Doubt

Saw this Oscar nominee today - the cast was amazing, I have to say - definitely Oscar level. I don't think the black lady that plays the mom will win- not that she wasn't great - she was! but the black lady in Benjamin Button had a much bigger role, more critical I think - On the other hand Amy Adams was great so who knows... Hoffman also great - it was kind of uncomfortable for me - I don't care for so much religion in the setting, but Carol said she didn't really notice it, so maybe it was just me. Next up at the movies is.... Milk! I lived in CA during this time and have vague memories of Milk so it should be interesting. I wouldn't mind living in SF.. Maybe that will be my next move - I know I'll never live in the north again.

Work sucks!

OK - maybe it's just temporary, but it has not been a good couple of days. I find myself in a 'punch-in' kind of job for only the second time in my life and I am not a 'punch-in' kind of girl. Yesterday I walked in and was a few minutes early so I started looking at a paper and the next thing you know it was past 'punch-in' time... shit... I had to email my time clock manager, the boss and the HR lady to get it fixed. Of course there was a meeting and a penalty involved. Yuck... I have now programmed Outlook reminders and attached a large yellow sticky note to my monitor, but who knows.. even that may not work...Does punching a time clock mean they get their money's worth? Not really, they'd get more 'free' time if I didn't have to punch it... oh well, they don't get it.

Retire?

Well, I will probably never retire given the financial setbacks we've had lately, but I was happy to see that some people are doing it, and finding new careers as artists. That would be my dream. Check out this lady http://www.candelorifineart.com/, right here in my own back yard! Aren't her paintings gorgeous? Dale and I have agreed that I might as well give up on painting, but I still love to putter. I know I should write, that's where I really disappear into the work, oh well, maybe someday.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This is the best book I have read in a long time! If you are a reader, you've got to get it! It's by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It starts in London and moves to the Channel Islands right after WWII - the Channel Islands sound loke a great place to be, although maybe I just want to go back to the 40's - yes the war was awful and the occupation was horrendous, but I would like to live in a time when we didn't all head to the office every day.

Anyway, the book is told through letters and surprisingly it really works! It works so well that if I was 'free' I would be on my way to live there immediately.. although I suppose the place is commercialized like everywhere else by now... anyone ever been there?

Give Blood!

I gave blood today for the first time in a long time! Usually my blood floats! But this time it didn't, I don't know if it's because I'm menopausal or because I've been eating my spinach! Anyway, it's such an easy way to do something good and helpful to people. It took about 15 minutes to do the paperwork and the initial blood test and about 6 minutes to fill up the bag with blood. I refused the juice and cookies which was a mistake, because I had a headache for the rest of the afternoon, but I'll be back to normal by tomorrow. You can't give if you weigh less than 115 pounds, but if you're that skinny, I hate you anyway (haha!)!

Kiva.org

I had enough repayments on Kiva to make another $25 loan today. Apparently they are having trouble qualifying people fast enough to keep the site loaded with people who need loans. This time I lent to a woman in Nicaragua who runs a grocery store. I've also loaned to Pakistan, Cambodia and Tajikstan. (I don't even know where Tajikstan is!) I like being able to do something global. If you've never looked at their site, you should -www.kiva.org.

Inauguration day! I understand why African Americans are so excited, it is a great day to see how far America has come, however I hope they are not disappointed because Barack Obama is not just black, he's young, he's multi-racial, he's global, he's technologically savvy. I don't think he's here to make thing right for black people- he's definitely a new generation of president, a president for the younger generation, and I for one am happy to have him. Maybe we can finally make some progress/

The portrait to the right was made by Elizabeth St. Hilaire and it is my understanding it is available on ebay. To see more of Elizabeth's work check out this link http://elizabethsthilairenelson.blogspot.com/2009/01/rays-of-hope-on-ebay.html . I especially love the roosters!

Employed!

I got the job and I start tomorrow! Yay!

7 Days of success..

Well, we've both made it a whole week! Dale doesn't smoke and I don't eat (well not junk anyway) Dale says it's 14 days to a new habit, but I think it's more. Going back to BLS tomorrow, hope it's a yes with some decent money... Weather's yucky - having a cold spell - going to be in the 60's!
Read a good book - Home Another Way - easy read, but really well written I thought.

Gym

Dale and I got up and went to the gym! Can't believe it! He's struggling through non-smoking day 6, and I'm struggling with not eating too much, yuk! Had a job interview today - I thought it went pretty well, we'll see. Sounded interesting though - I'd be working on writing settlement brochures - looked that up when I came home - seemed pretty interesting. Mailed Ry her package with her new purse - I am now the 'best mom ever', but probably won't last long...haha.

8 miles..

.. is a long way! Thought I'd better get going on that half-marathon prep, but I might have jumped the gun just a little - I was ok for about 6 miles, but the last couple were harder. Started to have a sore hip, and just on the verge of blisters, but I didn't get any. I was SO thirsty - I might have to try and figure out how to drink on long walks when there isn't an 'event' supporting me. I'm also wondering if 13.1 is really a good idea! Didn't do much else today, I'm getting pretty excited about my interview tomorrow at, you guessed it - Bruce L Scheiner. I think if I was 30 I'd go back and get a law degree - but it's too late now I think...

Prom

OK - this post is expecially for Carol. Hi Carol! This is our prom picture from May? 1972. What do you think? Have we changed much? (Don't answer that) Yes, we met in choir in 1971. We got married 35 years later. Talk about your long courtship!

Bike Night

Kinda grumpy today - think I'm feeling deprived or something related to this diet stuff... We played 18 holes of golf, I played ok - Tonight we went down to 'Bike Night' - I had no idea there were so many motorcycles in Fort Myers! I bet there were a couple of thousand! Everybody dressed in Harley gear - drinking beer - apparently 'smoking is bad for you' hasn't made much of an impact on the biker crowd. Great band - Cracker Blues? Richard Cranium? Anyway - I'd go see them again anytime -

Walking it off..

I don't remember if I mentioned that I signed up for half-marathon in Tampa on March 1st. Today I walked 4 miles - no problem, but a little slow. I wrote out a training plan for the next 7 weeks to get myself ready - don't know if it's long enough, but I'm still bound to be in a lot better shape than I was for Alburquerque!

We're trying to set up a place for Ryanne to do her first marathon. I think we've decided on Madison, WI over Memorial Day weekend. (but we haven't signed up yet) Ry would do the marathon, I'd do the half, and Dale might even do a 5 or 10 K! Very exciting!

As far as the 'new' eating life goes, so far so good. Tonight was salad night - a big success!

Change our lives day...

Well, we cleaned out the cupboards and the fridge and went to the store. We bought all healthy food based on our meals... Dale got a salt substitute and he's quitting smoking. I am losing 20 pounds. We are both going to be exercising more. Of course I have a half-marathon in Tampa on the 1st of March... wouldn't it be great if I lost 10 pounds by then?? Harley and I walked around the lake.. maybe I can get thinner, too bad I can't get younger! Here's a picture of me... maybe 23? Same age as Ryanne?

Home Again, Home Again

Harley and I made it back from GA today - We stopped in New Smyrna Beach to scope out where the Artist Workshop is, and where my Paper Painting Workshop will be in February. What a cute little town! Harley and walked around and scoped out a couple of Bed and Breakfasts which I hope to stay at. Maybe I can talk Dale into coming along. Here are the journals Mary Ann and I made after eating Mexican Food and drinking Margaritas!

Jekyll Island, GA

After checking the weather on two sites, we decided to run down I-95 and check out Jekyll Island. The weather sites were wrong, the fog never really lifted. We still had fun checking out the fishing pier and Driftwood Beach (lots of dead trees and gnats, no shells). Had lunch at Blackbeard's - really big portions. Blackbeard's is on the water, but the fog was so thick, we couldn't see that far.

On New Year's Day, Harley (dog) and I drove up to Pooler, GA (right outside Savannah) to spend a few days with Mary Ann. Although we haven't seen any actual live cows, we have seen a lot of cow 'stuff'. For example, here is a giant cow mailbox - the bottom of the mailbox is at least 20 feet off the ground.. We also saw and inflatable cow, and a large cow statue in front of some building... if I had known it was the theme, I would have taken pictures of those too!