time...

Yesterday I did not get any of my goals done. I have been having pains and a bit of bleeding since Thursday...though it was HORRIBLE on Sunday. So, yesterday was spent being absolutely worthless and lazy. So, I watched the entire 4th season of The Tudors.

Isn't it funny, that King Henry VIII, while looking back on his life, would say "Time is the most irrecuperable, it can never be redeemed". (sorry if my quote is a bit off, I could not find it in writing). After spending the entire day watching 10 episodes...man!! did I agree!

I enjoyed the series, yes, I'm a bit of a prude and don't need that much s*x on my screen...but the portrayal of human nature was fascinating. I truly believe in the adage "Power corrupts, Absolute power corrupts absolutely".

I cheered when Surrey and Culpepper were executed (though I know a lot of the details are conjecture) and irl Surrey and Culpepper could have been innocent of being the obnoxious humanoids they were portrayed to be.

As a Protestant, well, you know which side I was on for the religious battle. So, I cheered when that ugly Cardinal was shunned and asked to leave court. teehee.

I have a special affinity for Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth. One of the first real books I ever read, was Anne of a Thousand Days. Also, she was executed on May 19...my birthday. So, the ending blurbs about how Elizabeth was such a great queen made me cry..Always. Like at the end of The Other Boleyn Girl.

So, the series inspired me to do something I haven't done in YEARS! Are you ready? I used my Encyclopedia. The 1976 Bicentennial edition of Encyclopedia Brittanica that my dad bought. I remembered to use the blue bound editions to look up the subject (Mary 1 of England)...then the red bound for details..book 3 page 222 for biography (wanted to see if she ever got married) AND book 15 page 556 to see why she is called Bloody Mary. So used to 'googling', but it was kinda cool to do it the old fashioned way. ha!!

p.s.
too funny. For my devotions I am reading "The One Year Christian History" by E. Micheal and Sharon Rusten. The 6-28 entry, about how God used Henry VIII's selfish reasons to bring us the reformation....ha! Here is their blurb "King Henry VIII may have had selfish reasons for forming the Anglican Church, but God usd him for his purposes anyway. The wonder of God's sovereignty is that we don't have to understand why he does what he does. It is enough to know that it is all part of his greater plan for our good and his glory"

weight loss progress in pics

Yesterday, I spent some time on the Jenny Craig website and there was a thread with before/after pics...so, I thought I'd go ahead and post some.

Warning...these (esp the before) may not be for the faint of heart...ha!!!

Oct 2009, While on my European Cruise, @ 215 lbs






November 2009 is when I made the decision to commit to a lifestyle change and started using Sparkpeople.

July 2010..@ 180 lbs...no longer wearing clothes with an "X" in the size and you can start to see cheekbones. AND according to the BMI index, no longer obese.



then I hit a 9 month plateau, I stopped the disciplines as far as food, but kept up the exercise. I was able to maintain @180 ...with a slight gain around the holidays.
So, I went to dh and told him "I've proven I can maintain, can I join Jenny and lose the rest".. He said yes.

so, March 2011, the day I started Jenny...184 lbs



This morning at @166 lbs, I'm wearing the same outfit as the 180 pic, so we can see progress.






My goal is 150, hoping to hit it end of Oct this year. Though the hysterectomy has put it all on another screeching halt. BUT in the 6 weeks since I have been able to maintain. Hoping once I'm cleared to exercise, I'll be back on the weight loss track.

AND I'm open to an ultimate goal of 140...but let's get to 150 first!

a really good book and a quick mini album

After finishing Prisoners of Hope, I picked up The Beach Trees by Karen White (my first book by her) and it was excellent. You are immediately drawn in. I spent all of Friday reading it as I could not put it down. No such luck with the next book, The Matchmaker of Perigord...after 5 chapters had to put it down. Just not worth my time.
I am starting Tarzan of the Apes today. A kinda funny choice, but while on Goodreads it was on one of my 'feeds'...and I just thought, why not??

Yesterday was a big scrapping day for me. I was supposed to go to a crop, but the other ladies started dropping out...so, I did the project I was taking at home. Its a paper bag book for my coworker. As we were leaving for Texas last May, she let dgd take a singing duck toy with her. So, I made a minibook of pictures taken of Adriana with the duck.













this morning, I'll look at it with 'fresh eyes' and add journaling and more embellies.

Then we went to have dinner with the kids. Ds 'owed' me a dinner...it was terrific. I requested Coq au Vin...but he bbq'd a tri tip, with garlic mashed potatos and a salad. No complaints here!

last night, I hurt myself. I was wearing a knee brace, and as I was going to bed, I still had it on. So I did some kind of twisty/turny maneuver to try to take it off and really hurt my ab area. The pain was sharp and shooting and really took my breath away. GOTTA remember no fast moves, everything must be slow and deliberate.

I just finished 5 weeks after the surgery, only one more week till I start work...but...that does not mean my body is done healing.

finished a scrapbook

dgd's 1st half of 2010...here's a couple of the layouts from yesterday.

found this Little Yellow Bicycle pack and actually fell in love with that orange polka dot paper. Was inspired by a lo in June's Scrapbook Ets, Leah's musical memories that had a sun in the upper right corner...and it grew from there. I used Slice's Big Kids font for the title. and hand drew the stitches...ha!!




this is a very simple lo...I find I simply cannot cut up Prima papers...so just matted the photos, used the CUTE the way it was packaged and that star matt behind the small photo? its the packaging the CUTE came in.

Ya'll have pp like that? Just cannot cut into it. for me it is Prima and Websters Pages...I collect a lot of Websters, but so far, have not used them. Just too pretty to cut up!!

So yay, one book down. I've pulled out dh's 'adventure' book. Only have 5 lo's and it will be done. My only bummer, is years ago, he, my son and a friend went on a 'cruise' (don't think cruise ship, think they had to crew) around the islands in Washington (San Juans, cannot think of the name) and I don't have any pics of that. I do have pics from our trip to Washington, but its not the 'adventure' the album is about. He's been on a snowmobile trip up north into Canada, skydiving, a rafting trip down the Colorado...he's had some adventures.

3 more books toward my goal

Over the weekend I finished, Angry Conversations with God by Susan E Isaacs. A very good read. No matter what our circumstances, I think we all have the same questions of God.

And The Last Wife of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson. Found this at a used bookstore, but I really enjoyed this author and plan to read her Marie Antoinette book next. I really liked how she humanized these historical figures and brought them to life. I was very sad to have this book end.

And The Postcard Killers by James Patterson and Liza Marklund. very fast read and unexpected resolution.

Today, I'm starting Prisoners of Hope by Dana Curry and Heather Mercer.

Last 2 weeks of my vacation from work, and 6 more books to hit my goal! I think I can do it. Though, I kinda feel like I should not be counting the Patterson books, as they are such quick reads for me. So, I won't count any Pattersons for the last 6 books. Only new authors.

Yesterday was a very mellow day around here ( I read 2 books). We kept the tv on the John Wayne marathon for dh. soooooo, I was quite bored. (okay, I did get a little into Hondo) I baked him a cake for father's day, put up with the Duke and got him a couple of nice shirts. Did not make him a card. I am intimidated by masculine cards.

4 more lo's and I'm done with Adriana's first book of 2010. It goes from Jan to July 4th. Don't know if I'll complete 2010 next. We'll see what project interests me when I finish. My trip to Florence is halfway done. hmmmmmmm

A li'l sad, only 2 more weeks and I'll be back to work. siiiiiiiiigh. BUT it is the end of week 4 and my dr said I could restart yoga and babysitting ...I have had some regular pinchy feeling under my belly button. Should I? I think I'll do a simple yoga routine on my wii balance board with the wii fit game. Keep it slow and controlled.

Adriana's home, the world is 'right' again...

What can I say, I missed her (and her mommy too). They arrived last night, and mommy needed to take care of the church bulletins, sooooo dh and I got to pick up Adriana and take her out for Chinese "noo-nos" aka noodles. We had a great time at the restaurant. We chose not to get her a high chair, she sat in the booth with us. Funny she started out next to me, and stayed there during the cream cheese wonton appetizers. (she loves to 'dip' her food). But once the food was served, she sat in my lap and wanted "grammy help". Soooo, it really worked out, she kept me from overeating, as I could only 'pick' around her.

While waiting, she told us 'like grammy' and threw her arm around my neck and pulled me in for a hug, then she looked across the table and said 'love pa-pa'..and made dh cry. (happy tears) He was soooo happy. It really made his night.

So cool how she is putting together li'l sentences.

We took her home @7:30, by then ds was home (he had to work 6am to 6pm)...and she ran across the yard to him. Guess she missed her daddy. Ddil and I switched cars, so I could have the carseat, so I got to 'hang out' with ds and Adriana while waiting for her. The church copy machine was being difficult, (yay for me) so I got to stay thru shower time and then we watched Kipper on Sprout. It was a great night for me.

on the home front, a pitbull male showed up on Thurs night. He's a good, friendly dog...but our dogs cannot do 3's. Our alpha male, Rocky, gets wiggy and aggressive. He's fine for a short period, but he even starts to attack our other dog, Kema. And we LOVE Kema and will do what is needed to protect him.

This pitbull has all the qualities we like, but we cannot give him a home. So, I put his pic on Facebook hoping against hope, dh called a pitbull rescue...we can hope, can't we? Then last night, he barked most of the night. He's young and there is a lot going on in the country. Dh was mad...but I told him, "if it was Rocky barking you'd say he was doing his job". I am so sad, and don't want to call the pound to pick him up...but if nothing else works...we'll have to.
Hope against hope with us, please. DD did some internet research for us, to see if anyone is looking for him on the local Craigs list and newspaper. nothing.

ATC's with kids and 2 more books!

Weds night the kids came over (their dads do a Bible Study with my dh) and we made ATC's for a swap on splitcoast stampers. So, I made 'kits', but it still was a bit of chaos. But it was okay. One of the girls did not show, so I need one more swapper to fulfill my sign up. One of the boys was here and he'll do cards, but I could not think of/ find cards with young guy stuff. any ideas??
They'll be back next week to finish.


I finished 2 books yesterday. The first was "Csardas" by Diane Pearson. It was really good. It took me 4 days, which throws me off my goal of 20 books in 6 weeks. It is a sweeping historical fiction ala Gone With the Wind...with interesting and flawed characters...and because you know the history, you know the tragedy to come.

Then I grabbed a James Patterson "Don't Blink" to finish the day. It is a fast read, pretty good but pretty cliche. Toward the end, you are telling yourself 'Ah come on, really??"...but hey, gets me closer to my goal.

Tonight, I'm cooking lasagna and banana split cake for my son. My ddil and dgd have been out of town. Ds has been working most of the week and has to work on Saturday also, so I thought mom's lasagna would be nice. He'll be bringing his dog, Gunny Sargeant aka the Gunz...100 lbs of stupid. Seriously, he's a Great Dane and even though he's a good natured dog...he sure is a big galoot. But he gets along with our dogs and can have to opportunity to run out here. He's the dog in my header pic.