Three Positives

When it comes to losing weight, every little thing is monumental and has the potential of bringing tears to my eyes depending on the time of month.

Anyhow, there are three such "little things" that have happened this week that I thought I'd share.

1) The ticker has tumbled three more pounds. I keep hoping for another one of those 7 or 8 pound weeks but like I said the little things are monumental. As long as I keep losing, all loss is GOOD!!!

2) I have to leave the house in 40 minutes to take the pup for his "spa day." In the meantime I had looked at the clock and realized I could color my hair quick before I go. I have a lot to do today so I need to make use of every moment. Anyhow, the monumental event that has occurred is that while I'm waiting to rinse, I am sitting here wrapped in a towel. Big deal? Oh, yeah. I haven't had a towel - ANY towel - fit around me in ages. No more old, disgusting 5X hair coloring shirt for me. I think I'll throw it out.

And finally...

3) For a while now... probably about six weeks, I've been attempting this feat. Last night it finally happened. I was able to slide my original wedding band on and wear it comfortably. I had refused to wear it until I could put it on and take it off easily which happened last night. Adam was thrilled. I hadn't worn a wedding band in YEARS.

And this isn't monumental but something that excites the heck out of me. Years ago, I'd had a cappuccino maker. It long ago died. I think we threw it out. If we didn't, it is stored on some dirty shelf in the basement or something. Anyhow, I love Starbuck's Caramel Macchiato but I'm sure that it's got more sugar in it than I'm allowed and I had no idea if there was a caffeine free version. Both things - sugar and caffeine are big no-no's for me. I got on line and did some research. Last night I found a Mr. Coffee Cappuccino maker on clearance for a mere 20 bucks. I already had the sugar free caramel syrup. I picked up the coffee I needed. Grabbed a bottle of sugar free vanilla syrup and a jar of Smucker's sugar free caramel sundae topping and guess what I am sitting here happily sipping on at the moment?

Dang... life is not just good, it's EXCELLENT!!!! And I wish you all the same satisfaction that's in my world right now!!!

Ha! This is cool!!

Here's the latest going around blogland. Pretty nifty, if you ask me.

Offspring #One

Just recently my twin has posted about each of her children. Considering I've met LJ and Mollie in person, I especially enjoy reading what they are up to.

Then again, I've never met Theresa's Michael but I love reading what he's been up to also.

That has me thinking.

I have three children and I've never taken the time to brag about them much here in my blog.

They are all girls.

My oldest turned twenty five a few months ago. She's tall. Blond. Blue eyed. And very talented. Actually she's quite amazing.

Twenty years ago when she was in kindergarten we went to conferences to have our high hopes for her crushed by a teacher who supposedly was - and still is - considered to be an expert in education. She told us our daughter was slow. She told us she needed speech therapy. Math help. Perception help. If there was a special needs program, our daughter was placed in it.

I'll never forget the teacher's words: "She will always be below average and have to work hard just to get mediocre grades. Don't look for A's."

When we got home that night we discussed that she was to never know what that teacher had said, that we would work with her and encourage her to just do her best without us getting upset over all the C's and D's she brought home throughout elementary school.

It was bizarre.

We weren't expecting it.

In sixth grade she suddenly began bringing home B's and a rare A.

By the end of middle school she was ranked 23rd in her class of 200.

In high school she joined the yearbook staff and worked as one of its co-editors her junior and senior year. When she went off to college 800 miles from home, we knew by then she'd become a success at whatever she chose.

Again, she chose the yearbook only this time the stakes were much higher and she edited a book that was issued a very prestigious award from a very prestigious university in New York not just once, but TWICE. She also took in a few other personal awards for her photography and writing.

Proud?

You betcha.

And when she reached the end of her college years, guess who offered her a very good job? The university who she won the awards for. They know a good thing when it's in their hands. They held on to her.

She recently had a job offer which would have required her moving even further away from us but in the end she turned it down.

Why?

Because her university doubled her annual raise in order to keep her.

And guess who's coming home tonight?

The university is sending her to our area on business so we get her from late tonight until sometime Sunday afternoon with the exception of tomorrow evening when she has to take care of work.

I'm excited that she's coming because this will be the first year ever that she can't come for Thanksgiving. She's in a wedding that weekend. She'll be here for Christmas so I was okay with the whole Thanksgiving thing but this is a nice bonus.

Stay tuned. I'll be bragging up the other two offspring one day soon.

The Bad, The Good

How's everyone?

It seems like I just don't have anything to add to this wonderful community these days so I've not said much.

Life is going well. I'm back into the full swing of work. We're slowly regaining our sex life. The pup is adorable. The nest is empty. The weight is coming off but not without a price.

Most food doesn't set well when I do eat so I don't eat often. I miss being able to sit down and eat a piece of pizza or some other wonderful thing. I miss being in the mood for sex. Spanking. Blogging. It's just not there.

BUT.....

As pathetic as that may sound, there is so much more that is GOOD.

My back doesn't hurt.

My feet don't hurt.

Climbing steps doesn't take my breath away.

Adam does take my breath away when he brings out the Hitachi.

Adam bought an extension chord for the Hitachi because since we got new bedroom furniture it just didn't quite reach.

And you know what's best of all? Soon... very soon I get to see my second best friend in the world. Adam, of course, is my best friend. Any guesses as to who takes second place on my list?

PK? Is it okay that I told them?

Another fun and good thing in my life is the response I get when people see me who haven't been around in a while or when I tell someone about my surgery and show them a picture taken just 3 months ago. It's definitely fun to hear the responses.

The days are so much shorter in my neck of the woods and it won't be long before the snow is flying. I don't even want to think about it so why did I mention it?

Rambling. I'm just rambling.

Thanks for reading.....

I am Still...

...Losing weight but not much this week....I'm down 1.5 pounds.... I'll take it.... not a problem at all!!!

...in touch with that groove thing...

...in love with Adam...

...crazy about our pup...

...getting spanked occasionally...

...glad to hear from all of you...

Ticker Tumble, Groove Thing, and a Day Trip

Ticker Tumble: I'm down six more pounds!!! Yeah!!!

Groove Thing: We found ours finally.

Day Trip: Heading out to the beach today.

I'm adding a picture or two of the beach that Theresa thinks we don't have........

Another Meme

The idea is to copy and paste to your own blog and bold the things you have done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36.Danced like a fool and didn't care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life