How's this?

Well with the help of Casey and Shannon, I was able to change the background and also the text. How do you like this? I think it is very pretty. Leave me a comment.

More Christmas Photos

Here are a few more photos from Christmas.

A serious conversation between grandfather and grandson.
Here is my father-in-law with his daughter and son-in-law, and his sons and daughters-in-law.

Here is my mother with three of her five grandkids (my kids).

Sore Throat

I woke up this morning with a sore throat. I used this as my excuse not to go to FF. Seriously though, I did not want to get overheated and start feeling worse. I have paper work to do here at home, and I do need to run some errands. Tomorrow is a work day for me. I need to get some things done here. If I feel better later, I will try to do a home workout.

Christmas Tables

Here are the photos from Christmas of my table settings. I thought I would show them since I talked about my kitchen accomodating the extra table. I wish I had closed my laundry room door before the photo was taken. The "older adults"were at the large table and the younger adults were at the smaller table.

New Format

Well, I wanted to change things up, and this is the only background I found that I kinda liked. I see all these other backgrounds that people have on their blogs- Casey, Shannon, tell me how to do it. I will use this one until you tell me where to go to find others. Any one want to tell me what you think about this one?

Skype

I just discovered something new that is really fun! It is Skype. In case you don't know what that is, it is a free program like an instant messaging program such as AIM. The difference is is that on Skype, you talk and see the person you are talking with! My new laptop has a webcam on it. So last night my daughter who also has a new computer with a webcam on her computer called me on my computer, and we were able to talk to each other and see each other while talking! How cool! We wanted this feature on our computers so that when the baby comes, we will be able to see and hear it from the computer.

Facebook

Well, I enrolled on facebook a few months back, but I only added two friends. I did not really participate in learning all about facebook. In fact my 21 year old son made fun of me saying that I was too old to be on facebook. I figured that he was right and just did not give the use of facebook much thought. However; I have changed my mind. My daughter helped me see all the advantages to facebook. You know I have email and this blog, but what better way to connect with so many people that you know and have a group discussion or meeting? You can view everyone's photo album, get the word out quick if there is a death or some big event coming up. Plus... you can find people that you have often wondered.... what ever happened to...? or where is....? I think that facebook can be an absolutely great tool. But.... it also can be for me a great distracter from doing more beneficial things. I need to be on the computer more like I need an extra pound. But for right now, I give facebook a thumbs up. Check it out.

Christmas 2008

Usually we do not have a large number of people on Christmas Day for dinner. From my original family, only my mother comes. My father and brother are deceased, and my sister and her family live out of state and never come for Christmas. My husband's father came last year and again this year. His mother and two of his sisters are deceased. We were thrilled to have his only sister and her husband and his only brother and his wife celebrate the day with us. Of course we had my daughter and her husband, my oldest son and his girlfriend, and my younger son.
I would usually have room to seat all of us at one table, but with the extra guests, I was able to put a small table in my kitchen. I will post a photo later from my sil because she took photos of the tables. I have included a photo of me working at my large kitchen island and then a group photo of all of us.

As we gathered in the kitchen/dining area, my son-in-law read the Christmas story, Luke 2:1-20. He has a great movie-star voice, and I was very happy he consented to do this. After that my younger son read a letter from my caretaker of my father-in-law. This woman helped care for my mother-in-law before her death, and for my fil since (almost 5 years). She and Mr. Mc have spent lots of time together discussing family and life and death. She expressed her love for Mr. Mc and his family and the letter had many in tears. We all pretty much believe this will be our last Christmas with Mr. Mc. He is 95 years old. I posted a photo from last Christmas just a few weeks ago, and you can see his decline from photo to photo. After this I lit a candle in memory of all those that I mentioned from our family that have gone on from this life. I then had everyone join hands as I gave the blessing. My husband is just not comfortable praying aloud, so I have been the one to always do it.

We had lots of great delicious food. The conversations were abundant. There was laughter and tears. We said good byes to my husband's family. My immediate family along with my mother then opened our gifts later in the afternoon. That evening we visited with neighbors down our farm to market road and swapped stories of our kids' escapades from the past twenty years. More laughter. Then my dd and sil, ds and gf, and other ds all played the game of Cranium. I was not very good at it. Again....more laughter. It was a great day the Lord blessed us with. My family is certainly not perfect... not even close... but they are the ones I have... and I guess I will keep them! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. I hope you remembered to keep Christ in the thick of it. I hope you told someone you loved them and you got to hear I love you from one of them. Now... it is time to get back serious with this healthy eating!!!!!

Borrowing

I posted last week about being a good house guest. I thought about borrowing things. I am having 13 at my house for Christmas. Usually there are only 8 of us at the most. My dining room table holds 8. I have a large island in my kitchen with 6 barstools. But the bar is usually where I put all the food to be served buffet style. My grown son has one of those hard plastic-like folding tables you get at Sam's. It would be perfect for the additional 5 people, and my country-style kitchen/dining area will accomodate this table. When I went and got it and brought it home, it was nasty looking. The top had mildew-looking stains, and the underside had some rust from being out in the weather. Of course I was going to put a table cloth over it, and no one would be looking at the underside, but I would know that it was nasty. Even if I just wiped it off, it would not get rid of the stains. Instead I got an SOS pad and scrubbed the top, and I got paper towels and wiped up the rust on the underside. I had it looking good. And I started thinking about borrowing things. I don't really like to borrow things. The best advice I have given my kids which always needs to be repeated is when you borrow.... 1. return it promptly 2. return it in better shape than when you got it. If it breaks... either fix it or offer to pay to have it fixed. As our future seems more and more uncertain, we may need to practice borrowing etiquette more often.

Foot

Okay... I am going to say a little more about my foot, and then I won't be writing about it for awhile. I finally called the podiatrist, explained about my foot pain, etc. He suggested I get a splint to wear at night that will keep my foot in a 90 degree angle. He said I will probably not be able to wear it all night as it will cause my calf to cramp. But it will stretch my tendon. I hope to get this soon, and have my pain resolved. I want to get back to walking and trying to jog like I did a few months ago. So... enough about the dang foot. I know that is what you are all thinking.

What if.....

What if my foot pain has been caused by one of my orthotics? No kidding... I have two different pair of orthotics. I have had one pair since 2001. They worked great with me. In the last year, my podiatrist fitted me with a more heavy-duty orthotic to wear with my workout shoes. He also refurbished my other one somewhat. Well... I seldom wear the original ones. But after looking at my newest ones, I noticed that the heel seemed to be very indented. I thought, " hmmmm...... I am going to quit wearing those and wear my other ones constantly for a few days and see if it makes a difference." Well, I do not know if it is all in my mind, but today all day long I have worn my oldest orthotic and I can actually walk around with very little pain. I mean... I can still feel this foot pain, but not like I have been feeling it. I am going to continue to walk around with these for the next week, and ice my foot, and then evaluate my pain. Wouldn't that me absolutely positively fantastic if I get free from this chronic pain? I must say that I am having so much more empathy for people with back pain, migraines, joint pain, fibromyalgia, osetoporosis, etc. Chronic pain makes it where you are in a bad mood, you can't enjoy life, you cannot hardly even think because of the pain. I am so hoping that this is my problem. You can either wish me luck or pray for me!

Super Bowl

With this being football season and the Super Bowl about a month away, I wanted to tell about my trip to the Super Bowl. The year was 1973 and I was almost 19 years old. I happened to be home from college for Christmas break. My uncle came over to the house to ask my dad about going to the super bowl. My dad wanted to go, but my mother did not want to. I just happened to come into the kitchen when they were discussing it. I said, " well, I want to go!" I really never thought they would take me. But my dad said, " well, get your stuff together." So that very day we were on a plane headed west. We stopped off in Las Vegas and went and saw B.B. King and spent the night there. We then went on to L.A. and visited with some friends of my uncle's and my dad's. My male cousin who was a couple of years older than me went with us.

The day of Super Bowl VII was a gorgeous sunny day at the Los Angeles Coliseum. It was the Miami Dolphins against the Washington Redskins. My dad has always been such a comical character and this trip was so much fun. As we were seated and began watching the game, there was a middle age man with a "much younger" female with him. This paunchy man began to talk to this blonde buxom woman about the game of football. He said, " Now baby, you see that man down there in the green, he is going to kick that football and that man in the maroon is going to try to catch it and run down the field this way." Oh my gosh... this mistress... I mean lady had no idea about the game of football. He began to give her instructions about the entire game. And my dad says to me, "honey, there are 50,000 people here in this stadium, and you would know that we would be the ones stuck sitting in front of them." Every now and then, he would let out this big aggravated sigh, or turn and give them one of his huffy looks. I am including a photo from January 1973. I was so excited about going and in such a rush, that I left my makeup at home. I have never been much of a spontaneous person, but that day I was and I am so thankful that I have this fun memory of my dad and me. He has been gone now for over 13 years and I miss him very much. But I am so thankful for that special day that we spent daddy/daughter time together!

My blog

I don't know if some of you were able to get on my blog and read my post entitled "Christmas Season". I deleted this post. It was about how I feel about all the gift-giving, shopping, etc. I reread it, and although I meant all that I said, somehow it might have come across as a big complaint. It was not meant to be that way. Also, sometimes I delete comments. It is not that I have had people write ugly or inappropriate things. If someone mentions the town that I live in or my last name, then I usually delete their comment. My blog is public. I realize that most people are like me and read others' blogs to get a different perspective about life, or learn something new, etc. But I also know from watching all the crime shows- both real (Nancy Grace), and unreal (CSI), that there may be some crazy person out there that I don't want to know my name or where I live. I welcome comments and I always like to know that some people like what I write about.

What a Treat

Today is a special day for our staff. Our boss is treating us to a day at the spa. Originally we could pick three out four indulgences- hair, nails, facial, and massage. The nail tech was not going to be able to get to us today, so we might get this next week. My choice is massage and facial (nails later). I am to arrive at 9:00 a.m. with no make-up. After the four of us finish, we are going out to eat courtesy of our boss. When I say "our boss", I really mean our boss and his wife. She is an active part of the practice and is always available to help out when we are bogged down or when someone is absent. I am thankful to be working for these great people.

Last night I started writing down some of my goals on this eating situation. I have again gotten out of control with the Dr. Peppers, goodies that patients bring to the office, and grabbing the wrong thing when I am hungry. You know that 3500 calories equal a pound. If I can either cut 500 calories of what I eat that will maintain my present weight, or .... if I do a calorie deficit by burning an extra 500 calories a day, then in a week I can lose one pound. Well... at least that is the way it looks on paper. So... I have gone through http://www.sparkpeople.com/ and I wrote out what I would have to do to burn 500 calories. I thought some of you might be interested in this list. It looks like most of the exercises should take around 40 minutes. That is all except walking, and you will have to do this two times a day to lose the 500 calories.

So here is my list:
cycling 12-13.9 mph for 45 minutes burns 504 calories
circuit training (FF) for 45 minutes burns 504 calories
swimming (crawl-308), (breaststroke-280) 20 min each for a total of 40 minutes burns 588 cal
line dancing for 85 minutes burns 510 calories
step aerobics for 50 minutes burns 490 calories
kayaking for 40 minutes ( 4 mph) burns 500 calories
walking a 15 min mile for 80 minutes burns 504 calories
treadmill walking- 15 % incline and a 20 minute mile for 40 minutes burns 520 calories
treadmill walking- 10% incline and a 15 minue mile for 40 minutes burns 520 calories
jogging an 11 minute mile for 40 minutes burns 504 calories
These are the ones that I listed because these are the ones that I would do. I thought last night how I need to add yoga and Pilates and see what I come up with. You can go to this website and type in your weight and your length of time for each activity and see what you come up with. This was for MY weight, which I prefer not to put down for the world to see!

I also listed the calories for some of the foods that I eat that I could do without easily and not miss. For example an ounce of cheese-110, mayonaise, 1T-100, Ranch dressing 2T-180, wine 6oz glass-250, Dr. Pepper 16 oz-200. Just think if I had a DP and a glass of wine and a piece of cheese that would be over 500 calories. Those are all pretty empty calories. I will list other food ideas for quick snacks later. Right now it is time for me to go get spoiled!

Learning

Well, as the following posts will show, I am learning how to do this scanning business. I will have this corrected later. Right now I don't want to go back and redo it, so you will just have to get the general idea, mistakes and all.

Even More Camp Snuf

Oh yeah, I am serious about those horseshoes. 1991

Our camp leader-Snuf-1991

Remember those painted T-shirts? This is 1990.

More Camp Snuf

This is the group on the deck of the beach house-1989

This is dh playing beach volleyball-1990Okay, I restarted my computer and was able to scan the other photos. I think that the group were always wondering what my hair would look like. Would I be blonde, gray, brown, curly, straight, short or long? Here are some more photos. This is 1990 - I am having fun playing beach volleyball.

Camp Snuf

I mentioned that I learned how to scan. I was able to scan one photo, and now my printer/scanner is not talking to my computer. I don't know what I am doing wrong. But here is one photo from our first beach trip (1989) from Camp Snuf. Steve's nickname is Snuf. Can you find me and dh? I am on one side of the photo and dh is on the other side. Snuf is in front with the fisherman's hat on. You can tell he is lots of fun. This photo was at Benno's on the Seawall.

Back Home

Today was pretty busy for me, and I am about to fall asleep at four in the afternoon. My day started very early (about 4:30 a.m.) because I was at my mother's house and just woke up early. I got up and had my coffee, got the newspaper and worked my sudoku, and then headed to FF. I got there early enough to walk 30 minutes on the treadmill. After my class I went back to my mom's house and got showered and dressed to attend the funeral of my friend Steve's mother. I got to see my Aggie son home on leave and he went with dh and me to the funeral. Afterward, I made it to the copy place to get my Christmas letter typed and my Christmas stampsfor my cards. They will be in the mail tomorrow. I got home after being gone since Saturday and I must comment on how my house looked. Remember I have just had eight house guests. My house was as nice and neat as it was before my guests arrived. I have some suggestions for those of you who go and stay at someone's house and hope to be invited back. I would not have been able to make this list prior to their coming. But as I look around and see what they did, I can offer suggestions.
1. Ask your host if you can do ..... what ever you are willing to do. Here are some of the things my guests did.
2. Stripped all the sheets and began the laundry process.
3. Gathered all the towels to be added to the laundry.
4. Washed any dishes that were in the sink and dried them ready to be put away. They did not put them away because this would have made work for me to try and find them.
5. Even though all the sheets were off the bed, they made up the bed so that when I saw my house, it looked nice and neat.
6. They put everything back exactly like I had it.
7. My bathrooms all looked very clean.
8. They thanked me over and over, and gave me the greatest compliment by telling me that they were so comfortable and "at home" and they felt like they were at a B & B. I have had guests plenty of times before in my house, but not where I have moved out and left them without my presence.

I must give this list to my grown kids so that they too, can be good guests at others' homes. I also must say that my house is very simple, not at all fancy. I have decorated my house to please me so that my dh and children will be comfortable and always feel like this is a place to be equipped and nurtured to get out in the world.

Busy Weekend

On Friday morning, I got an email from a friend in Waco. These friends are couple friends, and the husband's mother passed away. She and her husband have lived here in my hometown for many years. Steve went to high school with my dh. We began joining them twenty years ago in Galveston for the male Steve's 40th birthday. We were able to continue to meet for many years. Then he changed jobs and it was more sporadic when we met in Galveston. I guess the last time we had a group down at his inlaws beach house in Pirates' Beach was about 4 years ago. We just have so many fun memories of being with these friends and Kathy's brothers and their wives and their friends from Waco. We had planned activities. On Thursday if you arrived early enough, the guys would play golf. That evening was hamburgers. Friday began the beach fun with beach volleyball and horseshoes and lots of sun and surf. Friday night would be a dinner out at Benno's (Cajun seafood), along with miniature golf right on the Seawall. On Saturday night we would have boiled shrimp earlier in the day and have it iced down and have a gigantic salad and lots of beer to go with it. Time at the beachhouse was playing shuffleboard, spoons, and laughing and telling stories on one another and then replaying memories of past get-togethers. We have already been told that this summer will be the 60th birthday bash, and we are so looking forward to it! I gotta keep working out so I can make those volleyball digs!

When I was able to talk to Steve, he asked if I could house his grown kids/spouses. I love this family, and I got to know some of them better while I was there on Friday night. Since there were going to be so many and my house will only sleep a certain amount, I decided to let them have the house and I went to our camphouse. And then tonight I am at my mom's house so I can use the computer tonight, and make it to my exercise in the morning. What a pleasure it is to get to know your friends' kids as mature adults. Like I said, they are a great family. The oldest daughter who has a two year old gave me lots of grandmother pointers. I can sure use those.

Steve's mom and dad have been married for over 67 years. What a testimony to marriage just like my inlaws who made it to 74 years. There are going to be difficult days for this family. They know where she is which is a great comfort even though they will miss her very much. I was very impressed that two of Steve's good friends made the trip from Atlanta and Nashville.

I must mention that when I knew I was having house guests, I put it in high gear. Now my house is not a trashed out place or anything, but hey.. I am an empty nester. My husband is not picky about having things spotless... I have better things to do than clean house. Well... you know what I mean. It is not high on my list of priorities. So I really worked at it. All day long! I have no carpet in my house, so any dust is easily seen on wood floors. I was down on the floor with the dust mop getting under the bed. I was reaching high to clean the blinds. I had my house clean!!! And then yesterday afternoon I was at the camphouse with my dh and I was lying on the couch watching Mission Impossible III, and I got up to get a drink, and I was so stove-up. I said, " Gosh, what is the matter with me? Why am I so sore?" Duh....... So if you don't join a gym and you want exercise, invite some people over and get busy cleaning your house.

Tomorrow I will attend the memorial service for this dearly loved wife, mother, and grandmother. But before that I will go to my FF class. And then my life will be back to my regular routine. I learned how to scan last week( yes, you can laugh and make fun of me).
So I am going to find some photos from 20 years ago at the beach or at least a while ago and post them on this blog.

Should I Change the Title?

I am beginning to wonder if I should change the title of my blog. I mean... it says Daily with Dee, and there is no daily about it. I feel like sometimes my life is just too humdrum boring to post anything. I meant for this blog to be about my exercise, but lately it just seems like I am falling short. I have only been exercising about 3 times per week instead of the 6 times that I started out with in January. Not the way the I wanted to end this year. But that is what I like about a new year..... we can start afresh. I have been making it to my FF class every MWF, but I am not spinning, nor swimming, nor bike riding lately. My foot is still giving me pain. I need to call the dr. office and find out about taking the celebrex. I also need to be icing it, which I have not done.

My Sunday school class have embarked on a new study about our attitude. I have discovered that complaining is a sin. Hmmm...... go figure. Even thinking of complaining is a sin.... hmmm..... well, my assignment has been to keep a log of what comes either to my mind or out of my mouth as a complaint. You talk about someone who is not talking much these days. I have just tried to keep my mouth shut to keep from uttering complaints. Thinking about writing it down has really made me accountable. I thought I was a very positive person, but I am realizing that I have lots of room for improvement in this aspect. How about you? Does your thought life involve lots of negative thoughts and complaints? Take note of this. It may really surprise you. This week we are talking about the sin of complaining and getting rid of it. And of course when you rid yourself of something, you must fill yourself with something else... and that is thankfulness. I facilitated our lesson on Sunday because the teacher was gone. I told them all to think about how they could turn their complaint into thankfulness, and also what could they do to change what they were complaining about. I don't plan on grading them or finding out this information.... it is for their own benefit. Try this exercise and see if you become like me. Just more aware of how you complain and more observant of all the things to be thankful for.

It is cold outside and rainy and instead of complaining about this day, as I was driving home from work, I said, " oh thank you Lord that I have heating in my car." And when I got home I told my dh how thankful I was for the nice warm house that we have. I am going to beat this complaining business, so those of you that know me, just you watch and see!

Tagged

Okay, I have been tagged to list 7 random things that others may not know about me.
1. I have my clothes in my closet color arranged and by sleeve length. I would be so much more anal if I let myself, but I try to not become too obsessed.

2. I wish I could sing so I could sing a solo in church.

3. If I was 20 years old, I would head to Hollywood and try to become an actress. I would still like to be one.

4. My middle name is an abbreviated form of my Swedish grandfather, Ferdinand. My middle name is 'Dinand, and Dee is my nickname.

5. Although my husband and I did not start dating until I was 21 years old, we met when I was 13 and he was 18, and of course he did not know that I existed.

6. From my very first memory, I remember praying to God.

7. I miss my father very much, but I cannot wait to see my grandmother again when I reach Heaven.

I am tagging two people, one with a blog and one without, so you will have to list it here. I am tagging Lee Ann and Kyle.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day

Okay... I have some photos from Thanksgiving Day. The first photo is the one we will use for our Christmas card that we send out to friends and family. I just realized this is the first photo I have posted of some of my other family members. Back row is oldest son, youngest son, only daughter and her husband. Front row is husband and his beloved dog and me.
This photo includes oldest son's girlfriend. She took the other photo for the family card. Maybe next year she will be in the Christmas card photo. Who knows?

My dear mother joined us. We usually have just a small group for holidays because right now we are a small family. My sister and her family live in NC, and they don't come for holidays. My husband says my sister may never return to Texas again because she was here the weekend of Hurricane Ike, and was delayed in getting back home. She was here to help us though with the massive cleanup at my mother's house and also on our property. We had so many limbs down that it was lots of work. My father and my brother are deceased. Hence, my family is small. I hope to have a much larger family in the future. I am soon to have my first grandchild. My daughter and son-in-law have decided to withhold learning the sex of the baby. They are going to do it the old fashioned way, and hear those exciting words.... "IT'S A BOY"..... or ......"IT'S A GIRL".

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Problems... arguments... disagreements... hurt feelings... tempers.... oh yeah... we have our share. But laughter... tears of joy.... unforgettable moments.. insightful times.... special bonding.... and lots of love! Yeah we have that too!

My husband's family has also changed. He has lost his mom and two sisters. And he just has one sister and one brother and his father. We are excited that his father and his sister and her husband will be joining us on Christmas Day. Gosh.... I cannot believe that Christmas is three weeks from tomorrow. Whoa... too much to do... I gotta go.

Get Back on Track

Okay... it is time to get back on track. I missed my exercise these last four days just like I intended NOT to do. Unless you count walking at a mall or shopping center. I just got back from HEB and Sams and I intend to try to eat healthier the next few weeks before Christmas. I usually don't eat sweets, but I was like a fiend with the pecan pie. I mainly like to pick the pecans off. Today I went to my fitness fusion class. It is just too cold to go and swim. My computer's battery is messed up, my computer cord to the electric outlet is messed up. I am going to get a new computer for Christmas. I am unable to get on the computer any time I want right now. Perhaps I need to break my computer obsession anyway. My dh made fun of me wanting to get my new computer right now. He asked, " Can't you do without it for a few weeks?" I asked him to turn the television off or not to watch ESPN for a few weeks until I got my new computer. Case closed... I made my point. I am headed for Best Buy, and may have a new computer when I come home.