Category: My Life

Today we had a meeting with our Investment Services down in the big, big city of Boston, Massachusetts. It meant we had to get up early, and then quickly eat and get ready before our 2 hour drive.

I decided I needed to look business like, and so I dragged out my “power suit”. A Jones New York black pantsuit that I wore with a white shell. I did my hair, put on full make-up and even had done my nails. I was feeling good.

Just as we were leaving I noted that we did not have the GPS window bracket and I started wildly looking for it. I did finally find it, only to discover it had become broken in the car some time ago. (We almost never use this.)

I did get the GPS to work and since Hubby and I are not smokers I simply set it in the ash tray and it worked just fine. Eventually we’ll replace the bracket that we need, but for now, I was under time constraints and we just said good bye to the dogs and off we went.

The drive down was uneventful except we did discover that a GPS does not work in the “Big Dig Tunnel”. So, after turning us around we eventually got to our destination, “The Westin Waterfront”. What a totally remarkable hotel!

We checked in and walked down to the event. The firm had rented the Grand Ballroom for the banquet and presentation. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, as a lot of this investing stuff is quite boring to me, but this year I decided to go.

As we neared the ballroom, I saw our Investment Councilor, Tom, and went over to say hello. It’s been about 2-3 years since he has seen me, and when I extended my hand and said hello I could see the surprise, and that look on his face that said, “I know I should know who this is, but….” and then Hubby came up behind me and Tom then knew who I was. He was dumbfounded! I just smiled and giggled!

It’s amazing what make-up, long hair and the loss of 40 pounds can do for a person!

We eventually went in for the banquet and the presentation. The food was excellent. A petite fillet Mignon, and broiled salmon portion served with wild rice, and summer squash. And dessert? Okay, this was where I really suffered. It was a chocolate mousse cake! I sat staring at it. It called my name. I said, no, no, no! And it called to me again!

Since it measured 2 inches X 2 inches I decided that even though it was a lot of points I had been good this week and I could claim this as my bonus points for the week.

So I brought the mousse cake closer. I stared at it. I let the chocolaty goodness waft into the air until I could nearly taste the cake.

But I waited for my coffee. Finally it came and I fixed my cup. Then I took three small bites. I set my fork down. I was dying there, with the goodness of that cake! I took a sip of the coffee. Then I took three more small bites. I set down my fork. A little more coffee. Three more small bites and it was done.

Now part of me desperately wanted to pick up the dish and lick the plate, but I remained dignified, hoping no one noticed me making love to my cake! I looked around and Hubby was laughing! (Quietly, thank goodness!)

Soon the event was over and we headed home. The traffic was just starting to pick up, but we still made good time.

Our dear neighbor had agreed to come and bring out the pups at noontime, for a walk. Well, when we drove in, there was Mr. Fritz sitting at the end of the driveway waiting for us. I said, “uh-oh” to Hubby, as it appeared that Fritz had been disobedient and refused to go back inside after his walk. Come to think of it, perhaps he felt the better course of action was to stay outside away from the dackels!

I called our neighbor to thank her and she mentioned that we had been bad dackel parents and actually closed Arnie in our bedroom when we left! You know, when I am trying to find things and get going and I am running late, I’m not always counting dackels! (LOL)

Tonight I am tired, but happy and a smile remains on my face. Okay, you got me. I’m still thinking about that chocolate cake!

Well, KT over at Baggachips tagged me for this meme, and since I haven’t done a meme in a while, I thought I’d just do this. It’s called the four, four, four, four meme. Which doesn’t make much sense considering there are six categories, but whatever.

1. Four places I go over and over: Grocery shopping, Weight Watchers, My sister’s house and a cruise.

2. Four people who email me regularly: Mel, Uschi, Janet and The Circle of Friends

3. Four of my favorite places to eat: Canoe, Hong Kong Buffet, My house, Applebees

4. Four places I’d rather be right now: A cruise to anywhere, the beach, Punta Gorda, and Australia.

5. Four TV shows I watch:Two and a Half Men, House, NCIS, Desperate Housewives.

6. Four people I will tag: Ayone who wants to play.

Saturday Janet and I went up town to the local Craft Fair. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed all the walking around we did. However, I was on my feet walking around so much that at the end of the afternoon I felt like I was walking like a drunken sailor.

Nonetheless, once home I made up 2 big batches of Heavenly Jam, made pulled chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, roasted egg plant and asparagus for dinner. We had Emily and her Dad here for dinner and that was a lot of fun.

Emily was playing around with Arnie, who has to be the most flexible and relaxed dog ever. I mean really, when was the last time you saw a dog falling asleep like this?

While cleaning up the kitchen, and washing a hundred and one pots, pans and dishes by hand, Emily snapped this picture. No make-up and I like it because it shows how well my nose is healing.

I also played with Arnie, planting a big smooch on his nose.

It was a big day and as the day is closing, I admit to being exhausted and needing just a little sleep!

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~Wrinkled~

A picture of Anneliese and me, nearly 50 years old, showing just a few wrinkles!

Today the sun came out again. This is two days in a row with no rain! I am so happy, but admit that my eyes are slightly sensitive to all this sunshine!

Since Anneliese will be entering a Dog Show at the end of September, I decided I needed to begin training her to walk on a lead without her getting upset, or trying to pull me off of my feet. I also want her to meet many new people so the chances of her growling, barking or biting the Judge at the show are lessened.

So, I packed my back pack with water for her and for me, and off we went to the Post Office.

As we walked up our driveway, I noted the large gully on the left hand side of the drive. All I can say is, we are lucky it wasn’t worse!

Right now we have many large State Highway Department vehicles in our town working to repair the roads damaged by the torrential downpours of rain that have plagued us all summer long, but most recently last week. They are noisy and create a whooshing feeling as they drive by you and I was worried it might upset the little dog.

However, Anneliese proved that she is truly a dachshund. She pranced right by my left side, and never shied away from a truck or a noise or any of the people that we encountered.

She was even happy when we went into the Post Office and she got to see the Postal Clerks. Several people stopped us to admire the pretty little dog, and Anneliese was more than accepting of their attention. In fact, she seemed to like it!

At one point I wondered if I had the wrong dog!

We walked home and came back along the lake front where I caught a Loon family taking their young baby Loon for a swim.

You almost never see the Loons swimming this close to the shore, but there they were and I was thrilled to get this picture. The young Loon is in the center,

I also got a picture of a very funny sign along the lakeside.

As you can see this sign covers all the seasons!

Once I returned home, I decided to go out and weed in my garden. It’s a rather depressing thing to do, as this years garden has been a real disaster. Due to the wet weather we have not had many delicious vegetables. Usually at this time of year my cucumbers are overwhelming us. This year I am lucky if I have 2 or three a week. I only have 4 Butternut Squash, and no corn at all.

My potted tomatoes have produced quite a few yummy tomatoes, and my Japanese eggplant truly is prolific and it’s vegetation delicious, so perhaps all is not lost.

The sun did shine today and I hope tomorrow too, and if it does I will take Anneliese for another walk and hope she continues to show me how well she can do out in the big world!

Did you ever have one of those days that went so well that you stand there in the sunshine (yes, the sun is shining today!) and with every breath you take, you feel wonderful and happy?

Today was one of those days.

It started with me losing 1.6 pounds at Weight Watchers, thus putting me over 40 pounds down from my starting weight, and just a mere 6 1/2 pounds from my goal weight! Once I weighed in, I felt absolutely slender!

Top that off with the fact that I was mistaken for being less than 40 years old, and I was truly ecstatic!

I had a rather cute gentleman flirt with me in the grocery store, and today I seemed to find everything I needed and wanted without a problem.

When I was driving home I listened to one of my favorite CD’s. It’s mostly instrumental music as it is from the sound track of “The Lake House”, and I felt my spirit soar.

Arriving home, I was greeted by Hubby and the dogs with such happiness, I thought I should probably go off more frequently just so I can enjoy the welcome home!

The sun continued to shine all afternoon and I was able to actually get a few things done outside, like fertilize my plants. I also got to eat my first plum of the season. It was bruise from the hail, but the flavor was good, so I guess that will mean great jam!

Yes, it’s been a good day!

I mentioned yesterday that I had found a wonderful hat for protecting my face from the sun. I received several requests for a picture and so dutifully, Hubby took a couple of pictures of me tonight. Arnie loved the fact that I was sitting down on the floor and he immediately came over and started to kiss me. What a guy!

I really love this hat. It is comfortable and not only keeps the sun out of my eyes and off my nose, but it keeps my hair in place.

This will all be very important because…..as some of you know I will be turning 50 in November and for my birthday, Hubby is taking me on a cruise!

We’ll be cruising out of Puerto Rico again, and will stop in Aruba, Bonaire, Grenada, Dominica and St Thomas before returning to Puerto Rico. I can’t imagine a nicer way to welcome in the next chapter of my life.

I just love my Hubby!

On Sunday I asked Hubby if he wanted to go to the closest “Big City” and have lunch with me and shop. The day looked to be one where it would rain more than the sun would shine, so why not spend it catching up on shopping for food, clothes and have a little Chinese food to boot?

Around 11 o’clock we got into our station wagon and headed down the highway. Our first stop was one of my favorite shops. LL Bean. It’s been one of my favorite places to get clothes for many years, but as I roamed through the racks of clothes I realized I have changed a little. You see, now that I have a “good figure” I want to dress “Pretty”! In a few months when we have colder weather I will be right back at LL Bean for warm sweaters and turtlenecks, but their summer clothes are just not “pretty”. Serviceable, yes, pretty, no! Hubby wasn’t thrilled with the men’s selection either, so off we went.

Our next stop was the Chinese restaurant where we had a nice peaceful lunch. It was crowded, but we were able to eat leisurely and then get back to shopping!

The next stop was at my new favorite shop, Coldwater Creek. The clothes there make me feel beautiful, slim and good about the weight that I have lost over the last 8 months. I tried on many things and came away with a pair of casual trousers, 2 shirts and a new straw hat to protect my nose from further sun damage.

I actually LOVE the hat best of all. I can tie a scarf around the top, or wear it plain, it’s just so nicely made and I actually think that THIS hat looks good on me. I’m not much of a hat person, so finding one I feel good in, makes me happy.

We finished up there, went grocery shopping and then began the trip back home. It started to rain and as we turned off the highway the most beautiful rainbow appeared. It was large, full and the rows of color thick. From a distance it appeared that the rainbow swept over the sky and was actually touching down at my home. I stared at it the entire time, watching, commenting, utterly transfixed.

Then we turned down the road that led to my home, and like magic the beautiful rainbow disappeared! I felt such disappointment. I’d wanted to run out in our back yard and capture the beauty with my camera, but it was gone.

I walked into the house and grumbled something to Hubby about the lost rainbow, and he said something beautiful. He said, “You can’t see the rainbow when you are inside of it!”

I smiled and thought how lucky we are to live at the Rainbow’s End!

It’s zucchini season! I wonder sometimes why I even bother to plant the stuff. I like zucchini. The first time I have it anyway. But day after day, after day…..well, let’s just say, it gets old really fast!

Tonight I made stuffed zucchini boats. They came out well and Hubby seemed to enjoy them, but all I could think of was that this is only the beginning.

In the past I used to make a lot of zucchini bread, muffins, starchy things, things that are now forbidden to me on my quest for smaller thighs.

As we sat eating tonight Hubby also reminded me that in a few days our purple string beans will be ready to eat. We have a lot of those! I like purple string beans, perhaps more than I like zucchini.

Let me share with you a true story about me and my very first attempts at gardening and perhaps the reason why zucchini is no longer my favorite vegetable.

I was a new bride to Hubby and I had moved into his farm in Southern New Hampshire. That spring I looked out and mentioned that it had always been a dream of mine to have a garden. Hubby was so sweet. He went right out and plowed the garden for me. Then we went and bought the seeds for the garden. Oh I just new I was going to be the very best little gardener ever!

That evening Hubby was preparing to go to work as a pilot, and he remarked that this was the weekend to plant the garden.

Terror filled me! I had no idea what I was supposed to do. However, I was stubborn and determined to succeed, so the next day after I said good bye to Hubby, I stood in my garden and tried to think.

I remembered all those movies where the people dug trenches, scattered the seeds and covered them. Surely that was all there was to it!

Carefully I laid out my row after row after row of vegetables. Using up the very last seed in every package.

For those of you who know, you are probably guessing the outcome with some laughter. For those of you who have never gardened, I will tell you the result.

I had more zucchini than the local grocery store. I sent it into work with Hubby until even he couldn’t find people to take it. I put out a small table on the side of the road with a sign, “FREE ZUCCHINI”! No one stopped.

I made muffins and bread and zucchini boats and stir fry, until I never wanted to see another zucchini!

Hubby didn’t say too much during the growing season to me about my inaugural garden. He ate everything I cooked and only later in the season did he suggest that perhaps I had planted too many zucchini seeds.

I try to plant 2 hills of zucchini now and still I find it hard to eat what we have, it makes looking back at that first garden pretty funny. Like something you might see Lucille Ball do on “I love Lucy”.