2010 was good, 2011 will be better

Today I buried my best's friends father.  He was like an Uncle to me.  I have known the family and been involved with them since I was a little girl. 

In January of this year he was diagnosed with cancer, already in stage 4 and "sentenced to death" by his doctors, "A year or so to live."  Sad that they were right.  

He is not suffering anymore, there's that.  He is not hurting anymore.  He is at peace.  He was a good man, always there for his family, his wife of over 30 years, his two sons, his daughter and all of his grandchildren.

He will be missed.  

Take this time to reflect on your year.  I know we will.  I will also never take for granted that I have all of my parents with me still, all crazy four of them.  

Today I won't stress over bills that are over due or my house being neglected because I have been sick all week. Today I will hug my children and my sweetie a little tighter and a little longer.  Today I will bring on the New Year with love and happiness and not care a minute about my weight.

Tomorrow is another day ... 

Happy New Years.

Please be safe. 

  

Tuesday Tunes

Etta James - I Just Want To Make Love To You

Put on your fave little black dress, use a makeshift microphone (brushes work) - maybe some red lipstick and your killer heels ... and sashay around your living room belting this one out.  Seriously. 

Merry Memory Monday

Flash back to the 90s.  I was 12 when they started.  I grew up with Cabbage Patch Kids, Pound Puppies, He-Man and She-Ra.  Day-to-Night Barbie was my favorite Barbie with Peaches N Cream coming in a close second.  I had a Strawberry Shortcake bed set and eventually grew into a My Little Pony ensemble and then Rainbow Brite.  I loved my Glow Worm and my Popples toys.  And at the beginning of the decade I was almost a teenager and started to see boys as more than "walking cooties."  And begins my secret crush with NPH.  If you have to ask, "Who?"  I say just one word ... "LEGENDARY."

And where did my crush begin for MR. NPH?  Why, Doogie Howser, of course.  Oh the memories ... enjoy! 

Tuesday Tunes

My honey introduced me to this group in the past week.  LOVE THEM! I have yet to explore all of their tunes but the ones I have so far ... I am hooked.

Indie folk-rock at its best, Mumford and Sons is from London and I am hoping to catch them live in the US when they are here again.

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

Enjoy!

**A couple "grown up" words are in the song, just in case you have little ears by you** 

Let it Dough ... and we'll make cookies!

What's another lengthy list of reasons my little girl loves time all alone with Mommy and Daddy and zip, zero, nada brothers? To make Christmas Cookies however she wants, whenever she wants and to not have to share the green coloring!

My boys had a "band gig."  (I am sure I will get into that blog topic one day) ...so anyhoo, sister without brothers has tons of fun making Christmas cookies.  No worries, boys will have their time before Santa gets here!

The Set Up  

Most Christmas Things ... not sure if the pig, tooth and sheep are holiday'ish

 There's that tooth and piggy again

All I want for Christmas is my front tooth and bacon?

New Christmas song ... 

 Christmas Cookie Decorator Extraordinaire

Mr. (Melting) Snowman

So proud

Sunday Someday's

Someday I will vacation to the United Kingdom and see these places!

National Wallace Monument 

Stirling, Scotland 

The Palace of Westminster and Big Ben

London, England

Stonehenge

Wiltshire, England 

Stirling Castle

Stirling, Scotland 

Edinburgh, Scotland

and the other Five Cities

Tuesday Tunes

Dolly Parton

9 to 5

Happy Tuesday and Happy Back to Work for me!!



It just fits ...

Sunday Someday's

Someday I will ... 

See U2 Live

Learn to knit 

Finish my education 

Retire in San Francisco 

Be comfortable in my own skin 

Tuesday Tunes!

I am so excited over this little song. It's so flippin cute and then I was over the moon when Glee did it two weeks ago! Yes, it's always the little things that get me oh-so giddy!! 

Bruno Mars - Marry You 

I also want to send a little dedication to my adorable, loveable, smart and funny and beautiful little sis who at this point in her life probably doesn't believe in true love anymore but I know she will soon and one day a Mr. Perfect Just For Her will feel exactly this way in this groovy little tune. Love you, Sis.

Sunday Someday's

Someday I will ...

Own a LBD and ROCK IT 

Run a marathon, sooner rather than later,smaller rather than larger

And enjoy carbs again!

Live on a really large boat for at least a week! 

Spend an entire day at the movies, from open to close

Kind of a weird someday wish but it's always something I wanted to do :) 

Next rainy day? 

Spend loads of money on clothes and totally not feel guilty about it!

As if! 

Who Am I, Anyway?

The following post is from my new blog: DEAR SKINNY ME 

Please check them out, this post and my new blog ... 

I am on a journey that will need much love :) 

See that me-picture to the left and then the one above?  The me-picture to the left is 50 pounds ago and those 50 pounds, gone with diet pills.  The above is current, taken last month.

This is why I am here.  I look like I ate the girl to the left.  But even so, I am finding my skinny self the right way, I don't like the feeling of being on crack, diet pills suck.    

Me? OK.  Who am I, anyway?  You think after twenty plus ten plus two years on this need-to-get-it greener world, I would know who I am, anyway.  Here's a given: I am a Mom, three times, and my kids are pretty awesome, you'd think so too.  I am a sweetheart and babe to one lucky fella, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, a best friend, a cousin, a niece and one thing I hope I am not, an enemy.  I hope to be an aunt one day and soon at that, but don't tell my married sister, she's testing my wanna-be-an-aunt patience but I love her still, a whole lot.  

Wanna go in deep?  Well, I am not anyone really that special, but am loved a bunch.  I like to be creative, use my hands and make pretty presents for people.  I love books and just don't believe that the Kindle is going to make me as happy.  And with books, I love bookstores.  Can the bookstore scent be bottled?  Yes, I know, weird.  Never said I wasn't.  I always spell check and wish everyone else would too.  I love looking up synonyms for words.  I like school and the fact that I am finally getting my needed-education.  Long baths make flu like symptoms go away for me.  Solitaire is my favorite card game.  I can watch endless hours of reruns of Friends.  I belong in San Francisco. My honey serenaded me with "Fly Me to the Moon," and yes, I love Frank Sinatra forever because of it, oh, and yes, my honey too. I am a hostess but always at someone else's home.  I've never been but believe I would love Seattle.  I love my furry friend, and can't wait to have a bigger place so I can have more furry friends. 

A little more deeper?  I had a happy childhood and spent most of it reading.  Reading is awesome but it isn't something you can really do while riding a bike or going for a jog and don't think it's easy to read on a treadmill, tried that and wanted to bring up my food.  So thinking of my childhood, my only one "take back," I wish I moved my ass more.  In high school I was neither the sporty chick nor the hot chick.  I wasn't a big girl in high school, that came later, much later but I wasn't a size four either, which is perfectly fine with me.  I had curves, curves I know I still have but they are hiding under lots of extra curves. With a girlfriend once, at the mall, a group of young jerks actually starting singing "Baby Got Back," to me while we were passing by.  I know it was for me, I had the curves and she was blessedly skinny.
I had my children young, starting when I was 20 and finished when I was 24.  And since then, the baby weight, yes I know I can't use that excuse anymore when my baby is 8, but the weight just never came off.  Did I work on it? No.  So it's my fault?  Damn right.  So here I am.  Many moons and suns have passed since I said I would lose weight.  "Dear Skinny Me," isn't a plea to get skinny.  It's a plea to get healthy and do what is right for me, for once.  I always just passed it to my future self and said, "tomorrow we'll work on this."  How many tomorrows?  Lots and lots of them.  Even as I type this "About Me" in my diet blog, I haven't really started this weight loss journey.  I had Carl's Jr for lunch today, how's that for trying, huh?  My twenties were spent raising three little ones and hiding under lots of layers.  I missed a good amount of time going out for fear of having to dress and suck it all in, and believe me, Spanx only works so well.  Now I am living my thirties and holy hell do I NOT want to be living my twenties over! I am done hiding from outings, I am done thinking of a big event coming up and estimating how much weight can I lose by then?  I am done looking at my sisters and best friends and loving them so much but wishing I could find my own individual style as well.  I don't even know what my style is. Jeans and sweatshirts aren't really creative! I am ready to put my words out there and for once, do something about it! I am ready to post my weight (SCARY) and full blown icky fat pictures of me out there and fingers crossed be able to fix that scary number and take awesome pictures.  So here's to my journey.  Long and hard and shit, I haven't even started and I am freaking out, but here's to my Future Skinny Self ... 100 pounds down.  And if I reach those 100 pounds, I will gladly dance my ass off to "Baby Got Back" and be so freaken proud!
 

So because of my overly long post and if you're still here reading away ... thank you ... I have started a new blog dedicated to finding my skinny self.  What is the name of my new blog? Well of course ... DEAR SKINNY ME  ... please check it out, follow it and be oh-so ready to kick my ass when I don't. 

All About Me In 30 Days - Day 7 - A Photo That Makes Me Happy

Um ... not possible.  I LOVE pictures, love taking them not so much being in them, but getting over that ... but I LOVE pictures.  I love the beauty and art in pictures, I love how a simple item can be taken into a whole new level just with a click.  I think I may have been a photographer in my past life or something. So, photos that make me happy, a WHOLE BUNCH, remember my Friday Fun Photos Post?  Yep - photos are my friend!

Here's a few more of my favorite and come back Friday, as always, for more!! Please? :) 

My children and I poolside on a bittersweet weekend, 2002. My boys are only 3 and 2 and my daughter is only 3 months old. I recently moved back home and left my unstable and unhappy marriage. I have never looked back and that decision was one of the best I have made.  

A favorite photo of my kiddos.  What's a girl to?  Oh brother, brother! 

My little brother and kiddos on a San Francisco trip back in 2006

The love is very clear in this picture.

That same little brother and I.  He's tremendously awesome and such a brilliant young man. 

One set of my siblings.  I am truly thankful and lucky to have these folks in my life. 

Same famous brother with our sister. 

And here we are again, Sisters are cracking up at their goofy bro.  Toasting our parents at their 25th Wedding Anniversary!

And our father.  Reason 2,345,934 he's silly and we love him!

Our Scottish Clan ... William Wallace HOLD run ... have you seen Braveheart?  No?  Go, now, watch it. 

My gorgeous sister and her handsome hubby. 

One of the many fun parties my clan enjoys.  Yes, we raise the roof! 

My Aunt, Sis, Mom and Uncle Ricky ... I think everyone has a Uncle Ricky 

 How do people make it through life without sisters? 

Look up SMILE in the dictionary ... I swear her picture will be there! 

Sisters are fabulous! Two of my little cousins, I should have a post dedicated to all my cousins, I have a billion 

My amazing family, the 'rents, the bro, my squeeze, moi, and sis and her hubby 

Look up CUTE in the dictionary ... she's there.