musings

I love James Lee Burke. I especially love his Dave Robicheaux series. These are the kind of books I like to have on hand for a few months before I start to read them. Then, I read them very, very slowly, because I don’t want them to end. I always have a “NOLA” themed weekend where I have a dressed fried oyster po’boy or crawfish etoufee and listen to zydeco music.

There is a trench sew along on Pattern Review. I have some periwinkle supplex that might make a nice trench. I might get a pattern this weekend and try to sew-a-long. I like McCall's 5525 and Simplicity 4084. It seems as though several other sew-ists like the Simplicity pattern also. It's from the Threads magazine collection.

My diet has consisted of the same thing for the past three days. I’ve been looking for some easy recipes that are high in protein. I’ll need some variety for dinners. I don’t mind having the same things for breakfast and “snacks”. Oatmeal, cottage cheese, ham, and pineapple is my favorite breakfast. The protein bar isn’t the greatest, but it’s tolerable. It certainly isn’t as bad as some I’ve eaten. I’ll also get a few ingredients to use in my protein drinks also. Different flavorings and fruits, etc I did my upper body work out today. Tomorrow I’ll do aerobics again and on Friday I’ll do a full body work out. I read a few pages daily in my old Muscle Media or Energy for Women magazines to help with motivation.

The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the one who will win.

Roger Bannister
(1929-, British athlete, first person in the world to run a mile under 4 minutes)

sigh

I gave notice at work yesterday. I am SOOOOO looking forward to having time to my self. I'll be able to work on my 101 things. I hope to complete quite a few of them the first month or so. I'll be able to get my summer reading list finished also. I'll be off for 4-5 months. At least I hope I'll be off that long. I should be able to get a job as a paralegal.

I've lost almost 10 pounds since I joined Weight Watchers. I still don't feel like I'm dieting at all. I still get to eat burgers and fries at least once a week. (Of course I only eat a whopper jr and small fries) I'm not looking for a fast loss. Just a slow steady one. I use the flex plan and it works very well for me. I like several of the Lean Cuisine dinners. I'm also going to try and adapt some of my favorite recipes for WW.

The new computer came yesterday. I LOVE it! It has a 19 inch viewable monitor. It's huge compared to the 17 inch one I was using. The old Dell I was using will go into the living room/library to be used as a night light/photo viewer. I use family photos in Webshots as my screen saver. That way I can see my old photos more easily. I'm trying to scan and get them all on a computer.

I had hoped that my Dad would come down for Christmas, but he is having cataract surgery on both eyes before the first of the year. I'm going to miss being with him this year. My family doesn't get together very often. I miss the old times when we got together almost every year.

Weight Watchers

I joined Weight Watchers on November 18th. So far, it hasn't been too bad. I don't really feel like I'm on a diet. I was a member many years ago and it has really changed! There are two plans to choose from now. The Core Plan and the Flex plan. I'm going to do the Flex Plan until after the first of the year and then I'll alternate it with the Core Plan. (So, I took another step in completing my 101 things.)

A couple of people I work with said they would join this coming Saturday.

One of the nurses I worked with is, I guess, no longer working at my facility. It's a shame too. She is one of the nicest people I have worked with in quite a while. She was one of the MDS co-ordinators. They cut one of the positions and she volunteered to leave the position, allowing me to stay. She worked short of hours in various positions since the end of September. She didn't work this week at all. I really enjoyed working with her and I will miss her a lot. However, she is one of the people who said she is going to join Weight Watchers. I will try to keep in touch with her even if she doesn't join.

I LOVE this time of the year. It's a little sad too. I don't have my Mom or my son, they died in 1998 and 2001 respectively. I miss them a lot and am thinking about the holidays we spent together. I don't see the rest of my family very often. I only see my sister when I go to her house and usually it's because my Dad is visiting. She hasn't been to my home since she moved to Florida over 10 years ago. And my brother lives in Georgia, but he will come to Florida and visit with my sister and not call me even though we live less than 15 minutes from each other. My nephew (my sister's son) will text me every so often, but we haven't spent much time together in a long time. We used to be very close. He is only 3 years younger than I am. My sister is 16 years older and my brother is 11 years older.

I'm thinking that I will try to "build" a family from my friends. I have one friend that I haven't seen in a couple of years, even so, I consider her my "very best" friend. She got married a few years ago and surprised everyone. Then a couple of years ago she had surgery, I think it was a lap band, and has lost probably well over a hundred pounds by now. After the first of the year I will try to contact her and see if we can have lunch or something.

And speaking of 101 things, I'm accumulating quite a pattern library to use to make my new wardrobe. I've ordered a two pieces of fabric one for a skirt and one for a pair of trousers. I also got a really pretty black sweater that has lace on it, a black/gray striped shirt and a white shirt.

I love pretty clothes. It seems I got away from a lot of things I love, pretty clothes, makeup, hair, exercising, going out, and a lot of other things. Yes, those things make me seem shallow, but there's more than just those, that I've lost. Sometimes I don't even recognize the person in the mirror.