Category: My Life

Thirteen Things About Maribeth That Begin With The Letter E!

1. Eggplant! My favorite vegetable! I love it just about any way it’s cooked, but probably I like it roasted the very best.

2. Easter. I’ve always loved this holiday because of the music. It gives me hope!

3. Emotions. Oh yeah, I’m menopausal and emotions are right here, watching over my shoulder threatening to mug me at any moment!

4. Europe. Oh I just loved the years when Hubby was still working and we Euro-hopped all over Europe! The history, the customs and the food!

5. Eagles. They are so beautiful to watch and are so majestic!

6. Eyes. Well you all know the story of my Eyes!

7. Eight. Yes eight eye surgeries later I can see beautifully!

8. Egg rolls. I really love a good home made egg roll. Hmmmm!

9. Evergreens. All I can say is that evergreens are beautiful! I especially love them in the winter when they are covered in snow!

10. Elephants. I have always loved them since the first time I saw the as a child! They still thrill me.

11. Eleanor Rigby. Yes, a real snappy song by my favorite group, The Beatles!

12. English Muffins. All I will say here is YUM!

13. Emily! Yes, my special friend will have her 13th birthday on Saturday!

I got up early yesterday morning and delivered a few things to my mother and then went to church to listen to my sister sing in her choir. Pretty voices! It was Palm Sunday, and although I am somewhat of a lapsed Episcopalian, all the liturgy is familiar and in many ways a comfort to me.

I love my sister’s church. The people are all so nice and kind. I sat with Mom and took communion with her. As I said, familiar and comforting.

Once church was over, My sister, Mel and I returned to her house, had a light lunch and then we packed up my car for the 225 mile ride home.

Anneliese was with me and for the first half of the trip back, I had her in her crate in the back seat. I discovered on the way down that she doesn’t like city traffic, so until I reached the Massachusetts/Vermont border going home, she stayed in the crate. After that, as I drove the back roads of New Hampshire (all west/east roads in our state tend to be “back roads”), she sat quite nicely on the passenger seat.

Getting back home is always the best! There are your familiar slippers, your chair, the other three doggies, who were thrilled to see us, and of course Hubby’s welcoming embrace! Ah yes, HOME!

Within 30 minutes of my arrival, Hubby’s college roommate and his son arrived for the night. We visited for a while, and once the dogs were fed and walked, we headed out to my favorite restaurant, “Canoe” for a fabulous meal.

I know I have written about my concerns regarding eating out while learning to change my eating habits. I was, however, able to find things on the menu to eat. For an appetizer I shared in a serving of steamed muscles! My dinner, was grilled swordfish with a raspberry balsamic drizzle, broccolini and mashed potatoes (which I did not eat).

Later, climbing into our bed, with Hubby and Greta was such a warm and welcoming thing.

Yes, after four days away, it felt good to be back home.

Weight Watchers was pretty fun today. I went to an early morning meeting run by a different Leader and weighed in and stayed for the meeting. I lost another 3.4 pounds, for a grand total of 25.4 pounds lost! I’m feeling very good about myself and the diet.

I liked this meeting a lot. I felt this woman was speaking to all of us and asking us what we thought, and felt. She is very good. I am considering going to this meeting more often.

I came home and had a quick breakfast and then took Greta in to the Vet for a recheck. All is well with my little girl.

It snowed a little before the sun came out, and I relaxed knowing that we weren’t going to have another foot of snow fall! This is one year I really am ready for spring.

Thirteen things about me that begin with the letter D

1. Daughter. My daughter Amanda, I love her dearly! I’ve told her before that even if she weren’t my daughter I would still want to be her friend. She is such a neat person!
2. Dogs. You know that my dogs are so important to me and Hubby and a very big part of our lives.
3. Driving. I really do not like to drive. I used to have no worries with it, but since my accident I have just not enjoyed it at all.
4. Drink. My favorite drink? Used to be coffee, but right now I am going through a tea phase in my life.
5. Dark Chocolate! Those of you who asked why chocolate didn’t make it on last weeks list, will see now, that it’s because it must be “dark chocolate”! The darker, the better!
6. Dreams. I’ve always been a dreamer. I dream a lot at night. Full length feature film type dreams.
7. Dachshunds, Dackels, Dachsies! Love them all!
8. Dress. I like to dress up every once in a while. And once I get to my goal weight I intend to actually buy myself a couple of dresses.
9. Dieting. I think I have been dieting most of my adult life. I hope that with the help of Weight Watchers I can kick the diet cycle and just learn how to eat healthfully!
10. Dusting. Something I truly hate to do. I try to keep up with it, but it’s a losing battle.
11. December. The month of my daughter’s birth, and the month that Arnie and Anneliese were born!
12. Darkness. I’m not a big fan of true darkness, but I love a dark night when you can see all the stars and a full moon.
13. DVD’s. I love DVD’s. I recently found some old Alfred Hitchcock shows on a DVD and Hubby and I are really enjoying watching them.

Today was my day of beauty. It’s the day that Margarita takes this plain Jane and turns her into a swan! LOL! I always love my days at her salon. I feel pampered, I feel relaxed and I always leave feeling better about the way I look.

Today was an important day. My hair had finally grown long enough to actually shape into a style.

When I arrived I wanted to show off the 22 pound weight loss, so I entered Margarita’s room with a tada and the words, “What do you think?”

Well, she was doing the hair of a man and he smiled and said, “Beautiful”. I blushed as I thought she had a woman in there!

Then it was my turn to get “the works”.

I left feeling like a million dollars. The reaction to my new hair style, so far, has been positive. I know I like it. What do you all think?

***I didn’t gain, nor did I lose at Weight Watchers last night. I stayed exactly the same.***

Thirteen things that begin with the Letter C that I like!

1. Cake. Yes, my favorite cake is chocolate cake with butter cream frosting! Hmmmm!

2. Canning. I love to can our fruits and vegetables each year! Then taste their sweetness all winter long!

3. Car. I love my car it’s a 2004 Cadillac DeVille. Oh it drives like a dream!

4. Chicken. Good thing for me. I am eating a lot of it on Weight Watchers! LOL!

5. Charcoal. I know many people like to cook on a gas grille outside, but I love charcoal. It just ads so much flavor to the meat/chicken/fish that I cook!

6. Candles. I love a certain candle that my sister gave me. It smells like Angel-food Cake!

7. Coffee. Yes, I love coffee. Any old way it is made.

8. Cruising. I never thought I would like it, but it turns out that I LOVE it.

9. Champagne. Although I don’t drink any longer, I really do love champagne! Ooooh, the bubbles!

10. Christmas! What a wonderful time of year. Bright lights, candles in the window and Christmas carols. Not to mention the presents!

11. Cats. I have had many cats in my life, from the one who was already with my family when I was born, Smoky, to the very last cat I had, Tigger. Cats are so neat, but my love of dogs doesn’t leave me a lot of room in my house or my heart for another cat.

12. Comfy chair. I have a Lane Snuggler, which is almost a mini love seat. I get a small corner of it, while the three dachshunds take over the rest. I think if I get another chair I will have to get the same one, or I will end up on the floor!

13. Canoe. My favorite restaurant ever. I am going to suggest to Hubby that we go there this week for dinner.

Today I decided to take a little time out for myself. I decided that I should go and find a new purse. I’ve lost 22 pounds, and I didn’t want to buy clothes, but a new purse would be perfect. So off I went.

Now I am not the type of person that will go into a store and just spend wildly. No, I love a good deal! I went to my favorite discounter and started to paw through their purses.

As I was entering the store I got a call from my friend, Gail. She lives in another state and quite often we will call each other and then through the marvels of the Verizon network, we go shopping together even though we are separated by several hundred miles.

We were chatting away, and I actually found a great bag.

While we continued our chat and I was wandering through the store, I happened to mention my inability to find a certain pair of shoes that I love! Gail asked who made them. I responded “Merrell”. She asked which ones and I described them and told her I was looking for the black leather ones, like this.

I have been all over New Hampshire looking for them with no luck. Gail has the same shoe! In fact she is also a big lover of this model. And as it turns out, Gail has an Outlet for these shoes near her home, and she got in her car and drove over (all while we were still on the phone) and although they didn’t have them right there, they called the distributor and they will be mailed directly to me! I am so excited!

You see, Gentle Reader, I am a shoe and purse junkie. There are two things that I absolutely love. Pocketbooks (purses) and shoes! It’s like an illness. Today I realized just how bad it was. Being in the purse section of this shop found me touching all the purses, smelling them, gently running my fingers over the softness of the leather. Yes, I am completely crazed when I get near discounted leather products!

It was a nice way to spend the day, and to treat myself for the last 6 weeks and the 22 pound weight loss.

I knew it was going to be a good night at Weight Watchers. I fixed Hubby his dinner, fed the dogs and walked them and then headed out through the snow laden streets of New Hampshire to my meeting.

I was the second person to arrive, and I weighed in. 2.4 pounds down! Yippee!!! I was so excited that I actually threw my arms in the air.

Because I was early I was able to talk to the Leader of our group and two other women about the program. We exchanged some thoughts and ideas and I really felt good about my accomplishment.

I love to eat. I love to cook. Embarking on this program was a big step for me. One I wasn’t sure I could do. However, since I am learning new ways to cook the foods I like, discovering new recipes for new foods, new ideas for meals, I find that it really does keep me interested, and I keep some quick meals in the freezer for those moments when I am not in the mood to cook anything at all.

Now here is the real challenge. Going out to eat. I haven’t been doing that at all since I started the diet, but I think it is time to give it a try. Perhaps a trip to Canoe next week would be fun!

After losing 22 pounds, I think it would be a nice way to celebrate!