Category: Milestones

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, so I took the day off from writing and simply enjoyed the day.
My daughter, Amanda came up bringing beautiful red roses and an adorable Mom necklace for me, and we went out to my favorite restaurant, Canoe. We had the best table in the house. We were out on a porch that had been enclosed, and overlooked Lake Winnipesaukee. The menu was a limited one, due to the holiday, so the one item I had planned on having (the Lobster roll with sweet potato fries), was not offered. So I ordered Prime Rib. I’d had it there before and it was very good. Hubby ordered a lettuce wedge salad and a bowl of seafood chowder. Amanda ordered the Lobster Macaroni and Cheese, a rather eclectic dish. For an appetizer we ordered Sweet and Sour Calamari.
The Calamari was great, and then our food arrived. Amanda’s food was fabulous! It sounded so off, but the combination was delicious! Hubby’s chowder was in a huge bowl and was packed with seafood. And mine, you ask? Well, my Prime Rib came swimming in brown liquid, with the mashed potatoes literally diluted by this watery mess. I tried to cut the meat, and it was fatty and soggy and just a mess. I was so disappointed, but I kept my mouth closed an simply enjoyed the company and the views. I asked for a “doggie bag” for the meat and then settled in looking at the dessert menu. If my dinner had been a disaster, then I was going to order the most sinful thing I could on the dessert menu and salvage my meal.
I ordered the Chocolate Suicide Cake! It was 4 layers of light chocolate cake frosted and filled with a creamy fluffy chocolate mouse. The piece was a huge three inch wedge. Hubby laughed and asked for the camera, which I had forgotten at home. I grabbed my fork and dug in.
Oh the joy, oh the rapture, of the pure, sensuous sweetness. Yes, this is worth having the crappy meal, just so I had enough room for this cake.
Half way through, I had to stop. I was so full I couldn’t finish. I asked for a “doggie bag” for my cake. Not that the doggies got any of that cake! Instead of dinner last night I made myself a cup of coffee and finished it!
We returned to the house and talked and played with the dogs.

Before long, it was time for Amanda to go. She had an hour and fifteen minute drive home, and with this terrible rain we are having, she needed to leave to give herself plenty of time to make the trip.
After she left I sat here thinking that this was one of the nicest Mother’s Days I have had in many years! It was full of love, of fun and chocolate and roses!

Scavenger Saturday
Celebration

Boy did we celebrate when Fritz won “Best Puppy In Show”!!!

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

Scavenger Saturday

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code. Photo Theme. Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

OPEN

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin Germany. Closed for so many years during The Cold War, now open and all the people are free!!!

Maribeth & Uschi

Sunday night was a gourmet dream come true. For our anniversary dinner we went out to The Woodshed for dinner. There were specials on the menu and Hubby and I, after 18 years together wound up ordering the exact same things, fixed the exact same way. There is something to be said for “growing together” over time.
For our appetizer we had Lobster Crepes in a Newburg/sherry sauce. This was to die for! Then we were served a tossed green salad with blue cheese dressing and fresh hot bread. I was starting to feel very full, but we still had the main course to go. This consisted of 3 lobster claws, and a petite (hardly small) prime rib of beef cooked medium rare. Baked stuffed potatoes and assorted green vegetables rounded out the plate. I ate all the good stuff, and nary a green bean, although for appearance sake I did eat one. When we left we sort of waddled out the door to the car where we both flopped in heavily lamenting “I can’t believe we ate the whole thing“.

Eighteen years ago today, Hubby and I exchanged vows on Cape Cod and became husband and wife. All I can say is, where has the time gone?
I remember that day as though it was yesterday.
It was bright and sunny and the day was filled with promise.
The wedding was a small one with only about 35 people in attendance. My daughter, Mandy was my maid of honor and my step daughter Jessica was my bridesmaid. My Uncle George walked me down the isle and gave me away. My father played the organ. He didn’t really want to give me away “again”, as he claimed that it hadn’t stuck the first time.
My mother sat in the first row with my Uncle Betty. I remember during the service when we had said our vows hearing Uncle Betty start to cry with happiness. She was like that. All tough on the outside and a marshmallow on the inside.
For this wedding (unlike my first), I had planned everything from the flowers to the food. I’d searched high and low for a gown and finally found one while visiting a friend in Florida. I remember carrying the gown on a flight back to Boston from Miami. No one was with me when I found it. I just knew when I tried it on that it was the right gown for me.

Hubby and I wanted a traditional service, with traditional vows. It was the most beautiful of weddings and such a wonderful way to start our life together.

So today as we celebrate 18 happy years together I make a toast to my husband, my lover and my best friend.

“Happy Anniversary, Darling“!

I’ve now had my 15 seconds of fame. Today I was sitting here writing to you all when I looked outside and saw that it was both raining and SNOWING! Now that’s odd, I thought. The weather man at NECN is always asking people to write in when they see weird weather, I thought that when it is both raining and snowing at the same time, now that’s pretty strange. So, I wrote in and said, “Matt, it is both raining and snowing at the same time here in **** New Hampshire. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen!” signed Maribeth ****. A little while later I was sitting here and he read my e-mail on the air!!! Of course no one heard it but me, I’m sure, still, it was exciting to know that someone actually read it and that it didn’t just disappear into a void, and somewhere there is actually someone who is thinking, “Wow, in **** New Hampshire it was raining and snowing at the same time!”.
15 seconds of fame is pretty exciting, but my neighbor reminded me, “Just don’t let it go to your head”.

Continue reading “I’m Famous”

Every day I either climb on my exercise bike or I go skiing. I’ve been faithfully doing this since January 1st, part of my New Years Resolution for a healthier me. As those of you, who read me daily know, I have been back on South Beach to regain control of my eating, and to lose the weight I put on this fall.
I felt quite humbled when I could barely zip my jeans, and I have not gone out to buy jeans that fit better. There were days I spent a lot of time in sweat pants with a wonderful elastic waist band!
The first week I lost 4 pounds, the second week 3 pounds and this week another 4 pounds!
Needless to say, moral is high right now. I feel like the Super Woman of Dieting! Able to leap stationary bikes, carrying a carrot stick, in a single bound!
It has not always been like this for me. Weight loss and I are not old and dear friends. Usually it dribbles off. 1/4 pound here, a 1/10 of a pound there. I’m usually in the deepest of depressions when I am dieting.
So what’s different this time? I think two things. First I have learned that nothing puts weight on me faster than carbs. I should just take those cookies, breads and potatoes and rub them on my hips! So I know that cutting all of that out and eating a lot of protein and vegetables is the way to go. When I do that, the weight melts off.
Second, I am learning that “exercise” that dreaded four letter word, really does get the weight to move off a little faster. I also read something in a book, (don’t ask me which one!), that it’s better to exercise in the morning because it gets your metabolism cranking and you burn calories more efficiently for the rest of the day. Thus, after breakfast I do my thing, be it on the slopes or on the bike.
I’ve still got a long way to go, and I know there will be weeks when I don’t lose anything and I come crying to you all, but today, I’m feeling good about myself and about my change in eating habits.

There we were, my family and I, gathered to say goodbye to my Aunt. It’s a small family now, as we’ve said goodbye to too many of our loved ones. Yet, we sat side by side, sang some hymns and listened to the minister. My cousin Larry spoke about his mother. He did a great job, and he nearly had me in tears. Which was not too good, because I had to speak next. Somehow I cleared my throat, which felt very tight, climbed to the podium and told everyone about my special Aunt, “Uncle Betty“. My voice didn’t falter, and I got through okay, but right at the end, when I finished I suddenly felt like I was going to burst into tears. I couldn’t breath and I had a small sense of panic overcome me. I did not want to cry like that in front of so many strangers. So I held my breath until I sat down with my cousin Janet and I grabbed her hand and held on. I could feel her warmth and her love and slowly I could relax and breathe.
The service ended with the choir singing “Amazing Grace”. It was done as a spiritual, and I just loved it, (I usually cry buckets when I hear that song). This arrangement, however, was so uplifting and fun, that it really lightened the mood.

My cousin, Rikki, my sister, Mel, my cousin, Larry, my mother, me and my cousin, Janet.
After the service, we celebrated Uncle Betty with a buffet (she would have loved that, as she was always the first one there for a “food” event), and we all were telling our favorite stories of her. I got to meet many of our northeast Blogging friends, and at the end of the gathering, I brought in Shubi and Greta to meet everyone.
I’ll miss Uncle Betty so much. She was one of the best parts of this group of people that I call family.

Today is a special day for me. It’s five years ago today that I first met my best friend, Uschi.

It’s funny how we started out. I’d gone to a (German language) dog web site where there was a chat room. At the time I was trying to learn some German. (Unfortunately I am one of those people who is not linguistically gifted. )
While there I left a message that I was looking for a penpal. Uschi replied to the posting and we have been together ever since.
The first postings were formal. I learned she was born and raised in Schmölln, Germany. She was an Engineer, married with a daughter, and a yellow Labrador, named Gilli and currently living in Berlin. I wrote to her about me. I was 42, fighting my weight (even then), married, with one daughter, and two dogs. A White German Shepherd, Max and my beloved Shubi.
Over time we would write about what we were doing, what we were thinking, what we were cooking or where we were going. We set up our computers so we could chat online and each day at 3 pm my time and 9 pm her time we would meet to chat!
It was a year before we actually met each other. Then Uschi and her Hubby came to visit us here in the USA! We went on a road trip. Two dogs, and four people in a camper. What a blast!

A year later I went to visit them in Germany while Hubby stayed home. Our Max was ill and Hubby didn’t want to leave him. It was so great to be there with Uschi and to visit Berlin after being away from it since 1990.
When Shubi got sick, Uschi helped me find my Greta and she made most all of the arrangements for us to go over and pick her up. This time Hubby came with me and we enjoyed a week with Uschi and her Hubby!

Meeting Uschi is so special because she is now a sister to me. I know I can go to her anytime and pour out my heart and she will listen and love me anyway. She understands my heart and we share so many interests and concerns

We have been through life’s most difficult moments and been able to be there for each other in a way that many other friends simply cannot.
So today I am writing this to let you know how wonderful it is to have such a special person in my life. My best friend and sister.
Happy 5th Anniversary, Uschi, and thank you so much for your friendship and your love!