Category: My Life

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

It was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

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!

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?

Wednesday morning I went into Weight Watchers and weighed in. I had this feeling in my heart that this was going to be the big day, and it was! I reached my goal weight and actually lost a bonus pound! I jumped up and down, I cried and I cheered and I felt like I had won American Idol!!!

A year ago I started this program. I planned it and on New Years Eve announced to Hubby I was starting to go to class the first meeting after the holiday. I started it, and I have only missed one meeting in the entire year and that was when we were on the cruise.

Officially I have lost 49 pounds on Weight Watchers. That’s a whole little person!

So what am I doing to celebrate? Spending some quality time with my sister and my grandnephews! Also just plain enjoying the fact that I can go shopping and fit into clothes easily. What a great thing.

Hi Everyone. Usually I strive to write interesting things about me or my dogs, or just life in general. Tonight, it is already 11 PM and I am only now getting my computer up and running after it crashed shortly after dinner tonight!

I’m not sure what happened. After dinner tonight my friend, Barbie called, and after we got done talking I came back to my computer and it had crashed. The program that was totally gone was my email program! Just. Not. There!

I eventually found the files but was unsuccessful just simply moving them into place. So I had to download them, clean the program off the computer and then reinstall it and put back all my folders.

Even now, I am shaking my head.

Once that was done I typed our Christmas letter for Hubby, and now I am writing my entry quickly, before I crash in bed. I sure am tired.

So forgive me for being boring and not writing anything more tonight. One good crash deserves another!

Good night!

I got ready for Weight Watcher on Wednesday morning thinking that I had probably gained some weight during the Thanksgiving week. I mean, come one, I did eat apple pie and chestnut dressing. However, I did make both items low fat and low sugar.

I went out to get into the Jeep and for the first time in 10 years actually had to scrape my windows of ice. I guess it is time to put the Cadillac to bed for the winter and put the Jeep in the garage.

When I scraped the outside window I noticed that inside there was frost too! So I had to scrape ice off the inside of the window. I should have turned off the defroster first because the ice went blowing into the car like a wild snow storm! LOL!!!

I drove to my meeting carrying my coffee and a little paper bag with my yogurt and raisin bread to eat after I weighed in.

Now you all with think I am nuts, but I am thisclose to my goal so I am still dressing in shorts and a tank top to weigh in. If I could wear my bathing suit and not feel really weird about it I would! Anything to keep the scale on my side.

I weighed in and……I lost a half a pound!!!

I was so pleased because I had a nice Thanksgiving, I did eat everything I served and my idea to measure out all my food in advance worked.

I called my cousin Janet to tell her the news and also to ask her about my phone (she has the same one) and she sent me the link for a great place to get ring tones for the phone! Yay!

It is a good place and I spent too much time on it today downloading ring tones. Hubby’s ring tone is now “The Stripper”! LOL!!!

All in all, a very good day!!!

It was a cold and damp day as I made my way to Waterville Valley ski resort. In the past, I have always thought of Waterville as my home mountain. I know the area, I know the people who work there and I know the lodge. It’s always been a home away from home.

Today marked the return of the Dackel to the slopes, after a two year absence. I must tell you that my stomach hurt like it did when I was in 8th grade and was anticipating a math test!

We woke up at 6:30 and quickly dressed and headed out. I’d made a weight watcher breakfast sandwich and some coffee to go and off we went.

We arrived just in time to hear the start bell ring, announcing the beginning of another ski day. Hubby and I put on our gear, and then went out, got in line and off we went.

Up, up, up to the very top of the mountain. It was beautiful up there and Hubby had me stop and pose for a picture.

He took two and then something happened. Yes, folks. I broke the camera! I knew it was going to happen sometime, as I am always making this joke about it, and today….the old camera just died. Later, I was able to get the pictures off of it, but since it is so old and a real pain anyway, I do not think I will even worry about getting it fixed.

We skied down the first time and I was tight, and tentative and really afraid. On the way up Hubby and I had been talking and I realized that Hubby is the “kiss of death” for his skiing companions. First me with my knee, then George with his shoulder, and Carole with her fractured pelvis and now Dino with his broken arm! Yes, I thought twice about the man who I was sitting next to me on the ski lift!

I did make it down, but comfort was not to be found. I felt frustrated and as gawky as I did the first day I wore braces as a kid.

The second run I saw a woman who was an adaptive skier. She was in a ski chair. She lifted herself onto the ski lift, and then just let go and had fun all the way down. I really admired her.

My second run I loosened up a bit, but Hubby recognized the fear and he asked if I wanted to stop for a little sugar free hot cocoa. Oh yeah, he is the man of my dreams!

We came back after our break and skied two more runs. At this point I swear that there were several hundred elementary school kids skiing the slopes going 100 miles an hour and scaring the daylights out of this old woman! So I told Hubby I was done for the day. I told him to go ahead and keep skiing, but I think he recognized exhaustion and knew I would need direction to our table at the inn and then eventually the car.

We came home in time for lunch and then a nice, long, hot, soak in the bathtub. I’d still be there, but we threatened to run out of hot water.

I skied. I stayed upright. I survived!

It’s been almost two years since my skiing accident.

Today I decided to breakout the ski boots, ski parka, skis and helmet and get myself ready to get back on the mountain.

So I put on my boots today and wore them all around the house to help my legs, once again, adjust to them.  It was strange to have them on. You know I’ve lost a lot of weight since the last time I skied, so I am thinking (hoping) I will have a much easier time moving around.

I’m pretty nervous about all of this. I think part of me would like to stay in bed and hide and never go out again, but then I think of how beautiful it is and how much I enjoy the scenery and I think in the long run I would really miss it.

So I am putting on my big girl ski gear and heading for Waterville Valley. Keep your fingers crossed!!!