Yep, I’m Doing It!

I am now over a week back on WW. I feel like I am doing well, although I do have my moments of feeling slight hunger pangs.

I am hoping my stomach shrinks as I eat less and less.

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Don’t get me wrong. I am eating normal types of meals, but I am limiting the portion size.

That’s really my problem you know. I have problems with portion size. I simply cannot look at a steak, or chicken meat and know the right size to eat. And other items like bread, potatoes, and chips, well I’m a goner! And we won’t even mention cake!

I have been weighing and measuring everything that goes into my mouth and tracking it all. I will keep up the good work. Weigh-in is next Wednesday!

The Friday Five

The Friday FiveAnother week has gone by and here I sit thinking of all that has been happening. There is so much going on worldwide, but for simplicity, I will just keep my list to things that are happening here.

  1. Anneliese seems to be getting better. After months of having itchy skin, it seems the anti-fungal is healing her skin up! Yay!
  2. However, Anneliese’s vision is getting worse. I don’t think she sees much any more. She still smiles and cuddles and I am very lucky.
    20190221_094102At night, however, she startles easily if it is too dark, and she walks about slowly. I came out of the bathroom and walked toward her and scared her as she didn’t see me in the dark. She gave out a little yelp and I felt quite bad. I immediately bent down and stroked her and told her it was okay.
  3. The other day the wonderful weatherman said we would have flurries. Well, 5+ inches later, it finally stopped. Having flurries means light snow that doesn’t amount to more than an inch or so. It snowed so hard that we even had a weather alert sound on my phone from the National Weather Service!
    20200108_162004Two days later, we got three inches more. This is all adding up and make things messy as far as getting around. Tomorrow we are due to have warmer weather and this will me huge puddles.
  4. I am still looking for good winter boots. Oh, I have seen beautiful leather boots, but I would never wear anything like that into the snow. Meanwhile, until I find a pair that meets my specifications, I am wearing a very old pair of “snow-sneakers”. They’ll do, I guess.
  5. After a very long time, both Jack and I found some things we needed for the house. Jack found new shop lights for the basement and kitchen, and I found four new area rugs for the kitchen. He is installing the lights now and the rugs will be here later this afternoon.

So that’s it for now. I plan some crocheting this weekend and of course the usual laundry. I’m planning my meals and enjoying them. I will make this diet work…I will.

I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy the weather, wherever you are!

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Throw Back Thursday

Harry & Meghan

Since it was announced last night that Harry & Meghan are basically quitting the Royal Family I thought I would take a look back at the beginning of their life together.

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Oh, it was all sweetness and light when Harry & Meghan made their “love” public and announced their engagement. Call me a cynic, but an actress who had been previously married and had several live-in relationships just didn’t seem like the kinda gal that would settle down with Harry and pop off the expected Royal kids.

Meghan just never really seemed to want to do the requisite charity work. Oh, she loves her title, but basically wanted to sit back and be served.

Eventually, little Archie was born and even that was weird. No showing off the baby and then not showing the baby with his Godparents. Well, it was just strange.

In Africa, Meghan was all for using little Archie for a photoshoot with Desmond Tutu. That was also when she was crying over being mistreated as a Royal!

Now I am sorry. You are given a mansion, completely redecorated, you have servants waiting on you (when they are not quitting to get away from you) and you have more money and things than most of us could ever dream of.

This includes private jet planes to vacation spots, a trip to New York to watch her friend play tennis, (without the baby) and then another weekend where she left her son with Nannies so she and Harry could go to a destination wedding.

19981972-0-image-a-38_1571658887882They made a documentary in Africa and said how sad she is, how hard her life is, and that no one cares about her? Yeah, just didn’t sit well with me.

1192408418Now they are leaving the Royal Family and moving to Canada and hopefully, they will find a way to make enough money to live. (That cracked me up)

Sorry, Canada. Looks like you are getting these two ingrates.

Back To WW

Today I return to WW after a two-month hiatus due to pneumonia, I am ready to return to class. I am so excited to see my friends and to work on myself with the new program.

I actually started back eating the WW Program on January 1st. It’s my New Year’s Resolution and I am hopeful that I can do this.

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I take time each day to plan my meals and cook them and I feel pretty positive about it all.

10519239_10154472254580010_613243843712091899_nI feel like this is as good a time as any to pay attention and just do it. I shall update as I go along.

Strange Dreams & Cooking

Lately, I feel like I have been accomplishing a lot. I wake up with steely determination and I set about a task and get it done.

Monday I woke up after a very weird dream. Anyone who knows me and has visited our home, knows we have a challenging driveway. It is very steep more so in front of the house.

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In the dream, I was looking out our bedroom window and there was a large box van truck in our driveway. It had turned around and was trying to head up the driveway, but it kept slipping down! And then after a few attempts, the truck slid into my house and I could feel the house moving under me. I tried to run but the house began to fall away. Then I woke up. Does anyone want to guess what that dream was all about?

I decided to make a big pot of spaghetti sauce for Jack. Oddly enough I am really not a spaghetti fan, I make great sauce and Jack loves it. So I tend to make big pots of the sauce and then divide them for freezing for future meals. Thus, there was a lot of chopping and sauteing and this is what Jack will be eating for dinner. I think I’m going to do chicken.

Our Christmas tree came down and is put away for another year. It’s so sad because the lights are no longer glowing in the family room. Now I need to pack up my wrapping paper and Christmas cards and wait another year.

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Jack Ryan

People have been telling me for some time that I should binge-watch Amazon’s “Jack Ryan“. Since I have enjoyed all the Hollywood movies to do with Tom Clancy’s hero Jack Ryan, I decided to take the plunge.

I asked Jack if he’d be interested and he said that he would. So starting on Saturday and ending the first season binge-fest on Sunday. We both thought that it was really well done. The script was awesome and interesting, the acting was superb and I would recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed Tom Clancy’s books.

imagesJohn Krasinski as John Ryan was really an excellent casting. He is bold, likable and thoughtful. It’s interesting to see how Jack evolved, met his wife and, well, became the unstoppable Jack Ryan!

If you haven’t watched, give it a try!

7 Things I Love ~ January 5

I was driving around town this morning on the way to get our mail, and I began thinking of all the little things that bring me joy. So, I thought I would start a new meme. I will jot down a few things each Sunday and hope that perhaps, these are some of your favorite things as well.

March 10 Arnie & Anneliese
Puppies! Here are Arnie and Anneliese. They were the sweetest puppies ever! But I do love puppies and dogs and feel the purity of their love.

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Lobster! Need I say more!

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Fresh summer Butter & Sugar Corn on the Cob!

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Walks in the Bavarian forests.

This is me with a dear friend. He is no longer with us, but I think of him so often and the walks we took in the forest and also going to hunt mushrooms!

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Sunset on my Lake Waukewan.

Nov 16 5
A phone call from someone I love.

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Beer. German Beer!

My favorite German beer is Andechs! That is what I am drinking in this stein.

Stay tuned each Saturday for new loves and pictures. Have a wonderful weekend!

Saturday This & That

I started to de-Christmas the house. That’s probably my least favorite thing to do. I didn’t decorate a lot, but the house did look a little merry and bright.  I am dragging my feet about taking down our little tree because I love Christmas tree lights. Sometimes I sit in the morning darkness with only the tree lights on. There is something so peaceful when I do that.

Soon I will take my little tree, engulf it in a giant plastic trashbag and store it for another year. One day I will have a big tree again, but while we have “Leaping Lili”, I just cannot take the chance.

Anneliese did not have the kind of day I’d wanted for her. She was fussing and not comfortable. So, I am hoping that Saturday will bring her relief!

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My daughter sent me this picture of my grandchildren. When I look at those beautiful happy faces, I smile and I can just feel the love.

Happy Saturday, Everyone!

27643294581_6c024a9b1b copyThe handsome Mr. Arnie.

The Friday Five ~ January 3, 2020

The Friday Five
Welcome to 2020! Here we are the very first Friday of this calendar year. Here is what happened in my world on Thursday.

1. It was the morning of January 2nd and I was getting progressively worried about Anneliese. I knew she had some sort of fungal infection, but suddenly she is pacing around, crying and acting really strange.

I knew her Vets were off last week and I wasn’t sure they would be in today, but at 8:45 I called and explained what was going on. I got an appointment for both Anneliese and Arnie for 1 PM.

It’s that time of the year when they both need their shots, anyway. So doing a two-for only made sense.

2. Arnie was great, just slightly underweight. He is just like his Daddy and very picky about his food. So I need to pay a little more attention to feeding him. He had all his shots, which included his Rabies shot, and he was done.

Anneliese took a lot longer. She is ill. She has another UTI and also a fungus infection on her skin. They decided to look at her blood and although her vital organs look good, they could tell she was a sick little girl. They did not want to do her shots today, as they’re reluctant to overload her immune system while she is ill.

3. She is home now and after two hours she has finally settled in her little doggy bed. I had washed it this morning and dried it, so it is all fresh and clean for her.

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4. On our way home, I stopped to get a few things at the grocery, and also stopped at the Post Office to get our mail. I had two drivers who just blew my mind for being rude.

The first was a young man who looked pretty tough in a pick-up truck. He had blocked the public parking with his big truck. I motioned that I wanted to get in and he flipped me the finger. Okay, not feeling comfortable getting out of my car and addressing him, so I had to go all the way around the block and approach the Post Office from another direction.

Next, as I put my blinker on and went to pull into a space in front of the Post Office, a man pulled in front of me and then stopped. Leaving one place in front of him open, and then there was another car. Parallel parking was never my strong suit. Well, this time I hopped out of the car and tapped on his window and with my nicest voice, and a big smile, I asked if he could pull forward, so I could legally park.

Well, he looked at me like I had six heads, but put his window back up and screeched his tires, but he did pull forward. I waved and smiled but he continued to grimace.

There are two things I would like to point out, first, please do not block public parking. I mean, please, just don’t do it. Also flipping off an old woman like me is also not cool.

Second, please do not pull into the first parking place and stop. In this situation, parallel parking stinks for anyone in a larger vehicle. Right now our Main Street is really narrow due to all the snow.

Okay, that’s the end of my little parking rant. And that really was my only gripe for the drive I took.

Arnie & Anneliese

5. The drive to my Vet’s Office, which is 23 miles away, was a beautiful one. There was snow all around the side of the road, (the roads are clear) and glistening fresh snow in the mountains, making everything look splendidly white and beautiful. The two pups really enjoyed the ride too. Well, at least Arnie did.

It’s my hope that by tomorrow morning, Anneliese will be feeling so much better.

A Crazy, Lazy, Day

Well, welcome to 2020! Did any of you make it up until midnight? Not me. I went to bed at 9 PM and when Jack came in to take the dogs for their last commune with nature at 12:30 I was completely asleep and never heard him or woke when the dogs returned. And on the flip side, I didn’t wake until 7 AM! So we are talking a very long winter’s nap!

I watched part of the Tournament of Roses Parade, but eventually turned it off and switched over to The Incredible Dr. Pol. The Parade is not what I recall from my youth. There was a lot of hip-hop music, and rap music. Neither of which are my favorites. I like the Bands and the Floats made of flowers.

I love The Incredible Dr. Pol, as I am in awe of Veterinarians and their ability to take care of man’s best friend. But Dr. Pol goes further. He takes care of all the farm animals as well.

After that, I turned on Amazon Prime and watched a few episodes of What Not to Wear. Another old show that I love. With Prime, I can watch the first few seasons of the series, which I’ve never seen.

All through this, I worked crocheting. Tonight’s dinner is a series of leftovers from the last few days. I need to clear out my fridge!

The birds have been out a lot today pecking away at the suet feeders. With all the snow/ice, there is nowhere else for them to eat.

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Ah yes, these little creatures are my joy!