Lunchtime Thoughts

It's lunchtime and the microwave is heating up my Smart Ones Chicken Parmesan. Kind of a letdown from the weekend's good eats. On Friday night after my photo shoot at Falls Park on the Reedy, we decided to give one of Angie's favorite restaurants, Mimi's Cafe, a try. Frank had the Seafood Fettuccine and I had the Grilled Chicken Tuscan Style. Both were pretty good ... I think mine was the best. It was delicious grilled chicken sauteed with garlic, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, squash and sun dried tomatoes. I chose the version with mashed potatoes instead of rice even though they were about 2 points more. It was worth it. The flavors of the vegetables with the creamy potatoes ... yummy! Anyway, we left we some complimentary free muffins (because it was our first time there ... how nice.) I had my low fat blueberry muffin on Sunday and took a bite from the buttermilk spice this morning. It was really good but probably more points than I would want to think about giving up today. Maybe I will just take a small bite for two more days and spread the points out. The restaurant definitely gets a "thumbs up." Thanks, Angie, for the recommendation.

PS We also got to use our gift card for Whole Foods while we were there. Thanks again, Angie.

Falls Park Garden Stroll

Falls Park, Greenville, SC

Yesterday, Frank took me to Greenville so I could try to find some pretty flowers to take pictures of. This is one of my favorites. I will add more later today. We are on our way to a (wet) company picnic for Frank.

3.6!

So my first weigh-in this trip around the WWW (Weight Watchers World) - I lost 3.6 pounds. Wow, only 71.4 to go. MUST. TAKE. THIS. JOURNEY. ONE. DAY. AT. A. TIME! You know I am surprised Jenny Craig didn't play up that theme with Valerie Bertinelli's weight loss!

Family Bowling Night

Last night we had our first Family Bowling Night and it was a lot of fun! There were 14 of us (Frank, Me, Amanda, Amy, Atley, Nick, Joanna, Ethan, Harmony, Xyla, Tiffany, Shawn, Andrea, and Justin) and we met at Sonic, had some eats and headed to the bowling alley! Zack even showed up after work, but not in time to get into the bowling.

Here's my Top 10 List of Things I Learned at Family Bowling Night:

1) Never walk up behind Atley when he is getting ready to bowl (right, Amy? How's the chin today?)

2) Amy has quite the competitive nature when challenged by Shawn

3) Harmony doesn't like to lose! She was really cute though when she knocked the pins down, blowing kisses and high-fiving everyone afterwards.

4) It takes 3 lanes to accommodate 12 bowlers

5) Nick is a great bowler - until Zack shows up! Guess big brother made him nervous, but before Zack arrived, Nick had only one open frame going into his 7th. Still he ended up with a 116!

6) It's okay to fall down when you are bowling, as long as the end result is a STRIKE (right, Frank? He said it was all strategy.)

7) If you volunteer to bowl for someone else, don't be surprised if it turns out to be a strike (right, Andrea? She bowl for Joanna twice, throwing strikes both times)

8) Just because someone throws 2 strikes in a row doesn't mean they'll get a third (right, Tiffany? After Andrea threw a strike for Joanna, then for herself, Tiffany thought, "Why not, she seems to be on a roll" and let her throw for her. Her third time up? ONE pin!)

9) Putting all the girls on one team and expecting them to finish at the same time as the rest of us and with decent scores ... NOT going to happen!

and last but not least,
10) If you invite 'em, expect 'em! I was so thrilled with the turnout! We will definitely have to do it again!

Happy Birthday, Tamara

May you be one of the fortunate few whose day is bright and fair, whose sky is blue, whose friends are true, and who finds joy everywhere on this day that's so special all because of you!

Happy Birthday!

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Look What We Did!

(photo removed for publication)
I admit it - I pretty much went to all the trouble to dye these eggs just so I would have something to take pictures of with my new camera. Cool, unh?

Can you tell I am going crazy with the new camera?

No More Film!

Oh and I got a call from Mom and Dad. They made it back and it sure sounds like they had a great time!

Counting Points Again ....

So today I officially start counting points again. I am going to try and focus on the positive fact that I haven't gained ALL of it BACK yet, instead of getting down about still having so far to go. According to the scales at home I will need to lose 70 pounds to get to my goal. I will admit I am ashamed to say that I have put back on about 25 pounds since this time last year. WOW! Isn't it amazing how quickly it adds up? To start this road again, I know that I must fess up and put it all out here for you all to see and to hold me accountable. Heather, my supervisor at work, and I will be going on Wednesdays at noon. She is a skinny little thing if you ask me, but she says she really needs to go and needs a friend, too. Now that I have my real estate people trained to turn their stuff in on Tuesdays for the most part, I should be able to make the Wednesday meetings again. Of course the down side is that Julia is no longer there on Wednesdays. She has moved to Tuesday nights and I am just not a night meeting person. I wasn't overly impressed with Linda, the lady who replaced Julia, but she wasn't too bad. She was quick, though. She must start right at 12 and we were out of there by 12:30 last week. I went with Heather last week to see if it was someone I could take as there was one leader I just could not listen to every week. Thank goodness it wasn't her! Anyway, today will be my first official weigh in and have chosen my blue jean dress as my weigh-in dress. I know that denim weighs more than some materials I could have chosen but I decided that would be a good thing to really make me try harder. I am expecting to have to lose 20% just to get me back to where I was a year ago this month. To save you the trouble of looking back at last year's posts, as of March 14, 2007, I had lost 53.4 pounds and was hoping to reach 55 pounds total by the end of March. It took me until sometime mid-May to reach the mark and then it was uphill from there on out. Between mom being in the hospital and me accepting a new position with lots more responsibilities and more pressing deadlines, I gave up! It's true. I admit it. (They say confession is good for the soul, I hope so, but it sure doesn't feel that good right now.) Anyway, I admit that I got tired of counting points, tired of weighing in, just tired of it all. And now it shows again. So I am asking you all now, please pray for me and for the strength and willpower it takes to get back into this. I WANT TO DO THIS! I think! LOL. Anyway, you can't be lazy and take on this endeavor and right now I feel lazy. Maybe rainy days are bad days to start again, but Heather and I promised each other and I have promised myself, too. I know I am rambling so you can stop reading when you want to if you haven't already. This post needs some pictures ... right? So how about we start off with a BEFORE picture of me. Didn't do this part last time but think I will post a picture each week of me. Maybe it will help me to actually see what everyone else sees ... the good and the bad! Gonna go find my camera. TTFN.

5 Years at War? Wow!

This date in History?

US enters war in Iraq. (Did I hear from someone that Nate was getting to come home this month?)

Did you know that about $1 billion was taken from Iraq's Central Bank by Saddam Hussein and his family, just hours before the United States began bombing Iraq. It is the biggest bank robbery in history. Think they knew what was about to happen? Weird.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I can't help but think about Pop on this day.

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall softly on your fields
And until we meet again, May God hold
you in the hollow of his hand

New Candy & Selection Sunday

Have you tried these yet? Frank and I shared a bag and they are pretty good. He describes them as "tootsie roll bits with m&m coatings." They were chewy and chocolaty and though I have never been a fan of the original skittles, I thought these were pretty tasty.

So, who watched the NCAA Selections? Can't wait to get my bracket and make my picks. Love this time of year ... and love that my Tarheels are the overall Number One Seed! Go Heels!
Thought it was cool that Louisville, Duke, and Tennessee all got high seeds, too. In fact, if things goes as planned, we could see a UNC vs UT battle in a couple of weeks. Won't that be exciting? Make your picks and then keep me updated through the comments section (Amanda, I will be counting on you for the updates of each round from the Etowah side of the family.)

I guess Mama will get a late start on making her picks as her and Daddy left today on a cruise to the Bahamas. Let us all pray for good weather and safe passage. I'm still not sure about them taking another cruise. Angie and I got them one for their 40th Wedding Anniversary five years ago and when I asked them how it was the first thing Daddy said was, "I can't wait to get some real food. I am going to Cracker Barrell." Anyway, this one is through Templeton Tours and Charles Stanley, the famous evangelist from Atlanta, will be on board. Anyway, I hope they have a better time this trip. Can't wait to hear the details.

Just starting to bloom!

Journaling on page: "When my sister turned 40 in March '08, I decided she should have a surprise party with old and new friends and with family and I decided I wanted it to be bright and cheery -more fabulous and 4o than a dark over the hill party - and so I made her a cupcake cake complete with 40 cupcakes." The flowers on the layout were actually used on the cupcakes, too.

I found the cupcake tree at AC Moore and Mom made the 40 cupcakes. The tree holds 38 that we topped with silk flowers from the dollar store and then we filled the tops of the last two cupcakes with 20 candles each! I thought it accomplished my theme very nicely. Isn't it nice to think that at 40, we're really just starting to bloom rather than that we're already over the hill? I think so, too.

And here is the video with the rest of the pictures from the party. Most of the folks there are Angie's friends from Biltmore Baptist and from their church in Greenville. I knew how to get Mom & Dad and Amanda and Amy there, but I had no idea who else to invite. That's where Gene came in handy. When I talked to him, he was all for it! We first thought about having it at their house and he would get her out while Mom and I decorated. Then he remembered the house in Sherwood Forest and said he would check with a friend about holding it there. Once that was okayed, he had to talk Angie into going. This was most likely the HARDEST part of all the plans. For two weeks, Gene has to listen to Angie whine and complain about what a stupid idea it was to drive all the way to Cedar Mountain just to spend the night and then travel all the way to Knoxville (to see UT play SC.) She complained about it to Mama, she complained about it to me, and she obviously complained A LOT about it to Gene. After the shock of the surprise wore off, she just kept repeating, "I can't believe I said those things to him." We're not sure what she said, but we're pretty sure she has forgiven him and he has probably forgiven her, too.

Enjoy the video, and if you are one of the great friends who helped bring all the food and fellowship to this event ... THANK YOU!

12 of 12 ... the Scrapped Version March 08

Special thanks to Cathy Zielske for the template to hold the photos. Love the idea of doing these as 8.5 by 11 - Will make it a nice way to save them.

Today's 12 Photos from the 12th of March

I try to remember to carry my camera with me every day, but on the 12th of each month, I get a reminder from the 12 of 12 Blog Site

These are my photos from today, beginning with 12:12 AM - the time I went to bed. Most people take the picture when waking up, but I thought last night since I was going to bed so late, "Why not?" The show continues with visits to John Johnson Ford, Fletcher Rec Park, Frank's new work, and finally, Matthew's baseball practice. And since I love the Carpenters so much and I can't "sing without my camera" I chose a favorite oldie for the background.

These are my favorite 12 shots from the 12th of March. It may seem boring, but hey, it's my reality.

Wow, This is so cool

My work website, www.blueridgenow.com is now showing video. This one is from Matt's game against Erwin last night. You can read the entire story on Matthew's Sports Blog.

Date Night

See a good deal and make it a date night! Every week Frank comes home at least one night and tells me that Tuesday night is bowling special night. Last Tuesday, I decided to go by Sonic and bring home a surprise rt44 Cranberry slushy for Frank and discovered that Tuesdays are 99 cent slushy and 1/2 price Sonic Burger nights. So, on Sadie Hawkins Day (February 29) I decided to ask Frank out on a date - a cheap date! So tonight was the night, we enjoyed our Sonic Cranberry Slushies and Burgers and then bowled three games at Tarheel Lanes. I won all three games (Frank told me it was okay to brag) - my first game was 125, then 141, then 119. That middle game is always my best!

Now, two weeks from now, all the kids will be on Spring Break and I think we will make it Family night. So if you are reading this and would like to join us, feel free to! We will meet at Sonic at 6:30 pm for cheap burgers and slushies and then make our way over to Tarheel Lanes. Bowling is $9.00 for three games and shoes! When I say you are invited ... I mean all of you! I know it's a week night, but who cares, it's great exercise and it will be nice to see everyone.

"Matt, " said Coach Hyatt,

"Your JV career is over." Now, when we girls heard that, we're thinking, "Oh my gosh." But Matthew, who knows he is a good player, knew exactly what Coach Hyatt meant. He meant, "NO MORE JV, YOU ARE NOW ON THE THE VARSITY TEAM!" WOW! So cool, Matthew and Zak Beard are the only sophomores to make the Varsity Baseball Squad. As you can imagine. We're pretty darn proud.

(Reprinted from Matt's Sports Blog.)

Did you see this promise a few minutes ago?

This was taken just a few minutes ago from our parking lot at work. We were all standing outside to look at this amazingly bright and gorgeous DOUBLE rainbow. It was so beautiful. You could see the arches so clearly and see both ends (well close anyway.) Patrick Sullivan took this shot. Stupid me left my camera laying on the couch this morning. UGH!

Happy Birthday, Angie

For some reason, people think when you turn 40 you should automatically remember the past as if from here on out it will be harder and harder to remember it ... haha! It has been true for me for the last 15 months, so maybe they are right! Hope it's a good birthday and honestly 40 is not that bad! Happy Birthday!