Today Was a Better Day...

Hope that all of you are safe after yesterdays weather through the mid to eastern US. We had a prediction of sever storms with hail and possibly tornadoes but all we got was a ten minute horrible storm and high winds, gusting to approximately 50 mph. I would love to have an anemometer to actually measure our winds sometimes but they are way too expensive. Luckily the power didn't go off this time around. I think it's because I am playing boyscout. I'm always prepared when I hear a prediction like that with extra water drawn and all the candles in the middle of the dining room table ready to light.

Hopped on the scales this morning for the first time in a couple of weeks and have lost another pound. Now this kind of maintenance I can handle. It makes me feel really good to know that I have formed so many new healthy eating habits. The real test will be this summer when I have company a lot, which means eating out some, and when corn on the cob is in season. I could easily eat a dozen ears at one setting when it's fresh out of the garden.

I've started crocheting something different this week. I'm making fashion scarves. They are about 2.5 to 3 inches wide and 55-65 inches long in varying patterns and colors. They are really fun to make. Here's a picture of three that I have finished. They are made from a soft shiny cotton. Will post one on a model (me) when I decide to put on something other than jammies. I did order more sock yarn when I ordered the yarn for these so I'm still into the socks too. Just have something else to work on so I can switch off now and then and not get too bored.

Later y'all.

I Know it's not Mothers Day But...

Give your Mom a hug. If she's not close enough to hug, give her a call. I'm having a really hard time right now missing my girls. One I haven't seen since August and the other since Thanksgiving. It was so much easier on me when Larry was alive. I had him to keep me company and distracted from missing them so much. But now, alone, I need them more than ever. What got me into this mood is the fact that the one that lives closest to me was coming next week for about a five day visit. Now it looks like that may not happen. I may be getting ahead of myself in getting depressed so soon when they may still come but...my heart is aching. This horrible economy is what is causing them to maybe not come. I even offered to pay for their gas but the fiance may have a chance to work with a friend during his vacation to make some extra money and I really can't blame him for jumping on that opportunity. Still...

Yesterday's eating wasn't so good. I stuck with the proper foods but ate a little too much of it. That happens from time to time and I know things will be better today. Mainly because I feel that whatever I put in my mouth right now may come back up because of my mental state.

Does anyone out there know if pasta freezes well?

I was so disappointed yesterday with a pot of Chili I made to freeze. The grocery store was out of the regular brand of diced tomatoes that I usually buy so I bought another brand. Big mistake!! I didn't know it until after the pot was finished and I was having a cup of it that the other brand of tomatoes I purchased was sweetened (and the label didn't say this). I know lots of people prefer their chili and spaghetti sweet but I'm not one of them. The only thing I could think to do was add vinegar and unfortunately I didn't add enough before I divided out and froze the portions. So now when I take my one cup containers out of the freezer I'll have to add a dollop more vinegar to get rid of the sweet taste.

Can you tell this isn't a good week for me? Hope yours is better.

Check out the Jillian Michaels giveaway over at Pudget!!

Groceries and Gas...

I decided to play hooky for the past couple of days. Just didn't have anything to write about. And not much in the mood to surf the net either. So I'll be catching up on your lives here in a little while.

I finally went into town and did some grocery shopping. Whew, I was out of a lot of stuff and the grocery bill was rather high. But the good news... My local grocery store and a local gas station have teamed up (both are West Virginia chains). Now you present your "Fuel Card" at the beginning of your checkout for groceries and at the end you get money put on your fuel card for a discount on fuel. Woohoo! I chalked up 37 cents PER GALLON yesterday. The catch is that I have to use it by March 31st. No probem there. That is a wonderful way to help out the economy locally. Everyone needs groceries and then you get a break on fuel. Can't beat that with a stick.

Eating has been rather good the past few days but no exercise. Gotta get back into that phase of my life.

I had a really big dilemma, well not so big actually. I had scheduled the dogs grooming on the same day and time next week that I was supposed to be in Lewisburg for some tests. Well, this was a no brainer. I just changed the tests to April. I mean the dogs are way more important than a bunch of tests, right? Actually I changed the tests because I don't like the thought of driving over those mountains in the winter when there may be a snow storm before or during my trips. Would rather make all appointments down there in pretty weather. So my tests will be on April Fool's Day.

I just love the way I've rearranged my living room. So glad I did that. Now I've got to tackle my desk. I have a great "piling" system that I have to get a handle on. There's just no room for a file cabinet and I have a couple of those small file boxes under the desk but they are both full. Guess I'll have to go through them and cull out some stuff. I hate doing that. It hasn't been done since my husband died (he always did it) and invariably he threw something out that in a couple of months we needed. I loved that I could blame him for it but now I'll have to blame myself and I hate that.

Hope your week is going well and healthy.

Goodbye Snow...

How wonderful that the entire country is thawing out this weekend!! I'm thrilled and I'll bet so are you that we can all get outside this weekend without wearing 12 layers to keep warm. I didn't have any plans but think I may at least hop off the mountain to get my mail. And then see what happens.

But first, I'm sticking my head in my freezer to see what is in some of those bottom bins. then tweak my grocery list a little for Monday. Would go to the store today but I really need to go to the bank and it won't be opened this afternoon, so that can all wait until Monday.

Have a fun weekend.

$%#* &^$# &%$# and piffle-snot-boogers-crap...

Those were a few choice words I YELLED after the satellite Internet guys just left. I haven't gotten on-line all day waiting for their call to get directions on how to find me. They were supposed to be here between noon and 5:00. They finally called at 4:45 and were here by 5:30. They told me when they called to get directions, that it would take 4-5 hours to do the installation. I informed them that was fine with me. So after they got here they discovered that I live in a log home and the dish can not be mounted on a round surface. So they are going to have to dig a hole and put the dish on a pole behind the house. To do this they have to call some company called "Dig Safe" to get permission to dig and this company has to come out and survey the ground to make sure it is safe to dig. GOOD GRIEF! I told them that we built the cabin and I know where every electrical, phone or gas line is and where all the plumbing lines are. But he wouldn't accept that. So it is rescheduled for next Friday between 8:00 AM and noon. I decided I wanted the early time this time. Watch it snow a big one next week and they won't be able to get up the mountain. At least it will be the same guys and they already know how to get here.

I weighed myself this morning and haven't gained or lost. Woohoo! So that means that the maintenance is working.

I did remember to put the HRM on the other day and burned 358 calories in 15 minutes. That's a good burn! Didn't do any formal exercise yesterday because I was deep cleaning my living room and moving all the furniture to different places. I had forgotten how heavy my coffee table was. After lugging all the furniture around I felt that I had gotten enough. And my arms and legs are sore today from it. :o)

Have a great weekend.

Still a go...

Ate well yesterday and got my exercise in!!

It's as "cold as a witches tit in a brass brassiere" here.

For some reason I can't get warm this morning. Think I'm going to have to leave the propane turned up a little from now on at night. I've been up for about 3 hours and the temp has only raised to 64 degrees from 50. I've got on as many clothes as I can and still move around. At least the sun is out so maybe some of the snow will melt.

Just got a confirmation call from the Internet installation people. So far so good. It dawned on me last night that I will have a different email (besides my gmail) and will have to change it with all the places that I do business with on the Internet. Yuck. Guess I'd better start making a list so that I won't forget anyone since I will be cancelling my other Internet provider. What a pain in the butt. And then again I won't have to worry about all those stupid businesses that send me stuff I don't want and have been trying to get cancelled.

Stay warm out there.

BL and Highspeed...

I was setting here watching Biggest Loser last night and the local (well, not so local because it's over 200 miles away) news started running crawls across the top of the screen warning of a winter storm warning in my area. They kept saying "stay tuned." So I did, even though I was droopy eyed and really wanted my pillow. They were saying that there was going to be an additional 8 inches by 6:00 this morning. With the 4 that fell yesterday I wasn't looking forward to having a foot on the ground. So I get up this morning and trudge down the stairs and glance out the window to an almost clear driveway. WHAT? The 4 inches is down to a dusting. I must have really slept hard last night because for that to happen we had to have had one heck of a wind storm last night. So the sun is out again and the weather service says another 2 inches today and one tonight. Yea, right. I think they are crying wolf and if they keep it up we won't listen to them when one really hits.

Well, I've gotten my hopes up again. Sure hope this time I'm not disappointed. I got a solicitation call yesterday telling me that satellite Internet is now available in my area. They identified themselves as being with my satellite company. I said, "heck yes, sign me up." Then he started getting my info and when he asked me for my credit card number my doubts began to surface. Mainly because my satellite company has my credit card on file because that's how I pay my bill. So I tell this guy that I'm not going to do that and that I'll be checking him and his company out and get back to him. I call my provider and after talking to them for a while find out that this guy is from their main competitor. So I'm told during the conversation that yes indeed high speed Internet is now available in my area, (and it's cheaper than what the other guy quoted me) and proceed to sign up for it. They are supposed to come Friday between noon and 5:00. Cross your fingers that they will show up this time and get me hooked up. Then I'll be able to watch MizFits videos, yay!

Eating was good yesterday but no exercise. Gotta do it today.

Yay, hump day is here!

Houston, We Have...

Snow! It finally started yesterday afternoon and it was just about the prettiest snow fall I've ever seen. It was perfect as snow falls go. And it's still going. Not too much accumulation so far (4 inches) but enough to be really pretty.

I remembered to put my HRM on yesterday when I did the WiiFit Aerobics and get this... I did it for 15 minutes and burned 358 calories. Tell me I wasn't sweatin'. I even ran for 2 minutes! It lets you set your own pace and then calculates some sort of percentage. After you reach a certain percentage it unlocks a longer run. Right now I'm sticking to the 2 minutes. That's enough for this old body. It even has a place that weighs you and figures your BMI but it only suggests doing that every two weeks. So I will keep track of my maintenance weight that way instead of the conventional scales.

Karen at Fitcetera is having surgery today. Keep her in your prayers.

Six More Weeks?...

ARGH!!! Maybe I should adopt a new attitude, ONLY 6 more weeks. That sounds better doesn't it? This is my very own ground hog (West Virginia Will). He/she lives somewhere near the cabin because I see him/her often during the summer. Right now he/she is hibernating so there is no chance for him/her to see a shadow, although that is exactly what he/she would have done today. The sun is out and it is beautiful this morning. Well, as beautiful as it can be with all the trees bare of those beautiful leaves that I miss sooooo much. Watched the weather channel and kept checking their maps with the sky outside. It showed that it was raining right now and the sky is as clear as a beautiful summer day. What's with that? No clouds anywhere to be seen. Me thinks the radar is all messed up.

Wasn't that an exciting game last night? I didn't watch it all, tuned in right before half time. So I got to see the best part. But I have to say that I was disappointed with the half-time show performance. Did anyone else notice how off key "The Boss" was with his singing? I have to admit the only reason I ever watch the super bowl is to see the new neat commercials. I sat there slack jawed with them. Those were the stupidest commercials I've ever seen. If they had a good one in the first half, I wouldn't know but the second half was horrible. I wasn't even impressed with the Budweiser one this year.

I did snack too much yesterday, not necessarily during the game but snacked none the less. I'm sure I'll pay for it this week. Will have to put in a little extra effort on the exercising to compensate.

Hey, I've finally quit going to my canisters to turn on my microwave (after changing my kitchen around a couple of weeks ago)! It is a lot more convenient this way and I have a lot more counter space. I'm not the kind of person that keeps the counters in the kitchen pristine. I believe in keeping all the things I use all the time out where I can get to them easily. So it is a little cluttered at all times. I can't even imagine storing all the things that are used in cooking and getting them out each time they are needed. I'd have to spend too much time getting out and putting away and would be too tired to actually cook.

Have a great week!

Hula Hoopster...

I'll tell you what, that Wii can kick butt. I'm having a blast with the hula hoop. I did it three times this morning trying to better my time with each try (which I did, BTW) and I was sweatin' like a pig. I had my doubts before the WiiFit arrived, that it was just boring and too easy. But now I know it isn't too easy. Needless to say I'm a lovin' it. I'm having some difficulty on the balancing part but I can handle the aerobic portion just fine. Will have to put in some more practice on the balancing to get better. I didn't even think to put my HRM on to see what the calorie burn was but will next time and report in.

Sure is pretty out today. Supposed to be up to 50 degrees. Talked to my neighbor this morning and he said there was a really bad storm coming. The National Weather Service doesn't say anything about it but the neighbor said it is the talk of the county and they are usually right. We shall see.

According to some of the comments about my going on maintenance, some of you think I won't be here anymore. Hey guys, I ain't goin' anywhere!!! I still need you. You are my support team. I can't maintain without each and every one of you. So if some of you thought you'd be gettin' rid of me, it ain't gonna happen. I'm here to stay. And besides, I'd miss you and what goes on in your lives too much to leave. You're my nationwide friends!!!!

Injoy Super Bowl Sunday!!