My New Ride

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.