Vanilla Coke Zero~ heavenly

Ending the day with my own little Oscar party. I finally figured out how to join Adored Austin on chat by joining twitter, although now i don't think i had to join twitter at all I just jumped the gun thinking i was late but time zone confusion. But i enjoyed chatting fashion during the red carpet part and hearing what fashionistas were thinking.

Earlier today i attended a memorial service of a family member of some friends... the man, age 92, flew 92 combat missions in WWII and sang opera, and kept scrapbooks for all of his grandchildren, and wrote little songs and funnies for local events... what a beautiful memorial with family members reading scripture and telling stories of such a wonderful man... but that we all live such a full life...on the way back home i spotted some wildlife and pulled over for a few pictures. then i spotted this...

yes in the middle of Highland County a zebra... why? i guess the alpacas and donkeys needed company...

It is embarrassing how much i look forward to a Vanilla Coke Zero. Seriously. In January i was just going to stop drinking any pop by goodness i looked forward to the fizz. So i continued but now i have to say not until noon and then just one. It is better than looking for something sweet after lunch. it's comforting really. it is especially comforting when i'm at work because then it breaks up the day, or when we are running around with errands or shopping, it just feels like a treat.

Sally gave me Life is Meals: A Food Lover's Book of Days a few years ago for Christmas and I've been working my way through it. In January I tackled Creamed Chipped Beef p 20. I made a sort of gravy and added the chipped beef then piled it on toast. I liked it but didn't love it. John tried it. no comment.

"Proverbs 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control. " I need to staple that to my forehead :)

Everyday we see wildlife on the little cutoff we discovered last fall. The deer have worn a path crossing the fields each morning at about the same time we pass through- slowly. Last week the boys spotted a female coyote but somehow i was just looking at their break lights murmuring "Come on! We are late!" Darn it i would have loved seeing that girl...

Eating: I made egg salad for breakfast while listening to NPR's Splendid Table. She is a genius- seriously. Then on the way back from the memorial service i stopped at Terry's Grocery for a deli sandwich, Baked Lays and a Stewart's Key Lime Soda. yum. not low cal but yum none the less.

I did make a gift bag and card for Madeline and Sally and wrapped up homemade frozen strawberry jelly. The idea for using the Anthro bag is out of Green Craft Magazine.

Think the boys are ready for spring?

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. ~ Jane Austen

I love staying home and Jane Austen but enjoyed neither today. Bub had basketball games almost 2 hours away. So my family and hub's dad and bub piled in the sub.

Back in January, I had forgotten how exciting it was to get a package until I found a box in the mail for me… I opened it and found a new book- The Writing Diet, a blank journal, and a card from my friend Bev. We scrap together once a month and we were talking about really trying to get back on track this year. She thought this might help… God love her- I really appreciated it. Julia Cameron is the author and she points out “weight loss is a common by product of creativity” which I believe. I crave to create and when I don’t I feel life slipping past me.

When I was trying to pull my house together for the staff book club coming to my house I started trying to see what it looked like through someone else's eyes. Yikes! I love creating and decorating and collecting and it shows in every nook and cranny of my house. But in the end I also thought well the look i'm going for is quirky and artsy and inspiring. i feel calmed and peaceful when i walk through my house so i hope that is how they saw it. Of course as soon as i would get it clean bub would "redecorate" all over everything because it seemed like he was sick the whole month of january and part of february... really... but the upside was the house was REALLY clean and sanitized.

Finished A Dog Year by Jon Katz and loved it... just comforting or commiserating but a good read. Georgette from book club will like it for sure and maybe some dog loving students. Now I really need to get busy on these books I need to review for Foreward Magazine. 13 more showed up today. In addition to the 6 from Monday. Yikes! So my two categories are Adventure and Mind, Body, Spirit. Looks like some good ones in both categories though so I'm excited and not too daunted.

Eating Plan: not too bad today given we were on the road- egg salad on wwheat toast, Crystal lite, Wendy's small chili w cheese, baked potato w butter and water, Damon's grilled chicken with cheese, 2 rolls w butter, small serving of onion loaf, water, Coke Zero and a yummy Bare Naked chocolaty cherry Grain-ola bar, jasmine tea

Exercise Plan: walked Marina for 45 minutes this morning before leaving

Five Whole Days!

Working five whole days with kiddies this week after all those snow calls, please, this was W_O_R_K. Seriously. It's an adjustment just to have to listen again for so long. Of course with cheer tryouts/judging last night and sports practice back in play this week, it was a bit hectic. It just makes Friday evening at home that much sweeter.

I am craving to create but I had to pull the house back together first. Hopefully tomorrow before/after games i'll get some desk time.

I'm loving A Dog Year- Katz but oh such a sad chapter today in Katz's life with his companion. i so understand his feelings for the furry and especially b/c he is talking about labs and a border collie and Marina is a mix of each i can see her bloodlines when he is talking about the breeds. she used to really try and herd us especially on our walks but we've settled into it and he's so right you each learn how to handle each other and once you get alpha dog status they just follow and know...

We all got up late this morning... we've got to get a handle on it and just do it. If we knew that a. m. was coming no matter what time we went to bed we'd adjust.

Eating plan: shot today. hub treated me to a sugar free cappuccino this morning and i never remember to eat breakfast when i'm drinking them. no lunch packed since i didn't get home until 9pm last night. hub brought me Gold Star - a hamburger, fries and a coke- so not worth the calories. Since I hosted a going away reception i had to partake in the cake and punch. also not worth the calories. after a tense few hours with bub trying to get out of the house for the evening and me trying to stay in I found comfort in a whole wheat grilled cheese and potato soup with a glass of milk after hub and bub left for a dodgeball tourny.

Exercise plan: just a few days this week unfortunately. today walked marina around the block. that's all.

My personal plan needs to be visited many times a day to keep my focus. I see it early then slide down the hill toward my comfy bed and fall asleep within minutes of my head hitting the pillow.

All those book fines added up to $60. on Amazon today so I'm looking forward to displaying some new books.

I wore my hot pink puffy vest today over a few layered henley and spring green khakis. hub called it my 'ski vest' without being asked for an opinion after he asked mine and he didn't like my opinion. softy. don't ask when you can't handle the truth!

I decorated for spring in the library on Monday but i'm just now taking down all the winter/snow decor here and i can't believe how all the little snow crannies hide. Embarrassingly enough i forgot i hid the pumpkin behind a snow man because i couldn't throw out a perfectly good pumpkin! well let's just say i should have... like a few weeks ago... opps!

Girlfriend started reading Truck by Michael Perry yesterday and mentioned it today... i wasn't sure she would like it but she does. I think Michael Perry and I could be related. Brother and sister definitely. Gardening, NPR and just stream of consciousness. I need to review my notes for the book to get in the mood for planting...

Try Outs

It's amazing what 20 years of life experience does for your self confidence. Judging cheerleading tonight was a step back in time. Girls so nervous they barely know their name much less 2 cheers and a dance. It's painful to watch at times and entertaining at others. My advice... # 1 Smile, no matter what smile. #2 Get it right the first time. # 3 Act excited about everything whether you nailed it or you know you have royally screwed up. They might give you credit for your attitude. #4 You should look like you want to win. All the time not just when your "on". Not that difficult. The sponsors gave us Panera for our efforts so the pickle, potato chips and chocolate chip cookie made up for all the discomfort of really wanting the nice, sweet looking girls to be good too. Unfortunately they usually just weren't. Darn it.

I love, love, love NPR. From morning to night I turn to it. It's educated news and it often tells me something I then tell someone else. Luckily several friends also listen so we often walk into work saying "did you listen to NPR this morning? Can you believe that?" or with my scrap girlfriend we have lots to discuss for the 12 hours we get together each month.
I finished Joan Diddion's Year of Magical Thinking on the way to work this morning. I loved it. My scrap girlfriend or a few ladies in book club are really going to appreciate the beauty of her descriptions of dealing with loss.
Eating plan: water (not enough), wwtoast w natural pb and homemade j, milk, pepsi (it was free in the lounge), mexican lasagna (lunch friend fixed it for me, how can I turn that down?), coke zero, left over Cockrell's grilled chicken, baked potato, green beans, Crystallite
Exercise plan: Stretching, yoga
Spending plan: great (since there's nothing in there)

The Personal Plan Goes Awry

I have a personal plan in mind for everyday but then... life just happens. We decide to eat together at a restaurant in order to see each other since the boys are headed to practice and I'm headed home. We decide today is a good day for bub to visit the barber. Craziness ensues and i barely get laundry started and things put away before the boys are headed home. So be it. I do think I've gotten so much better at handling this and not being so hard on myself.
I decorated the library for spring yesterday. Sometimes people make no comment about a display but yesterday numerous people said "Oh Spring!" when they visited yesterday. It's sad when even the students don't want to see one more snowflake!
I picked up Jon Katz My Year With Dogs yesterday and I couldn't put it down today. I like my dog more than i like most people so it comes as no surprise i love this book about a guy musing about the dogs in his life, especially since they are labs!
Reading Eccless. currently and it finding wisdom in all those proclamations. "4:6 Better one hand of tranquility..." "4:9 Two are better than one" "4:12 a cord of three strands is not quickly broken." I've also been reviewing my prayer book I've had since 2003? amazing how many prayers have been answered and yet how little things change. One reoccurring prayer is "Father help me to understand what is keeping this person from knowing you..."

Tweet Tweet

I actually heard "tweet, tweet" today when walking marina this evening. My iPod blinked low battery when i was watching Allie McBeal on the treadmill. I tried to finish while walking but just a few steps in it died. Silence. Prayer. Mind wandering and birdy sounds. Sophia the golden from the end of the street greeted us. Bless her heart we called her Old Sam for 3 years until a few months back i hollared "hi Old Sam" and looked up to see her owners puzzled looks. They set me straight and Sophia actually acts pleased we now know her name. We also saw Gunner, Mozingo's little dog. He came after Marina when she decided to pay him no attention. She set to chase and he retreated. He's about a tenth of her size. Men- they never get how far out of their league they are.

I finished reading Black Elk Speaks and started Going Bovine by Libba Bray. Also read a little of A Dog Year by Katz. Continued working my way through reading my Quest Study Bible, and Making the Most of Today: Daily Readings for Young People on Self-Awareness, Creativity, and Self-Esteem- Espeland and Wallner, and listening to The Year of My Miraculous Thinking - Didion (love her insight on difficult times, death, and dying.) I'm just reading Making the Most of Today because it is in the library and I started it. Very teenager girl slanted but I do like the quote headings. I have already read this year: Love in the Present Tense- Hyde (my new favorite book!), The Girl who Played with Fire- Larsson (very edgy, disturbing and disturbingly entertaining), Graceling- Cashore (YA fantasy). Last year I read 63 books which is a record. I'm shooting for 70 this year and I'm a little behind at 1.3 a week.

The Day After Tomorrow is playing on the telly in the background. This is another movie I tune into every time it is on. I was actually hoping You've Got Mail would be on when I came home from my walk because I was playing The Cranberries at work today and realized they sing Dreams from the soundtrack... ahh very comforting. Of course I just watched some of it yesterday tuning in at

"Mary Chilton died which makes one less person I'm not talking to..." "Don't you love NY in the fall? I'd send you a box of sharpened pencils if I knew your address."

This makes about the 12th time this year I've listened to my absolute favorite all time movie~ great background for scrapbooking~

I found another DaShannon while googling to see if my blog popped up. We chatted back and forth and then friended each other. After 37 years it is really odd to think someone shares my name and see how our lives are alike and different.

My first 6 books to review this season appeared on the doorstep Saturday... due back April 15th... yikes now is when i think 'what was i thinking?!?' this year's category is adventure writing... hmm... there are books on cycling, diving, canoeing, sailing and a father traveling in memory of his family... they do look promising!

Yesterday hub and I ate dinner at Red Lobster ALONE. Yeah, bub was at a friend's so we chose an adult restaurant and TALKED- i know! It was quite nice. We both analyzed a situation a friend is in and made predictions. Got home and got a phone call- we were so right :) Wow we should talk alone more often just think of all the problems we could solve!

Exercise plan= 25min. treadmill, 40min. walked marina

Eating plan= wwtoast w pb, SF cappuccino, 32oz. water, left over Red Lobster, Coke Zero vanilla, salad and sausage, Carbmaster yogurt = went well today even though I almost let the stress get to me while checking the bank account!

Spending plan= talked bub out of Gold Star