The Diet and Progress

I have finally lost enough weight that I have started counted down the other way. When people ask me how I'm doing, I've always told them how much I've lost. In just the last couple of days, I've been telling them how much I have left to lose. It seems significant to me, if not to anyone else. I've lost 153lb and have only 35 left to lose. It is amazing to me. And I am feeling so thin. A couple of people have thought I was already at goal. That's great! And I can really believe that I can reach the goal Dr. Fountis set for me now. It took me a while to believe it. It's all good! It probably will still take at least a couple of months, but that's not that far off after almost a year of doine this. I really like the new me and what I can do. I was just thinking the other day that I need to start thinking about things I want to do, that I wouldn't do before. I would like to take some dance lessons. But I don't really want to go alone. Anyone want to go dancing?

Things I've done

Ok, I got this from Cynthia and Lezlee. I copy this whole list and then bold the things on the list that I've done. I thought it would be fun! Here goes:

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar or escargot
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Been to a foreign country
Some of them may be a little bit of a stretch. The "book" I published was a genology book that I wrote about some of my family. I self published at Kinkos and sold it to extended family at cost. Kind of fun to look at the list though.

The big five OH!!

This year I turned the big five Oh!! I can hardly believe it. I had lots of friends to support me through the whole thing and had quite a good time. Penny, Mark and Cecelia threw me a really nice party and I enjoyed seeing lots of friends there. I don't have pics to publish from that yet, but it was really nice, dinner, visiting, pink roses, cake.

I managed to fit it enough things to kind of have a birthday week. The night before my birthday, I caught my friend Kathleen decorating my parking space. I am glad I caught her. It was fun to say thanks for thinking of me.

On New Year's Eve, 8 of us went out to celebrate both Birthday and the New Year. I do have a few pics of that!

Thanks everybody for all your love, support and fun!

The BIG Hike

Yikes! I have been really delinquent in getting to my blog. I hope I can get a few posts up to make up for it.

First, a few of us had been plotting to take the 100 trail through the Phoenix Mountain Preserve for a while. I guess I was in denial or something, but when Cynthia and I first talked about it, I thought she said it was 7 miles. Then I heard 10. It ended up being 11. I was the slowest of the four of us. (Penny, Cynthia, Melanie and I) At first, I was doing so bad, but as the day progressed and I got more tired and sore, I seemed to lag farther and farther behind. Penny wasn't doing too bad, but she was wearing a new pair of shoes and when we reached her car at the 9.5 mile mark, had to drop out due to blisters. Melanie was way out in front like any rocking 14 year old would be, but somehow she was the one most effected by the sun. She got a little dizzy and wasn't feeling so good. Cynthia was just the rock of consistency that she always is and hiked easily through the whole thing. We figure we had about 5 hours and 40 minutes of actual hiking time. We took one morning break and a lunch break. It was a cool day and yet I was hot by afternoon. That convinced me that I am going to have to pretty early when it just gets a little warmer.
I am just glad I met my goal of finishing. I don't think it's a distance that I feel a need to do very often!

The photos to prove we did it! The top photo is when we started. It's Cynthia, Melanie and Penny.

This one shows that I went too!

Here is our morning break. We still look pretty good. Some of our yummy picnic.

The Cute Miss Melanie at lunch.
And Penny without a hair out of place, but leaning a little to take the weight off of her blisters!

Chihully at the Desert Botanical Gardens

In December the Desert Botanical Garden does Noches dos lumanarios. That by itself is very cool. They have many of the paths lined with lumanarios, lit by lots of volunteers. Throughout the gardens they have different musical artists playing and singing. It's all very nice. You can even choose to buy dinner there if you want.

This year is even more special though. The famous glass artist, Chihully, has done an installation throughout the garden. His pieces are fantastic. The glass will be there through May, but it is only now that they have them illuminated at night. I bought a ticket to see them during the day also, because I thought I wouldn't be able to see them very well at night. Boy was I wrong! Not only are the fabulously lit, but they are so dramatic and vibrant at night!
Cindy went with me and we had a delightful evening. It was a mild night, full moon and a beautiful place. Enjoy the photos! And make plans to go see the glass yourself. You won't regret it.

(Only the last one is lit from inside. It's neon tubes. The rest are lit with spotlights, even though they look like they are glowing. cool.)

Hiking with Penny

The day after Thanksgiving, Penny and I went on a hike in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. We took a route that Cindy and I had done once before. It's close to 3 miles and took us a couple of hours. It has some pretty good ups and downs. It was a beautiful day. It had rained the day before and the air was crisp. In the photos it looks smoggy downtown, but it was more foggy/misty actually. We saw quite a few people out with the same idea. We even passed one group of 20 that were hiking with some of the Phoenix park rangers. Penny said she had never been hiking before and had a quite a bit of commentary to make about hiking. It was kind of funny. She walks a lot, but wasn't used to the uneven path and ups and downs. Here are the photos! Enjoy! We are taking a big hike the Monday after Christmas for anyone who wants to join us.

This Fish hook barrell cactus was pretty cool. Talk about making the best of a tough situation. I think this would make a neat cover on a card.