Holocaust Memorial Day 2025

Light a candle at 8 tonight to remember

Small Miracles

 It’s 5:30 am on a Sunday morning, and I’m over at Laura’s house, having spent the night. She’ll get to sleep in this morning.

I just read an essay by Anne Lamott, part of her series on aging. She suggested spending some time looking around and appreciating the small miracles around us.

There’s a cozy fire going, which is comforting on a cold early morning. I’m sitting in Tony’s recliner, which Cara noted last night is still imbued with his spirit. He spent a lot of time in this chair in the last few years and months of his life, resting, trying to heal. 

I’m looking at all the photos of my beloved family. I told Avery what a miracle the cell phone is—we have so many photos and videos of her daddy, which we can look at any time. We won’t forget how he looked and how he sounded.

Must Read

 

We Celebrate Halloween All Year Long

 

Elie Mistal 🎯

 https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-birthright-citizenship-executive-order/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%201.22.2025&utm_term=dailyI’m

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Back on the weight management train

The very last post I made (in 2015) noted that I had reached my goal weight of 150. Ah the good old days. Well, I’m back at it again and doing pretty well. I’ve lost 27 pounds and am trying to get out of the holidays plateau.

I have a ways to go but I feel better than I have in a long time!

Welcome back!

 It was suggested that this is a good time to start blogging again, and I agree. I’ve deleted my Meta accounts so am going to try using my old blog to communicate to the world

1.5.0.

That's the number on the scale. Okay it's actually 150.6, but I'm not looking at anything after the dot.

It's been a decade since I last saw this weight. While I have some more to lose, and lots of toning/strengthening to do, I'm beyond thrilled. 

And I wore my new size 10 Speedo suit in the pool today, and didn't look terrible. Of course, I didn't have my glasses on so that might have helped :-)

She's Back!

Colie was visiting her Papa and Nonna for two long weeks. She came home with a snotty nose (Nonna runs a daycare) and a potty chair. And clung to Daddy for dear life:

Poor baby. A hot vanilla bottsy helped. 

So So Busy!

The girls are yelling at me again for being a terrible blogger.

So I've been working LOTS at Paradise Fibers, basically full time, in addition to taking care of my pal Moochie and tending to Vintage Knits.  Three jobs are keeping me hopping!

PF is settling down now after a big brouhaha on various social media over the ownership lawsuit.  People were upset, venting freely, and it was a tough couple of weeks reading how much our customer service sucks, yada yada.  Of course, I know my C/S is outstanding :-)  and the comments in general weren't directed at me, but still.  The internet sure allows people to say things they wouldn't have the courage to say to your face, right?

Anyway, my bosses have been very appreciative of my hard work and efforts to take care of the customers, and things seem to be getting better (or I'm just refusing to read the negative stuff).  I do enjoy working at the yarn store, it's a lot of fun.  Even if it is retail (amirite, retail can be the worst!)

I taught my first class at the store last week, Intro to Knitting.  I had 7 lovely ladies who were very eager to learn and we managed to get everyone with stitches on their needles and garter stitch happening.  Being left handed is a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to teaching, but with the help of hand outs and a lot of one on one instruction, everyone did great.  I have a 3 week learn to knit class coming up, plus how to knit a hat on circular needles and an intro to Fair Isle knitting class.

Miss Colie is so cute! This little gal is 2 now, and so so smart.  She knows the alphabet and her numbers, without letting me put Sesame Street on in the morning.  Amazing!  She has many many words now, even getting a few 3 word sentences every now and then.  She loves her "bibi" (blanket and the forbidden pacifier), her "bobby" (hot bottsy served up by Gramma Wowe every morning), and her aunties Cawga, Gaggie and Wia.  Also loves her daddy so much, we have tears and leg grabbing when he leaves every morning.  But nothing a little Youtube and iPad can't cure.  If we can get her mama to stop dressing her in furs, life will be perfect.

Our weight loss program continues.  I'm down 55 pounds from a year ago, which is a thrill.  I haven't weighed in the 150s in a decade.  Not sure what my final goal weight will be, the girls seem to think I'm an old now and can't possibly maintain my old goal weight of 135 pounds, which is probably true.  But I have a bit more to lose and definitely need to work on the core strength, arms and upper body, and get my darn knees stronger.  Now that January is almost over, there's parking space at the gym again and I've started working out in the pool.  Laura gave me a bunch of knee exercises to do.  I promise I will actually start doing them :-)

The girls all look fantastic, so proud of my team!  We've all lost significant amounts, and the rest of the team is working out 3 days a week with a trainer.  I tried it, but my knee problems are making it hard for me to do the circuits, so I'm on my own for a while.  We have until August to lose more weight so we will all look stunning at the wedding.

Guess that is the update.  I'm a lucky gal, keeping busy, working hard, and loving life here on 35th Ave.  Plus welcoming our newest family member, Laura, is so great.  It makes me happy beyond belief to see my son so happy and maybe grand baby will be a reality before I get senile!

Save the Date!

Lovebirds selected August 15th as the wedding date, and chose the venue (winery can't remember the name)

Laura invited us gals to her wedding dress try on. We all prepped by marathon ing Say Yes to the Dress. It was fun, she of course looked lovely in everything she tried on. The one she picked was my favorite, under budget and she looked like an angel in it :-)

They want pies for the reception, so I will be contacting my excellent pie baking sisters for help. We are also putting together an afghan project like we did for Pete and Jenny, maybe this one?

Must Read

Still Alice. Zaide recommended this to me a while ago, I think. Heartbreaking but a valuable insight into the progression of dementia from the patient's POV. 

The Lovebirds' New Nest

Tony and Laura signed the papers, wrote the check, and got the keys to their adorable bungalow!  Lots of vintage woodwork and charming details. With a remodeled kitchen and basement. 

Congrats on your new home, and the beginning of your life together!

Separated at Birth?

50!

It's taken a whole year, and I'm not to my "goal weight" yet, but I finally reached the 50 pounds lost milestone.  Thank you to Zaide for introducing us to the "Abascal Way", and to my 4 companions on the weight loss journey --- Pia, Cara, Katie and Tony have stuck with me for a year of eating nothing that was part of our previous diet (RIP pizza, fast food, sugar, flour).

This time last year, I honestly didn't believe I'd ever be able to lose a significant amount of weight.  While my knees are still achy and limit my exercise options, I am thrilled with my progress.

Before:

That's me 3rd from the left.  Sorry I don't have a better "before" picture, obviously I wasn't too eager to get my photo taken.

After:

Oh, and the Rogaine is working!  My stylist couldn't believe how quickly my hair had grown in a month yay!

The B and Me

I have probably posted these photos before, but I came across them again today, and I love them so much I'm sharing them again:

I seem to have had a thing for plaid pants (that damn Sam Evans tore the ones in the top photo.  May he rot in hell 4EVER)  B-Z had a thing for "You Can Leave Your Hat On".

The End

Mama and Dad say that today is the last day for the "bibi". Maybe.

Exciting! Sssshhhh

At the jewelry store. Sisters have plenty of helpful advice and suggestions for brother. I'm just beyond happy to see this moment. 

Still Miss You, Dad