12 Plus

The weather man says we got 16 inches, but Hubby swears it’s no more than 12. Walking around today I think perhaps the weather man is a little closer.

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As you can see we have a good three feet of snow sitting in the back yard. Some of it is from the previous storms, but most of it is from yesterday.

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I did finally get Anneliese to pose for me. She’s the cooperative one. You can see how petite she looks next to the snow banks.

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Now here are a few pictures of Hubby as he cleared the path for the dackels. I was shocked to see my picnic table. Now that’s all from this past storm!

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Hubby works hard, but he tells me that it’s good exercise for him. I bet he will be tired tonight.

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This was a small avalanche in front of the green house. Hubby got through it and now the dackels can get to their special place!

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I love this one of Hubby, with my neighbor’s house in the background. Yes, that’s a lot of snow.

I went up to go skiing today, but I must confess that the snow was too much for me. I am an average skier, but I like the conditions to be packed and firm. Today was a powder lovers dream and my personal nightmare.

I kept falling and I got more and more afraid, until I just skied to the bottom, took off my skies and said to hell with it! Hubby wasn’t happy with me, but I have to say, when you feel like I did and you are a simple skier, you are much safer in the lodge!

I came home and took a long hot bath and tried to unwind. I don’t think I am calm yet. There is something terribly scary for me when I fall and end up buried in snow that is as deep as my arm.

I’m trying a new Weight Watchers recipe for Scalloped Potatoes. It smells heavenly. Wouldn’t that be a nice way to end the day, with a nice steak, asparagus and scalloped potatoes?

Saturday

It wasn’t a very productive day today. Besides walking dogs, and cooking meals, I’m not sure I did much else that was useful today.

I think it all sort of caught up to me. I just felt tired.

I did watch a few episodes of “What Not To Wear”, and I decided that their hairdresser sure could use a refresher course on restyling hair.

I watched the news and decided that I was glad I was home in my nice warm house and not standing on some railroad platform waiting……….

I made a batch of black bean soup, only to discover that it wasn’t really a great recipe after all.

I went through my closet and took out the clothes that no longer fit me and set them aside. Some for friends and some for charity.

I stripped the extra fur off the ears of Arnie and Greta, and picked up piles of Fritz fur off the floor. Wow, that dog can shed!

I got the mail and picked up some groceries to finish off the weekend, before doing a big shopping next week.

Wait!

I was pretty productive today, wasn’t I? Well, no wonder I’m tired! I think I need to tell Hubby I need a vacation! All this work and no play makes Maribeth a dull girl!

LOL!!!

Tomorrow I will be doing a post on my new jacket. I will be taking a picture of me in it, and then you can all vote if I should keep it or give it to Mandy. Personally, I love the jacket, but I’m going to let you all decide.

Fantastic Friday

Despite the cold weather, today was a great day. I was able to get a lot of things done, and the last box of ordered clothing from Coldwater Creek arrived. Everything fits wonderfully, but one item, a jacket, that I love, Hubby isn’t so sure of.

He says that he has never seen me in such a wild printed “anything” before. I am finding now that I am slimmer, I want to sort of “push the envelope” and try new things. I’ll give it a go at Weight Watchers next week and if the consensus is a no go, then Mandy is a lucky girl, because it is definitely something she would wear.

Hubby is staying busy with games of Scrabble, and this afternoon we got a nice fire going int he hearth to take the chill off of the family room. It’s so cozy when we have the fire .

I also heard back from a woman in Berlin, Germany about fixing up Anneliese for a “hot date” when she comes into heat. Can you believe I get this excited about mating my dog? Woo-hoo!!!

The best part is that I get to see Uschi!

I also made an interesting recipe. A Weight Watchers Blueberry Buckle. If you’re interested, leave a comment and I’ll send you the recipe. It’s super easy, and delicious!

Have a good weekend!

I’m “Lifetime”

Today at Weight Watchers I got my “Lifetime” card. Basically this means that for the last six weeks I have been able to maintain my weight, and now I enter a new phase of maintaining my weight on a long term basis.

You know a year ago I looked like this:

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But with hard work, and learning a new way to look at food, prepare it and portion it out, I met my goal and now I look like this:

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(Me with my daughter, Mandy)

I’ve set a few new goals for myself. I would like to firm up my body now and get in shape. Unfortunately the old body doesn’t respond at 50 the way it did at 20, but that’s okay. I think I’ll use the same philosophy to get in shape physically, that I did to lose the weight. “One Day At A Time”.

I think that in time I would like to go on and perhaps become a Weight Watchers leader. I would like to be at my goal weight for a little longer, but I think I have a lot I could offer to other people searching to control their weight.

But for tonight I’m enjoying the achievement of reaching “Lifetime” at Weight Watchers!

Time….

Just when I thought that life could not possibly get any more interesting, I found myself living through the last four days. I’m actually thinking that perhaps we should fast forward and get through 2009 quickly before anything else happens! Let me explain.

On Saturday late in the evening Hubby exhibited all the symptoms of a small stroke. It was there for a few minutes and then he seemed fine. Tired, but fine. I forced him to come to bed early and all seemed well.

Sunday he lazed around and rested. I watched him like crazy, but he really seemed just fine. I was determined however, to get him into the doctor’s office as soon as I could.

Monday I woke up to find him out the door going skiing! I wasn’t happy about this, but off he went. He was home by noon, as the conditions were not the best.

Monday night after dinner, we were sitting watching the TV when Hubby exhibited classic symptoms of a stroke, only this time it did not resolve and were more severe. I dressed quickly, got Hubby into his clothes and into the car and raced drove the car down the eight and a half miles to the local hospital.

He was quickly admitted and testing began. CAT scans, blood tests, everything you could think. All the while, I sat and paced, nearly unable to breathe. I felt like a deer standing still in the headlights of a car! Trapped. Fear causing me to be unable to move or make things better.  At midnight they determined that they needed to keep him overnight to continue drug therapy and testing, so I kissed Hubby and left.

I got to my car and sat there, exhausted. I picked up my cell phone and called my friend, Gail and she talked me up the road to my home. I have to say that driving eight and a half miles when you are this exhausted would have been impossible if it hadn’t been for her. Thanks Gail!

I slept for a few hours and then woke with a start! I got up, turned on the coffee and called the hospital to check on Hubby’s condition. All was stable. I called a few people, then I sat and just stared into space. I prayed.

I know I write quite often, joking about Hubby, but this man, this wonderful man that I have been married to for nearly 21 years, is the most important man in my life. He’s my best friend, my husband, and my lover. I simply cannot think about life without him in it!

Today I spent the entire day racing back and forth up and down that same road between our home and the hospital. I sat on Hubby’s bed and held him, raced home, and walked the dogs. Then I was back to the hospital and was trying to learn as much as I could about Hubby’s condition. It was indeed a stroke.

Later in the day I saw a surgeon. I have not felt well since before Christmas and today I learned that I have an ovarian cyst and will need surgery soon to have the ovary and cyst removed. Things like that I can handle, but not stuff happening to my guy.

My sister called late in the day to tell me that my Dad has been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS, formerly known as “preleukemia”). He is quite old and hasn’t been well for a long time, and although I am not surprised by this it still saddens me.

Too much right now, Gentle Readers. It’s all feeling like it is too much. I told Mel that I felt so tired. So very tired.

Then Hubby called and he had gotten the doctor’s to release him. I drove down the same road and picked him up. I loaded him, with his things and drove immediately to a pharmacy. I seemed to be purchasing the entire store, but soon was back in the car, prescriptions in hand, and drove Hubby back home.

We’re sitting here in our pajamas now. Both of us feeling exahusted and weary. Time, dear friends. It can be your friend, filling your life with fun and frivolity, or it can be your enemy, making the time drag by and filling those hours with real unhappiness, tension and illness.

The Office

I bit the bullet, folks.

Today I got a bucket of cleaning water, rags, an extra large garbage bag and steely determination, and entered our office. My goal? To clean out the closet, and to clean the entire room, from top to bottom.

Why? Well, I am thinking quite seriously of turning this room from only an office into an office/den. You see now that both Hubby and I have laptop computers we are very seldom in the office, and I am thinking that at night when I pull a pillow over my head to dampen the sounds of the TV, how great it would be to banish Hubby into the “den” at the other side of the house, so I can fall blissfully, silently to sleep!

With a nose that kept running, and sneezing, Arnie and I set about cleaning the room. First I pulled all the “bad” stuff out of the closet, and then sat down on the floor to go through all of the “clutter”. I cannot believe the stuff I have saved over the years!

I have to mention that it would probably be best to have done this without Arnie. His contribution to the project was smothering me with doggy kisses, and although I love him and appreciated the affection, I didn’t get a lot done during his “helping” time!

I’m not done yet. By all accounts it is going to take me about 2 days to finish the project, especially since I have appointments to keep outside the home.

At least the project has begun. But boy, do I hate dust!

Ah-choo!

This & That

I was trying to decide what to write, but I’m afraid that today I’m feeling a tad tired and under the weather.

Despite this, I did manage to do some laundry, and cook three meals. I even IRONED a few things before putting them in the closet. And we all know how I detest that job.

I wrote the last of my holiday letters, watched “Mama Mia” again, and actually figured out how to fast forward a DVD, so I just got to enjoy the songs while I folded clothes.

I also heard from a breeder in Germany about the possibility of using one of her males to make babies with Anneliese! Yay!

Anneliese 4

Here is one of the pictures I sent over to show Anneliese’s beauty! She is adorable, yes?

When I went down to pick up the Sunday newspaper I noticed a huge box just inside the door of my garage. It must have come late yesterday. It contained my new blanket and mattress pad for our bed! January “White Sales” Woo-hoo!

Museum Day

It was a free day at our state’s Art Museum, The Currier Gallery in Manchester, New Hampshire. The museum was also having an Andy Warhol exhibition, so Hubby and I decided to get up early and go.

We went through the Warhol  Exhibit first. He’s never been a favorite of mine, but I was intrigued by the series he did of Jackie Kennedy on the day of JFK’s assassination. The “before” picture shows her light and happy and the “after” is a face full of shock. Looking back, after that day, she never again showed an expression of carefree happiness.

JackieIII

After that we walked around the new addition of the museum and looked at a few paintings. There was one, done by William Preston Phelps, a New Hampshire painter, whose love of Mount Monadnock came through in his many paintings of the area.

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There were several pictures painted by German painter Albert Bierstadt. He came to this country and seemed to move from one mountain range to another. This one is near North Conway, New Hampshire.

moat mtn intervale biers...

Lara Alma-Tadema did this wonderful painting called “A Knock At The Door” showing a woman arranging herself before answering it.

A knock at the door Laura Alma-Tadema

This Tapestry by an unknown Flemish artist in the 1450’s is called “The Visit Of The Gypsies”. It is only displayed for two months out of the year due to the fact that it is so fragile.

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We also continue to marvel at the works of Edmund Charles Tarbell, New Hampshire’s very own Impressionist Artist. His work has that wonderful quality of lightness and beauty that is found so often in Impressionist works.

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There was also a bronze relief (portrait) by Daniel Chester of a young girl that touched me very much.

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And as we walked out of the museum we saw this wonderful portrait by John Singer Sargent, showing a haughty Marchioness.

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When we left, Hubby suggested that we go to an Indian restaurant for our lunch. It was so good! I don’t think I have had any Indian food in over a year.

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It was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

A Year Ago…

I was sitting in my chair with the pups vying for a spot, thinking about my unhappiness with my weight. I’d put on weight during our cruise through the Panama Canal. I came home and then began making preparations for a wonderful Christmas Season! I baked and baked and put gift boxes and trays together of all the different cookies I’d made. But, I’m afraid I also ate a lot of the cookies too. There was also the Peppermint Bark candy, but we won’t go into that. Suffice to say, Christmas 2007 was full of excesses!

Yes, I was unhappy with my tight jeans, and the fact that both my foot and knee doctors suggested losing weight to alleviate the pain I was in. I was too heavy. They knew it and so did I!

So, I made a New Years Resolution. I think every other resolution I made I had somehow broken by February, but this one, the one I was about to make had many provisions.

1. I decided to go to Weight Watchers to lose some weight.

2. I would go each week and stay for the meeting.

3. I would not miss a meeting unless I was in Intensive Care at the hospital.

4. Even if I had bad weeks, I would not let that stop me.

So I went to the first meeting after New Years. I remember that first night, going and weighing in with Tami. I cried. Tami has been a friendly face each week when I step on the dreaded scale!

So what have I learned this last year?

1. That the meetings are incredibly important. Not just for the accountability of weighing in, but for sharing your feelings and listening to others who are also on this road of self discovery.

2. I’ve learned to be honest and true to myself. There were so many times I could have missed a meeting, or eaten something really horrible for me, but I knew where I was going and how to get there.

3. I have learned that I am not the only one who loves to cook, and loves to eat what they cook!

4. I have learned new ways to cook healthy meals for Hubby and me.

How did I learn all of this? Because I went to class.

New Years Resolutions can be empty promises that you never live up to, or they can be really helpful ways to boost your own morale so that you can get going and accomplish a really tough thing.

I know I will be involved with Weight Watcher classes for the rest of my life. I need the classes to help me remember who I am.

I’m a great cook who loves to eat, and unfortunately at the age of 50, has the metabolism of a turtle. If I stay true to myself, then there isn’t anything that I can’t accomplish!

Oh and remember Tami? Well, she weighed me in when I reached my goal weight too, and she was the first person I hugged!

Good-bye 2008, Thanks!

Welcome 2009!

Sheets, Shoes, Pocketbooks and Fleece!

I bought new sheets last week when I was down visiting my sister. The sheets were in the discount store, TJ Maxx and were marked down to almost nothing for the king size set, which included 4 king size pillow cases!

Now these are super sheets. They are 100% cotton and are 400 count, which means that that there is 400 threads per inch.

Why is this so special? Well, because the higher the thread count the  softer the sheets feel against the skin.

Hubby isn’t terribly impressed. He’s practical. If the sheets are clean, he is happy, but I am ecstatic! I have this real penchant for nice sheets. Actually thinking about it, I have strong passions for a few things.

I love not only nice sheets, but soft leather pocketbooks, Merrell shoes and long warm bathrobes made of fleece. I joke that I have the sheet, shoe, bathrobe and pocketbook gene! Lol!

Yes, we all have things that we love that make us feel special, now don’t we? What makes your list of things that you are crazy about?