OH SO GOOD

mister happy

I spent four days in chicago with little austen who's not so little anymore.  BOY is he a happy baby!

awwww be still my heart.  Each one of them fills me up.

 

baby central

Meet baby Camden Michael my newest grandchild.  I am up to FIVE grandkids now.  I cannot ask for much more than this but will gladly accept more and more and more.  I made a trip to MO for the event of his birth and two other babies of two of my best friends.  I am so enamoured with all these babies I can hardly breathe!  Camden is so beautiful I cannot even fathom anyone MORE beautiful than he is.  Perfect face, perfect skin....wwwww.  smells so sweet it makes you want to weep.

This next shot is Maddie...my friend Melissa's little girl who was a week old when I got here.

Isn't she just a darling?  I had the best time taking her photos the other day.  She is so cute.  I could just eat her up!

Then last but certainly not least....Lucas my friend Christina's new baby who is almost a month old.  He has such a serious little face and is so cute.  I love to hold him and he just stares at your face.  I think a got a smile out of him and saw him actually roll over the other day.  It's true.  He's a strong one.

ALL of this made my trip just wonderful!

 

Road Trip

Tomorrow Rick and I are going on a road trip back to Philly to a place my friend Jen H. suggested.  Reading Terminal Market.  Rick knew exactly what it was when I told him that she had mentioned it.  He said it would be an EXCELLENT place to take photos!  YAY!

Thanks Jen!  You will see photos !

Speaking of photos here is one to leave you with!

I should have taken that back...

Later yesterday I DID get my camera back.  Oh what a relief.  It looks brand new.  They did everything I wanted and then some.  How nice.  I will be dropping them a line to thank them for their service.  Of course it was expensive but seems so far to be well worth it.

Today is gloomy and cold here in PA.  I felt the weather change coming on last night when I went to bed.  By morning ugh. 

So I don't  have much else to report.  More later.  Maybe some photos.  :) 

10:45 am and counting

The camera is not here yet.  They said they were gonna UPS it either late Thurs or Fri.  Pout. 

Lisa is hungry and not impressed with having to be patient yet another day.

Please oh please oh please come home to me soon camera!

Monday's Stuff

1.  Had a very strange day health wise but seem to be rallying tonight.  Did end up sleeping a couple hour this afternoon which seemed to help.  (I mean really how much sleep can one person require????)

2.  My hero cooked dinner tonight.  BLT's and fresh avacado.  YUM.  BIG YUM.  On lightly toasted wheat bread.  I love dinnertime.  Tomorrow we are having roast and red potatoes and carrots and onions.  WITH fresh green beans.  Can I get a woot woot.

3.  Today has been laundry day.  Totally uneventful but we have clean clothes now. 

I have nothing else to report besides I am grateful for my wonderful partner who supports me on good days and bad.  I am so fortunate to have him in my life. 

impatience

I am so impatient.  I must be on this earth in order to learn some degree of patience.  I have always been the kind of person that wants instant results.  Sigh.  I woke up today full of aches and pains and I keep telling myself it's not overnight and besides I have fibromyalgia.  That changes the playing field quite a bit between me and others doing some of the same things to improve health.

I am also sometimes angry that I even have fibromyalgia.  I know that won't help anything but I've been awake since 9:30 and it's taken me all this time over 3 hours to feel human.  Plus medication.  That's frustrating for me.  It also scares me a little about working full time again in the future.  Will I be able to do it?  Will I have anything left of me at the end of the day if I have to commute (most people around here do) work 8 hours then commute home?  Okay I am trying to unfurrow my brow now. 

On the flip side here's some good news.  I got a refund check from my old electric company and it's more than I thought it would be.  YAY for me.  $250 dollars richer!  It's penny's from heaven when one is unemployed.   This makes me happy. 

On to the laundry.  Hopefully I will have happier things to report next post.  I'm pacing the floors waiting for the UPS man to bring me my camera.  I WISH IT WOULD SHOW UP!

xoxo

power eating

We are what I call power eating.  Not eating massive amounts of food but we are "POWER EATING" food that is soooo good for us. 

We went to the store today and we've been discussing our own health and trying to become more healthy...we are finding out what foods we both love, what our eating "weakness's" are and what we like more than other things. 

I figured since I'm turning over a new leaf in more than one way starting a whole new life  here I decided that I should eat differently as well.  So.  We bought so much good food.  Lots of produce ....first we actually went to a roadside stand for fruit which is practically a delicacy.

And that season is almost over with here.  Fall is coming.  So the roadside stands will be long gone till next summer.  We will miss that.  But anyhow today we picked up a sweet little watermelon and a basket of oranges.

Then we went to the grocery store (which is brand new and so beautiful) and got a lot of fresh fresh food.  Mostly fruits and veggies, a little bit of meat but not that much really....some cheeses.  Berries, bananas and fresh green beans.  Yum.  I love having all this fresh food at my fingertips and my body is appreciating it as well.  One of my pairs of jeans that I wore this week was actually a bit more roomy as a result of eating better.

For breakfast I rotate between great grains cereal (the kind with nuts and dates and raisins) and my favorite eggs and toast.  Usually if I snack it's fruit or granola/fiber bars during the daytime.  Usually my breakfast holds me a long time.  I also eat Activia yogurt.  Then we have a very sensible dinner.  Usually one meat and two fresh veggies.  If I get hungry at night I eat watermelon or I drink water.

I am going to push the water this week.  A Lot.  I need more water.

So I will report back on my progress.  I'd love to do this for a year and see the results. 

I also let myself have nuts.  Either cashews or pecans.  Yum. 

The other thing I am doing is drinking lactaid instead of milk and it makes a huge difference in my digestion.  No bloating, less gas, no pains or gurgles. 

I feel remarkably different eating this way and once again I am going to cut coca cola out of my diet totally.  Wish me luck with that.  That's the hard part.

25 reasons why I love him

It feels like fall here today ...I don't know the temp but I had to put on a sweater and some slippers on my bare feet.  I do have to remind myself I'm not in the southern midwest anymore.  I know I will freeze the first few winters here.  I remember that happening when I moved back from Texas after 10 years down in "Hades".  Adjustments are good for you.  Yep.  That's what I keep telling myself.  :)

I can feel myself adjusting.  On those days when there is something special going on back in my home land.....I feel very isolated and a little lost.  I think I might have met 10 people now.  It's probably my own fault for not making a better effort to get "out there" but where is one to go?  Oh hell yes I've been to stores but I can't just see a person in the dollar aisle at target and walk up to them and announce "well you look like my kind of person...want a new friend?" with the exception of a few people most people have been "hi it's nice to meet you" kind of people. 

Thank goodness for Rick's sister who has gone shopping with me, taken me out to lunch and taken me out to ride in her new car.  Right now she is my closest "person" besides Rick.  That and she laughs alot which in my book scores big points on the scale of LIFE.  oh yeah and she has cute dogs.

So.  Back to the list. 

25 reasons why I love him.

1.  He fixes eggs and toast for me pretty much on request at any time day or night.  Sometimes without me asking for it. 

2.  He's tidy.  (wipes down sinks after he uses them, cleans bathrooms and emties trash cans often)

3.  can take one look at me and know if I'm having a difficult moment or two (or a few hours, or even a day)

4.  he reads.  books I mean.  not just like the mail or whatever.  he actually sits down and reads.

5.  he's open minded

6.  I've only seen him irritated once and it wasn't with me.  Woot.

7.  he does what he says he is going to do.

8.  he's not a complainer.  ever.  he just doesn't.

9.  he can laugh at  himself

10.  he's the happiest person ALIVE the second he wakes up in the morning.  in fact he is thankful for being alive the moment he wakes. 

11.  he tucks me in at night and always kisses me goodnight

12.  he listens to my stories

13.  he loves to work in the kitchen and makes a mean meatloaf and gravy.  seriously.

14.  he takes naps

15.  he's extremely respectful of others like while entering a store he holds the door for others, in traffic he lets others go first.  just unbelievably respectful.

16.  he has a lot of gratitude

17.  he gets excited thinking of new things to introduce me to like south street in Philly and Amish country in lancaster county.

18.  he "gets" me

19.  he doesn't smell

20.  he calls me for no reason at all in the middle of his busy day to say he loves me

21.  he brings me flowers just because

22.  he is a great "dog dad" to Amigo

23.  he gives great advice and can point things out to me I might not have thought of

24.  he thanks me.  often.  for everything.

25.  he wants to tell the world how much he loves me!

Shout out to my friend Christina

 

Bravo Girlfriend for your accomplishment of having another baby!  I am pleased as punch to report that she got her epidural this time (THANK YOU JESUS) and had a really easy time of it.  Lucas was born weighing in at 7 lbs 7 oz and was 21 inches long.  I knew he'd be long.  My Ryan was long like that.  I'm so glad she is out of her misery as this has been a difficult pregnancy for her.  Aren't they sweet.  I love little Logan's big brother face.  :)