This girl is beat!!

Oh man..what a long week! I have been in training for the Women's shelter almost every night this week, and the one night I wasn't in training, I was volunteering. M-T-Th was training from 6:00-9:30 and Wed was volunteering from 6:00-9:00. Tonight I did nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G I tell you (OK, so I lied, I went to Bob's Produce Ranch to get some Colorado peaches and the fixings to make a delightful cucumber dip!). Tomorrow is more training from 9:00-4:00. Yep, all day. I just hope it rains all day. And then next Monday and Tuesday nights. Oh, and two more nights later in September!!!

I have to do something about my uncontrollable snacking!! UGH! Somehow the crappy snacks end up in my cart and then ultimately in my house! Mainly I'm into the salt stuff - crackers, chips, crackers w/peanut butter, those stupid little fish crackers...why? I think I need to eat more protein foods that stay put and so I won't feel hungry. Yeah, I know what to do (I always have known), but putting that into practice is the hard part. And on top of the snacking, I haven't been able to go to the water aerobics this week (see 1st paragraph for my excuse). Maybe I will walk to the training tomorrow (but..then it might rain?).

By this time next week I will be out-of-state (Indiana wants me). Road Trip!! Hoping for good travel weather, good weather for the Blueberry Fest and that the baby doesn't come (my nephew and his wife are expecting soon) because then the "Gramma & Grampa" might wanna leave. I'm thinking the 9-9-9 baby birthin' date sounds good!!

So anyway..this chick is beat. Gonna sign off and hit the sack. Catch some Z's. Check my eyelids for leaks. Visit dreamland. Call on Mr. Sandman. And start it allllllllll over again tomorrow!! Ciao!!

Good news and new tooth!

The good news is my dear, sweet, wonderful friend Nona had an excellent report from her cancer doctor! The cancer tumors have shrunk and he thinks she's doing well! She won't have to go back in for 3 months (unless something bothers her)! This is the best news I've heard in a long, long time!!

And I got a new (temporary) tooth. A crown. Third from the end on the upper left. I knew you'd want to know. Get the "real" one in 2 weeks or so. This will most likely cost about as much as a trip to Seattle..if not more!!

And tonight is session 2 of the "Sexual Assault" training - not HOW to sexually assault, but rather how to counsel/talk to those who have. The place I volunteer for is being given a grant to cover this for our county and so now all direct volunteers must have 40 hours of training in how to talk to the victims that will call. Every night this week except Friday, all day Saturday and then Mon-Tues night next week! It's hard, but it is interesting and at the same time a little depressing. Tonight's topic is "child victims". Not fun.

And...that's about it. Warm and slightly humid here. Waiting for that cold front they promised.

Ode to the weekend..

Oh, you were a good weekend
Spent along side many a good friend.
But alas, you pass far too quickly,
And now it's warm and a little stickly!

OK, so I am not a poet. But the weekend was good. I went to Nona's cabin in Luck, WI Friday night (after battling stupid drivers on 35W who don't know how to react to a lane closure when they are warned 3 miles ahead of time). Nona and I had a really good, deep conversation on Friday night when it was just the two of us. I love those times together.

Saturday was a perfect weather day!! Sandy and Carlene arrived around 10:00 and we hung around chit-chatting for awhile and then eventually went to lunch at "Hog Wild" (a BBQ joint) in Luck. Her daughter and her family joined us! It was fun. Went to a couple garage sales and then headed back to the cabin for a pontoon ride. While we were out on the lake, the two visitors from Norway showed up. Yep - REAL Norwegians!! So we got them on the pontoon and went back out. It was real fun talking to them about Norway and found out they have almost the same last name as my maiden name (they are Rud, I am Ruud). Had a wonderful dinner with the whole family and the REAL Norwegians and then I came home.

Today was a lazy day. I went to church and then didn't do much else. I did manage to go to Target and spend $46 on various things which I probably didn't need. Now I'm 'doing laundry' and getting ready for a fun-filled work week. I am in training every night this week for the shelter, so will be exhausted! And then all day on Saturday, too. Ugh!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend, too. Can you believe it's almost the end of August already? I will be going to Indiana in 2 weeks and Chelsea and Chris will be here in less than a month. Then I go on Sister's weekend and off to Seattle. The next thing you know, it will be Christmas. What happened to this year??

Gee..is it Friday already!?

I couldn't WAIT for this day to get here. Just came back from my hair cut and now I'm packing to go to Wisconsin for a quick over-nighter at Nona's cabin. Looks like the rain is gone and we're going to have sun and cool breezes. PERFECT!

My friend Katy surprised me after water aerobics class last night with 4 cute little protein donuts she had made (they are made with protein powder). OMG..they are soooooo good! I am going to have to invest in a pan and break down and bake some. I made the mistake of sharing one with our friend Margie, but gobbled down 2 last night and one this morning. They are tiny little donuts (think of the size you get at the fair) and have chocolate icing on them..and yet they are still "good" for me. Oh heaven! (which reminds me..the State Fair starts next week. I haven't been in years, but maybe I can con someone into going with me this year??)

But I digress.

Hope you all have wonderful weekend plans. We don't get too many perfect weather weekends in MN so "Sieze the day" or "crap the diem" -- whatever!! Enjoy yourself!!

Gloomy, Rainy Day..

But it's still better than being at work! I had scheduled 1/2 day off today to go to the Farmer's Market in Delano to sell more cookies for Relay For Life, but...alas...it's raining all day. So we decided to try for a different week. I had thought about staying at work and not taking the afternoon off, but as you can see, that was just a fleeting thought.

An update from my appointment with Dr. Leslie: First of all, the guy shows up 1.5 hours late! I had a 9:00 appointment and he waltzes in around 10:25. Something about a surgery. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Didn't have too much to say. I was down 157 pounds from my start weight. He talked about ensuring that I try not to eat "slippery" foods - things that will slide right through your pouch (aka: stomach) and out. Such as ice cream, yogurt, soup. All the things I love!! He said if you eat foods that have more 'stickiness' to them, you will stay full/satisfied longer. Hmm. He is a doctor...maybe he is right? I don't have to go back until December for my one year check up. Same week I get the big "kick in the ass" from Target. How fun!!

So anyway - I'm off this afternoon. Already took care of one menial task that I had to do. Going to maybe READ some of my book on this rainy, dreary day. I have so many new books, I am a great buyer of books, but not making the time to read them. Kind of like my love of recipes, but not so much the cooking part. Going to call Nona to talk about my visit to her cabin this weekend. The weather is supposed to be phenomenal so I am excited about that!

And so that's it for now. If anything uber exciting should come up, I'll update you all.

Farmer's Market

Today my sister Susan who lives on a farm in Delano with her husband Fred, is bringing a bounty of farm fresh veggies to us "city folk". I love fresh veggies, most of them, with peas being a favorite. However, peas are now out of season. But there will be corn and beans and those are just as good.

I had a good scrabble day with Marylee yesterday. We each won one game (although the first game should have been mine, too, but in her last move she found a double letter spot for her Q and so she beat me). But we noticed that we tend to graze mindlessly on 'kibble' when we play. Oh, I'd be lying if I said it was ONLY when I played scrabble. It happens when I play Boggle on POGO, it happens when I'm watching TV or watching a movie. Why is that? Does my mouth just get bored? No matter what the reason, I have to make it stop! I haven't gained weight, but I am not losing much either. I know I could do better if I would stop the snacking. So that is my goal now. STOP SNACKING! First step: STOP BUYING THE JUNK!!

The week ahead: Tuesday is my 8 month post-op check up with Dr. Leslie. Should be uneventful. Aqua aerobics on Tue/Thur night; possibly selling cookies at the Delano Farmer's Market on Wednesday (please don't let it be too hot or stormy); hair appt on Friday afternoon and possibly making a trip to Nona's cabin for an overnight Friday-Saturday. Maybe if I keep myself busy enough I won't be tempted to snack non-stop? We'll see.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and hoping all who read this (there are some who read this, right?) have a great week ahead!

Hump Day Ramblings...

Here it is Wednesday. And just last night, it was only Tuesday. Had dinner with Nona, Sandy and Carlene last night. Afterwards I went to Nona's and we had a loooong conversation about life, death and everything in-between. It was good for both of us. She has lots of tests coming up on Monday to see where the cancer has been. She's obviously nervous and we talked about how to not dwell on something we can't do anything about! Just pray for a good outcome or if it's not good, pray for the strength to get through it.

My knee has been causing me pains this week. I'm hoping it's just the weather (hot and dreadfully muggy). I resorted to using the cane again because the knee just 'gave out' on me a few times already. Good thing I wasn't so smug as to discard the old cane. I don't like to have to use it, but I also don't like falling down flat on my face!!

So I guess tomorrow will be Thursday and then before we know it, it'll be Friday and on with another weekend! Time sure does fly when you're having fun, doesn't it?? Hmm....

Happy Birthday to me!

Wow, another year has passed by and what a year it's been!! It is hard to believe this is the last year of my 40's. Next year is 'the big one'...not sure I'm ready for that. But I will say that this has been a great year for me. Lots of changes, lots of challenges, lots of smiles and far too many tears. I feel better than I have in years and that is a good thing!!

I have a lot to look forward in the year ahead, too! I look forward to my upcoming trips to Plymouth, IN over Labor Day weekend, to Grand Rapids for Sister's weekend in early October and finally to Seattle to see Chelsea, Chris and Mally right after Sister's weekend. The best part will be I'm in better shape to walk and shop and be a tourist!! Can't wait.

There are things I'm not looking forward to. The unknown future of my career with (or without) Target. The more I think about this past year there, the more I wonder if I really WANT to keep working for a company that treats me and their other employees the way they have this year. I did make an appeal to the women's shelter I volunteer with in regards to the Volunteer Coordinator position they have open. It would be 1/2 what I make now, but far more fulfilling spiritually and emotionally than anything I could possibly do at Target. We'll see if they accept my proposal (and of course if I could swing it financially).

I don't know what the future holds. Only God knows that. I do know that I am in good hands and I have a great support team of family and friends to see me through. I thank all of you for your love and support and for making this another Happy Birthday to me!!! :o)

Me & The Cowardly Lion

OK, so it's not the REAL cowardly Lion, but it's a close 2nd. This is the guy that was dressed up for Relay as part of the "Oz Maniac's" team. They all dressed in character, but my favorite character from the Wizard of Oz has always been the Cowardly Lion. So I had to have my picture taken with him. So cute. He even had the curly mane!!

Surviving Relay!

What a night we had!! It was warm when we first arrived to start setting up (around 11:oo AM). Warm..and sunny. As things started to take shape and the campsites were set up, it started to get overcast. As family and friends arrived, things were pretty nice. We greeted them, sold a few stray cookies and then went to have our team photo taken. After that, we went to the stadium for the opening ceremony. Very touching - some young girls danced to the Melissa Ethridge song (the name of which I don't know for sure) about "why I walk". Made me teary eyed. Then Will's Mom talked (Will is a 4 year old who has leukemia and his family formed a team). Touching as well. Then the suvivors took the field and released the balloons that people had purchased to dedicate and send to heaven. The teams returned to their sites and then the survivors (including my sister Trish and my uncle Bernard) did the opening lap. My sister Sandy was there, but not able to walk it. That was touching. After their lap, all the teams did their first lap together. That was fun. We had "We Are Family" blaring from a CD player as we did our lap!

A couple hours later, the sky turned ugly! The organizers came around and suggested that we bring in the luminaries in case of rain. Later they came by and said we must get into cars or shelters. So we packed up just about everything and took cover. All of us were in different cars. And then the storm came. Wind. Rain. Thunder. Lightning. Tent roofs caving in or blowing off. LOTS and LOTS of rain. Sat in the cars for about an hour. But, the show must go on and so soon after the rain ended, the tents slowly came back together and the walkers resumed walking. And then it got cold...reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal cold! The kind that goes right through you! I made a few trips to the car to warm up.

I managed to do about 6 laps I think. I didn't count. And they weren't all at one time. My niece, Valerie, did 36 laps (which is amazing). All in all, we had fun. Didn't sell as many cookies as we had hoped for, but we'll do something with them (more Farmer's Markets?) to get more money for ACS.

After we took down the campsite around 5:30 AM, I went to my sister's for a power nap (from about 6:00-9:45). Then I went off to Litchfield (about an hour away) for lunch with my friend Terry and his wife Cathy. That was also uplifting - to see a guy who was told he has 6 months to live -- and he outlived that and is living life to the fullest. Recently returned from a trip to France. Just bought a new car. Just bought a new flat screen 42" TV (for football season of course). Has a trip to Egypt planned for November. Bought season tickets to the Gopher football and women's basketball games. Makes you think YOU need to start living like you intend to stay around!! Wonderful time.

Last night I went to church to read the Lesson and help with sound/lights. After that, had a few phone calls with family and went to bed around 10:30. And slept for 11 hours. Yes, 11 hours. I feel great today (although the legs are a little sore). And the best part is I have NO plans for today, and have tomorrow off with NO plans. Just playing it by ear and enjoying life!!