HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA...

It's Me Again...

HELLO everyone!! :o) :o)

No, I'm not sick. No, I'm not on a cruise. No, I haven't left "healthy-land." I've just been preoccupied and not much in the mood to blog. I don't really have much to say lately because I haven't been doing anything extraordinary. Been just doing mundane stuff and since it doesn't interest me, I didn't figure it would interest you either.

I'm more or less stuck at 185-190. Tried to get down to 180 but I think my body likes it here, so here I'll stay.

Our summer weather has been rather cool. All the new summer clothes I bought are a little too skimpy for this kind of weather. Suppose it will get warmer eventually. I probably shouldn't complain because I know a lot of you are having heat waves, but I'm ready for warm enough weather to be able to open some windows and the door to let some fresh air in but haven't been able to do that more than a couple of times, and here it is more than half way through June. ::talk about a runon sentence:: It also has decided to be a wet summer so I'm having a hard time finding it dry enough to get out and mow the lawn on a regular basis. But I do take advantage of a sunny day once in a while and mow, mow, mow.

The weekend's just around the corner, working-blog-buds, so enjoy it to the fullest.

I HATE TO CLEAN THE KITCHEN...

I think you all know this if you've been reading me for any length of time but yesterday it got ridiculous. When I got home from my shopping trip on Sunday with my "chatty buddy" I just unloaded the car onto my kitchen table. Groceries, clothes, empty water bottles, etc. After putting away the cold stuff from the groceries I vegged out the rest of the evening. After all, shopping IS hard work :o)

Well, yesterday (around 4:00 PM) I couldn't stand it anymore so I started on the kitchen. Ran some water for the dishes while starting to cook my supper. I finally got the kitchen done at around 11:00 last night. Yep, it took me that long. No, it wasn't that dirty or cluttered. I just couldn't make myself stick with it until it was finished. I'd wash a few dishes, then go to the computer, then back to the sink where the water had escaped and had to run more (that happened 3 times), then back to the computer. I think I'm addicted to the computer. What do you think? Maybe I need a life :o) Don't know if I've ever told you but I almost have my masters in computer programming (that's where I met my last hubby). Course that was before the Internet was so popular and they didn't offer classes on HTML and the other stuff that is so popular now (you know like back in the olden days). But that's how I got addicted to computers.

Thanks for all your great comments on buying clothes, it was fun and to heck with the gas costs. It's kinda funny because all I really bought was stuff to wear around the house. That's what I was lacking in. I bought 3 pairs of carpi's made out of t-shirt material and 7 t-shirts (all on sale of course), and some undies and athletic socks. I was so looking forward to the comfy carpi's that I put on a pair with one of my new t-shirts and pranced around thinking I looked grand, until I looked in the mirror. Oh, well, that's a story for another time. After having supper where I had spilled some on my new carpi's (but they wash well) I noticed a 6 inch row of little holes in them about mid thigh. ARGH! and I had already soiled them! Now I know why they were on sale. I grabbed the other two pairs and checked them out at length and they are ok. Think I'll just ravel out a piece of fabric and put a funky patch on them, after all they are just for around the house.

My eating was great yesterday and it showed on the scales this morning :o) Got outside yesterday afternoon and fired up the weed eater and hit the sides and middle of my gravel driveway. I almost fell about 3 times going down the steep part and decided then and there that I'm no spring chicken and I'll leave the driveway for someone younger when they come to visit. Got the replacement blade for my lawn mower and now I'm ready to get out there and mow, but it doesn't need it, durn. I'm not the type that likes a lawn cut too close. I like it green and lush looking so I'll wait a few days.

Have a great day blog-buds!!

My Weekend...

Had a nice weekend. Took a friend shopping and out to lunch for her birthday (2 weeks late, but we just couldn't hook up earlier). I over did it eating wise but that's ok. I don't feel bad about it because I expected to do that. Am back on it today.

Spent 7 hours with the friend and I don't think she ever took a breath. She talks constantly!! But I love her just the same. Don't think I'll be calling her for a few days. Need some peace and quiet :o)

I had to go shopping for some summer clothes. I only had one pair of shorts that fit and jeans and they are too heavy for around the house in the summer. Found some good bargains but had to hit several shops to find them. We won't talk about all the gas I wasted looking :o) But I'm all set now.

Hope your weekend was grand!!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

I talked yesterday about blogger giving me fits with not keeping the posts current and now there is another problem. Or at least I think it's blogger. For some reason I can't view Sandy's "A working Mom's joy" or CYa Girl. Every time I try to read their posts I get an error. Is that happening to anyone else?

I keep looking at the forecast every morning to see if it will be conducive to mowing that day and it looks like it will be Sunday or Monday now. Then this morning as I was setting on the throne it dawned on me that my mower isn't in working order right now. The bent blade is in the back of my car and I had totally forgotten about it. So, if I'm going to get out there and cut that high grass I'd better head to the hardware store today and get that blade.

"Weight loss is relative." By this I mean...I've lost 70 pounds and when I started on maintenance I felt that I looked pretty durn good. And all my friends and relatives were calling me skinny and such. But now that I've been on maintenance for a few months I feel and look fat again. I can remember looking at my legs a few months ago and thinking, "Wow, they are skinny." Now not so much. So, what to do? Do I go off maintenance for a while and get more of this fat off or do I just accept myself as I am? I started out at 250 and have gotten down to 180. At 5' 4" that is still obese, but a lot healthier than at 250. When I started this weight loss/healthier me program I had 150 in mind for my goal. Then when I stalled at 180 and became obsessed with food and so miserable I decided to stop there. But now I don't know what to do. If I get down to 150 will I look at myself again in a few months and have the same thoughts? Will this turn into an eating disorder? That kinda scares me. What are your thoughts?

Have a great weekend!

What is that Smell?...

Not much going on in my life right now and I'm a-lovin'-it. Company is nice but I much prefer my routine.

Got an email from the company last night that he had cooked a burger for my dogs and left it on the grill. I ran out to the grill and opened the lid and whew, the smell hit me full force. That sucker got frisbeed into the woods.

Gotta head into town today to get some staples and stuff. Don't really want to do it but I must.

And the durn grass is going to drive me crazy with all this rain. I think I can actually see it grow. Looking forward (NOT) to a couple of dry days so I can mow. Now I know how my hubby felt when he looked outside and grumbled about the grass. It's right up there with all the dishes that keep getting dirty and needing washed. Think I'm lazy? Nah, not me!!

Hungry? Not Me...

I just scrolled down my blog bud list and discovered some that I hadn't visited in a while. Actually, it said they hadn't posted in several days or weeks but the titles looked different to me so I checked them out and found out that they had posted in the past day. What's with this blogger thing? So sorry if you haven't gotten a comment from me in a while and thought I was snubbing you but I wasn't . I was counting on the blog list to let me know when you had posted a new blog and it didn't. I will be more careful in the future and check in with you no matter what the date says.

I'm having a rough time sticking with this "diet" thing right now. Don't know what is wrong. I'm not eating the wrong stuff but just too much of the right stuff. I gotta get my butt in gear and quit this. And the worst part of it is I'm eating when I'm not hungry. Don't know what has gotten into me. And instead of my usual one cup of soup, I am sometimes eating another cup, thinking that tasted so good I'll just have another. There is one day's menu that will keep me on the straight and narrow but it gets so boring that I can't seem to stick with it for more than a couple of days. And if I go off it, I over eat. I just have to get this 9 pounds back off so I can continue this maintenance correctly.

Been having some trouble with one of my doggies. He has been nipping lately and out right bit me the other day. There was another dog involved when he bit me but he wasn't in the middle of a ruckus with the other dog. He was nipping at him from across the room for no reason and when I reprimanded him he turned and bit me. It didn't bring blood but bruised my hand. I'm going to keep an eye on him and try to find something that he has done wrong and try the reprimanding again and if he turns on me again, I'll have to have him put down. It's just too dangerous to have a biting dog around. The worst part is he has always been the gentle one all his life and his sister has been the high strung one and now she is the gentle one. They are 10 years old now and that isn't really old for a small dog but maybe he is getting senile or maybe it's because he only has one eye and the sight in that eye isn't very good. I just don't know.

Have a great Hump Day!

Bat and Carpenter Bee Update...

But first, forgot to mention that the tunnel we visited Sunday was carved using only hand tools. That is what makes it so awesome. And you can see by the size of the people standing in front of it how huge it is. Don't know why I forgot that little tidbit. And as we were walking through it in the dark the neighbor that visits it regularly informs us that people ride horses through it all the time and that we may step in a pile. We all just froze wishing we'd brought a flashlight. But we ventured on and didn't get our feet dirty.

Now on to the unwelcome critters in my life...

I subscribe to a free magazine called West Virginia Wildlife that is published 4 times a year. In it for spring, they had a long article on bats. They told how to keep the bats out of your house and when to do it. It's not the time of year to do it right now because they talked of doing the stuff to the outside of the house but if I can get someone to help me we can bat proof my cabin from the inside. Just gotta find someone that isn't afraid to get on a ladder and help me. If you're interested in subscribing to the magazine and since it's free, click here. Then click on subscribe at the bottom. It's not a very big magazine but it has some really neat stuff on the critters in this mountain state. Oh, and in the article on bats they said the droppings are great for gardens. Thank goodness I only have one or two and don't have to worry about shoveling the stuff up, or I'd use it on my flower beds.

Now to the bees...Orkin was just here 2 weeks ago and the bees are really active. Have to dust their residue off my coffee table daily now. So I called them last Friday to let them know that what they did the last time didn't help at all and got a call this morning that Jeremy is on his way to do something that should stop the problem. Cross you fingers that this treatment will work. I'm so afraid that they will continue to eat on my main roof support beam that my roof will come tumbling down on me. The bees are so bad right now that even setting on my porch they buzz me. So I haven't been doing much setting there.

And speaking of flower beds (back there somewhere), my company loves to piddle in the yard so she cleaned out one of my flower beds and my dragon bed. She even painted my dragon. Well, she gave it a base coat, and I'm going to work on highlighting the scales and stuff when the rain stops. But here's a pic of her when she finished.

Have a great week!

My Sunday...

Company just hit the road for home. So sad to see them go and so great to have the house to myself.

They brought their new puppy (6 month old lab) with them and my dogs were none too happy about it. They were really grumpy and fussy. So much so that we had to separate them a few times. When they come to visit I give up my bed for them and I take the couch. I was awakened every morning by a really thorough face washing by a LARGE tongue. I knew it was time to get up and let her out to potty. She is a very well behaved and sweet dog and I wish I could have enjoyed her more but mine wouldn't let me.

We had some neighbors (mutual friends) over for dinner last night. Burgers on the grill. They always bring beef with them from the half cow they purchase every year. I was watching him make the burgers to put on the grill and was aghast at all the fat in them. I was leery about eating that but didn't want to hurt his feelings so I ate only about half of mine without a bun or bread and I fixed a few veggies to go along with them. The neighbor brought a cake (oh, drats).

While we were setting there eating and talking about things in the county that are fun to see I remembered a railroad tunnel that the neighbors had told me about several times and that is really hard to find and I've never been there. So in between dinner and cake we all hopped in the car and took off to see it. And I left my camera home, drats! So the pics are from the web. This is a really neat place and really off the beaten path so the only people that see it from out of the area are probably those that hike or bike the Greenbrier River Trail.

The tunnel is 511 feet long and really dark. We started walking and just as the light behind us started to fade we could see a bend in the tunnel up ahead and a little light. It was really enjoyable. Just outside the tunnel is a bridge that used to be a railroad bridge and has been converted into a walking or biking bridge.

While on the trip there, I was riding in the backseat and talking to the two ladies. I started getting car sick so had to face front. I keep forgetting about that little problem of mine and keep hoping I'll out grow it but I don't seem to be able to do that. Just as were were entering the town on our way I had to hit a restroom in the worst way. It wasn't the car sickness but the fat in those burgers that hit me all of a sudden at the other end. I know TMI. But I really won't be eating that much fat again. And to think that was such a part of my previous life. "I've come a long way baby."

When we got home I had a very small piece of the cake and smothered it in fresh strawberries from my companies garden.

Hope the weather holds out today so that I can get out there and walk some. I may even start up the weed eater and head down my driveway hitting the sides and middle to get it to looking like someone lives here :o) I was really surprised that I enjoyed the weed eating the other day so I won't be dreading it so much any more.

Hope your Memorial Day is a grand one and the weather is cooperating for the picnics many of you are going to.

Company and Walknng...

Company's here and we are enjoying each other. Went for a really, really long walk (well, for me it was long) yesterday. Have no idea how long it really was but it was so long that I treated myself to a soft serve ice cream afterward. Actually it was right before coming home to fix dinner so we had our dessert first. Dinner was grilled chicken breast, baked sweet potato and a salad. It was so yummy. Mainly because all I had to do was bake the potatoes and make the salad. Ron grilled the chicken and he does it so much better than I do. It was moist and tender. Mine seems to be hard and dried out. I never can figure out how long to leave chicken on the grill and always have the fire too high. Maybe I should have watched him but I didn't think to.

Waiting for the rain to start today and last all week.

Enjoy the last two days of your long weekend.

Grass Cutting Disaster...

Yesterday started off as a good day. Got the windows done. Then it went downhill from there. On my first sweep of the yard I ran into an old gas line that the propane man had just thrown down there when he replaced it last fall. It was hidden in the grass and bent the lawn mower blade in an almost 45 degree angle. I was pissed. I had heard my neighbor with his weed eater a little earlier so I waited until I thought he was inside and called him to come have a look at it to see if it could be bent back in shape. In the mean time I got the weed eater out and after 300 tries got it started. I couldn't start it last week and I finally figured out why. It didn't have any gas in it. Well, DUH! So I finally got it started yesterday and proceeded to get rid of the high grass around my flower beds and the fire pit. Then I thought what the heck. I started on the rest of the lawn. Have you ever cut your entire yard with a weed eater? It ain't fun. Ernie showed up as I was about half way through and I took a break while he tried like crazy to fix the blade. It couldn't be fixed. He'd brought his lawn mower up when he came and got it down off the truck and finished the yard for me while I hit the perimeters with the weed eater. He is such a great neighbor and friend. I am blessed to have him.

I waited for him to leave and stripped down on the porch all the way to my undies (Bet you can't do that) so I wouldn't track grass all over the house. Boy that shower felt good.

Grabbed my Kindle and hit the swing on the front porch. So the day ended nicely.

All I had to eat yesterday was a chicken sandwich, a couple of ounces of cheese, some pretzels and a huge salad. Then before bedtime, some rice pudding and a granola bar.

Company called last night and are heading my way this morning, so I've got a lot to accomplish before they arrive. I thought they weren't coming until tomorrow but they surprised me.

Have fun this weekend y'all.

My New Technology...

Have you ever had a "well, DUH" moment? I seem to be having them a lot lately. I'm having a hard time getting used to my DSL. Hey, did I tell you I have DSL? Just kidding.

It's making me realize how long it takes to form new habits. I will sometimes be online and wonder if someone tried to call while I was online. Well, DUH, I would have heard the phone ring. But I catch myself picking up the phone to check my voice mail. And there's the times that I'm setting here and get hungry and jump up to get myself a sandwich and think to myself, "I'd better disconnect first in case someone wants to call." Then it hits me that I don't have to do that anymore. It's been almost a month now and these thoughts are getting fewer but they still happen.


Hey, I didn't share with y'all what I got for Mother's Day.

I'm a lovin' my new Kindle. It is a little weird getting used to not turning pages to read but I think this habit will form eventually too. Well, gotta fess up, I bought it for myself for Mother's
Day. But the girls were both thrilled that I'd gotten it so I just think of it as being from them. I don't want either of them spending their hard earned money on me. And what on earth could they get me anyway. They know that if I want anything I'll get it for myself.


I just finished cleaning all my windows and am having a bite of lunch before I go out and cut the grass. (Of course I'll let it settle a while first, don't want to get sick.) Got company coming Sunday and will have a lot to do Saturday to get ready for them so I couldn't put it off any longer. I hate cleaning windows!


Have a great holiday weekend!

A Welcome Critter...

Didn't check in yesterday (weigh-in day) because I was really disgusted. The 2.5 pounds that came off last week were back on this week. I have no idea why! I'll just keep on doing the right thing and it will come off eventually. But it is a real bummer.

Just had to share another "critter" with you. At least this one isn't inside the house. But I was really happy to see it. I have a family of ravens living near the cabin. You can't tell by this picture but they are huge. They are bigger than either of my cats and almost as big as my dogs.

I do enjoy watching them, though. I can sometimes see them flying off my porch and more than once there was something in their mouths. So I'm pretty careful not to leave anything laying around out there that I want to keep. I did catch sight of a clothes pin once.



Hope you have a great Friday.

More Critters???

GOOD GRIEF!!

The past couple of nights I was hearing something downstairs after I went to bed. Sounded like one of the cats roaming around, but...the cats are outside. I kept coming down here to check it out and found nothing. Just before bedtime last night I heard it again near the back door. I have a huge box there that I collect junk mail and old bills and stuff to burn. It was coming from the box. I picked it up and shook it a while and no sound or site of anything. Then I picked up a another small box that was in there partially crushed and EEEK, a mouse! The whole big box is now on the front porch on it's side hoping the mouse has escaped. But it will stay out there for at least another day to make sure. I'm not really afraid of mice (I think their cute), but I don't want any in my house.

My eating has been good but I'm back up to where I was when I started trying to lose this 9 pounds. Drats!! I'll keep at it though. Have to get out there and mow the lawn in the next day or so and that will help burn some calories.

My Internet was down from yesterday until just now and I was really having withdrawals. Guess I could have cleaned the house instead of pining away for Internet, but...that's too much like work.

Have a great day!

EEEEEWWWWW...

It's cold out!! No wonder I slept so well last night. I have a hard time sleeping when I'm hot.

I moved my bed out away from the window yesterday. Why, you ask? Well, here goes another bat story. Get ready. You're all going to say EEEEWWWWW.

This pic gives you an idea of what I'm talking about when I say that I have high ceilings. See the apex way up there? That's where the bat comes in. Either there or through the one in my bedroom and I'm bettin' it's the one in my bedroom because...

I was lyin' in bed, night before last, just sleepin' away and all of a sudden felt myself being pelted with little thingys. I jumped up and turned on the light and found bat droppings all over the top of my bed. These were dried up ones and they look a lot like mouse droppings except they're a little bigger. (Now comes the EEEWWWWWW's) So I surmised that a bat had just entered the cabin and dislodged some of the droppings he'd left while hiding out up there in the daylight. I ran downstairs and grabbed my rainbow sweeper with all the long attachments, I paid extra for, and proceeded to climb on the bed and sweep up as many droppings as I could from the crack in the apex, and of course from my bed.

So now my bed is in the middle of the floor and I'm thinkin' about changing things around up there and making it catty cornered, but don't know if it will work or not. I really can't sleep under that apex anymore until I can find someone that can climb up there and seal things off. I've tried to get someone to do that but can't find anyone that is willing to climb that high on a ladder and do it for me. And believe you me, I'm not getting on a ladder that high up. It's about 35 feet off the ground on the outside and I'm too old for that sh&%.

Was going to mow the grass again today but it's still too wet. Looks like I'll have a good opportunity to do it any day this week as there's no rain predicted.

Have a great Sunday!!

Two and a Half Pounds...

YAY, 2.5 pounds gone this week. And here I was fretting all week, hopping on the scales daily and sometimes 2-3 times a day. Just "shows to go ya" that you have to be patient and wait for a whole week to be over. I know this next week won't be as grand. I always did have a big (well, this was big for me) loss on the first week after a huge stumble. Stumble? More like rolling down the mountain. Remember doing that when we were kids? You got started and couldn't stop until you got to the bottom? Thank goodness I did stop before hitting bottom. I'm even thinking that I may try to get a little more off this time. I don't know for sure, it will all depend on how long this 6.5 pounds takes and how I feel at that point. I stopped at 180 because I had become so obsessed with dieting that I wasn't a happy person anymore so we shall see how I feel when I get back down there.

And when I do get back down there I'm going to remember something I saw on Biggest Loser a couple of weeks ago when they sent everyone home for a month. When Jillian showed up at her teams homes she stressed allowing ourselves some comfort once in a while and just remember that we all have to allow it and learn to deal with it through our calorie counting and exercise. I'm going to have to find a way to allow myself the little extras without going overboard.

Have a great weekend!

Life of a Mountain Woman...

Yay, the Orkin man came on time. Did his regular spraying inside and out and then he brought the extension ladder in the house. He had to climb up to my ceiling which is about 25 feet up. He checked and checked and couldn't find any bees or ants (of the carpenter variety), but he laid out some ant bait. He didn't want to spray the stuff needed for the bees in the house. So we took the ladder outside and set it up there and he climbed again and the bees were swarming up there. Well, not really swarming, but there were about 5 of them and they were very active going in and out of some cracks that I can't reach to caulk. He still couldn't spray what he really wanted to spray because it is in a huge back-pack that he wears and its so heavy he's afraid he'll get top heavy on the ladder and come tumbling off. So he's going to go back to his boss and see if they can't rig something up so that he can spray from the ground 30 feet into the air. He's even afraid to wait my normal 2 months for the next appointment. He says as active as they are he'd better come back in a month or less.

Then...I'm lying in bed reading last night trying to get sleepy and see something out of the corner of my eye. I look that way and there's nothing there. So I go back to reading. Then it happens again. I put the book down and look really good this time and find nothing. I got up and walked all over the bedroom and look over the balcony to the living room and find nothing again. So, it's back to bed and the book. When it happened again I was quicker and discovered a bat flying around. Oh, joy! I watched it for a while and since there was nothing I could do I just read some more and then went to sleep. I've come to find out that they won't bother me since they are just flying around up toward the top of my ceiling. And...there's no way I could ever reach them to take a broom or anything to them to bat them down. I'm just a brave mountain woman, I guess.

Eating was really good yesterday. Hopefully today will be the same.

Have a great Friday and weekend!!

Disillusionment...

Yesterday was a bust. Neither thing I mentioned in yesterday's post happened. Right after I posted I started having to run to the bathroom (and I do mean run), so I had to call and cancel taking the dogs in. Then the Orkin man never showed up. I called the office around 5:30 and they had no idea why he hadn't come. He just called a little while ago and told me the office was supposed to call and let me know he was running some one else's route yesterday but they didn't. So he's coming today.

Eating was much better yesterday, mainly because I was afraid to eat too much. I didn't want to spend too much time in the bathroom. But that part of it passed after a few hours and the "feel bads" took over. I spent most of the day lying around. So far today I feel fine. Must have been something I ate on Tuesday.

The fun of the new Mini computer has worn off. Actually it is more like a disillusionment. That thing may be 3 years newer than my main computer but it is 3 times slower than the main one too. You would think that being that much newer it would be faster or at least as fast. Setting down with it and surfing the net is almost like having dial up again. It's not quite that slow but almost. My first thoughts when I got it were that I'd use it for the web and that way I wouldn't get viruses on my main one but I can't stand the slowness of it. I did a defrag on it last night and haven't tried it this morning to see if that helped or not.

Not much planned for today except waiting for the Orkin man. At least he told me he'd be here between 2:30 and 4:30. That's when he usually comes. Was going to take the walk around my driveway and take pics for you guys but the weather isn't going to be conducive for that until Monday at the earliest.

Have a great day!

No Walking Shoes...

I sort of went on an impromptu walk yesterday. I started out just walking around the yard and then kept seeing something else and before you know it I was down one side of my driveway and looking back up. The worst part was that I didn't have on walking shoes. I had on my winter clogs, just because they were by the door and easy to slip into.

Does any one know what the names of these flowers/plants are? The purple one, I found in the woods around here several years ago and transplanted it by my porch. I've never been able to find out what it is but it is definitely a wild flower. The other two are ground cover that has been given to me and I wasn't told the names of them. The bushy one with the yellow flowers on top is really soft. Even the leaves are as soft as a feather. It sends off underground shoots and pops up just anywhere it wants too, as you can see in the last picture of the little lone plant.

My eating wasn't any better yesterday than it was the day before. Still famished all day. I didn't "splurge" on anything, meaning that I ate all healthy foods but there was still too much of them. My official weigh-in day has changed since I started on this on Saturday. So we shall see what this Saturday brings. But I have been hopping on the scales every day and have watched it go down and up for the past 5 days. Today it's back to where it was when I started again on Saturday.

Did you watch Biggest Loser last night? It was great. I was so pleased with both winners. Since this was the first season I've ever watched I didn't know what to expect or how things worked. Needless to say I was glued for 3 hours. Thank goodness for my DVR so I could go potty and, unfortunately, hope up and make myself a salad.

I almost missed the beginning. I was so tired around 7:00 that I was lying on the couch and dozed off for just a little while. Then what do you know but I couldn't get to sleep when I went to bed. Kept turning the light back on and reading some more until around 2:00. And with a busy day ahead of me. Have to take the dogs to the groomers and go back a pick them up before Orkin gets here. My carpenter bees are back.

Have a great hump day!

Ups and Downs...

Things aren't going as well as I had expected. The first 2 days of my "getting back at it" were great, then came yesterday. I was famished all day! I did learn one thing for sure. I have a few favorites that I can eat that keep me on the straight and narrow. I ventured off into another world the day before yesterday and tried some other stuff. That was my downfall. The downfall didn't happen the day I had the other stuff but the day after. So maybe I'll just stick to the things that are my faves and see if that helps. Just do the same ole, same ole and maybe I won't eat the entire kitchen. Actually when I did eat the entire kitchen it was the good stuff but almost half again what I had planned to get these pesky 10 pounds back off.

I did get in some exercise on Sunday. Got outside and mowed the lawn with my self propelled push mower. You do remember that I live on a mountain, right? That's why I have the self propelled kind. It's "fairly" flat where I have to mow but there are some places that I couldn't push the heavy thing around without the automatically turning front wheels. It took me 48 minutes to get just the mowing done. When I paid a young whipper snapper to do it he had the yard mowed and the weed eating done in 30 minutes. Me, I didn't get the weed eating done around the flower beds or fire pit. I couldn't get the durn thing started. I just don't have the strength it takes to pull that cord to start it. So the weeds will just have to wait until my daughter and her fiance come to visit or I may get out a pair of scissors and set on my bum and scoot around them and clip away. At least I did remember to put on my heart monitor and found out that I'd burned 850 calories in that 48 minutes.

It's supposed to be pretty again today so I'm going to walk around my place and see if I can take some halfway descent pics of the new spring growth. You'll find out tomorrow it the pics were good enough to post.

Have a great week!!

Happy, Happy...

Wishing all Mothers out there and Happy Day!!




And for you non-Mothers, you need to have a Happy Day too!!






Award time!!

Thanks VRaz60 for the award. Now I feel really special.

And I'm passing it on to 5 more super bloggers:

Cammy of The Tippy Toe Diet: You've helped me so much along the way. You have been my true inspiration. Thanks.

Maryfran of A New Start Losing Weight: You have given me insight into eating healthy while still cooking the things I love. Thanks.

Grammy of The Kintz Family News: You are always a delight to read. I enjoy your little stories and the wonderful pictures you post. Thanks.

JC of This and That With JC: You are a wonderful person to get to know. Your faith has boosted me more than you will know. Thanks.

Donna of Losing the Fluff: You have shown me that even if we stumble we can pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and get right back on the wagon with fervor. Thanks.

I hate this...only 5? There are so many more that I want to mention...I gotta make it 6.

Cara of Cara's Weight Loss Journal: I wouldn't be your healthier Mom if it weren't for your inspiration. And you are the one that introduced me to blogland and all my blog-buds. Thanks.

Ok, I still don't like to be limited so consider every one else that I visit regularly on this list too...You have all helped me so much.

Just right click on the award, save it and post it on your blog somewhere and pass it along to other deserving bloggers.

Have a great Sunday!!

I Miss You Momma...

Mom and me.

My Mother left this world in the summer of 2001. I miss her so much.

I've been thinking a lot about my weight and my childhood lately. I've heard and read so much about eating disorders being caused by an unhappy childhood. My weight problems didn't come from an unhappy childhood. Oh, don't get me wrong, my childhood was not a happy, happy one either. The first 7 years were wonderful and then along came my brother. He was the apple of my Mother's eye and he could do no wrong. I have been so jealous of him all his life. He joined Mother in February of this year and I'm here without either.

I didn't realize until Mom was on her death bed that she loved me too. She was in a drug induced coma for comfort during her last few days. The nurses had a hard time cleaning her unless I was there. She would fight them even in a coma. When I was there I'd get real close to her face and talk to her really sweet and ask her to just concentrate on my voice and the cleaning would be over soon. She'd stop struggling and do just as I said. They tried that with my brother and the struggling would just continue, so they got to where they'd wait until it was my shift with Mom to do anything that she didn't like.

So for those of you out there that faced similar emotions growing up, just remember that a Mother's love is a wonderful thing. Even though you may think she doesn't love you as much as a sibling, she does. Maybe she just doesn't show it when you want her too. And for those Mom's out there raising children now, remember to make sure you divide your affection equally so they won't feel this way.

My weight problem came from LOVING food and a "fat gene" inherited from my Dad's side of the fence, not an unhappy childhood. I can't remember even one time that while unhappy I turned to food for comfort. Don't know if it was because of being raised in the times that I was or what. Maybe it was because I didn't stay in the house much as a kid. Anything interesting to do was done outside, even in the winter. I was born in the times before television and even after it came along there was only one channel and it was boooorrrrrriiiiinnnnngggg to a kid (except on Saturday mornings...cartoons, yay).

Mom was a great cook. We always used to laugh that all she had to do was stick her finger in the food she prepared and it would come out wonderful. That's what she passed on to me. A LOVE for food and her cooking skills. I even LOVE all those green stinky veggies that a lot of people turn up their noses at. But most of all I LOVE butter. Real butter not the fake stuff. Mother always cooked with lots of it and it began to show on my body in my early 20's. Guess I was too active before then for it to show.

Mom would be so proud of me and my weight loss. She never put me down because of my weight but would in subtle ways let me know that she wished I was a healthier weight. She worried about my health so much. Wish she were here to see me now and know that I am healthy for the first time in 40+ years. She'd be amazed to find out that at this ripe old age I take no meds for my health. But...maybe she does know and she is probably smiling down on me now with that proud smile you only see on a MOTHER.

I LOVE YOU MOMMA!!

A Reveltion and Some Other Stuff...

This is going to be a long one, so if you don't have the time right now, please come back when you do.

1. I think I'm back!! Decided this morning while waiting for the coffee to brew that I have really been missing blogging and reading blogs. I think I'm all caught up on my blog-buds. I visited most and commented on most of those. I didn't scroll down too far and get all caught up on what has been going on in your lives but I did read the past 2 or 3 that I've missed. Reading all of your past posts that I've missed was just too daunting and I was afraid I'd quit before I visited everyone. I got some inspiration back that I really needed. I read so many that I don't remember who said what but they all helped me in some way to get back the control that I need.


2. When Linda and her little family came to visit weekend before last I had bought some cookies for the 4 year old. I brought them home and placed 3 each into little snack size zipper bags for her. Just wanted to do a little something extra for her to remember visiting grandmother's house. It did tickle her and she was a doll in offering to share with every one else too. At least she only wanted to share one cookie with me. I'd have loved to eat the whole big bag but I kept telling myself they were for her not me. When they left to go home I packed all the little left over snack bags up in a larger bag for her to take with her and was relieved when they were out of the house. Then came the bad surprise. A few days later while vacuuming I found one of the little snack packs under my ottoman. Oh, DARN!! I purposely hadn't bought my favorite cookies, but cookies are cookies and I had to have one. I closed the bag up and threw it on my kitchen counter and continued to vacuum. I found the bag on my counter last night and they started haunting me again. So in the trash they went and I don't mean just throwing the bag in the trash but emptying the cookies into the stinky stuff so I wouldn't fish out the bag and decide they weren't ruined. One demon gone!!


3. Exercise is hard for me. I hate to do it to begin with (and I realize I'm not the only one) and I hate it even more by myself. I haven't done anything all winter. The Wii even fizzled out after about a month. I guess I'm one of those people that sees something that I don't have and want it and am sure that I will use it all the time and realization sets in and I've found that I've wasted my money. So while this rain continues and I can't get out into the woods and walk I've got to make myself get on the Wii. How about once a week to begin with and then work it up from there? And I've been thinking that I may go out in between the rain drops and hit the driveway. Go down the steep part and up the curvy part. Think I'll take pics on the trip and show all of you. Think that will help until I can get out there where I want to and enjoy the woods?


4. I've got to get the eating under control. When I started on maintenance I quit journaling my calories. I figured I knew what to eat and how to eat. I just added a little more splurges than I did while struggling to lose this 70 pounds. Now I know that this is the wrong thing for me. I've got to get control back and the only way I can do this is to count calories again. I've got to do a little research to see what the right calorie intake is for me to maintain or even lose a little more. But I'm ready to do that now. So, Spark People, I'm coming back.


There's more I want to talk about and I've made myself some notes on them. I'll just save them for another post so that I don't exhaust you any further.


Enjoy today and look forward to tomorrow. And to coin a phrase on one of Jimmy Buffett's songs, "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move on."

Rain, Rain, Go Away...Come Again Some Other Day...

Never made it to the falls to walk. Was hoping to be able to do it every weekend but the weather hasn't cooperated. It started raining well over a week ago and hasn't stopped. It hasn't been continuous or hard but with every day predicting 80-100% chance I just didn't want to get down the falls and have to walk back up in the rain. If it were July or August I wouldn't mind but it is still a little chilly out to be walking in the rain. Clear skies are predicted for this Sunday so hopefully I'll be able to do it then. I've invited a friend to join me so we will see if she comes through.

Still haven't received pics from my daughter of our trip down there. She's been having Internet problems off and on and it seems when it is on she is too busy to set down and send them. She will eventually and I'll share them when she does.

One nice thing with all this rain is that the leaves are on the trees now. There wasn't a leaf to be seen weekend before last and now they all have them. So things are starting to get green again on the mountain. I know it has been all the rain we've had but the bad thing is that my yard needs mowing really bad. Can't do it in the rain so it will just have to wait.

I just finished reading Deception Point by Dan Brown and it as a good one too. I've either read it before or it was turned into a movie and I saw the movie. But which ever it was, even though I remembered the basic plot I didn't remember most of the things that happened or who the "bad guy" was.

My durn dogs!! They started growling and boofing early this morning and wouldn't let me sleep. I wasn't ready to get up yet but they relented so I couldn't sleep. I just let them back in and the little boy went back upstairs and back to bed. I think when I'm finished here I'll go upstairs and bounce on the bed so he can't sleep. Pay backs are hell.

Eating has been ok. Not good or bad. I haven't gotten off the pounds I put on yet but at least there's no more creeping on.

You'd of laughed at me last week when the guy came to install my DSL. Lazy ole me wasn't lazy that day. He was supposed to be here between 8:00 and 10:00. By 10:00 I had two loads of laundry done, the dishes washed and put away, the sweeper run and showered. Actually the shower came first just in case he came at 8:00 but he didn't make it until 10:00.

Have a great weekend out there in blog-land.

What an Alarm Clock...

At six o'clock this morning some one on the mountain hit the panic button on their car's remote lock thingy. Good grief!!! I hate it when the owners of the cabins that don't live here year round come up. They are city folks and have no regard for the peacefulness of the mountains. You'd think that was the reason they have a cabin up here anyway. So, today is going to be a long one for sure.

My weight is up a little more than I feel comfortable with so I'm going to start today to do something about it. Think if the weather clears some I may go to the falls by myself and do some walking. And take some pictures of my own since my daughter has never sent me copies of the ones she took last weekend. She's been really busy and I understand but I am by nature an impatient person.

There have been some personal things going on in my life that have had my mind pre-occupied. That is why I have not been too regular on here and why I haven't left many comments on your blogs. With the mind on other things it's hard to come up with encouragement for someone else. Hope you will forgive me.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Pics as Requested...

I HAVE DSL!! Oops, I think I already mentioned that. Well, you know how old people are. We forget easily and repeat our selves a lot. So I know you will understand :o)

This first picture is with a coffee mug and the second one is of the mini sitting on top of her big sis (my regular laptop). Just in case you still can't tell, she measures 7" by 9".

I haven't gotten on the scales since last weekends fiasco but I have been eating correctly and healthily since then.

I HAVE DSL!!!

YAY, finally!

Got hooked up this morning. I had to call the telephone repair man out again last week because of my phone cutting out and while he was here I mentioned that I wanted DSL and lo and behold he said he could get it for me. They were having a promotion and I got a mini Dell laptop free for getting DSL. So I'm setting here on the couch and trying like crazy to type this on this LITTLE computer. Sure isn't easy with long nails.


Haven't received pics from my daughter yet but I will post them as soon as I get them.


Happy Wednesday, out there y'all.

Nice Weekend...

Hey guys!! Have those of you in the east been enjoying the warm summer weather as much as I have? Don't think we are going to have a spring here in West Virginia. It's just moving from winter into summer. We had snow last Wednesday and by Friday it was 86. This old broad ain't complainin' at all.

New Jersey daughter and her family came to visit this weekend and just left this morning to head back home. I had a wonderful visit and hated to see them go, but that's always going to be the case.

We went to the Falls of Hills Creak yesterday and I am so out of shape I only went half way down. Was hard to get around all evening after that. Will have to work on my stamina now that the weather is better. I'll have pics for you later in the week cause I forgot to take my camera but Linda took hers and will email me the pics. There has been so much rain lately that the falls were awesome this time. Instead of the trickle last summer the water was roaring.

We went to Food and Friends Saturday night for supper and I over did it a little but it had been so long since I had gone out to dinner I just wanted something special. They do have a lighter fare on their menu but I wanted to try something that I hadn't had before and I got their stuffed chicken breast. You'll have to check out their menu and see all the scrumptious stuff they offer, or maybe not because it'll make you drool. But, hey, I worked it off at the falls the next day so I hope that compensated for it. At least now that I know how to eat and have been at this for almost 2 years I'm sure if I gained anything I will be able to get it off soon. It's also really cool that I don't eat nearly as much as I used to even when I over indulge. It amazes my daughter that I only eat half my meals now and am full. She remembers the old me that used to eat everything that was put in front of me.

Hope your weekend was a wonderful as mine and hope you have a great week.

Alive and Kickin'...

I'm still alive and kickin'. Haven't been sick but have been reading a lot. That's not the real reason that I haven't blogged. I just haven't been in the mode. Sorry I scared a few of you and probably made a lot of you happy to not have to read my dribble. Just haven't had much to say or advice to give lately.

I went out to eat Friday before last, celebrating a birthday. Ate a little too much of the wrong things (pecan pie, yummmmmmmm) and gained 4 pounds. It's back off now and I'm not panicking like I was that morning that I had gained. I've just sort of given myself a 5 pound leeway in either direction since I've been on maintenance and really wouldn't care if it dropped below that 5 pound lower range I set for myself but definitely don't want to go above the high mark.

Was really pretty here yesterday and I was able to go out and sit on my swing for a while. Looks like today is going to be about the same and then the cold will be hitting some more. Sure hope we don't get that snow storm that is hitting Colorado. This has been a really long winter, not a bad one, just long. And I'm really tired of it. That may be part of the reason I've been absent lately.

I'm also pretty lonesome. No company since December and that has added to the longness of the winter. I know, I know, some of you remember me complaining about all the company I had last spring and summer and are laughing for sure now. But I really didn't mean to jinx it all by complaining and then no body visiting at all. I could hop in the car and go to visit some family that's only about 4 1/2 hours away but it just seems like too much of a hassle for me to do that with my dogs. They are welcome at the families homes but it is a hassle to have to take them out to potty on a leash all the time and I found out about a year ago that I can't trust them not to run off. I got a real scare when they disappeared on me and only the little girl came home. Luckily a neighbor found my little boy and called where I was staying to see if they knew who he belonged to. Since then I have gotten name tags with my phone numbers on them but it is still a hassle that I just don't want right now. They aren't happy being boarded and it just adds to my stress when I have to do that. So I guess I'll just stay home and hope someone comes to visit soon.

I'm into the Jesse Stone books by Robert B. Parker and they are really good. I discovered them when watching a Jesse Stone (starring Tom Seleck) movie and noticed that it was adapted from a book. There are 7 of them and I went on Amazon and order all of them. The really nice thing about reading the books now that I've seen one of the movies is that I can picture Jesse as Tom. Whew, and that is a nice picture!!!

Have a nice weekend!!

Good Reading...

I just finished reading "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. WOW!! It was a great book! I'd had it for several years and hadn't even cracked it open because it was 700+ pages and I wasn't ready to get into something that long. Well, let me tell you, I couldn't put it down the last couple of days. I figured I'd better get it read since the movie is coming out this week and I know I'll want to be going to see it. I hate to read a book after seeing the movie so I got right to work on it on Sunday.

Just had my first whole wheat pasta for supper. It was yummy, 'course the cheese I put on it probably helped the taste a whole lot. Will try it with my spaghetti sauce this weekend. I won't be buying the white stuff ever again.

Happy Hump Day!!

More White Stuff???

So far so good today on the phone service. I almost wish it would just quit all together so they could find out what the problem is but then I wouldn't be able to call them to tell them it isn't working. What a conundrum.

Good grief, I thought we were through with this stuff. It started snowing here yesterday late afternoon. We've got about an inch and they were predicting less than a tenth of an inch. It's funny how the entire community/county was talking about getting ready for the snow on Tuesday. They started talking about it last Wednesday. It amazes me how the people in this area are better at predicting the weather than the meteorologists.

I am sick to death of washing dishes. I guess I'm gonna have to just quit cooking. Wonder if I quit cooking then I could quit eating too? Probably not a good idea. It seems that every time I get all the dishes cleaned up I decide that I want to play "Suzie Homemaker" and start cooking again. Oh, well, it's just a vicious cycle, I guess.

Got the test results on my mammogram and bone density test and all is well. Guess I'm all set for another year. There's only one other test the doctor wants me to take and I have refused to do it. She wants me to have a colonoscopy. My problem is that the only place they will do it is approximately 60 miles away and I can't just go there in one day and have it done, nooooooo, the doctor there wants to see me first then set an appointment for the procedure. Then there's the problem of not having anyone to go with me and drive me home after the procedure. That's the biggest problem. So that one is not going to happen any time soon.

Have a happy day out there in blog-land.

The Phone Again...

I'm having trouble with my phone line again which means that my dial up doesn't stay connected either. So, if you're missing me, I'll try to visit everyone that I can in between the phone cutting off. It has taken me three tries to get this far.

Other than that, things are fine with me and nothing new's happening.

And...News...

Just got back from Lewisburg and having my mammogram and bone density test. Piece of cake. Gee, they didn't even have to squish them so much since I've lost all this weight and they are already flat :o), and for the first time it didn't hurt. My appointment was at 3:00 and I timed it wrong and got there at 2:30. They took me on in and I was on my way to Wal-Mart by 3:08. I just love that place. It's the first place I've had tests done that I don't have to wait. I didn't even get to open my book to read for a while because they were on the ball.

I stopped on the way to the tests and had lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. I had a petite sirloin, 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and a salad. Washed it all down with water :o) I was such a good girl!!

Hit Wal-Mart on the way home and guess what....go ahead and guess.....I'll wait.....

I got a new pair if jeans, and guess what size they are....go ahead and guess.....I'll wait....

SIZE 12

I'm so excited!!

AND

I got a smaller size bra!

AND

They had whole wheat pasta.

Still no whole wheat tortillas but they will get them eventually. It was just six months ago that I was complaining that they didn't have the pasta. Guess WV is a little behind the times in getting the up to date stuffs.

Looking at myself in the full length mirror at the test place made me feel really good about myself. I don't look half bad. I don't have any full length mirrors in my home and the ones in Wal-Mart where you try on clothes are the pits. So when I went to Wal-Mart I threw my shoulders back and acted like I was the most beautiful person in the whole store. That really lifted my spirits. You aught to try it sometime.

And all of this is not an April Fools joke either!!

Love, Love, Love...

I had all these plans yesterday morning that got foiled or at least delayed a little. It was about 11:00 and I was just about to start making some chicken salad and rice pudding when all of a sudden the power goes off. WHAT?!?!? The sky was blue, no rain, no snow, no wind. I hooked up the trusty "old" phone (the cordless doesn't work without power) and called the power company to report it. They already knew but I did it just in case they didn't. I was told by a recording that it would be out for about 7 hours. So I got my Sudoku puzzle book out and settled in on the couch. The phone rang and it was my sister-in-law from Virginia.

I had a banana with peanut butter for breakfast and wasn't looking forward to a cold lunch and possibly a cold supper but there was nothing I could do about it. While talking to SIL the power came back on. It was only off for a little over 2 hours, YAY!! By then my tummy was growling a bit so I decided I'd hop up and start supper. I was so hungry and was going to try a new recipe and decided to have it for lunch instead. I made Grammy's Cabbage Burgers, YUMMMM. I made way too much filling for them so I ate a few of the burgers for lunch (they were real small) and had the left over filling for supper with a salad. Never did get the chicken salad made but did get the rice pudding done. Chicken salad is on the agenda for today for sure.

David tagged me with a love thingy.

The rules are that you list 7 things you love and tag 7 bloggers that you love.

1. I love my daughters (does that count as two?)
2. I love my dogs (there goes another two)
3. I love God.
4. I love my cabin.
5. I love my mountain.
6. I love reading.
7. I love ALL of my blog buds.

Sorry happy to say that there are way more than 7 bloggers that I love so I couldn't choose. I have tagged you ALL.

Have a great, great weekend out there.

Spring? Weather...

Yesterday's weather was down right eerie. As I've shown you before we get fog in the valley in the mornings and I've even shown you the fog around the cabin. Well yesterday was different than any thing I've seen so far in my 6 years up her on top of my little world.

This fog was in the valley ALL day. Poor folks down there didn't see the sky at all. It even crept up between the mountain across from me. And stayed there.Then there was this beautiful sunset, still with fog. I tried to take a picture of it but couldn't capture it.

At one point I ran outside because I saw smoke billowing up from just below me. My neighbors across the road have been burning brush and I was afraid it had gotten away from them, and it was fog. Really a strange day out there.

The deer were back and drove my dogs crazy. I wouldn't let the dogs out to chase them, so they just sat on the top of the couch at the window and barked for over an hour. I tried to get a picture of them through the window but it didn't turn out with the screens in the way so here's one that I took last year while riding my ATV.

But the same ole same ole in here. Eating was good again yesterday. I made bran muffins to freeze and had a couple before freezing them. YUMMMMMM.

Have a great weekend y'all.

The Weekend's Getting Closer...ARGH...

Yesterday was a great day! Eating wise that is. And that's the only way it was great. I don't want to become one of those old ladies that tells everyone about their ails so we'll just leave it at that.

Anyway back to the eating part. I had a ham sammie (210 calories) for breakfast then talked my self into heading to town to grocery shop. (And believe me that was a long and hard talk I had there.) I had intended to eat out while there even though it wouldn't have been healthy eating. I just thought it would perk me up a bit. I was on my way home when I realized I hadn't stopped to eat. Well, I wasn't going to turn around and go back so I just came on home and fixed myself a frozen french bread pizza (432 calories) as a treat for lunch. Then the ails came and I took a short nap. I had a large salad for supper with creamy Parmesan dressing and an ounce of whole cheddar cheese (169 calories). My snacks included a serving of rice pudding (60 calories) and a banana (106 calories) with peanut butter (190 calories) on it. Bringing my total to 1167 calories. And I wasn't hungry when I went to bed! Got a good nights sleep last night so maybe things will be better today.

It's so funny about me and grocery shopping. I hate it like the plague and put it off until I just can't wait any longer. Then when I get home and get everything unloaded it feels like Christmas. I'm so happy that it's done and the cupboards and fridge are full. I've been that way all my life.

I was a little disappointed with myself last night. While talking to a friend that is having trouble with his cholesterol and weight. I was sharing a couple of recipes with him and realized that I'd forgotten to get any turkey smoked sausage. Bummer! But there's no way I'll go back into town today and pick it up. It will just have to wait until next week. I'll get it when I head to Lewisburg for my bone density test and mammogram on Wednesday.

Anyone ever had a bone density test? Wonder what they do to you? I really don't think that I need one since I'm prone to calcium type kidney stones but the doctor suggested it and one of my daughters talked me into keeping the appointment to use it as a baseline. And I guess at my age I should have stuff like that checked out.

Hope everything's rosy out there your way.

Tears on My Pillow...

Goodness, gracious! Does any one else out there need to make sure the box of tissues is handy when you get ready to watch The Biggest Loser? This is my first season watching the program and it's the first series I've ever watched that has made me cry so much. Have they all been like this? I despise Tara and I think it's because she reminds me of my brother's wife, or does anyone else feel the same?

My eating wasn't so good yesterday, after I went and bragged about how it was going great. I ended up going to bed with a really full stomach and I knew I'd pay for it. I did. NIGHTMARES! It seems that I just can't find what satisfies me and I continue to try to find just the right thing. Maybe it's because I'm just tired of my own cooking. There just isn't any where around here that I can go to have a healthy meal out. Does that mean that I have to have an unhealthy one once in a while to make me stay on track at home? I don't know... I'm really bumfuzzled about this one.

Hope you are having a stellar week!

Better Eating and Phone Problems...

Thanks for all the well wishes and suggestions in your comments yesterday about my binge. It sure does help to get it all out here and especially to know there are those out there that understand.

I think it's hormonal. Not sure so I'm keeping a diary for a week documenting my cravings, sleep habits, times that I eat and what I eat to see if there is a pattern. I may keep that up for a month and see if it is hormonal or not.

I am more bored than usual on the weekends. Since I'm retired I don't have a set schedule during the week that is much different from the weekend. But my girls are busy with their families and I don't get to talk to them much then. Weekends have always been especially hard for me. Usually when I get really bored I can turn on the TV and watch a movie or some old reruns of NCIS or JAG or something I've saved on my DVR from the nightly programming and the boredom goes away. But on the weekends there isn't much on to watch unless I have some stuff taped. My hobbies are crocheting, reading and drawing but unfortunately they don't keep my mind off food.

Yesterday was a whole lot better eating wise and so far today it's been great.

Been having phone problems today. It's been cutting off while online or talking and when I try to redial I don't have a dial tone. Then after a few minutes it works again. This went on for several hours this morning. The repair man just left and of course he couldn't find anything wrong. But at least he did give me his card with his local number and cell number so I can call him directly if it happens again instead of having to go through the 800 number and waiting for a scheduled appointment. He said that if it happened again he'd try to get right over to catch it while it was occurring. Guess it's like when something happens with your car intermittently. If it's not happening when you take the car in they can't find the problem.

Had planned on going to the grocery store but had to wait for the repair man and now I'm just out of the mood. Will have to go tomorrow for sure because I'm almost out of TP and that's just one thing you can't run out of. For some reason my list is twice as long as it usually is so I'm not looking forward to the trip. I HATE grocery shopping.

My daughter and son-in-law have created a new website.



It's really cool. Go check it out!!

Hope you're having a great Tuesday.

Monday, Monday...

This has been a rough weekend. Food addiction took over my life yesterday and the day before. Whew, I'm glad I'm back in control today. I wasn't perfect today but a whole lot better. I sure do know now what an alcoholic feels like. Yesterday by 3:00 in the afternoon I had already had breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was wondering what I would do the rest of the day and contemplated just going to bed and staying there but I wasn't sleepy. So I just had another breakfast, lunch and dinner after that. The worst part about it was that I wasn't hungry just craving so badly that I couldn't resist eating. I never did find anything that would satisfy my cravings and that's probably why I continued to eat all day and evening. I'm ready to take back control completely tomorrow.

That reminds me of a TV doctor I listened to a couple of Sundays ago. He said that Monday is the time to start eating healthy. He said to just make it through Monday. Then think about Tuesday when it comes and continue what you did on Monday. He said to keep that up every day and if you falter one day try the next and if that doesn't work there will be another Monday at the beginning of next week to start all over again. He stressed that even if you can't keep it up all week that the days you did succeed will help greatly in increasing your health.

Hope your week was better than mine :o)

Mental Vacation...

Hey, there!! I'm still among the living!!

Sorry I've been away for a few days. Actually I haven't been away physically but mentally. Just wasn't in the mood to blog or read blogs. You know how that goes sometimes.

My life has been pretty boring this week. The highlight of my week has been receiving the Biggest Loser cookbook that I ordered. Wow, it is a great book. It has lots and lots of great recipes in it. And to beat it all they don't have weird or hard to find ingredients. There are some spices that I don't usually keep in my cupboard on my spice shelf, but that is easily remedied. One other ingredient that is used a lot is whole wheat low fat tortillas and I can't find them here, but I'm going to check into ordering them from somewhere if they don't need to be refrigerated. And if that's not possible I'll just use what I can find.

Yesterday morning while I was using the bathroom first thing, I glanced out one of the windows and there were 4 deer on the bank behind my house. I stood at the window and just watched for a while. Then went into the kitchen to gt my cup of coffee and there were 3 more in the front. I ran back and forth to see if it was the same ones or not but it wasn't. That was a real experience to find my house surrounded by deer. I really love where I live!!

True Confessions...

I was too embarrassed to let you all know what I did last Wednesday, but it's been bothering me so I must 'fess up.

I bought cookies last Wednesday at the store. There it is out in the open. I've been thinking about them for so long and I do love cookies. I'd prefer homemade but I have found out with experience that homemade cookies have a real hold on my willpower. So I decided to try store bought. And before you ask, I did get my favs in the cookie category. The first and second nights I dove in...but...I did stop myself at 4. I just kept telling myself they would still be there tomorrow and that worked. Since then I've "allowed" myself two per day, again telling myself they'd still be there tomorrow. And I have had a day or two without cookies at all. I've put them out of sight so they are not reminding me they are there but in the back of my mind I know I can have one if I want. It's working! And I'm counting them in my daily calorie intake, and enjoying a little treat.

I did this same thing with potato chips and now I don't buy chips often at all. As a matter of fact I haven't bought them in well over a month.

I used the 100 calories snacks in the beginning of this journey and got to the point that I was having several packs a day and decided that wasn't a good way to lose weight much less healthy for me. I broke myself from them by having a piece or two of cinnamon toast as a sweet. Using Splenda instead of sugar and light butter on the toast. It really worked well and the whole wheat bread was so much better for me than the processed stuff. Now I do buy a box of 90 calorie Quaker Oat granola bars about once a month but they don't have the hold on me that they did in the beginning. Maybe it's the fact that I do keep them in the house and know I can have one once in a while if I want but they have lost their hold over me.

Now I'm trying the same thing with the cookies to see if I can get them to release that hold.

We all have to experiment on this journey and find out what works for each of us. I've found that if I am too strict on myself and cut out ALL "treats," I won't stick with this at all.

I also got some strawberries and made my Strawberry Pie last night. Haven't had any yet but am looking forward to a piece tonight after supper. If you're on WW, the pie is only one point per piece!!

In the past I've always said that I wasn't addicted to sweets but I'm beginning to reevaluate myself. I must be addicted to sweets or I wouldn't be wanting them so often.

I still miss my salty snacks but I have found substitutes for them. Mostly I use roasted, lightly salted almonds. When I'm having a craving for salt I grab a very small hand full (about 10) of almonds and eat them slowly one at a time. That does it for me and I'm getting such wonderful nutrients from them. When I started this I did it about 3-4 times a day but now it is down to 1-2 times a day. I can't find almonds locally so when I go to Wal-Mart I do have to stock up. Thank goodness they are sealed and have a good shelf life.

Next I'll have to find a substitute for the cookies. I haven't made my bran muffins in a long while and maybe that will work. After the cookies are gone I will give it a try.

Fog on the Mountain and Run Boys Run...

Things were so strange here yesterday evening. I've never seen this before. We got about 4 inches of snow and it got warm enough to melt some of it during the afternoon. Then in the evening the fog set in. I've never seen fog after a snow before. Woke up in the middle of the night to tinkle and the fog was still there with the full moon visible through the trees. It looked just like it was just before dark when it was actually 3 AM. I picked up the camera and went outside in my jammies and tried to get a pic for you but it didn't turn out.

We get really dense fog here often. Actually I think it's the clouds that are just hanging around on top of the mountain because when it happens I can't even see my car which is only about 50 feet from the front door.

Silly me, I've already eaten the left over smoked sausage. I had it for breakfast. I just couldn't help myself because it was calling my name really really loud (or is it loudly).

Not much on my agenda this weekend. Well, actually there's nothing on my agenda this weekend. Don't you wish you were me and didn't have anything to do? Well, I don't. I wish...never mind what I wish. I could change my life if I wanted to but I'm just to lazy to do that.

Hope you have a great weekend.

PS: I sure wish blogger would fix what ever it is that causes extra line breaks or no line breaks to occur when adding pics. This is driving me crazy!!

PPS: Cammy's having a giveaway so go check her out.

This is weird for me to post twice in one day but I just couldn't wait until tomorrow to let you know how W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L my supper was.

It took all of about 15 minutes to make and was worth a whole lot more time if it had taken me longer.

I cut up an onion and a green bell pepper into one inch or so pieces. Sliced the turkey smoked sausage into bite sized pieces. Sprayed my skillet with Pam and tossed it all in. I cooked it on medium low with a lid until the veggies were tender.

I even had to put a couple of hot dogs in the skillet for a little while for the doggies. They were smelling it and drooling so I decided to give them a little treat.

As you can see from the first picture I had Brussels sprouts and a small lettuce salad with a tablespoon of my Creamy Parmesan Dressing on it.

I used 7 oz. of the sausage with the green pepper and onion and have enough for tomorrow night. Or maybe for lunch tomorrow :o)

Nutritional information for peppers, onions and sausage.

1 serving

239 calories

10.3g Fat

70mg Cholesterol

1084.4g Sodium

294.9mg Potassium

17.7g Carbs

2.7g Fiber

7.4g Sugars

17.9g Protein

I added one more thing to my plate after I took the picture. Didn't want to do it before because I didn't want you to throw up on your keyboard. I like ketchup on my Brussels sprouts :o)

A Reminder that Spring Isn't Here Yet...

Gosh, yesterday was a long day. Not time wise but it sure seemed like it to me. I was hungry all day. I had one of my usual breakfasts, a ham sammie on light whole wheat with light mayo and mustard and less than an hour later I was starving. It usually lasts me 4 hours. And I don't mean just hungry I mean stomach growling pain starving. I tried water and it didn't help. It went that way all day with everything I ate. This morning I've been thinking about it and wonder if it was the Wendy's partial meal the day before, that got the body wanting that greasy yucky stuff. Well, it ain't gonna get it. I kept it healthy with every thing that went in my mouth even though there was a little too much consumed. Hope today's better!

Woke up to about 3 inches of the white stuff on the ground. Supposed to turn to freezing rain sometime today. But I'm gooooooood. Stocked up and ready for anything. Errr, better make sure I have water drawn in case the freezing rain takes down a power line. But I do have a couple of book lights so I won't have to balance the flash light on my shoulder to read. I'm talking about this because the last time I did the power didn't go off with our freezing rain. Maybe that will help this time too.

Got some turkey, smoked sausage links the other day and am going to try that with sauteed onions and green peppers tonight for supper. Will let you know how it was.

TGIF bloggers!

The Evolution Continues...

Good grief, yesterday was a hectic day.

I didn't find out until I stopped at my mail box that yesterday was my Orkin appointment. They just say they will be here the second Wednesday of every other month and being the "oldtimer" that I am, I just can't seem to remember that. I've been relying on the bill they send in the mail to give me fair warning. It's going on my calendar after I'm through here so I won't forget again. And to beat it all I never can remember what time of day they are coming.

I dropped the dogs off and headed to Wal-Mart (an hours drive). Called Orkin as soon as I got within cell service and found out that the last two times they came between 3:30 and 5:00. Whew. That gave me enough time to do what I needed to do and get the dogs picked up and home before they arrived. Got home in time to unload the car and put away the cold stuff, run the sweeper and get started on the dishes in the sink and here he came.

He is such a nice young man. I told him that I had tried to time it to where we would both arrive at the same time so he could help me unload the car and he said he would have been glad to do that for me. He even fixed an elderly lady's bathroom sink last week for her during one of his scheduled appointments.

Now on to the "evolution." I was so stressed and getting really hungry that I stopped at Wendey's and got a single and fries with water. I figured since I'd been really good that it wouldn't hurt to do that once in a while. I could only eat 1/3 of the burger and fries and I was full AND disgusted with myself for not making a better choice. I think the main reason I was full so soon was that it just didn't taste as good as I remember it tasting. When oh when will one of my favorites taste good like it used too? Guess my palate has changed along with my body. I'm really wanting to try a Taco Bell Burrito Supreme but there is none anywhere near me. I think Tex/Mex is my favorite food and I just can't find the stuff here to make my favs or I'd make it myself.

Okay, back to the hectic day... When the Orkin guy left I was exhausted and tried like everything to stick it out until bedtime. I couldn't and crashed on the couch at 6:00 and woke up around 7:30. And I was sore all over! My back hurt, my thighs hurt, my calves hurt and the bottoms of my feet hurt! I hobbled around the kitchen to fix myself a salad and sandwich and sat down to eat thinking that I'd probably be up all night after the nap. Boy, was I wrong! At 10:30 I couldn't keep my eyes opened long enough to read more than a couple of pages of the novel I keep by the bed. Guess that was too much of a day for an old person. I sure miss all the energy youth has to offer. And now I realize why my Mother couldn't keep up with me as she got older.

Lesson leaned. From now on I'm not planning a full day like that one. When the dogs need grooming that's the only thing I'm putting on my plate for that day and a trip to Wal-Mart will be the only thing I'll plan for that day.

It's really hard for me to leave the dogs at the groomers because it really stresses them out and they are as exhausted in the evenings as I was yesterday. I don't think they mind the grooming and all but the groomers helper has two little Chihuahua's that yap at their heals the whole time they are there and they are just not used to being around other dogs. So when I put them in the car to take them I never tell them where we are going :o) But I'm sure by now they know because that's the only place I ever take them. My little boy hates riding in the car but the girl loves it. So to keep from stressing him out I just don't take them for rides. Just in case you wonder why I don't just take her, it's because they act like they are joined at the hip and I don't want to make either of them sad because the other one is not around. I guess I should start separating them some to get them used to being without the other for when I loose one of them.

Happy Thursday, blog-buds!!