Thoughtful Thursday - where I live....

The weekend is near!


Please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section yonder at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your Thoughtful Thursdays questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own Thoughtful Thursdays post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Where I Live

1. Where do you currently live? Shelby Township, a suburb about 20 miles north of Detroit.

2. Have you lived in your current state throughout your entire life?  No, but mostly. I did 8 years in the Navy, so I happily moved away for that. I came back to Michigan, but not the same place.   I grew up in a small town where I graduated with the same people I went to kindergarten with.  Very clique-y.

3. If you answered no to Question 1, then where else have you lived? In Orlando for 2 months for bootcamp.  Pensacola FL for 4 months for school, then was stationed for over 2 years in Georgia on my first ship (which is now nothing but a fond memory - RIP USS Canopus AS34!) then I moved to California to report to my next ship - a slightly bigger one - the USS Abraham Lincoln CVN72 for just over another 2 years.  We changed homeports from Alameda CA to Bremerton WA, and then I transferred to the Naval Base in Everett, WA for the remainder of my enlistment.  

Purty!

4. What is the coolest thing about your city/town? It's a nice place, nothing too special that I can think of.  Some historical significance with the park at the end of my street used to have a race horse farm owned by the boxer Joe Louis and a restaurant that was also a stop on the Underground RR. There was a huge cedar tree that was planted prominently in the area called the Beacon Tree.  There's an elementary school called Beacon Tree in it's honor.

5. Are there any holidays that your state goes all out to celebrate? Not so much holidays....we are avid sports fans here (not me personally - I just like the Wings!)  There's a statue in Detroit called the Spirit of Detroit that wears a custom jersey whenever any of the sports teams make the playoffs.  It got a Lions one for the first time in ages this year!  And it gets a LOT of use out of the Red Wings jersey.  

Fox Sports

 

I have a picture of just the Spirit framed and it sits on the end table in the living room. 

6. Describe your neighborhood (climate, scenery, etc.) Like I said.  We're about 20 miles north of Detroit and within 40 miles of 2 different Canadian border crossings. Close proximity to both big cities & country.  It's an older neighborhood, my house was built in 1940, as were most of the houses around.  We have 2 season - winter & construction.  Actually I love both spring & fall.  I don't handle heat & humidity well.  

7. What do you wish you could change most about the place you live?  The roads.  They suck.  When I was driving my Escort (it's an elderly car, but perfect for the girl's first set of wheelz) there were times I actually thought it was going to break apart.

8. Describe your home. What’s your favorite thing about it?  Ooo, I'm gonna have to dig deep for this one!  The only time I take pics of the house is at Halloween!  Hence the jack-o-lanterns on the step. 

It's tiny.  We have a big yard.  The roof is new, so it doesn't leak.  There is a shed in back for storage, as well as an add-on across the back of the 2 car garage (that a car has never been in) that's about 8 feet deep - so lots of room for my Halloween & Christmas decorations.  Which is good since we don't have crap for storage inside!  

9. Where do you shop for groceries? Sometimes Kroger, but mainly a little local place called Hollywood Market.  They have a great meat counter.

10. What is your favorite regular activity in your city/town? Going to the park at the end of the street.  From our back door, down the street and around the entire park & back is exactly 2 miles. There's a nice walking trail & nature center there.  There's another park not far away also, that's more nature-y called Holland Ponds.  There's a heron nesting area there and places to sit and watch if you remember binoculars! 

Weigh in & stuff

I knew when I got out of the car this evening that weigh in wasn't going to be good.  I just didn't feel good about myself & sure enough - up 1.6 lbs.    I really need to start planning better, but when the kid is at dance such wonky times so many days per week (usually until 9), that makes it hard to figure out dinner.  We tend to stop and grab something quick WAY too often.  Oh and when I don't know when Randy might get home from work, since he works for a bunch of asshats.

Soooo, Randy is out of town until mid-day Sunday.  So it's up to me to plan the Superbowl noms.  There's lots of good stuff on the WW site and such, so I'll have to make some things and not tell the picky ones that they're anything different.  But I don't think I can lighten up lil' Smokeys and BBQ sauce much.

So. activity looks decent.  Saturday was weird.  I had so much to do and I can't even recall what I did.  It sure wasn't clean my house! Sunday I was finally putting away the troops of nutcrackers. Tracking down and wrapping over 100 nutcrackers makes for a noticeable activity.    

Friday night Randy & I went to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  My entree itself wouldn't have been bad alone - (6 oz sirloin & grilled shrimp with a house salad & veggies) but there's all the peanuts & the rather large adult beverage I had, and thankfully we only had 1 basket of yummy rolls with honey butter = 2 each. Those are where the points added up.  And of course their website only shows minimal nutritional info (calories).  The last time I looked, there was a disclaimer that they didn't show such info, because each chef prepared the meals differently, etc.  Pppft.

Since Monday, we've been puppy-sitting for my sister while she's sitting at some tropical resort having umbrella drinks & such.  He's a spoiled little turd and my Beagle tolerates him, but I can tell Jack is ready for him to go.  Tomorrow after work, my other sister is coming by to pick him up for a couple days - YAY!!   He's got a bell on his collar, so every time he's on the move, you hear 

DINGLEdingleDINGLEdingleDINGLEdingleDINGLE.

Yeah. 

The goofy little thing - his current favorite thing to do right now is stand in the doorway of the bedroom and growl at my cat who is laying on my lap.  Yesterday I couldn't figure out what he was growling at and I decided it had to be the solar powered dancing flower in the window.  Another time I was at the desk and he was growling at something behind me - that sort of freaked me out, until I realized there was a black latex cat from Halloween up on the shelf back there.  He's growled at the fish in the aquarium and also at the dishwasher.     

I took them for a walk today and almost went skating!  The roads here don't get plowed, so only patches are bare so it can be slippery without the sled team pulling you!

On the plus side, he's a snuggler.  Funny that I'd just taken Miss Angela to the doctor Friday afternoon because her ankle still hurt from dance and it had been like 2 weeks.  They said a pulled muscle.  Then Monday, I get a text from her while she's at the studio and cryptically said I'd need to take her back in.  They'd been in their hiphop class and at one point, she is on Kayla's back, and somehow leapfrogs over onto Lauren's back.  Then she slides from piggy-back position to the floor.  Except she landed on the side of her foot and everyone there heard a loud CRACK and then she fell.  So yup, she was back in the doctor's office Tuesday morning, for the other ankle!  And I got "the Look" from the nurse, when she noted we'd just been in.  At least it's just a sprain, but she's agreed to sit out of dance for a week or so before trying to ease back in.   It's going to kill her, since she's got a big competition on Valentine's weekend!!

Fuzzy, wiggly sympathy.

So anyway, that's all that's going on here.  Hopefully next week will be better on the scale, even with the Superbowl (that I care absolutely nothing about - just the commercials & halftime!)

Friend Makin' Monday - Did I do That?

I honestly can't read that without hearing Steve Urekel in the back of my mind!

Before I get started on FMM - sign ups are happening over at Blogging from A to Z Challenge !!  For 26 days in April, you simply post each day with your topic following the alphabet.  April 1, your topic starts with A, April 2 it starts with B, etc.  It's pretty fun & challenging - this is my 4th year doing it.  I'm # 148 & 150 because I signed up Tales from the Love Shaque, too.

DOOOOO EEEEEET!!

Oooo, and I finally got with the cool kids & joined Twitter.  @Lisa_n8ltg .  But I truly have no freakin' clue what I'm doing there!

Ok, Carrying on smartly......

Did I Do That?

Here’s how it works: you copy the questions, answer them and post them to your own blog. Then you come back here, and in the comments, post the link to your blog post with your answers to this week’s questions. If you don’t have a blog of your own, just post your answers in the comments.

1. What is something that you would never, ever want to do?  Become vegetarian / vegan.  Kudos to those who are, but there's just no way I could do it.  God made critters taste tooooo good!

2. What is something you’ve done and regret?  Like Sara said, there's things I've done that in hindsight were pretty stupid, but they made me who I am today, so I can't really regret them.   Oh wait, I regret not taking my Skeeter kitty to the vet as soon as he started acting off.  I waited a day. They may have been able to save him.  He had crystals in his urinary tract and by the time they put the catheter in, he'd basically been poisoned and didn't make it thru the night. I still miss him and it's been 3 years.

3. What is something that you’ve done that you are very proud of?  Served 8 years in the US Navy.

4. What was something you did as a child that landed you in the hospital?  I can't remember ever going to the hospital.  "The Clinic" yes.

5. What is something that you have always wanted to do?  I want to visit all 50 states.

6. If you didn't have a choice and HAD to choose between bungee jumping and skydiving, which would you choose and why?  Skydiving.  I think it's the closest you could get to flying.  I'm not big on the thought of being bounced around like a cat toy.

7. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?  Aw man, if I knew I would be working on getting there!  I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

8. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?  I wanted to be a horse trainer.  I had applied to and was accepted at the University of Findlay Ohio for their equestrian program back in the day.  Then I saw a Navy recruiter at school one day and that was all it took.

9. Do you do your own handy work around the house? Give an example of something you’ve fixed or made.  Somewhat.  When it comes to my Halloween display, I made a full-size coffin out of plywood and also made all my headstones for the cemetery.

10. What do you do that makes you the happiest?  Being outside, taking pictures. Just nature in general, especially in spring or fall.  Horseback riding rates up there, too.

Thoughtful Thursday - Getting to know you (OK, I'm late!)

I'm a wee bit late of this linkup.  It was late when I saw it so I marked it to do first thing today. 

This is a new linkup by the lovely Miss Kenlie over at All The Weigh.  I've followed her blog for years and she is truly an inspiration and an overall beautiful, real person.

Let’s spend a few minutes getting to know each other!



Please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your Thoughtful Thursdays questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own Thoughtful Thursdays post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Getting To Know You

1. List three things that you don’t need, but that you wouldn't want to live without.  My phone, Facebook, my Kindle

2. What is your favorite/least favorite household chore?  I enjoy gardening / mowing the lawn / etc.  I completely despise laundry.  The folding & putting away part especially.  My house is really small and there's no place to fold, other than my bed or the kitchen table.  And I have to move a bunch of stuff out of the way to get into the closet to hang things up.  It's a huge pain in the butt.

3. Tell us about your hobbies (things that you do to relax, to have fun, etc.)   I love to read, play hidden object games on the computer and do cross-stitch.

4. What’s your favorite holiday, and why?    I love Halloween!  It's just FUN.  Mine is the only house on the street to really decorate outside.  I have a full cemetery & a family of skeletons that I do different things with each year.  I don't like yuck & gore so it's a bit on the funny / cute side.

5. It’s Wednesday night. What will you do to enjoy yourself?   My usual Wednesday thing is to take Miss Angela to dance (she dances 5 nights a week!!) and I'll hang out and visit with other moms at the studio for a half hour or so, then I go to my Weight Watcher meeting.  I started going to this meeting location a couple months ago & I really like the leader - so I really enjoy going there.  Then, depending on classes for the night, I'll either go back to the studio and wait for the kid, or I'll go home for a while.  I actually enjoy watching her dance classes.  I have watched most of these girls grow up and it's neat to watch them learn.  My life pretty much revolves around the kid & her dance.

6. Share at least three things that you like about yourself.   My creativity, my sense of humor and ...

7. What are you looking forward to doing most over the coming weekend?  Finally getting my nutcracker collection put away (I have over 100 so it's not a quick project).  Getting my house back in non-holiday mode.

8. Did you make any goals for January? If so, how are they coming along?   I didn't make my goals for the month or resolutions.  We joked around on New Years about "committing no arson", "quitting heroin" and "no homicide".  So I guess in that case, I'm doing great!

9. Are you in a relationship? A romantic one?  Yes,  Happily married since 2006 and we've been together since 2002.

10. What is your favorite TV channel?  This is a tough one since I don't watch much TV.  I guess I could make a stretch and say whatever channel Saturday Night Live is on and also LogoTV, home of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions! Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments!

Friend Makin' Monday - Looking forward to 2015

Happy Monday, yall!



Looking Forward to 2015

Here’s how it works: you copy the questions, answer them and post them to your own blog. Then you come back here, and in the comments, post the link to your blog post with your answers to this week’s questions. If you don’t have a blog of your own, just post your answers in the comments.

1. What are you most looking forward to this year?  Oddly, I can't think of anything that directly involves ME.  My daughter is a senior this year, so we have graduation & the requisite parties that go along with that. I will be a blubbering crybaby!!  She also is on the competition team at her dance studio and will be competing with her first solo this year.  She was just asked of join an All-Star dance team one of her teachers runs and will be starting that this week.

2. Do you have any vacations planned this year? What and where?  The last few years we've taken the week before the girl goes back to school and have explored Michigan.  Since she'll be going to the community college in the fall, I'm not sure yet what we'll do.

3. Do you have any plans with your job or career?  Not really.  My job is secure, but there's no room for advancement unless I get adopted by the family who owns it.  The oldest brother is the president & his 3 sisters are department heads.  And I have NO desire to get into dispatching trucks, which is the only place I could logically go.    

4. Are there any major purchases you plan to make this year?  Maybe.  We need a new furnace, one that isn't older than me.

5. Are there any festivals that you attend every year? Are there any festivals you plan to attend for the first time this year?  We go to the Michigan Renaissance Festival every year.

6. Are you going to attend any concerts or performances (musical, ballet, orchestra, etc) this year?  Other than the usual dance recital and competitions?  Not that I know of.

7. Do you keep a day planner? If you do, what kind of things do you put in it? I use the calendar on my phone to keep track of the multitude of dance classes Miss Angela has.  I can't wait til she can drive herself (sooooon!!!!)   I put doctor & dentist & vet appointments in there.  I also have one on the kitchen wall that has huge squares, so I keep track of basically the same things there, plus any events the hubby volunteers at, birthdays & school days off.  

8. Are you a reader? If so, do you have any reading goals for the year?  I love to read.  I never thought about setting goals.  I just read because I like it and whenever I get a chance. 

9. Is there a hobby that you’ve always wanted to do and plan to take up this year?  Not really.  I have a cross-stitch project that I'm working on.  It's Halloween-themed so hopefully I'll have it done before then!

10. Do you have any big anniversaries or birthdays or other notables coming up this year?  15 years at my work and 9 years being married!  The kid will be 18.

1st real post of 2015!

I confess to missing 2 meetings / weigh ins over the holidaze.  I went on the 17th and we left as soon as Miss Angela got home from school on the 23rd for Arkansas.  You can read all about that HERE.  We got home January 2.

Happily, I was only up .5 lb at this week's weigh in. I'm OK with that.  Since I'd been sick since New Years Day and hadn't been feeling like eating, what I lost from that probably cancelled the out the less-than-stellar choices I'd made in Arkansas. Plus TOM had just started, too.

I did try to be careful about what I shoveled in my face.  It's tough with 2 of the worst saboteurs in the world with me.  Check out this picture of health.....

  Yup.

As soon as we get there, we usually go to the grocery store.  Mom never keeps much food in the house, since it's just her and she's got some seriously weird eating habits anyway.  I grabbed some wheat bread & Randy had the nerve to ask me if I was trying to kill them!!  I looked him head to toe & told him he really didn't want to go there with me.  I also heard "but it's vacation - you don't need to watch what you eat on vacation!!".  Ummm - yes I do!  because I get on a scale every week and see exactly what you're trying NOT to see!  I'm pretty sure Mom thought I was a hostile bitch at times. I prayed for strength, since I  needed all the help I could get!!

The places we went out to eat, I was able to usually get grilled chicken and a salad, even Chick-Fil-A. No salads at Sonic, tho.  I was surprised to get grilled anything there!  When we went out for catfish, I got mine grilled with wild rice & black beans.  At the Outback I had the grilled tilapia & steamed veggies. I did have a couple coconut shrimp, but I tracked them!  I had oatmeal for breakfast most days. One night I had my cheat night.  It was the night of whatever bowl game that the Arkansas Razorbacks were playing in, so I had pizza & a breadstick and some BBQ wings.  It was thin crust, but tons o meat.  It was from a local place and called the "Razorbaccio".  Randy had been looking forward to that for weeks! Even when we stopped while travelling, I tried to make good choices.  

My downfall was the bowl of M&Ms and another bowl of peanuts that was always on the kitchen table.  They were just too easy to grab some without thinking.

And exercise??  OMG, this was awful.  If you look under my "Work in Progress" tab at the top, I have 2 (TWO!!!) single digit weeks earning Activity Points.  Granted there were almost 4 full days riding in the car, but there's no excuse why I couldn't have gone out walking around the apartment complex instead of growing mold sitting in the recliner.

So anyhoooo, putting this all behind me now.  I'm finally getting over whatever Plague I picked up on the way home.  Once I'm able to do some physical activity without trying to cough up a lung, I'm going to take Randy's offer up and renew my gym membership.  I miss going there!  I also saw the lady at the dance studio that did the Zumba class.  I'm all in once she starts back up, but apparently no one has been calling about it.  Seems silly for her to do the class for just me!

Happy 2015 !!!