When the Weather Outside is Frightful ~

We're having an ice storm.  The path of the storm seems to be fairly wide, and we are smack in the middle of it.  It started raining early Sunday morning, then the rain turned to sleet and started freezing on the ground.  The scary part came next:  snow, which covered the ice and made it look "not too bad" outside, until you were actually trying to move around on it.  Of course, I never left the safety of the driveway, staying under the overhand while making numerous trips to the trash cans.  I used the foul weather as an excuse to tackle a couple projects:  I cleaned out my sweater dresser, making one pile for Goodwill and another to try on eBay.  Then I cleaned the fridge.  I try to stay on top of that one but we did have a couple bottles of expired condiments, plus several that had such a small drizzle of stuff on the bottom I decided they were not worth saving.  My sister in law kept me company while I sorted and tossed, and Walker dropped off my donations at Goodwill, then went to the grocery store to replenish our now-sparkling fridge.  We got everyone back home before the ice started coming down.

I can't say that cleaning projects are my favorite way to pass the weekend, but hey, they are necessary and what else are you gonna do when you're stuck inside?  I've got my fingers crossed that my sweaters sell on eBay.  I'm putting whatever cash I make into my shopping envelope, so Miss Diva and I can hit the mall when my yoga girl finishes her trip to the right. 

Profile Pix

I've been playing with the profile photo on my Facebook page.  For the longest time, all I had was a close up of my eyes.  I started with a regular snapshot, cropped out everything I didn't like, and ended up with eyeballs.  Lately, I've tried some new ones.

 

I love this picture of baby me.  I look so innocent.  My mom will tell you, I wasn't. But you wouldn't get that from looking at this photo.  So I posted it to my Facebook page for a couple weeks. 

Then later, I posted this one.  This was taken on vacation several years ago, in a tiki bar after a couple of margaritas.  I don't think it ever saw the light of day before, because I get really uncomfortable when someone takes my photo and I usually hide the prints in a drawer.  I found this one in a box on a shelf in a basement cupboard.  But I was in a "what the hell" mood, so up it went.  In reality, I was not as sunburned as I look in this photo. 

I'm not sure how long this photo will stay, or what it will be replaced with.  I have very few photos of myself. It has been fun, though, walking down memory lane on Facebook.  I found some old photos of friends and pasted those on my page, too.  We've all had some laughs, sharing memories.  In the end, I think, that's the whole point ~

Progress Report

So you may have noticed  my little yoga girl making her slow journey across the top of my blog.  I'm kind of surprised at my progress.  I haven't been "clean" in my eating, mostly because, three weeks into the year, we have had two birthday parties, a couple of major NFL game parties, and a very busy work schedule that resulted in a couple fast food runs.  At the conclusion of each event, I tell myself, this is the last one.  It's time to get serious.  But then something else comes up.  I'm trying to find a balance.  Like, if we go to a party where pizza is served, I have one slice and avoid things like sausage as much as possible.  But I refuse to be the one in the corner, noshing from a bag of celery sticks I brought in my purse and trying not to smell the pizza across the room.  I've met those people.  They generally do not seem to be enjoying themselves.  Plus, I figure, this is real life.  It does not end when you reach the goal weight.  At least, I hope it doesn't end.  So there has to be a way to find the balance.  So far, the approach is working.

BBBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Holy crow, it's COLD here!  We haven't had an arctic blast like this one in a couple years.  The high temps are single digits, and the wind chill is minus thirty. AND it's snowing.  So much for the theory of "too cold to snow".  Lucky for me, I am off work until tomorrow night.  I don't have to leave the house if I don't want to, and right now, I can't think of anything that would make me want to.

In the summer months, we have a variety of potted trees living on our patio. It's always a challenge to find a warm winter home for them.  The biggest tree is the biggest challenge.  Last year, we brought our fig tree into our bedroom, because we have the most space in that room.  That room also faces west, and therefore gets plenty of afternoon sun.  But the tree hated it.  By this time last year, it had lost most of the leaves.  I nursed the tree along until spring, and after several months on the patio it was full and healthy again.  So this year, we put it in the kitchen.  It's more crowded, but the light conditions are the most similar to those on the patio.  The strategy seems to be working; so far, the tree has lost only a few leaves.  But there is another problem:

Miss Diva has to climb in under the branches.  She actually kind of liked it back there, but I think it's time to scout out a new home for my fig tree ~

Deja Vu

I have to go back to the dentist today, so of course I'm parked in front of the computer.  I am nothing if not consistent.  Turns out I don't need a root canal.  The dentist was as surprised as I was, as the tooth in question has a deep filling.  They use digital xrays now, and they can expand them as big as the entire computer screen, so they don't miss a thing.  And there is no sign of infection in the root of that tooth.  The discomfort is just from nerve trauma.  I do, however, have a bitty little cavity.  I'm having that filled today.

Last night, half of my coworkers were either out sick with the flu or on vacation.  I had to work a couple hours of unexpected over time, and of course I had to get up early for today's dental appointment.  I have no idea if we will have any sick calls for tonight.  I have my fingers crossed, but I'm expecting more of the same tonight. Cross your fingers for me, that I can get through the shift and home again in one piece, and without picking up the flu bug ~

Monday's Random Bits ~

I've got a dentist appointment this afternoon, so of course I'm sitting here stalling instead of taking my shower and getting dressed.  This one is for a cleaning, no big deal, except I'm pretty sure I need a root canal and will not be able to live in denial after today.  I had a root canal, once, a long time ago.  I remember thinking afterward, that wasn't bad at all.  So why freak out now?  Wish I knew.  Guess that's just the way God made me.

My rental puppy went back home last week.  It is way too quiet in our house now.  I think Walker misses her, too, but he still would rather borrow a dog for the day than make one part of our family.  It's a compromise I can live with, for now. 

The wind is howling outside, taking away what was a really nice January thaw.  Well, most of us thought it was nice.  My unfortunate Bro was taking his trash out last week, in the dark of the very early morning.  He didn't know that his sidewalk had a patch of ice caused by snow that had melted the day before and froze overnight.  He didn't see it in the dark.  When he went down, he fell hard and broke three ribs. 

Well, I have more to tell y'all but it will have to wait.  I gotta go get ready for the torture chamber dentist. 

The Reason I Got Nothing Done This Weekend ~

She is way too cute to say no to ~

My name is Lily and I LOVE to play ball.  All.  Day. Long.

The Verdict

The dermatologist appointment went well - my brown spot is "just" a brown spot, nothing to be concerned about.  The whole appointment literally took exactly eight minutes.  Just so you know, it took me an hour to get ready and twenty minutes to drive to the clinic.  I decided it would be dumb to just go back home, so I took Walker out to lunch.  He went to the clinic with me in case they had to "do something" to the spot that required medication or something.  Turns out, even if they had removed the spot, they don't use sedation or pain medication other than a bit of Novocaine.  So Walker could have stayed in bed. 

It was too early for lunch at the bistro Walker loves best, so we went to the river and wandered around in the sun.  If I was a better blogger, I'd have had my pocket camera, well, in my pocket.  There was a water rescue dive team doing training around a hole in the ice, and it was fascinating.  I'm sorry I can't share photos of the event with y'all.  Never thought I'd need my camera at the dermatologist, which is why I will never make a living from my blog.

Going out to eat when you're working on weight loss is not a ton of fun.  Even if you get a server who is knowledgeable, and the restaurant is not slamming busy so they have time to answer your questions, it's hard to know just how things are prepared.  I'm still learning how to gauge portion size without measuring.  In the end, I stuck to soup and the salad bar, skipping the pasta and potato salad, with one fresh baked bread stick and a dab of tapioca for dessert.  When we got home I logged into Spark People to record the meal, and just had to wing it when it came to the portions.   I used home made raspberry dressing on the salad, but I have no idea if that was the best choice.  What I do know is, it was delicious.  Spark People does not award bonus points for delicious.  Still, I think I did okay.  Guess we'll find out on Monday when I hit the scale.

There's an Eight A.M., Too?

New year, new doctor's appointment.  Last month my oncologist took a look at a wonky brown spot on my scalp and decided I should have it checked by a dermatologist.  So they made an appointment for me, thus bypassing the six month waiting list.  Well, that part is nice, but the appointment is at 10am.  I don't usually go to bed until five or six, so you can see where this would be a problem. I called to see if I could change it but, no.  Apparently, when you bypass the waiting list, you take what they give you and act happy about it.  So I did.

Just wish I could stop yawning.

I had to set the alarm this morning, which means I had to remember how, and I guess I did it right, cause it scared the crap out of my puppy niece who is staying with us for a while.  She jumped up barking and got so agitated she fell off the bed.  She's not a morning person, either.

So here I am, procrastinating when I should be in the shower.  I figure, I probably shouldn't wear makeup to this party so that will save me at least five minutes.  I've been sitting here for twenty.   Yeah, I know.  Time to get going.

Happy New Year!!

Am I the only one feeling dazed and confused this holiday season?  Seems like I can't remember what day it is.  Last night I kept thinking it was Friday, probably because I had today off.  Now today, I'm thinking it's Sunday.  I have a doctor's appointment on Friday - kept thinking it was next week.  Et cetera.  I love the holidays but I'm ready for life to back to normal.

So Happy New Year, y'all!  I don't make resolutions, but I do have some goals.  The biggest one is, I am determined to deal with some things I have been avoiding.  For instance, I have an entire section of my storage room devoted to things that used to belong to my late father.  Things that, once they were settled on the shelves, nobody has looked at for eight years.  I know I need to go through the boxes and dispose of most of the stuff, but I avoid it because I don't want to deal with the emotions that will come along for the ride.  We have a three bedroom home.  There are lots of closets and dresser drawers hiding memories.  Time to clear things out.

If you've been here a while, you might remember that last January I added the little yoga girl to my blog header and embarked on a fitness plan.  I did pretty well with it, too, until I overdid the exercise and jacked up my knee.  It took months to heal, during which time I lost my momentum.  It probably looks like I forgot about my little yoga girl but the fact is, she hasn't moved because there was no reason to move her.  I've been pretty stagnant in my progress for the last couple of months.  So goal number two is to dust off my Spark People account and finish what I started.  I'm back to exercising - carefully! - three days a week.  I'll have that little yoga girl sliding the right way in no time. 

I'm sure there will be plenty more where those came from.  I'm pretty good at figuring out what I need to do.  It's the "getting done" that gives me fits.  One thing I know for sure:  I love the "fresh start" feeling of a brand new year.  I hope 2013 is filled with blessings for all of us ~