Cruisin', AGAIN!

This morning we are heading over to the Village to catch a bus to Tampa.  Our cruise today is on the Holland America Ryndam with the Solivita Travel Club.  We will be riding a bus with the rest of our fellow cruisers, so at least I don't have to do the driving.  It's a rainy day, so I might just sleep on the bus.

This cruise is going to Key West (yes, all three of our recent cruises went there!); Roatan, Honduras; Costa Maya, Mexico; and some port in Guatemala.  Sadly, I have no idea what the name of the town in Guatemala is.  New Year's Eve is a sea day, so that should be fun.  Then New Year's Day is in Honduras.  We went there in 2011 with the Larsens. It's not much, so our plan is to sleep in after partying the night before.  If we stay on board all day in Honduras, that will be just fine with us. 

We return next Sunday, and I'll check my weight Monday morning.  I have no idea how this will go.  With the Larsens in October, I tried to watch my eating and do a lot of exercise. I gained six pounds, a pound a day, which we heard is typical.  On the Constellation last week, where I threw all sensibilities out of the window and ate and drank myself into oblivion, I only gained 3 pounds.  Then I gained more in this week at home with the Herschlers.  I am starting the cruise this morning at 245.9.  Not at all good.

Looking back over my weight since I returned from California at the end of August, I see that I basically lost 13 pounds over a two month stretch and then recently gained them back in about 2 weeks.  Oh, my crazy eating habits!

What I AM determined to do now is enjoy this cruise and then get back on track when we return.  I have the Starliters show to do, which will require energetic, long rehearsals two nights a week.  I have the motivation of being around 210 or less at Lowell and Emily's wedding in July.  I hope those two things will help me get back and stay back on track.

Of course there are challenges between now and then.  We have the cruise and in mid-January we are hosting our Maryland rabbi's son, Reuben Cohen, again for four days of Disney fun and eating.  Usually, the long walking all day helps mitigate the eating in restaurants.  We shall see.  February and March are mostly just full of rehearsals for me and Mark, so I think I can do a lot of exercise and eat all my meals at home.  I'm really looking forward to a few months of eating all my meals at home!

Meanwhile, I am taking my computer with me, but I don't know how much time I will have to use the internet onboard.  I do not promise any more blogs until Monday, January 6.  Then, I will be sure to write a nice long, juicy one full of cruise pictures.

Happy New Year to everybody who reads my blog.  I hope everyone has the BEST year EVER, full of health, happiness, and love.

Here's a few pictures from the last few days with the Herschlers.

We had a princess lunch at the Norway buffet.  Belle posed with everyone as they entered the restaurant.

The menu at the Akershus buffet in Norway.

Princess Aurora with us. 

Mary Poppins with Dave and Evey.

Snow White with us.

Around the World Showcase lake at Epcot.

On the bridge between France and the UK on the way to take the boat back to the Studios.

Dave and Evey's first look at the Osborne Lights.  They were stunned!

It's nearly impossible to describe them.  They are something you just have to experience in person.

On their last day, we took them to historic Kissimmee for the obligatory look at the Monument of States.

Evey is looking up for the Maryland stone.

Mark and Dave at one of the outdoor sculptures.

Boxing Day

We have some friends who emigrated here from Canada, and they still like to celebrate Boxing Day.  Mark and I were invited to their home today for a little wine and socializing, but we declined.  We have our friends Dave and Evey still here, so today is another WDW day.  Our plan today is park hopping from the Studios to Epcot and back to the Studios to end with the Osborne Lights and Fantasmic.  It will be 77 degrees with only a 20% chance of some afternoon showers.

Yesterday we watched the Disney parade and ate a lot of our special snacks from the Contemporary for breakfast.  When we went to see Saving Mr. Banks, the parking was chaotic and Downtown Disney was super crowded.  Still, we got parking and good seats in the theater.  We LOVED the movie, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

I weigh the same today as yesterday, despite eating a ridiculous breakfast, twice as much lunch as usual, and Chinese food for dinner.  I was very happy not to be up several more pounds!  LOL!

This morning I'm having my usual breakfast for the first time in over week.  It feels very good and very healthy to eat Fiber One cereal with blueberries and Greek yogurt.  Yum.  Lunch today will be the buffet in the Norway pavilion at Epcot; dinner will be the Asian salad at the Commissary at the Studios.  There will be so much walking that I'm not too worried about it.

I feel pretty good about my chances of getting back on track once the next cruise is over.  We leave Sunday for another week on a cruise ship, but once we get back from that, we will not be going anywhere for several months and have no company either.  That will allow both Mark and me to focus on our health, eat right, and exercise.  I'm looking forward to it.

Happy Boxing Day!  Enjoy all your presents from yesterday. I hope you won't have to go back to a store to return anything.

Merry Christmas

This morning I was surprised to learn that I had not written a blog yesterday.  For some reason, I thought I wrote one about getting off the cruise.  Well, that was apparently a figment of my imagination.  No blog is posted and nothing was sitting in drafts.  Sorry about that!  LOL!

Now I have a lot of catching up to do.  I barely know where to begin, but I think I will start with the weight.  After all, this is a weight loss blog, or in today's case, a weight gain blog.  This morning my weight was 243.5, a gain of 4.7 pounds since last Wednesday.  I guess it could have been worse because I really have paid NO attention to what I have eaten since then.  I ate anything and everything I wanted on the cruise, plus I drank A LOT. We had a free drink package, so we drank.  Actually, I checked my weight yesterday and it was only a gain of 2.7 pounds, so the other two pounds were just from yesterday.  There was much eating yesterday, too.

I think it could have been worse.  When we went away with the Larsens in October, I gained six pounds in six days.  So yesterday when I checked and realized I had only gained 2.7 pounds in six days, I was actually pretty happy!  It's all relative.  Sadly, I never took those six pounds from the October cruise back off, and I was actually one pound higher when we left than when we got back from that previous cruise.  Oh, well...

Now to the cruise.  It was GREAT!  We stretched out that anniversary celebration over every one of those days.  Our actual anniversary was Saturday, December 21, but the Herschlers and Oreskys had the wait staff in the main dining room bring a cake on Friday night and then again in the specialty restaurant Saturday night.  They both gave us lovely cards in the bar Saturday evening, too.  Then Saturday night we found a bottle of Beaujolais in our cabin, courtesy of the Celebrity Captain's Club Hostess, so we all shared that at dinner on the last night.  It was wonderful having them celebrate and cruise with us.  Maybe there will be a chance to do that again some time in the future.  I would like that.

Today is Christmas day.  My kids are both on the East Coast, which these days doesn't happen very often.  They are both spending the time with their significant others and the in-laws.  Sometimes I get wistful that I can't spend the time with them today, but on the other hand, I know they are having a wonderful day and are surrounded by people who love them as much as I do.  What else could a mother want for her children?

My much loved brother Kip and his wife Denise and kids Logan and Emily are all on the West Coast, celebrating in their new home in Snohomish, WA.  This has been a busy year for them especially.  I hope they are all having fun wherever they are.  Mark and I are about to watch the Disney Christmas parade on TV and eat a lot of crazy Disney treats that we bought last night at the Contemporary Resort.  Dave and Evey Herschler will be with us to the end of the week.  Later today we are all going over to Downtown Disney again to see the movie Saving Mr. Banks, followed by dinner at the Citrus Garden, a local Chinese restaurant. 

I hope everyone reading this blog is doing something fun with people they love today.  It doesn't matter if you actually celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday or just have the day off from work and are relaxing with the ones you love.  I hope you enjoy your day no matter what. 

Here are a few pictures from the cruise and yesterday at Disney.  Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday.

Preparing for sailaway

Saul and Phyllis at dinner the first night

Evey and Dave the first night

Me and Mark the first night

Me and Phyllis in front of the beautifully decorated staircase on deck 3, our floor.

Evey and Dave at the staircase as we prepare to head out to Nassau.

Evey and I with the flamingos

Phyllis and I wetting our feet in the Caribbean Sea at Nassau

Our bus driver for the tour took the group shot on the beach

Relaxing by the pool in the solarium

Friday night was formal night

Having a coffee and gelato on the last night of the cruise

Dave and Evey outside the Yacht Club resort

The first time Evey and Dave saw the big Lego statues at Downtown Disney, including the spectacular sea monster

Watching the fireworks on Christmas Eve at the TTC.  Can you tell it was a wee bit chilly?

All the goodies I bought at the Contemporary Resort for breakfast Christmas morning with the parade.

Anniversary Cruise about to commence!

Yes, we drive down to Fort Lauderdale today, and tomorrow we will board the Celebrity Constellation, cabin 3108, for a four night cruise to Nassau and Key West to celebrate our 38th anniversary.  Our actual anniversary, December 21, is Saturday, a sea day.  PERFECT!  We also bought the drink package, which basically lets us drink all day long, every single day, as long as all the drinks are $8 or less.  It even includes the tax and gratuity.  Oh, yeah!  There WILL be drinking.

Cabin 3108 is where we spent 29 days onboard going to Hawaii and then through the Panama Canal back in the spring of 2010 to celebrate my retirement.  I have been looking forward to getting back to this ship ever since then because it had a huge make-over just two weeks after we disembarked.  I really want to see the changes to the ship, and I want to spend the time in our old cabin.  This is going to be a BLAST!

AND....two couples from Maryland are joining us, the Oreskys and the Herschlers.  We have been friends with them for nearly as long as we have been married!   This is just going to be a wonderful cruise.  For Saul, it will be his first cruise EVER!  I hope it's a fabulous one so that he will want to do it again.

Now, I must turn to some less pleasant news, my weight.  Last week I reported a fair-sized loss, down to 232.4.  I was so happy with that.  I also reported some big challenges coming up for this week, but I had hoped to stay the same, at least.  Well, that did not happen.  Right away on Thursday of last week, I reported a gain of over three pounds.  Instead of trying hard to get them back off, I added more. 

This has been a week full of fun, but also full of eating out and overeating at home.  As has happened to me before, once I start overeating, whether it's at a party or a restaurant, it often triggers a binge.  So this week, I started eating out of control almost every day.  I had too much for lunch or dinner and ate too many late night snacks.  I was grazing non-stop a few nights. 

Old habits are SO hard to break.  Even when I think I have worked on the new habits for so long and have it all under control, my mind and body revert to the old habits.  I still do not understand all the underlying problems, whys, or wherefores for this behavior.  Evey has suggested more than once that I should go to counseling for this binge-eating disorder, but I have never tried it.  I always think I can control it. I'm sure a lot of alcoholics and drug addicts say the same thing before they finally go to AA or rehab.

Here's the weight, 238.4, a gain of six pounds.  I gained a bit over three during the first 24 hours of the week, and the next three over the rest of the week.  No matter when it happened, the HOW is obvious.  I ate too much!  Did I have fun?  Yes, but today I'm sad.  I'm even one pound HIGHER than the day I left for our cruise on the Carnival Imagination back in October with the Larsens.  On that cruise, I tried really hard not to drink or overeat. I wanted just to stay the same during that cruise.  My efforts brought me a SIX pound GAIN!  And that was when I was trying to behave.  Geez, I can only imagine what this cruise is going to do to me when I am planning to PARTY and DRINK.  LOL!

I am not taking my computer or using any internet time on this cruise.  I was be returning Monday evening and weigh myself Tuesday morning.  I promise to write a blog on December 24 to report the damage from the cruise.  I also do not think I can do much about it until the second week of January.  The Herschlers will be returning with us after the cruise and staying until Saturday, Dec. 28.  We will be eating out a lot while they are with us.  Also on Dec. 29 we are taking off on another cruise, 8 days on the Holland America Ryndam out of Tampa with the Solivita Travel Club.  We return on January 5.  So.....guess what my New Year's Resolution is going to be?   Hahahahahhah!!!!

Meanwhile here are a few pictures to hold you until next week.  We went to see Universal Studios on Sunday to see the Macy's parade and balloons.  Then we went to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on Monday to see the Osborne Lights.  At the end are some pictures of the Celebrity Constellation from our cruise in March of 2010.  Enjoy and talk to you on Christmas Eve!

We had lunch at Emeril's, at Universal's City Walk, using my gift card from Lowell.

It was chilly and gray on Sunday evening as the parade went by.  Felt like being in NYC.

Even some Rockettes were there to dance before Santa lit up the big tree.

Monday we took a friend from Solivita with us to WDW.  She had not been there in 10 years.

We had lunch at the Beast's castle.

This is a gingerbread cupcake that Joan and I shared for dessert for dinner at the Commissary in the Studios.

We found the cat in the Osborne Lights right away.  It was the easiest spotting we have had.

If you have never been to the Osborne Lights, you owe it to yourself to go some year.  They are spectacular.

On the deck of the Constellation in San Diego for the sailaway party to Hawaii, March of 2010.

In cabin 3108 with the lei they gave us as we boarded.  I weighed only 210 in this picture and did not know anything about breast cancer.  Sadly, that would change in just a few short months.

The Constellation off the coast of Kailua Kona, Hawaii.

So much easier to put back on

Up over three pounds today.  Yeah, sad.

In one day I went from the elated posting yesterday of 232.4 to a dejected posting today of 236 this morning.  A gain of 3.6 pounds.  I am always so surprised by this!  Wow!

Of course, I shouldn't have hopped on that scale this morning because then I wouldn't know.

Also, I'm sure it is sodium and water retention.  I had a normal breakfast and a great dinner prepared by Mark.  Lunch, however, ended up being at a pizza place.  LOL! Yeah, pizza.  We had been out at the opthamologist, then Staples, then Wal Mart, then Publix, and it was suddenly 1 p.m.   We were starving.  The pizza place was right next to Publix, and Mark had recently read it was the number one rated restaurant in Poinciana.  How could we not go in for lunch? 

We each ordered the lunch special: two slices of cheese pizza and a fountain drink for $4.99.  What a steal!  I thought the pizza was delicious, but Mark thought is was just okay.  We both had to agree the slices were HUGE.  I think the two slices were half a pie!  And I ate it all.  Hm....I'm seeing a lot wrong with yesterday.  LOL!

Today I am hosting a Mah Jongg lesson with two neighbors and a friend from Solivita who is a few streets away.  Two of us are regular players on Monday at Maureen's house. My friend from a few streets away has played only a few times, and the fourth lady is a complete new-comer to the game.  She lives on our street!  I thought she should learn.  So that's from 10 to noon today. 

Around 3 we are driving to Lakeland for the NARFE Board Meeting and dinner.  I'm making my cheese, crackers, and grapes platter to take as our contribution.  Depending on what everybody else brings, it could also be our only dinner.  You never know at a pot luck!

Good Weigh-In

Last Wednesday I am sure I hopped on the scale because I hop on and off several times every morning unless Mark hides it.  What didn't happen was writing it down.  I guess I was so busy with Rhoda that day that I just forgot to write it down.

Well, I'm not about to let that happen again.  This morning my weight is a new low, 232.4.

The Lose It! program has deducted some more calories from my plan, bringing me down to 1294 calories a day.  This is the first time it has taken me below the 1300 mark.  I think it's going to be challenging to stay below 1300 every day, but I'm going to try. 

Two weeks ago, I reported my weight at 233.4, so I have lost only one pound in two weeks, but I'm very happy about that.  It's been a challenging two weeks with Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, a week with Evey and Eric and four days with Rhoda. I also had 7 nights of dress rehearsals and concerts.  I was busy, but I ate well!  I now have one week before we drive to Fort Lauderdale next Wednesday for our anniversary cruise.  Whooeee! 

This will be a challenging week of meals in restaurants before we leave on the cruise.  My goal is going to be to stay the same.  With any luck, I might drop a pound, but it will be quite tough.  Here's my schedule for this week:
Today: normal, all three meals at home
Thursday:  b'fast and lunch at home, dinner as "heavy hors d'oeuvres" in the home of our NARFE president for a board meeting
Friday:  b'fast and lunch at home, but dinner is a Christmas party for the library volunteers
Saturday: b'fast and lunch at home, but dinner out with friends at Lakeside restaurant
Sunday: b'fast at home, but lunch and dinner at Universal Studios
Monday: b'fast at home, but lunch and dinner at Walt Disney World, probably MK and the Studios
Tuesday: all three meals at home

So the week is bookended by having a day with all three meals at home, but there are a LOT of meals out.  Hopefully walking and exercise will keep me the same and compensate for any extra calories consumed.

We shall see!

The cast party for Guys and Dolls was fantastic.  We sat with our friends Donna and Al, and we all danced for about two hours!  I'm sure the dancing helped me burn off the apple cobbler and ice cream!

A Week Flies By

For my most loyal readers (and you know who you are!), I must apologize for leaving you high and dry for a full week.  I know I've done this before, and usually it's always for the same reason-- TOO BUSY!

We had a lovely time with Rhoda, and she left on Thursday to visit other friends near Fort Lauderdale.  By now she is back up north in the snowstorm.  So sorry, Rhoda!  Mark and I had a NARFE meeting in Plant City that same day, where he was installed as the new Executive VP of our chapter. 

Wednesday night and Thursday night were the dress rehearsals for Guys and Dolls, followed by three fabulous performances.  They all went well, and it reminded me how much I really love singing in a chorus!  This chorus and it's director, Ellen Factor, are truly fabulous.

Then yesterday Mark bought his new used car.  He got a 2011 silver Ford Focus at Carmax in Orlando, just north of the airport.  The whole experience was possibly one of the best car buying experiences we ever had, and we've had plenty of good ones.

In Maryland, we bought our first car from Evelyn Betancourt at Sheehy Ford in Marlow Heights a long time ago.  It was the pink Ford Aspire in the fall of 1994.  She worked very hard to find that car for Mark, and she shared a name with my daughter!  We continued to work with her for the next 14 years and bought a total of EIGHT cars from her, 6 new ones and 2 used ones:  the Aspire, a Windstar minivan, a Mustang for Lowell, a Malibu Maxx for Evey, and FIVE Focuses.  On the last purchase, I joked that if I bought a ninth car from her, I should get one FREE!  She laughed but admitted that was unlikely! 

So now that we are down here, we didn't really know where to go for a car purchase.  Our mechanic at All Cars suggested Carmax and his son-in-law, Brian Berry, who works there as a salesman.  Mark got online and found a car perfect for his needs, not too old, low mileage, not too expensive.  He found the 2011 silver Focus, with only 16, 092 miles on it, for $13, 599.  He put a hold on it for a week through the website to guarantee it was waiting for us yesterday.  He called Brian, who pre-approved him for a loan at 1.9% right over the phone, and made an appointment for yesterday at 10:15 a.m.  Everything went off without a hitch once we arrived.  We loved the car, as we knew we would, and in just two hours we drove off to a celebratory lunch at Longhorn Steakhouse.  Fantastic.

This car has more bells and whistles than anything we have ever owned.  It has a three month subscription to Sirius radio included, SYNC technology to play music from separate devices, hands free phone capability, a moon roof, heated leather seats, ABS brakes, traction control, all power everything, cruise control, and more.  I'm sure many of you reading this blog have had these things for years, but Mark had hand cranking windows, a cassette player, and nothing with power!  He's in shell shock!  I hope to take some pictures of him with his new "toy" and post them tomorrow.  I'm also not sure when we will ever need to use the heated seats or traction control, but you never know.

Tonight is the cast party for Guys and Dolls, and I have a mani-pedi this afternoon.  We hope to get to line dancing this morning because we haven't been there in a long time, and we miss it.  Life is still great here in sunny Florida.  I hope all of our friends and family up north are hunkering down in the snowstorms and don't hate us too much if we go swimming in the outdoor pool today after line dancing!

Of course, I had to take Rhoda on the Boggy Creek airboat ride and hold Brutus when we were done.  I don't know why I love that so much, but I do!

Mark was installed as Exec VP of our NARFE chapter.

Waiting to perform on the final night when Mark was there to take pictures.

Singing in a large group, or even a small group, is a healthy experience for the body and mind.

There are 112 of us this year under the capable direction of Ellen Factor.

Smaller group, a women's ensemble, sang "I Say a Little Prayer for You"