Monday, May 26, 2014

So Good

We just finished House of Cards season 2. Cannot wait for season 3!


Sunday, May 25, 2014

First Fruit


Our strawberry plants have yielded a berry!  We each took a nibble before the slugs/snails could. 

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Updating

Katie is complaining about how I never blog (hello Pot? This is Kettle...) so I'm going to give you all the "news" in my life.  Of which there's precious little.


Here's my most recent picture, which makes me look skinnier than before so that's a good thing:


Also, new hair color :-)

I've almost hit my halfway point in weight loss (35 lbs. hopefully this week) -- still have a ways to go, and my revise my goal weight so that I achieve it in this lifetime.  But I'm thrilled to bits to have stuck with the program and feeling pretty darn good.  I'm also thrilled to bits about the progress my fellow weight-losers have made!  Sometimes it's slow going, but it's great to see everyone shrinking!

Here's my little pal Colie:


This little gal is a ray of sunshine.  I take care of her 5 mornings a week and she always comes in with a big smile for her Auntie Laurie (well, really for Auntie Laurie's iPad)  Her current favorite show is Bubble Guppies, which we watch every day.  I'm looking forward to the Spongebob years.

I have about a zillion knitting projects going right now.  Too many really.  But what can I say, I can't resist the lure of a new project.

Here are two of my favorites:

The "Mimi" Cardigan, a 1940s sweater.  Obviously I couldn't resist this little number; it looks EXACTLY like something our Mimi would have worn in her sweater girl days!


"Crackerjack" Scarf:  this is a fun one.  You choose 4 colors based on your baseball team's home and road wins and losses, then knit a stripe after each game.  That wide teal stripe is the Mariner's abysmal losing streak earlier in the season.  I need more of the white stripes (road wins), the dark teal stripes (home wins) and the red stripes (series wins)

Garden:  I'm now planting seeds for the third time.  We jumped the gun and planted too early.  Planted a second set on Mother's Day and some are coming up.  But the green beans are refusing to germinate.  Can't understand this -- any preschooler can grow a green bean plant!  We have 6 different tomatoes, and our carrots, lettuce and beets are doing well.  Still waiting for potatoes to sprout.  And my nasturtiums are popping up -- they are so cute!

Knee Trubs:
My arthritic old lady knee is still giving me conniptions.  It's subsided into a dull ache, and going down stairs remains problematic (don't get behind me on stairs, you will be tempted to push me out of the way)  I'm hoping that more weight loss and the regimen of good eating/vitamins/supplements will help but it's taking a while. I had high hopes to be hiking this summer. but it's not looking good :-(

Monday, May 12, 2014

TQI Last Week

My tracking of points via the weight watchers app paid off, as I lost 3 lbs. last weeks. Finally got off the schneid. Katie achieved a milestone of 50 lbs. lost!  So proud of her!

A Lovely Mother's Day

My kids. They are my everything. 

Pia treated me to a beautiful hanging basket (always the perfect gift for moms) and a cute new coffee cup. Cara vacuumed the basement and folded a load of my laundry. Katie and Tony invited me to tag along on their golf outing. I didn't realize that I would be walking for four hours (and my knees are paying the Iron Price today), but it was a beautiful day and lots of fun to watch the duffers in action



Then they let me take an afternoon nap while they did more yard work, and cooked a delicious dinner. 

I couldn't have asked for a nicer day!


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Snuggle Bugs

Colie and Cara winding up a long day. This is a rare treat -- this gal is not a snuggler.


Tuesday, May 6, 2014

TQI Last Week

I've been at more or less the same weight for a month now.  Boo.  So I am counting points with the Weight Watchers app this week.  Hopefully that will get me off the schneid.  Though as Cara pointed out, we don't HAVE anything good or fattening to eat around here, so we should all be losing like crazy.

Katie and Tony are homing in on 50 lbs. lost, and Cara had a nice 2 lb. loss last week.  We are talking about rewarding ourselves when we get to goal weights with a trip to somewhere nice -- Hawaii hopefully.  We will all be able to go to the beach without being mistaken for belugas!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Happy Birthday Katie!

Pia:  Hey, isn't it Katie's birthday today?

Little Tony: Yep, May 4th is the big day.  

Cara: Katie, how old are you now?


Katie: none of your beeswax.

Happy birthday to my baby girl!

Bloomsday Hero!


Our Athlete turned in a respectable time for his first 12k in years.  And was able to text me during the race too.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Before and After

Mama always dresses her up so cute:


But by the time she gets to my house: