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.