AAM So Glad It's a Holiday

No I don't plan to go shopping, no I'm not getting to go to Mt. Vernon which is free today.  I'm going to get a mammogram....

However, because it's a holiday, I have no aerobics class! I know that's a bad attitude but I'm still glad!

AAM February 10, 2013

BITS ABOUT TODAY

Outside my window...it's still cold but there is brilliant sunlight.

I am thinking...about an acquaintance who is broke and planning a drive to Maine.  Maine???

I am thankful...I have my eldest home again from the 'stan - for a while.

In the kitchen...my husband is making his breakfast.

I am creating...things in my mind but not yet on the computer. No time yet but it will come.

I am going...to a family visit today. Nice to see them with Daddy home for a bit.

I am wondering...if someone will get the new job he has applied for. There are pros and cons to it.

I am reading...some old Larry Dossey. I suspect the book could have been edited quite a bit or it's just that I know the subject well.

I am hoping...that the memorial service yesterday will help the widow move forward.

I am looking forward to...having a JSJ session this week.

I am learning... the intricacies of Google drive and how to manage the various inputs of information I'm getting in a volunteer job.

Around the house...it's pretty orderly, until you get upstairs. Bit by bit, less is more.

I am pondering...what happened to the woman who plans to drive to Maine. What will happen to her?

A favorite quote for today...Less is More. My One Little Word expanded.

One of my favorite things...is having my tea made for me in the morning.  It's a good start to any day.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Cardio 3x, a JSJ session, a Lightroom class, and some time updating volunteer records. Oh yeah...some catch up cooking for our dinners. He ate it all when I was in Boston, as I hoped  he would.

worst haircut ever

This idea comes from The Simple Woman's Daybook.

AAM - Playing With the iPhone Camera

There was a chat at Designer Digitals over the weekend that was all about using the iPhone as a camera. Now, I don't use any other camera, other than my iPhone 4. I've debating getting the iPhone 5 or just the 4S as my contract is up for renewal. The camera is the big draw on the phone for me. I'm quite serious that I carry a camera that also receives phone calls. Seriously.

But this is the layout I made for the challenge. Free template that day that was just right for the challenge.

AAM - Orange on the Mind

This time of year seems to be an orange color time for me. The heat, the humidity and desert travel to be planned.  So Week 31 of Project Life as well as a page about a trip into DC started out with orange on my mind. One I cooled down quite a bit but the DC day? Yes, bloody hot orange.

AAM Frustration

Frustration was the subject for an All About Me prompt at the Designer Digitals blog recently. A thought immediatedly came to my mind and here is the layout that was inspired.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

I hope your frustrations can be resolved as easily, with time!, as this one was. btw, I have been happily retired for 5 years now so the law is an even more distant field!

AAM and my December Daily

Oh I have waffled back and forth on this one so much ...hybrid, digital, hybrid, digital...yada, yada, yada. Well at least a lot of yada, ya..in my head. I started some digital layout designs before we went to Italy but then once we came back I realized that I was not going to go to Florida, and that I really might not have enough to fill up digital pages on my own. Perhaps a simpler hybrid design would work.

Then I looked for some transparencies , which have always appealed to me and found very very little in the two big box stores near me. I balked at buying on line and paying so much PLUS postage! when I do have a great digital stash. Ok, I tried printing some myself. That worked out ok, not great but ok. And yes, I did spend a small fortune on the transparencies. Geeze... you'd think they were made of petroleum or some such valuable product!!! Why can some plastic be so cheap and other plastic so frickin' expensive. Anyhow, money spent. I'm over it.

Saturday, I went to my stash of papers which I bought yrs ago thinking I might become a paper scrapper. I easily discarded that idea when I found the digital world.  I cut my 6x8s out and was happy. I decided that I would not print Ali's overlay page but rather use that as a template, and yes do that one each day or as close as I could come to each day.  But I still longed for more transparencies. Oh the heart does get greedy. I figured I could paint some with various designs and do a couple more Christmasy digital overlays, now understanding that I need to reverse the image and also duplicate the layers a few times for more depth.

Now it is Monday, and I am washing the new sheets I got on sale at Target on Saturday. I was impressed by the packaging but as I opened the box today, I did a mental happy dance.

Do you see what is on top of that box? a plastic sheet almost the exact size just crying to be decorated! (btw, that cord is to an electric mattress pad which I adore. Dual setting. Perfect.)

Just in case you wonder, that khaki goes very well with our Ikea duvet cover and shams.

But there's more! As I got ready to put the top sheet, which we do not use, away, I felt cardboard. YES! another item to think about for the book. Maybe this will be the Christmas day page. And I finally noticed the little window in the plastic. I'm not sure how I'll use this but I love it. A real peek into...well into something.

All about me? some days I'm open enough to see the joy and awesomeness in the little things. Today was one of those open heart days.

(Don't know about December Daily? Well here is the motherload of information on Ali Edward's site.)

AAM Hair Today, Maybe Not Tomorrow

This is not a color I've had for quite sometime but I decided to have a change once I got back from Italy. I must say, DH just looks at me and I'd say he isn't overjoyed. However, it is close to the color I had when we got married.  I don't think I'll keep it for a long time because it will take more upkeep. But for now, it's fine. It's different and that's all I wanted. I also think my green eyes are become more of a teal as I age but if they look blue, that's fine with me. I once had brown contact lenses for the intense Middle East sun and that was truly a different look. I didn't like brown at all.

Maybe I need pink streaks in my hair...well, maybe not. In fact I know it's a NOT. Do you make major changes to your hair color? I figure it's less than $10 and if it's really a disaster, I can pay a pro to make it better.  I've never had to so I guess I like change.  If not, you'll see me with another color soon.

AAM and Boulder

This Monday's All About Me is a reminder of the nice time I had out in Boulder, CO. I think this was my 4th or 5th trip out there, including the one when we were married. This time it was shorter because I wanted to make it a 'small suitcase' trip which also involved going down to Mesa AZ. That meant almost two climate zones!

We have always stayed at a Residence Inn or something similar which has more than a room. DH usually does some work and I can have my tea in the room before I go down to the more than adequate breakfast.

I love seeing the Flatirons at sunset, especially as I'm having a good dinner!



This time when we arrived, however, the news was not good. This happened just before we arrived and only about 3 blocks away. So sad to read about a person going to such extremes over money. A reminder that 'the love of money is the root of all evil'.

While my dh goes to his conference (which was the reason for our trip), I can usually have the car and do some more exploring of Boulder or the surrounding area. One trip I drove up to Cheyenne WY but that was a full day! This time I just took myself back to a favorite bakery, Breadworks, before driving west.


The weather had been threatening on and off, and while thunderstorms were predicted, I wanted to see some snow. We had seen the 14teeners covered with snow but with a storm predicted, I settled on Nederland, a short but curvy 16 mile drive. When I stopped along the drive to see the rushing Boulder Creek, it looked ominous back in Boulder.


The falls was closed but the water looked gorgeous.


Just outside of Nederland, I stopped when I saw the snow. During the time I sat in the car and ate my leftovers from the prior night's Vietnamese dinner, the clouds came down and covered the mountains. I had had a bit of sleet on the way up so I figured it would be a quick visit, and not a drive deeper into the Rockies. A stop at the Blue Owl Bookstore and a good cuppa tea is a must-do in Nederland for me.


This also helped make up my mind. I had a sweater on but didn't feel like seeing that temperature gauge drop any further!


Better to go back to Boulder and embellish dh's suitcase. I had promised to do this several trips ago, so I had gone to Hobby Lobby earlier and bought puffy paint to do so. It's always fun to do a bit of craftwork on a trip!


Well that's a typical day ALL ABOUT ME when I'm in Boulder. Of course once dh gets done with his work, it often looks like this. Another reason we like the Residence Inn...space and wifi for two!

AAM Monday

Intention isn't everything. Or so I've come to believe. Kind of.

Last December, I had come to the realization that I was a couple months into my 65th year, and feeling tired and much less than fit. The clothes were getting tighter, the muffin top had obviously had some yeast added to it, and I did not want to continue on this path. I really didn't want to change my lazy, carefree ways but carefree was not so free anymore.

So I made a mental decision, and went off to London where I did get back to some walking. Not a lot but I held my own during that trip, and didn't expand out of my clothes at least. That in itself was good. Shortly after I got back, I heard about a new city gym from my dear friend Judy. My dh was away and I promptly went over and signed up. I had a session with a personal trainer and started going daily. I liked having the option of bikes, treadmills and ellipticals to vary the workout every 10 min. It was still too dark and cold to walk outside in the am. A week or two, and I was enjoying it. Then it snowed. Oh man did it snow. February was kind of a lost month with a lot of white all around our house. A lot.

However, with my dh away again, I did the shoveling for snow round 2. I took it in measured stages, rested flat on my back - ok, on the couch, in front of the fire, watching Netflix between shovel sessions. We had a LOT of snow, blizzard level snow this February, but I and my back survived. I ate less too.

My dh returned and I finally was able to get the car out of the driveway. Yeah! Freedom!! I went back to the gym, to the same workouts I had done and went home feeling great.

The next morning I could barely get out of bed, and had to get my dh to put my shoes on for me so I could go to the Dr. for some periodic blood work following the annual physical. My life became a heating pad and a back as tight as I'd hoped for my stomach muscles. (ok, I never hoped for that much...I know me and sixpack abs are not on my Wishlist.) In the physical, I had mentioned periodic pain in my right knee. The Dr. said it seems to be arthritis behind your knee but I'll send you for an e-xray to be sure. She also said stay off the bikes and eliptical. What???? this leaves me only the treadmill...ugh.

The back pain (locked tightness) continued and at the prodding of my dh...insistence!...I went back to the Doctors. I was given a set of back exercise, an appnt for a back x-ray, and a referral for a physical therapist. It is now March and where is the progress I had hoped for?!?!? My intention was there but somehow there was a disconnect between my head and my body. However...diligent daily repetitions of the back exercises, and walks on the beach or sessions in the resort gym have me back to relative normalcy. I found that my knee hurt more when I only walked so I added the recumbent bike and short sessions on the elliptical. I still have a tight back and hips in the am but I can dress myself and use the toilet with ease. Yes, the latter was an issue with a stiff back. Men can just shake but women wipe. Think about it or don't.

So here it is the real Ides of March, and have I made any progress since January? Well, holding my own is about it and in some ways I guess I'll have to be ok with that right now. I am eating less, and not enjoying that but I am sticking to some exercise every day unless I am sitting in a car on I-95 for 10 hrs.

Oh, I forgot to mention that my cholesterol #s had gone up according to that blood work. No relation to what I decided to do but a good reason for sure to pay more attention to my health. I guess I'm just starting a life habit and it feels like a lot of unintended roadblocks along the way.But it is what it is. It just isn't what I wanted it to be.