Ruby Tuesday - Sorcerer Mickey

Spotted at the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival - it's Mickey!

To see more Ruby Tuesday 2 posts, click here

Random Spark ~

I have completely lost track of my Spark posts.  What I know for sure is, I am down a total of 16.4 pounds.  Wahoo!  I also know that I have seriously slacked off in the few days since we got home from Florida.  I blame Walker.  He was supposed to go to the grocery store on Thursday, and he still has not gone.  Yesterday, he stopped at the gas station down the road and bought ice cream, Cheetos, a loaf of bread, and donuts. Guess what I ate today?  Mmm hmmm.  Like I said, I blame Walker. Just ignore the fact that I know where the grocery store is, too. 

Adjusting

I was going to write a real post about our vacation, but that's going to have to wait. I'm struggling to get myself back to my normal schedule of working at night and sleeping during the day. It isn't working very well. I'm sleeping in bits and frankly, I'm wiped out. Hopefully, I'll be back on track after the weekend. In the meantime, I thought I'd post a couple photos of our adventures but Blogger isn't cooperating. All I could get to upload was this shot of Walker on our first day. I'm going to take a nap now.....

Vacation Wrap Up

Days in Florida = 7
Miles walked = 42
Mouse head ice cream bars eaten = 4
Frozen Cokes consumed = 5
Theme parks visited = 5
Characters met = 21
Times I used the pool = 8
Times I used the gym = 0
TV sets in fancy vacation house = 7
Injuries requiring bandages = 3
SPF used = 45
Sunburns I got anyway = 3

Tink Says, Time to Fly!

And we're off to spread some pixie dust!

Today's Random Bits

My puppy niece, giving me her pouty face because I wouldn't share my breakfast.

The red oak I planted last summer, finally budding out.

I was surprised to see the way these leaf out in clumps. 

Another surprise - I didn't plant these funky tulips.  I thought maybe a squirrel planted it,  but there are two of them, and they aren't right next to each other.  Cross pollination?

Once again, Miss Diva's artwork was selected for the Children's Exhibit.  We went to the open house.

This is what happens when you read too many Disney guides ~

This Is Why I Get Nothing Done

I'm sitting at my desk this afternoon when something outside the window caught my eye.  This little guy was romping around the side of my neighbor's garage. I bet I watched him for an hour.  This is my official excuse for not finishing my projects today.  Dang chipmunk.

Weekly Spark

I skipped the Spark post last week, because of Easter.  It totally slipped my mind.  And I'll be skipping it next week, too, because I'll be out of town. So it would be really great if I had a nice, solid loss to report this week, right?  Well, I do have a loss!  A whopping 2/10 of a pound.  Wahoo!  I'm pretty sure the Texas Roadhouse dinner caused some water retention.  If I'm right, it will be gone tomorrow or the next day.  It's all good.  I figure, this isn't a race.  As long as I keep plugging away I'll get there.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

So hard for me to believe that this teeny baby

grew into an adorable toddler

then became a little boy who described himself as "bunctious!"

and loved to play and play

but mostly loved his family

is no longer a little boy. 

Happy 18th birthday, Ben!  

Now, this post should end with a photo of grown-up Ben, but, being a moody teenager, he has neglected to distribute his senior photos to his relatives.  Even Gramma has been left hanging.  And, since he's been MIA from the last several family events, I have no recent photos of my handsome young nephew. So I asked Diva to help me out.  She was happy to oblige. 

Date Night!

Working the dopey hours that I have had for the last several years, our social life has suffered.  Walker works nights, too, but he has the ability to sleep pretty much anytime he goes to bed.  My body doesn't work like that.  I get into a routine and that's it.  If I do go to bed early, I usually sleep for two or three hours before my body says, "Hey, thanks for the nap!" and I'm up for the duration.  Not that I get to bed early all that often.  So what happens on days off is, I'm sleeping all afternoon.  When I get up I don't like to jump out of bed and rush off to a restaurant or a movie.  Like most people I know, I like a leisurely Saturday morning.  Mine just comes much later in the day.
 
Well, that's just not going to fly anymore.  Walker and I need time for fun, and unless I kick us both in the behind, we aren't going to get it.  So this morning, I set my alarm for noon (yeah, I know how that sounds but I go to bed between six and seven) and started my day early.  When Walker and Diva heard where I wanted to go, they decided to get all the weekend house cleaning done, so I'd have no reason to change my mind.  Double score!!  I got my leisurely Saturday and when the troops decided they were hungry, I hustled us off to Texas Roadhouse.  Check out these happy people ~

So, yeah, I'm kind of tired right about now, but it's a good tired.  We all had a great time, the food was really good, and the best part was how excited the kid and the hubby were.  It was well worth it.

Today

Today I went to the medical college for my assessment with the nutrition services student.  It's been cold here lately, so when I dressed I chose jeans, a long sleeved top, and a sweater.  Pretty much as soon as we left the house I realized my mistake.  The weather was gorgeous, and I was regretting my sweater choice before the appointment even started.

The assessment went well.  The consensus was, I'm doing what I need to be doing for my health and my weight loss goals.  I could be eating more veggies, so I agreed to work on that.  They had this cool machine that looked like a scale but did a detailed body composition analysis.  I now know the weight of each individual limb, how much of my body is water, and the percentage of fat in my tissues.  The surprise there was that there's a noticeable difference in each leg.  I can see having a bit more muscle in your dominant hand, but apparently there is a dominate leg, too.  I never knew that 

On the way home we stopped at a discount store to pick up a birthday card for my nephew, Ben.  They had lots of Easter candy on clearance, including chocolate covered Peeps.  My mom loves chocolate covered Peeps.  We got two of them for her and stopped at her house to drop them off.   She was in the yard, dividing up day lilies.  Her lawn, frankly, looked raggedy.  When I had my cancer surgery I hired a yard man for her, since I wasn't going to be able to take care of her lawn for the rest of the season.  Last year, she decided to keep him on.  He's been stopping by every couple days to check on it but he told her yesterday the lawn didn't need to be cut yet.  Um, yeah, it does.  So I borrowed some "yard shoes" from my mom, ditched my sweater, and got the front yard cut.  Her back yard is huge, so I'll have to go back tomorrow to tackle that.  It's supposed to rain for four days starting tomorrow, but I'm crossing my fingers that I can get the work done before it gets wet.
 

Today, in my garden ~

Random Bits

I went to the doctor today.  Officially today was my 18 month checkup after cancer surgery.  I got a better than "all clear".  Both doctors commented that my tissues are healing better than what they usually see after radiation.  While I was there, I asked my doctor about my exercise habits and my leg pain.  She turned out to be a great person to ask because she, too, got an elliptical this winter so she knows exactly what I've been doing.  She told me to go back to using the elliptical, just for shorter times at less intensity.  She thinks I moved up too fast for my body to keep up.  And four days a week instead of six or seven.  If my knee swells again I have to go back right away, but for now, I'm cleared for takeoff.

On Sunday Bro made an Easter ham, and we held an egg hunt for the kids.  It was cold and we figured they were too old (10, 10, and 12) but they were really disappointed when we told them, so we hid a couple dozen plastic eggs with dollar bills and chocolates inside.  Funny how they're too grown for Santa but not for the Easter Bunny.  And honestly?  I'm glad.  They're too grown up for me as it is.  I'll hide eggs for them til they go to college if they want me to.  Walker brought home a chocolate bunny for me, but he's eaten most of it.

I had Walker seed in my veggie garden.  I was a little sorry to see it go but it was the right choice.  We don't get good results here, we don't have a backyard so the garden is on the side of the house, visible from the street, and by the end of the summer we have an overgrown mess that produces about five tomatoes, a couple peppers, and maybe a pot of green beans.  We get good results with potatoes but we don't eat a lot of potatoes, so it seemed silly to keep a garden just for that.  I told Walker I want to go to the farmer's markets, and I want him to come, too.  I think we'll enjoy those outings more than I enjoy the veggie garden at this point.  I still have flower beds when I have the urge to dig in the dirt.

I Love Spring !

There's nothing like sunshine and warm breezes to turn an ordinary Wednesday into a celebration.  Best of all?  When the weather turns nice, Walker fires up the grill.  I'm off kitchen duty for the duration.  Sweet!

Mmmmm, grilled cheeseburgers!

The crab apple tree is about to burst into bloom ~ I love how the air smells right now.

Grilling is serious business.  Walker doesn't want to pause for a photo op ~

Color, Color, Everywhere

Weekly Spark - Regrouping

I don't have a weigh in this week.  I forgot to hop on the scale when I got up on Sunday.  I don't anticipate much of a loss this week, but I'll be happy just to maintain what I've already achieved.

A week ago I was walking up my front steps and my knee decided it wasn't going to hold me up.  I grabbed the side of the house and didn't fall, but I was totally unprepared.  I've never had an issue with my knees before.  I figured I'd been overexercising, so I decided to stay off the elliptical trainer for a couple days and just walk the flat streets around my neighborhood. 

My knee got worse.

I gave up the fitness walking altogether.  I did a little online research, and decided if the swelling didn't go down by Wednesday I'd go to the doctor.  Tuesday I was in so much pain I figured there was no way to avoid that trip to the clinic.  When I got home from work in the wee hours of Wednesday morning I took two ibuprofen and went so sleep in Walker's recliner.  I slept like a rock and woke up pain free at 4o'clock that afternoon.  The swelling in my knee?  Completely gone.

I wasn't really sure where to go from there.  I don't want to re injure my knee, but I also do not want to lose the momentum I've built up over the last several weeks.  Walker suggested I order a knee brace, so I did, but I would probably benefit from some physical therapy.  In order to get my insurance to pay for physical therapy, I have to get a referral from a physician.  So it sounds like I have to wait to see if it swells again, and if it does, I have to hightail it into the clinic.

We got our new roof last week, too.  It's not easy being a night shift worker when there is a crew banging around on your roof for three days.  We both managed to sleep through some of the racket but we got pretty wiped out by the time it was done. I'm glad to have that project crossed off the list.

So this week, I'm going to restart my fitness walking, but on a more relaxed schedule than before.  I'm going to stay off the elliptical until I get in a couple of regular walks on the dodgy knee.  My sister, who has ties to a medical school, hooked me up with a student in a nutrition services program.  I get to help this young lady with her class project, and she's going to give me some nutrition counseling.  It's a win/win, bay-bee!  Hmmm, maybe this nutritionist-in-training has a buddy in the physical therapy program........