'm really careful to count out the right portions and only have them once or twice a week. Except for pretzels. Those I have for lunch or breakfast most days with a one ounce piece of cheese. And I really look forward to that.

Didn't get any exercise in this weekend like I do when most company comes. It was really cold here and I think I just needed some peace and quiet once in a while so I let them go on their own.

Hope your weekend was a better one than mine was.

Busy Couple of Days...

I've been burning the roads for the past couple of days. My niece loves to shop so we've been hitting her favorite places up here. I had to take her to Lewisburg today to hit some new ones and she just had to stop at Wal-Mart. I had already been there once this week and twice in one week is definitely to much for me, but you do what you gotta do for your relatives right? Tomorrow is supposed to be a quiet day at home. Gonna go out somewhere and do some target practice and watch some movies. Then grill a steak for him and chicken for me and my niece. See, aren't I doing good? I opted out of the steak for chicken.

She brought me some WW Whitman's chocolate. It is really good and only one point per piece or 50 calories. I was surprised.

I'm so glad they like coming for a visit but they are slobs. They don't pick up after themselves and I have tripped over shoes, newspapers and anything else you can imagine. Looking forward to Monday and some peace and quiet and my life back. But I'm also enjoying them as well.

Hope your weekend is a grand one.

Soup's On...

Got the soup on the stove simmering. I made an Italian meatball/vegetable soup. We shall see how it tastes. I just kinda made it up as I went along. If it's any good I'll put it on my recipe page later. It's all low fat and has half the sodium.

I got a phone call from the nephew this morning to remind me they were coming this weekend. At least I did remember that but I had forgotten if they were coming tonight or tomorrow night. He cleared that up for me and they are coming tonight. Sometime in the middle of the night after he gets of grave yard shift. When he asked me what I was doing I told him I was making the vegetable soup that I usually make when they come. He said yummmmm until I told him that it was going to be low fat because I want to be able to eat some too. He had the nerve to say, "in other words bland." I assured him that it would be tasty and definitely NOT bland, just good for you. The niece is always trying to lose weight but doesn't have the will power to stick with it. She will probably come here with several bags of potato chips. What she does is hops up and says, "Lets go for a walk." Then when they get back she dives into the chips saying, "Now I can eat these." I used to laugh about it before I started this new lifestyle but now I may hide the chips. She's not obese just a little on the chunky side sometimes. And she does get down to the weight and size she wants to be from time to time. She doesn't cook AT ALL. He does the cooking if there is ever any done. She works two jobs and they aren't home a lot together. I will give him some recipes he can make for her that will be healthy.

Oops, forgot to mention that I'm up 2 pounds this week. :o( But that's okay, because I'm wearing the smaller bra that I couldn't get into last month. And I finally had to move my favorite ring to the middle finger. Oh, and I almost forgot. I found 4 really cute light weight sweaters at Cato's yesterday and one of them is a large. The other three are x-large.

See ya later!

Lady Bug, Lady Bug, Fly Away Home...

First things first:

Sparky, great northern beans are white beans about the size of pinto beans. They are like navy beans but larger. Don't know if they have another name or not. In my opinion you could put any bean that you happen to like in the soup.

Not much going on in my little part of the world. Gotta go to the dentist tomorrow around noon to get my last crown glued in. Gonna hit Cato's while there to see what they have in cheap winter clothing. And of course the trip wouldn't be complete if I didn't hit Wal-Mart while down there. I hate to go there but it is the only place that has some of the stuff I need.

Then home to get the house in order for my company. Gonna try to get most of it done tomorrow so I can put some time in on Thursday cooking. That way I won't have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen while they are here. Thankfully I've been sleeping on the couch since the last time I had company so the bed already has clean linens on it. So basically all I have to do is run the sweeper and dust.

Do the lady bugs (actually Japanese Beetles) swarm where you live? They started swarming last Friday and are still at it. This is the first year that they have swarmed for more than 2 days. I had completely forgotten about them until I was hit in the face when I went outside Friday. I have to rumple my hair and brush off my clothes before coming in the house to make sure I don't bring any more in than can squeeze through the cracks in the eaves of the roof. At least with Orkin coming regularly they are dying after crawling through the cracks. I can usually just run the sweeper once after a few days and get them all but this year it may take more than once since they are sticking around so long.

You probably won't hear from me tomorrow unless something exciting happens that I can't wait to tell you about. So, see ya Thursday.

In Memory of Sam...

I've lost one of my furry friends. Sam had been gone for over a week (which is nothing unusual for a Tom cat, even one that's been fixed). He was really skinny when he came home which isn't unusual either. Then I noticed him limping when I started giving him some extra canned food (which I usually don't feed the cats). He had been in a fight with something that had chewed his leg pretty bad. I started treating it myself instead of heading off to the vet because it didn't look that bad. It started healing nicely and I thought all was going to be well. Then he started worrying over it and opening up new places. He was 13 and I knew that the leg would have to be amputated at this point. I don't feel bad about not taking him to the vet because there must have been a lot of internal damage and the vet would have probably suggested amputation or putting him to sleep when it first happened. It got so bad that I finally had to have him put down. He was just suffering too much. I'll miss you Sam.

So, today is a holiday for some. If you're off, I sure hope you're enjoying it. And if not, well...enjoy working too. It helps pay the bills, doesn't it?

I've already had another cup of soup today and froze the rest. Don't want to get burnt out on it. I've got some chicken marinating right now and will see how that does for supper. I haven't tried marinating my chicken before.

Company is coming in the middle of the night Thursday. They are my late husbands niece and nephew-in-law. They will be here through Sunday and maybe part of the day on Monday. Lets see, that is 3 days maybe 3 and a half. Hmmmm, you know what they say about company in 3 days don't you? Well, this will be a pleasure. They are sweet kids. She likes to run the roads a lot and hit every quaint shop in the area and he likes to go 4-wheelin'. My biggest problem for this visit is cooking for them. I refuse to cook all the fattening stuff that I usually cooked when they came for a visit. I am sticking to my healthy stuff. But what to fix? Gotta decide before Wednesday so I can get provisions in the house. Guess I'll get a lot of chicken and maybe make my barbecue sauce for it for one day at least. That leaves 2 more days, hmmmmm. I used to make a big pot of vegetable soup. They both loved it and her especially, but I always made it out of a fatty chuck roast and that's what made it so yummy. No more fatty chuck roasts for my soup though. May improvise and make meatball veggie soup this time. Wonder if it will be as good? And this time I'm not buying chips or cookies or ice cream for my company. If they want that stuff they will just have to bring it with them.

Have a great week y'all.

Soup...

OMG, I made JC's Taco Soup today and it is to die for. Wanted to make it early so it would cool enough to freeze some. I don't know if I'll have enough to freeze after I get through with this pot. It makes 15 cups and I've already had three today. One for breakfast(as soon as it was done), one for lunch and one for supper. It is that good. I have had some fruit too but the soup is better. Think I will freeze some tonight just so that I won't be tempted to finish it off and over do it. It is so surprising that it sticks to the ribs so well.

Well, that's been my day. Makin' soup and eatin' it.

Hope your's was more productive.

A Pictorial Saturday...

Got on the road around 9:30 this morning and it was a beautiful morning for sure. I didn't take any interstates just two lane mountain roads.

Chester Farms in Churchville, VA is around 90 miles from here and was a glorious 2 hour drive.
They had rides for the kiddies.
Hay rides and pumpkin picking. (Sorry no pictures of those.) But a great visit with my friends.
Sheep were abundant.
They had booths set up selling all sorts of kool autumn stuff and I even got to spin some wool into yarn myself.
Then we took a tour of the spinning room in the basement of the barn where they made this beautiful sock yarn. Yep, this is what I bought. Even got myself a pair of sheerling slippers.

The wool is sooooo soft.

Then I started home. The dive home was just as spectacular.

So glad to be back on home soil. This is the road to my cabin.
Here is the "color" on my mountain...
And in my yard.

I was pretty good food wise all day. They didn't have anything that was within my diet so I just had one hamburger with water and one small soft serve ice cream and came home to my usual grilled chicken and veggies for supper.

I'm really tired but I so enjoyed myself. This was another step toward my adventures alone. This is the first trip I've taken that was out of my comfort zone and I succeeded!

As to answering some concerns from the comments on my last blog. Don't fret out there blog-buds, I ain't quittin'. I've come this far and I sure as heck ain't gonna throw all that away. After all this is a life change not a diet. I just needed to whine a little and I didn't even have any cheese with it.

Hope your weekend is a grand one.

Just a Little Vent...

I had a horrible night. My doggies didn't get to come home yesterday. I hadn't realized how much company they were until last night. Durn the place was quiet and empty. Well, it's always quiet because they rarely ever bark or make a sound for that matter, which makes it kinda weird. Guess it was just the lack of other warm bodies in the house with me. Every time I'd walk past the door I'd, out of habit, check to see if they were ready to come back inside. There was a problem with another dog at the groomers. An emergency frog removal. A collie had a frog stuck in its fur and they had a heck of a time getting it out. They weren't even starting on my dogs until after 6:00 when I called worried to check on them. Then it would have been 10:00 when they would have been ready and they wanted to wait until this morning to do one of them so they wouldn't have to work so late. So they boarded them overnight for free. I'd say for free, since I hadn't planned on it, I surely would have been glad to go get them at 10:00 if I had too.

This last 30+ pounds sure is slow in coming off. It's discouraging. I sat and looked at my weight loss chart yesterday and saw that it took me 16 weeks to get the 10 pounds off from 200 to 190. And it's been 11 weeks so far on this 10 pounds (between 190 and 180). At this rate it will be next October before I get to goal. That means it will have been 2 and 1/2 years (130 weeks) to get 99 pounds off. I know, I know, the slower the better because it will most likely stay off that way, but it doesn't keep it from being discouraging just the same. Good grief, I'm tired of planning and calculating and trying to figure out yet another way to eat chicken and get lots of veggies in. And I'm tired of worrying about how long it will take and when will I be there and what size will I be that I can finally buy clothes that I know I won't be giving away soon? And when can I finally get my rings resized or do I want to just wear them on another finger the rest of my life? And will this weight and skin around the middle be gone or at least not as noticeable? It sure wasn't this hard all the other times I lost weight and got "skinny." Course all the other times I put it back on after a year or so because I didn't learn how to eat healthy, just how to eat until I lost the weight. Sorry, just had to vent a little. And will probably do it again. Thanks for listening reading.

I'm off to pick up my roommates.

Nothing much...

Sorry I've been away for a few days. I just didn't have anything I wanted to say and wasn't in the mood anyway. So I will get caught up on all your happenings later this evening. My dogs are at the groomers right now and I'm waiting for a call when they are ready so I don't want to tie up my phone lines with this stupid dial up.

I lost 1.5 pounds this week.

Going to meet my Virginia friends half way between their house and mine Saturday at noon so I probably won't post at all that day. There's a sheep farm where we are meeting that raises sheep for their wool. They are having a festival and will be having their spinners out where we can watch. Going to look for some more sock yarn there. I've been busy making lots and am starting to run a little low. I'm really looking forward to the outing but not looking forward to the drive by myself. I'm still a little chicken about going any where away from my beaten path by myself. I don't mind it if I've been there before and know where I'm going but this place isn't where I'm used to being. So, this will be another step in learning to cope without a spouse.

Hope your week's been a good one.

Friends???

The friend that told me to quit losing weight, pulled one on me Saturday night. I had her and her husband up for supper. She was late as usual. Her husband and I had talked a couple of times that day and she was at an auction (which ended at 4:00). At 5:00 we were both getting hungry so he came on up and we went ahead and ate. She came in with two packages of homemade friendship cake. She proceeded to push one in his face and the other in mine. Her hubby had just had surgery Friday and wasn't feeling very well and not able to eat well yet so he told her he didn't want it right then and would have it later. (But he ate the Watergate Salad I had for dessert though.) I on the other hand told her that I couldn't have it. Boy is she pushy. She kept telling me, "Yes, you can have it, it won't hurt you." She kept pushing it in my face for at least 20 minutes. I held out though.

Then the bwitch left the stuff on my table. I know, I know, I should have just thrown it away, but it finally got the best of me last evening. Dang was it ever good.

I did do well on the fried potatoes. I fried them in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and had a huge skillet full. I told them to go ahead and eat them all because they'd be thrown out if not. I only had one spoon full of them myself. They didn't eat them all and I threw them out instead of standing at the stove (like I used to do) and eat the left overs. I was rather proud of myself ::until last night::

I've learned my lesson. They will just have to eat her cooking from now on. They aren't going to be invited for supper for a looooonnnnnnggggggg time. With friends like that I don't need any enemies. Sure glad I've got you guys/gals out there to help me.

It has been just beautiful here the past couple of days. Clear skies and 70 degrees. Sure wish it was that temperature year 'round.

Is it just me or is there more mud slinging in this campaign than usual? (I think we say that every year, don't we?) I'm getting so sick of listening to it. I just wish they'd have positive messages about themselves and tell us what they stand for not the negatives of their opponents. These negative ads sure aren't going to swing me one way or the other.

Later y'all...

Cravings and Granddaughter...

To comment on a few comments on yesterday's post.

You know Tony hit the nail on the head when he said, "Aren't your friends supposed to be your support network?" Well people, that's why I have you. I only have one friend that supports me. And I've got my girls and their families of course.

And I agree with Candace that if looking like me is supposed to be "before" then I'll take healthy me any ole' day.

And Grammy, yea, there sure a lot more wrinkles aren't there? That stuff happens to us older weight loss people and the worst part is the skin doesn't go back to the way it was. It just loses all it's elasticity when it gets older.

Hmmm, never thought of posting a picture with my shotgun. When I get one I'll have to have to do that. I've got a picture of my granddaughter in her full army gear holding her "big" gun and she looks so weird. Well, here are her before and during army pictures. You be the judge.












She served a tour in Iraq and thankfully made it home safely last fall. She is a tiny thing and even lost weight while in Iraq. She said they didn't have uniforms small enough for her and she just had to keep hitching up her britches.

We had frost here this morning. How about you? Fall has fell, for sure here in the mountains. I was wrong about the leaves. They still aren't at peak so the pictures will have to wait. Maybe just another week. So please be patient. There's a road up here called the "Scenic Highway." It's about 15-20 miles of nothing except scenery. No houses or businesses or anything except God's handy work. It traverses a mountain top between here and Snowshoe. The speed limit is 45 MPH the whole way and is all state forest. Most of the year there is NO traffic on this road but in the fall you can't go one mile without passing several vehicles. They don't even use any snow removal equipment on it in the winter and close the thing down. They keep it closed all winter for winter sports people. People can cross country ski there or take their snow mobiles on it and have some fun. That's where the prettiest fall pictures can be taken and is where I will go.

My eating hasn't been too good the past couple of days. It seems like my body is craving certain things. One day I couldn't get enough fruit and just kept eating and eating it. So much so that I had to resort to canned fruit because I ran out of the fresh stuff. Then yesterday it was beef. Probably because I hadn't had any for at least 3 weeks. When I get these type of cravings it's not at all like the cravings for the chips and candy. Those I can sometimes talk myself out of, but the cravings that I've had the past few days almost hurt. Does that happen to you? Or am I just an odd old lady?

Enjoy your weekend.

You Don't Look Like Yourself...

Well, I know one thing for sure. If I wasn't afraid to live by myself before the gun class I'm a little scared now. Not a lot because of where I live, but...Some of the horror stories he told to try to make a point were not pleasant. Especially home invasion stories. Think I need to get myself a shotgun to keep by my bed. Now comes the hard part of finding one that isn't so heavy I won't be able to lift it.

While standing in line to shoot at a target (with rubber bullets) my friend looked at me and said, "You don't look like yourself. I think you need to stop losing weight." Bull hockey, I think I look like myself! Who else would I look like? I know she's just jealous because she's supposedly been trying to lose weight along with me but won't give up desserts or sweet, sweet tea and she is the one that I finally talked into changing to olive oil and she is still using a half inch to fry in. I keep trying to tell her that she only needs 3 TBSP. at the most but she is a stubborn cuss. (She's lost 15 pounds in the last year and a half.) She invites me to her house for dinner at times and I refuse to go because of that. I invite her to come here to eat and she won't do it because she's afraid I'll starve her. After explaining to her what I was having one evening she was surprised and said that would probably fill her up. She still won't come unless I have something that she thinks isn't diet.

I took out a pork roast to thaw and am going to make homemade hand pulled barbecues for supper then freeze the right portions for myself for later. I'm going to call her today and invite her to come for those. She's been here before and had them when Cara was visiting and I never told her that every thing they were made with was low fat and sugar free. TeeHee.

Haven't felt bad yesterday or today so it must have just been a 24 hour bug. Thanks for all the well wishes. They made me feel loved.

Have a great weekend.

Yucky Wednesday...

Something crept up on me yesterday morning. At first I thought it was going to be a migraine because I started seeing flying triangles in my peripheral vision and got really sick to my stomach. I contemplated taking something but decided to wait and just lie down for a while (even though I'd only been up for 15 minutes or so). As the clock slowly turned I got slowly yuckier. Was running a fever off and on all day. Hey, that's just no fun without someone here to fuss over you. Even had to fix my own meals and still let the dogs in and out. Good grief! (Can you tell I haven't been sick since hubby died?) I feel better now, as in, really fine. Must have been some kind of 24 hour bug or something. Or maybe I'm just feeling alright now and it will hit me in a little while. Either way I thought I'd go ahead say hay, to y'all while I feel good.

So, weigh-in yesterday was a wash. I lost the pound that I'd gained last week. Whew, that's good. And I think I've decided that only stepping on the scales once a week instead of the multiple times a day is the only way I'm going to lose weight. I did some looking back at the weight losses or gains and was eating the same amount of calories both ways. The only difference was that I just couldn't stay away from that durn scale. It must have stressed me somehow and caused the mind to not let the weight go. So now I'm a firm believer in the once a week scale hopping. That seems to work for me, anyway.

I've got a class to go to tonight from 6 to 11. One of my neighbors talked me into it. It's a gun safety course. I haven't figured out yet why I'm doing it since I don't even own a gun but hey, it's something to do. I've talked about getting one ever since hubby died and never have. Living alone was a little scary at first but I've gotten used to it. Since we moved up here we rarely locked our doors but after his death I started battening down the hatches every night and anytime I leave the house now. The only person I see in my driveway that is uninvited is the man from the power company that comes to read my meter once a month. Guess that's one of the advantages of leaving all the trees in front of my house, no one knows there's even a house here unless I've invited them.

The leaves are really turning here already. Which is 2 weeks early for this region. They will be in full color by this weekend so I will take my little jaunt to capture some pics for you and post them next week.

Have a great day our there in blog-land.