Category: My Life

Four days!

I simply can’t believe it!

Four days and we will be stepping onto our ship, the Caribbean Princess and heading out for a week of rest and relaxation!

I’m fairly organized, but I still need Hubby to select the shirts and slacks he wants to bring. I also need to get the suitcases down from the attic and start to figure out which clothes go in what bag.

Four days!

It seemed to get here so quickly. Actually the last year has flown by. Yet, in the last year, so much has changed as well.

I’m ready for the next chapter of my life. I thought perhaps it would bother me at least a little turning 50, but today I realized that I feel quite good about it.

You know, at 50 you have lived long enough to know a little about life, you also have lived long enough to know that there is still a lot to learn.

Joining Weight Watchers has helped me to learn so much about myself and how to deal with life’s ups and downs, with things other than pound size bags of M & M’s!

I watched myself emerge from my old chubby self to the new, fit and fabulous 50! Ha!

Four Days!

I’m looking forward to the quiet time spent with Hubby in the warm tropics. I want to hold his hand and feel the wind gently blow through my hair. (No hurricanes, please!) I want to walk on sandy beaches, feel the sun kiss my SPF-50 slathered body, and the warm water as I swim.

Yes, in only Four Days the fun begins!

I was up at 6:30 today and the sky was so pretty and pink and blue. There were a few clouds and light rain. I glanced across the lake and saw this beautiful rainbow and came back inside, grabbed my camera and took a few shots.

I had a list of last minute items to get at the Outlet Mall today. I simply wasn’t moving very fast around here, and Hubby finally offered to drive me, which was great, but we did get off to a late start. I just could not seem to get out of my own way.

We left well after 2 in the afternoon and drove the 25 miles south to the Outlet Mall. I wanted to secure a pair of taupe dress shoes first thing. We went to three different shops and no one had a decent pair of shoes! They did have these things which I will call “slip on torturing devices”. I mean, honestly, how can women wear these things? Heels so high and toes so narrow that I felt as if I were in ancient China where women were still getting their feet wrapped! I have so many friends, and relatives with distorted feet from wearing these things. I simply couldn’t do it.

In shoes like those I saw myself quite clearly falling flat on my face in the middle of the ship. Probably toppling over the Captain or some vacationing aging couple.

Needless to say, I didn’t find any shoes.

I did, however, get the other things on my list, plus two Lobsters. And before you even ask, yes, the lobsters were delicious!

We got back home late, fed the dogs and I’m finally settling in to watch a little TV tonight before another early bedtime. This is going to be a busy week for me and I’m going to need all the rest and stamina that I can get.

How was your weekend?

Today was make a list, check it twice and start to lay out the clothes I will be packing for Hubby and me, day.

I’ve started to realize that I have planned to take far too many outfits and I really need to cut down on the number of items in my pile, but I have so many “cute” outfits and I don’t want to wait until next summer to wear them.

Still….

Today I did something I didn’t think possible. I’ve ordered a bikini! I will either look totally wonderful in it, or I will be arrested for indecent exposure!

Meanwhile, the organizing and packing continues.

A year or so ago I remember thinking how unhappy I was because my weight was out of control and yet, I felt helpless to do anything to “fix” it. I dressed to hide the weight and all the while, I knew that wearing a size 16/18 meant that I was getting beyond the limits of good health or emotional happiness.

The trip last year only made me more aware of the weight problem, because when I looked at the pictures of myself, I saw a woman who no longer resembled the slim trim person I had once been.

There was no hiding from it. There it was in full color!

I decided upon our return that I would do something. I knew Weight Watchers could help, if I learned how to live with it.

Could I do it?

I started out slowly, but I went to class every week. I promised myself that I wouldn’t miss a class unless I was in Intensive Care! There were weeks I went and when I weighed in, I found that I had gained weight! But over the last 11 months I have lost.

Today I weighed in and I had lost 45 1/2 pounds total. Eleven months it has taken me, but I have done it! I have just two more pounds to go and I will be at my goal weight.

At class today I was showcased for my weight loss. I went up and I got another marker for my memory book. I also was able to show the women in my class the new slim trim me!

The very best part is, that all these women have been with me from the beginning and they all have watched me lose, and struggle and then lose again. From these wonderful people I have gained the strength that I needed to get through the good and bad times.

So here I am. A week and a half until I turn 50 years old and close enough to my goal weight that I know I will make it. I am so thankful. Thankful to my good friends, Weight Watchers and to my husband, daughter, sister and cousin, Janet. Without the support of these people, I never would have made it.

I started the day quite early. Did the dogs wake me up, or perhaps Hubby’s loud snores?

No.

It was just me. I woke up and my brain clicked on. Does that happen to you? It drives me nuts when it happens, but there really isn’t much you can do.

I lay there for a while trying to go back to sleep. Hubby was sound asleep and not making any noises. The dogs were all cuddled around me, and Fritz was curled up on the floor next to Hubby’s side of the bed.

My brain, the traitor in this situation, clicked on and I started to think about packing. What did I need to bring with me on the cruise, what did I need to buy before we left and how many pairs of socks, underwear, shorts and shirts needed to be packed?

As I lay there, trying not to move and wake the hounds, it suddenly dawned on me that Mother Nature was calling. I tried to ignore it and just lie there, but after a few minutes of thinking about being on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, I thought I might just explode and…..I got out of bed and my day began!

An overactive brain and bladder will get you every time!

I am happy to announce that I lost one and a half pounds this week at Weight Watchers, bringing me even closer to my goal weight. Will I get there before we leave for our cruise? I sure hope so!

I also went to Boston for an appointment with my corneal surgeon. All is well with my right eye, but my left eye has a few problems. Thus I will be seeing my retinal surgeon in two weeks.

It’s funny, I always thought an eye was an eye, but it turns out that there are specialists for almost every part of your eye!

As we returned home, what did we spy? SNOW! I couldn’t believe it, although it certainly was cold enough. We didn’t have any accumulation, but he flurries were quite pretty and a very clear reminder that winter is on it’s way.

I was all upset today because I couldn’t find the owner’s manual for the super cool camera that I own. I mean, this baby can take fabulous pictures in all sorts of settings, and here I was, without the manual!

I searched high, I searched low. I found the manuals for all my other cameras past and present, but not for the super cool one we bought last year for our trip through the Panama Canal.

Now my knee has been bothering me a lot. It’s swollen and sore and every time I have to bend it, I want to scream a little. It’s an old skiing injury that reminds me that I am not Jean Claude Killy or Pica Boo Street!

Anyway, I was looking around wondering what I could do when I went to the Olympus website and found that I could download the owner’s manual there.

Wonderful! Except that it is 100 pages long!

So back I went to searching this darn house. It had to be here. I went to a closet where I actually found the box the camera came in and found 2 owner’s manuals in there! Unfortunately I do not speak or read French or Spanish.

**Groan!**

I did not give up. Sure this soon to be, muddled 50 year old brain could figure it out. I sat down with Greta. I asked her what I could have done with the book? She stared at me as if she were saying, “come on, you dummy, think!”

It was then I had an idea. I went into my bedroom and found the box with all my brochures and memorabilia from my Panama Canal trip. Slowly I opened the box and there it was lying right on top!

Okay I now feel like I am getting old. I mean, how many people place their camera’s owner’s manual in a memorabilia box?

It’s a good thing that Hubby loves me!

I was up before the day dawned. I needed to go to the hospital for more blood work, and I knew that I needed to be there early to beat the crowds. I have been there when I have had to wait for two hours to get my blood drawn. So, today I was prepared.

I left my house at 6:45 and arrived at the hospital just after 7. I walked in, expecting the large crowd, and found the lobby strangely empty! I mean really empty!

I checked in with a nice young lady who was ready to help one and all, but had nothing to do because of the lack of patients. She has the cutest dachshund, and we talked dogs while she did my paperwork.

Then before I knew it, my name was called, blood drawn and off I went. It was 7:30!

I had planned on there being crowds, and this would occupy my time until Weight Watchers and I would breeze in and enjoy that meeting, but here I was two hours before the meeting was due to start!

I filled up the car with gas ($2.69 a gallon!) and then drove to the meeting hall. I decided to just sit and wait in the parking lot. I had the morning news paper and that would give me something to do.

However, when I arrived there was a woman there who does our weigh-ins. Her name is Tami and I have known her since my very first meeting when she weighed me in. She was doing a few bits of paper work, but welcomed the company.

She offered to weigh me in early so I could eat, and I quickly stripped down to my shorts and tank top to do this.

I LOST 3 POUNDS!!!!!

I was so happy, that the last three week plateau had been broken and I was on my way in the right direction!

Tami and I talked and talked until other people began to arrive for the meeting. Eventually the meeting began, and although it wasn’t the best meeting (in that some are both fun, funny and exciting) it was a good pep talk and got me ready for the week ahead.

I left and came back home and sort of had a sinking spell. I know I am getting old because I really need my sleep and I suffer when I don’t get it! LOL!

I was having a nice quiet afternoon when Greta went outside with Hubby for about half an hour. When she came in she smelled so bad I could not believe it!

Why do dogs have to go out, find the worst smelling pile of crap and then roll in it?

She is now bathed, AGAIN and smelling nice! At least I think she is, she may have other ideas!