The Biggest Loser...

No, not the TV show, the Powerball!  LOL!

Mark and I never play the lottery, but somehow we got sucked into the hype about this big jackpot.  I went out and bought 10 tickets yesterday.  It only proved again that I have no luck at all. I never win anything. This time I didn't eve have the actual Powerball number on any ticket.  In fact, I only matched two numbers on one ticket.  That was it.  So that is NOT getting me even one dime!  LOL!!

There is good news. I got a flu shot finally. I had planned to get it when Mark got his, at our regular doctor visit on November 16.  Unfortunately, I had the sinus infection, so she wouldn't give it to me.  I went over to Publix and got it because I was finally feeling completely healthy.  Yay!  A big item checked off my "To Do" list.

Mark and I did our weights and walked 30 minutes.  I ate well for all three meals and only one sugar free chocolate dipped strawberry and four small sugar free cookies at the Shalom Club's Chocolate Extravaganza.  When I got home, I did lose control and finish the carton of vanilla ice cream, which was about one third full, so that was kind of bad.  Still I dropped two and a half pounds from yesterday.  Today I weigh 260.9.  It's a start.

Today I have an appointment at 10 a.m. for "The Works."  This means hair cut and dyed, waxing, gel nails, and a pedicure.  It will take nearly four hours!  Still I'm committed to taking a walk when it's all over.  Then I don't have to go out this evening at all!  That's important because I was out for rehearsals Monday and Tuesday and to the Shalom Club last night, then I have performances for Guys and Dolls on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Tonight is my ONLY night in an entire week when I can stay home!  There will be a lot of TV shows watched tonight. Hahaha!

I hope everyone has a great day today, too.

Weight is up.

I didn't mark last week's weight on Wednesday because it was artificially low (254) due to the intense diarrhea from the amoxicillin on the Tuesday before.  I think I already explained that.  Well, I mentioned that I was 264 on Saturday and 261 on Sunday.  Sadly, I'm 263.5 this morning, so that's my official weigh-in Wednesday report. 

I probably should get this blog back to its original intentions.  I started it in October of 2009 when my weight loss was bogging down.  I still had the hernia surgery ahead of me, so I thought I needed to have some accountability to the weight loss.  That's was the first time I thought to start making my eating issues public.  It worked for awhile, but now it doesn't seem to help.  I write about it and then I eat!  LOL!!  This morning I went back and reread a lot of those early entries.  I noticed it took almost three weeks before I even wrote down my weight. I often mentioned the total amount lost, but it took until almost the end of October before I put the weight in writing. It was 224.4 on Oct. 22, 2009.  Interesting, 39 pounds less than today.

I still feel that I could lose those 39 pounds again.  I have the skills and the knowledge.  I don't seem to have the desire.  I guess I left it in Maryland when I moved.  LOL!

Yesterday I had a normal breakfast, but I had a hot dog and fries out for lunch because it was cheap and quick.  Dinner was just two bowls of my home made turkey soup, not high calorie, but I ate a cereal bowl sized portion of Wheat Thins and two bows that same size of ice cream for a bed time snack.  I did play 36 holes of mini-golf, which was fun, and go to a three hour rehearsal that required a lot of standing on my feet.  Still, none of that was getting my heart rate up, so the extra calories burned were not equal to the ones in the bowls of ice cream.

We are leaving on December 8 for our cruise on the Carnival Valor.  263 is a weight that I have come BACK from cruises, not STARTED them. It will NOT be good to board that ship at this weight.  I now have a week and a half until the ship sails on Sunday, December 9.  In a week I have been known to drop as much as 10 pounds if I'm very, very good and exercise a LOT.  I suspect if I do manage to do that, the ten will return quickly on the ship, but HEY!  If I start at 263 and THEN gain ten, Holy CRAP!  Do the math!  That would be really bad.

So today I'm going to the gym and going to take a walk. It's going to be mid-70s, perfectly gorgeous for a nice walk by the ponds with the gators.  They will probably all come out to sun themselves today.  Tonight Mark and I are going to the Shalom Club's meeting.  It's their annual Chocolate Extravaganza, and we are bringing them an extra microwave to use.  A little chocolate won't hurt. In fact there is no food that is inherently bad. It's all about portion control.   One of the things I still remember from my early Weight Watchers days was PFI: portion, frequency, item.

Today's plan is to eat three meals at home, all carefully planned and controlled, exercise at the gym, walk 30-40 minutes outside, eat a small amount of chocolate at the party, and eat NOTHING except sugar-free foods like my Popsicles and jello when I feel the snacking urge around 10 p.m.  I will also up the amount of water I drink. I've been slacking off on that.  I'll let you know tomorrow if I followed my plan.

Did I mention that we had the exterior of the house repainted the same colors last week?  They started on Monday and finished on Saturday.  It looks really nice, fresh and clean.  Our community requires the houses to be painted every seven years, and our deadline was the end of this year.  I'm glad it's done.  It took quite awhile to find a painter because many of the recommended ones were booked through March!  These guys were prompt, available, did a great job, and charged a fair price. I will use them again and would recommend them to anyone.  Best of all, IT'S DONE!  Now we don't have to think about it again for seven years.

Everybody went back to work.

Yesterday was the Monday after Thanksgiving break.  Most people had to go back to work yesterday, and I always thought it was depressing to do that on the one hand but not so bad on the other hand.  There are usually only a few more weeks before Winter Break! Also for music teachers, it signals a very busy season of final rehearsals and lots of concerts, so at least the time would pass very quickly.

It's better to be retired and go about your own business on your own schedule as you choose!

Mark and I dove into Cyber Monday with a vengeance yesterday morning.  Now my holiday shopping is all done.  I like to buy things throughout the year, especially on vacations when we travel. I often see something that looks perfect for someone, so I never hesitate to get it.  Then I use the internet to finish up the shopping.  It was fun, and now it's done!

I also played Mah Jongg in the afternoon and went to the penultimate Guys and Dolls rehearsal last night. It was my second, and final, turn to practice my solo/duet. It went ok.  I finished my Z-pack, and I feel pretty much back to normal.

Today Mark and I are going out to play mini-golf in the late morning.  It's going to be in the low 80s today, perfect for mini-golf.  We have a Living Social coupon to use up at a new location.  I'm also going to wrap and ship out the gifts that I have bought all year and are currently sitting on my dining room table. Then the only thing I have left to do will be get Christmas cards out.  Tonight we have our final Guys and Dolls rehearsal, with an audience.  People who can't come to the show are invited and also a local high school is bringing its chorus over to be our audience.  It should be fun!  The big performances are this weekend, Friday through Sunday.

One somber note: a very dear friend (no names as per the family's request), someone I have known for nearly forty years, had a first chemotherapy infusion yesterday. I heard it went well.  It's so sad to know anyone has to go through chemo and have cancer.  Maybe someday cancer will be finally eradicated.  I'm glad that so many people I know have beat it, and I hope this friend will also beat it.  I'm also glad for the American Cancer Society and their Relay for Life program. Here in Solivita, as every where in the country, there are many active teams that work hard to raise money for the ACS.  Great strides have been made, and I'm sure that I am alive today because of money raised and research done.  Let's all pray for my friend and for all those out there newly diagnosed.

Quiet House

When you have five people living in a house, only two seems very quiet.  Sigh.

Everyone got home safely yesterday.  Evey and Eric had to have about an hour wait in Phoenix for a connecting flight, finally getting home around 1 a.m., so it was a long day for them.  Lowell had only a two hour flight and made it to his house in MD with a sweet doggy homecoming. He sent me the video!  LOL

I had to sing "Maoz Tsur" and "Oh, Hanukkah" at the Chimer's concert last night.  I guess it went ok.  My voice has not fully returned since the cold/sinus infection.  Everyone said I did OK, so I guess I did.  Only I know that it didn't feel right, so I'm sure it could have sounded better.  On the other hand, the concert was great.  I have to give these people credit.  The lady who started the chimes had never played one before.  She decided she wanted to do it, so she bought the chimes herself and just did it, and now this is their tenth year.  There were around two dozen people playing, most do not read music.  They had a drummer who had a snare, a triangle, jingle bells, and a tambourine.  There was a pianist and a guitarist accompanying as well.  It was pretty clever programming, most of it being a sing-a-long of Christmas carols, but interspersed was the Rondalla group (seven players of guitars and mandolins), the classical guitarist, a lady telling the story of Hanukkah before I sang my two songs, and a few featured songs just for the chimers.  There were also great refreshments at intermission, beautiful decorations, and lots of door prizes.  I loved the sound of the chimes and the festive mood of the evening.  It was an honor to be part of it.

Today we are going to go see the movie Lincoln. Mark read that Lincoln is the one who established Thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November on October 3, 1863.  So it seems like the right thing to do today to go see that movie while it's still part of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  When we come back home, I'm going to make a huge pot of turkey soup.  I hardly ever cook anything all year, but I really enjoy making a turkey for holidays and then soup from the leftovers.  The house is going to smell so good this afternoon!

Now for the weight issues.  I didn't even mention it on Wednesday because I was too busy and excited thinking about picking Lowell up.  Hm...of course the weight isn't too good.  Two weeks ago at the doctor's office I weighed 262.  I behaved myself that day and a for a few days after Evey and Eric arrived.  By Tuesday morning I had dropped a little.  Then I got sick from the amoxicillin and dropped some more.  Last Wednesday I actually weighed only 254, a loss of 8 pounds in five days.  Of course, once I felt healthy again and started eating, the weight rolled back. In three days I gained ten pounds, so that yesterday morning I checked my weight and found it was 264.  Pretty amazing.  Fortunately, this morning I'm only 261, so I guess that's not unreasonable for a visit with the kids, lots of eating out, and plenty of overeating from holiday food in the house.  Now I will get back to normal.  Mark is making his low-carb biscuits this morning and scrambled eggs.  Can't wait.

There is a little good news about the weight.  Because I had gotten up to 264, I was worried my blood sugar would be high.  The doctor has gotten a 100 and a 103 when I was over 260, so I used Mark's kit to test my sugar yesterday morning. I was 264 on the scale, but the sugar was 89.  Now THAT'S what I like to see!

Here are a few pictures from yesterday.

Sad Shabbat

Today is sad because the kids are all leaving.   I made them the offer to extend their visits another week, but they all declined.  LOL!  I guess I shouldn't take it personally.  I'm sure it's that WORK thing they do.  We will make two separate trips to the airport because their flight times didn't jive too well.  Lowell will be gone first.  We have to head up about 10:15 for him.  Evey and Eric are flying out in the late afternoon, so we will come home and have lunch with them before driving them up there at 2:15. 

Yesterday their horseback riding went just great.  The day was warmer than I thought it would be, and they all had a nice time on the ride.  Evey especially enjoyed her burrito at Qdoba's when we were done riding.

We also had the chance to take a walk half way around the lake at Downtown Disney.  We parked way past Cirque du Soleil with the intention of going all the way around, but after we shopped at World of Disney, we just decided to walk back to the car.  It probably was close to two-thirds of the walk anyway.  Unfortunately, Evey was getting tired because she has developed a terrible cold.  Her nose is just a mess, poor baby.

After the walk, we had an Italian ice and gelato at Rita's.  There are three restaurants that Evey absolutely LOVES, and none of them are anywhere near here in California.  They are Dunkin' Donuts, Qdobas, and Rita's.  Her priority was to hit all of them on this trip, and we accomplished that. Then we took Lowell to Private Island Ice Cream, so he could concoct a liquid nitrogen ice cream all his own.

The rest of the night was spent watching some home movies and a "Firefly" episode.  We had Shabbat dinner at nearly 9 p.m. because no one was ready to eat until then!  Leftover Thanksgiving dinner is easy enough to reheat.

 Here are some pictures of the horses yesterday.

In front of the ranch!

Helmeted up and ready to ride

Lowell is riding Jesse James.

Mark is on Vegas.

Eric was given Valentino.

Evey is on Mr. Pongo.

Q'doba's for lunch made Evey very happy.

Next we hit Rita's for dessert.

The next dessert was liquid nitrogen ice cream. 

Happy Day After Thanksgiving

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.  Mark and I had a wonderful day with Lowell, Evey, and Eric.  Mostly we stayed indoors, cooking, watching football, and, of course, eating.  We took a small amount of time to drive Eric around our neighborhood in Solivita and then walk a little around a lake.  Usually there are lots of birds and alligators, but yesterday, there was nothing out.  Still, it was good to get some fresh air and a walk.

Today I have a 9 a.m. rehearsal to sing "Maoz Tsur" and "Oh, Hanukkah" with the Solivita Chimers.  Their concert is tomorrow night.  They have agreed to do my songs first, so I can get out of there quickly.  The rest of the family is horseback riding today at WDW.  I will be watching, but it's going to be a chilly day, so I'm bundling up.

Now to recap what you missed.

Our day at Epcot and the Studios with Evey's friend Brittany was FANTASTIC!  Everything went as planned.  I have posted some pictures from that day at the bottom of the blog.

On Tuesday, we all had tickets for the ICE! show at Gaylord Palms.  Well, three out of four of us enjoyed it, but I was home sick.  Turns out I'm allergic to amoxicillin.  I had been prescribe that for a sinus infection last Friday, but after four days on the drug I developed severe diarrhea and a fever.  I called the doctor, laid on the couch in misery all day, and woke up the next morning just fine.  The doctor called in a Z-pack instead, and now I seem to be fine.  The rest of them loved the ICE! show, so maybe next year I'll get to go.  There are a few pictures of that here, too.

Wednesday we picked up Lowell at the airport and went to the airboat ride.  Lots of fun, but not much wildlife was out there either.  Lots of ducks and egrets, a couple of bald eagles, and some limpkins. No gators.  We did get to have a chance to see the gators they keep on the property and to hold Fluffy!  Fluffy is a three year old gator that is very used to being held.  Mark and I didn't do it this time because we already have a picture of us holding it. 

So now you are all caught up on our week.  Here are some pictures!  Enjoy and have a great start to your weekend.

Brittany and Evey with Stitch at the Epcot entrance.

Me with the kids heading to World Showcase.

Brittany and Evey with the Osbourne lights at the Studios.

Heading in to see the ice sculptures.

Evey coming down the ice slide.

Evey in the big blue coat that everyone is given to wear.  It's only NINE degrees in there.

After the ICE!, they went to the new WDW resort, Art of Animation.

Evey and Eric with Prince Eric and his big letter E!!

Mark at the grand staircase inside the Grand Floridian resort.

Checking out the gingerbread house.

Fluffy on a picnic table

The Twistee Treat just opened in our neighborhood, so after the airboat ride, we tried it out.

Lowell chose a Cookiewich.

I got sugar free fat free small cone with butterscotch dip.  Doesn't really look very small, does it?

Our Thanksgiving Day walk

I loved using all my mother's beautiful china for our dinner table.

The kids watching TV in the family room.

Five minute blog

I have exactly fifteen minutes before we should be in the car heading to Epcot, but I thought I'd give five of them to a quick blog entry and some pictures.

Evey and Eric landed safely on Saturday.  We have been having a wonderful time. Yesterday we did Islands of Adventure.  The weather was cool, sometimes sunny, and the park wasn't too crowded.  Today we are heading to Epcot and then the Studios.  Evey's friend is meeting us there to get the two of them in on her cast member card.  Evey met Brittany when they both were interns at the Wide World of Sports Complex in 2009.  Evey was the Athletic Trainer and Brittany was in Merchandising, operating a stand near by Evey's AT station.  Now Brittany is a full time Disney cast member, training newbies.  Her dream to work for Disney full time has come true!  Currently she is stationed in the Magic Kingdom Fantasyland area, but today she is not going to work until late afternoon, so they are happy to get together this morning.

Here are a few pictures from the last two days.  Enjoy!

Right before we headed out to the park.

Heading in to the Harry Potter ride.

After riding the Harry Potter ride, we waited to get Butter Beer.

Evey and the Lorax in Seuss Landing.

Waiting to do Poseidon Adventure, which broke down as soon as they got up there.

Resting outside Margaritaville!  LOL

Doctor Visit Notes

I knew going in that she wouldn't like my weight.  I already told you yesterday that it was up from my previous visit.  Yes, I was 262.5 on her scale, even though it was after breakfast and with clothes.  I think this is the only office scale that is actually close or less than my home scale. Usually I weigh as many as four pounds more in a doctor's office.  That was good news.

My cholesterol is excellent, although 20 years on statin drugs should guarantee that.

I have a raging sinus infection, so she prescribed ten days of amoxicillin to clear that up. I have not had a fever, so that is why I didn't suspect an infection.  The pounding sinus headaches should have given me a clue.  She laughed when she looked up my nose!  She said the gunk in my nose was the same bright yellow color as the t-shirt I was wearing.  LOL!

Then there is the sugar.  In October I had blood drawn for the oncologist, and the fasting sugar was 91, an excellent number.   Yesterday I had a 103.  That's my highest yet.  I had a 100 eight months ago in this doctor's office.  At that time she told me to lose weight because 100 meant diabetes. I did lose six pounds and got a 98 in her office four months ago.  The weight is back and so is the higher sugar number.  Damn!

She told me I MUST lose weight and I MUST NOT gain another ounce because if I come back in March with more weight, she guarantees my sugars will be sky high and she will put me on diabetic meds.  This is my chance to reverse this right here and now.

Of course the timing sucks.  Evey and Eric come tonight and there is massive amounts of eating out to be done.  Lowell comes next Wednesday and there is a huge, high-carb Thanksgiving Day menu planned.  Then there are THREE cruises before I see her in March.

NO EXCUSES.  As Nike says, "JUST DO IT."

When the surgeon scared me with phrases like "and then you'll DIE!", I made no excuses. I cried for thirty minutes in the car as I talked to Mark and Evey on the phone.  Then I went home to the Passover seder dinner and took small servings and no seconds.  The next day I took a 20 minute walk, which at that weight was difficult.  In seven months I lost 75 pounds, despite holidays and vacations.  I went from 295 to 220 from April to November.

Can I do it again?

Can the threat of diabetes forever and more oral meds, if not insulin, be as scary as death from a hernia?

Can I dredge up the will power I had before?

Can I make myself go out and walk every day?

I don't know.  I did well yesterday. I ate 1250 calories.  I did not exercise, but I DO have a sinus infection. My head was throbbing all day, so I just sat still once we got home from the doctor.

Today is a new day.  Breakfast and lunch are at home.  At 4:00 we pick up Evey and Eric at the airport. YAY!!  I'm very excited, but then there will dinner out at the Orlando Ale House and dessert at a special ice cream shop where they flash-freeze your custom made flavor right in front of you.  We could skip it, but it was a Living Social coupon that will expire before the kids leave, so we need to use it up.

So here's the plan for today.  I have eaten a good breakfast, and lunch will also be good at home.  Dinner: no alcohol, no bread, nothing fried, no dessert, plenty of salad, vegetables, and grilled fish.  Dessert at the ice cream shop?  They have sugar free ice cream and sugar free mix-ins and small sizes.  That's Mark's plan, so now that is my plan, too.

As for exercise, Mark plans to go to the gym for his weights today.  If my head isn't hurting, I will go, too.  I have to say that this morning I took my third amoxicillin pill and my head is not throbbing. I feel clogged and I still have laryngitis, but the intense headache of the last three days has eased up somewhat.  I hope I feel like doing the weights and taking a walk. 

And one last question, if I am successful again at getting my weight close to 200, can I keep it there forever?  That's a BIG question.

Finally, there may not be many blogs for awhile.  I will probably make quick Facebook posts for those who are my friends there.  With the kids here, there is just not going to be much down time to sit around and write blogs.  I'll try to catch everyone up on things and post pictures whenever I have a chance and certainly after they have gone home.

I don't remember if I posted our plans for this week on the blog. If I did, you can skip the rest of this blog. If not, here it is...

Saturday: pick Evey and Eric up at the airport at 4, go home and unpack, dinner at Ale House, dessert at ice cream shop;

Sunday: Islands of Adventure;

Monday: Epcot and Hollywood Studios;

Tuesday: ICE! at Gaylord Palms, lunch at Downtown Disney, dinner at Sweet Tomatoes;

Wednesday: check out Solivita, lunch at Subway, get Lowell at airport at 2, air boat ride, ATT store, dinner at home;

Thursday: TURKEY DAY, massive amounts of cooking and eating;

Friday: horseback riding at Ft. Wilderness, lunch at Qdoba, Shabbat dinner at home (leftovers!);

Saturday: everybody back to the airport and heading home.

Geez, I'm tired already, and I'm praying the amoxicillin works its magic so that this infection does not slow me down.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!

Doctor's Visit

Mark and I have our every-four-months check-up with the primary care doctor this morning.  We both had our blood draws last week, so we will see how our numbers are today, especially cholesterol and sugar.  She will also yell at me about my weight, which is up six or seven pounds since last time.  I weighed in at home this morning, naked and before breakfast, at 262.5.  Not good.

I just looked back over the blog to check those weights.  I saw the old doctor last December at six or seven pounds less than today; then I met the new doctor in March at about a pound less than I will be today, meaning up those 6-7; I saw her in July and she was happy because I had lost the 6-7 pounds; now today I will be back up those same pounds.  I'm definitely riding a yo-yo. Not good.

The endocrinologist's lecture on Wednesday mentioned pre-diabetes, but I saw in a previous blog that this lady primary care doctor does not believe in it.  If your fasting sugar is 100, on that day you ARE a diabetic.  Period.  The endocrinologist thought that people like me ought to have an A1C test, like full diabetics do, because that was a more informative test than just one fasting sugar.  If my fasting sugar is 100 again this time, I will ask her for that test next time.  In March my sugar was 100 and in July it was 98.  She hated the 100 and loved the 98.  Is that really such a big difference?

Also my cold is just driving me crazy.  The really sad thing about it is that I wanted to get a flu shot today while I am in the office, but I know I can't have it with a cold.  Bummer.  Now I'll try to hit up Publix in a week or so when the cold is over.  Both Mark and I want that shot before we go on our December cruise.

After this appointment, I plan to do NOTHING the rest of the day.  My head is pounding from the clogged sinuses. I have no fever, but I have had such a sinus headache for the last three days.  And of course, my voice left me entirely Wednesday morning.  Nothing. It is difficult to talk, so I probably shouldn't. Better to type a blog and post on FB.  LOL!

Check back tomorrow for the doctor's results.

Great night last night.

Last night we took Barb and Al to Boma's to celebrate her birthday.  AWESOME.  We love the food at Boma's, and it did not disappoint. It never does. There were two new soups last night that we had not tried before, so that was fun.  I forgot both my camera and my cell phone, but Al and Barbara took pictures, which they shared with me, and which I am sharing on this blog.  Enjoy.

This morning at 8:30 a.m. we met with a painting contractor about painting the exterior.  Solivita requires that every house be painted every seven years.  For our house, that meant it had to be done by the end of December. In fact, we have already received a reminder notice to get it done.  Our whole block has already been done, so we were the ones dragging our feet.  I called the same painter they all used.  I called him three times, but he did not return my call.  I heard later that he is booked through March, so I guess he didn't need my business.  Then I called another contractor recommended by the lady at the Solivita Lifestyles office.  I called him twice and he returned by second call. He is also booked through March.  When I told the Architectural Review Committee head (the ones responsible for sending out reminder letters and fines if you are not compliant), that I was having no luck with finding a painter, she recommended a third company called JC Painting Contractors. I called them yesterday, and they PICKED UP right away.  The owner of the company came here this morning, measured, and gave us an estimate. The price is amazing AND it includes power washing, patching cracks, sealant, then the paint.  AND best of all, he goes to get the paint himself.  Some of my neighbors had to go buy their own paint, which Mark and I really didn't feel like doing. All this for only $1100, which I thought was excellent.  He and his crew are starting on Tuesday!  Amazing how it all came together so quickly finally, and we will be compliant and avoid fines.  YAY!  A good day!

I was supposed to go get a mani/pedi at 10:30 this morning, but my cold is just killing me today.  I cancelled the appointment. I'm going to stay indoors and relax until about 3:45.  Then Mark and I are attending a Book Talk on Salman Rushdie's book, Midnight's Children. What a tome, but it's turning out to be a fascinating book.  We will finish it up today just in time to go to the talk. I can't wait to hear what this professor has to say about the book.  It's being released as a movie pretty soon.  We saw trailers for it, so we are looking forward to seeing how this massive book could possibly be captured on film. 

OK, here are the pictures from last night that I promised you.  Enjoy!

 Happy Belated Birthday, Barbara!

 Since I told them it was her birthday, she got a pin, a card, and a special plate of four desserts not available to everyone else.

 Zebra domes, made with alcohol, is their signature dessert.

 Hanging out in the lobby after dinner.

 Hidden Mickey in the lobby chandelier.

 Another hidden Mickey on a rock near the bridge in the lobby.

 Hidden Mickey (and not so hidden Palmetto bug) in the foyer.

 Can you believe I beat Barbara at Tic Tac Toe in the gift shop?  Now if I could only beat her at Words with Friends!

 We never missing touching the Good Luck art piece on the way out of the hotel at the end of the evening.

Too busy for Tuesday?

I got online this morning and realized that I never wrote a blog yesterday.  Geez.  I hadn't realized I was too busy to write a Tuesday blog! 

So what did I do?  Mostly drive around.  I spent the morning balancing my checkbook and writing some bills and running three loads of laundry, always a lot of fun.  Around noon we headed up north to Altamonte Springs and a Publix up there that we hoped would have a kosher turkey.  It's about an hour and a half each way.  We were successful! I now have my Thanksgiving turkey in the freezer.  We also went to the Super Target by Millenia Mall that has a nice section of kosher meat. They never have whole turkeys, but we did get some beef and some deli turkey.  We got home at 5 p.m.  Then it was almost time to head out to my Guys and Dolls rehearsal.  Boom!  That's Tuesday.

I had to sing my solo/duet for "When You Believe" last night. I was worried because I have a cold that is hanging in there.  I could tell my voice was heading bye-bye.  I managed to get through the solo, and although I thought my voice was "iffy", everyone said I sounded fine.  This morning I have even less voice.  At least I don't have to sing again for two weeks because I'm not going to the rehearsals next week. 

Today we are going to a Wellness Lecture in the Village.  Every month a doctor is sent out from Osceola Hospital to talk about different topics.  Today's topic: "Is Diabetes a Heart Disease?"  Should be very interesting to Mark!  Then we are meeting our friends Barb and Al at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for some animal spotting on the savannah and dinner at Boma's.  It's a dinner for Barb's belated birthday present from us.  Her birthday is about two weeks after mine in August and she is the same age as me.  Plus she went to Mark's high school. I think it's awesome that we have found each other after all these years.  AND they are the most magnificent Mickey fans in the whole wide world!  They put us to shame!!

OK, yes, it's Weigh-in Wednesday, too.  I am 262.3.  That's a gain of one pound.  My doctor will NOT be happy with me when she sees me on Friday because I will be up about five pounds or more since I saw her four months ago. I was supposed to go DOWN four or five pounds. LOL

I have looked back over my weight reports for the entire year of 2012 and noticed that I ranged from a low of 243 to a high of 267.  I bounced up and down more than once during that time.  It's probably a very bad thing to yo-yo one's weight up and down a 24 pound range multiple times during one year.  I'm tired of writing about it. I'm tired of thinking about it. I'm tired of counting calories.  I'm just tired of talking, thinking, and obsessing about weight.  It's been my whole life. 

Another busy day

Our "Double Feature Sunday" went very well yesterday.  We saw Wreck-it Ralph, had lunch, and then saw Taken 2. I would have preferred seeing Argo, but the timing didn't work out.  The Disney movie was great!  I would highly recommend it.  All in all, we were out from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  Ha!  That could have been a work day!  Glad it was a play day instead.

There was also an art show going on.  We wandered all over it for an hour, so not only did we get to see some beautiful art in a dozens of different media but we also go an hour of walking.  Nice.  The weather was warm, sunny, and breezy, just right for strolling through art exhibits.

Today will be interesting also.  At 9 a.m. we are attending a lecture on Florida Wildlife in the ballroom.  We went to a similar talk last year, and it was very interesting.  This one is sponsored by the same people, so we might hear a lot of the same stuff, but it can't hurt to hear it again.  A lot of what we heard last year was on living safely with alligators!  Never a bad thing around here.

Afterwards we are heading to St. Cloud and a Chinese buffet lunch.  The main reason for doing that is to attend the Kissimmee/St. Cloud NARFE chapter meeting.  This chapter is in trouble and our friend Bob L, who is also the NARFE District 5 President, has asked Mark to attend to help this chapter out and possibly become a member or even an officer.  Mark is currently Vice-President of the Plant City chapter and co-chair of the Florida Legislature Committee, which covers the entire state.  I'm pretty sure he does NOT have time to be an officer in another chapter, but we are both going, along with Bob, to their meeting this month just to see what we can do to help them keep their chapter viable.

Tonight I have the last Starliters rehearsal before their break until January.  Fun.

Mostly I'm counting down the days until the kids arrive.  Evey and Eric land at 4 p.m. on Saturday.  Lowell arrives next Wednesday.  Can't wait.

Real Veterans Day

I have no idea why yesterday was designated as Veterans Day in our area.  At first I thought it was just Solivita for some reason, but later I saw the Orlando Veterans Day Parade running on TV.  Strange.  Even though there was plenty of advertising for our ceremonies yesterday, there were more people IN the ceremony than watching.  There were FAR fewer than last year when it was on the real day. Maybe a hundred people are showing up right now and surprised to find nothing going on. LOL

Mark and I are heading to Downtown Disney shortly to do a double feature with a vegetarian chili lunch in between.  Our first movie will be Wreck-it Ralph, the newest Disney animated release.  The second one might be any number of films.  It will depend on the timing.

There is a big art show on the sidewalks throughout the Downtown Disney area today, so we will probably walk around and look at that as well.  We went to the gym yesterday and walked about 35 minutes.  I went down a pound, Thank God!  Next Friday I have my four month doctor visit.  She will NOT be happy if I have gained weight.  Unless I drop five pounds between now and then (possible but unlikely), I will show a gain for this four month period instead of the loss I promised here.  I have no one to blame but myself.

Veterans' Day Ceremonies

I'm not sure why Solivita decided to have its traditional Veterans' Day Ceremony today instead of tomorrow.  Oh, well...

At 8:15 a.m. I will be meeting other members of Guys and Dolls and our director Ellen F. at the ballroom to warm up, our voices and our bodies.  It's another cold day.  We will wear red, white, and blue and perform all the theme songs of all the various divisions of the military during the ceremonies, which start at 9.  The Solivita Veterans Club will all be there in their uniforms.  I sang at this last year.  At Memorial Day there is an even longer ceremony.  I wasn't able to do that one last year, but maybe this coming spring I will.

I wrote about last year's Veterans Day also in the blog.  Last year it was a Friday, and the date was 11-11-11.  One of those really COOL dates.  There were a few pictures on that blog that I took that day.  I don't think I'm going to take my camera up today.  It was cool last year, but today it's down right COLD.  I might even wear gloves out there.

After the Veterans ceremony, I am going up to the Ceramics Gallery (where I have never been before) to join the Chimers Club for part of their rehearsal.  At their big holiday concert on November 24, they are chiming "Maoz Tsur," a very traditional Hanukkah song. I have been asked to sing it in Hebrew while they chime. I've never done anything like that, so it should be interesting.  Today is my one and only rehearsal with them. Hope it goes ok with this stupid sore throat and stuffy nose.

I have to say that the sore throat this morning is not nearly as bad as it was yesterday, but the stuffy nose is worse.  I felt kind of tired and dragged out yesterday.  Like most colds, it was really bad when I got up, improved through the middle of the day, and started to get worse again around 5 p.m.  I went to bed at 10:30 feeling very tired.  Since I just got up this morning at 6:15 for the Veterans' Day thing, I'm sure I'll be going to bed early again tonight!

It's only 48 degrees outside right now, and only 68 in the house. I'm wearing my flannel night shirt, fuzzy robe, and warm slippers.  Brrr!  On the other hand, it's going to go up to a high of 79, the warmest it's been in several days.  Can't wait!  I bet it won't be out of the low sixties during the ceremonies at Freedom Park this morning.  I'm planning on bundling up pretty good.

Stupid Sore Throat

I knew I was getting a sore throat yesterday afternoon, but it was never too bad.  Overnight it decided to get vicious.  We had a freeze warning up for the night, and I think our heat even kicked on over night.  It was 68 on our thermostat, which is as low as we let it get.  Anyway, the cold, dry air was hard on the throat. I finally came out to the kitchen at 6:15 to make a cup of hot tea.  That has helped somewhat, but I am not happy that I might be getting a stupid cold. I have too much to do, including singing tomorrow at the Veteran's Day service at Freedom Park at 9 a.m. and rehearsing my duet with my partner at the Tuesday night Guys and Dolls rehearsal. 

On a happier note, Mark and I had a fantastic time at the new Fantasyland area.  At the end of this blog are some pictures from our visit.

Yesterday we did a lot of various chores.  One of the things that I had to do was go to the dentist for another small oral surgery.  I had those two molars pulled on October 2,  They have healed well, but there was a sharp piece of bone sticking up in the one and a weird skin flap forming on the other.  Apparently, neither of these things is rare.  The surgeon numbed me up real well and cleaned out the jaw bone and cut the flap.  I did have to keep wads of gauze on there for about two hours until all the bleeding stopped, but when the novocain wore off,  I only used Advil to be sure nothing hurt.  Soft food for the rest of the day was the only other restriction. It feels fine this morning. 

Last night, despite a sensitive mouth and a rapidly escalating sore throat, Mark and I went up to an event at The Palms.  Solivita has a group called the SOFEES.  They are the Solivita Friends of Eastside Elementary School, a school in Haines City, about nine miles from here.  Recently they have also adopted Laurel Elementary in Kissimmee, about the same distance away in the other direction.  Last night was their annual get-together to collect underwear, socks, and hoodies for the children.  Both of those schools have a student body popular that is very poor. I heard last night that Eastside has 80% of its students on Free and Reduced Lunch.  Anyway, Mark and I attended it last year because it was in December and Guys and Dolls members came to sing Christmas Carols around one of the small neighborhood pools. 

For whatever reason, the group decided to have it at The Palms by the outdoor fireplace in early November this year.  I heard it was because the schools needed the clothing NOW.  The group set up beautiful luminaries all around the big outdoor pool and around the fireplace.  Unfortunately, the night was cold and the fireplace wouldn't work.  So the event was indoors.  Sadly, only about 35 people came, compared to the hundreds that came last year.  It doesn't look like a lot was collected. 

Also two of my friends from Guys and Dolls had been asked to lead a sing-a-long of seasonal songs.  When they saw me come in, they asked me to join them.  I did.  We sang some Thanksgiving songs, If I Had a Hammer, a wintry songs like Silver Bells and Winter Wonderland.  It was pretty fun.  Everybody sang along!  Mark and I were glad we went.

Fortunately, there's not much on my agenda today. I can just rest and hope this stupid sore throat gets better instead of worse.

Enjoy the pictures of the new Fantasyland area, called The Enchanted Forest.

 It was a windy, brisk day.  The sun made it also a lovely fall day, and I was happy I could wear a long-sleeved t-shirt and my Mickey hoodie.

 All the Christmas decorations are already up in the Mark.

 In the Enchanted Forest area, there are gargoyles lining the bridge to the Beast's castle.

 There's the Beast's castle up on the hill.  It was also gorgeous when it was lit up after dark.

 The Be Our Guest restaurant is inside the castle.  Here I am in the Rose Gallery, one of the three dining rooms inside the restaurant.  A cast member took my picture in front of the beautiful statue of Belle and the Beast dancing.

 The little village that Belle lives in is also recreated.  Here is Gaston's Tavern.

 Mark with the statue of Gaston in front of the tavern.

 Our timing was perfect because the REAL Gaston came to the tavern while we were there.

 Prince Eric and Ariel's castle hold the new Under the Sea Adventure ride.

 Nice entrance way.  This ride is the same as the one that's been in Anaheim for awhile in the Disney California Adventure park, but the entrance here is WAY, WAY better than out there.

 We also did Hall of Presidents.  It was the day after election day, so that seemed appropriate.

 There's President Obama, front and center.

 We also had time to watch the afternoon parade.

We finished our day by having dinner in the Ballroom area of the Be Our Guest restaurant. It's really beautiful and the food was spectacular.