Where does the time go? Just busy, as usual

I decided to write a blog today and was SHOCKED to see that the last one was Feb. 10.  Crazy!  Today is Feb. 22.  I rarely let 12 days go between blogs.  For those who have been regular readers, I apologize for letting you down.  At this point, maybe nobody is reading anymore because if you kept checking and checking and finding nothing, sooner or later you are just going to stop looking.  Sigh.  I'm sorry.

So much has been going on that I barely know where to start.  I can't even go back and talk about all of it.  We have been busy with rehearsals for Laughter on the 23rd Floor and Starliters.  We had a wonderful time on Valentine's Day.  We went to the Marcelline to Main Street tour at the Magic Kingdom with the Solivita Disney Fan Club, and we spent two glorious nights on Marco Island with our good friends, Vinnie and Annette.  I'm going to start with that.

We loved our time on Marco Island. It's beautiful!  Vinnie and Annette invited us to stay a few nights in their time share.  This time they had a huge, beautiful 3BR unit on the fourth floor.  Just gorgeous, with a beautiful view of the canals and lovely homes. On Thursday, we took a private tour for three hours, covering the history of the island, including a museum stop.  We also swam in the Gulf of Mexico!  I had never even really seen the Gulf of Mexico, let alone swim in it.  That was a dream come true, and I did not care how cold the water was.  I SWAM! 

This morning we participated in the Solivita Relay for Life Cancer Walk.  This was our fourth year.  Time flies!  Because I'm obsessed with my weight, I went back to my logs and checked my weight at each of the previous walks.  I was kind of surprised to see that I was at my lowest weight ever this morning for one of these walks.  In 2011, I weighed 249; in 2012, I weighed 255; in 2013, I weighed 266.  This morning I weighed 246.  I must admit I was surprised.

We completed the 1.5 mile course in just a few seconds over 30 minutes.  I was pretty excited about that!

Annette's daughter is getting married just a few days after Lowell.  He is on July 12 and Christine is on July 18.  (Christine is just a little older than Evey.)  So....Annette and I have made a pact to help each other lose 30 pounds by the wedding dates.  I have recently given her this blog's URL, so I hope she is able to log on and find it.  I hope she will post some comments on here, so we can all help support each other in our efforts.  She has already bought her MOB dress, but she isn't worried at all about having it taken in a size or two if she is successful.  I've been holding off on getting my MOG dress because I've wanted to wait to see what size I am.

I have been way off track lately, which is why I weighed 246 this morning.  In early December, I had gotten down to 232.  At that point, I was sure I could hit 210, or even 200, by the wedding.  But instead of going down, I regained 14 pounds.  UGH!  Now I'm hoping to lose 30 by the wedding and be at 216 or thereabouts for the wedding. Not my original goal, but still a very attainable goal. I would feel good at 216 and look much better than I do now. 

In between then and now, as always, there are many challenges:  parties, many trips out of town, several sets of overnight guests, special restaurant meals, and even a week of Passover!    This never changes.  Whenever I think about a week and trying to get through it successfully, I report all the stumbling blocks in front of me.  So far, I've been stumbling on all of them and then not getting back up on the horse, so to speak.  In order to lose 30 pounds by July 12, I have to jump over those stumbling blocks, or pick them up and toss them out of my way, or walk around them.  SOMETHING!   ANYTHING!  There have to be no excuses and no cheating.  I have done it before.  Yes, I have!  I can do it again.  Yes, I can!  I WILL!

This morning, for the first time in MONTHS, I opened up the Lose It! app on my phone and programmed my breakfast.  I also walked that mile and a half, burning 127 calories doing it.  I am off to an excellent start today.

I will close this blog with a few pictures from the last few weeks, especially swimming in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday. 

VALENTINE'S DAY
Mark got me this beautiful triple Mickey necklace for Valentine's Day.  Haha!  I got him a boning knife and an egg separator.  It was also the day we had our DVC breakfast for new owners at the top of Bay Lake Towers.

MARDI GRAS AND BARENAKED LADIES CONCERT AT UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
The night after Valentine's Day, we went to US for the parade and concert.  The BNL played for an hour and 20 minutes!  We sat on a bench where we could easily hear them, see them live (itty bitty in the distance), and watch them on the big screen.  It was a lot of fun, but it was a cold night, in the 40s.

MARCO ISLAND
We drove four hours on Wednesday, after our rehearsal, to get to Marco Island, which is on the west coast about the same latitude as Miami. The Valerios and their other friends, Jim and Susan, were waiting for us and called out for an Italian dinner to be delivered.  Thursday we toured and swam and had one of the most fabulous fish dinners EVER.  After a leisurely breakfast Friday morning, we headed home, which took nearly six hours.  It is close to 200 miles from our house but totally worth the drive.

This picture doesn't show the sparkle of the beautiful Swarovski crystals.

At the breakfast they let me take the coloring book and crayons laid out for the kids!

Beautiful view from the top of Bay Lake Towers.

Looking at our new "home", the Villas at the Grand Floridian.

Mark made me a special dinner that night, including a watermelon martini.

 

 

Mardi Gras at Universal Studios.

View from our bench at the BNL concert.

View from the balcony at Sunset Cove on Marco Island.

Looking at the dining room and kitchen from the living room.

Our first stop on the tour

The Marco Island cat was found buried under shell mounds during housing construction.  This is a large replica of a small statue, which is housed in the Smithsonian.

Mock up of a  Calusa chief on a shell mound.  The Calusas were here for thousands of years, but finally were all gone by the 1700s due to disease from the Spaniards and being killed off on purpose.

Nature walk. I picked up a pod from a Poinciana tree.  Good for using as a maraca!

Sample of the homes we drove past!

With Vinnie and Annette outside the timeshare building.

Vinnie and Mark setting up our campsite on South Beach.  The sand is hardpacked and easy to walk on, with shoes, because it's crushed shells.

The sun and air are warm, but the water is COLD!

Didn't care about the cold.  I was determined to swim.

Warming up in the condo hot tub later.

Vinnie and Annette in the parking lot at the restaurant for dinner.

Lovely visit with Mark's high school friend.  Nice.

This restaurant was highly recommended for its fish, and it lived up to the hype.  Delicious dinner!