WEEK FIVE

10.4 Pounds!

Yesterday was weigh in and the good news is I lost another 1.6 lbs. This brings me to a 10.4 loss. I cannot say it has been easy. I have really been worried every time I go to the weigh in because I have been soooooooo bad over the weekends. This last weekend as you know was a foodfest. I can not remember the last time I had a smoor so of course I had to one then have of another. What a pig. I am going to blame it on all of the wine that I drank that night. Okay, I will admit wine has a lot of calories also and that is why I should have stayed away from the sweet stuff. 

I went into be weighed on Wednesday evening. I usually go in the morning just because I get it out of the way and I am a firm believer that we all weigh lighter in the morning. But, yesterday I had a tournament at Davis Golf Course so I was unable to go in the morning. The meeting was packed. It was my understanding the meeting had gotten so big they had to split it. After going to the meeting at 5:30 I understand why it is so full of Weight Watcher. The women who hosts the meeting is really dynamic and fun. She remembers everyone's name and shows a real connect with the group. 

I set next to this women who has been with WW for a good 5 months and has lost only 18 pounds. We started talking and decided that we would look for each other at next weeks meeting and sit next to each other. It is nice to make a friend and to have someone to sit next to. Did not ask her name but will do so next week. I will keep you posted on what her name is and what the name of the women who is the leader of the meeting. 

I will have some more info next week about what makes her meetings so well attended.

Remember live your Life in Celebration.

WEEKEND IN HEBER

My husband and I went to the mountain town of Heber, about 45 minutes from Salt Lake and spent the weekend golfing and spending time with friends. 

This is Wasatch Mountain Golf Course. It was a beautiful day, blue blue skies, white puffy clouds and a soft breeze. Who could ask for more.

A fantastic shot and he is counting his money from the other men he is playing against. In the end no one really won. We just had a wonderful day of playing and visiting. The hot dogs at the turn were really good and they were quite hot as I burned my toung (this spelling looks really odd to me but my husband said it was correct). We also had to have a couple of samples of my pint of rum my husband brought back from his trip to Australia.  That also burned like fire as we all took a swig from the bottle with a sip of a diet coke as chaser.

Waiting for the BBQ dinner at our friends campsite located near the golf course. We had chicken, brats, ribs, salad and smores to finish it all off. 

Did I mentioned we had music playing some of our favorites. This is three of the men playing in the airband. There was a lot of this airband thing. We do have a short movie of the band with sound. I have been thinking YouTube maybe Facebook. What do you think? My husband is the one taking the picture. Smart man.

Did I fail to mention there was lots and lots of this. One of the best things about the night was the alcohol induced planning. We all decided we were going to Ireland. The men off to watch The Open (that is the Scottish Open for those of us not in the know) and the women staying in Ireland visiting a friend who bought a cottage there. Can you believe it a sudden trip to Ireland, a place that I have always wanted to visit. I know this would be a trip above all other trips that I have taken. The excitement has gotten to all of us. We divided up responsibilities to make this happen. We are all excited and ready to go. 

The Blue Boar Inn

We had the Robert Frost Room. It was very lovely.

We woke up to a bright and sunny day with some harsh realities. First of all, we drank way too much and I know I was really dragging. Second, did we really make plans to go to Ireland. What fun! 

Well, the light of day and the checking of calendars has left us here in the U.S. for the summer. No trips to Ireland for us. But, what fun planning. It was great just thinking about going and all of the things we wanted to see and do. 

It is not the trip, it is the excitement of the possibility of the trip. 

Dreams are what Life in Celebration is all about.

YARD WORK UPDATE

Evidence of work has been done.

Work still to do. Notice the grass around the trees.

After digging up the sod on the patio I thought, why dig it up then pile it up then move it again. So, my great idea was to just break it up then load it right to a utility trail. Problem, no utility trailer.

I have done a lot of digging up. Almost got it all done as you can tell by the dead grass.

The front was done first but as you maybe able to see we are a little low on the topsoil for the planter.

I have spent a great deal of time contemplating all the work that has still to be done. Then I realized I did not want to do it. I was being really out of touch with what I am capable of doing at my age. When I was 20 years younger this would not be all that much. But, now with me going on 57 years of spunk I think I got myself in over my head. Where are those guys from HGTV when you need them. I would think I qualify for them to come to my rescue. I would hope they would put in a new patio with pavers and more plants along the fence line to give us more privacy along with a nice little fire pit and a water feature. Well it must have been all of the contemplating of the work yet to be done that I thought that it would happen.

 

My dear and sweet loving husband gave me the go ahead to call in a landscaper to finish the work and to make it right before the next decade is over. That would be 2020 if you were wondering. The first of next week will bring them on. I have two companies coming on Monday to give bids with another one on Tuesday. I just hope I will not have to hock the casa to pay for it. My husband and I realized after the curbing was in the amount of work needed to do to get it to the point we wanted to be WAS MORE WORK THAN EITHER ONE OF US WANTED TO DO. I know it will look fantastic and all of the new plants will add a great deal to the look of our house but, WHAT WERE WE THINKING. All of my friends who are reading this if you ever, ever, ever... hear me talk about doing any type of changes to my yard "SLAP ME SILLY".   

Life in Celebration is when that first landscaper drives up to the house.

WEEK FOUR

Here we are at week four and for me the most any fad diet lasts and sometimes less. But, I have stuck with this one by making every effort to stay with it. I have gone to the weigh ins and counted my points and watch what I have eaten but, this last week has been really tough. It has been one BBQ after another and then eating on those golf courses doesn't help the plan at all. So, when I went in for the bitter truth I was all set to see a gain in the old numbers and a deeper groan from the my friend and enemy the scale. I really prepared myself for the truth and gave my self a pep talk about getting back on track and really working out hard this week to bring my numbers back down so I don't lose too much ground. The shoes are off, the purse is on the floor, the sunglasses on the counter along with the keys and now I am ready.  I say 'I didn't do really well this last week and I am probably up some'. She said, ' no you are down .8 pounds'! Yeppy Skippy!!!! Don't feel so bad now. 

This is truly a time for Life in Celebration. 

A WALK IN THE PARK

Liberty Park 

Liberty Park Pond

Young tennis player.

First place I ever saw a Bald Eagle.

I remember riding these horses even up to my late teens.

Young girl and her father flying.

The hungry geese.

Not too sure about what he is doing.

Coming of age.

Arbors with benches.

Remember, just carry a big stick.

Is Prince Valiant here?

She loved her new top.

Just a little shy.

Making a living.

This mall use to be a thru street. It was a great place to drive up and down checking out the people. The city has made many changes to the park and it has become a better park. I am seeing the love people have for it by the use and enjoyment of the park. It has many dimensions and offers many things to do for all walks of life. 

Yesterday I went to Liberty park to walk the mall is a great place to go when the weather is bad. But, when the weather is good I like to go and walk at two different parks here in the city. One of them is Sugarhouse Park the the other is Liberty Park and the one I walked on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and I shared the park with many others enjoying the day. I walked about 45 minutes and I felt I got a good workout. What I also got was a look into what a day at Liberty Park is like. Growing up in the Salt Lake area was like living in a very white and sterile community. There was not a lot of diversity in the city or I didn't see much of it. My walk yesterday was a celebration of life and enjoyment of what a park is all about. After my walk I had gotten my camera from the car and walked around the park taking photo's of people, of families and of groups celebrating the day in the park. A young tennis play makes the shot, Tracy Aviary banner, the rides at the park, a father and daughter enjoying a spin in the air, ducks and geese being feed by a girl and her father, an Asian family going for a ride in a paddle boat on the pond, a family celebrating the coming of age of two young girls, a little girl full of shyness and smiles, grown men and women practicing the art of self defense, men dressed as knights jousting, a man trying to make a sell, and just people enjoying the day with friends and family. It was a glorious day and I was in celebration of life.

I hope your day was filled with Life in Celebration.

WEEK THREE

You remember the enemy.


Well, when I stepped on the scale on Wednesday it groaned a little less than the last time. As of Wednesday I have lost a total of 8 that's right eight pounds. Now comes the hard part, staying with the program. I really like the fact that I am lighter and my clothes are fitting better if not a little bigger. I know I should be jumping up and down with joy at the loss but I also know this is just the start of a long road ahead of me. It is very easy to slide right back into my old eating habits. The trick really is keeping track of what you eat. I think that I have not eaten that many points for the day but, when it is written down on a piece of paper and your able to look at it you realize that you have eaten FAR more than you thought. You can gobble up 25 points faster than a blink of an eye. One hamburger and order of fries with a regular coke you are done for the day. I have to admit writing everything down is one of hardest things. I seriously think I am good at keeping track by adding up the points in my head to stay on track. Fool that I am. So my quest this week is to write everything down and make sure that I stay within my points for the day. This will be a challenge as I have a BBQ on Saturday at the Modesto's then one on Monday with my golfing buddies. I know as well as I am sitting here typing this blog there will not be one thing that will be diet oriented. It will all be fat fat fat. Then of course I will throw in a couple of glasses of wine to hold me over. I think the only thing that is going to help me is my walking and playing golf all of this week or that good ol' scale will be back groaning at me. I am done with my glass of wine (2 points) (okay 3 points) and it is time to post this and get to watching some serious TV.

Remember to live your Life in Celebration.

I THOUGHT I WAS RETIRED

If you look closely you can see my counter.




Some of you know I am the treasurer for the Utah State Women's Golf Association. There is not a day that goes by that I don't have something going on that has to do with the USWGA. Looking at the mess on my counter you can see there is a lot going on. We just finished with our Spring Open and not more than one day went by before I started with the entries for the State Best Ball Tournament. We also started a Nine Hole Team League last year and this year they are required to join our organization if they want to compete. Well, this year they had to pay an membership dues and I received all of their dues this last week as this week is their first match. So, all of this whining is all about that I have been very busy and unable to write in my blog. I feel kind of guilty I have fallen down in getting a posting done if not everyday at least a couple time a week. I still have several things I want to share with you and I will get to them in the near future. Just want you to understand that I have not stopped just haven't made the time to get here and share with you what is going on. So many thing so little time.

Tomorrow I will share the weight loss update. So, stay tuned and remember to live your Life in Celebration.