Gaining and getting scared

Last Monday I did not report my weight, but I did report it on Tuesday.  I was 255.5 last week, and I am the same this week.  I actually had gone down to 249.5, as I reported once last week, but it all found me again.  I am not happy about what the scale is saying, but I must confess I've enjoyed eating.  Well, I always enjoy eating.

What's getting me scared is my mother-of-the-groom dress!  I tried the skirt on this morning, and it's a little tight.  I have less than two weeks to get some weight off, and there are SO many challenges ahead between now and then that losing weight at this point seems impossible.  The good news is that I can do a lot of walking, also, but if I continue to overeat like this, the best I can hope for is to stay the same.  That will be sad, especially if the skirt and top don't look good.  My face is really puffy and fat right now, too, which doesn't look good in pictures. 

If any of you readers are my Facebook friends, you already saw all the pictures I took at the ballgame yesterday. I'm going to post them again here for anyone who reads this and is not on FB.  You can see in the picture how puffy my face looks.

Of course, we are having a fabulous time here in Maryland.  On Thursday we are heading to NJ to stay with our friends Vinny and Annette and to visit with Eric, Evey, and her in-laws, Marc and Leslie.  We will have TWO Fourth of July cook-outs.  I am not packing the scale, but I'll weigh-in next Tuesday when we get back to Cindy's house.  With any luck, I won't be higher than this.  A little lower would be better.

Here are the ballgame pictures from yesterday.

We met the kids at the stadium.

Mark with legendary Cal Ripken.

This is ten years out of date, but we all got free hats today, which Mark is wearing, that are replicas of the original one from 1954.

My soda cup announces that it's actually the sixtieth anniversary year of the Orioles.

This was a new food stand that sucked me in and added calories.

Oh, but they were DELICIOUS calories. The O shaped pretzel tasted better than the Mickey pretzels in WDW.

Great seats and perfect weather.  Too bad they lost 12-7.

At the end of the game, we took a picture of our shirts.  Emily and I both had Markakis shirts. 

Tourist in Baltimore

First, I'd like to report that I was down another three pounds this morning to 249.6. I suspect they will find me again tomorrow morning because of the lunch I ate out, but I'll get to that later in this blog.

This morning we had quite a lovely adventure.  We walked about 15 minutes from Cindy's house to the Linthicum Light Rail.  That station is exactly where Flyn and I used to cross the railroad tracks to walk from our house to elementary school back in the 1950s!  Crazy! 

We rode the light rail to the Convention Stop at Howard and Pratt.  Then we picked up the FREE Charm City Circulator bus at Pratt and Sharp, which took us to the corner of Lloyd and Lombard, right on the corner of the Jewish Museum of Baltimore.

We met our friends Annie, Debbie, and Debbie's husband Ed at the museum to see Project Mah Jongg, a visiting exhibit.  It was outstanding, far exceeding my expectation.  Mark and I used to be members of the museum, but we had not been there in at least six years, maybe more.  It was a lot of fun!  The exhibit actually had a table set up to play, so I played one game, but Debbie and Annie were able to play two games.  What a hoot!  We also went through the permanent collection as well.

After a few hours in the museum, we walked across the street to a Baltimore landmark, Attman's Deli.  It's kosher style, but they actually had some Hebrew National products, so I got a salami sandwich on rye with a bag of chips and a coddy. I'm pretty sure that was about 1,000 calories for lunch and tons of sodium, which is why I said those three pounds would be back tomorrow morning.

We then reversed our trip, and when we got back to Cindy's, we hopped in the car to do some errands.  Now we are home; Mark is putting something into the crockpot and doing laundry; I am writing a blog and catching up on Facebook.  GREAT DAY!!

We have arrived!  Debbie (on the right) was my Mahj teacher!

I have no idea what I was saying to make me look like this. LOL!

Annie and Debbie played a game with these two ladies while I wandered around the exhibit.  Debbie won!

One of my two favorite art pieces.

My other favorite painting.

I think everyone should have a floating Mah Jongg table.

The permanent collection.

Baltimore landmark!

LUNCH!  YUM!

Ed and Debbie at Attman's Deli

Having a fabulous trip so far.

It's been awhile since I wrote a blog, but you all know we've been busy and having fun!

I was going to write one yesterday to report the weight since it was Monday, but I never got around to it.  LOL!

Well, I guess it's a good thing that I'm still the same as when we left, 252.5.  Actually yesterday, Monday, I would have had to report a gain of three pounds, 255.6, but I behaved yesterday and lost those three in one day.  So this morning, Tuesday, I was 252.5.

None of that is good because I have failed at all my goals.  I had the goal of hitting 200 for the wedding.  Then the goal of 225.  Then the goal of 232, which I actually hit once a few months ago.  Then the goal of weighing just a smidge less than at Evey's wedding in 2011, which was about 246-248.  Unfortunately, I didn't put it in a blog.  LOL!  I just checked.  So now I'm hoping for the weight at Evey's wedding, somewhere between 246 and 248.

Today Mark and I took an hour long walk around Cindy's new neighborhood.  She lives very close to the childhood home I grew up in from ages 2-11.  We walked from her house to that old house and back, around a big square.  Along the way, I regaled Mark with stories of my childhood.  He was so tired that he went right to sleep when we got back!  Connection?  NAH!

I didn't have a camera with me today on that walk, but before we leave here, we will do that walk again and there will be lots of pictures!

When we first arrived, we had a great visit for three days with our friends Jeff and Sara, and Father's Day with Lowell and Emily and her parents. The next week was at the Eastern Naturist Gathering at Camp Westmont in Poyntelle, PA where we had a chance to reconnect with old friends, and I even directed a choir! Now we are spending 10 days with Cindy before heading to NJ for the Fourth of July festivities.

Here are a few pictures from the trip so far.

First night we arrived we had Shabbat dinner at the Oresky's house.  Sara and Phyllis lit the candles.

Celebrating Saul's new job as the rabbi in Boardman, OH

We brought Jeff and Sara an alligator paper towel holder.

Sara and I dressed as twins to go to services that first Saturday.

Saturday night we had dinner at a Thai restaurant in Gambrills, MD, visiting Dave and Linda S.

Father and son on Father's Day in Columbia, MD

Mark Lowell, Emily, and Phil in the restaurant on Father's Day

The three of us

The six of us

We strolled through the Columbia Arts and Crafts Festival after lunch.  Then we stopped for a break in some shade.

I also took a ton of pictures of Cindy's new house.  I'll include just a few of them here.

Last day at home for two months

This morning we will go do water aerobics for the last time for two months at the outdoor pool at Cypress Cove.  Then we will do some errands and shopping before returning home to PACK.  Yikes!  So much packing.  Tonight I have a choir rehearsal at the synagogue.

Whenever we mention we are leaving for two months, we are asked where are you going?  That's a natural question, and then I try to answer.  I can see their eyes start to glaze over because it's just so much.  Even my eyes glaze over when I think about it, which is why the packing is so daunting.  Yesterday I tried to list everything I want to pack. I kept going back and adding something else and then something else and then one more thing!  Our car will be stuffed.  The list is two columns and two pages long.   And that's just MY list!

So just so everyone who might see this knows, here is our itinerary.

June 12 drive to Florence, SC, about 500 miles
June 13 drive to Silver Spring, MD, another 500 miles, to stay 3 nights with the Rosens
June 14 go to Mishkan Torah and visit the Larsens
June 15 Father's Day luncheon with Lowell, Emily, and the Stackhouses in Columbia
June 16 drive to Poyntelle, PA, Camp Westmont
June 16-22  attend the Eastern Naturist Gathering  at Camp Westmont (This requires bringing our own bed linens, pillows, blankets, shower towels and wash rags, all toiletries, camp chairs, etc.)
June 23-July 2 spend time at Cindy's new house in Linthicum Heights, MD.  Very excited to see new house and spend some time with our MD friends
July 3-July 7 drive to NJ to visit Valerios, Gaertners, including Evey and Eric, bday fun for Annette V, two different Fourth of July cook-outs, and Aladdin on Broadway
July 8-9 Back at Cindy's house to get organized for THE WEDDING!
July 10 check into Wedding Hotel, Hilton Garden Inn in Frederick, MD, rehearsal dinner at night
July 11  mani/pedi day for the bride, bridesmaids, and moms  YAY!
July 12 Lowell and Emily's WEDDING at Morningside Inn, Frederick, MD
July 13 breakfast at hotel after wedding, then check out and go back to Cindy's for one night
July 14 fly to Rapid City and rent a car
July 14-July 23 tour SD, including Deadwood, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer Park, Badlands, Wall Drug, so much more
July 23 fly to Baltimore and spend one last night with Cindy
July 24 move into Lowell's house to house sit and dog sit while they go on their big Mediterranean cruise honeymoon
July 24-August 6 (my birthday), house sitting and visiting friends in the area
August 7 Lowell and Emily return from cruise, so we go back to Cindy's for the final few nights
August 8-10 stay at Cindy's and get together with L and E to hear about their big trip
August 11 drive to Florence, SC
August 12 drive back home.

Whew!  I'm exhausted just typing all that.  On the other hand there will be so much going on and so many changes that the two months will probably fly by.

Now it's time to shower and get on with the day.  I will be taking the computer in order to post blogs, pictures, photo albums, keep up with Facebook, etc.  There should be lots of pictures this summer!

Tomorrow I will not take the time in the morning to write a blog because we will be trying to get out of the house by 9 a.m.  It could take hours just to put everything in the car.  LOL!  The next blog will most likely be written from the Rosens house.

Maleficent

This morning I weighed in and learned that I'm still the same, 252.5.  I can't say I'm surprised because I didn't really try too hard.

OK, new topic.  Today we went to see the new Disney movie, Maleficent.  Although it's making a lot of money and Angelina Jolie is getting great reviews, the critics are mixed on it.  Well, forget them.  We loved it. It's a totally different story.  It's not about Sleeping Beauty!  It's about Maleficent, and we just enjoyed it very, very much.  Go see it!

It was a double feature day for us.  First we saw A Million Ways to Die in the West. Hm...it's embarrassing to say that we laughed ourselves silly even though this movie was stupid, immature, and gross in many, many ways.  I wouldn't recommend it unless you are in a mood to laugh at stupid, gross things. 

Yesterday we spent all day at the Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekend and Mark Hamill's first ever appearance at one of these.  Great fun!  It was our last serious Disney fix for two months!

Waiting for the morning parade

Billy Dee Williams is one of this weekend's guests!

Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker, said he now looks like Luke's grandfather!

Grilled veggie sandwich for lunch.

Star Wars Weekend

I apologize for waiting this many days between blogs.  We have been having fun, so sometimes I just never get around to writing.

There was also lots of going to shul, with services Tuesday night, Thursday morning, and Saturday morning.  Lovely services, and we will miss them when we head up north.

Today we are going to be Disney geeks all day.  It's one of the many Star Wars Weekends, and this one is featuring Mark Hamill.  For those non-Star Wars geeks, he was Luke Skywalker in the original three films and will be returning as Luke in the next upcoming new one.  We expect RIDICULOUS crowds.  We have a Fast Pass for Toy Story Mania, a ride absolutely impossible to do without a FP, so that will be fun.  We also have a FP for the Indiana Jones show, a fun show that doesn't really need a FP, and Mark took our third FP choice for Star Tours.  He figured with all the Star Wars geeks in the park it would be hard to get a ride.  I'm not into that ride, so I'll sit it out.  The new system of FastPass+ on the Magic Bands MAKES you take three Fastpasses, whether you want them or not. You don't have to use them, but to get the one you really want (Toy Story Mania), we have to take three we may or may not want or use.  This time we will use all three.

There will be a big special parade, featuring Mark Hamill, and a special stage show and fireworks at night.  There are no fireworks at the Studios regularly except as part of the Fantasmic show, so it's a treat to have a fireworks display over the hat.  Our Magic Ears Glow with the Show hats will work, so we are toting them along in the backpack along with rain ponchos.  It's summer now!  There's a 50% chance of rain all afternoon and evening and a 93 degree high temp predicted.  Typical summer day in central Florida!

Then there will be three whirlwind days leading up to our two month trip up north.  Busy days ahead.  I will be taking my computer on all parts of the trip.  I hope to post pictures on Facebook as well as on this blog.  I'll write blogs as often as I can. 

Now I need to decide if I should pack my scale or just let it be a surprise when we get home.  LOL!

Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, Giving of the Ten Commandments/Torah

It's an important Jewish holiday and Mark's personal favorite, but a lot of people we know, including Jews, have never heard of Shavuot.  Maybe as a group we just don't do a good enough job of promoting it.  Maybe we should get the stores and Hallmark involved.  LOL!

Last year it was on May 17 and we were up in Maryland, celebrating with our Mishkan Torah friends.  I wrote a blog about it last year.  I also wrote a much longer blog about what Shavuot really is for the May 27, 2012 blog when we were here.  In 2011 I mentioned it briefly, but if you want to read what it's all about go back to the 2012 entry. 

We are sort of out of it today because we did stay up all night, as tradition requires, last night.  We had to do it here in the house by ourselves this year because SOJC isn't into it.  Last year we were in MD and were able to stay with a nice group all night in the synagogue.  Still, we had a lot of fun here in the house, reading the Book of Ruth and watching a funky old movie about it.  I don't think I'd watch that movie again!  It was slow moving and not very accurate.  Still, it did keep us awake from 2 to 4:15 this morning!  We slept from about 7 to 1:30 today.  Now I'm just foggy-brained, like always after an all-nighter!

We are hoping to get ourselves together enough to go to the gym and do weights today.  It's Wednesday and it's what we do Monday-Wednesday-Friday.  Then later on Mark is going to make a new recipe of low carb cheese blintzes for dinner.  Dairy food is traditional for the holiday.  We had bagels with lox at 6:30 this morning for breakfast.  We'll have blintzes and cheesecake for dinner.  Nice!

Still the Same

Last blog reported that I had gone down last Monday by 8.5 and back up FIVE on Tourist Tuesday. 

Now it's Monday again and those five are still here.  Today's weight is 252.5.  Sad, but true.

Well, what should I expect when I ate lunch out every single day from Tuesday through yesterday plus dinner out once.  I did a lot of exercise, but I ate large lunches in restaurants every day.  So, I stayed the same.  I'm grateful I didn't gain more.  I actually gained all of those five in one day and then stayed the same the next six days. 

Today is a new week, but it has challenges as well.  The holiday of Shavuot starts Tuesday night. Mark is making blintzes and cheesecake.  Of course, the good news is that he is making his own, so they will be low-carb.  Hopefully that will help.  I will be eating lunch out tomorrow because I'm having "The Works" at the salon, mani/pedi plus hair cut and color.  The appointment will run from 10 a.m. to around 3:30 in the afternoon.  If I'm smart and take the time, I'll pack a small sandwich.

I will switch topics now and congratulate my good friend Rabbi Saul Oresky for landing his first pulpit job at a synagogue in Boardman, Ohio, near Youngstown.  Mazel Tov, Saul!  That is a wonderful thing.  I only hope Mark and I have the chance to see him in action in his new shul someday.