Daily with Dee

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T18:33:00.002-06:00

Whew!! Christmas decorating, Christmas shopping, Christmas music, Christmas wrapping, Christmas cooking, Christmas eating!!!! Sometimes I feel so bogged down in all the preparations for Christmas I feel overburdened and not celebrating what Christmas really is.. Yes, I love to give gifts (if I know what will make someone happy, not just giving something that is unwanted). I love receiving gifts that I know someone gives with love and care (not just fulfilling their duty). I love to decorate ( if my efforts are appreciated) and love being reminded of previous Christmases when seeing the ornaments. I love Christmas music. Wrapping is not that much fun. I love trying new recipes. And of course I love to eat!! But this is Christmas!! This is the time when God sent His only begotten Son to be born in simplicity- no fanfare.. no luxury, nothing to the world that looked spectacular. But this Baby was God's Son.. who left Heaven to be confined in a human body. He was born to die so He could take away our sins. How miraculous is that??? That God loved us that much!! Oh please dear Heavenly Father- renew in my heart what Christmas is all about- and if I have to give up all of the above to do it, then I give it all up!! You are my Gift!! May I be reminded everyday that I owe it all to You Lord!! Thank you Lord that I am here on this earth another Christmas Day to celebrate your birth!!

Sewing room-part 2

2011-11-10T16:07:00.004-06:00

Somehow I left off one of my photos that shows my ironing table. I could not figure out how to go back and include it in the previous post.

Sewing room

2011-11-10T11:37:00.006-06:00

So it has been some time since I posted here on my blog. I guess any followers I have had have given up on me. I have been working the last couple of days getting my sewing room organized. I went to the Family Crisis Center Thrift Shop and purchased this farmhouse table. It is certainly not an antique, nor does it look all that great right now, but it was within my budget. Remember, I retired, and don't have or need to be spending money on anything frivolous. I had been using a plastic table from Academy. It had previously been left outside; therefore, making it a little swayed in the middle. I wanted to move my cutting mat to the table and have my ironing table on my other work table. So this is going to work out good. I don't like the fabric of the loveseat. It is an old Ethan Allen loveseat that I purchased in 1986- yes, the mauve does scream 80's. But I absolutely love having a comfortable place to sit and either read, be on my computer, watch TV, and/or do handwork. It is not a very deep loveseat, so it is comfortable to sit erect and easy to get up from. I have a window AC in the room which lets me get this place super super cold!! Yes... menopause will have you get excited about such things as window air conditioners!! I also still have room to do my workout with my weights and videos, and I can pull my treadmill down if I decide to walk inside. I plan to get some shelves built above the worktable that is against the wall next to my thread. I have lots of shelves to house my books, magazines, notebooks, etc. I have a small desk that has all of my cards- thank you notes, birthday, sympathy, etc. I have good lighting too. I love my sewing room!!! It is a great place to work. I included the photos because this maybe the neatest it will be in awhile. The stuff below the table is some of my fabric that will not go in the closet.

At My House

2011-07-27T20:31:00.004-05:00

I just don't seem to have alot to blog about these days. Not that I have been doing little, but I have been doing alot... just nothing exciting. I got up very early today to put up okra. My neighbor and I picked from his garden a couple of days ago. I left the okra in the frig knowing I had better hurry up or it was going to go bad. And I had a full day today, so I got up and started in on that okra at 6:00 a.m. It took me over an hour to wash it, cut it, and get it in the seal-a-meal bags. I had 8 quarts total with enough left over to fry tonight. Speaking of that.... dh said it was the best he had ever had!! I don't know if it was because I coated it just right with the cornmeal or because it was fresh. But I have to agree- it was delish!!

Our tomatoes are finally finished. We had so many from our mere 16 plants that we were loving giving them away to friends and family. I still have a few in the frig along with some green ones for frying. Yes, I know I do not need to eat all that fried food, but I do have to say it is better than processed food.

Since I have retired from dental hygiene, I have been happy to help out with one of my dear friend's son's business. He and his wife have estate sales, and I am one of their workers. I have found some great deals at these estate sales. Like one the other day- I was able to buy two small braided rugs for $10 each. This is funny... have you ever had a job where you paid them??? I find so much to buy that I end up using up all my hours plus having to pay them. I have found some good stuff- Champion juicer, sewing machine, sewing supplies- books, fabric, thread; television, tools, paintings, prints, fans.. all things that I am recycling!! And many times you get good stuff because it is old, totally metal, made in U.S.A., and just all around better!! Tomorrow I will be there bright and early at 7:30 a.m. before the big rush at 8:00 a.m. This sale will last 3 days. It is not antiques this time, but lots of "men" stuff- tractor, four-wheeler, go-cart, lawn mowers, tools, pool table, etc. Of course there is also household stuff too like dishes, furniture and linens.

I am really trying to get back to working out harder. I have bought Zumba and also Chalean Extreme. I have done them both a few times and still doing my walking. My dh had put me on the gym membership back in January. I think I went maybe four times. I just did not like that gym. It was mainly men there, it was small, hot, and crowded. Since it was a 24 hour place, many times there was no attendant on the premises. And the clientale needed to read the book on weight lifting etiquette. They would leave those heavy heavy weights on the leg press. I could never use it because I could not lift that to get them off. And when you went to put your clothes in the locker, someone had left theirs there like it was their own private locker!! I guess I just had a bad attitude toward this place from the get-go. I mean, I have worked out in gyms all through my working out years, and this place just did not do it for me. But... I am still having a hard time MAKING myself do my weight lifting. I may be able to join a new group that will be working out at 6:00 a.m. everyday. I haven't been getting up this early, but I can do that!! I think I will try it.

So today I sent my first T shirt quilt to the quilter. I have started on the second one. Then when I get the last set of T shirts from ds, I will start on his. I have been doing a little bit more sewing lately because it is just too darn hot to be outside. This Texas heat is rough!! We did get a small shower today here at my house. I just finished doing my 3 mile walk starting at 7:00 p.m. My face was beet red, and I was dripping with sweat. Off to the shower and bed for me!!

Where Ya Been Dee?

2011-07-11T19:26:00.013-05:00

T shirt quilt- 24 T shirts, 12 on front and 12 on back-just need to add the borders and get quilted

tomato basil jam- I think it will be good over cream cheese.

Corn salsa- use as a dip with chips.

Father's Day weekend at Galveston

Have y'all been wondering where I have been? Gosh... it has been 3 months since I have posted. I cannot believe that time is rushing by so fast. Well... I have had lots going on. You know I told you all how in January I helped my oldest ds fix his bathroom up.. then he decided to move to the Woodlands, so I helped him kinda sorta stage his house. I have a friend that is a stager and another friend that is a realtor, and they both gave me some pointers on what to do to help sell his house. Here is what I did- shampooed the carpet, painted every room except for the bathroom ( which I did) and another bedroom which I did last year; painted the kitchen cabinets; painted the deck off from the patio; painted the hardware on the kitchen cabinets; bleached the grout on the kitchen tile; had to tear down wallpaper in one bedroom before I painted it; painted the light fixture on front porch; painted the mailbox; planted impatiens in the front flower bed; pressure washed the deck before painting; pressure washed the carport and the front of the house; watered the yard continually, raked up 18 bags of pinestraw; hauled off junk, cleaned thoroughly the laundry/storage room; replaced the lights on the ceiling fan. I am sure I left something out.. but yea!!! he sold the house and did make a profit... and I will get a nice monetary gift for all my hard work!!

I have also kept my granddaughter a few times this summer. That is lots of fun, but also quite exhausting for this "Gibby". I have made it a few times to Galveston to check on my family's condo.. which is still for sale!!

I haven't done near the amount of working out, walking, zumba as what I would like. I have had some health issues, but after scheduling an appointment 6 weeks ago, I finally got to see the doctor today. I will soon have the wonderful colonoscopy along with a scope to check out my esophagus. They are gonna meet in the middle...LOL

I have done very little in my sewing room except for fixing it up so I can comfortably watch TV. I now have a window unit along with central air in this room. I put a little loveseat in here too... you come to my house, you can find me in this room. I am planning and designing a wall of some bookshelves. I have so many projects I want to do, and I seem to be doing more planning that doing... I just seem to have a hard time getting started.. so today... by gosh.. I got the spray paint out and have been painting my barstools. My dh came home and could not understand why I wanted to change things... duh... women like to change things!! So instead of buying new, I am just making things different.

I also was pretty busy a couple of weeks ago "putting up" tomatoes. I have made over 60 jars of salsa, tomato basil jam, pickles, and my newest- chili sauce. This is fantastic!! I have eaten it on refried beans, rice, eggs, and I plan to use it with enchiladas. I am so proud of this!! It is from the cookbook, You Can Can.

So, yes, I have been busy, and just not making time to blog. I hope I will start back regularly. I will include some photos of some of my projects.

Just Painting?

2011-04-09T20:23:00.002-05:00

To some people who saw me with a paintbrush in my hands, you would think that all that was going on was that I was painting. However... there was much more going on. You see, I have been painting the interior of my oldest son's house along with his assistance. When you are in the same room painting there are times of silence, but there is also talking going on. Now let me say, that those who know me know that I am a BIG talker.. but my firstborn son is a man of few words... always has been. We used to quote the commercial... gosh.. I cannot even remember who it was for, but when they talk we listen... well, we could always say that about Brett... when Brett talks we listen because he was not a big talker. He did not tell you what he was thinking or how he felt about something. So today was a very enjoyable day for me. I loved spending time with my son... Brett talking, and Dee listening. I love him so much. He is such a sweet and extremely intelligent person. All of us in our family just do not understand how he is so smart because the rest of us are just average. If that sounds like I am bragging, I certainly don't mean it that way. There are some people that are blessed by God with beautiful looks, great athletic ability, and then super intelligence. I just continue each day to pray for him. That God will use this great talent he has given him to glorify God... not for his selfish gain which is the way of this world. So painting??? yes, we got lots of painting done, but so much more. Don't miss those opportunities that come your way... sometimes these days are just so much more than what they appear to be. Thank you Lord for this special day of painting that I had!

Little to Blog About

2011-03-24T14:14:00.004-05:00

My beautiful daughter and granddaughter

Friends and Family at Olive Garden

Fish Fry

Well, I have felt like I had little to blog about. I was quite busy a couple of weeks ago. My sister was here from N.C. for a visit and my daughter and granddaughter were here during that time. It seems we were on the go, but not doing anything really spectacular. My dh fried up some good ole catfish! I probably said it before, but he cooks it better than any restaurant. It is meaty on the inside and crispy on the outside... just the way I like it. My sons and their gfs were here for the fish fry. One of the days my sister was here, we headed over to ds's house... you know the house where I redid the bathroom. Well... he has moved to the Woodlands, and the house is for sale. I borrowed a power washer and we got the patio and back deck all spruced up- this east Texas weather is notorious for growing mildew. The house is pretty much all cleared out- now if only a buyer will come along.

I had a doctor appointment to check my thyroid levels on Monday. I have not yet heard back from my lab results. After my appointment which was in Houston I headed down to Galveston. I met up with a friend there, and we had dinner and a movie. I seldom go to the movie here in town, but for some reason when I am in Galveston I like to go. I saw the new Matt Damon movie, Adjustment Bureau, I think that is what it was called. It was not a great movie.. too strange for me. I don't care for movies that are fantasy and not true to life. I had some great seafood while I was in Galveston. One day some boiled shrimp and a fish taco, and then the next day shrimp enchiladas. That was a first for me on the shrimp enchiladas, and my opinion is... it was not something I would order again. I did get to soak up some sun while I was there and also went for two walks- both about 3 miles. I had to cut my trip short to return home for a funeral. It was the father of one of my friends- he was 87, and had lived a very full life. And then tomorrow will be another funeral of an acquaintance's 34 year old daughter. It is also the niece of one of my dear friends. Such a shock to all of the family to lose her at such a young age. So as of late, I have been overwhelmed with thinking of my friends and the loss they are experiencing. But thankfully both of the people that died knew Jesus as Saviour and knew where they would spend eternity. This is what is and will continue to sustain these loved ones left behind. They have the hope of seeing their departed again.

I am trying to get myself going. I have walked every day for 3 days. So far today I have not made it because I had too much to do. That is no excuse! But the day is not over yet.

Today I got up and cut up alot of green onions that went right into the food dehydrator. They are still drying now. Tomorrow I am getting my new baby chicks. There are so many things I want to do, and I am usually either short on energy or short on time. I love living in the country.

I have several projects that I want to get done. I had been working on that birthday banner and I want to finish it. I have still not finished the T shirt quilts I started. I want to learn how to crochet, knit, and tat. My garden will soon be started. I need to get busy again with my kitchen garden- namely basil, oregano, cilantro, and mint. There are lots of cute little outfits I want to make my gd, and I got a serger from a friend that I want to learn how to operate. Like I said.. lots of things I want to do!! I will post later showing my onions and also the homemade pizza that I made. So don't give up on me.. I plan to blog more in the future.

Gonna Start Posting Again

2011-03-10T09:18:00.004-06:00

I really am gonna start posting again. The main reason I have not been posting is because of my camera. First, I needed a new battery. Finally I got one. Then, I lost my memory card. You see my battery had swelled inside my camera. I had a dickens of a time getting it removed. And when I did the memory card came with it. And then, like I said, I misplaced the darn thing. So I made a visit to Walmart to get a new memory card. I bought the wrong kind. Back to Walmart to exchange it. I got the other new memory card yesterday. I moved some magazines and what did I find under the magazines? You guessed it, my memory card!! I am glad I had not opened the new memory card. I will return it AGAIN!! Well, I guess I can show you the dress that I made for dear granddaughter for her birthday. I don't have a photo of her in it, but I have one of her momma and daddy looking at it. I will post more later. I am also including a photo of dgd, dh, and me at the party. She had a cute Minnie Mouse dress on, but when she got the swimsuit, she wanted it on NOW!!! Naturally Gibby obliged her. LOL

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

2011-01-27T08:03:00.002-06:00

Do as I say, not as I do. How many times have we heard that? Did you ever hear it from your parents? Well hear it from me!! Only, I think I will change it up somewhat.. do as I say, and what I aspire to do... I have been harping on this blog for two years now about exercise and healthy eating. Do I follow this? Well... off and on. I have gone through periods of lots of exercise ( for a 50+ person) to very little exercise. Retirement has certainly been an obstacle in my routine. .. or should I say what routine? That's right, I lost my routine when I quit working. I have never been a person to sit around though. Just because I don't have a routine, I won't say that I have been lazy. I have indeed accomplished alot in a year, just not concerning my exercise goals. Also, my weight loss went the other way- yes, instead of losing, I have gained. I have read about probably every exercise manual and diet book and new recipes you can think of. Some I have tried, some I have dismissed. So I thought I would list some of my conclusions. They may not be your conclusions or some statistician. I have no experiments or data to have them set in stone. But here goes.

1. Every diet, be it low fat, low carb, etc. does not work on every person. Some of it is related to their hormones or how they metabolize food. My dh has been on the miracle metabolism eating plan- in a week he had lost 15 lbs, I lost 5. After 8 weeks, he had continued to lose as I gained mine back. Eating the same things!! This is low carb. The same thing happened with South Beach. My best way of losing weight is counting calories- essentially weight watchers.

2. The three main objectives in a diet are quality food, quantity of food, and frequency of food intake.
Quality-Forget all those processed low fat or low calorie foods that are not really food. If the food you eat did not have a mother, or did not grow in the ground, don't eat it. (there goes my Dr. Pepper). Eat organic if you can. Buy locally if you can. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, free range eggs
Quantity- portion control does matter. A menopausal woman cannot eat as much as her husband who has more muscle mass. He will lose, she will gain.
Frequency- eat those "smaller" meals several times a day instead of larger 3 square meals

3. Drink your water. You really should be drinking 1/2 your body weight in ounces. If you weigh 150, drink 75 ounces of water. Your body works the best at metabolizing food when you drink water.

4. Exercise!! I often thought that the exercise I did was not that beneficial. After all, I was not getting thin from doing it. But now after a year, of very little exercise- a hit and miss of walking and maybe doing some weight lifting here and there I know that I was wrong. Exercise is so important for health. I have had bronchitis probably 4x in a year, I have been sluggish, tired, developed arthritis. I probably could think of more.
Do aerobic exercise- to help your heart, increase your stamina.
Do anaerobic exercise- working with weights to increase your muscle mass and working your core so that when you reach, bend, pull, push, lift, etc. in your daily activities your body is able to do these things.
Stretching- do yoga or pilates for all of the above reasons.
Exercise is going to be what keeps you young.. or should I say lack of exercise is what is going to make you old- you will look old, and you will walk and move like an older person. When I was working seeing patients I could most of the time tell which 70 and 80 year olds exercised. I knew before they ever answered my question of "do you exercise?" what they were going to tell me. They either told me that they walked routinely or that they worked in the yard.

5. Destress. This to me is one of the most important areas of keeping your body fit because your mind and emotions are not separate from you body. This world and circumstances in life can certainly cause stress. Some of our stress can be avoided, but certainly some cannot. Spend time with God with prayer and reading His Word, meditate, relax, take a hot bubble bath, get a massage, spend time with friends, write in a journal, write each day something you are grateful for, write notes of encouragement to others, laugh, laugh, laugh, tell others how you love them, think positive and throw out negative thoughts, speak positively, be creative with sewing or crafts, spend time outside listening to nature, turn off your TV, phone and computer, listen to good music, do something you remembered doing as a child.

So, in conclusion... let me repeat.. do as I say.. and as I aspire to do. All of this I share with you because all of this is what I need to hear!

The Core Program.

2011-01-21T10:39:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite things to do is find new diet/health/exercise books. I probably read more about exercising than I do exercising. LOL... So I was in Goodwill the other day, and I picked this book up for $1.99 simply because it was a hardback book instead of a softbound one. I already had other books about core training, Pilates, yoga, but this one interested me because it was written by a physical therapist. If any of you have back trouble, you know that you have had to have some kind of treatment for it- core training, Pilates, physical therapy, chiropractic care, or extreme- surgery. Probably for the last 8 years or so, every now and then I will strain my back or what I refer to as "pulling my back out". Sometimes I do this after working in the yard. Sometimes it is from doing some heavy lifting. But sometimes, I can just reach to pick up a piece of paper off the floor, and WHAM! There it goes. This book really explains about muscle elongating and muscle contraction and the reasons you can not only pull your back out, but so many other issues that come from poor muscle quality. So I have only done the beginning 15 minutes a day program two times, but I must say... omg... my back feels so much better after the stretching and conditioning in those minutes. Of course right now it is taking me longer because I am trying to familiarize myself with each exercise. Core training is not a substitute for aerobic or anaerobic exercise. But core training is what we all need as we age. Your core includes the muscles in your shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, and hips. We do so much reaching, bending, pulling, pushing, and twisting that all comes from our core. The title of the book is The Core Program and the author is Peggy W. Brill, P.T. This book is available on half.com or Amazon.com. I hope to make this a habit of working my core with these stretches. The exercises do progress to more strength training which I think I could do now since I have done core training before. However, I just decided to start from the beginning. Check it out, and let me know what you think.

Being Hearing Impaired

2011-01-20T14:18:00.003-06:00

So today I had to take my mother to the doctor's office for a follow-up visit. Now I know there are levels of educated employees in a doctor's office- the doctor, the LVN, the RN, the receptionist, etc. And I know that some of these are highly educated, and some may be trained there from off the street. This has nothing to do with who is smart and who is not... because I want to pass on some education RIGHT NOW!! This was at the heart institute- and at this facility the patients can be all ages- children up to senior adults. But I would say that 90% of the patients that I see in this office are over 65 years old. And with age comes infirmities besides just the heart. That being said.. here is the gist of what this post is about- hearing loss. This assistant continued to ask a question when her back was turned or mumbled a reply to my mother. Why are so many people so ignorant about hearing loss? My mother has profound hearing loss. Yes, she has tried just about every hearing aid you can imagine. She was told she was not a candidate for the implants. So she lives in a world where she does not hear very well. This is the main reason I must accompany her to her appointments. So if you will let me enlighten you on how you can help someone with hearing loss then keep reading. The photo is of three generations- this is my mother, me, and two of my kids. Who else will inherit this condition in my family?

When you are speaking to someone that is hearing impaired:

1. Speak clearly- most people especially young adults rattle off words very fast. And someone in a dr's office should know... hmm... old person... probably has some hearing loss. Enunciate your words.

2. Face that person- most hearing impaired people can read lips very well from all the practice. So don't turn your face away from them when you talk to them. In fact, when you go to dinner, etc. try to arrange yourself across the table so that they can always see your lips.

3. Invite this person to go with you one on one- big groups and noisy restaurants are murder to a hearing impaired person-it is like a bunch of people are shouting garble.

4. No need to scream... you can talk louder than normal, but don't shout- they hear sound, it is just mufflled.

5. NEVER, EVER, NEVER... I repeat NEVER laugh at a hearing impaired person when they misunderstood what you said and answered the complete opposite of what you said, or if they just repeated what you were just talking about with someone else. Just repeat what you want to say.

Being unable to hear is a sad situation. But it does not have to be when you have considerate family and friends and people in the community that know how to help. I love to see how some of my mother's friends will gently nudge her when they want to get her attention to tell her something. I remember seeing a man on some show interviewed one time. This man had been a famous doctor or something, and he had gone blind and deaf. He was asked which one do you miss the most? He said , " oh that is easy to answer, losing my hearing. You see, losing your sight isolates you from things, but losing your hearing isolates you from people." I just never forgot that from so many years ago.

We do not want to see people that cannot hear to withdraw from the world. Only by being educated on helping a hearing impaired person, and being considerate of them can we make them not want to do that. And who knows... it may just be you that will need others to know this...

Final Photos of Bathroom Redo

2011-01-18T11:43:00.004-06:00

The part of the bath that opens to the hallway.

You can see the wall art on the adjacent wall. I hung the valances too high. They need to come down about 1 1/2 inches.

Here is where I made my boo-boo. The side panels are mirror images of each other. This valance was to be just like the other valance. I messed up and did two of the sides just alike( DUH); therefore, I had to cut them off to get them right, so I added this paisley since I bought them together. I originally painted this mirror from brass-looking to silver to match the newly painted light fixtures. I did not like this, so I repainted it white.

Here is a close-up of the fabrics. I got a fantastic deal on the two fabrics for the valances- only $11.90. If they had been $50, I think I still would have bought them. But what a deal I got!! They look so good up against the dark wood, and the gold walls.

Here is the chocolate brown shower curtain.

So I am finally finished with this project.... A project that I thought would take about 4 days turned into 3 weeks. I did not work every single day of those three weeks. I would have gone absolutely crazy if I did. However; this was a very BIG project. My friend and neighbor helped me the last two days do the touch-up painting. She is a much better painter than me. Her husband came and helped us rehang the doors. That bathroom had 4 doors! One I did not have to remove, and one of them I was able to put back on myself. But the last two would not fit. He had to remove the screws on the brackets to give the door more mobility and make it fit. Now, I never would have thought of that!! He also helped me drill the holes for the boards for the valances. I did get them too high, and I hope that either he or my OWN dh will assist me in moving them down a little. All in all, I am pleased with this bathroom remodel. My ds needs to have the kitchen updated also.. but I just do not know when I will be up to that.

Right now there is a bunch of sewing projects that I want to do. I do love learning new things. It sure does stretch a person, and can also get quite unnerving!! Now is the time for me to get myself back to my healthy eating and exercise program. I have used this project for an excuse for TOO long!!

Going Green

2011-01-18T11:30:00.007-06:00

Cut around the neck and the sleeves and then cut the bottom off according to how deep you want the bag. The shoulders of the T shirt will be your handles.

Snip off the corners at the bottom of the T shirt.

Now you will make a gusset so that the bag will have a bottom to it. This one is 2 1/4 inches. Spread your seam allowance, measure 2 1/4 inches from the corner.

Pin in place and draw a line that you will stitch.

Stitch this line and snip off the seam allowance.

Here is what the bottom of your bag now looks like.

And here is your finished, recycled, repurposed shopping bag.

So one of the badges I am in the process of earning on Mary Jane's farmgirls is "Going green". I think this falls into "Shopping green." Now I have not been a big advocate of going green. This does not mean I am opposed to it. I am rethinking alot of the waste and footprints I am leaving behind. I do still have some plastic water bottles, but it is mainly just for convenience because I have a water purifier, and I have used it for over 10 years. I must say though that if I still had babies in diapers, I don't know if I could make the switch to cloth diapers. I tried that and did not like it. However, I have heard that major improvements have been made since I was diapering my children. But back to shopping green. I saw on the Mary Jane website a farmgirl sister (Ruby Slider) had made several grocery bags out of T-shirts. When I was working on my ds's bathroom, I noticed that he had cleaned out his closet. I took the good shirts to either Goodwill or the resale shop (let me get some of my money back for all the paint I bought). But the T-shirts were to be cut up and used as rags. Yes... I am continually trying to recycle, reuse, and repurpose. So thank you Ruby for this excellent tutorial on making these shopping bags. Ruby says that they work well even with canned goods. I just cut out my first one and I am going to make it all the way through before I "tweak" it... you know.... how deep I want it, if my T shirts are too big, etc. How about you? I know you all have those old T shirts lying around. Also... in weeks to come I will show you the T shirt quilt I am presently working on for my ds.

Books I Am Reading

2011-01-16T12:59:00.005-06:00

I am reading some books that were recommended on the Mary Jane's Farmgirl site about our food. I have not read all of them. Two of them I picked up at the local library, and one of them is from interlibrary loan. I need to get busy so I can get them all read in time. The one that I am currently reading is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. This book is about a family that moved from California back to the husband's hometown in Virginia. They have vowed to try to eat only things that they either grow themselves or are locally grown and can be purchased at the Farmer's Market. She talks about knowing where your food came from. She also talks about the freshness because it did not take days for it to reach her. She emphasizes the importance of supporting your local farmers and of the benefits of organically grown food. So far, this book is really having an effect on me. I don't know if I can go to this extreme, but I could sure try.

Aprons

2011-01-15T14:29:00.004-06:00

So Monday I took a break from my bathroom remodel job and got to work to make these aprons for my sister and my two nieces. I had planned on giving these to them as an extra gift for Christmas. But I had that relapse of bronchitis before Christmas and that hampered me from getting everything done. So I love love love these fabrics! Of course I love designer fabrics. I forgot the name of this fabric line, but it came from Hobby Lobby. I am just crazy now about contemporary fabrics, and these coordinating fabrics looks so cute together. I bought the fabric thinking I was just going to make my own apron from out of my head. But I found this Amy Butler pattern at a local quilt shop. I love this designer! Check out her website and see some of her bags and apparel. She is sooooo talented. I made the first apron all the way through. After I knew exactly how to do it and the steps to take, I made the other two assembly line style. Hope this inspires you to dust off that sewing machine and do something creative!

Finished... well .... almost

2011-01-15T14:10:00.005-06:00

So here is the photo of the wall art and the two fabrics that I got on sale in the remnant stack for only $11. I chose to use the stripe and not the paisley.

Here is the tub/shower combination that shows the newly textured sheetrock over previous wallpaper. The beaded board was stained. After multiple coats of white oil base paint and caulking, it looks great.

Here is a view of the part of the bath that opens from the hallway. I spray painted the light fixture, and used a mirror that my son had somewhere else. You cannot see the cabinet very well, but I stained it a darker color. The contrast of the dark cabinet and white beaded board had a nice touch.

So I am almost finished with the bathroom redo. The job I thought would take me 4 days turned into 3 weeks. Of course that was not working every single day though. I have had interruptions as well as just needed a break from the work and breathing the paint fumes. I have a friend who helped me the last two days do the finish work. We did the touchup painting, repainted the mirror again(not the one shown in the photos), hung the outlet covers, the towel racks, the toilet paper holders, the shower curtain, the wall art....whew... and got the brackets mounted for the valances. We even got my friend's husband to help out. For the life of us we could not get the doors back on the door frames. This bathroom has 4 doors and everyone thought I got them mixed up. But I knew I didn't. I do not know why they would not fit, but my friend's husband had to loosen the screws on the brackets to get the doors to slip into the door jams. He also drilled the holes to mount my "L" brackets on the wall that will be holding the boards that my valances are attached to. But after looking at them, I see I got them too high. I will have to get either my friend's husband or gosh... my own husband who does not like doing handiwork to come and redo them. So besides that the only other thing will be cleaning the paint off the floor that I stupidly let get there!! But today... I am not going over there. I am blogging, cooking some homemade stew, and about to go lie down and read a book.

First Photo From Bathroom Makeover

2011-01-05T20:31:00.002-06:00

Here is some "wall art" that I made for the bathroom wall. The walls are a khaki/gold. I love this fabric. I stretched it over a canvas. I got the canvas for 30% off because they forgot to remove the sign that was supposed to come down on January 1. I got the 3/4 yard of fabric for 40% with a coupon. Both came from Hobby Lobby. I am still debating on what fabric I am going to do the window valances in. I just want to hurry up and finish this project! My A.D.D. is making it tough. I don't like staying on a project for a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnng time!!

Some of My New Books

2011-01-05T20:21:00.003-06:00

Oh my gosh.. this magazine.. I love it! But I just am not gonna tell you how much I paid for it. I had to pay full price for it. But it had three of my favorite cooks- Ree Drummond from the Pioneer Woman Cooks, Serena Thompson from the Farm Chicks, and Mary Jane Butters from Mary Jane's Farm. This was the premier magazine, and I will just have to cut back somewhere else. My books are my therapy!!

This book I did get with the 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby. It has patterns for babies, toddlers, and on up to about age 6.

These dresses and skirts are adorable! Like I said, I just have too many things going on. I am anxious to make some outfits from this book.

I bought this book at a quilt shop in Tyler, and I have not liked it as much as the other two. Still, it does have some cute items.

Photos of recent Sewing Efforts

2011-01-05T20:04:00.002-06:00

T This is a set of towels that I bought for a child and I just added his name. I loved this font.

This is a pretty font that I monogrammed in a chocolate brown.

Here is the Christmas dress I made for my granddaughter. Again, I think this font is cute. She wore a white long sleeve onesy and white stockings with it.

I got these jeans for a couple of bucks at the thrift shop and added the ruffle to the hem. She wore the jeans with a Christmas shirt.

This was my recycled dress. I took a skirt that I bought at the thrift shop for about $4 and cut it by the jumper pattern and made this dress. I added the white silky ruffle and monogrammed it. I think this is a velveteen.

So, I said I would post the photos and there they are. I have so many projects I want to do. I have bought a few books at Hobby Lobby when I have a coupon. I get them 40% off. I wish I had seen that they had the Serendipity book before I paid full price for it. I will make another post with some of the books I have recently purchased.

The New Year

2011-01-05T14:57:00.002-06:00

Gosh... it's a new year! And this past year... has simply flown by!! I have now officially been retired for over a year. Yes, I cannot believe it. I have people all the time asking me how I like retirement. Let me just say, it is good, and it is bad. I like it because there is nothing pending that I have to take care of and I can choose to plan my days with no thought of having to plan them around work. But.. I have done what so many others do, and that is I am not as disciplined on many things because I know there is no rush to get things done.
Now, don't get me wrong... I am no slouch. I have done lots and lots of projects. And oh my gosh.. I have so many projects that I want to do. Right now I am in the biggest one I have had in awhile. For a Christmas gift, I am giving my oldest son a bathroom uplift. And this has become much more than I thought. I paid a carpenter to mud and texture the sheetrock above the beaded board paneling. And then I thought I would have the room painted in 4 days. No..no..no.. I am painting the beaded board with oil base paint so it is taking awhile to let it dry between coats. And the beaded board was a dark color and is now white. It is taking lots of paint to cover over this paneling. The paint on the sheetrock went very fast. Also, I thought I would not be messy with the paint and did not have the floor covered. Can you say STUPID!!!
I spent all morning today just trying to remove paint off the floor. I am still not finished with the painting. I also stained the cabinets a darker color. This really turned out good. The contrast with the white beaded board, the gold/khaki walls, and the dark cabinets looks good. But I am not a good painter. It is just not looking perfect enough for me. And my arthritis is bothering me so bad that I cannot hold up but to about 4-5 hours a day. I now have about 30 hours invested in this room. I will post photos at another time- when I finish.. whenever that will be!!
I am really wanting to get to some of my sewing projects. I had started making my youngest son a tee shirt quilt. I was lacking one tee shirt. So, I stopped on this and have not returned to it because Christmas came along. I have found the cutest books for making little girls boutique dresses, skirts, and pants.
So back to the new year. Here it is January 5th, and I have only walked one day this year- January 1. I am also planning a major declutter of my house. Less is best!! I need to learn how to sell stuff on ebay. I think I might enjoy doing that more than having a booth at the antique mall. I think I might just make some plans and try to divide them up by the month on what I hope to accomplish this year. Do you think that will keep me more organized? I did have a great gardening year this past year. Lots and lots of salsa and rotel tomatoes, and pickled items, and jams.
I think I also need to make blogging one of my goals this year. Since it is called " Daily with Dee", by gosh, I need to blog whether I have anything to say or not. Right? I love reading blogs, but I have had to limit myself doing this. I could stay on the computer for hours!
Well of course another goal is to lose weight, but there again, that can be so frustrating! Dh and I have been doing the same eating program for about 2 weeks. I have lost 3-5 lbs, and he has lost 17!! What the heck??? Don't get me wrong, I am so thrilled for him- mainly that he is not just losing weight but eating like the doctor told him. But gosh... it is not helping me!!
So here's hoping that the new year will bring lots of happiness to all of you!

Photos

2010-12-28T10:50:00.002-06:00

Here is the Thanksgiving dress that I made for my granddaughter.

Here is a photo of my kids and their significant others at a Christmas party that my daughter and son-in-law had in Dallas. Oldest son on left with his gf, youngest son and his gf, and daughter and son-in-law. They are all such good-looking and sweet kids!

My Poor Posting

2010-12-28T10:35:00.002-06:00

Yes, my posting has been poor. It just seems like I have been so busy, and really not had alot to say. Hmm... yeah, when has that stopped me? Well, if you will look below this post, I posted about redoing my son's bathroom. After I finish this project, I also am going to be having my mother a luncheon with 5-7 of her friends. This is also one of her after Christmas gifts. It is really hard to buy for her because she lives in a small apartment, so she definitely does not need any home decor. She only has so much closet space, so no new clothes for her. I did get her a charm for her Pandora bracelet. I also got her a gift card for a pedicure, and I got her a very pretty card table tablecloth with matching napkins that I purchased at the estate sale that I worked. So, after I redo the bathroom, it will be time to plan the luncheon. I also am doing another gift for my sister and my nieces. You see, I failed to mention that I got a relapse of that bronchitis about 10 days before Christmas. I was sick in the bed for 5 days with horrific coughing. I am realizing that when I am around dust, mold, or such to wear a mask!! Anyway, I have lots to do!!! I did get some towels monogrammed and my granddaughter's stocking made and monogrammed before Christmas. I also made her a cute monogrammed Christmas dress. I will post a photo on it later. I think I need to go back to work to earn some money for some of the things I want to do. My computer screen has gone out, and I am presently using my computer by being plugged into a flat-screen TV. So, at some time I will need a new computer. I am really wanting to get a Mac. I am so tired of these sorry computers that don't last very long!! Also, I want to buy a serger. Since it seems like I am doing more clothing construction, a serger would be a cool tool to have.. again- more money!! Okay, I gotta get going- gotta go get started on that bathroom!!!!

After Christmas Gift

2010-12-28T10:11:00.002-06:00

Are you intrigued by this title of after Christmas gift. Well... I am about to give my oldest son his after Christmas gift. I got a few things for him under the tree, but I asked him about this gift beforehand.. would he be disappointed without more under the Christmas tree or did he want what I had to offer? He took my offer. He has a house that was built in I would say the early 60s. I think it has the original beaded board wainscoting in the bathroom. The wallpaper may have been more recent. Anyway... he is getting a bathroom make-over. I helped him strip some of the wallpaper, and then we hit a standstill. So, I got a contractor to come and texture the walls over the wallpaper- it worked great because the wallpaper was stuck on it so well. The contractor put up some more of the molding above the wainscoting that we tore up when removing the wallpaper. He also took down an old medicine cabinet and repaired some of the sheetrock in the tub area. This is a Hollywoood bath- two separate rooms that each have a commode and sink, and then an additional area with only a tub/shower combination. So here is my plan:
1. Spray paint the light fixtures and a mirror frame a hammered silver.
2. Use Paso to clean all the beaded board paneling.
3. Use oil base primer on the beaded board.
4. Paint the beaded board oil-based white paint with an eggshell finish.
4. Prime the sheetrock above the beaded board.
5. Paint the sheetrock a golden color.
6. Paint the cabinets hanging on the walls the same white color.
7. Paso the cabinets that holds the sinks.
8. Use a darker stain gel on those cabinets.
9. Varnish those cabinets.
10. Hang the mirrors.
11. Hang some kind of artwork or maybe even cover a canvas with some fabric and hang that.
12. New shower curtain and probably some new towels.-he might have to pay for these.
13. I forgot to mention I will have to paint the baseboards too.

So, what do you think? Pretty good gift, huh? It is going to take me at least all this week, and maybe some of next week to get it done. I am excited to see how it is going to turn out. And of course I will have to post some photos later. Right now the beaded board is a really ugly stain.
I think I spent more on him and of course my labor is free. I would say this is a great gift. Now if someone will give me the gift of redoing my flowerbeds. Maybe I can get some help on that.

Ugh

2010-11-18T07:21:00.002-06:00

Ugh.. I am sitting here today with congestion and sore throat. I am one of those people who seldom will take a pill or go to the doctor. However, I knew when I started this coughing and had nasty stuff coming out of my lungs that if I did not go, then I would be sick next week for Thanksgiving. So yesterday I went to the doctor, and he gave me Singular and a Z pack. Last night I experienced achyness and chills. I cannot imagine how bad I was going to get if I had not started on the drugs. I have had alot in my mind that I wanted to blog about, and I should do it now since I am pretty much lying around. I have to charge the battery on my camera, and then I will post a few more blogs of what has been going on here. The temperatures have been cool here in the east Texas piney woods. I just love these kind of days. So today I am going to try to get my pepper jelly made and also saute' onions and peppers for the chili that my husband is making. He is already browning the meat at our camphouse. I would have preferred to have cooked them together, but I guess he did not know that. Now, if I can just get myself up off this sofa..

I Love Chickens

2010-11-09T20:18:00.002-06:00

So you probably do not know this about me, but I love chickens. That is plural.. meaning live ones. Yes, I love to eat chicken, but I love to raise chickens. It has been many years since we have had any chickens to raise.. I had some chicks when my chicks were still here growing up. So today I went outside since it was such a nice cool day and began the task of cleaning up around my chicken pen. We thought about moving the location to raise our chickens, but I have been waiting on dh a long time to start this project. I am thinking if I depend on him for this pen, it just "ain't" gonna happen. The reason we wanted to move the pen is because it is about 40 feet into the woods, and we have a hard time with varmits- oppossum, raccoons, and ...yikes.. snakes. But I am going to get it sealed up good and take a chance that my pen will be safe and secure. So today here is what I got done- I cleared some of the trail by chopping some small trees down along with lots of thorny vines. I got a ladder and got the pine straw off the wire roof and also off the tin roof that covers the coop. I raked alot of the pine straw that is in the pen. When I finished for the day, I had scratches with blood running down my legs, lots of mosquito bites, Blisters on my hands, and sweat that soon made me cold. I guess I worked about 3 hours. Dang.. I am in poor shape. So I will have to put this project on hold for a few days because I am helping someone with an estate sale. They have everything all tagged. I just have to put a "Sold" tag on an item when a customer says they want it and put their name on that item. This is a very big sale. They have a Baker dining room hutch priced at $7,200. I think it will be fun as well as seeing lots of people. But back to the chickens.. the reason I like raising them is I love yard eggs! If you have ever eaten a fresh egg, you know the difference in taste from the eggs you buy at the grocery store. I will keep you updated on the chicken pen and hopefully have some photos to share.

Sewing and Repurposing

2010-11-07T21:52:00.004-06:00

So lately I have been trying to do more sewing. I have sewed for a long time, and you would think that I would be better than what I am. But the truth is.. I am just not all that great at it. Well, maybe some people would think I was good, but compared to people that sew, I am just below average. I have made many quilts over the years. I have made long curtains, valances, pillows, and some clothes. When my daughter was young, I smocked several dresses for her. I will show you photos later because I kept them all. But I have recently been making jumpers for my granddaughter monogrammed with her intials or her name. I have done several wedding and graduation gifts with monograms. But lately I have become interested in making clothes. I found this great book with this fantastic designer. I have not made items from her book yet. Her name is Kay Whitt, and her book is Sew Serendipity. I love all these funky fabrics and the designer of the fabrics that I really love is Amy Butler. I also bought a book by this designer for making all kinds of bags. And I love the designer Izy and Ivy. I am including a jumper that I made from her pattern. I got the blue jeans for the jumper at Goodwill. I also repurposed a jacket for my granddaughter that came from a thrift shop. I wish I had taken a photo of the jacket before I redid it. Let me describe what it did look like. It had small embroidered flowers on the collar as well as at the top of the embroidered stems. There was pale pink ribbon and eyelet on the waistband and sleeve cuffs. Then there was little bows running down the button tab. So I made the Macy flower that Izy and Ivy designed and I sewed fabric on the waistband and cuffs. How do you like it?

Happy Fall

2010-11-01T07:48:00.005-05:00

Wow! Don't you absolutely love this time of year? I love the coolness in the air, the beautiful color of the leaves changing, and just the smells of nature. I found out that I also loving going to Galveston in the fall. I was down there this weekend, and it was the most gorgeous visit I have ever had. I walked on the Seawall two days- 5 miles on Saturday and 6 miles on Sunday. I ate boiled shrimp and also had a fish taco. Since my husband fries up catfish better than any restaurant, I am going to get him to fry some and then I am going to make my own corn tortillas and instead of lettuce, use the shredded cabbage. It will be even more delicious than the one I had at Shrimp and Stuff (my favorite restaurant on the island). After my walk one day, I got in the pool and swam laps. The pool is heated and it was not too cold outside nor too hot- just perfect!

It has been awhile since I posted because I have just been really busy. I will have to post later for y'all the jacket that I repurposed for my granddaughter. And also show you the ironing board that I made. I had visited a local quilt shop and seen this 24" by 60" pressing table. It is just that- a table! So wonderful to do all my quilting projects on. I have also been busy making my youngest son a T-shirt quilt. I need one more shirt on the front. It is not just any shirt- it is when he played baseball for Angelina College. I have several extra shirts that are going on the back, but I need this special one for the front. You see the vinyl letter shirts (which is the one that I have) just are not as pretty as the screen printed ones. I told him to get me a screeen printed one. If he doesn't, I guess I will use the one I have.

My exercise of late has been mainly walking. And I have had such pain in my feet. But today, I am actually walking around with no pain. It is not my plantar fascitis, but rather pain on top of my foot. I am wondering if it is arthritis. And also wondering if my diet is contributing to this. Or is it not hurting today because of a weather change. I don't know. But I sure hope it will go away!!

So, I am leaving you with a photo of my little granddaughter taken at the Dallas Arboretum in the pumpkin patch. She is finally getting some hair. Isn't she the sweetest thing? My daughter told her when taking her photo, " Be sweet to the pumpkin." And that is the shot she got!! So I will try to post more often, but with the holiday season on us, you know how busy we can get.

Robert Aaron Smith

2010-10-03T22:29:00.002-05:00

I dedicate this post to a man larger than life. As his son stated, " he was like 10 people all rolled up into one, and 9 of them you really loved and admired." What he meant was.. most of Robert Aaron was quite admirable. I told my husband tonight one thing that I most remember about "Dr. Smith" was when you talked to him you had his full attention. He stared you right in the face and listened intently to what you had to say. He was my very first boss as a dental hygienist. I came to work for him when I was 20 years old. He was 34.. of course he might as well have been 60 to me. He was old as far as I was concerned. What a great dentist and boss he was. He was kind, fair, patient.. everything you want in a boss. However, he did have his problems- he tried many times to quit smoking. Our office manager would even lay a pack of cigarettes on his desk after several days of misery for him, but mostly for us!! He also had a problem with his drinking which plaqued him long after I worked for him. His family stuck by him though and he was able to lick this problem. The first time that I met Dr. Smith he came with one of my dad's friends to our house. I was a gangley 14-year old girl and he was 28. Even though he was old to me then, he was not too old for me to think he was the handsomest man I had ever seen. I did not know that six years later I would be working for him. I saw Dr. Smith about a year ago. He had to be housed in a nursing home because his needs became greater than what his wife could do to take care of him. This fantastic dentist developed Parkinson's Disease. But Dr. Smith continued to fight this fight just like he did on the football field, the basketball court or the baseball diamond in his high school and college years. My life was enriched by having known him. My heart is sad that he is gone, but I am also happy to know that he is no longer trapped in that frail body, but instead walking.. or should I say running on the streets of gold! I love you, Dr. Smith!!

Beach Condo for Sale

2010-09-08T15:43:00.004-05:00

Okay, I finally got the photos of my family's beach condo uploaded on a blog. You can find it via this blog or just go directly to that blog which is http://www.galvestoncondo-dee.blogspot.com/. It is bitter-sweet to list this condo. My parents bought this condo back in the fall of 1993. At that time my father's health was somewhat altered. He had had angioplasty. This was back in the day when they were not putting the stints in (at least not in this east Texas town), but rather just using the balloon to open the artery up. When they told me they had bought a beach condo I thought they were crazy. I mean that was over 150 miles away, my father was still working.. I just thought they would never get to enjoy it enought. Boy was I wrong!! Over time my father had to have more heart surgeries.. eventually he went into congestive heart failure. But through it all, if he could, he still wanted to go and spend time here at the condo. When he went for the last time, he was unable to even walk out on the beach. However, he was able to sit on that balcony and take in the smells of the gulf, watch the seagulls as well as the people having fun, feel the ocean breeze and listen to waves rolling in. Ahhhh.. can you just feel your senses being awakened right now as I tell you this. My father passed away about 1 1/2 years after they bought this. Before he died, they probably were able to stay there 10 or 12 days of each month. They certainly used this condo. They had many friends meet them down there. Galveston is such a fun place with many delicious restaurants. They had their favorites of course. And most everyone that visited also loved to go shopping on the Strand. Now Galveston has Schlitterbahn. And don't forget Moody Gardens. There are tours of old houses in Galveston. Check out all the points of interest in Galveston. But of course the biggest draw for us is the ocean. My maternal grandfather was a sea captain, so my mother just has had this in her blood to be near the ocean. I think she is the one that has loved Galveston more than anyone. But you see, now my mother is 83 years old. She still loves to go, but it is of course not very often. She does not drive out of town so she must depend on someone to take her. I have been responsible for caring for this investment for about 15 years now. My family does love it, but with everyone so busy, we are unable to go as much as before. We have rented it off and on over the course of the last 15 years. So, if anyone has any questions, you can contact me on this blog or the other blog. I know that God has just the right person that will love this condo as much as what we have.

Blogging Ideas

2010-08-26T15:58:00.003-05:00

You know sometimes I just run out of blogging ideas. Especially when my life is pretty ho-hum..nothing extraordinary.... not exciting.. actually pretty boring. However, I like boring. My former boss, a dentist, when he looked at a patient's teeth and nothing was going on that needed treatment would say, "You're boring," and he finished examining them. So, I like boring. But today I went on a 5 mile walk.. yes.. 5 miles.. I did the same thing yesterday. And while I was on my walk which lasted longer than an hour, I had lots of thinking time. I wish I had had a pen and paper or recorder because I had lots of ideas for my blog. I guess it is going to be one of those things though where you know when you forget something you went after in the bedroom, and you had walked back in the kitchen, and you were thinking... what did I want in the bedroom, and you have to go back in the kitchen to remember.. well, I guess when I go down that country road again I will remember some of my blogging ideas. I did remember one, and I will post it with a separate title.

TK Sisters- 35+ Years Later

2010-08-23T15:18:00.002-05:00

So my company came this weekend. Since I recently connected with these gals a year ago last June and October for the first time, we have gotten together several times. "C" lives in Austin, and I stayed with her back in May when I attended a wedding of a friend's daughter. (Did I mention that my dh does not like to go to weddings. I have to tell him when he simply HAS to go to one.) Well, C came to my hometown because she has an aunt that is a nursing home and so we were able to make it a get-together weekend when she came to visit her aunt and uncle. And my friend "S" lives about an hour's drive away, so we called her and she came too. These two gals are so much fun. They continually make me laugh, and I thank God so much that he brought them into my life 35+ years ago. Our weekend started with us having lunch at the local tearoom. They loved the food.. especially the desserts. We then went to our hunting camp for our tour to see what they thought about our larger TK group staying there maybe in January. The next day C downloaded some of my old photos for FB. We loaded up after having breakfast and headed to Palestine which is near my S's lakehouse. We finally made it to the lake where we could get a little sun and enjoy the water since the Texas temperatures are still soaring into the 100s. My friend S cooked us a great dinner of ham, macaroni and cheese, and the absolute best potato salad I have ever had! And she easily whipped up a coconut pie and a custard pie. The next day we went to her mom's house for lunch. Now I know where she gets her cooking ability from. I felt like it was Thanksgiving lunch with the spread we had. All of S's family there- mother, brother, sister-in-law, nieces, nephew, their spouses and children. What a wonderful bunch of people. And the food- omg... hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, squash, peas, cornbread, French fries, cantaloupe and then there were about 3 desserts that I passed up. I got home later that day and my dsons cooked dinner for their dad on his birthday.. can you believe it has been a whole year since we had his 60th birthday party? Time slow down. And my granddaughter turned 18 months old on Friday. So I am leaving you with a few photos. One of the photos has my friends C, S, and another friend M along with me in 1973 and again the three of us last Friday. There is one of us at Galveston in 1973, and the latest of my little granddaughter. Needless to say... I am tired... I stayed up too late, and of course how could I help it??? I ate too much!!!

Company Coming

2010-08-20T07:50:00.002-05:00

Well when I mentioned not liking yardwork, I forgot to also mention what I dislike most.. fire ants and poison ivy and SNAKES!!!! So yesterday when I was pulling the weeds I only was plaqued by one. I did pull some poison ivy up. I did not get bit by any ants, and I saw no snakes. So it turned out to be not so bad. I got out there early and got the flowerbeds cleaned out and started on pulling the weeds around the sidewalk. And after going into town to have lunch with my mother and a friend I stopped by Lowe's and got some flowers to plant. That bed looks pretty good.. not great, but decent. Maybe I can get a photo later.

So today I am changing sheets on the bed, making sure the bathrooms are clean, going over my wood floor good and cooking some lasagne for tonight. Today I am treating them to lunch at the local tearoom. We are only staying here one night and then going back to one of their houses because she lives on a lake. We enjoy getting on floats and relaxing with no one else to bother us. So tomorrow I will get up and cook breakfast- not sure what to have yet- maybe an egg casserole, maybe French toast, or maybe these delicious whole grain pancakes with some turkey bacon.

I have much more to say about some of my health issues that may be of interest to some of you that might have the same problem. I will post that when I have more time. Right now I have lots to do!!

Nike + and Yard Work

2010-08-19T08:18:00.002-05:00

Okay, so are you familiar with Nike +(Plus)? Well, you can either wear an armband or you can attach to your ipod to register how far you run/walk? The sensor is in your shoe. I got one for my Ipod about 2 years ago, and I did like it when I was running then because it audibly told me my pace and how far I had run. But I seldom wear my Ipod. I just think that a continuous blaring of music in my ears will cause hearing damage and I certainly don't need any help with that. My paternal grandmother and my mother both had/have serious hearing loss. So a few weeks ago I bought me the armband. Now I really like it..however, you MUST remember to start it after a pause, and you must make sure your sensor is attached. I have experienced both of these problems. I thought one day when I had accidentally ended my walk that I had started a new walk- no I did not which caused me to lose 2 miles. I have a new pair of shoes that does not have the slot for the sensor to fit into. Now these are the shoes I wanted to wear, and you can do this if you have a lacelid for the sensor to fit into. I have ordered one of these. But yesterday I ran/walked on the treadmill so I just stuck the sensor in my laces. This was great, working fine. Then I looked at it and my time had not changed... ugh.. what was the matter? I looked and saw that my sensor was not on my shoe. Anyway.. I found it in my exercise/sewing room. I reattached it, but I still lost about 1/2 mile with it off. You may wonder.. well, what is the big deal? Well, the big deal is that I have entered a couple of challenges, and I would prefer to be up somewhere besides the bottom. So, I have the lacelids ordered ( a couple to spare if I lose one).

It is now almost 8:30 a.m. and I really should have been outside at daylight. I have to do some yardwork- pulling weeds in a flower bed and out of the cracks of my sidewalk. I DO NOT like yardwork. And here in this east Texas piney woods town the temperatures get up very fast. We have had triple digit temperatures for quite awhile now. And the humidity here is terrible. I don't mind sweat, but I don't like it running down my eyes and my nose. I don't like getting bit by mosquitoes. I don't like the stooping over. And soon the sun will be bearing down on me. So, I gotta get out there. I am having company this weekend, and I sure want the place to look a little nicer.

Unomes in Sugarland

2010-08-17T16:01:00.003-05:00

Well, you have heard me talk about my unomes.. these are a group of my high school friends. We all began getting together 6 years ago when we were turning the big five-o. We started out with 15 of us. We have lost one who passed away, we have a couple that fell by the wayside, and two that keep in contact but due to other responsibilites with raisin' kids or taking care of elderly parents they are unable to presently join us. So this time we got the 10 together that have pretty much tried to be at every event. We were so happy to welcome back two that had missed two or more times. Hopefully this group is here to stay. We meet twice a year- usually January or February and then again in one of the hot months like July, August, or September. Last February we met at our camphouse- yes, can you believe that was six months ago? So this time we met at one of our members' homes in Sugarland. (those not familiar- a suburb of Houston). We always have a great time just talking, sipping on margaritas and lying in the pool when one is available. My friend had a big house with lots of bedrooms and bathrooms, and a fantastic pool with outdoor living area. One of our members who lost her husband a few years ago prepared a fantastic meal of homemade lasagne as a labor of love. We all agreed that is was absolutely the very best lasagne we had ever tasted. We had red wine, French bread, salad, and cheesecake to go along with this delicious meal. I did not know until a few days beforehand if I was going or not. It was great that my friends encouraged me to come, and I began feeling better each day closer to our departure. I am so glad that I attended. So I am leaving you with a few photos. My friend that prepared the meal also gave us the pearl bracelets and so we decided to take a photo of all our hands. Just as each hand looks so different, so do we.. and we all have our own distinct personalities with various talents and gifts.. well most of us.. I am still looking for mine. We have such a history with one another- one I have known since kindergarten even! The others I have known from when I was in 6th grade on until 9th grade. So you do the math! I am so blessed to have these women in my life!

Graduation

2010-08-17T08:15:00.003-05:00

Ahhhh.... the day has come where my dh and I can say, "ahhhh...." Well, we can breathe easy for the moment because we now have finally come to the time where we are finished with the financial burden of paying for college. Our youngest child graduated last Friday from Texas A&M. He began his college career at McLennan Community College (MCC) in Waco where he played baseball. He then transferred to Angelina College where he continued to play ball for three semesters. We were so proud of him when he was accepted into the Mays Business School at A&M. It has been a tough road for him with lots of hard work to keep his grades up especially this last summer session where he took 6 hours to finish. He is uncertain right now on his next career move as he continues to go to interviews. This ds has been gifted by God with the way he can relate to people of all ages and kinds. Most likely he will be in business where he is out selling for a company. We are so proud of this great accomplishment, but most of all we are so proud of the man he has become. We continue to pray for him as he moves out into this next phase. Congratulations dear son! We love you!

My Two Weeks with the Granddaughter

2010-08-05T22:48:00.002-05:00

On the way with Poppa to pick tomatoes from the garden

Getting all hot and sweaty with Grammy at the zoo.

Playing in the water hose with Poppa.

I got to have my little granddaughter for two weeks. Well, here is how this played out. My daughter is a teacher in the Dallas area. She teaches technology, and this summer she had to attend two weeks of classes at UT Tyler to prepare for a technology class she will be teaching this school year. She was to stay in a dorm. Of course her husband works too, so someone had to take care of their child. So, my dd came with dgd on Sunday. My dd left for Tyler on Monday. I had dgd all week. We actually went and stayed in a hotel in Tyler that Wednesday with dd so mother and daughter could see each other. Then dd came to our house on Friday and stayed until Sunday when she went back to Tyler. Once again the responsibilty of dgd was mine until the next Friday when I took her back to meet up with her momma again who was very anxious to see her daddy again. We had a good week, but let me tell you.... whew.. was I ever tired. One reason of course was because my thyroid had me slowed down. Another reason was.. I am 56 years old! And then lastly.. I am just not used to taking care of someone every minute. I just don't know how these grandparents that are raising their grandchildren are doing it. This just goes against nature. No wonder grandparents have a hard time doing any discipline. It is like "of course... do whatever you want.. I am too tired to argue with you." I had a great time with this little toot. I left you with a few photos.

Dang

2010-08-05T09:39:00.002-05:00

Dang.. just when I thought I was going to get better by switching back to my Armour thyroid, I find out that they have redone the formula. Why mess with something that has worked for so many years? Well, my guess is PROFIT!! That's right, it is more profitable to put these cheaper fillers and binders that the previous way that the Armour had been manufactured. Ugh!! So many people are complaining about now having problems taking Armour. Well.. what is a person to do? Right now I am still on the Armour, and I figure I will continue on for a few months and check my TSH reading then. I am also planning now on seeing a specialist- an endocrinologist. I used to see one for probably about 20 years when I first began this journey of hypothyroidism.. Well enough about that.. am I beating a dead horse or what??? I have added to my regiment of accountability. I have not joined Nike+.. as in Nike Plus. I got a sensor in my shoe and a wrist band that records my distance, my speed, how long, how many calories I burn for each walk. I plug it into my computer, and I have a record of this. My neighbor who is the queen of walking talked me into this. Back when I first began my new life of fitness seven years ago, we were walking six and seven miles a day. She has always been an avid walker, and I have been a hit and miss walker while I was doing my weight lifting. She has told me about several of her friends on this that do challenges. So I am going to give it all I can and do well on these challenges.

However; it is sooooooooo hot right now. We walked Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. We start out anywhere between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. The temperature is still close to 100, and the heat index is close to 110. I just came in from outside at 9:30 a.m., and the heat inside my garage and attic is horrific!! I am trying to get it straight as dh is staying on my butt about it. I want to get out and finish my painting. It seems like there is just never enough hours in the day. Or never enough energy to get it done fast. Okay, my break time is over. Back to work!

Back to Walking

2010-08-03T07:08:00.002-05:00

I am back to walking. Yes, I am determined whether I feel bad or not.. I am going to push through. I walked about 3 miles on Sunday, and I walked 4.25 miles yesterday. The heat was horrific.. even going at 7:30. We decided that if we want to get finished by dark, we must go no later than this time. Yesterday the temperature was 102, but the heat index was 109. Afterward we drank lots and lots of water because we sweated tons! I am hoping that more physical activity will reduce the stress hormone cortisol in my body and also help relieve me of these symptoms I am having. I am planning on starting back to riding my bike soon. One day at a time.. one day at a time.

More about Meds

2010-08-02T18:38:00.002-05:00

Well, thankfully I did get my physician to put me back on the Armour thyroid. However, he prescribed something different for my anxiety. After googling it and reading what previous patients of this drug had to say.. I had to say "FORGET IT!!" My physician, who I trust very much, did not want to put me on the Xanax because it can become addicting. He only prescribes it for patients experiencing a temporary anxious state like a death in the family. But this other medication was one that would have to build up in your body and then you would have to wean yourself off of. I wanted him to know that yes, I respect his judgment since he is my doctor, but I also take a proactive role in my health. I would rather deal with the symptoms I am having with the hypothyroidism than add new symptoms as a result of a side effect to a drug. I am just so hoping that soon my hormone levels will be back to normal and along with that I will be too! I have decided to continue on with my life despite the uncomfortable feelings I am having. I am back to walking, and doing my push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. I am soon to be back with my weight lifting. I am back charting my food intake on www.myfitnesspal.com.. I like this site as well as www.sparkpeople.com. One of my good friends is doing the MFP, so I have a buddy on this site.

Somehow on my last post, I had several photos of my granddaughter. And then they disappeared. I have no idea what I did wrong. I also want to post some photos of all the canning that I have been doing. I have canned Rotel tomatoes, whole tomatoes, salsa.. lots of salsa!!.. squash pickles, dill pickles, blackberry jam, peach jam, and a pickled vegetable medley of peppers, onions, cauliflower, and carrots.

The temperatures here in this east Texas town have been very high. I think today was probably our hottest day.. at least it felt like it walking across the Walmart parking lot. Well, I do intend to try to get back to blogging. I decided instead of giving you all a password to read my blog, I will just moderate the comments. I am still getting the Chinese writing on this.. why, I do not know.. I am not posting their comments.. why do they continue to keep doing this? Does anyone know what that means?

Right now I have my supper cooking outside in an electric roaster oven. You know the kind you put a big turkey in. I cooked dh a peach dessert out there, and I have a meatloaf cooking in it. If I cook inside the house, it just heats the house up and the air runs and runs. So.. it is either cook outside in that.. grill.. or go out to eat!!! See you tomorrow!

So Ya Thinking I Quit?

2010-07-29T11:35:00.002-05:00

Yeah.. so are ya thinking I quit blogging? Well right now it looks that way. So much to say.. yet so much probably not interesting enough to put on a blog. Let me see.. where do I start? It has been one month since I last posted.

I have mentioned before about the problems I have had with my health. These continue.. in fact.. have escalated. It is not that I am in PAIN, but rather extreme discomfort. I had none of these symptoms until I switched from Armour thyroid to Synthroid thyroid. I think I have posted that my lab results continue to show that I am not getting enough thyroid hormone. But this is a process.. you start out low and gradually increase... So here I am 6 months later, and I have continued to decline- exercise? P90X? Are you kidding? My walking has even stopped. I can get my feelings hurt at the drop of a hat; I am out of energy; I get short-winded, I have joint pain, muscle aches, depression, axiousness, chest and back pain, and that terrible, terrible choking feeling. So today after being awake until 3:00 a.m., I took 1/2 of a Xanax.. and yes, I went to sleep. And this morning.. still feeling that choking pain.. I took another 1/2 Xanax. Well listen.. people that know me well, they know that I do not even take Advil unless I have an excruciating headache which might occur every two months. Taking pills is the last thing I do. So I am feeling somewhat better today. Of course all I have eaten is a few crackers. The doctor gave me Nexium a few weeks ago. After taking it for two weeks, I really cannot tell the difference. I emailed my doctor and asked if I can be switched back to the Armour, but ONLY should armour become unavailable again, I do not want to go through 6 months of this.

Private

2010-06-29T08:27:00.002-05:00

I am about to make my blog private. I don't know who you are that is sending me these messages in another language, but I cannot read them. I don't know if you are trying to hack into my accounts on my computer or what. I am asking you first to quit. So you guys that want to continue to read my blog, please contact me either by email or FB because you know who I am , and I will figure out how to let you view my blog with a password.

My New Ride

2010-06-23T12:15:00.002-05:00

Two of my friends have been wanting me to get a scooter. I had looked at them about a year ago, but a new one was just more than what I wanted to pay. So, you can imagine my excitement when I happened to pass a used dealer of motorcycles on Monday. This just happened to be a fairly good deal. It is a 2005 Honda Metropolitan II with only 630 miles on it. I figured even if I get tired of it soon, I can resell it for close to what I paid for it. The only thing that I did not realize when I bought it was that since it is not a Metropolitan, but a Metropolitan II, it will not go as fast. They quit making the Met II's in 2005. This model will only top 27 mph whereas a Met I will top at about 42. I have found that my comfortable speed is about 22-25 mph. So this is not really bothering me. I can also have something removed off of it and it will then be able to go about 33 mph. One of my friends just happened by where I bought this scooter and talked with the owner who works on motorcycles. If I find out that it is not too expensive to do this, I may go ahead and have that done. Otherwise, I am quite content with riding the back roads of east Texas on my new ride.."The Blue Thunder."

The Beach

2010-06-16T23:56:00.003-05:00

I had to post this photo of my granddaughter on the balcony of the beach condo. I love her mad look. I don't think she is a morning person.

Still Seem To Be Busy

2010-06-16T20:22:00.002-05:00

It seems like I still seem to be busy. But you are never too busy for exercise. So what in the world is wrong with me. Well, for one thing.. lately different circumstances have resulted in me getting little sleep. Last night some unforeseen events occurred with a friend causing me to be out late and not getting in bed before 1:30 a.m. Needless to say, I was tired when I got up this morning. I just did not feel like exercising. Okay, Dee... that is no excuse. If all people did not exercise because they did not feel like it, people would seldom do it. I should have just jumped in there an gotten to it. Instead I went about the task of preserving the harvest. My dh has a raised bed garden and we are getting squash like nobody's business. So today I "put up" 9 pints of squash pickles. They are delicious. Instead of slicing the squash like you do cucumbers, you cube the squash and slice the onions. They did have a good flavor and also a crunch.

I have for a few days done my squats, pushups, and situps. I want to do them 5x a day where I do 20 at a time. Instead, I usually have been doing about 25-30 and only doing them once. And my cardio has lacked lately as I have not walked since I was in Galveston last week. The country road where my neighbors walk is infested with horseflies right now. They seem to really love me. My legs have huge bites that look kinda like sores...not a pretty site. I am waiting for those horseflies to leave!!

Well, here is a positive note. I finally have figured out how to transfer the pattern from my Letterworks III monogram program from my computer to the little box with the reader writer to my sewing machine. I paid big bucks for that software, and I have been so frustrated that I could not figure it out. It is so terrible to get old and for technology to make you feel so dumb. I know that if I do this program over and over, it will become so easy. So I did one towel for a graduation gift. I plan to do a bath towel, a hand towel, and a washcloth for each of the three graduates on my list, and then I have two wedding gifts to do. I plan to do two bath towels, one hand towel, and two wash cloths for each couple. I am going to put the monogram of the bride and groom with his initial, the last name initial, and then her initial. I hope they will turn out good. I can end up not having to spend $50 for a wedding gift. And hopefully by the time I have done several of these, then my software will pay for itself. It has probably 100 fonts to choose from. And I am trying to save money, (not be cheap) because I don't have a job! Remember.. I am retired. I am still just not accomplishing everything I want to. Hmm.. maybe I need to go back to work and hire some of these things done... what do you think???

Okay, tomorrow... do some kind of cardio!!!

I Know, I Know, I Know

2010-06-14T08:29:00.003-05:00

I know, I know, I know... I have been terrible about blogging. It just seems like I don't have much to say. I have been doing poorly with my exercise. I retired from work, and it looks like I just retired from exercise. One thing that having a regular job does is keep you on track. It keeps you on a schedule. When you no longer work, you can slow down. It is not hurry, hurry, hurry. I don't have to be anywhere at a certain time, and therefore, I sometimes just "lolly-gag" around. So I say to myself everyday that I am going to do my P90X or my Jackie Warner video. Now don't get me wrong. Sometimes I actually do the Jackie Warner video. But there is just no consistency right now. I recently took a visit to do more detailed work on the family condo. I had two friends go with me. One of them is a size 6 and she is that way because she has followed Weight Watchers for about 6-7 years. People will respond to her in astonishment when she says anything about WW. They look at this thin little lady and wonder why she goes. But she is quick to explain that she goes to "keep" the weight off. She is always counting her points. She knows what she can and cannot eat to keep in her point zone. Sometimes she overextends herself, but she is quick to recognize it. My other friend has lost over 20 lbs in three months by following http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ and so she counts calories. She also tries to burn half of the calories she consumes for the day- if she eats 1200 calories, she shoots to burn 600 by walking or riding her stationary bike. This could be why she has had such great success. But being with them made me so see how much weight loss is such a mental issue. These women are no different from me or you. They don't have a fast metabolism, it did not come easy, they don't have lots of time to spend in exercise or to study up on this. But.. they made this their goal- their challenge. They both feel such success when they win out over temptation to overeat or to sit down when they are tired and not exercise. There is no magic pill- it is simple- burn more calories than what you eat. And by keeping the food diary in the beginning you will soon have this pretty downpat in your mind. However, both agree that writing it down and keeping tabs on it is still important to them to stay on task. Being with them was such motivation for me. I called them my "diet trainers". I am posting a photo of us together last week.

My days of lately have consisted of several doctor appointments for my mother. We have been to about four of them in the last two weeks along with a dental visit too. I have also been to the beach condo about 4 times in the last month. I did also manage to get is some fun times with friends and a kayak trip. I will post those photos later. I hope to get back into the habit of blogging as many of you have told me you have missed me.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T14:15:00.002-05:00

I was in church this morning thinking about all the mothers who have come and gone. And I just started thinking about all the mothers I would like to wish a Happy Mother's Day.
1. To my mother
2. To my daughter
3. To my friends
4. To mothers who have had their own children.
5. To mothers who have adopted children.
6. To mothers who have lost children before they were born by miscarriage.
7. To mothers who gave their children up, but gave their children life.
8. To mothers who by poor choice have aborted their children- yes, you are still a mother, you can have forgiveness by God's grace, and one day meet your child in Heaven.
9. To those mothers who have "mothered" but never really been a mother.
10. To those mothers who no longer have children living here on earth.
May today be a day that we all thank God for the mothers in our lives.

Whirlwind

2010-05-03T08:35:00.002-05:00

My life has recently been a whirlwind. Since the middle of April (the past two weeks), I have made the trip to Galveston from east Texas three times. We are three hours away. I have never made so many decisions so fast. Also, my usual credit card transactions are about 3-6 per month. I have made about 45 in the last two weeks. I have found it is just so much easier to put it on the credit card when I purchase an item because if it does not work, I can easily take something back. And boy, have I done that!! I have also discovered the store Marshall Home Goods. They have one on I45 on the way to Galveston. I had read in others' blogs about their visits to this store. The advice was if you see something you like, you better buy it then because it may not be there when you go back. So, that is what I have been doing. Then, if it does not work, I return it. I found many things that I later found in other more specialty stores in Galveston that were about 1/3 the price. No kidding- comforters, lamps, art work. I have made some really good deals and I think some good choices. Of course I have also made some bad decisions- nothing that I cannot live with, but nevertheless, I would have done things different if I had the chance.
So I have not been faithful with my exercising or walking. I have not done terrible with my eating, but not done great either. I have not put myself in guilt mode either. I can only do what I can do. I am trying to get this task done and I must pace myself on getting it all taken care of. I tend to go full force and sometimes I am too driven and too focused to try to finish something. I still have a few more things to do at the condo- get window shade for guest bedroom and then make valance to cover the top of the shade. You see the window has two inch blinds, but there is a stairwell right outside that window. They have two 36 inch long flourescent lights there. I am going to try to get these reduced to a smaller light. This is absolute overkill, and it lights up that room like a full moon. We had a darkening shade in that bedroom before my furniture went into storage, but somehow it disappeared. So, this is a must. I also need to get some high stools for the patio. And a new DVD player. Otherwise, the condo is a go- ready for guests.
I did manage to get some fun in while I was there this last trip. There were lots of hometown people visiting Seascape. I went to dinner with friends one night. I also laid out by the pool and read and got some sun on Saturday. My son and his new girlfriend whom I had never met in person came and stayed the day and night with me. We had a lovely dinner together and I enjoyed getting to meet this girl/woman. She lives in Houston, but is actually from my hometown. Her mom and dad both went to high school with me. I meant to get a photo of us at dinner. Rats!!!
So I got the condo all cleaned, with all the linens washed and on the beds, and fresh towels out so that it was all ready for guests. It was almost 7:30 p.m., and I made the decision to leave and come on home. This is not typical of me, but I left Galveston at 8:00 p.m. and drove in to my driveway at 11:00 p.m. And of course I had to get on FB and read my emails before I went to bed. So I had a late night, but it was nice to wake up and already be at home. The drive was really not bad at all. I had my cell phone all charged up, so I was able to talk to several people on my way home. The time actually went fast.
So today I must find the lining material for this valance I am making in my son's bedroom. I am mounting it on a board, and I have never done this before. I plan to do the same thing at the condo, so I need to practice with this one first. If I cannot find that lining material, I will have to go to Hobby Lobby this morning.
Before I leave this post, I would also like to mention a book I have been reading. This book is not what you would call a Christian book.. I would say it might be a little "new age". But you can substitute what the author calls "Spirit" to "Holy Spirit", and it works well for me. This is not a new book, it is an old book, but I am really enjoying it. It is called "Simple Abundance" (yes, I know this should be underlined, but I do not know how to do it, will someone tell me how.) and is about living life with purpose- not just letting life take you here and there, but you living the life you want to live. Sometimes we just don't appreciate the simple things in life. We take for granted the senses we have been blessed to have. We just need to live life thinking more about what we see, smell, feel, and hear, and taste. We find also we can do without some things in our lives. I got this book from the library, but I went ahead and ordered it off of half.com. Check it out from the library and tell me what you think about it.
Okay, got to get going.. have a great day!

Think I Quit

2010-04-22T07:33:00.002-05:00

Did you think I quit my blog? Actually things around my house have been very busy. And there have been issues that have just kept me from getting on and writing. So.. gosh what can I say about the past month. Well one of the biggest has been this hypothyroidism of mine. I had my thyroid removed when I was 15 years old, so do the math... I have been on thyroid medication for over 40 years. I have taken Synthroid, the generic Synthroid, and Armour. The past five years I have been on Armour because it is both T3 and T4 hormone and it worked very well with me. However, the past year has been difficult for pharmacies to get Armour. I think it is a marketing scheme by drug companies.. only my opinon. So... my doctor had to switch me to synthroid.. only I was taking the generic. I have been on Synthroid before and when I took it, I took 150 mg. But my doctor was reluctant to start me on such a high dose because if it was too high, I could have a heart attack. So he wanted to start me on 50. I begged and pleaded until he agreed to 100. I knew this would not be enough, but I complied with his wishes. You have to wait a few months to have it checked because it takes awhile for this to show a proper reading. I knew it was not enough- weight gain, loss of energy, feelings of anxiety and depression, loss of concentration.. and mainly no zest for life. So, exercise has been quite a chore for me. I have mainly been doing walking. Now let me give you a condensed version of how the TSH works. I hope I get this all right.. you have a little organ called the hypothalamus in your brain- it tells all these other organs like the thyroid gland, the ovaries, etc to produce hormones. Well, if the hypothalamus is producing a high number of TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), it is saying to the thyroid..give me more thyroid, this is not enough, and you would be considered HYPO thyroid. And if you have a very low number like a negative, then your brain would be saying, " this is too much, don't produce anymore." This would be you were HYPERTHYROID. When you have your thyroid gland removed, you are immediately hypothyroid and you have to take thyroid medication because your body cannot produce it. And if your TSH is a high number, then you are not getting enough.. hence, increase the dosage. The normal lab results for TSH should be .5 to 5.0. And most women operate best when it is 1.0 or 2.0. So you want to know what mine was???? 45!!!!! Yes, no wonder I have felt so out of sorts. So hopefully I will be getting my new dosage- so far the doctor has not called it in, and it will take a few weeks to a couple of months to get me back on track. I hope that was not too boring. But I hope this is also for anyone who thinks that they need an antidepressant when maybe it is not that, but rather thyroid medication that they need. You will have the same symptoms.

My family owns a beach condo. It has been under construction since Hurricane Ike ( 09-08). I spent my first night in it last Friday night. So I have been trying to make many decisions about what is needed and how to get it ready to rent. This has been a very stressful series of events- making these decisions and hoping you are making the right ones. Not to mention the expense and loss of revenue that has caused. I think my family will try to use it as much as we can, and hopefully as the market gets better in Galveston, we can sell soon.

When I returned yesterday my husband had to give me some terrible news. One of his work associates that is about 58 died in his sleep. This man was a friend and well respected man of my husband's company. And it was a big wakeup call to my husband. I hope he will get on the bandwagon of healthy eating and exercise.

My little granddaughter is walking and she is such a doll. I am so glad that I have Skype so I can see her regularly. My youngest son just got his Aggie ring. This is a really big deal for anyone who graduates from Texas A&M. He will graduate in August, we are so excited. My mother is happy in her independent living retirement home. What a great relief for me that she is so happy. And... with my mother's hearing problem, I had to take care of lining up all repairmen (plumbers, electricians, AC man, sprinkler man) because she cannot communicate over the phone. It was like I had an extra house. I am free from that. My husband has a grat garden planted. We even have lettuce that came back from last fall. I have a kitchen herb garden. The only trip I have planned right now is a wedding in Austin and my unome friends will be meeting in Sugarland (by Houston). The office where I just retired has called me to work a day in May. That sounds good to me. So, I will soon be going back to Galveston to get that taken care of and then I hope to make a trip up to Dallas to visit my little granddaughter. And I sure hope that I am soon feeling more myself so I can do some exercise-maybe get back started on my P90X.

Ohhhh.....Oooooo (as in boo)

2010-03-26T07:40:00.003-05:00

Oh gosh... ohhhh....oooooo...woke up this morning not feeling good. I found in my pantry a quart of venison we had canned a few seasons back. When I looked at it, I told Dh that I thought maybe it would be bad to eat because it had too much head space.. about 2 inches. And this is where bacteria has a chance to grow. He told me to smell of it before I warmed it up. Well, that is what I did, and it smelled okay. It tasted very good. This morning I woke up with nausea and he woke up with the runs. I asked him if he was burping, and he said he had "hot burps." Sorry, that almost makes you sick to read it. So.... here I am lying in bed wondering if I am about to have more serious effects from this tainted meat. I did go get a big gulp of Pepto Bismol. So far, my only symptom is the nausea, but my stomach is doing lots of gurgling. And I am not hungry at all!!!! So let my experience be a reminder to you. If you are in doubt.. throw it out!!!

And here I was thinking about starting my P90X back today. Last week I think I said I walked 4-5 times. This week I have made it about 3 so far.... 3 -4.5 miles each time. I know that is not going to get me where I want to go, but it is better than nothing. It is not that I dislike any kind of exercise, but it just seems like I am always wanting to spend my time doing something else. I have been cleaning and restaining my kitchen cabinets. Now I have only cleaned and stained two doors and I have two more down that I have cleaned. I have a huge kitchen with lots of cabinets. I don't know if I will do all of them are not. But the lower ones below the kitchen sink looked terrible. This is just a huge job. I think I will just do this one wall of lower cabinets right now and start back at another time. I also want to make a couple of cute little dresses for my granddaughter and get out in my yard. I am not very good at posting photos of things. Maybe I will try to do that today since I am lounging here feeling bad.

And I am so terrible at being consistent with my food journaling. I know that that is the true road to successful eating. You keep that diary and you are so aware of mindless eating as well as keeping yourself accountable. Especially if you have to add it all up at the end of the day. From my experience, this is my opinion.. there is nothing magic. You must either cut your calorie intake or work and expend more energy to burn more calories. It is simple math- you must create a calorie deficit. Of course, if you are weight training alot, you need to have plenty of protein, and if you are doing hard cardio, you need plenty of carbs to have the energy. And you must not skip meals and go below 1200 calories or you will lower your metabolism too much. But eating balanced meals with fat, carbs, and protein-nutritious food that will keep your hunger satisfied is important. I love http://www.sparkpeople.com/ I would go back to it, but a friend has suggested that I try http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ So, I did. She has been doing it. In 10 days she lost 5 lbs. She eats around 1200 calories a day and she is also keeping her exercise journal. So she is going to be my accountability partner. Some of you might want to try this. I am telling you.. if you do it.. it will work. You can make it like a game.. adding and subtracting. You add the calories by the food you eat and you get to subtract by your physical activity-they do it for you. One of the problems that I do encounter with this is if I eat a casserole.. that is kinda hard to figure. I just try to do it this way-ex. chicken and rice- I figure how much chicken I had- 2 oz, rice- 1/2 c, cheese-.5 oz, cr of mushroom soup-2T. You know try to do it that way. Okay, I am on my way to get my camera and see if I can get some photos downloaded.

Springtime?

2010-03-21T18:58:00.002-05:00

So just a couple of days ago at the so-called end of winter it was in the 80's here in the deep east Texas pineywoods. Actually this past week the walking weather was perfect..not too hot... not too cold..not too still...not too windy! I mean absolutely perfect. So that is what I did-walked and walked. I think I ended up going 4 days this week. I might have even gone 5. I know for sure I went 3 miles on two days and 5 miles on two days. So I know I got in at least 16 miles. I did not make any of my workout videos. My dh is now convinced that he needs to do P90X because some of his friends are having so much success with it. What does that mean? Was I a failure at it? I did it for 70 days. I worked hard on it even though it took me longer... about 120 days or so to do the 70 days. Is that why I held no credibility with him? I worked hard... sweating, hurting, pushing play, pushing pause, plugging along, but finishing each session. I was so diligent those 70 days. No, I did not do 90 days in 90 days. But I have to say that I was still not a failure. Because I feel like doing any exercise makes me a winner. And I will just say just because I have not been so focused on my execise routine the last few months does not mean that I ever gave it up. So anyone reading this... keep going. Jump in where you are. Dh says he is going to begin using my DVD's. I hope he does. I hope he beats me at it. I hope he does not give up. I hope he makes it the entire 90 days. I hope he feels what I felt when I was doing it. Maybe I will get started back with it. I had been thinking about it anyway. I go back and forth with my eating. My biggest problem is still the fiber- not enough fruits and vegetables. I am going to continue to work on that.. along with drinking plenty of water. Tonight I did get lots of fiber though but it was in the form of whole grains. I had eaten breakfast out with a friend yesterday and we had the multi-grain pancakes. I wanted to duplicate these for my husband, so I went to www.allrecipes.com I found a recipe that resembled these. I did make some alterations. I used my freshly milled whole wheat, I used yogurt instead of buttermilk because I did not have any bm, I used brown sugar instead of white, and I used applesauce instead of oil. In this recipe it also calls for oatmeal and walnuts. I ground both of those in my food processor. OMG.. they were absolutely delicious. I had one great big one without any butter and a small amount of syrup. DH had three with lots of butter and syrup. What an inexpensive and healthy meal despite the high carbohydrates. It made so much batter, I think I will cook some in the morning and then freeze them for a quick breakfast or snack. Oh.. but back to the weather.. yesterday was the first day of spring.. and today the temperature was in the 30's with snow! Yes, snowing today in east Texas. No walking for me today. I have enjoyed the day staying warm and eating pancakes!

Who Am I ?

2010-03-14T09:32:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I just wonder who I am. I want to be so many people. I love going back in time and living life the old-fashioned way. I read others' blogs about how they are living like our grandparents did and sometimes I think that is me... that is what I want to do. Where I know where all my food comes from.. butchering your own meat, growing your own vegetables, making your own soap and clothes, being so self-efficient. Now I know some of you reading this are thinking, "you've got to be kidding." But what I am saying is.. just knowing that your own hands did most of this work. That you were involved from the beginning of making whatever. That should this whole world go into utter chaos, you would be able not only to survive but thrive. And then... I love our modern conveniences.. I love air conditioning and central heating... a washing machine and a dryer, a dishwasher, television, internet, a comfortable automobile. I love beautiful textiles and how they are made into gorgeous furniture,draperies, and bedding. I love the primitive look and the antique look, but I love the coastal living and the "pottery barn" decor. I have friends that have traveled the world and I have friends that seldom leave the county and all of them are intelligent and know things the others don't know. I love to save money and see ways that I can cut back more and more.. it is like a game. But I also like to go and spend money too. I love to exercise and sweat and know that I am doing my body good, but I like to be lazy on a rainy day and cuddle up under a homemade quilt and read a book. I love to read blogs about what other people are cooking, sewing, and making and view all their photographs as they go about it. I love to be around people and talk and listen, and I also love to be alone in my own thoughts. So gosh.. who am I?

Last Week and My Birthday

2010-03-07T21:49:00.002-06:00

Last week included about two workouts. I am really trying to think if I did two or three. I did the Jackie workout on Monday and then again on Thursday. I went on a two hour bike ride on Friday. Actually, we did not go that far.. it was a slow ride so my quads did not bother me.. but oh my gosh.. my butt!! Sitting on a thin bicycle seat for two hours when you haven't done it in over a year is sooooooo painful. It hurt me while I was doing it, and it is still bothering me now. I think you just have to get your rear-end used to sitting on a seat. The more you do it, the less it hurts. So Saturday was my birthday, and I got treated all week long- lunches, breakfast and dinner. Well, actually I cooked my own meal on my birthday- The Pioneer Woman Cooks chicken fried steak. Her cookbook is so good. Certainly not lowfat, but so good. And the chicken friend steak is the best! My dh, oldest ds, and a longtime friend joined us for dinner. And since I am on Facebook, I probably had close to 100 birthday greetings. I got several cards from friends and family members. My daughter even got my dh to get me a gift this year. Well, I pressured her into doing that. But I got a Pandora bracelet and dd gave me my first charm for it. My mother gave me a gift certificate to get another charm to go on it. All in all, I had a great birthday.

On a sad note... a young girl who graduated with my youngest ds was tragically killed in a four wheeler accident. I am so sorry for this family. For her.. she is now with the Lord. But for those left behind she has left a big hole in their life. You know death is one thing you are not going to bypass. At some time it will happen to all of us. I hope you are all prepared. You don't have to guess. You can know without a doubt that you are not going to miss Heaven. If you feel like this is a bunch of hogwash.. this Jesus stuff... then just say " I don't know what I think, so Jesus if you are real... then reveal yourself to me.. because I do want to believe you are real." He doesn't want anyone to perish. When he reveals Himself to you, repent, tell him you are a sinner and want him to come into your heart and save you.. and mean it. You don't have to give anything up to be saved... He will do that work once you begin to follow Him. Let me tell you friend... it is quite a ride!!!

Tired Today

2010-03-03T21:29:00.002-06:00

I was just plain tired today. I was out last night for Ladies' Game Night. I did not have time to get my dishes cleaned up after making the snack I was taking. So this morning I had the dishes to clean up. I unloaded the dishwasher and then settled down to read my emails while I had a couple of cups of coffee. I should have done my Jackie video this morning but like I said, I was tired. I made a few phone calls, hemmed a dress I am making for my gd. I was reading on the internet about different recipes and then got in the kitchen and diced up alot of vegetables for a chicken pop pie, only it was a ham popped pie because I am trying to clean my freezer out. I started reading on a book, The Secret Life of Bees. So all day today was not exactly productive. I also instead of putting the homemade piecrust on the pop-pie, I used crescent rolls. It was still good. I am about a third of the way through the book. But tomorrow, I need to be more productive.

New Rooster Lamp

2010-03-03T21:22:00.001-06:00

One of my friends was going to get rid of this lamp in an estate sale. I asked to purchase it, and she gave it to me. I love it. I have a 25 watt bulb in it so I use it as a night light in the kitchen.

New photos

2010-02-26T13:12:00.018-06:00

Okay, here are some new photos of my efforts. Well actually I made the log cabin quilt a long time ago. And then I did not have the time to quilt it. I did the piecing and I hired someone to hand quilt it for me. It was actually two twin quilts. When my mother moved to her new place she got rid of her king size bed and replaced it with a queen. I got the two log cabin quilts and I pinned the borders underneath. I whip-stitched them together, and you cannot tell unless you get within a foot to look that they are not really one king size quilt. I made the Euro-shams from some fabric I got on sale. It was not expensive, but boy... those Euro pillow forms were...over $20 a piece. I have four old cabin prints above the bed, but not in this photo... don't know if I just did not have them up yet or what.

The photo with all the birdhouses is the appliqued shower curtain that took me FOREVER to finish. But I kept on it and finally finished it. This bathroom is my "primitive" room. Most of my house is French country or early American or country. The rod for this shower curtain is supposed to be a huge limb. I went to floral places and nursery places looking for this. I also looked in the woods. I had no luck finding what I needed, but I wanted to hurry up and get this up since it had taken me so long to do it. I got a closet pole that I had and I stained it brown and put it up. I like the way it looks.

I am also including the bib that I made for my granddaughter's first birthday. I had a photo of this.. actually it was an order blank from years ago... when my kids were babies. I never ordered the bib, but I kept the photo. I looked at it and made my own pattern. My daughter used cupcakes for the party theme; hence, the cupcake fabric which I found adorable.

Other photos show our camphouse and the antique quilts on the bed. My sister-in-laws (dh's sisters-one living, one deceased) gave my kids these quilts. I had them stored in a closet, and I really needed the room. Also, they get very little light where they are, so I decided to make use of them. My kids love to go to 669, so they can enjoy them out there until they have a place for them. I have included photos of our camp- two bedrooms and a loft. I show the house except for one of the bedrooms. I will post it later.

I am also including photos of my granddaughter's first birthday.

Jackie Again

2010-02-24T20:53:00.002-06:00

Okay, so today I finally did Jackie again. First let me back up. Last weekend was my little granddaughter's first birthday. I know... can you believe it? She is already a year old. And I am now starting my third year of blogging. So this weekend there was not exercise. And on Monday I had to take my mom to get a medical test done. I really wanted to do the Jackie workout on Monday, but I did not make it that morning. So I did a walk/jog that afternoon. I went my usual 3.4 miles. It was so cold. I only jogged about 6 minutes of it. And I did it in 2 minute intervals. Yes, I am so lame.. I am so out of cardio shape!! So yesterday, I was busy all day long and it snowed here in east Texas. Now that is quite unusual to have snow. And this is the second time this season we have had snow. It was not enough to blanket cover the ground. But it was so beautiful with the big beautiful flakes coming down. Okay, back to Jackie. Again, I got side-tracked... did my Bible reading, straightened the house, phone calls, etc. So I did not get started until after noon. I still have to stop during the circuit to get a drink or just take a breather. But this time I did make it through the entire workout. I think that I might just do the ab workout in the beginning instead at the end. So tomorrow I will again do the walk/jog. I have to get up early to take my mom to another dr. appt. Any of you that are interested.. the Jackie Warner DVD is a good one. It will give you a good workout. It goes very fast. Sometimes Jackie is going too fast for me, but I just continue on at my own pace.

Walking

2010-02-17T20:54:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I was so sore from Monday's workout. My thighs, my shoulders, and oh my gosh, my triceps. I have never done the tricep workout where I kept my arms straight and went back with my arms. I have always been kinda bent over and then did the triceps extension from the elbow. When I was working the triceps I was working them to exhaustion. So yesterday I went for a walk- not a fast pace and my distance was 3.4 miles. And today I had planned to do the Jackie DVD again, but I am still too sore. So I walked again. Only today, I walked at a much faster pace and even did a little jogging also. I did the same mileage - 3.4 miles. Even though it is cold, I still got hot under my layers. I just have to make sure that my head and ears are covered. I also had some plain knitted gloves on. So tomorrow I plan to do Jackie's 40 minute workout again.

Did anyone catch Richard Simmons on Dr. Oz on Monday? I love Richard Simmons. He is just so loveable. If you have ever seen Richard Simmons then you know how he is... so tender-hearted-they of course made him cry by honoring him on the show. They said that he had been helping people for 35 years and that they have it calculated that he has helped people lose over 3 million pounds. I think Richard Simmons has done alot to help really obese people or couch potatoes who get up and move and lose weight. He does make exercise fun. Does he not have any kind of a show on TV now? Does he just do videos? I know alot of people have progressed way beyond Richard Simmons, but I feel he still commands a great audience and continues to help the overweight of America. Go Richard! I applaud you.

Made It Through My Workout

2010-02-15T20:57:00.003-06:00

Okay, I had to put this photo on again because I was wrong when I said this was not the right video. It is the same video. The photo I was looking at last night was a little brochure that came with the video and it had a photo of Jackie dressed in a red outfit. So today I planned to do the workout early, but instead I got busy here at the house and then went to town. I got home and started my supper, and began the video a little before 5:00 p.m. This is a tough workout! I did the 40 minute workout. Jackie does three exercises for each body part and then does a power workout where she combines all three. Then you move on to the next body part and again do three exercises for that body part and then the bonus workout. So this complete circuit was quads, hamstrings, glutes, back, all three of these together-biceps, triceps, and shoulders, then upper abs, and finally lower abs. We have a short warm-up, and a short cool-down. I had to stop about three times during the workout. I was so hot, so out of breath, and was pushed my muscles to the extreme. I used either 8 lb dumbbells or 5 lb dumbbells. When I did complete my workout, I went to the kitchen to finish supper. As I was standing there at the stove, my muscles were twitching, and I was shakey. Indeed, she did push my muscles to exhaustion. Tonight I moved in a way that caused me to get a big "Charley-horse" in my hamstring. What I loved most about this workout was that it went very fast- only 40 minutes, but it was very fast-paced. There was no slowing down, not much chit-chat, and it was not boring at all. I would have to give my score as about a 75. Yes, I was passing, but there is so much room for improvement. So since I did the full body, tomorrow I am going to get on the treadmill and I will either walk on an incline or walk/jog. I will do that about 20-30 minutes. So I am going to do this video for awhile and then maybe I will go back to P90X later. But the really good news is.... I'M BACK!!!!!

My New Workout

2010-02-14T23:50:00.004-06:00

Okay so this is the DVD I am going to be doing tomorrow. That is if I can wake up since it is now almost midnight and I am still up on this computer. This is from the personal trainer Jackie Warner. She is featured on Bravo. She also has a new book that is due to come out in April. Now that is just what I need is one more workout book. I love to read workout books though. I thought I would do this before embarking back on P90X. I can choose from several 15 minute workouts, or do a 40 minute full circuit. That is the one I am planning on doing tomorrow. I hope to get back into a routine of working out after being off close to 8 weeks. What in the world happened to me? Well, once you get out of a routine of working out, it just becomes easier and easier to put it off and then before you know it, you are not doing it at all. So... tomorrow things are changing!!! Whoops.. I just looked at the cover of my DVD and it does not look like this. So this is not my workout DVD. But... it is similar. It is by Jackie Warner, and it does have everything I said it had. This is either just a different cover or an entirely different workout.

On My Knees

2010-02-08T19:17:00.002-06:00

Just today I found out about two couples who are getting a divorce. One is a young newly married couple... irreconcilible differences. The other is an older couple in their 50's married for over 25 years with several children.. adultery. I am so sad for all of these. What God has joined together let no man put asunder. And the two shall become one. ' Til death do us part. So what is the deal? I will tell you what the deal is. Satan moves about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. You think you can go alone up against Satan? Don't you ever believe that!! You must put on the armour of God. You must rely on the Holy Spirit. If you're not a Christian.. forget it.. you don't stand a chance. For some reason we seem to believe that satan is like a football opponent. You know when you are losing in a game.. losing big.. you are 40 points behind. So what happens? The opposing coach puts in his 2nd or 3rd string. He lets up. And we think Satan is the same way. We think he is going to relent and go easy on us. Don't you believe it!!!!! He is going to kick you when you are down. He is never going to let up. He is here to destroy you. And he is here to destroy your marriage, your testimony, your character, and anything that you value. He will go after you, your spouse, and your children. You must seek the Lord God. I am on my knees for these dear people. You know them. Oh, you may not know these exact people. But you know someone like them. We as believers in Christ must be in His Word, be armed, and be ready to pray hard for those we love. I may sound pessimistic, but I am not. I know the end of the story. So does Satan. He knows the end of the story. He will not be the winner. Jesus is the winner. But right now Satan is making hay while he can. Let's all be a praying people. Pray for yourself, your spouse, your children, your friends, this nation. With Christ all things are possible. Greater is He that is within me than is within the world. I am counting on His promises. Meanwhile.. I am weeping and heartbroken for my dear friends. But I am not without hope. I am on my knees.. standing in the gap.

Oldest Son

2010-02-04T21:16:00.006-06:00

Today I had planned to do some more work on getting rid of stuff in my garage. I got some more plastic containers so that I could get rid of the banana boxes. There is just some stuff I cannot part with right now. But, I got a call from my oldest son. He lives in town, about a 15 minute drive from my house. He was home sick from work and wanted to know if I wanted to come clean his house. Actually, even though he felt bad, he did help me some. I took the makings for taco soup, and enough was made for our lunch and his supper. We got the carpet vacuumed and then shampooed, got his closets cleaned out- old computer, printer, keyboard, clothes that no longer fit, broken items, and then just stuff he did not want. We got the kitchen all cleaned as well as the bathrooms. We lifted the cushions on the couch and loveseat and got all the crumbs that had fallen in there. Did I mention that this son is a 26 year old bachelor and VERY VERY MESSY!!!! While I was doing the shampooing, he was rebooting the laundry. So he now has a clean house and all the laundry done. We also rearranged photos, candles, etc. As soon as the weather gets nice, I will help him get his yard cleaned up.

I got home from Frisco on Wednesday. My little granddaughter was feeling much better and was able to return to daycare. So, it really is nice that I can be available to help my "kids" when they need me. I hope that when I need some help, they will come to my aid. Tonight, I am really tuckered out from all the work that I did at ds's house. I worked from 10:15 until 5:15. DH did not want takeout which was what this tired old woman was going to get. Instead, he wanted a sandwich, so I went by Sam's and got turkey, extra-fiber bread, avocado, bell pepper, and Monterrey Jack cheese. I also got some of their southwestern hummus. I just love it! So hopefully tomorrow, I will make some progress on that garage.... anyone need me to do something else????

Unome Weekend at 669

2010-02-01T11:44:00.011-06:00

Wow!! What a fun weekend with my Unome girlfriends at 669. Okay.. explanation.. my unomes are a group of high school friends that get together twice a year. We began this 6 years ago when we were all turning 50. Our birthdays start in September and go through June. So we are all pretty close to the same age. Our first get together was in Feb '04 and we only met for one night. Then we met in Feb '05- again for one night. Then we met in July '05 and we met for a weekend at Crystal Beach for two nights. That is when we all decided we liked two nights and we liked two times a year- we just could not get it all in with our catching up in one night and we enjoy one another so much we want to see each other twice a year. We have since been to a hunting lodge of one of our members outside of town called Huckleberry Lodge- two times there, one time at Nancy's mother's house, one time at Nancy's house, one time at my house, one time at Jan's house, one time at Jan's ranch in Valero, one time at the Mariott in the Woodlands, and now this last time at our hunting camp. I think I mentioned that dh was worried because there is only one bathroom and if you are in the loft, you have to walk outside and come back in to go to the bathroom. This is the most people we have ever had at 669 at one time to spend the night. But these ladies are all pretty adaptable. Here is how the weekend played out:

Friday- the original plan was to meet at 4:30, load up and go to eat Mexican food in Nacogdoches, and then on to see the Liverpool Legends performance. Well, Jan's plane was late getting here. So we went to a local Mexican food restaurant and ordered for them and they made it in time for us to enjoy dinner before making the drive across the river. Then we all enjoyed the LL performance. I think we all agreed that we liked the early Beatles' music much better than Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, or Sgt. Pepper's album. The guys even had the Beatles' mannerisms down pretty good. It really looked like Ringo Starr. And of course we were quite a spectacle with our matching Beatles' shirts. Okay, then we made it to the camp and we snacked and talked and stayed up until about 3:30 a.m.

Saturday- we talked about going to Crockett to seeB.J. Thomas perform at their civic center. However, this idea was nixed because... when would we visit? So, we leisurely got up, drank coffee, had a breakfast casserole- which I think is a great recipe.. not just because I made it. We then began work on preparing the vegetables for pico de gallo while Fadra made chicken tortilla soup... the temperature was in the 30's so we kept the fire going in the fireplace. We all did get dressed in our camo with hair fixed and makeup since we were doing our group photo, and it was going on the honored wall of guests at 669. We had one of the members of our camp take the photo and then we took a couple with the camara set up on automatic. I think we will use the one by the trees to go on the wall. We had the soup going and we had the photo made, so that meant we had the time free to have a few margaritas- they were the best! We took a late afternoon drive down to the lake and then we came back and just relaxed. Those were the only times we went out the door other than getting more firewood or going up to the loft. Bedtime did not come early. I was the last to go to bed and that was at 2:30 a.m. Oh.. I forgot to mention that Fadra's birthday was Saturday so we celebrated with giving her cards, gifts, giftcards, and a delicious birthday cake!

Sunday- since the road into the camp will not accomodate low-riding vehicles, we parked three by the road, and drove two Suburbans and a Yukon to the cabin. So Sunday morning Carol left early and she took Fadra to her car. Dee Ann left shortly after and she took Sandra to her car. Jan, Peggy, Susie, and I stayed and put the finishing touches on putting the cabin back to pre-unome order. We washed and dried all the dishes, made all the beds, gathered all the towels, swept and vacuumed, and then relaxed until we had to have Jan back to meet Dee Ann to take her back to Bush Intercontinental. I got everyone delivered to their car/house and was home by 11:30. I was only home long enough to clean our my suburban, get the cooler cleaned out, get a few loads of towels done, and then I proceeded to repack and was in the car and on the road by 1:50 to head to Dallas. Since my little granddaughter is still not up to par from her illnesses, I volunteered to stay a few days so her mom and dad could work and not have to take her to daycare. I am so glad that I am retired so that I can help out in a small way. I was unable to help the past two weeks because I was sick and was getting ready for my friends to come. She is such a precious little doll, and I have time right now to post this blog because she is taking a long nap. So... retirement has so far proved to be quite busy for me. I am wondering if it will slow down. And... I absolutely MUST get back to my exercise program!!! I hope that my post will soon say something about that!!!

Hectic Day

2010-01-29T06:15:00.002-06:00

I must say that yesterday proved to be a most hectic day for me. I began with my scheduled yearly doctor's appointment. That went well.. except for what I weighed on the scales... would you believe with my boots, socks, shirt, pants, and jacket I weighed 10 lbs. more on the doctor's scales? And we won't even go there. The funny thing is that it did not even upset me. I know that the lack of exercise has had an impact on my weight, but it is what it is.. and I have been too distracted with my cleanout activities to be focused on my exercise. But I will... soon!

So, I went out to our hunting camp, 669, because I am hosting my unome (you know me) girlfriends this weekend. There are supposed to be 9 of us in attendance, but there will probaby only be 8 (more about that later). I got out there and began one chore, and then saw.. oh I need to do this.. and that went on and on. I cleaned the bathroom as well as moving all of dh's toiletries. You see there is one bathroom and we will need all the counterspace. I cleaned and cleaned out the refrigerator- new fun food coming tonight! I had already changed the four beds upstairs in the loft. It was done last week. I changed the sheets on the queen and the two twins downstairs. I straightened the kitchen cupboards. I decluttered the mantle. I swept the entire cabin, as well as the front and back porch. I removed all the Bowhunter, The Rifleman, Duck's Unlimited, and Fish and Game magazines. I had so many interruptions ( more on that later). So let me just finish while I am on the subject of 669 telling what I have to do out there today. I plan to cook my sausage and put together my breakfast casserole for tomorrow. I am going to vacuum the rug out there. I am taking more coffee cups and another coffee pot. I am taking some "girl" magazines- Fitness and Southern Living as well as a few inspirational books. And also some fun DVD's like Mamma Mia, Baby Mama, and The Holiday (my new favorite DVD). So all of that should not take me too long.

Okay, about all of my interruptions. My granddaughter went to the ER two weeks ago and had the croup. She has not bee back to daycare but maybe one or two days since then. Her croup got better, but she came down with a stomach virus. It was not a continual vomiting and diarrhea, but she would vomit maybe once a day and the diarrhea stopped. Along with her sickness, my daughter also had a cold. So my dd goes to the doctor yesterday and gets antibiotics and a steroid shot. Meanwhile her dh and her mil (who has been taking care of gd) let her know that after she left, d gd vomited again and after her dr. appt. the doctor wanted her in the hospital for IV fluids due to dehydration. So... off to the ER they went again. They spent all day in the ER with the baby having an IV in her arm (it took 3 x). They hoped to come home, but since it took so long for her to have a wet diaper, they were told they had to stay the night. So while I am cleaning, I am going back and forth with her with texts and phone calls. I could not be there because I am hosting my gf. And I could cancel except that one is flying from Midland and two are driving from Houston. The rest live nearby. And then... I get a text from the one that I said will probably not be with us tonight-her hours old newborn granddaughter is not breathing well, and they are life-flighting her to Houston. So I am texting all the unomes back and forth telling them about this. I was praying all day long for these babies as well as parents and doctors and nurses.

So tonight's agenda is to go to the nearby university and see the Beatles impressionists called Liverpool Legends. We are all so funny and corny. We found these Beatles tshirts that are the picture of them on their first album- Meet the Beatles. We are all wearing them tonight. I will certainly include a photo later of this. Oh yeah.. also, I told my friends we would all get a photo made to go on "the honored wall" at 669. We will all wear camo for that. I told them not to buy any but to bring a shirt if they had one. Well... after cleaning up out there and investigating, we are like a Cabela's store- camo tshirts, sweat shirts, jackets, coats, pants, waders, caps, and gloves- you name it, we have it! I will include that photo later too.

Okay, time to get moving and start my busy day. Please keep all of these in your prayers.

My Retirement Thus Far

2010-01-25T16:31:00.002-06:00

Okay, so my retirement began officially on December 30. Since I only worked on Tues and Wed, that was my last Wed to work. You could say that I am now starting my 4th week of being retired. Everyone keeps asking me, " How do you like retirement?" Honestly... I have not gotten into that mode of thinking yet. I can say that right now I am definitely not enjoying it because I have had so many unforeseen and stressful events come into my life. I mentioned the car accident and my grandbaby going to the ER. I had to take my mom to the doctor last Monday. I was able to get up in the attic at my house and bring down all the "banana boxes" that were stored with all kinds of things. I think I did that on Monday and Tuesday. Well, on Wednesday, I was getting a cough. And also, I pulled my back out when I thought I was quite strong enough to lift that third seat in my suburban all by myself. So I had a pulled back and a hacking cough. I planned to go to Galveston to meet with the contractor who is putting our beach condo back together. I also was able to deliver the paintings to my uncle's house that my mom was giving to my cousins. Yea!! getting stuff cleaned out and organized.
I called a friend who lost their beach house at Crystal Beach. She drove down from Sugarland and we were able to meet early. It was truly a business trip because I was going back and forth to the condo and Home Depot... making decisons. It did not take me long to spend 2K on new appliances. We went to my favorite local restaurant - Shrimp and Stuff. I had the boiled shrimp po-boy and some gumbo. The gumbo had a thick rue.. almost like a stew... which is not what I prefer. I like my gumbo more watery. We had time to go and see her lot near San Luis Pass. They decided to rebuild there instead of Crystal Beach. By the time we finished with talking to the contractor and viewing several condos at Seascape and running our errands, we had spent the afternoon. We stayed at the Comfort Suites which was very nice. It was also great because we could walk to the movie theatre. We decided to eat down at the dock at Fisherman's Wharf. I was in such a mood for some good fresh fish. I had the grilled red snapper with mixed vegetables and rice. I also had two glasses of Pinot Grigio. It was a great dinner. So we made it back in time to see two movies. We saw "Leap Year" which was cute, but quite predictable. And then we saw "The Lovely Bones." I had heard this was a good movie. Well... definitely not my kind of movie. I may read the book as I heard it was good.. but then again, if I did not like the movie, chances are that I will not like the book either. However, let me just say the young girl who played Susie Salmon did an excellent job. Now I am not going to spoil this for you, but there was a time when she was in a place that she regretfully knew she should not be in. This young actress made you feel the fear that she was having. It was an outstanding performance by this young girl. So.. it was midnight when we got out of the movies. We got back to the hotel.. talked a little, watched a little TV and were asleep by about 1:30. We were up early for our continental breakfast, and I was on the road back home by a little after 9:00 a.m. on Friday.

So Friday, I was feeling tired and still had my cough. Not only did I inhale all that dust in my attic, but also in the various condos due to the residue from the tile jobs we went in. So I got a double whammy of dust in the lungs. So I made a few stops on the way home- fabric stores and my favorite Mexican restaurant- lunch portion of chicken fajitas ( I only ate half) with some beans, rice, onions, and corn tortillas. I am still wondering why I did not get any guacamole, but that was fine with me. Friday evening I had some gf come by as my dh was at the hunting camp. We visited, watched part of a movie, and they went home.

Saturday morning, I moved slow.. still not feeling very well, joints kinda hurting, but not sick. I took about 15-20 more boxes to the recycling bin. Then I, along with faithful dog Roxy, proceeded to our hunting camp (669). My plan was to begin getting it ready for this coming weekend when my unomes came to visit. There will be 9 of us staying. But instead I layed on the couch. Then it hit me... fever, chills, headache, neckache, backache, ankles and feet and knees - you name it. I felt terrible. I went in and took a hot bath because that always makes me feel better. And it did. I held off on the Advil. Germs are being killed when your temperature elevates so I just kept telling myself that there was a battle going on in my body. I had extra clothes on along with a blanket. DH had cooked homemade venison chili, and I did eat that. All we had to drink was a Big Red, Shasta grape or Shasta creme soda. What a choice! I took the grape and later a big glass of cold water with a half of lemon. So I was kinda feeling better, and then it hit me again. Oh gosh... I am thinking.. I have some kind of flu. No stopped up or runny nose, but the aches.. ohhhhhhhhhh. So I decided I would take another bath. And while I was in the tub, I had dh get me extra wash cloths so I could put a hot one on my chest, on the back of my neck, and on my forehead. He made fun of me!! argh#@!!!! So I decided right then and there, no sympathy from you.. I am going home. I was not mad, just was feeling bad. However, after taking the bath, I took two Advil, loaded up the car and went home so I could lay on a heating pad and if need be walk around the house all night. And if I could not sleep I had cable, movies, and FB and the internet. Yesterday was spent laying around all day in the bed with the heating pad. Today I would have done the same, but I HAD to get a birthday card off to my sister who has a birthday tomorrow. And she will probably not get the card until Wednesday. So I did feel better- good enough to go to several places that I needed to go. I still have the cough and the backache. The rest of my body is feeling better. But I will say one thing... doing core exercises will stop you from pulling your back out. I have not done mine in over 5 weeks, and it is certainly obvious. Tomorrow I have to go to town to have blood work because I have my annual checkup on Thursday. I plan to get up early and make it there since I have to fast. Since I will be out early I will make the dreaded Walmart run to get some additional plastic bins. I am slowly getting all the stuff organized that I want to keep. There will be little going back in my attic because I do not want to continue climbing that ladder. It will just have to be nice and organized in the garage. So... there you have it. As soon as I am up to par.. it is back to exercise for me. Gosh.. it makes a difference!

Okay, I was quite the chatter today... I guess I should have written this in several installments.

Movie, Book, and Wreck

2010-01-14T12:26:00.004-06:00

I had a friend of mine loan me the book "The Help". I know that should be underlined, but I am not sure how to do that on the computer. This book is written in first person by three women during the early 1960's. Two of the women are black and are "maids" to the white women of Jackson, Mississippi. No offense meant by the word maid... this was just what they were referred to as. Today we say housekeepers. But back then they were a maid.. or should I say handmaiden. Because they were so much more than a housekeeper. They not only cleaned the house, but they washed and ironed, cooked the meals, and served as a nanny to the children. Okay, back to the story.. the other person's view is written by a young white woman desiring to be a writer. She is sympathetic to the civil rights' of African -Americans, especially to black women. I will not relay anymore of the book so that I do not spoil it for you. I liked the book- I grew up during this time.. in the south, and yes, we had a "maid". I wondered if my white family behaved like some of these white families in the book.

Okay, I usually do not go to R rated movies. But I was assured this one did not have bad language in it. Well... there might have been a few bad words. The dialog was very adult and sex talk. There was a scene showing Alec Baldwin's exposed rear. But the movie not only had humor, but I thought had some depth. It showed the effects of divorce.. on the spouse that was left, the grown children still reeling from the effects, and even the one who was at fault who is now truly on the outside looking in. Any person considering divorce should see this movie and think much deeper about their lives, the lives the divorce will effect, and not just about the here and now.

I will soon be back to my exercise program. Just alot going on here at my house. My college son is here.. and when I say here.. I not only mean here at my house, but I mean here on this earth. He and some companions were in a terrible wreck last Friday night. The vehicle hit some ice and rolled 3 times. My son was sent to ER and only had glass in his scalp. I could have been receiving the news from the DPS that every parent hopes they never hear. Thank you Lord for being merciful to my family.

I will soon be back to my exercise. Needless to say, this has been an emotional time for all of my family. I went for a walk a couple of times last week, and also today. I plan to get myself back on schedule soon. Maybe I will be walking, maybe jogging, maybe P90X, or maybe a new video by Jillian. I have been working on my healthy eating now- no Dr. Pepper, drinking more water. I know what I need to do, so I better get 'er done!!!!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T08:03:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas to all! I have been absent for awhile from my blog. You know what that means... I have done terrible! No P90X in 3 weeks! Now I am trying to decide.. do I begin at Day 70 or do I just start completely over? I have my last two days of work next week, and then I am retired. I can then focus on getting my house in order... meaning my house I live in, and then I house I walk around in. I have been just feeling out of sorts with all this clutter still in my life. My youngest son is home from college for a few weeks, and I am hoping we can get everything out of the attic and go through it, and get rid of stuff. I have lots of projects that I want to complete, but I want to put exercise and healthy living at the top of my list. Okay, I had a few moments this morning waiting for everyone to get here and thought I would finally post. Have a Happy New Year too!

Will I Ever........?

2009-12-14T17:22:00.003-06:00

Will I ever return to P90X. Week before last I mentioned I went to visit my daughter and granddaughter, thus missing my workout. Then got home and youngest son was here from college, missed my workout. Then came down with a terrible cold, sinusitis, ackyness (spelled wrong), and just not feeling up to par- tired, rundown. Then the beginning of this week I had some unexpected business to attend to. So there you have it. It has been almost two weeks since I last worked out. And another thing. I dread doing plyometrics... especially since I have been feeling bad. I have been trying in the midst of all of this to decorate, to get ready for my sister and her family to come to town, to buy gifts, and I have just let exercise not be a priority. And that was even after I set those goals. It was like I set the goals of working out 4 times a week, and then I just quit. So I am wondering... am I going to finish P90X? Do I need another change? I only have 20 days to finish it... even though I began it almost 5 months ago. If I get over this mucus clearing of my throat, I may feel better to jump around and sweat. So... don't do like me.... you all keep going... I am so distracted right now.. but I DO plan to get back on track!

Temporarily Disabled

2009-12-09T20:25:00.002-06:00

This 55-year old P90X machine is temporarily disabled. I traveled to Frisco to see dd and dgd, and was too busy to do my workout. Then when I got home I was busy with ds who was home for a visit from A&M. Then... Monday, I came down with a cold. It has really bothered me- sneezing, runny nose, headache... even my teeth are hurting. I have continued to work (with a mask of course). What bothers me most is that I am not even gonna finish my 90 days before the end of the year. You know one thing that really stops me is that I do not like the plyometrics or the core synergistics or the cardio X. I think that when i do finally complete P90 X, I will change my workout. I will continue with the leg, shoulder, back, arms workouts, but do something different for the cardio. One thing is that I think that I am getting my heart rate up too high.. hence, burning lean muscle instead of fat. I need to get my heart rate monitor fixed. I think I will get back to walk/jogging and wear the monitor to keep in my target range. Since I am not doing P90X the way it is designed, then it really will not matter that I do not do Tony's cardio DVD's. My boss was talking about a patient that we had come in that looked so good and probably lost 50 lbs. He told me he had been doing P90X. So listen... if you want the results that Tony talks about, then do it the way it is designed. If you want a good workout and something you can live with... then do it like me.. something is better than nothing. I do love P90X- the weights and the bands, and even the pushups. I think one thing that kept me from doing my workout was dreading that plyometrics workout. So... I don't know when I will get back to it- gotta get rid of this cold first.

Day 69-P90X- Chest and Back

2009-12-02T06:58:00.004-06:00

When that alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m. I have such trouble dragging myself out of bed. My husband remarked about how he did not know how I did that... bragging on me. I have to say, " It ain't easy!!!" It can go either way- I can lay there and talk myself out of it, or lay there and finally say to myself, " Let's do it!" And I don't know what motivates me more- hearing someone say something good like- you are really looking good, or someone say something bad- like you know you are never going to be a small person. Well, I just don't know... until I was 38 years old, I was a small person. But that was a long time ago. However, I still have not given up that idea. Am I crazy? In denial? I cannot measure my success by weight loss or I would have quit a long time ago. I am rarely sick, I take no medication except for thyroid pills, and I seem to be able to keep up pretty good. So back to my workout... I did the chest and back workout today. I did it pretty much the way that I always do- the first set up pushups I do 15 from the feet and 10 from the knee. And when we do the second set, I do 10 from the feet and 15 from the knee. I seemed to have an easier time of it. I also did the decline pushups, but that really seems to put alot of pressure on my back. I did up the weights to 12 lbs when doing the heavy pants, the lawnmowers, and the bent over pullups. I also will add that when doing the pushups, I really tried to make myself go lower. I often wonder which would be better - doing more pushups and not going down real low or doing the opposite- doing less pushups but going lower to the floor. Someone want to give their opinion about this. Today I did not do as well with the water. I was at work, and I seemed to never have a chance to drink any water today. I ate a couple of those bran muffins so I figure I did get my fiber. No Dr. Pepper for me today and I did my exercise. So, I am still meeting my goals each day. I think tomorrow is plyometrics. I need to get to it early because I am leaving to go to big D to see the grandbaby. I missed her so much at Thanksgiving. My daughter and I will try to get in a little shopping. So, I don't know if I will be able to squeeze in any workouts on Friday and Saturday. But I will sure try.

Day 68-P90X-Kenpo X

2009-12-02T06:51:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I began my workout early- about 5:45 a.m. The only thing that I skipped on the workout was the routine during the break time. I did not do the jumping jacks, X jacks, etc. I wanted to get finished with this workout without being too "pooped" so I skipped that part. I worked hard with all my punches and kicks. I did complete my goals - 64 oz of water, 35 gr of fiber, exercised, and no Dr. Pepper. However, my lunch was bad- Mexican food, and my dinner was bad- one glass of wine and four little blocks of cheese and two cookies- yeah... I went by an open house after work.. and well.... I was being cordial. Breakfast was homemade bran muffins and coffee.

First Basketball Game

2009-11-30T20:46:00.001-06:00

Here is my little granddaughter at her first basketball game.

Day 67-P90X- Legs and Back

2009-11-30T20:18:00.004-06:00

I got in the legs and back routine this morning starting around 7:30. I went to thicker bands. I could not tell if these were harder to use or not. I did 25 reps on each back exercise. I did all the leg routine. The one I happened to find the most difficult today was the one where you do about two minutes of walking of your toes and doing those lunges without ever letting your heels come down. I made it through the wall squats- both the two legs on the ground and the one legged ones. I also made it through the squats where you squat and then jump in the air. All in all, I did quite well with the workout. I had to hurry and finish and get out of the house. I had to get to the retirement place in town to pick up my mother to take her to the doctor. This was a regular checkup, but you know how it is the Monday after a holiday. We had to wait over an hour before we were even seen. I had told her I would have lunch with her before I knew we were eating at the retirement center. The company was good because we sat with an older couple that both she and I know. If fact the husband is a patient of mine. However, this place is certainly not know for their fine cuisine. Of all things on the menu- my choice was turkey tettrazine or ham. Excuse me but I was tired of ham and turkey (and I knew that my dinner tonight was going to be a leftover turkey casserole. So I had a hamburger- don't worry, it was far from juicy. Also I had some minestrone soup. This was definitely loaded with fiber. No Dr. Pepper for me. Water and decaf coffee was my luncheon beverage. So I would say by the time the day ends tonight I would have succeeded with my weekly goals.

64 oz of water-check
35 gr of fiber-check
daily exercise-check
no Dr. Pepper-check

So yea for me today!! Now someone please tell me what I did and how to change back to black type.

Day 66-P90X- Rest

2009-11-29T20:23:00.002-06:00

I called this rest day because I am trying to figure exactly where I should be. I really should title this post "Neglect". Yes... before Thanksgiving, I was pretty much on a roll. I was meeting Jen's challenge of exercising every day. Well.. almost. I did make it for 6 days instead of the 10 days before Thanksgiving. But with all the food preparation and staying up late, excuses, etc. I just kept missing my workout. And my eating... terrible. So.. here I go.. I am trying to get back on track. So tomorrow I have down as legs and back and it is Day 67. Gosh, I knew I was not going to finish at the end of October which would have been the end of my 90 days.. but I had no idea I would be shooting just to finish before the new year. I have repeatedly stated that I am not your role model for P90X. But... exercise is for a lifetime.. and I keep jumping back in and refuse to give up. If it is not weight lifting, or an aerobics video or yoga.. it could still be moving and packing ( remember me moving my mother), or yardwork, or walking, or doing a pilates video, or a dance video. I so wish that I had the discipline to properly do the P90X as it was meant for because I would love to be able to show you the before and after photos. Right now there is not enough difference.

Here are some of my goals for this week- drink at least 64 ounces of water a day
eat 35 grams of fiber a day
exercise at least 4 times this week
limit my fat intake
no Dr. Pepper

Doesn't sound too tough does it? I also recently read this book by Marilu Henner about living your life. One of the things she talked about was the way you dressed. She asked, " are you all put together when you go out, or do you look like you just threw just anything on and went?" Well, my answer was just that... I would throw something on. That is just kinda how you feel when you are fat. So, this last week, I purposely planned what I would wear when I went to town. Some days I changed out my purse. I planned the earrings, bracelets, and necklace I would wear along with choosing a scarf or a jacket. I did not wear my athletic shoes but instead would wear my boots with my jeans- it would make my legs look longer. My makeup was done and my hair fixed. I had people remark that I was dressed up. Well yeah.. for me. So, I am trying as Marilu says.. to reinvent myself. I am retiring, and I do not want to turn into a real slouch. So...here I go.

Day 65-P90X- Substitution

2009-11-23T21:13:00.002-06:00

Yeah... you got that right. I am considering this a P90X because I did a workout that was similar. I just cannot make myself do that hour and a half of yoga. So I did Denise Austin's Pilates workout. I had done her yoga before and did not like it. The pilates was 45 minutes long. She did slow down a little and did not rush through quite as much as she did the yoga video. I do consider that I got a good core workout with some yoga moves mixed in. And I have to confess Jen that I missed the workout on Saturday and Sunday. I got busy with friends and chores. So tomorrow I do not know exactly what I will be doing. I have been busy all day today cleaning out my closet. I also cooked a ham and made some potato salad and cooking beans now for our dinner for tomorrow night. My youngest son got in tonight but did not make it here to the house. He went hunting and stayed out at our deer camp with his dad. But he and dh will be back home tomorrow night for dinner. And... I work all day on Tuesday; hence, cooking supper tonight for tomorrow. We can eat that tomorrow and on Wednesday when I will be preparing for Thanksgiving.

Day 64-P90X-Plyometrics

2009-11-20T22:40:00.003-06:00

I have to say that if it were not for Jen's 10 day challenge, I probably would have skipped today. I had to run errands... get all my Thanksgiving shopping done. I was there pretty early in the day, and it was still wild. I started my workout around 1:30. I did do most of it. I quit about 13 minutes early. I was red-faced and sweating and really hungry. There are still some of the moves that I do not do. But I keep moving the entire time. Okay, I am half way through Jen's challenge... 5 more days to go.

Followers and P90X

2009-11-20T12:44:00.007-06:00

I finally got my followers list up close to my profile. If you are stopping by and visiting my blog often, please add your name to my list of followers. Thanks to my beachbody coach Jen for helping me figure out how to get my list moved. If you are thinking of getting on board with P90X let me just say... go for it! Yes, it is hard. But hey... I am 55 years old and I can do most of it. I am not doing the chinup bar, but still working with the bands. However, I still get sore and you can see definition in my shoulders even with the extra padding I have. You can be challenged by doing more repetitions or heavier weights. There are about 10 or 11 workouts so you do not get bored. I like Tony more and more when I do my videos. If you are totally undisciplined then forget doing these. If you cannot make yourself go to a room by yourself and do an hour workout, then this is not for you. But if you can do it alone or get a friend to join you, it is great. Your initial cost for the DVDs is about $150. But since my gym fee went up to $100 per month and that was 5 months ago, then I have already saved $350. And the best thing to do is go through Beachbody instead of buying it on Ebay because you can access their website and get an online coach. My coach is Jen, who goes by onetoughgirl. She is very faithful to read my blog, give me encouragement, tips, and keep me accountable. Right now she has us doing the 10 day challenge of working out the 10 days prior to Thanksgiving. Today is Day 5. I still have time to get it in. Well, I just wanted to give a plug for this program. I think it is great!!!

Day 63-P90X- Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

2009-11-19T08:55:00.003-06:00

Well since I woke up so early, I had plenty of time to get good and awake and do my workout. I am not so great with this workout because there are alot of those pushups that I cannot presently do. I don't know if I EVER will be able to do them. But when it is the pushups that are in and outs, or one hand, or clapping... I just do either pushups from the feet or pushups from the knees. I do as many as I can. I don't quit. Although, I think today I did FF through one of the sets. I also was only using 5 lb weights for most of the shoulder workouts. I might could have used the 8 lb. I really need a 6 or a 7 lb dumbbell. I was able to do all the workouts with the 5 lb. I finished my workout feeling worked out. I really need to incorporate the ab ripper X into my routine. So far, I have only done it a few times. It is like I am scared of it and I dread it. I should do some of it anyway. So today I have a hair appointment, and my mother is going with me to get a pedicure. After I finished my workout, I prepared omelets for my husband and me. I had been given some farm fresh eggs that I would call medium size. So sauteed some pico de gallo with mushruooms. I began cooking the eggs, flipped them, and then put the vegetables along with mixed cheese- cheddar and mozarella on the eggs and then folded the omelet up. I need to find where my camera is, and I will start making some photos of what I cook. The omelet looked good and tasted good too. I know the eggs have too much fat, but the yolk is the best part for you. So after my hair appointment, my mother and I will go to eat out for lunch. Hmm... what shall I have? salmon? grilled chicken? shrimp? salad? mixed vegetables? of course nothing fried, no bread, small amount of salad dressing. I will post later about my daily food intake. So... today was day 4 of Jen's challenge. I am with you girl!! I will leave you with a photo of my daughter, two sons, granddaughter and niece and great niece. My daughter went to visit her cousinand her family in College Station and her brother who is a student at Texas A&M. My older son happened to be there for a softball tournament. I loved that my kids enjoyed being with one another. I hope that they can stay connected with extended family too.

Day 62-P90X- Kenpo X

2009-11-19T05:35:00.003-06:00

I really have to say that I love Kenpo X. It is not too hard, goes fast, and is just kinda fun. I woke up yesterday morning with plenty of time to do my workout. But what did I do? I kept hitting the snooze button until I accidentally hit the off button, and then looked at the clock and it was too late to do the workout. Hmm... was that a subconscious accident? Well, I went to work, got home to heat up the leftovers and cook more for dh and kept thinking about the challenge that my beachbody coach Jen issued- exercise for the 10 days before Thanksgiving. Darn Jen... so... I got to my room and began and finished my workout. The only thing I did not do was the waterbreak workout- jumping jacks, skipping rope, and X jumps. I FF through those. I am so glad that I got my workout in. My eating was not very good.

Breakfast- toasted oats with cutup prunes ( that's right) and added craisins and sunflower seeds

V8 juice with wheat bran ( yes, I had a problem)

Snack- a few almonds

Lunch- Applebee's side salad with Mexiranch dressing on the side

shared Honey barbeque boneless chicken

Dr. Pepper

Dinner- three corn tortillas with chicken, bell pepper, onions, 1 oz cheese, pico de gallo,

1/4 cup rice

Snack- 1 cup of 2% milk

I woke up very early this morning... before 4:00 a.m. It is almost 6:00. Did some praying, sent some emails, and now I am about to do my workout. I am doing the chest, shoulders, and triceps. I may still be off on my days. Today is day 4 of Jen's challenge. I will leave you with a photo of my little granddaughter.

Day 61-P90X-Legs and Back

2009-11-17T18:44:00.002-06:00

Today I met Jen's challenge and got up early and did the legs and back routine. I may be out of order.. I may be on the wrong day... shoot... I am not properly doing P90X, but it just goes to show you that this program is so great that you just jump right in and keep plugging along. I really like the workouts.... well most of them. I love the arms and shoulders that I did yesterday. I love the legs and back routine that I did today. I am planning on doing Kenpo X tomorrow. I love Kenpo X. Last week I did chest and back and plyometrics. I don't love these, but I don't hate them either. So today I brought the wrong tupperware with my lunch. I was supposed to bring chicken with a small amount of cheese and pico de gallo. Instead I had a tortilla with some bell pepper and onions. Well, that just ended up not being enough for me. So I went to taco USA and had a deluxe tostado and .... a small Dr. Pepper. I know... bad..
So here is my food today:
Breakfast- butternut squash soup with crackers
1/2 an apple
snack- wasabi covered almonds
lunch- tortilla with grilled onions and bell peppers
deluxe tostado with Dr. Pepper
Dinner- butternut squash soup
1/2 chicken breast with 1 oz. cheese and pico de gallo
My husband was gone so I could just eat these leftovers.

Day 59 and 60-P90X- Yoga and Arms and Shoulders

2009-11-16T20:13:00.004-06:00

Okay, I really wanted to tell you all that I did the yoga yesterday... but, I didn't. And I did not want to do it today.. so I skipped it, and went on to Day 60 and did my arm and shoulder workout. I don't know what was wrong with me this last week other than I feel so bogged down by having all this stuff in my house still. And I have so many projects going. My husband was complaining about not doing his walking/jogging. I asked him what he disliked most about doing it. He said it was the time it took and it hurt his knees. Of course my daughter and I told him to just be consistent and do the walking. I already knew why I put my workout off. It is the time it takes. There are so many other things that I want to do. Are you all like that? So I was busy all day today. I went to town to do my errands- Sam's, Walmart, Goodwill, Recycling Center. I was determined when I got home to do my workout. I did not get to it until 5:00 p.m. But I really did like the workout. I like doing arms and shoulders. I still have difficulty with the tri-raise, but I still keep trying. Now, my coach Jen has issued the challenge to work out every day until Thanksgiving. That is 10 days. Surely I can do this. So I am surely going to try. And she also wants us to work on our clean eating. Do you know what clean eating is? Fruits, vegetables, Good carbs, and lean protein. No processed foods- you know... chips, fast food, frozen dinners, etc. So today I did okay... here is what I had:

Breakfast- egg, 1 ou cheese, and 1/2 c rice
snack-Banana; carrot sticks with 2 T Ranch dressing
Lunch- Church's side dish of dirty rice (couldn't help it)
Snack- small pkg peanuts
Dinner- Homemade Butternut squash soup (want the recipe?)
Grilled chicken with Flour tortilla, pico de gallo, small amt cheese and onions and peppers

Big News

2009-11-11T21:05:00.002-06:00

I keep forgetting to post my big news. I am retiring in December. Yea!!! I am so excited about being able to be at home. I know for some people this may seem strange. After all, my kids are grown. There will be no one here at the house with me but ME. But that is truly where my heart is. I never really wanted to go back to work 8 years ago when I accepted this job. Or should I say, I was not looking for a job. One of my dental hygiene friends told me that my current boss was looking for a hygienist and that I should call them. I replied that I really did not want to go back to work even though dh wanted me to. When I saw the office and met all the staff, I was blown away. What a beautiful place to work. Well, the staff has changed somewhat, but my office is still a great place to work. However, I am 55 years old. My hands are tired. There are so many projects that I want to do here at home. I have a granddaughter. I know it was only two days a week, but those two days a week kept me from getting started on some of my big projects. I want to clean out two sheds, the garage, my attic, work in the flower beds, the garden spot, do more sewing for the granddaughter, finish some quilts and start some new ones, learn more from reading, do more Bible study, revarnish my kitchen cabinets, do more with my mother, help my friends with some of their projects, go do more adventure trips, do more P90x, ride my bike, fix up 669 (our hunting camp), try more new recipes, check out more blogs. I have so much I want to do. I am just so excited.

Day 58-P90X- Chest and Back

2009-11-11T20:57:00.002-06:00

Gosh, it seems like it has been forever since I did chest and back. I did the plyometrics on Monday and skipped yesterday and so I was determined to get up early today and do something. I was worried that the pushups might hurt that shoulder that I injured last week. Well, I had absolutely no pain getting through this workout. I did the pushups- 15 from the feet and 10 from the knees. On some of them though I had to stop and rest a few seconds after 10, then do 5 more, and then do the 10 from the knees. Puls, I am still not going real far down to do my pushups. I did about 25 of the chest exercises with the bands. I am about to order the chinup bar. I don't know if I will even be able to do one of them, but it is something to aim for. I even did the decline pushups today... only about 10 of them, and not too far down to the floor; but, nevertheless, I did them! The only thing I did not do was the second set of the dive bombers. I just could not make myself do them. And, I did not do the cool down. I left early to head to work because I wanted to fill my car up with gas. It was only 6:45, and I thought... oh my gosh... I have been up for 2 hours!!! I am always so excited when I get done with a workout. How accomplished that makes you feel. So tomorrow is supposed to be yoga. I don't know yet if that is what I will do simply because I do not like the amount of time it takes to do the yoga. I am going to see Ryan Dobson (James Dobson's son) tomorrow night speak for the Crisis Pregnancy Center.

Day 57-P90X- Plyometrics

2009-11-09T21:13:00.002-06:00

I was supposed to do chest today, but I did the plyometrics instead because I was scared that I would bother my shoulder from injuring it last Friday. I may try to do it tomorrow, or I may do the leg routine. I just know that doing shoulders or chest... anything that involves pushups might aggravate it. So I did not quite finish the entire plyometrics, but I did almost all of it. I waited until late today... the good news is is that I still did it. I did not even start until after 6:00 p.m., and you know how I usually just blow it off if I work out late in the day. I had company this morning, went and ran errands, and then made an unexpected trip to our deer camp. I will have to post a photo later. We have a two bedroom cabin with a loft. Now mind you... this is a deer camp, not a darling get-a-way cabin. HOWEVER; I have not given up the idea of adding some feminine touches to the place. Dh considers it "his" place... but I want to add a bit of my rustic touch. The loft has four twin beds. A friend of mine had shown me the sleeping porch out of a recent Southern Living magazine. We have several old patchwork quilts.. so I took those and put them on all the beds upstairs. I added some plaid pillow shams that I had that were not presently being used. It looks really cute up there. I may even add some pictures to the walls. I also vacuumed upstairs while I was there. I am hoping to have my unome friends come for a weekend there. Well, I will have more time later to continue making it more female-friendly. Okay, it is good to know I am in the last phase. I hope when I do P90X the next time, I will do it better.

Days 52,53,53,55,and 56-P90X

2009-11-07T07:29:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I have been busy lately and I have not posted. I did my recovery week-core synergistics, yoga, cardio X, and kenpo, and a rest day. I just kinda went out of order. And yesterday... I got an injury. Yes, I was doing the core synergistics. I had just done the first set of pushups.. you know where you stagger your hands. I did about 25 of them.. left arm close to body-five pushups, right arm close to body-five pushups. I was fine, and then came the banana roll. It started off okay, but then one of the rolls when I rolled onto my right shoulder with my arm extended over my head, I got a pain. I quit for just a little while and hoped it was just the laying on my arm and that the pain would quit. It did, so I started back, and when I had to do another set of pushups, there was no way.. it hurt.. deep down in my shoulder. I went and got some ice and iced it for about 15 minutes. I am not hurting, but every now and then I can feel it. I don't think I can do any pushups for awhile. And that is what my next workout is supposed to be. I am supposed to be starting phase 3. So, I may just change the order and do the plyometrics and then see if I am healed good enough. I may just have to quit for awhile. I cannot believe I have injured myself- I did all the warmup and everything. What a setback. And to top it off, those 8 lbs that it took me all summer to lose... I have gained 5 back. And I am not overeating. I have really been doing good with my eating. Ugh! However, my daughter told me I looked thinner in my backside. My clothes are not tighter. Well, I may have to just do some walking for awhile. I am not a good example for P90X.. other than I persevere and don't give up.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-30T13:06:00.003-05:00

And now I just could not resist posting this photo of my little angel getting spooked!!!!

Tau Kappa Reunion

2009-10-30T10:23:00.006-05:00

For those of you that don't recognize the name of this sorority..well, it is not a national sorority. It was a local sorority at Tyler Junior College. Back in the old days you could get an associate degree in dental hygiene in two years. I know you can still get an associates' in 2 years, but now I think most dental hygiene degrees are spread out over 3 years. It was tough going for me back then. I was in the top 10 percent of my high school class, but when I got to dental hygiene school, I was probably somewhere in the middle. It was very hard, and I still wanted to have fun so I joined this sorority. There were not many of us that graduated. We were definitely fun-loving girls. Well TJC had their homecoming along with their annual alumni meeting. One of my TK sisters organized getting us all together. What fun we had seeing each other after 35+ years. That's right, I have been a dental hygienist for 35 years now. We were able to reconnect with information from the alumni office and also through Facebook. I know alot of people think that FB is for the kids, but I have found so many friends via FB. It has been a great tool to keep in touch. I am going to post a photo from 1973 along with a photo from last weekend. Can you find me in the old photo? The photos are of the gals that I pledged with. I don't have the large group photo. There ended up being about 45 of us altogether. Some came as late as spring 1977. I got to meet alot of these fun women. Being in this sorority bonded us together. One of the ladies that was unable to attend had had double by-pass surgery. We gave a love offering either money or gift cards- the money alone ended up being over $800. Another TK had her husband come with her because the previous week she had had a double mascetomy. Yes, there were lots of stories to be told. We laughed, we cried, and we had a great time making more TK memories!

Day 50 and 51- P90X- Yoga and Core Synergistics

2009-10-30T10:13:00.003-05:00

Yes, I am still doing it.. but oh the guilt... yes.. what in the world happened to me. I went out of town to a sorority reunion. I did not get much sleep. So I get home.. I am tired.. sleepy.. and still so overwhelmed with all the clutter in my house from my mother's move. I have been working hard on it lately.. going through photo albums, discarding, choosing different people to give the photos to- the high school alumni office, the college alumni office, friends that own an antique mall, Goodwill, trash. I want to finish this job so bad, but there are so many hours in the day- and then I do work part-time, clean house, wash clothes, cook, and wash dishes. And I don't move as fast as I used to. I even just wanted to skip this recovery week since I had definitely been recovering for a week. I talked to Coach Jen, and we both agreed to complete the workouts for week 8. Gosh, when I think I should really be finishing P90X, I feel bad, but then I try to lift myself up by saying, " Hey Dee, just jump back in. You are not going to have the same results, but you are still better off than you were before you began P90X." Just remember I am not a great example to follow as far as being diligent, but you can follow me when you fall "off the wagon". So, I did skip the Yoga. I did the Core Synergistics this morning. I had to modify a bunch of those exercises. I just could not do them. I did okay on the rolls and the superman/banana rolls. I mainly cannot do those pushups the way he wanted them. And I don't hop with both feet. I jump with both feet, but only lift one leg to do it. So I think tomorrow it is yoga again. I probably will do it. I am thinking that I need to do more cardio. The fat is just not coming off. And if I had only walked or walk/run those days that I skipped P90X then that would have been okay. I just know that I need to do something everyday. I think in the future, if I decide to skip because I am just bored or tired of my workout, then I will get on the treadmill or get outdoors, or put on a dance video... just do something!!!! I am going to post some photos of my reunion.

Day 48-P90X-Kenpo & Day 49-P90X- Rest

2009-10-22T18:22:00.001-05:00

Okay, first let me say that I did not do my Kenpo yesterday like I had planned. I woke up too late and did not have time. But I did do my Ab Ripper X before work. Gosh.. it is so hard. And when we are supposed to be climbing up our leg.. well I make two grabs, and I am still not reaching my foot. And then I got home, and I so intended to immediately do the Kenpo X. But I got sidetracked. You see I am about to attend my sorority reunion. I have not seen some of these women in 35+ years. We are going to the alumni meeting, then a sorority reception, then meeting at one of the member's homes that evening. That is on Saturday, but I am going tomorrow because I had a dental meeting I need to attend to earn my continuing education credits. But I was on the computer emailing back and forth to these gals, and just ran out of time. I know that is NO excuse. Same ole problem... if I don't work out early in the a.m., then I usually miss my workout.

So back to Kenpo X. I did awesome today. I guess that rest or the guilt or something made me work harder. This time I did not FF the break. I did the running, the jumping rope, the jumping jacks and........tada.... the X jumps!!!! Yes, every time they did them, I did them too! yea me!!! And my face was beet red when I finished. I don't have a working heart rate monitor. I don't know if it broke or the batteries went dead. I want one without the band across your chest. Don't they make those?? So I went ahead and included the rest day because tomorrow I am leaving town at 6:00 a.m. I will be getting up around 5:00 as it is, so no work out for me tomorrow. The dental meeting lasts until about 4:00 p.m. And I am meeting some of the sisters tomorrow night at 6:30. I will be going to my friend's house to spend the night tomorrow night.. she lives outside of town, so I will find her house between 4 and 6. I am going to take my laptop so maybe I can get a workout in the a.m. on Saturday. Maybe just do Ab ripper X. I will have to see... because I do want to visit with my friend (who is not part of the sorority festivities) too. I gotta say that after this workout, I felt so good. I was totally energized.

Day 47-P90X- Yoga

2009-10-20T22:39:00.002-05:00

Okay..okay..okay. so I am all out of order. I worked out last Thursday and then on Friday I only did the Ab Ripper X. I really almost vomit when I do it. Then I was very busy on Friday getting ready for my daughter, son-in-law and little granddaughter to come. It was my daughter's 10 year high school reunion. So all weekend I have been on baby sitting duty which left me little time to workout. You know it is just hard to squeeze it in with extra people in the house and finding not only the time, but finding a good time. So I missed Saturday and Sunday and then I missed Monday. Again.. my big problem... if I don't do it early in the morning, I have too many distractions and end up missing my workout. So.. I missed 4 days. That is 4 rest days. So what should I be doing since I rested for 4 days.. should I do the recovery week? I mean... 4 days rest was a recovery week. Should I skip days these last days of week 7 and week 8 and move on to phase 3. Well, I am gonna just pick up with Day 47 which for me was yoga, and day 48 will be Kenpo, and Day 49 will be rest, but not for me. I will go ahead on Thursday and do Day 50. Are you confused? What I did was just rotate some of my routines this past week and rested too much so I am about to be back on track. Remember when I said that P90 X would probably be P120X.. well I think it is going to take me longer than that. If I followed P90X like I was supposed to, I would really be looking good. But since I am not, I am just looking better. How is that for being positive? It does happen to be the truth though. I can tell that my hips and waist are smaller and I can see more muscle in my shoulders, arms, and chest. The legs are not showing it too much. I am going to really work harder with the diet, and I am going to start by trying to incorporate more fiber in my diet. I think that is a big problem of mine. I just don't get enough.

So you know I don't like Tony's yoga video.. it is just tooooooooo long. I am trying out other yoga videos that I have. Today I did a Kathy Smith one. I really liked it. Actually I did one for about 15 minutes before hers with a guy that does morning yoga on the beach. It was not much to it. I am going to scrap it for sure. I liked the Kathy Smith.. not too hard.. she went slow.. she held the moves.. not too long a video. I only did 30 minutes of it because I had wasted my time on the other one. There is 15 minutes more on the floor that I did not do. But since next week is my recovery week, I will be doing yoga more than once I think. I will still keep working at it to find out which one I like the best. I may even go back to Tony's and just fast forward through some of the poses. Okay, gotta get in bed if I plan to get up early in the morning and work out. Oh... let me post a Halloween photo for you.

Day 46-P90X- Legs and Back

2009-10-15T20:12:00.003-05:00

Okay, I skipped the yoga. I might do it tomorrow or this weekend. I am supposed to follow legs and back with kenpo, but I skipped the yoga. I am still tweaking this workout. Today I got up early, and as usual did not want to do my workout. Gosh.. will I ever absolutely love getting up and moving? I need to change my attitude. I am so blessed to have arms and legs that move and a back that is not all worn out yet. I have a TV and a DVD player and air-conditioning to work out in. I really am so thankful to God that I can get up and move. So like I said, I need to change my attitude. My workout went pretty smoothe. I did all the moves. I even did those tiptoe lunges that hurt so bad. I did those bend over bows that go into a squat for so long. I did all the wall lunges.. and yes, they did burn. I have a habit of looking continuously at the clock meter on the right side of the DVD screen dwindling down. I am even saying to myself, " well, it says 29 minutes, but that really means only about 24 minutes because of the cooldown." Anything to put in my mind that the time is shorter than what it seems. I can even memorize now what Tony is going to say sometimes. Like, "We tried to hire some professionals.... COULDN'T DO IT!!!!" Do any of you that do P90X anticipate some of Tony's little sayings? So my legs got a great workout. Somehow I need stronger bands or I am going to have to get the chinup bar. Right now I just increase the repetitions. I am doing 25 of althe back exercises. You know when Tony does the soup stirring and he asks everyone in the workout video what kind of soup they are having and he tells what he is having. Well, on the leg and back workout he says tomato basil. I was thinking to myself how good tomato basil soup would be. So that brings me to the rest of the day. I have a couple of friends who own a tearoom. Today they catered the breast cancer luncheon. There were almost 700 guests, and my friends get their friends as the extra help to serve tables. And when all the guests have been served and we are in the back waiting for them to finish so we can do the cleanup, we get to eat. And guess what we had.... tomato basil soup!! Delicious. I even got some to take home, and I had it for dinner tonight. We had some delicious chicken salad (not low fat) and a broccoli salad. And after that leg workout and standing on my feet for about 6 hours, I was pooped. Actually, my legs and feet hurt, and I had to take some Advil. And you know what I just realized. I think when I first started P90X, I was listing all my food intake. And yes, I was so much more accountable. So I am thinking I definitely need to go back to that. Okay, I have a busy weekend. It is dd's 10 year class reunion. And that means that I will be keeping my little almost 8 month old grandbaby. I have a funeral tomorrow. Life is busy and that makes it harder to squeeze that exercise in, but you gotta do. Or as Tony says, "Bring it!"

Day 45- P90X- Back and Biceps

2009-10-14T22:37:00.002-05:00

I did this workout on Tuesday. I got up early in the morning and did it before work. It was a hard workout, but one that I really enjoyed. My arms were still kinda sore on my triceps from a few days ago. But I really loved working the biceps. I do think that one some of the exercises I needed to go up on the weight. However, there were some that I pushed myself to exhaustion where I honestly could not lift another time- especially with my left arm. I think before too long I will get the chin-up bar. I am seeing that I really like P90X, but I kinda get disappointed in myself that I don't push harder. I will not get the results that the info-mercial guarantees because why??? because I don't do it properly- not the diet, not the program- too many rest days and not doing the ab workout in case you did not notice. But I know it does my body good regardless. And working out is about being consistent. Well, for me it seems like it is work out 3 or 4 days and then rest.. and then another 3 -4 days and rest. So I might be getting two rest days a week instead of one. I think that is still good. If I can keep that up the rest of my life, I will be happy. And here is the big announcement... I am half way done!!! Yes, Day 45 completed.

Day 44-P90X-Plyometrics

2009-10-14T22:27:00.002-05:00

What is it where sometimes things just get harder? I wanted to cry on parts where I am doing the plyometrics. Actually I did pretty well on it though. I just don't do some of the jumping. Mainly it is that jumping right after the ski pole moves.. you know left, center, right, center, left.... and then when you twirl 180 degrees. That makes me dizzy and nauteous. But I did most everything else-the jump squats, the run-stance squats, the airbourne heisman, the swing kicks, the squat reach jumps, the run stance squat pickups, the double Heisman, the circle run. Oh.. the jump tuck- I might have done just a few of these and then I just did leg lifts or something. I did the Mary Katherine lunges, the leapfrog squats, the twist combo. Forget the rock star hop- I for some reason have a hard time bringing my heels to my butt. It hurts my feet when I land. I did the gap jump, the squat jump.. and can I say Yea for the Military March.. I can kinda catch my breath when we are doing these low impact exercises. I did the run squat 180 degree jump switch, the lateral leapfrog (like I said before)and the monster truck tires. The hot foot hurt my foot so I did some other movement. And... I did the bonus round- the pitch and catch, the jump shot, and the football hero. Yessiree... I did get my heartrate up!!

Day 43-P90X- Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

2009-10-11T17:29:00.005-05:00

So I just finished doing this workout. And I have to say that I was near tears while I was doing this. Seriously.. there were times when I said out loud, "ohhh....ooooo... oh gosh... ohhhhh." I also was thinking that I could not do this, but I never actually said it out loud. As I sit here typing this right now, my arms and chest are quivering and shaking and twitching. And so how did I do? Not good. I was just complaining to dh that I could not do a one-handed pushup and he said, " why would you want to do one of those anyway?" Now that is not a young woman on that video doing all of these, but dang... she did them well!! I want to do them at least as good as her. I had to do most of the pushups from my knees. I will say that I wanted to quit, but I pushed through and attempted every single one, except for the clapping. I knew I could not do that and would fall right on my face. I did try to do the one hand pushup. I would just put more weight on one arm and then switch and put more weight on the other arm. And then on all the exercises I could not do, I just did regular pushups from the knees. I used either 5 lb or 8 lb weights. I mainly did the shoulders with the 5 lb weights, sometimes 8 lbs, and all of the triceps with the 8 lbs. I pushed myself where I absolutely positively could not get another repetition done. So I have started week 3 of phase 2, and I am almost half way through P90X. And my weight... I don't get it... I have gained!! Yes, not stayed the same, but gained!!! argh!!! However, I can tell by my clothes that my waistline is actually smaller. I still have this big huge innertube around my middle. Someone tell me the best way to get rid of this belly fat!!!!!! Okay Coach Jen.. I need help!!!!!!!!

Day 42-P90X- Rest

2009-10-11T17:29:00.002-05:00

Well, I skipped the rest day since I have too many rest days as it is.

Day 41-P90X- Yoga

2009-10-11T17:23:00.002-05:00

Okay, I did yoga yesterday, but it was not P90X yoga. It was a Denise Austin video. It was 40 minutes of yoga and Pilates. This was my first time to do this. I feel she went kinda fast and did not hold the poses for very long. No sooner did I get this big body into a pose and she was switching to something else. That is one thing I like about the P90X yoga... you get longer to assume the pose before you move into something else. She just went way too fast for me. Somehow I am going to modify the P90X- maybe have the remote in my hand and not do as many of the same poses as they do. So that was my Yoga for the week.

Totally Mixed Up- Day 40-P90X-Kenpo

2009-10-08T17:52:00.002-05:00

Okay, I have gotten totally mixed up with my P90X. Somehow, I missed the yoga and just got off. I remember posting that I started the second month wrong.. I did not know I had done two weeks of it wrong. So here is the deal.. I figure if I do Day 41 with Yoga and just call Day 42-Rest, only not do really rest, and then start Day 43 with Chest, Biceps, and Triceps, then I will be back on track. But I did get up early this morning and do the Kenpo. Only I am still kinda cheating when it comes to the break. I am not doing the jumping rope, and jumping jacks, etc. I am just hitting FF and going back to the blocking or kicking. Like I have said, the DVD is just too long. I am still doing the rest of it. I even do the cool down. I do enjoy doing the Kenpo; I just wish I could get through it faster. So today I was done by 8:10 a.m. I love it when I get finished early in the morning. I really wanted to surprise everyone, as well as myself, and do the yoga tonight, and try to catch up.

Day 39-P90X- Back and Legs

2009-10-06T20:30:00.002-05:00

I am still trying to finish up that week that I messed up on when I started the second month with the wrong exercise. So today I finally did a workout after 4 days rest. What am I thinking? I am surely not seeing the results that P90X will give because I am not following the program. But like I keep saying... I am logging my days, but after I finally completed the 90th day, it will not be the end for me. I plan to jump right back in and continue. I wish I had the time, the motivation, the energy, etc. to do P90X in 90 days. I started this about 66 days ago. This morning when I woke up, I kept hitting the snooze button. So when I got home from work after getting dinner ready for dh, I went and pushed play and began. I was really bringing it. Yes, I would have to hit pause every now and then, but I did all the exercises. Oh, but I did cheat on the warmup. I fast-forwarded the warm-up.. still doing it, but just not as many things as what they did. So, I did all the lunges, the squats, the calf raises, Groucho walks, skating lunges, tiptoe lunges, side, 45 degree angle, and front lunges and kicks... you name it, I did it. And I did it well!!! I hope I am not so sore I can't walk tomorrow like I was a week ago when I did it. So, I am not even sure what I am supposed to be doing tomorrow. But I hope to get in there early in the morning. What a feeling of accomplishment a person has when they complete a hard workout. I guess it is those endorphins you hear so much about.

On Friday, October 2-P90X

2009-10-06T20:24:00.002-05:00

On Friday, I got busy with so many things. I ended up only doing the Ab Ripper X. I was going out of town, and had lots of things to do. I should have done my back and leg routine. That Ab ripper X is so tough!!! I have to keep hitting pause...pause...pause.

Day 38-P90X-Shoulders and Arms

2009-10-02T07:27:00.002-05:00

Yea!!! Yesterday I got with it pretty early in the morning and did my shoulders and arms routine. And.. I discovered being in the second month that I really started things off wrong with the chest and back. I was supposed to do a different DVD. Oh well, since I started this week this way, I will continue it. I have still not been writing it down. But I am almost positive that I used more weight on my routine. Before I think the heaviest I did was 10 lbs., and yesterday I used 12 lbs. on some of the exercises. I did have to drop it down on the second round. I even had to use 5 lbs. on one of the exercises. I don't have a 6 or a 7. I go from 5lbs to 8lbs to 10lbs to 12lbs to 15lbs. And that is the highest I have. So, if I get so strong I need higher, then I will have to buy an 18. I was able to complete every exercise. Now, I could only do about 15 of the chair dips, and I had to rest after about 10. I think it was this routine where he gave us permission to quit or go on... or am I thinking of the wrong day. Well, I did not quit. I made it all the way through. But, I am still not doing the Ab Ripper X. And I need this sooooo bad. I need to make myself do this. Today my shoulders and triceps are a little sore, but not my biceps. I need to get in there right now and do my workout, but I am just not wanting to do it right now. I do continue to like P90X. I like Tony, I like the others in the class, I like the routine, I like doing a workout at home, I like that I can pause it to get a drink, or just take a break- you can't do that in a class- no one is going to wait on you. But what I don't like is it is too long. I wish the total workout was about 40-45 minutes instead of an hour. Well, almost an hour. But I am going to keep at it because I am almost half way there!!!