In Memory of Mom...

Today was the 3rd Annual "Let's Go to Salty's for Mom" brunch. This year we expanded the invite list to include the Pantry goat and Mr & Mrs. Braspir. Unfortunately the PantryGoat was sickish (the smell of food made her sick) and Mrs. Braspir was off saving the world with the Red Cross. So that left, Seattle SIL, The Niece, Blueberry, Mr. Braspir and myself to sit and eat like gluttons in memory of mom.

And oh boy did we.

You never can get the full value out of this buffet cuz there's SO MUCH FOOD. But Salty's puts on a fantastic brunch.

Thursday marked 3 years since Mom passed. This year was very different from the last two. The first year was...well, hard. Last year was so so. This year... whoa. Grief is so bizarre.

Usually the week leading up to it is the hard part. I get myself all in a tither when I think about the day that's coming up. Then when the day arrives, nothing.

This year, we had a snow event that took my mind off everything, apparently. Then suddenly on the 16th my mind went, "Ahh yes...I know what today is." and it hit me. Grief.

I miss mom so much. I miss her daily. So many times I have wanted to call her. So many things I've wanted to tell her. She'd be so proud of where I am and what I'm doing. She'd be so proud of all her grandkids too. She is missed by all.

Did I mention we had a snow event? Lord. I hate snow so much. It's pretty and all, but when it hits the streets here the city shuts down. I have zero confidence with driving in the snow and Wroamin just doesn't do well, so I stay home.

Then what happens is I get cabin fever and MUST go out. That happened about the time my boss wanted me in the office so he drove out to pick me up and took me home later. It was good to get out of the house for sure.

The snow is gone now...mostly. There's still some on the ground in big piles where it was plowed. Otherwise it's long gone. I really hope that's all we have for this year.

As for how the year's going...so far so good. I'm still feeling super motivated with My Little Word - "Finish it!". Been working on a decluttering schedule this month. It feels so good to declutter and get rid of stuff. With planning on moving in a year, I need to be prepared to have half the crap I currently have.

Ok. I'm going to spend the rest of the day napping. I'm stuffed beyond belief...super thirsty but can't drink too much because I'm so stuffed.

For the Love of Books

Every year I have a goal to read 50 books. Some years I make it, some I don't. Last year I made it.  I read a total of 54 books. That's more than1 a week!

And in case you're wondering, that's 16,601 pages read!

I had moments where I would finish one book and start another. Then I had moments where I didn't read anything for a month. I have no real rhyme or reason with what, how, and when I read.

I love having the Nook App on my phone because that means I can read at any time. Waiting for a dr. appt...I can read.

So here we are in 2020 and I have a LIST of books I want to read. At the end of the day, I love reading. If I hit my goal, Great! If I don't, so be it.

As a review, here's what I read in 2019 with my opinions on each book.

Let's start with my favorites. Only two that really rose to the top as far as favorites. I read these two one right after another and both of them were so good I've tried to share the word to anyone who would listen.

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes (5+stars - that's how good it was) - This book! I can't even begin to tell you what a wonderful book this was. It's set in WWII and present day. It bounces between a story of two women. You don't fully understand why until towards the end of the book. It's written brilliantly and it comes together so well. I'd reread this book for sure.

Echoes by Maeve Binchy (5+ stars) - I've read a couple of her books and each on stayed with me for a bit. This book stayed with me. In fact, it stayed with me so much when I finished reading it, the next day I wondered what the characters were doing. I fell in love with the characters and the story. Set in Ireland, which I love, it's a story of life in a small town, love, and how people try to avoid their destinies.

Next, the books from the book club, Vines & Spines. We've read some good ones this year, and we've read some duds. I rank my books in stars 0-4 with 4 being great and zero being don't bother.

Bold spirit "Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America by Linda Lawrence Hunt (0 stars) - Not my favorite. It's interesting from a historical perspective, but meh.

Boy Erased by Garrand Conley (1 star) - This was my selection. I thought it would be way more interesting than it was. The only interesting part to me was that people are crazy enough to think conversion therapy works.

Daughters of the Night Sky by Aimie K. Runyah (2 stars) - This book is about the women pilots in WWII. The history was interesting, the story was ok, the ending, not so great.

Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce (1 star) - I had to look up what this book was even about. Guess that tells you how much I liked it.

Glory Over Everything: Beyond the Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (3 stars) - Last year we read The Kitchen House and this year we read the sequel. Great book. Great writing. The two are a good read.

How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents by Julia Averez (1 star) - Again, another book that was just meh for me. What was interesting about this book is the look at how immigrants have to deal with life in America.

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman (4 stars) - Probably one of my all time favorites that we've read in book club. Such good writing, such a good story. Sad, happy, thoughtful, it had everything.

Love and Ruin by Paula McLain (4 stars ) - One of the first years of book club we read the Paris Wife about one of Ernest Hemmingway's wives. This book is about one of his other wives. I've gotta say, he was quite a cad. This, however, was a great book. The Paris Wife was one of my favorites for sure and this one was yet another favorite.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (4 stars) - This was my pick for January 2020 actually but I read it in December 2019. If you like mysteries, this is the book for you. Not at all gruesome or violent - but a mystery all the same.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (0 stars) - I had high hopes for this book because I'm a fan of fantasy and futuristic stories. The TV show looked interesting too. Yet this book just didn't hit the mark for me.

The Long Winter by Laura Ingle Wilder (2 stars) - This is book 6 of the Little House on the Prairie series. I loved that TV show in the 80's but never read a book of hers. Over all this one wasn't great for me. The LONG Winter just went on and on and on. What was interesting is reading and understanding how people survived back then.

The Silent Wife by Kerry Fisher (2 star) - Yet another I had to look up to see what it was about but once I did I remembered I liked this book. Also a mystery and an easy read.

And lastly...

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (0 star) - Mrs. Braspir decided since we had read two books about his wives we should read one of his books. I wasn't a fan of him in high school and I thought maybe as an adult I'd like him more. Nope! Still don't like his writing. Still don't have a clue what this book is about.

I read two young adult books, or what I consider young adult books, this year.

Paper Towns by John Green (2 stars) - I loved Fault in our Stars so I figured I'd probably love other books by him. This book was good. Interesting. I got a bit tired of one of the main characters, but overall a good, quick read.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (2 stars) - I wish I could tell you how I came across this book. I usually know how books come into my life, but this one I don't have a clue. It's about a high school girl that is an outcast because she called the cops on a high school party. She becomes so isolated she stops speaking all together. In her art class she finds a way to face what happened at the party...she was raped. She begins to heal when she runs into the guy again. This book hits a home run with regards to what high schoolers have to deal with in today's world.

The rest of the books are romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and other...

One self help book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0. Had to read it for a Leadership Foundation Class. Good book. Got some good pointers out of it.

Books by Lynsay Sands - she's one of my favorite authors. Usually writing about vampires.

• A Lady in Disguise
• Bliss
• Sweet Revenge
• The Wrong Highlander: Highland Brides

The Callaway Series by Barbar Freethy - New author for me this year. These are the typical romance books. Boy meets girl. They fall in love. There's an issue. They resolve it. They live happily ever after. 

• On a Night Like This (Callaways #1)
• So This is Love (Callaways #2)
• Falling for a Stranger (Callaways #3)
• Between Now and Forever (Callaways #4)

Books by Katie MacAlister - also one of my favorite authors. Also writes about the other world, vampires, werewolves, etc.

• Bird of Paradise 
• Born Prophesy #1 – Fireborn
• Born Prophesy #2 - Starborn
• Dragon Unbound (Dragon Falls #3.5)

Cassie Scot series by Christine Amsden - stumbled into this series this year. They're young adult type books about the other world. 

• Cassie Scot #1 - Cassie Scot
• Cassie Scot #2 - Secrets and Lies
• Cassie Scot #3 - Mind Games
• Cassie Scot #4 - Stolen Dreams
• Cassie Scot #5 - Madison's Song
• Cassie Scot #6 - Kaitlin's Tale
• Cassie Scot #7 – Frozen

The rest...

• Forever My Girl by Heidi McLaughin
• Midnight on the River Grey by Abigail Wilson
• Chronicles of the One #1 - Year One by Nora Roberts
• Chronicles of the One #2 - Of Blood and bone by Nora Roberts
• City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments Series #2) by Cassandra Clare
• Diary of the White Witch by Melissa de la Cruz
• Shades of Wicked (Nicht Rebel #1) by Jeaniene Frost
• Deadman's Cross #1 - Deadmen Walking by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• The League #10 - Born of Vengeance by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• Cloak and Silence (Maris from the League) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• Upon the Midnight Clear (Dream-Hunter Series #2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
• When I fall in Love by Wendy Lindstrom

Temptation's Darling by Johanna Lindsey - Johanna Lindsey has been one of my favorite authors since college. She writes historical romances and I just love all her books and her characters. She died in October 2019 and that makes me sad. No more new books from her.

So yah. I read a wide variety of types of books. Book club makes me read genres I don't normally read, so that's good. But when I want to read quick, I fall into a book from my favorite authors or romance. Now..If you'll excuse me I have 50 books to read by Dec 31, 2020.

Hello 2020!

I didn't stay up to ring in the new year last night, but while I was eating dinner I started thinking about what I thought 2020 would look like to my 25 year old self. And then I realized my 25 year old self wasn't good an dreaming up big ideas for the future. She was busy eating spaghetti O's and trying to pay rent.

25 years old would have been in 1993 for me. I started working for Microsoft in Sept of that year, leaving the family business, Boeing, behind.

Having a computer in my home wasn't a concept at all, let alone a laptop. While Bill Gates believed that one day a computer in every household was possible, I did not.

My 25 year old self probably assumed life would be a lot like it was then. I wasn't very imaginative in that way. I was an early adopter for most technology, but it never crossed my mind what the technology could be.

I sure I didn't have a mobile phone in 1993, we barely had the Internet. Dial up, Netscape or AOL...remember those days? I'm sure I wouldn't have imagined that a small handheld phone would not only act as a phone, but a camera, a place I'll tell the world what I'm doing daily, a calculator, a game player, a communicator by typing, etc. I am not sure I could live without my phone today. How did we do it?

Social media would never have occurred to me. My social media was the actual land line phone. I'd budget in long distance calls to friends. Sometimes, most of the time, I'd go way over my budget. Friends I had then we actually got together and did things. We communicated in person.

I was still recording shows on the VCR then. Wouldn't have imagined a DVR and all the channels you could watch. I had cable, but it wasn't nearly what it is now. Didn't have Food Network, Investigative Discovery, Lifetime, Oxygen, etc. I probably watched way less TV for sure.

I would not have imagined carrying a dozen or more books with me to read at any time. eBooks changed my reading life for sure. Back in the day, getting new books was "hard" for me in that I wasn't focused on going to an actual store to buy them. I didn't do the library then either. I had way more stuff going on to read. I certainly wouldn't have imagined my future self in 2020 would have ready 50+ books in 2019.

My 25 year old self had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. Her degree was Foreign Language and Literature, she wanted to be an interpreter. She couldn't pass that test. She wasn't ambitous in that she didn't want to be a CEO or anything like that. She wanted a job she enjoyed and make enough money to live comfortably. She wouldn't have imagined that in 2020 she may become a Vice President. She certainly didn't image she'd be a Director of Professional Services. She probably wouldn't have imagined ever being a Project manager and earning her PMP (Project Manager Professional certification).

I KNOW my 25 year old self would never have imagined chiming in 2020 without Mom and Dad. She would have assumed they would be here forever.

Life is very different these days. 2020 looms before me. I love the new year because it always feels like a clean slate. I have plans. I have goals. I have desires to do/complete certain things. I really want to focus on this year and finish some things I've started over the last several years.

So as you ring in the new year, think about all that has happened to you over the last decade or so. Would you have seen you life unfold the way it did? I think most of us would say no.

Birthday Eve

Here I sit all comfy and cozy thinking about the week ahead at work when suddenly I remembered tomorrow's my birthday.

I never forget my birthday. I plan for it. I plan some more. And for a little extra ... I plan a bit more. I always know what I'm going to make and what my cake or cupcakes will be.

Nothing. It's 6:48PM on the 28th and I have nothing.

So instead of thinking about that, let's talk about 2020.

A new year to me always feels like a clean slate. I have goals, I always do and they're almost always the same.

50+ books
Try new things.
Try to be healthier
Try to save...blah blah blah...

Sometimes I actually break those goals down a bit and really focus on them. They always sit in the back of my mind. Waiting. Hoping I'll fail. They never really seem like I put much thought into them. Maybe for the month of January, then all they do is mock me.

Not this year. No siree...I've got a plan. I've got a little word that will help me focus (ok two little words)

FINISH IT!

That's right. Finish it. I'm the mistress of starting things and suck at finishing things (some things anyhow). I have a laundry list of things I want to accomplish in 2020 and in order to even consider getting half of them done I need a plan. Which I'll figure out eventually. For now...here's the list of things I WANT to do in 2020.

• Travel to a new country
• Travel to a new place around Seattle
• Hike for a day
• Buy a souvenir
• Try a new cocktail
• Pay for a strangers drink or food
• Give things I don't use to charity
• Donate money to a charity
• Do a good deed with no expectations
• Pick up garbage that isn't mine
• Send flowers to someone
• Go on a road trip
• Get a massage
• Go for a walk on a beach
• Watch a sunrise
• Watch a sunset
• Do a self-guided tour in a city
• Quit drinking for a month… hahahah
• Try 10 new restaurants
• Go to Space Needle for dinner/lunch
• Go to the movies
• Read 50 books
• Smash my "honey do list" (that alone is worth 30 items)
• Ride the ferry
• Buy a new piece of furniture
• Complete all the online courses I've bought
• Set an exercise goal each month
• Learn to meditate
• Make a new friend
• Watch a TV series you've been waiting to see
• Complete you movie watching list
• Hand write letters to Aunt Jean & Godma
• Finish your scrapbooking projects that you've started
• Clean out and organize your photos
• Review/revise the Will
• Save 20% more than this year
• Change ONE of your bad habits
• Book a date with friends you never see enough of or haven't seen in forever
• Bake a low carb treat every month
• Visit MOHAI
• Go to Eagle Landing (Burien)
• Go to Seattle Aquarium
• Visit NW Trek
• Visit Tillicum Village
• Go to the top of the Columbia Tower
• Go Wine Tasting at least 10 times
• Give your digital live a good cleaning (music collection, org documents, unsubscribe fro emails, etc)
• Find, review and stick to your 2020 Word - "FINISH IT!"
• Read the "management" and "leadership" books you've purchased
• Push yourself to do all these things 

Phew...I'm tired just looking at that list!

Currently...

Happy December! My favorite month. Its the month I was born (which means the month we celebrate that event). It's the end of a year. It's the holiday season and everyone seems jolly.

I put up a tree this year and that's helping with my jolly side. The cats, however, are systematically taking it down. I've decided for next year, as a fun game, I'm going to use my tree as an advent calendar. Every time the demons knock one off, I'm putting it away. Then by the time Christmas shows up my tree should be bare and I can just put it away.

Ok, so the other part of this time of year that I love is a new year is coming. A new year means new beginnings to me. I have a list. A very long list for sure. I'll write about that later. But in doing my list I thought about what was happening currently, so I thought I'd write about that. So get a cup of coffee and have a look.

Currently Reading: My goal this year was 50 books. I'm reading book 49 right now. If I keep these last two short I can just make my goal. I'm shooting for 50 again next year.

Currently Eating: Still eating Low Carb - ish. I feel off the wagon a bit - well a lot lately. But I'm back to visiting my nutritionist. Back to personal trainer. And back to planning my weekly meals.

Currently Listening to: Christmas Music of all kinds. My most recent favorite is for King & Country Little Drummer Boy. I was introduced to this last year and it's quickly became my favorite.

Currently Watching: The Gilmore Girls, and The Girl More Girls A Year in the Life. The TV did a marathon of Gilmore Girls and I watched all 7 seasons. Then I had to see the latest. The Year in the Life was not great. But I do love me some Gilmore Girls.

Currently Making: Cookies. Tomorrow is the great bit December Cookie Exchange and so I have to make me some cookies.

Currently Feeling: Focused. Working on my plan for 2020 and feeling really focused on it all.

Currently Planning: 2020! It's almost here and I've got a lot to do.

Currently Loving: Traveler's Notebooks. I'm almost done converting all my 12X12 scrapbooks to smaller Traveler's Notebooks. I love the new format and it's been fun reviewing all the years of work.

Happy... it's been a while

I promise myself that I'm going to blog more and then a month or more goes by and I realize my promise is nothing by empty promises.

Let's see, when we last spoke I had just dropped 23 lbs. Which I'm very proud of. What I'm not proud of is that since then I've gained 2 back. In fact, I fluctuate between down 23 and down 19. My focus has been off and I really need to find that motivation again. I'm almost there. Though it seems every time I get motivated a trip or a holiday seem to happen and I use that as an excuse to eat carbs. I've invited carbs back into my life too often now and I need to get a handle on that ASAP.

In early November, the fam went to see Wings Over Washington in downtown Seattle. It's a ride where you are pretend hang gliding over Washington. I had ridden one at California Adventure and loved it. This one, I didn't love. I didn't love the falling feeling and the floating feeling. It's beautiful scenery for sure. I'm glad we did it, but don't feel the need to do it again.

Following that we did the Seattle Great Wheel too. We've done it before with Mom, and I enjoyed it just as much this time as last.

Right now I'm sitting on a deck chair in Gold Beach Oregon watching the waves roll in and out. I'm here with a couple of Scrappy Girlfriends. We rented a beach house (Air BnB) for a long weekend of scrapping. It's such a beautiful area and the house is perfect for hanging out and scrapping. The beach is literally right out the back door.

We found this amazing little Mexican restaurant here in Gold Beach. So amazing we've gone twice. The food is so authentic and so delicious that I would probably eat there every other day if I lived here.

Gold Beach is an interesting little town. It reminds me of Ocean Shores, just more...um...conservative, let's say. The streets definitely roll up at night and you're hard pressed to see anyone on the streets unless they're leaving the local tavern. It's quiet and peaceful and really a nice little get away. We've enjoyed ourselves so much we're talking about coming back next year.

So let's see, since last I checked in .. what else has happened?

A couple of wine tasting adventures
A couple of book clubs (our drinking group with a reading problem)
A couple of Keg family dinners
A couple of Sunday dinners
A whole lot of work
A trip to Charlotte for work (Leadership class that I loved)
And a dinner with a long time friend we've not seen in 20 years.

Every once in a while I like to search through Facebook on friends from the past to see if any of them have accounts. Reconnecting seems to be something I am doing these days. So one Saturday night I typed in a friend from college's name. He's a guy whom Sherrie and I and another friend hung out with all the time. He was a ton of fun and such a part of our lives. Then marriage and kids happened...and well, we know that story all too well.

Anyhow, I stumbled on to his wife's account. It was pretty clear she wasn't an avid Facebooker, but I thought I'd send her a message just in case she ever checked in. Turns out the following week she checked in. We got to talking getting together and suddenly we had a date on the calendar where we'd all meet for dinner.

A couple of Sunday's ago they came over to my place and we got all caught up. It was great to see Mark and Diane after 20 years. So much has happened in 20 years ... it's crazy.

So there you go...that's a quick check in of what's been what in my life. Not a whole lot, but it's something. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get back to scrapping.

23

Officially down 23 lbs.  I feel fantastic. My goal of 25 lbs was by Oct 9th (according to LoseIt that is. I told them my first goal and it told me based on my calorie intake, exercise plan etc how long to hit that goal.) I'm so close.

There are a number of inches that are also gone - which is almost more important than the weight in my opinion. I've been noticing dumb things (correction, they aren't dumb they just may not seem as much of a big deal to an average size person as they do to me) too. Like, chairs.

You know those chairs in waiting rooms that are really uncomfortable? My ass and hips rarely fit in them comfortably. It's always been snug. I've noticed some at work where I fit in them just fine. No longer feeling like I'm going to need baby oil to get me out of them.

I fit into the airplane seat without putting the arm rest up too. And I put on my seatbelt in the plane without asking for an extender. THAT's huge for me. It's always been shameful to me to have to ask, but I had to. This trip to Boston I didn't even have to suck it in for the seat belt to fit.

I met with my nutritionist today and we had a good laugh over my averages for the last 6 weeks. He wants me between 50-70 grams of carbs and 110 grams of protein. My averages while on vacation were 109 g carbs and 50 protein. Completely swapped. Yet, I managed to lose 5 lbs in those 6 weeks since I last saw him.

I stopped taking phentermine too. It was causing my heart to race and it wasn't good. He told me that since it's a stimulant that it does sometimes do that when a person has been on it for 4 months or so. In fact it's been about that for me. So I stopped taking it early Sept and I haven't even noticed.

What I have noticed is I can poop again (sorry TMI), I can sleep again and I'm not having the leg cramps I've had. So I think it's better that I'm off it.

So now what? If I hit my goal by Oct 9th (and a good chance I will), what next? Easy...another 25 lbs. And I need to get my blood work done again to see if my diabetes number went down. I'm sure it has...but I need to confirm it.

It feels good. Did I mention that?

Boston

The fam went to Boston to walk the 3day, and as we do, we decided to be tourists for a couple of days. My intent was to write while we were there, but I didn't. So now that we're home I'm going to give it a shot to remember what we did. 

We left Seattle on the 2nd (Memorial Day). Flying to the east coast takes all day and so we didn't get there until well after 8pm. Our mission was to do and see and do some more. The best part of taking off... this low carb thing made two things possible on the airplane. 

1. I fit comfortably in the seat without pulling up the arm rest
2. I didn't need an extender for the seat belt

Both those things bug the crap out of me when I travel and now that I've lost weight, traveling is comfortable again. 

We flew JetBlue for the first time. I gotta say...I loved them. I'd fly them again. 

Day 1 - Sept 3
The first order of business was to check out the breakfast at the hotel. Nothing overly exciting but it's nice having a free breakfast. It not only cuts down on cost, but time. If you have to go eat breakfast somewhere every day you lost time. Eating in the hotel before you leave...piece of cake. 

We knew the one thing we absolutely wanted to do was the hop on hop off trolley. We do these type of tours every where we go. It's the best way to really see the city and decide what you want to go and see more of. But to get there we had to take the Transit to downtown Boston. 

The "T" as it's called is super easy to navigate. Once you get your ticket, the documentation every where made it easy to figure out where we were going. The shuttle driver from the hotel gave us the stop we needed and off we went. 

We exited the T into the Boston Common. It was HOT and MUGGY. 80F with 89% humidity...Lord.  I'm sure I lost 50 lbs in sweat that day. it was somewhat miserable to be honest. 

After spending the bulk of the morning and early afternoon on the trolley seeing the sights of Boston, we stopped at Quincy Market to find a bit of lunch. Quick to decide we stopped at Ned Devine's.  I had "chowdah" and y'all...the best chowdah I've ever had. I got no photos of it because I inhaled it too quickly. 

Today was also Janet's birthday. We didn't do much celebrating during the day but after we got back to the hotel, we took her to dinner at the Blarney Stone - looked up restaurants in the area of our hotel and found this. 

I was still delusional that I was going to stay on my low carb plan for vacation (despite the chowder earlier) and had these fantastic steak tips. They came with mashed potatoes and Brussel sprouts. I didn't eat either.  This would be the last of me really focusing on staying low carb. Didn't last too long. It's hard when you travel. 

Day 2 - Sept 4

Same as Day 1. We took the T to Boston Common. Only today was all about the Freedom Trail. 

We used the hop on hop off trolley to get to the beginning of the trail at Bunker hill. We walked and walked and walked…then we stopped to have lunch in Little Italy. Fantastic pizza.

But the best part was after when we stopped at Mike's Bakery. We'd seen the boxes all over and wondered what it was all about. Cannoli…that's what it was all about. We swung and all got one. Janet and I split a chocolate mousse one. OH….MY…GOD…I have never tasted anything as good. It was so not sweet and so flavorful. In fact, we were so entranced in eating it we almost walked right past Paul Revere's house…

After we came down from our sugar high, we continued a bit more on the trail. Eventually we had to get back to the hotel because we were headed to my nephew Danny's house for dinner.

Driving out there was an adventure. These drivers here are insane. Lanes are really guidelines. As are traffic lights apparently. Super aggressive drivers who all seem to understand some unspoken rule about traffic "laws" being just guidelines. In fact, the only time they really honk is if the light has turned and you haven't already started going BEFORE it turned. 

On our way out there we saw a thunder storm starting to roll in. As we got closer we saw lightening and heard thunder pretty regularly. Then driving into their driveway we walked into the house and literally the clouds opened up. Two LOUD lighting/thunder strikes happened within feet of his house. The downpour was impressive. Then about 3 minutes later it was gone and it was sunny again.

Danny and his husband Keith entertained us and fed us empenadas and crostini with mozarella and tomatoes on it. Both delicious. Little Lenora was a doll. So enjoyed spending time with them. My thought the entire time is Mom would have been in heaven. She wouldn't have wanted to see anything in Boston she only would have wanted to spend it with Danny and Lenora. 

Day 3 - Sept 5

Today was all about finishing up the freedom trail. We started at Boston Common and walked the second half. During that time we stopped at the state house and had a tour of the building. Impressive for sure. Some beautiful architecture to be sure. Our tour guide was awesome.  Total Boston accent. In fact he said "horse" three times before I understood what he was saying. 

Afterwards, we walked down the street to Beantown Pub and had lunch. Clam chowdah again, along with a side of boston baked beans that were disgusting. Blech. Thank god I ordered the deep fried pickles too. The chowder was good, but not as good as Ned Devine's.

Janet had two funny sayings during lunch that had me in stitches...

"Can I dip my spoon in your chowdah?" and "Anyone want this big pickle?" I don't know why both struck my funny bone, but they did.

After that we visited one of the oldest cemeteries and it's where all the patriot were buried. I love old graveyards and what not. This one did not disappoint. 

We noticed many of the tombstones had a skeleton head and wings behind it. It was, apparently, depicting something but we had no idea what. I had to do some research to find out. 

Turns out...they're called "death heads" 

"A death's head, often with wings and/or crossed bones, was a stylized skull. Some have speculated that winged skulls were intended to symbolize a combination of physical death and spiritual regeneration. ... The death's head, a non-religious symbol was the first imagery employed in gravestone carving."

Now you know...

After that Lori and Janet were in full 3day mode so we left them there and Kathy and I headed back to the hotel.

Except on our way, we had to see ONE more stop on the freedom trail and while it was being renovated it gave Kathy and excuse to go get more cannoli from Mike's. I hung out in Faneuli plaza and watched people. We decided to take the metro from there. Which had us taking the orange line to the red line. While trying to find the orange line I swear it felt like we were walking to the downtown crossing to get the red line. In fact, by the time we did get the orange line, it was just one stop down for the red line.

The 3Day - Fri through Sun

The next three days were all about the 3day. Boston is NOT a place to try to stalk. So Kathy and I found the cheering stations and cheered from there. 

The closing was fantastic. The park was very cool. 

After we all headed to No Name Restaurant for some seafood. Interesting little restaurant. It was recommended by many of the trolley drivers. It was good, but not a place I'd have to go back to. 

Post 3 day Janet, Kathy and I were spending Monday and Tuesday seeing a few more sights around the Boston area. 

Monday Sept 9 was all about Salem. The BEST part about Salem was that my good friend from my childhood Christy joined us. She and her family live in Webster and she met us at the hotel and road with us to Salem. 

Salem wasn't what I expected. For some reason I had in my head it's just a historic little town and nothing else. We took the trolley around town to see the sights. We didn't get much about the Witch trials. We didn't have time to go into the museum which bummed me out a bit, but I was tired and I didn't want to have everyone wait for me. 

We ate at the Tavern on the Green - supposedly the best burger in town. It was good, but wasn't the "best" in my opinion. 

Tuesday, Sept 10 we headed to Cape Cod

It was so freaking beautiful. Well, Cape Cod is the land mass, the towns we stopped at were Hyannis and Provincetown (P Town). We drove around Hyannis to see the mansions and the Kennedy compound. Amazing. None could we afford and most guest houses were bigger than our houses. Impressive. 

We stopped at this little Cafe called Wimpy's for lunch. Again...more fantastic chowder. I had fried shrimp too - which I can't resist ever. 

We continued driving around the cape and ended up at the very tip top of the "toe" of the boot. Walked onto the beach and dipped our toes in the sea...well Kathy and Janet did. My delicate little feet were not happy about the sand/rock combo. 

So that's that. The Boston trip. I really didn't want to go because work was so chaotic and I hated leaving the team down one soul...but it all worked out. I got a chance to do a lot of thinking about work and came to some good decisions that put me in a good place now. 

Next trip...well I'm heading to Gold Beach in November for a scrapbooking thing with my scrap peeps. 

My Give A Damn...

It may or may not be busted. Jury's still out.

What

A

Week

I knew work life would become very chaotic and I knew it would mean more hours and I was basically ok with that. I still had hope. I still saw a future that a new CEO would change a few things. I believed in the hope from my leadership and other people around you.

But...

When I witnessed my foundation show the smallest, well rather large actually, crack this week I felt that small glimmer of hope I had had been snuffed out. I had been riding this wave of hope on someone else's surf board.

What to do now?

On Tuesday I would have told you I was going to move on. Despite how much I love my job, and the people I work with, I didn't have any hope, all I had was despair...and I felt like I was at the bottom of the pit.

Tuesday evening I updated my resume. I did some searches on the Internet for jobs. Found nothing, found some that were meh...but didn't do anything.

Wednesday I ran into a colleague at the water cooler. He asked how my day was and I responded by saying, "It's only 10am...we'll see".

Then he began to tell me a story...seemingly not related to my comment. He tells me that he and his wife get this email that's a photo of the day and it comes with a story behind the photo.  He remembers one where the photo was of a man in the sulfur pits who's job was bringing the sulfur from the volcano crater out to be processed and sold. He was covered in grime. Noxious gases all around him. Over his shoulders was a large log and on the ends were the buckets of sulfur. He was climbing out of the crater with this load.

Then he said that this guys best day looked worse than any day my colleague had had. Which he followed with "It's all about perspective."

Huh...a lesson at the water cooler.

It is about perspective. And it is about attitude. And most the times I'm content with how things are at work and how I deal with them. With the last two weeks and the insanity around the RIFs I think it finally got to me. I finally felt defeated enough to have myself a small pity party. And you know what? I'm ok with that. I know I have choices around whether I stay or leave? And I know that many friends and family don't understand why I stay (sometimes I don't either). But the truth is, I still love my job. I still love the people I work with. Do I wish things were different/better? Yes. Will they get better? Don't know. Am I willing to stay and find out? Yep.

I'm not naive in thinking that this new CEO could come in and not do wonderful things. It could still suck more than not suck. I'm willing to give him a chance, a real chance and try to be open minded about what he's about. I have a deadline in my head that will be the point in which I determine my future there. But in the meantime, I'm going to practice thinking about perspective and how different it is for every one of us.

I'm not mining sulfur. So I guess this is a good day.

Life just gets more crazier

For many years I've said my life theme song is Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne. It seems fitting. There are days where life isn't that crazy, and then there are days where, well, life just sucks.

Its been a rough couple of weeks at work and crazy is putting it mildly. I'd love to say it isn't going to get any crazier, but I fear if just may for a month or so. I still love what I do and enjoy all the people I work with, so that's helpful. But sometimes business decisions make work not so fun or easy.

The stress of work has often sent me into a tailspin with eating. I'm a stress and emotional eater. The more stressed I am, the more I want convenience, the more likely I am to eat fast food. You add any emotion into that mix and it's a horrible combination.

My go to has always been food. Food will save me. Food will make it all better. Food will alleviate the stress. 

Turns out...that's not true. I know! Shocking.

Food will save me, but not the type of food that used to save me. I had three nights last week where I left work late and all I wanted to do was swing into XYZ fast food joint and make dinner easy. I argued with myself all the way home about the options. I told myself lies like, "Just swing into the teriyaki place and just get chicken." I knew I wouldn't. I knew my emotions would yell and scream to get the chicken, rice and gyoza. Surely once I ate that I'd feel better. And I might...for a moment.

Each night the health won. Each night I managed to convince myself that the best thing I could do for myself and my emotions is to stay on plan. If I didn't, it would be ONE more stress that I'd be adding to myself. It wasn't worth it.

I also just discovered that I think I have to give up my Sunday treat of the Starbucks Ham and Cheese croissant. I love these. But my stomach really doesn't. This is the second Sunday in a row that I've gotten one and the second Sunday in a row that I feel gross and can't be too far from the facilities. On the plus side it's cleaning me out. But nope...I think it has to go.

I need bread of some type in my life, so I'm stepping out and trying all sorts of recipes that are low carb. So far it's been hit or miss on how good it us, but I'm convinced I'll find something that works. Today I'm making ranch crackers.

15

I'm rounding up.

My goal was to be 15 lbs down by today and I'm 14.8...so I'm rounding up. One good pee and it would be 15.

I feel great. I'm happy at my progress and proud of myself for sticking to this. I'm convinced this is the right path for me and I'm going to keep pushing forward.

In other non low carb related news, I've been reading like a crazy person. Summer is often full of reruns on TV. I've been known to leave the TV on and completely veg in front of it. I decided about 5 weeks ago to turn off the TV. I watch the news, and maybe a couple little shows, but turn it off by 7. Then I read. I've ready 10 books in the past 5 weeks. Not all are literary WOWs, but some are. I don't have any "rules" around reading heavier books over mushy books. I just want to keep reading and keep the TV off.

Some of my favorites:
The Light Between Oceans. This is the book club book for this month and I was hooked. It's a great story that builds slowly, peaks then let's you down easy. I adored this book.

Speak This is book's audience is probably more teens, but I found it interesting. It's about a girl, a rumor, and the truth. Easy quick read.

Echoes BY FAR the best book I've ready all year. I love Maeve Binchy and this book did not disappoint. I found myself when I was done wondering if the characters made it to the city. I got wrapped up in the lives and the story.

The Girl You Left Behind. Ohhhh this book. I can still feel how I felt when reading this book. Jojo Moyes also wrote Me Before You - which I loved. So I wasn't too surprised this was such a good book. It takes place in WWII and the story is so delicate and so raw that I couldn't put it down.

So get reading. Got any recommendations?

Breakfasts are hard

This low carb thing requires I eat breakfast. I am not a breakfast person, but have learned that I have to be. It does make a difference. All that "it's the most important meal of the day" I think is kinda true.

What makes breakfast hard for me is I'm not an egg fan. I've had to come up with other alternatives.  But what makes it easy for me is I could eat cold pizza for breakfast....in other words, traditional breakfast foods are not required for my breakfast.

So I thought it might be worth dropping a few "recipes" of what I've done for breakfasts.

Bento Boxes
My favorite has been my "Bento Box Breakfast". You see them at Starbucks all the time and those are pricy, but they're easy to make. I bought myself some "bento" lunch boxes on Amazon and use them for  my breakfasts.

Ham Bento - Total Carbs - less than 3, protein around 20 grams
2 oz Black Forest Ham (or any ham you like)
1 hard boiled egg
1 oz hard cheese

I swap out ham with turkey or salami occasionally. Getting the hard boiled egg down is always a struggle for me. I eat it first so I don't say "i'm full" and then not eat it.

I've also done bento boxes with salami, cucumber, cheese and almonds. You can do a combination of anything. The options are endless.

Ham/Cream cheese roll ups
2 oz black forest ham
1 to 2 Tablespoons cream cheese ( you can use the lower fat, but I don't bother)
I spread the cream cheese on the piece of ham and roll it up. It's surprisingly good. Sometimes I've put a green onion in the middle and roll it, but not that often.

Easy Keto Ham and Cheese Rolls
These were fantastic. I did egg "muffins" before, but they were too eggy. These turn out like muffin tops. I've made them with bacon as the protein and ham as the protein. I prefer the bacon. You could toss anything into these too: onions, mushrooms, spinach, etc.

My most recent favorite is these protein, cheese "burrito" rolls.  Mission has carb friendly (I think they're called Carb Balance) tortillas. The wheat tortillas are 13 grams of carbs, but 10 grams of fiber per tortilla - which means it's 3 grams net carbs (carbs minus fiber). I've been taking those and slathering with a combo of mayo and mustard, putting 2 oz ham (or turkey) and 2 oz swiss cheese and roll those babies as a burrito. These have been the perfect breakfast so far.

There are a ton of blogs with Keto friendly, low carb recipes. Again, I'm not doing Keto, but their recipes are exactly what I needed to get this moving forward.

First 4 weeks of the rest of my life

I have officially been eating low carb / high protein for 4 weeks. A lot has changed in those 4 weeks. Here's a small list...

1. Heard the big "D" word...
2. Lost 12 lbs
3. Averaged 68 grams of carbs (should be between 50 - 70)
4. Averaged 87 grams of protein (should be closer to 110)
5. Way too many eggs eaten - blech
6. Averaged 3 gym visits a week
7. Feel fantastic!
8. Learned that eating carbs in large amounts makes me sick
9. I can do this!

It's been quite a trip for 4 weeks. I've learned a lot about food, what's in it, what to avoid, what to eat more of, etc. I have a lot more to learn.

I've learned my body doesn't like large amounts of carbs anymore. The Saturday's when I allowed myself to eat carbs I've felt like crap. So not worth it anymore. And I don't seem to crave it as much now as I did. Though after a big workout I really crave salt and my salt go to has always been chips.

I've learned to read labels. In fact, I fell for some marketing around cauliflower pasta. I was all excited to try it. Only to find out it has as many carbs as regular pasta. You gotta read what's in it. The "diet" world is sneaky and they will misinform.

I probably have a lot more to learn and I look forward to what my life holds ahead of me...with less carbs in me.

A Reading Frenzy

Several years ago, well almost 12 now, I had a goal every year to read 52 books. That's about one book a week. And I found that I did it, and then some, year after year. It was great. I felt like my brain was engaged on a regular basis.

Now these books weren't always masterpieces or epic tales or even good. I didn't expect them to be. I expected to be entertained for a short period of time and move on. In fact, I so often "moved on" immediately. Finishing one book and immediately picking up another. I may not remember most those stories or be able to recount the plot in any of them. But that wasn't the point for me back then. My goal was to read. My goal wasn't to retain.

The key to that success? No cable. I didn't have anything to watch or any way to sit in front of the picture tube and watch endless tales of murder, mayhem, romance, drama etc. I had cancelled my cable to save some coin. And it was worth it 100%.

Over the years my goal has dipped and dropped to where I no longer even have a goal. I think in the back of my head I figure I can read about 12-20 books a year so that's about all I do. 12 of them are likely book club books - so I'm not even doing much work searching out books I want to read.

3 weeks ago I finished a book called The Girl You Left Behind and devoured it in a 24 hour period. I couldn't stop reading it. I couldn't put it down. I had to hear the story of these two women and how they intertwined.

Finished that book and was hungry for another. Then I picked up my selection for book club for July, Love and Ruin - finished that in 2 days. Sorted my Nook by the oldest and started from the bottom. Read a book from one of my favorite fantasy authors, a somewhat trashy novel, a FANTASTIC book by Maeve Binchy called Echoes, picked up Speak - read it in a day and then last night finished Paper Towns by John Green.

All those books are so different and varied stories that I found myself last night comparing this lust for reading I suddenly have to my life style change the HAS to happen.

Historically my "dieting" habit has been a bit like my reading life. I kick ass at it for some time, then fall off and eat God knows what, then I hop back on, fall off, rinse, lather, repeat.

The thing is, now with having some knowledge of what is happening to my body, or could potentially happen to my body, with diabetes looming in the background, I can't afford to have that merry-go-round approach. The last three weeks of reading frenzy coincides with the last three weeks of my low carb/high protein approach. I'm sure one doesn't have to do with the other, but maybe. Maybe reading burns calories? Hah...I wish.

My point is, as much as I hate the idea of having diabetes or dealing with that, I hate the idea of having to eat "healthy" for the rest of my life. The difference for me now is I'm eating healthy FOR my life. And with my history of falling off the wagon, that scares the living crap out of me. I'm doing great now, but it's only been three weeks.

My brain says Yes. My fat ass is skeptical. And my heart lies somewhere in between.

In the books that I've read over this last three weeks there hasn't always been a great A-HA moment and the moral of the story hasn't always been clear or obvious to me. But the moral to my story is I don't have to be perfect. I have to be aware and take each day, each meal, one by one. The big picture is scary and daunting...the little bits of the picture is not. When I started reading Echoes and realized it's a 494 page book. I almost put it down. "That's too many pages", said my brain. But I read the book chapter by chapter. One at a time. And as I did the story unfolded.  Maybe my new life can be the same. Just maybe.

The Big D

I've  now finished three weeks of this low carb/high protein diet. I've lost about 10 lbs (9.8). I feel fantastic. It's challenging, but not difficult - if that makes sense.

Today I met with my doctor to go over my lab results. I haven't had my blood work done for about 4 years and he thought it'd be good to see where we are so we can track my success.

Turns out I am borderline diabetic. Actually, according to the numbers I do have diabetes, but just barely. 6.4AC1 is officially diabetic, I'm at 6.5. He's not overly concerned because I'm on a good path right now and this news gives me yet another reason to get my life more healthy.

In order to help get this under control relatively quickly he wants me to take Victoza - which is a injectible - oh goody - for 6 months. He believes with the way I'm eating, the exercise in my life and this it should drop my AC1 relatively quickly (he didn't say what "relatively quickly" actually means).

I wasn't surprised at this information. I think I kinda secretly knew I might be on the borderline or fully with diabetes. And it's absolutely what I feared. But now I know. I have the data. I know what has to be done. I am thankful that I'm taking these steps now so this doesn't get any worse.

Other numbers that I got is my cholesterol. For 25 years I've been at 149 - but it's up to 150. GASP!! He's not at all worried about that number and was, as they always are, surprised.

Vitamin D is down so he's asking me to take a bit more dosages of Vitamin D. Being in Seattle I'm not surprised this is down. It's like the badge of honor in the Pacific Northwest.

So here we are. I've got information, I've got a plan and I'm ready to get this all under control. I've been saying all along this new way of eating is more about my health than my weight and I meant it. I'm happy with where I am and know where I need to go. Now the real work begins.

Carbs are the Devil

Week one of low carb/high protein eating! I've gotta say it was easier than I had planned. In fact, the fact that I had planned is likely what made it easy.

I know from my past experiences that if I don't take the time to plan and prep that I am destined to make bad choices (lazy wins usually).

Last week I ate 80% on plan. I had a couple of blips primarily because of me, but also social situations which I still have a hard time dealing with.

Here's the deal though - I know that if I go 100% low carb then the weight will drop off. The reality is this, life is life for me. My world revolves around food. Always have. I want the type of life where I can have something carby and still succeed. I'm being cautious most of the time, but open to the fact that I will make bad choices - sometimes on purpose.

Does that make sense?

I want this to be a change for life. Do I know that I will fall off at some point? Maybe. I don't want to, but I might. I am being honest with myself and trying to spin the positive over the negative (not my strong suit). For example, last week I had a small bag of chips. I didn't just toss in the towel. I recognized I purposely ate it and I was ok with that. I moved on to the next meal.

My process is to spend Saturday planning the week's meals and snacks. I use a template I created to put what my plan is for each day. I have it add up total carbs, fiber and protein.  As I add things, I can see how it adjusts my carb count and decide if I can "afford" to have that meal or snack. It feels like a game of jenga some times, but it's also interesting. The things that have carbs in it is astounding. Last week I selected a meal that had a banana in it. Did you knows a 6 in banana has 22 carbs? That's like 1/3rd of what I'm allowed for the day. Sheesh

Once I do my grocery shopping, I then wash veggies, cut lettuce, prep any meat that needs to be cooked during the week, put my snacks together for the week, etc. The fridge is then a well prepped tool that will mean I most likely WON'T make a bad decision.

Here's what I've learned this week about reducing carbs:
1. Fatigue. Lord the fatigue. My brain is trying to process what the hell is happening because I don't have as much glucose in my system and it causes fatigue (there's a chance the fatigue could be low in magnesium too). There were days I'd get home and just want to nap.

2. Carbs are everywhere. My carb total is really net carbs (meaning carbs minus fiber). As I mentioned about the banana - 22g of carbs, and only 1 g fiber. Not overly helpful, but still.

3. High protein blocks you up. Yep. No matter how much water you drink or fiberish items you eat, constipation is real. I'll be asking the doctor about taking extra fiber.

4. Down 5.5 lbs. In one week I'm down 5.5 lbs. I'm sure it's water weight. The first week is always pretty high for me. My goal is between 1 and 1.5 lbs a week.

I also started the personal trainer up again this week. It had been a month and he did not pity me at all. Which I guess is why I am paying him. I didn't get to the gym any other night - the fatigue was so great I just couldn't. I hurt like the dickens on Friday after the work out on Thursday. Ugh. I did get to the gym on Saturday and did the high interval training on the elliptical and then some of the resistance the trainer had showed me. It felt good.

So here we are. A week in. I'm feeling motivated and for the first time in a very long time, I didn't sabotage myself on the weekend. I've eaten pretty well this weekend. I had dinner with friends last night and actually planned on eating carbs. It was my "free" meal. I didn't feel guilty at all and I didn't go all out. Kept it relatively low cal.

I can't wait to see how this next week shakes out. The plan is set and I can't see any reason why I can't succeed this week. One meal at a time.

Low Carb / High Protein - It's a go!

In 2015 I visited a nutritionist who put me on a low carb and high protein eating plan. It worked. I was the problem. I hit a plateau and I stopped all together. Guess who gained all that weight back? Ahhhh this girl. 

Health has been on my mind a lot lately. I'm most likely pre-diabetic (getting blood checked soon) and I really REALLY don't want to be diabetic in any way shape or form. 

I also started thinking about Dad and how judgy I was when he'd eat crazy things and he was diabetic and I'd be all, "Why can't you make better decisions?" And here I am...totally capable of making better decisions...so why not. 

If you've read my blog for the years I've been doing it, or know me in any way, you know dieting is ALWAYS a part of my life. I wish I had the discipline required to really stick to something. Here's the thing...I'm an all or nothing personality and I use that to my disadvantage. 

For example, diets to me mean that I have to deprive myself of things I love. That makes me angry and I then stop. Truth is...it doesn't deprive me. It means I have to be honest about eating all that good unhealthy stuff in moderation. I mean, let's face it, very few of us are "on" our eating plan all the time. But if I can be on it 80% of the time, that's OK with me. Life is life and I want to be able to enjoy it where food is concerned. My life revolves around food. Always have...and it always will. So why not embrace it. 

Here's the thing, I am in control of what I put in my mouth. Let's make it mostly good stuff. 

I started planning and cooking prior to vacation and felt really good about the decisions I was making. Didn't weigh myself much so not sure if any weight was actually lost. The number is just that...a number. I FELT better. That is worth it to me. Also, turns out I didn't gain an ounce on vacation. Which is odd considering how we ate. But I'll take it. 

Anyone interested in joining me and keeping us all accountable, let me know. I'm all in. 

Exercising will start up again tomorrow. I came back with a heckuva cold and just didn't feel the exercising. Trainer begins again tomorrow. 

So, let's talk about what I'm actually doing. 

Carbs. 

Dr. B wants me to be less than 70 grams of net carbs a day. Net carbs is basically carbs minus fiber. So if you have something that's 20 grams of carbs and 5 grams of fiber, you have 15 net grams of carbs. This will be the toughest thing for me. I LOVE my carbs. 

He wants me to be at 110grams of protein a day. This, oddly, is also hard. People get a lot of protein with eggs and I'm not a fan of eggs, so I'll have to figure something out. 

Lastly, he'd like to keep my calories at 1800. That should be easy. 

Now...time to get cooking for dinner. What's for dinner...? Cowboy Style Beef with Veggie Ragout. 

Post Trip Dealing

I say every time I go on vacation, "It's always great to leave. But always great to come home." What is it about home that we love so much? Traveling is exciting. An adventure, seeing new things, experiencing a new culture...and yet we crave, and look forward, to coming home.

I've decided because home is comfortable.

I like home. I like my bed (or recliner). I like my shower. And I miss my kitties...despite them being little demons.

Been home for almost a week and getting back into the swing of things. Brought back one heckuva cold too. Janet and I airborne and Emergence C like crazy people when we travel. We have gallons of Purel at our disposal.  I become a germaphobe when I travel.  Sure that I won't get sick.

And yet...

Now I'm wondering if doing all that actually makes me sick. So next time I travel I'm going to just not do all that and see what happens. I mean, what could possibly happen? I get sick. Just like I am now.

Anywhooo...

Visited a dietitian on Tuesday to start a new low carb high protein plan. I did this in 2015 and was successful for a time on it. Like all "diets" I tend to not think about how I have to change my life and just want to lose weight.  These days my mind is more on health and what I need to do to become more healthy, weight # be damned.  I've read a lot on low carb and have watched a number of friends be successful on it. I cannot go cold turkey because I know myself that an "all or nothing" approach just makes me want to cheat. So I'm going to ease into this.

Dr. wants me to be less than 70 grams of Carbs a day. He originally started with 50 and I said that wasn't a possibility to begin with. I explained my "all or nothing" mentality and he adjusted for me. Truthfully even getting close to 70 grams a day will be tough. These are also "net carbs" not all carbs. What that means is if something has 20 carbs in it and 5 grams of fiber, then I count 15 carbs.

My protein intake should be about 120grams a day...which is a LOT of protein.

I really want to focus on this and get myself into a better shape. I have no goal on weight at this moment. I may, but for now my goal is to just focus on eating well and working out regularly.

Let the games begin!

That's a Wrap

Sitting here in the hotel in Copenhagen I find myself reflecting on the vacation. It's one of my most favorite times of the vacation - which sounds weird I know - but I love to think about all the things I've learned, what I'd do different for the next, things to keep doing, etc. Basically a post mortem.

A friend of mine told me that she often looks at he favorite, least favorite and the just okay after each day. I did that with the group when we went to Scotland. It's pretty common that we all have the same favorites, but there are times when we don't.

Janet asked me today my favorites.

Copenhagen and the time we spent there is by far the favorite. Seeing so much of the city and getting to spend time with good friend from TASIS, Claudia. That was awesome. So much history I didn't know but was glad to have learned.

The cruise was harder to find a favorite. This wasn't my most favorite cruise, but it still ranks up there. Norway is a beautiful country. Too bad we couldn't see some of it because of the rain and, for me, because my foot wasn't playing well with others. I missed out on a few towns and walking around them because of the sore foot.

Of the stops on the cruise, Geiranger was my favorite, followed by Stavanger and the fjords we didn't see because of rain. Geiranger was just beautiful. Gorgeous weather, all types of weather in one day and such beauty all around. Stavanger, the fact the rain, cold and wind were about made me laugh. You fly half way around the world to see something and Mother nature has her own plans. The fact we stood in front of this boat with our camera's ready, wet and frozen makes me smile. It's one of my favorite moments.

Least favorite was Kristiansand. Our excursion was boring and didn't offer anything interesting. The little town we stopped in was cute, but closed up tight so couldn't even go into shops. The boat ride was fun to be on a boat, but we were basically floating around looking at everyone's summer homes.

I'm certainly not disappointed in coming on this trip. Never disappointed in traveling. And, as I said, Norway is beautiful. It did not surpass the Barcelona cruise, Ireland or Scotland though.

Royal Caribbean cruise line wasn't great. I found I compared everything to Norwegian - which is my favorite, and Royal Caribbean just didn't meet the expectation. The cabin was nice, clean and large enough to not feel closed in. The main dining experience was great (other than we had to sit with other people and that's not one of my favorite things. It turned out nice though.). Their buffet/cafeteria options sucked. Nothing great upstairs. A ton of disrespectful rude people and the food was just meh.

On a scale of one to 10, I would give this trip a solid 7.

Now, time to get home. Earn more $$. Get more vacation and plan the next trip - which is actually Boston in Sept - then a cruise in May.

Signing off from Denmark. See you all back in the states.

Kristiansand, Norway

The last port of call...and guess what SUNSHINE!

Our excursion today left the ship at 7:15 AM. We had to get up pretty early to get ready, get breakfast, bathroom break and get to the bus. But we did it.

We were off to see Lillisand by land and by sea. I didn't really do any research on Lillisand so I wasn't really sure what to expect. It's a small town just out of Kristainsand that is quaint and cute. NONE of the shops were open because we were there so early, so it was a rather pointless stop. In fact, several people were grumbling that it wasn't worth it because it was all closed up.

I found it interesting in that I love the white houses and the small streets that make up small towns. Was it great? Nope. But it was something different and in Norway.

After that we hopped on a scooner to tour around the many, many islands in this area. It was 32F outside so being on an open boat was freezing. I am not sure I'll thaw before September. But it was a sunny day and the the area is beautiful. Tons of white houses dotted the coast line with their little red boat houses in front. All summer homes. All handed down in the families from generation to generation.

We were back at the ship by 11am. Janet and I needed a cup of something hot and lunch. We took a quick break then Janet headed out to see the town, and I opted for a lazy afternoon in the sun. I sat out on our deck in the sun and just soaked it all in.

Tomorrow is another sea day then we are back in Copenhagen. This trip has gone so fast that I can't believe it's almost over. Ah well, all good things my come to an end.  It just means we have to start planning our next trip.