New angels today

As now everyone has heard, a horrific tragedy occurred in our backyard. Newtown CT used to be a sleepy little hamlet where nothing bad happened. This morning, that peace was shattered and the town (and state) will never be the same.

20 young children ranging in age from 5 to 10 had their lives cut horrifically short. 7 staff and teachers also had their lives taken away, trying to protect their charges.

I have heard the sick excuse for a human being killed his mother at home and then went to the school to slaughter the ones she loved as the ultimate F.U. My heart goes out to his family (brother and father and other relatives) - they had no idea he was capable of such cruelty. I am sure that life will never be the same for them either.

As more details came out, it hit close to home- my niece is a kindergartner in a small bucolic CT town, she like some of the new angels today, is in an AM class. All I could think of tonight is that it could have been her school and her friends. I was lucky enough to have a sleepover with her tonight and made sure to get lots of hugs.

How will the school recover- what will happen? Will the school be torn down and rebuilt? Will that section be taken down? I don't think they can leave the school as is today. What person (teacher or parent) would want things to stay as they were??? I know the children in this school will never be the same, their innocence is gone- shattered in the blink of an eye.

In addition to the family and friends for all those involved, thoughts and prayers go out to the first responders. They saw the unbelievable today and will have to cope with the images they saw. An image of firefighters crying this morning is going to stay with me for a long time.

I am going to say another prayer as I go to sleep tonight- for all of the new angels today, and their grieving families.

Thanksgiving- straight ahead

How did time fly so quickly and how is it Thanksgiving next week??

The boy is coming with me to Thanksgiving- will meet my brother, cousins, and niece. Hope all goes well- he'll be one of 21 at the house.

He is from a small family who has their thanksgiving in the evening- he is going back down to the coast after our gathering- and picking up his gramma on the way (so sweet). Have yet to meet any of the family- will have to do that sooner than later......

This week will be interesting!

Grrrrr

I need to vent a moment..... if you don't like what I have to say- too bad, stop reading this now.

There are some folks in my family that are polar opposites politically than I, and for the last several months, they have been posting ultra conservative views/ opinions ad nausium.

I have finally reached my tolerance limit. We are all welcome to our own particular political views, and I understand that we will never see eye to eye on ANYTHING political.

But I am sick and tired of it all. Between all of the political posts, attack ads, the landslide of attack mailers, and the most unwelcome phone calls from Linda McMahon's campaign (I am a registered Dem, NO I will not vote for you, NO I will not stump for you, NO I will not call around and convince my neighbors to vote for you) I have had it up to HERE.

I got pissed off and stopped biting my tongue today. While I made sure to respond in a way that would not invite/inflame arguments on FB, I could not stomach any more. I know you don't care for our incumbent president, but show some f'ing respect.

I am looking forward to next Wednesday (11/7) more and more. What ever way the polls and the electoral votes fall, the battles and attack ads will be DONE. I hope to god the same will follow suit on a certain social media site. Come next Wednesday, maybe we can end the madness that has been this ugly election season.

Its Astounding........

Time is fleeting,
Madness takes its toll....

Happy Halloween!

:)

Today went ok at work, got quite a bit accomplished, but this evening was the best part of my day by far- all due the person I was with :)

Happy Fall

Its a beautiful fall day- road trip to VT maybe for leaf peeping :) Fall is fleeting, and I want to enjoy it.


Have a happy day!

My cousin has picked the most beautiful location for her wedding!!! It is so quiet and peaceful- I may never want to leave!

Conflicted

Ugh- tough decisions abound!

I am an introverted person who sometimes has a hard time making decisions. This applies to social situations, clothing choices and such... but funny enough it doesn't happen at at work- just social life.

Recently I was posed a question- do you go with the devil you know or the devil you don't???
Do you want to be the youngest in a group you know? Or do you want to be put in a new group that may be a better age fit, but you don't know anyone (vise versa)...

After much thought, I went with the group I know. While I would love to meet some of the other group(s) I think it would be better to do that in a more casual/easy setting.

I really wish sometimes that I could be more decisive and adventerous.

breaking through the comfort zone

I am a self taught knitter, and for the last several years have made blankets, scarves, hats and slippers for friends and family.

I never entertained the thought of mittens because the thumb section intimidates me. Last week I had mentioned that I needed to start knitting again and a friend suggested that I make mittens- she even offered to pay for a pair. I mentioned that mittens were out of my league, but my interest was piqued.

I went to Lion Brand's website and did some poking. I found this 'easy' pattern and figured I could give it a try: mittens . It ended up taking just a weekend (not the whole time). While not perfect, I am very pleased the way they turned out, I have to make sure I pay close attention when working the thumbs.

I went outside my comfort zone and learned something new- and it was good :)

phew!

baby it's HOT outside!

What a beautiful- yet steamy/roasty day.

Journey

What a diffrerence a year can make.

This picture was taken at the end of June, 2011. This was just about my heaviest point. When I look at these shots, I feel gross and looks like someone has inflated me. I remember being tired ALL the time.

This shot was taken July 14, 2012.

I rarely wear dresses- I didn't like the way I looked and had just one sundress in the closet.

That dress has since been donated,and I am proud to say I have 3 dresses now in my closet that fit and are cute. Now I just have to start wearing them out in public more :)



I look and feel completley different. I have lots more energy and I feel so much better about myself.

I am starting to like shopping for clothes again and the thought of wearing Misses sizes is really exciting :)

Lets see what the next 12 months will bring!!

Does anyone have a fan???

I have been in home office for over a year now.... today was my first fire drill in the city. A field trip if you will for several hundred business folks in the city. This was the first drill I have participated in where streets are blocked off by the city's finest- its a good thing otherwise we would be playing a giant game of Frogger. Only one of the buildings had the drill today and easily we had 300-400 people+. In the other offices I worked in the firemen would occasionally come up, but we were contained to business parks- our evac areas were self contained to company property. In the city, all of our evac sites are company property, but we have some busy streets bisecting the areas.

The drill is a yearly exercise apprently, but the timing today left alot to be desired - 100 degree day with high humidity. While we were waiting for the ok to go back we heard sirens... and they pulled in the parking lot we were in. Yup, one of our own succumbed to the heat (or so we can assume). As we got the ok to head back, we saw a firetruck, ambulance and multiple security folks around someone on the ground holding a black umbrella.

As we trooped back into the building, we saw some other folks having issues with the heat and weather. Did I mention it was only about 10 am?? I can only imagine how we looked to those on Asylum today :)

It was almost pleasant out under the tree today!

time is flying

ok, so I didn't realize that it had been so long since my last post... time is flying by.

Today my niece graduated from pre school- they were in real cap and gowns, walked to pomp and circumstance and were just the cutest things ever. Hearing them shout the pledge of alleigence and America the Beautiful and getting all of the words right was funny and touching at the same time. I wish time was not always flashing by so fast.

Congratulations to my Munchkin, Auntie is very proud of you :)

Spring fun

This weekend is going to be fun :) Spring has finally completely sprung in my neck of the woods- the trees are starting to show leaves, bushes are flowering, and there are spring flowers gracing the ground.

Today plan includes dance class, a couple of errands and taking my niece mini golfing! She tried it for the first time last week in SC and really likes it. Now to decide btwn the 2 courses near the house :) Of course I have a feeling we'll be following it up w/ice cream for her- I am going to try and be good...

Tomorrow's plan is for a long drive- has been a while since I have done that. Mason NH is the destination - a cute place called Pickety Place. It is one of my mom's favorites and they serve a 5 course gourmet lunch using local products and herbs in their meals. The location is actually where Little Red Riding Hood was inspired from (I think Grandmother's House). I have to remember to charge the camera and am excited to take some back, windy roads :)

y a w n ... bink bink bink

The brain is a odd thing. Mine played a cruel and evil joke this morning when it convinced me that when I woke up that it was actually time to get up for the day.

I blearily hit the buttons on my alarm so they wouldn't go off while in the bathroom. (Now I didn't hear the beeping of the alarm, but that didn't send a flag up because I normally sleep through the first, and it wakes  me before the second one went off- obviously the numbers did not register).  I started my normal routine- its normally dark out when I get up- and didn't think anything of it. Put in my contacts, brushed my teeth, and took my shower. All the while I had a feeling of slight nausea and the overwhelming urge to go back to sleep and call out of work for the day. I made a deal with myself that if I could make it through my meeting in the morning, that I could take the afternoon off to sleep.


After towelling off and going back in my room, my now more awake brain actually registered the time on the clock.....         
                                 it was 1:20 a.m. WHAT THE HELL!!!! I only went to bed at 10:45!
I turned right around, went back to the bathroom and took out my contacts. I then put pjs back on, made sure the hair wasn't soaking wet, turned off the light and crawled back into bed. I fell back alseep right away, and woke at 5 when the friggin alarm actually went off.

Dear brain, please don't do this to me again.... kay, contrary to the belief of some, it is not funny!

oh yeah, and is it nap/bed time yet?

Nostalgia

This weekend I relived a bit of my childhood. Growing up, occasionally my mom would surprise my brother and I and say- pack a bag, we are going away tonight. We would usually go to Massachusetts or Vermont, somewhere fairly local, but it was fun all the same. Going away to spend a night in a hotel, maybe swimming, staying up late watching tv on the beds...

I loved those little trips. We did the same for my niece this weekend- we even stayed in state (she is still a bit young for a long car ride after a day at school. We went to a fun restaurant for dinner, went swimming in the pool before dinner and then again after breakfast before packing up to head out. What made it even a little more fun was that there was snow on the ground as we were splashing around.

It was a fun little trip, something I hope we do again. Everyone should have a chance for an imprompteu adventure.

Need to re-focus

I have hit a plateau with my weightloss, both in the numbers dropping and my willpower in keeping up with what I have learned.

While I was actually taking the NS classes, avoiding excess sugars was no problem for me, it could have been starting with the 3 weeks of no sugars... well, that is no longer the case. I have found myself wanting sugars more and more, and I have had to tell myself NO, You are NOT going to the Bakery for a slice of carrot cake, or a cookie. In the course of the NS classes, there was talk of an amino acid supplement L-Glutamine, which is supposed to curb sugar cravings. I think I may have to look into getting some.

This weekend we had a girls getaway with my niece and went to a hotel in state for fun. I found myself eating breakfast when I wasn't hungry and slipping into old eating patterns.

I am stronger than my cravings, I know I am, and I am going to get back on track. I have lost 55 lbs and have been around that for over a month now. I am going to rid myself of this plateau. I think I have to re-affirm to myself that I can do this, and that I love the transformation that I have seen since July of 2011. There is a fantastic wealth of knowledge in the NS online community, and I am going to take advantage of it.

Time flies

My post on random thoughts commences...

I can't believe that it is almost the end of January already. It feels like the new year has just begun. My cousin and her husband wil be moving back in 4 more months, the family can't wait until they are back north!

One of my co-workers is retiring in 2 days- she can't wait, and while I am so happy for her, I feel more pressure being piled on my shoulders as her work is distributed. I have a project at work that has blown up in size and while I know what I have to do, I don't know how to go about communicating any type of timeframe to others. I am hoping that I gain more clarity on it within a couple of days.

My fingers are also crossed for a certain phone call to come in the next few days for an important person in my life. Stressful days/nights are taking a toll.

This year I need to get out more and meet people.... I also need to get a hold on my finances in a big way. I have to learn to budget ( at least much better than I am now)

From a health standpoint, I am going to commit to continuing on my journey with my transformation with my weight loss. There are rumors at my office about an advanced class being offered for Naturally Slim, I am hoping they are correct :)

Time to start gearing up for the busy week ahead. Have fun my friends.