Moving Day and Beyond

We moved on November 29th and smooth was not what it became, instead it was like an old curvy, bumpy back road when you are the passenger in a truck with no shocks. But we did it! The movers didn’t work out, so we did it all with just us and a few good friends with a truck. Let me explain the scenario for you. We had myself who is in pretty fair condition, except I’m older than I like to believe and my joints remind me of this when I push them too much. Then my boyfriend who normally would have no trouble at all, but the week before the move he broke his foot and is currently wearing a big black boot. Then we had the ones who made it all possible, his good friend, his brother, his daughter and her friend. Without them, we wouldn’t have gotten out of the gate, much less here and settled (well as much as you can be after just a few days).

So day 1 we moved most of the furniture and I set up the kitchen, office, and took care of getting our clothes situated. Day 2 I set up the dining room (mostly because it’s the only area we have in which to eat at a table, since our kitchen is a galley kitchen). Day 3 – the bed arrived (I can’t wait to sleep in my bed), and decorated for Christmas (mostly anyways) and picked up the tree! Oh yeah I plan on having a normal Christmas, fully decorated and all! What’s next on the list? Well we need to stabilize the armoire (mostly so he has somewhere for his clothes) and finish the rest of the house. But we are making progress.

Somewhere along the way, we have had a few spitting contests when our frustrations got high too! So now all I want is to get the rest of our stuff here (the boys are picking up my curio cabinet and a few bookshelves tonight) and get the balance of our stuff put away. I am ready to do that so we can relax and enjoy the rest of the week and our upcoming weekend with NO PLANS! Yes no plans is perfect right now because all I want to do is relax and watch movies or something similar for one whole weekend.

Wish us luck on that part 🙂

Overall, we are very lucky to have good friends and my parents who are so supportive of us as well as his daughter as well. They have been there for us and my mom is still helping us out. It’s a blessing to have such good friends and family in your corner.

Inspiration

Found this on the flight of ambition, it’s a great thing to live by.

“Life is a myst…

“Life is a mystery to be lived not a problem to be solved”
― Clive Ollies

Weighty White Decision

So, as all good stories start, I sat at my desk in my office today and did what I do best, contemplated a decision. There’s snow on the ground, it’s cold outside and I’m off for the day because my car just won’t handle ice and snowy roads well. So I looked at what was going on and figured some things out (Well one big thing really).

After the holidays every year I get on the scale and see how bad I was for the holiday season. This year I knew it was going to be bad because not only did the holidays derail my diet and exercise but the move did as well. Now that the house is in some assemblance of order, I can get back on track. So back to weight watchers I go, online of course. If I’m going to do it, I need to make it workable for my schedule. And that’s no easy feat. I work full time 40 hours a week (plus a little), my better half works well over 40 hours a week, we have a house to take care of regularly, laundry, family, etc. Our household includes us, my son, his brother, daughter and grandson. And we help out watching his grandson when his daughter works, as needed as well. So balance is essential to make this plan work for me!

My son has been down this road once or twice (more like for years) with me. Up and down the diet he’s been with me for years. Now he’s an adult (officially) with a job and friends of his own. I no longer need to worry about feeding him and taking care of his every need and haven’t for a while now. So all I have to remember is that the food I choose for myself needs to be appetizing enough for two 40 some year old men and a little boy who is a relatively picky eater; oh yeah and meet my dietary needs as well as my taste buds. Simple as snapping your fingers, NOT!

So that’s why I chose weight watchers. It’s real food not pre-planned meals. By making some simple changes that most of the family doesn’t mind, I can meet my weight loss goals, healthy choices, and still feel like I’m not doing a 360 degree change. The biggest challenge I have is that my better half is prone to migraines and many of the sugar substitutes can cause the onset of a migraine. So how do I reduce the sugar in our diet and not use sugar substitutes? I’m thinking molasses and honey will be my friend through this new adventure.

I have 66 pounds to get off my body so I’ll feel better and look better. I not only want to look better, I want to prevent so many diseases that run in my family from diabetes to heart attacks. Now is the time, I have a Wii with many fun games/exercise activities that will help me get moving. I also have a dream I have never come close to meeting and I want to accomplish it. I have wanted to be able to run a 5K from start to finish and then maybe a half and a full marathon! I want to be a strong runner and at this point it’s about finishing it, not placing or being top dog. 

So here’s to a new me in the new year. I’ve past the halfway point between 40 and 50, so it’s now or never. I need to drink plenty of water, reduce my caffeine and eat right to make this year a year of positive change. I’m up for the challenge, now it’s time to plunge right in and get it done right!

I hope everyone finds their way this year to meet that goal or dream they haven’t attempted yet. It feels good to be so motivated to get a move on.

A Healthy Christmas????

It’s 6 am, I’ve been awake and at the computer since 3 am. That’s 3 hours of something productive, and on Christmas Eve to boot. I’ve been sitting here reviewing my menu for Christmas Dinner and making sure I have everything I need for it. Normally I  would be sawing   some pretty steady wood like my boyfriend, but too much on my mind to be sure were ready for our first time  having family over to our place. So the healthyChristmas just doesn’t seem to be something I can conquer this year. But we have had  salad twice this week and that’s more than we’ve had it in the last 3 weeks! Woo Hoo progress! So why am I awake all night long the  night before Christmas Eve? There are several reasons that I’ll explain this morning.

The first one, which is so very important to me, is that my son sent me a message at 2:30 am needing a ride. I always leave my phone  on when I go to sleep and he has a special tone for both text messages and phone calls. It ensures I will wake up no matter what for  him. Tonight I’m very happy I was able to help him when he asked for it. It means the world to me tonight to have him sleeping in my  house and knowing I’ll see him for the holidays. That’s the good stuff as they say.

The second is on a more serene note, I go to the cemetery every Christmas Eve to visit my grandparents. Tomorrow is the day and    I’m grateful they are so close to where I live that I can get there no matter what the weather, but also it reminds me of how much they  miss each year. My grandfather missed a lifetime of joy, sorrow, tears and laughter. He missed watching my son grow from a baby  into a young man. And I missed hearing him tell me how much I could accomplish and how great I was at everything. I was his princess and my son would have been king. We were lucky enough to have my grandmother for a long time after my grandfather passed. She watched my son grow and spent a lot of time with him. He was happy just seeing her and spending time with her. I learned a lot from her and we were extremely close.  It’s a bittersweet memory for me. I’m thrilled I had so much time, but so very sad she’s no longer here with us.

Lastly, I have my health on my mind. I’m not sick or anything like that, just overweight! As I thought about Christmas and all the baking I did today, I began to wonder was there a way to enjoy these little treats and keep it reasonable without overindulging this year? Maybe, if I hide them (or better yet get someone else to do it). This year I want to keep from feeling sick at the end of the night and eating until I need to lay down and unbutton my pants (you know you have been there – we all have at least once in our lives). Maybe I need to give most of them away, but then what do I serve when I have company? So I went back over my training information from almost a year ago and sat and thought, do I want to do this again or is there something better for me? I not only want to, but feel the need to be healthy. I need to lose weight so going up and down stairs is easier on my knees and ankles. And I have an outstanding goal staring at me saying, “hey, remember me? You haven’t finished me yet! Are you gonna quit or do it already?” That’s my lovely conscience yelling at me for putting it off.

Overall, I think I just couldn’t sleep because the next two days are so filled with family and friends that I am so grateful are in our lives. I’m the happiest in my life now than I have ever been, but still have this one goal kicking at me. I want to run a 5K just to say I finished it. I started training and got busy and stopped, and started and stopped like a gazillion times already. I think it’s time to solicit the big guns now (my boyfriend).

So my hope for this holiday season is simple, I want a white Christmas (like the photo I found at www.alaska-in-pictures.com would be great!)  I want my family and friends to be safe and be able to get to us. And I want to keep from overindulging. Then we’ll work on the rest after the holidays are finished and wrapped up in a pretty box with a big red bow.

Have a safe and happy holiday everyone!

He swears dinner comes at a price

For the last month, we have been eating dinner at my parents house. We also have been, and you know this if you’re following my blog, moving in two weeks. So we enjoy a nice dinner fixed by my mom. A great conversation by all. Usually with somewhere in the middle my better half and my mom throwing smart remarks back and forth. Dad and I just watch in amazement. Mom doesn’t normally take so well to people I’m dating. And just as dessert is finished and we are clearing the table, he starts looking at me with that quizzical what is it going to cost me look. I told you we were moving right?

So each Tuesday night, he has had the great privilege of accessing the attic to pull more stuff down. The last time, he thought it was the end of it. He must have forgotten who he was dating momentarily. I still had stuff up there to pull down. So he went in search of my luggage (which he has never seen before) and came down with luggage and bins of stuff I had forgot about completely.

You would think a woman would remember longerberger baskets and a kitchenaid mixer, but not me. Well honestly, I thought the mixer had been disposed of and/or sold a few years ago, but the baskets were a distant memory. And the luggage, you ask why? I figure with the tons of clothes I have to begin with, why not fold some of them and put them in my luggage to transport since I want to take it anyway. Save a box or two this way. He didn’t see the humor in it. Growl Growl Growl from the attic (in reality its just play, he doesn’t really mind it at all).

So now I sit in my room watching Man of Steel with him and look around at bare walls and empty furniture. It’s amazing how much a person can collect and how empty a room can feel without this stuff.

So this weekend we are taking a break from packing. Mostly because we both are working for a while on Saturday and have to meet our real estate agent to go over the final details of our rental on Sunday. But also, we are having a date night! Instead of packing, we are going to dinner and a play that one of my co-workers is acting in locally. I can’t wait to get a night out with him and see my friend’s acting as well. And my better half will finally get to meet one or more of the people I spend so much time with each week.

Following the play, we are heading out with his daughter and a good friend of ours as well. It’s going to be a great weekend.

I’m looking forward to spending this quality time together doing something we both thoroughly enjoy. Socializing! And we do it oh so well too!

Then next weekend we get to finalize all our packing because we move two weeks from today. I’m ecstatic to finally have our own place together. It’s the best next step for us and so far our family has been very supportive of our decision.

Live your life with arms wide open

The title comes from my favorite song, “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield I listen to this song any time I need inspiration and redirection in my life.It reminds me that change is not only necessary but expected in life. It also reminds me that I am in control of my life and anything is possible.

I am lucky because when I was going through a rough patch in my life, my brother gave me this song on CD and a copy of the lyrics framed. It has been on my wall or in my room ever since that day. I’m not sure he understands or realizes how much this means to me and how it affected me then or still does today.

So how do I live my life with arms open wide? That’s the easy part. I experience life and keep open minded to new experiences. This has led me to meet many different people in my life and experience things I never would have done. It also caused me to make my own bucket list.

So here’s part of my bucket list.

1. Buy a house
2. Learn to ski (and hopefully not break anything)
3. Learn to be a first responder
4. Learn to ride a motorcycle
5. Ride a motorcycle through the country (since my boyfriend has one, this should be even more fun)
6. Take a trip to Ireland
7. Take a trip to Russia (my great-grandfather came from here)
8. Learn patience
9. Love like there’s no tomorrow
10. Balance family, work, and home. (I’m off balance at the moment, and it’s a work in progress)

I hope everyone lives life to the fullest and develops their own bucket list. But don’t just write it down, do it. Life is short and you never know where you’re going to end up. Experience life and enjoy the ride!

And Mom Cleans House

So along with moving and packing my life goes finding all the furniture we need for the new place. And superhero Mom comes to the rescue once again. It started out as sweet each day she would tell me of one or two more things she found or thought of for us. Now it’s just funny. The other day we were getting ready to head down the hall, I turned the light on, noticed something was missing, turned around and found a hallway rug in our pile. Now she had told me she was going to give it to us so that’s not the thing. But I didn’t expect it that same day. We have discovered we have many more things than we knew we ever owned thanks again to superhero Mom. 

Honestly, I don’t know what we would have done without her, but the on-going joke between my other half and my mom is “good now all we need to get is coasters!” She laughs and smiles every time he says it too. Amazing how smoothly this packing and getting ready to move thing is going.

I hope the rest of our life is as smooth as this one move has been so far.

Pack, Purchase, and Prepare

We found our new place! I’m excited and nervous and keep flipping back and forth like I’m on a bipolar roller coaster. It’s driving everyone around me absolutely insane. So now we pack, purchase, and prepare. There’s so much to do to move in 3 weeks. We have to pack our whole lives up. I did not realize how much crap I collected in the last 20 years. It’s like going through a a dump to find a few gems. So I’m filling trash cans, packing the good stuff, and giving away the stuff I no longer want or need.

In the meantime, we are shopping for furniture and everything else.

We both have been living with family for a while now, so we don’t have anything to take with us but our clothes and collectibles. My mother has been amazing! She bought us things we need for our new place for Christmas. And she gave it to us early so we have it to get started. She also has been going through her kitchen and finding duplicate things she doesn’t need and giving them to us to get started. I don’t know how we would have been able to do it all without her help. She’s been the best!

Those things that Mom didn’t supply, we have been purchasing a little at a time. There’s furniture, kitchen stuff, cleaning stuff, and all the incidentals you don’t think about normally. We went on a short shopping trip at Walmart and found a lot of the little things we needed like the shower curtain, trash can, and toothbrush holder for the bathroom. Check room complete! Then we found some things that Mom didn’t provide for the kitchen like spatulas, a spoon holder, canisters, etc. Check room in progress! Then there’s the furniture.

We found most of our furniture from others. We found a sectional, tables, desk and wardrobe from freecycle. Nice, free furniture to get us started. We found our dining room table from Facebook, it’s an older table which is very well constructed and beautiful. Now we need a coffee table for our living room, and chairs for our dining room. Mom and Dad also gave me a desk for my computer. We are taking my headboard and buying a new mattress and box spring. Check Bedroom complete! Check living room complete!

Now the packing began. We packed my collectibles in just two short days. (Although I’m not sure anyone but me thought it was short.) Then books, and shoes, and some clothes were packed up too. Most of my jewelry and workout stuff is ready to go. We still have to pull out my china, but my crystal, silver, and serving pieces are out and ready. It’s amazing for only having one room in my house how much stuff I have collected! The attic is another place we need to dig into. There are decorations for every season in volumes up there. And Christmas will be right around the corner when we move too! I have bins on top of bins of Christmas. Luckily not so much for the other holidays.

Preparing for this move means both financially and emotionally. It’s a huge change in our lives. It will affect our available money for fun things some as well. However, we both are pretty much homebodies anyway. The only exception to that is we love to eat out. And we will need to curtail this to a degree. But the trade off is being able to come home to each other every night!

We are on our way, have told our families and they are supporting us, mostly. There is one on each side who doesn’t seem to be happy for us, but that is to be expected. My guess is they are concerned that either we are making the wrong decision or they are jealous and afraid to be left behind. Neither of which will happen! We just are ready for the next step in our lives. It’s exciting and nervous and causing me to have the wildest dreams on earth!

Wish us luck in the last few steps of our plans. Step one – compare a mover to doing it ourselves. Step two – pack the rest and pull it all out. Step 3 – sign the lease and put the money down. Step four – moving day!

I wish everyone finds someone like I have in my life. He is the love of my life, and challenges me when needed, and supports me when its appropriate. It’s a great adventure and wonderful life!

What I did for Love

   This past Friday was my boyfriends birthday. He and I have very different television and movie likes. He likes science, history, weather and ghost stuff and I prefer comedy and mysteries. So it was his day and he got to choose our weekend activities (within reason). He also was working on Saturday in an adjacent state. 

So Friday night he chose the tv lineup which included a long run of “monsters inside me” which was a discovery/science tv show about bugs and stuff that got inside real people and caused major physical issues. My thoughts on this show – Yuck, Gross, Disguising, and why in the world would someone want to watch this crap. But watch it with him is what I did. 

Saturday we went together (along with a friend of mine) out of state for him to work. The initial plan was for him to work while we shopped and went to dinner. That didn’t happen! Traffic caused him to get there 4 minutes late and miss his transport to his work location. He tried to reach his boss and decided to go to dinner with us. Halfway there the plans changed and we returned him to work to meet with her. It was supposed to take less than an hour (by the way he can’t tell time either). We ate dinner at a local pizza place next to his office which was excellent while we chatted. Then went to the local convenience store for coffee, lotto tickets, and candy. Then we called and found out he would be done in 15 minutes (did I mention he can’t tell time?) 40 minutes later he came out of the office.

So evidently I will do a lot for love. This man who can’t watch 5 minutes of football playtime with me without finding a reason to leave and I did all this. I must be crazy in love.

OK on the positive side, he takes good care of me. When I wasn’t able to use my car, he took me to and from work every day for a week. When I get hurt, he takes care of me. He’s really a gem in the rough. I just want to set alarms on his phone to go off at whatever time he says he’s going to be done or be there to remind him to hurry up or he’ll be late.

Amazing what I’ll do for love.