Sunrise

Took this picture Sunday morning standing on our porch while getting ready to leave Florida.

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Do I Really Look Like This?

One of my students, Anthony, sketched me one day.

We got back from Florida tonight after flying down to see our moms for Christmas. Great to see them but much too short of a visit!

Kylie Turns Four

I've been waiting for a sunny day to take pictures of my journal but that isn't going to happen this week! So, I turned a bunch of lights on and took one. It's a bit dark but not too bad.

My Mother-in-law's Scrapbook

I made this scrapbook for Gloria several years ago. This is a page about her father.

And this is her mother.

This is Gloria on her first wedding day in 1950.


Here she is with her firstborn son, my husband, Gary, and her second son, Derek, whom we always called Rick.

I got the biggest kick out of this series of photos. Gary was such an imp and here he throws snow into his baby brother's carriage.

Here she is with her second husband, Ken.

Gary is school. Can you see in that class picture that he's the only kid turned around?

Little League

Pictures of Gloria with my kids, Nathan and Erin.

Nathan and Rick had a great time this day. A few years later Ricky died.

Gloria visited us in 1992 when we spent the winter in Hawaii.

She and I had such a blast the day we went to Waimea Falls and spent way too much money on pearls and jewelry.

Here she is a few years ago enjoying a ride on our boat.

And then she bacame a great grandma to Kylie. Here she is holding her when she was one week old. I made this card for her birthday in the June after Kylie was born.

Here's the inside of the card.

Gary's Bananas

I used bits of puzzle pages from my Games magazine for the background and then Gessoed over it.

Gary just loves his banana tree even though I think it's really a pretty ugly thing. So, he was thrilled when his mom mailed some of the first ever bananas up to us.

Secret Santa

I participated in my school's Secret Santa game last week. Each morning for 3 morning, the special ed kids deliver our small gifts.

I always open mine and read the clue in front of one of my classes and they help me try to figure out who my Secret Santa is.

On the fourth day we all meet at a popular local restaurant and take turns going around the table trying to guess who our Secret Santa is. If we guess right, we get our big gift. If not, then we have to wait until everyone is done for a second chance.

I guessed mine right away. Suzanne is our newest English teacher and I'm also her mentor.

For the background, I used the wrapping paper from one of the gifts.

In the top right is a thank you from the person I had. She also gave me a poinsettia plant. So thoughtful! She had a hard time with my clues and it took her a few tries. Here they are:

1. You can see me in the Berlin Daily Sun.

2. Or you can see me in the Berlin Dairy Bar.

3. If you still haven't figured out who I am, look for me in the Berlin Dance Studio.

Do you get it? My name is spelled out in the last three letter of Berlin and and first two letters of the next word. For example, Berlin Daily Sun.

Anyway, we had a blast!

A Snowy, Foggy Morning

Saw this as I was getting out of my truck at school a couple mornings ago. It was about 30 degrees and a new inch of sticky snow was on all the branches.

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Metallic Black

Layer after Layer

This is another background inspired by Soul Journaling.

I started with sheet music, then applied a light layer of Gesso and wiped some of it off.

I did the reverse image of the wine opener that ended up looking like a person.

On top of the Gesso I wrote a bunch of adjectives.

Then I splattered paint over everything but I've got to learn how to splatter better.

After that I scribbled lines all over with a marker.

I also wrote my name with a pencil.

Lastly, I applied some blue metalic as a border and in a haphazard way over everything.

Very busy! But fun to play with! Oh, the red bow is from junk mail!

Pea Soup

I used a bunch of different tapes and paint on this page just to shake things up a bit.

Last Saturday I made pea soup and I think it subconsciously contributed to the color I used here!

I was tickled to get my Advanced Reading Copy of this world we live in by Susan Beth Pfeffer. This is her third book in the Moon series and I loved it as much as the first two.

Bloomfield, Vt.

I took this picture last Sunday at my husband's logging job.

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Fun with Inchies

Something a Little New

Found a blog called Soul Journaling by Sarah Whitmire. She has a 22-day program to help journalers stretch their artistic legs.

My legs need stretching so I decided to try her suggestions.

I started by gluing on pages from an old book.

When that was dry, I took a permanent marker and completed this sentence, "Today I feel..." over and over all over the page.

Then I Gessoed lightly over letting a couple of the words show through.

After that I sponged a little metalic purple on top.

Then she wanted us to find a picture of something that represents our armor. How do we protect ourselves against the everyday issues that try to steal our creativity and ruin our day? She used a knight but that didn't feel right for me. Instead, I thought about it and realized that I just keep smiling and that gives me strength. I found the picture of the woman and cut out a big smile to put on her face.

It was fun doing something a bit different!

Thanksgiving is Over

I used pretty swirly tissue paper for the background. Then I used gigantic bubble wrap to add some circles.

My mother-in-law gave me a couple of old stamps from 1955, I think. The postmark was hard to read but that's my best guess.

Look What I Found!

I was in the cellar this morning and saw this old tin.

I opened it up and this is what I saw:

A bunch of old letters I wrote to my husband and he wrote to me. Some are from before we were married. Others are from after we'd been married about 5 years and he went to Alaska to work for about 7 weeks. Some are even letters from his mom and grandmother to him at that time.

There was also an embarrassingly horrible poem I wrote for Gary and my eighth-grade graduation card from St. Patrick's Grammar School in 1963.

The large picture was scrunched in the bottom. It's my high school graduation picture containing all 250 of us. I looked for myself but couldn't find me. The high school I graduated from is the same one I now teach at but it's in a newer building. Each graduating class now has only about 100-125 students. Our city has decreased that much!

I'm so mad at myself for not taking better care of that photo! But thrilled to find these treasures. Look at the old stamps! Can you see that some of the ones from Gary are upside down? That meant something at the time. I love you? I miss you? Something like that, anyway. Does anybody remember?

The End of the Diet: 10 Weeks=10 lbs.

I'm happy with the ten pounds I've lost. I've been eating my regular foods only in smaller portions (well, most of the time!) so I haven't felt deprived. I've been walking at night which is something I always do, anyway.

I'm hoping I can maintain this because it's natural to me. Sure, I could have gone on a real diet, you know, one of those programs that spells out every meal for you, but once I was done, I know I'd just go back to my regular eating and put the weight back on.

Occasionally, I'll update my weight here just to keep myself in line and maybe analyze my food intake.

Sure, I could have lost another ten pounds and looked like the trim girls I see every day at school, but I'm not a teenager. I'm sixty, almost sixty-one, and I feel really good right now so this seems like the right weight for me to be happy. Food, after all, is part of my happiness, and if I'm satisfied with what I'm eating, I won't over indulge looking for satisfaction.

All my clothes fit again and I'm not winded when I run upstairs. I'd say that is success!

Day 71: Thursday

WEIGHT: 157.0

BREAKFAST: 1 slice of homemade toast with I Can't Believe it's Not Butter (ICBINB) and seafood salad, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: 6 Triscuit Crisps with natural peanut butter

LUNCH: seafood salad in homemade WW bread, carrot sticks, and an apple

SUPPER: Gary made it. A Spamwich: fried Spam, fried egg, american cheese in a WW Deli Flat, a glass of skim milk

EXERCISE: only twice around the block because it started pouring so I ran for about a quarter of a mile to get back home

Moon Rise over Cates Hill Berlin, NH

I saw this moon about 3:30 in the afternoon the other day.

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Day 70: Wednesday

It's been 10 weeks and I've lost 10 lbs. I'm happy with that but hope to lose another five, maybe. Although, tonight didn't help.

WEIGHT: 156.5

BREAKFAST: 1 slice of homemade WW toast with SB and seafood salad, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: popcorn

LUNCH: seafood salad in a WW Deli flat with carrot sticks and an apple

SNACK: 2 glasses of merlot and a few Triscuit Crisps with whipped cream cheese with chives

SUPPER: Mary's with Dottie. A small homemade spaghetti with 2 meatballs and another glass of merlot.

EXERCISE: a mile around the block and a jog to the corner store.

Day 69: Tuesday

WEIGHT: 157.0

BREAKFAST: 1 slice of homemade WW toast with SB and tuna/egg mixture, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: popcorn

LUNCH: tuna/egg mixture in a WW Deli Flat, carrot sticks, and an apple

SUPPER: 2 tbls of baked beans, 2 hotdogs, coleslaw, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: the rest of the crud

Day 68: Monday

WEIGHT: 157.0

BREAKFAST: 1 slice of WW toast with SB and an egg, tuna, and relish mix, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

LUNCH: Tuna mixture sandwich on homemade WW bread, carrot sticks

SUPPER: 2 slices WW bread with turkey and stuffing in gravy on top, squash, and a glass of skim milk

EXERCISE: 45 minutes around the block

Back Pedaling a Bit

This is the page from the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Day 67: Sunday

WEIGHT: Didn't weigh myself today

BRUNCH: omelette with turkey, green pepper, American and cheddar cheese, covered with cramberry salsa and sour cream. Delish! Aslo a glass of skim milk

SUPPER: turkey sandwich with SB, canola mayo and stuffing on warm WW bread just out of the oven. Glass of skim milk.

EXERCISE: I walked around the block for an hour.

Day 66: Saturday

WEIGHT: 157.2

BREAKFAST: 2 potato pancakes (leftover potatoes mixed with chopped onion and shredded cheese) fried in canola oil, ketchup, 2 slices of bacon, and a glass of milk

SNACK: a banana

LUNCH: turkey sandwich on homemade WW toast with SB and canola mayo, a glass of skim milk

COCKTAIL: 2 Big Jakes: rum, canned pineapple, and a splash of OJ in a blender with ice.

SUPPER: 3 potato pancakes with ketchup, a glass of skim milk

EXERCISE: 40 minutes around the block while the fireworks were going off at the end of the Festival of Lights parade. Beautiful! I wish I'd taken my camera with me.

Thanksgiving

Lots of laughs and food and family. Doesn't get much better!

The cornucopia and the wheat bouquet were on a Thanksgiving card from Anne.

Kylie made the card for us. She's such a good colorer!

Forgot to mention the delicious appetizer Danielle made for us: hot cheesy artichoke and spinach dip. Yum!

I added the pictures on the left.

Day 65: Friday

WEIGHT: 156.6

BREAKFAST: 2 slices of WW toast with SB, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: tortilla chips with a salsa dip

SUPPER: Thanksgiving leftovers: hot turkey sandwich on homemade WW bread with SB, mashed potatoes, squash, stuffing, broccoli with a bit of cheese sauce. 2 glasses of merlot.

EXERCISE: Just up and down the stairs to do laundry. I was going to go out for a walk but when I opened the door, I saw the following so I grabbed my camera, took a picture, then shut the door and sat down!

Bleck!

This is the view from my kitchen window this Friday morning: rain, fog, grayness.

Makes me want to curl up with a good book and do nothing!

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Day 64: Thanksgiving

WEIGHT: 156.0 I like it but it won't last long after all I ate today!

BREAKFAST: Gary made it. 2 fried eggs, 2 slices of bacon, 2 pieces of homemade WW toast with SB on it and a glass of skim milk.

SNACK: a few tortilla chips with a hot spinach and artichoke dip that Danielle made.

DINNER: turkey, corn, squash with brown sugar and butter, broccoli with cheese sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, with gravy over everything. Two homemade white rolls with real butter. A small piece of chocolate cream pie that my mother-in-law made, a glass of skim milk. 2 glasses of merlot.

EXERCISE: vacuuming, cooking, cleaning, rearranging, and a walk around the block for about a mile.

Doodling

You can see how excited I was about that block meeting! I was dreaming about Hawaii.

The viloin and mandolin were the front of a note card from my friend, Anne, and the stamp was on the envelope.

Day 63: Wednesday

WEIGHT: 156.9

BREAKFAST: 1 slice of WW toast with SB and tuna salad, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: 1/4 of a raised donut

SNACK: popcorn

LUNCH: tuna salad on a WW Deli Flat, carrot sticks, an apple

SUPPER: tuna melt (Do you think I had enough tuna today?) with cheddar cheese on homemade WW bread grilled using Smart Balance, a glass of skim milk

DESSERT: a glass of merlot

EXERCISE: vacuuming, cleaning, dusting, and a half hour walk around the block.

Day 62: Tuesday

WEIGHT: 156.7

BREAKFAST: 1 slice of homemade WW toast with shrimp salad, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: popcorn

LUNCH: lean ham in a WW Deli Flat with canola mayo. Carrot sticks, raw string beans, and an apple

SUPPER: hamburger on a WW Deli Flat with American cheese, canola mayo, and hot pepper relish, coleslaw, skim milk

SNACK: a few pieces of crud

EXERCISE: 45 minutes around the block

Day 61: Monday

WEIGHT: 157.6

BREAKFAST: 1 slice of homemade WW toast with SB, canola mayo, and lean ham, a banana, and skim milk

SNACK: popcorn

LUNCH: lean ham on a WW Deli Flat with canola mayo, raw string beans, carrot sticks

SUPPER: a hamburger on a WW Deli Flat with canola mayo, American cheese, and hot pepper relish. Cole slaw, glass of skim milk

SNACK: a few Triscuits with the leftover tuna dip

EXERCISE: around the block for a half hour

Day 60: Sunday

WEIGHT: Don't know. I ate before taking a shower so didn't bother getting on the scale.

BREAKFAST: 2 slices of homemade WW toast with SB, canola mayo, and lean ham, a slice of apple, and apple cider, and a glass of skim milk

SUPPER: hot pastrami on whole grain rye with canola mayo, coleslaw, skim milk

EXERCISE: 40 minutes around the block

What We Did Last Weekend

I've had this page done for a few days but couldn't find a time to photograph it when the sun was out. By the time I get home from school, the sun is already behind the mountain. It's a sad time of year!

Day 59: Saturday

WEIGHT: 156.9

BREAKFAST: omelette with green peppers, caramelized onions, 1 slice of bacon, and cheese and 2 slices of homemade WW toast, a banana, and a glass of apple cider

SNACK: More Triscuits than I should have had with a dip I made from leftover tuna salad, cream cheese with chives, sour cream and Knorr vegetable soup. 2 Margaritas with Dottie. These are so good. It's a good thing I don't drink them very often because they're high in calories. To make a batch: 12 ounces of tequilla (I used Jose Cuervo Especiale), 1 can of frozen limeaid, 1 can of 7-up (I used diet...big deal!), and 1 bottle of Carona beer.

SUPPER: Gary made this: 2 fried eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 pieces of my homemade WW toast.

EXERCISE: After Dottie left I went for my usual walk and stayed out a full hour in the 30 degree temps. Beautiful!

Day 58: Friday

WEIGHT: 157.5

BREAKFAST: 1 slice homemade WW toast with SB and tuna salad, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: popcorn

LUNCH: tuna salad in a WW Deli Flat with raw string beans and an apple

SUPPER: 3 open-faced cheese and tomato broiled sandwiches, a glass of milk

DESSERT: 1/2 a glass of merlot

EXERCISE: 30 minutes around the block and I jogged to the corner store and back.

Day 57: Thursday

WEIGHT: 156.6

BREAKFAST: 1 slice homemade WW toast with SB and tuna salad, a banana, and a glass of skim milk.

SNACK: popcorn

LUNCH: tuna salad on a WW Deli Flat with raw string beans and an apple

SUPPER: 1/2 a quesedilla, and the toppings off 1/2 a frozen pizza (yuck!). 2 glasses of merlot.

EXERCISE: I walked around the block for about 35 minutes.

SNACK: 5 pieces of crud

The Falling Rock: Pinkham Notch, NH

Took this picture Sunday morning on our way up through the notch. It had rained all day Saturday so the blue sky was such a treat.

We always called this the Falling Rock but I think it's real name is Glen Ellis Boulder. It really shows up better if you enlarge the picture.

I actually hiked up there about 20 years ago and ate lunch on the rock. It is definitely not falling!

Check out more skies from all over the world at SkyWatch Friday.

Day 56: Wednesday

WEIGHT: 157.7

BREAKFAST: 1 slice of homemade WW toast, SB, seafood salad, a banana, and a glass of milk.

SNACK: 6 Triscuit Crisps with natural peanut butter

LUNCH: Seafood salad on a WW Deli Flat, raw string beans, an apple

SUPPER: Low Fat cream of mushroom soup with skim milk and tuna on 2 slices of homemade WW toast, leftover carrots from Monday, and a glass of skim milk.

EXERCISE: After school it was beautiful so I walked to the PO to mail the Reporter to my mom, stopped at the bank, then walked up Main Street to the Library, then back home. (And all that way, carrying a bag with 4 books in it!) It felt wonderful!

SNACK: I got hungry about 7:30 and had 5 pieces of crud (cheese curds)

Day 55: Tuesday

WEIGHT: 157.6

BREAKFAST: 1 piece of WW homemade toast with SB and seafood salad, a banana, and skim milk

SNACK: popcorn

LUNCH: seafood salad in a WW Deli Flat, raw string beans

SUPPER: 1 quesadilla: WW tortillas with cheese, onion, green pepper, leftover chicken, salsa, and sour cream

EXERCISE: Walk to the Post Office, hairdresser's, and IGA after school.

Last Week

Had a good week: Kylie came to visit!

The first prompt I gave the kids for their nature journals was to focus on something in nature and find a way to connect it to their lives.

The second day they had to sketch and journal about something beautiful and something ugly.
The third day we went for a long walk and settled at a park. They had to find one thing and make a list of anything else that is the same color. Then they had to write a poem using as many of those color words as possible.

The fourth day found us walking down a snowmobile trail. Once we found a place to write, they had to pick something and tell what it looked, smelled, tasted, felt, and sounded like. then let that lead into a poem.

On the fifth day, they had to write an acrostic poem using the letters of their name. I used my maiden name, for a change since I've done this many time before with my poetry kids. They had to find a connection between nature and their own lives.

On the last day, we climbed quite a ways up a mountain before finding a place to sit and write about endings in nature and endings in their lives.

Day 54 of The Diet: Monday

WEIGHT: 157.5

BREAKFAST: 1 slice of homemade WW toast with SB and seafood salad, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: popcorn

LUNCH: seafood salad in my homemade WW bread, raw string beans.

SNACK: 3 pieces of crud. This is pronounced "crut" with a french accent. The meat market near us occasionally gets it from Canada and some came in today. It's cheese curds, I guess. It tastes sort of like mozzarella but has a drier texture and a more buttery flavor. Love it!

SUPPER: Chicken breast with Vidalia onion dressing poured on top for the last half hour of baking, baked potato with SB (I even ate the skin and put SB and sour cream in it. Not the best but so good!), carrots, and a glass of skim milk.

EXERCISE: a brisk 45 minute walk plus I jogged twice to the store.

Day 53 of the Diet: Sunday

WEIGHT: We were in a hotel so I didn't weigh myself.

BREAKFAST: omelette of ham, onions, peppers, and cheddar cheese, home fries, and a few bites of wheat toast at Horsefeathers restaurant.

SUPPER: a seafood salad sandwich on warm homemade whole wheat bread just out of the oven. So good! And a glass of skim milk.

EXERCISE: 45 minutes around the block. Plus, laundry and stuff like that around the house.

Day 52 of the Diet: Saturday

WEIGHT: 157.1 Obviously, the manicotti hasn't caught up to me, yet!

BREAKFAST: 2 pieces of WW toast with Smart Balance, 1/2 slice of bacon, 1/2 slice of Swiss cheese, and a fried egg on each. Glass of skim milk

SUPPER: We went to Hooligan's in No. Conway. I had a haddock sandwich on WW bread with tartar sauce, lettuce and tomatoes. I also had potato salad on Gary's lettuce and tomatoes and a glass of merlot

BEVERAGE: After supper we went to Horsefeathers where my brother-in-law was playing in a reunion show of a band he was in back in the 70s called Them Fargo Brothers. We got there about 7 and stayed until 12:30 and I had 3 cape codders (vodka and cranberry juice)

EXERCISE: Nothing specific but I did laundry and cleaning before we left. Our hotel was about a quarter mile from where the show was and we walked it several times. And we danced! We don't do that very often.

Over a Week Ago

I've got two pages painted to journal this last week but nothing is on them yet. I hate when I get away from my normal rhythm.

I'm going to make more of an effort to sty on top of things this week.

The leaves, stamps, quote, and "Linda" are all from my friend, Anne.

The wine tops are from my mother-in-law (She bought the Kendall Jackson because her husband's name was Kendall) and Dottie.

The recangle that the KJ is on was a mistake that I tried (and failed on) for another project I'm working on.

Day 51 of the diet: Friday

WEIGHT: 157.9

BREAKFAST: 1/2 WW English muffin with Smart Balance, canola mayo, and ham, a banana, and a glass of milk.

SNACK: 1 bite of chocolate cake

LUNCH: Natural turkey breast in a WW Deli Flat with canola mayo, a cup of smartfood popcorn, and an apple

SNACK: 3 Triscuits with ham and cheese and a glass of merlot

SUPPER: We went to Mary's Pizza Parlor and I had a large manicotti with two meatballs and a glass of chianti. I'm not looking forward to getting on the scale tomorrow!

EXERCISE: 45 minute walk around the block.

Two Weeks Ago

Boy, time is flying by!

50 Days of Dieting: Thursday

WEIGHT: 160.0 I'm not happy! But, I know the last few days have not really been conducive to losing weight.

BREAKFAST: 1 piece of WW homemade toast with Smart Balance, canola mayo, and ham, a banana, and a glass of skim milk.

SNACK: This was bad! My third block kids have been working on cookbooks and today they had to bring in one of the recipes that they'd made. I took tiny pieces of the following: calzone roll-up (this was delish!), lemon crispy cookies, magic bars (butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, coconut, and I don't know what else but it was good), pumpkin muffins (Yum!), cheesecake (This didn't set too well but the edges were fine), and a chocolate-banana smoothie (surprisingly good!)

LUNCH: Yes, I still ate lunch! Ham on a WW Deli Flat with canola mayo, an apple

SUPPER: pork chops, potatoes, and carrots. A glass of skim milk

EXERCISE: When I got home from school I walked to the Post Office. A good half of the walk was uphill. It took me about a half hour.

Seven Weeks: Day 49 of the Diet: Wednesday

WEIGHT: Day off today so I ate before remembering to weigh myself.

BREAKFAST: 1 piece homemade WW bread, toasted, with Smart Balance, canola mayo, and Vriginia Baked Ham, a banana, and skim milk

LUNCH: At the Muddy Moose restaurant in No. Conway. Southwest wrap: spicy chicken breast, black bean salsa, rice, veggies in a sun-dried tomato wrap, coleslaw.

SNACK: a few Triscuits with a little dip and a glass of merlot with Dottie.

SUPPER: Dottie brought over some hotdogs and rolls and coleslaw so we had those. I put canola mayo and relish on mine. I didn't have any coleslaw but I did have another 1/2 glass of merlot.

EXERCISE: 1/2 hour around the block and running after Kylie at the playground.

Tuesday Day 48 of Dieting

WEIGHT: 158.0

BREAKFAST: 1 piece homemade toast with Smart Balance, canola mayo, and natural ham, a banana, and a glass of skim milk

SNACK: 6 Triscuits with natural peanut butter

LUNCH: Natural turkey breast sandwitch on a WW Deli Flat with canola mayo, and some raw string beans.

SUPPER: salad with thousand island dressing, chicken fingers from Rudy's, 2 glasses of merlot.

SNACK: 1/2 cup of Smartfood popcorn

EXERCISE: I jogged to and from Rudy's store after school. Kylie is visiting so I didn't go for a walk but I did move around plenty taking care of and playing with her.

Here are some pictures of my beautiful granddaughter: