Wednesday, October 28, 2009

You Capture/Autumn

I have had one of the busiest weeks ever. The only time I had to take outside pictures was to take my camera to work yesterday and shoot there. Lucky for me, there was still a little fall color left. It makes me sad that the colors go away so quickly. As beautiful as fall is, I think it should stay around longer than it does. My captures are nothing spectacular, but they are pretty. I'm sure everyone elses are too. Go check them out at Beth's.









Shrink-A-Versary

It's the one year anniversary of the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans!
In true sister fashion, there is a fantastic new challenge to go with it.
Starting today, we are going to begin the shrinking part. This is where I am supposed to tell you my starting weight. I'm just not comfortable throwing that number out there. Maybe one day when I get down to where I want to be, I'll tell you all where I started.
November 9th starts the fitness challenge. I swear that this challenge was made for me. We are lacing up our walking/running shoes and hitting the pavement. I think a lot of my miles will be logged on the treadmill. It's getting to be the time of year here when I leave for work just after it gets light and I get home shortly before it gets dark. I don't like walking by myself in the dark. I'm a big baby. Any outside walking will have to be done on the weekend. Whatever. It doesn't matter where you log the miles, just as long as you do them. I will be logging lots of miles. I really love to walk. It's my thing!
November 1st starts the really fun part of the Shrink-A-Versary. Every day in November is giveaway day at the Sisterhood. Thirty days of prizes! Who could ask for more?
My goal is to lose 15 pounds during this challenge. Lofty goal, but I think I'm ready.
I am ready. Let's get this party started!!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

One Year Ago

One year ago on October 28, 2008 our beautiful second little granddaughter was born. I was so taken with our number one granddaughter, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have two. My imagination never could have conceived the wonderfulness of it all. This little angel was just as perfect as her big sister in every way. One year later, she is the sweetest little thing you'd ever want to meet. She is Miss Personality. She is getting the funniest little sense of humor. She is this close to walking. She'll take up to maybe seven steps and sit down. If you sit her down in the middle of the room, she'll stand up without holding on to anything. I find that amazing. I have four daughters and none of them ever did that. Her big sister did the same thing. What can I say, I have amazing grandkids.
This angel melts her gramma's heart on a daily basis and I couldn't imagine my life without her. She was the perfect addition to our family. I can't wait to go give her presents and hug and kiss on her.
Happy 1st Birthday Sweetie! Gramma loves you more than you will ever know.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Parade of Cans

This is just over 40 pounds of food that I will be donating to the Westchester Food Pantry this morning. I feel really good about this. I like the idea of giving back. I was thinking that this is something I could do all the time. Why not buy an extra something every time I go to the store and at the end of the month, take a box full of food up to the food pantry? I think that sounds like a great idea. Thank you to my girls at the Sisterhood for another great challenge.
As far as this being a weigh in day, I've stayed the same since Saturday. I can live with that.

Monday, October 19, 2009

True Confessions Monday

Monday is the day we are supposed to confess our sins over at the Sisterhood. Unfortunately, I have many this week.

1. My 5k training isn't going as well as I had hoped. I rolled my ankle badly last summer. I doctored myself. Bad move. It still gives me trouble. They say a bad sprain is worse than a break. I believe that now. My husband keeps saying that it's never too late to go and get it checked. I may have to break down and go. It swells and hurts if I overwork it and running seems to be overworking it. I could end up walking more of this 5k than running.

2. I keep forgetting to take my vitamins. As I typed that, I remembered that I didn't take them today either.

3. My water intake hasn't been great.

4. In the last four days, I had two wakes, a wedding and a funeral. Wearing heels doesn't help with the ankle pain.

5. My eating hasn't been awful, but it hasn't been great either. Oddly enough, I think I consumed most of my water this week at the wedding and the funeral luncheon.

6. One good thing, the wedding cake wasn't very good and after one bite, I could easily pass it up.

7. I haven't been real good about doing any exercise this week. It's been a really busy week, but that is no excuse.

So, I need to kick it in gear. I need to get back in the exercise routine. I think I need to get back to Jillian kicking my butt with the Shred. I did well with that before. I need to start drinking more water.

I think what I really need is for Christy to kick my butt! She's really good at motivating me. HELP CHRISTY!!!!

p.s. One good thing I did find this week was Healthy Balance juice. They have great flavors. My favorite is Pomegranate Blueberry Acai and it's only 26 calories for an eight ounce glass.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

I "Shrunk" for Good

Yesterday was the finale for the Sisterhood challenge, Shrink for Good. It was seven weeks long and I lost 3.5 pounds. That's exactly one half pound per week. As always, I was hoping for more, but any loss is a good loss.

Now comes the fun part, the good part of the challenge. Let's see if I can remember this correctly. We are giving back to our community food banks according to our losses. There are 16 ounces to a pound and I lost 3.5 pounds, so I would be donating 56 ounces of food to my local food bank. I plan to donate more than that. Come back on Wednesday and see the things I will be donating. The Sisterhood is going to do a "Parade of Cans" at their website to show off what everyone is donating. I think that will be awesome to see.

The older I get, the more I realize how lucky I am and how important it is to give back to others. Be it with through the food bank, church, surprising people with little gifts or just a smile to that person on the street that might need it. My life is good and Shrink for Good was a great challenge. Thanks Sisters for another job well done!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Could It Really Be Five Years?

So, six weeks or so after they started dating, our soon to be first son-in-law came and asked my husband and I if he could marry our daughter. This was the first time we had this experience. We were a little taken aback. Could he possibly know in that short a time that he loved our daughter enough to want to spend the rest of his life with her? The good news was that they wouldn't be getting married for about 15 months or so. We said yes. Good decision! They married on October 9, 2004. They are a perfect couple. They have their ups and downs like any married couple, but they really love each other. You can just see it when they are together. They work as a team. They compliment each other in so many ways. Just perfect! On May 21, 2006, they blessed us with our first granddaughter. On October 28, 2008, we were once again blessed with another granddaughter. On approximately April 24, 2010, they will bless us once again with grandchild number three. They are such a sweet and loving family and they make the most beautiful babies ever. I couldn't be happier that we had the presence of mind to say yes to his request. Happy Anniversary guys. I love you both with all my heart. You make me very proud.




Wednesday, October 7, 2009

You Capture/Red


I planted a garden this year. These are the fruits of my labor.


In true Cub fan fashion, there is always next year!



Just the beginnings of a hint of red on my burning bush.


The last blooms of my geranium.


A beautiful and unusual flower I bought at the European Market



If you go to Beth's blog, I'm sure you'll be seeing red.




Sunday, October 4, 2009

Bald?

We had the family over last night to celebrate my father-in-law's 80th birthday. As if I wasn't the camera nazi before, I certainly am now with my new camera. Here are three of my favorites from last night. Never having the vantage point she had last night, my granddaughter realized that great grandpa was bald and she loved it. We all had a good laugh. It was a nice family night.