Thursday 3-8-2018                                                          

On Monday morning at 4:45 A.M I discovered that me and my luggage do not get along.  I was packed and ready to head to the airport for St Louis. Of course I was running a little late.  I zipped my suitcase and started to put the little handle pulley thing down when I realized it was stuck.  It would not go down. I vaguely remember the last time I had taken it somewhere it stuck like that at the airport and the skycap wouldn’t take it until I got the handle down because he said he didn’t want to damage it.  I should mention at this point I am very hard on luggage

After about ten minutes of struggling, cursing, and pouring a gallon of sweat, could this be considered cardio?, I realized I was not getting this handle down.

I ran down to the basement and grabbed another suitcase much larger than what I needed but the next best choice.  I quickly transferred the contents of the bad suitcase into this one.

This reminds me of the quote from Steel Magnolias where Clairee says to Ouiser “you know I love you more than my luggage”  I think it’s safe to say at this point I love everyone more than my luggage!!!!

I stayed in St Louis for several days for a meeting and didn’t have much time to see anything but the hotel. I stayed at the Renaissance Hotel  right at the airport. This is an easy stay I don’t have to get a car because the hotel has a free shuttle to and from the airport.

This hotel is really beautiful and I can tell you that every team member there has got hospitality going on.  The lobby area has lots of beautiful and comfortable seating. This is a great hotel.

Whenever I travel I like to take knitting with me so I brought a pair of socks I have been working on and this scarf.  I love this self striping yarn. Just when you get tired of a color you are ready to change. I don’t remember where I got this yarn I have a couple of skeins of it. I am using size 4.5 bamboo needles for this scarf and it is really simple cast on 22 stitches and knit every row.   Just straight boring knitting.  The kind I like. Sometimes.

So I am headed home this morning and while leaving the elevator at the hotel an eldery lady said “oh my that’s such a large suitcase” and I proceeded to tell her the story.

See y’all

Lisa

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Several weeks ago I twisted my knee.  It got much better after a week or so but I went to the track and did a pretty rough two miles and reinjured it.  After walking around for several days looking like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, you know where he is chasing Danny through the snowy maze at the end, without the axe of course, I decided to go to my doctor to have it checked out.  Turns out Doctor thinks it is a sprain and will heal in several weeks.  I have a brace and am elevating it as much as possible.  It does seem to be getting better.  But during my doctor visit I had an epiphany.  I have had several during my lifetime.  You know those AH HA moments when you wonder what the crap am I doing?

The main reason I put off going to my doctor is because, don’t laugh, I didn’t want to get on those doctor scales.  You know they always weigh you more. That’s one of my favorite stories, I always weigh less on my scales, um yeah that’s it.   I have at times closed my eyes and told the nurse not to tell me what my weight is because I try to have a positive body image and I didn’t want anything to ruin that.

However, now they give you that darned three page print out of everything including your weight and you know that at some point you’re going to look.

So when the nurse called my name I hobbled to the back trying to look pitiful like I really didn’t need to have to step on those scales.  But noooo they have also added two bars to help you pull yourself onto the scales if you need a little extra help.  I usually take my shoes off but I had boots on so I thought what the heck.  It was not good.

Over the last two years I have gained and lost several pounds with gaining winning out on me.  I tend to be an emotional eater and man have my emotions been going crazy. I have lost three siblings in less than two years and have probably gained 30-40 pounds if I am truly honest with myself.  Its not just the weight.  I admire anyone who is proud of their body at any size and continues to eat healthy.  When I start to gain weight I tend to spiral downhill with the exercise and other good habits as well.

I think that all women and men are beautiful regardless of weight or any other features. What makes a person beautiful is much more than that.

But my blood pressure was up and I know when I get my blood work done my cholesterol probably will be too.  High blood pressure and high cholesterol seem to go up when my weight does.  Also by not moving around as much as I should I tend to be stiffer that is probably what resulted in the knee injury to start with.

So I said to myself this is ridiculous my health could be at stake here.  I only have one kidney (I’ll tell you more about that at another time) I need to get myself in shape.   I guess I am telling you this so I will be accountable and show you the progress.   Share with me what works for you I would love to hear it.  A thirty pound weight loss is my first goal.  I actually need to lose more than that but I am comfortable at that weight.

Anyway I started that day and have really been watching my food intake, carbs, etc.  I still can’t work out a lot yet but when my knee is better I will ease back into walking.

On another note did you see the moon last night.  It wasn’t quite full but it was beautiful with a lots of different colors.

I love these Bradford Pear trees I know they are not strong trees and they usually don’t last long but I love them.  They are always the first trees to bloom here in the south and that is always a first sign of spring.  These are along a driveway that I pass everyday on my way to work.

I love the way the early morning sun shines through the windows and casts shadows on the floor.  I think Scruffy likes it too.

The sun is shining today but colder weather is predicted this week.  I am off to St. Louis in the A.M. for work so I will be inside most of the week anyway.

Happy Sunday.

Good Monday morning I am thinking of that song from the episode of Friends where Joey sings the Good Morning song with his neighbor:
“Morning’s Here
The Morning is Here
Sunshine is Here
The Sky is Clear
The Morning’s here
Get into Gear
Breakfast is near
The Dark of the Night Has Disappeared”

I Love this song and would love it even more if Joey Tribbiani was here to sing it to me.

What a crazy week it was last week it flew by but seemed to last forever at the same time.  Do you ever have weeks like that?  The temperatures here have been crazy with highs every day in the mid to upper 70’s.   But never fear the rain is here today and cooler so it feels more like February well almost March now.

Here are three of my current WIP’s (work in progress)  much the same way that I can’t just read one book at a time I can’t work on one piece of knitting so I have two pairs of socks and a scarf that I am working on. The good thing here is they will all get finished about the same time.

My friend Lorie S told me about an estate sale on Friday. I went after work and discovered that on Saturday everything would be 50% off so I decided to go back on Saturday morning. I saw a couple of handmade baskets I thought I would get on Saturday. But you can probably guess what happened I got there about an hour after it started and the baskets were gone.  I did snag these two lamps for only $7.00 each.   The larger one will need some polishing with brasso but I think it will look nice I may add another shade as well.

And I saved the best for last this little guy joined our family last week. He is a rescue. Pretty sure he is a Yorkie. He is an old boy the vet thinks maybe 8 years old. He has cataracts and doesn’t see very well but he is the sweetest baby you have ever met. We named him Scruffy for obvious reasons.  Our girl dog Molly is not too happy with him but she’s starting to adjust.

I hope your Monday has been happy. ❤️

It has taken me several days to be able to write this post.  At first I started not to. No one really knows a lot about me.  I mean I just started this blog a couple of weeks ago I don’t have to share anything right?  But I wanted to because this blog will be a part of me and a place where I will be able to share things in my life.  So with a deep breath here goes:

Last week my older brother Allen died.  He was a wonderful person.  I couldn’t even begin to tell you in this short space what a great brother, father, husband, son, grandfather, friend etc. that he was.  He was a veteran.  He has had some medical issues for several years and just last month had a double bypass.  He was at home after the surgery but he never seemed to fully start to recover.

I was a late in life child so my brother was a teenager when I was born,  I come from a large family of seven children,  he was the most fun and he had such a wonderful sense of humor.  He played games with me and my younger brother.  We played “Name That Tune”  he would use his cassette tapes and stop the tape player just before the title of the song was sung.  He took us to the movies and to play ball.  When I was just a toddler I would climb into bed with him every morning and he would tell me the most wonderful stories.

Saturday February 10th was his Birthday I called him.  I had been battling a cold and didn’t want to risk getting him sick.  I only talked for a couple of minutes because his breathing sounded labored.  I told him when he got to feeling better that we would have a huge celebration.  I told him I loved him.  On the following Tuesday he quietly passed away.

So we did have the celebration with tears, laughter, lots of food, you know how we are in the south.  We had visitors that we hardly ever get to see.  We had singing and music  and flowers and we told stories over and over again.  We had to have the celebration without my brother Allen physically being there but I have no doubt he was with us in spirit and will continue to be every day.

Goodbye to my brother Allen until we meet again.