San Francisco-Sonoma

I'm alive! And I survived BOOBS weekend and am now ensconced in Sonoma County in the amazing state of California!! And the wine is good. I have been sporatically reading you lovely bloggers but am so behind, I will need a few bottles of wine to catch up on all the reading when I get home on Sunday. I'll do a belated Chicago post then. I loved you all and am so happy that you didn't ignore the old lady. You all are now my iKids (or iSisters). I felt that Chicago was like running a marathon. Not that I’ve ever run a marathon but emotionally and physically, I feel that that is what I did—the Chicago Marathon. And to those who weren't able to make it, we felt you cheering us on.

I left Chicago on Monday morning and had a few glitches with catching my flight to San Francisco. But we arrived and walked all over the city including Lombard Street, which is the most crooked street in the world. And I walked up that big hill. What a difference a year makes. Last year I was huffing and puffing and my feet hurt so much on a trip to London, England. I was so unhappy that I was so unfit that I couldn't climb the stairs up to the top of St. Paul Cathedral. Well this was more strenuous and I did it. With just a few stops and no heart attack. We also rode the double decker bus (something we didn't do in London last year) and also took the cruise around the bay. Then we drove north into Muir woods and the coast. Strange how dry everything is out here. My hair felt like straw and matched the hillsides which are all yellow straw and look like a desert. And I can eat. Slow but food is going down. DH is stuffed since I have to have him finish most of my food.

I GOT PEARLs. Yes, we walked into the Pearl Store and ended up with a lovely strand of salt water pearls and matching earrings from Hawaii. I have been hinting to my DH for a couple of years but he doesn't really hear that well unless standing in front of a display case of jewellery. So I have my 29th anniversary present just a bit early. This year it falls on 10-10-10. Coolest date ever. Here we are celebrating with an amazing lunch in Sonoma today.

Just wanted to keep in touch.
 

Got a New iTouch

This is so cool. I can blog on my iTouch. And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I love technology!

But haven't figured out how to post pics.

Lucky BOOBS

Just checked the weather for Chicago. Are we lucky or what? Thanks organizers for straightening out the weather. You guys rock!

                Centigrade                                    Fahrenheit 

 

My flight leaves Ottawa around 7:00 am on Friday morning and I arrive Chicago around 10:00 am. I'll be taking the Shuttle service in from O'Hare to the hotel. Looks like I'll get some shopping in on Friday afternoon. See everyone soon.

What are You Wearing?

It's been a week since my shopping trip when I bought some really nice clothes. And it was fun. Yup, buying clothes is fun. They range in size from 12 to 1X depending on the brand.

And to give everyone an idea of my wardrobe for Chicago, I thought I would show you my outfits. I'm not a fancy girl. I rarely wear dresses or skirts. I know some of you lovely girls will be dressed to the nines, but lets just say, I will still fit in. After a few drinks, everything becomes a blurr anyway.

And shoes, well lets just say, I would rather buy a set of pots and pans than a pair of shoes. Yes, get up off the floor. I will have a shiny pair of flats, a pair of running shoes, a pair of boots and my old standby Birkenstocks. Plus my old lady orthotics so I can walk more than a few yards.

But I will be getting out of my comfort zone and bringing a skirt to Chicago. I may not wear it but I will have it with me. My pair of boots, my daughter tells me, can only be worn with a skirt, or leggings and right now, I'm not ready for leggings. That was so last century. Do you think leg warmers and Jane Fonda's "feel the burn" will be back too?

So let me know if I pass. There isn't much left in my closet so if you all think I will be voted off the weekend, I guess I will just have to stay home. I also want to tell everyone that on Monday, the 27th, my DH is meeting me at O'Hare and from there we are flying to San Francisco and Napa for the rest of the week. So I'll be trying to stretch 4 or 5 outfits to last me for a week.

Many of you may not know some of our activities that are happening on the Chicago weekend. I'll be arriving on Friday around noon (I hope) and checking in the hotel with my roomie Robin. Friday night is a casual get together for all the BOOBs and then a free-for-all for the rest of the evening. Saturday morning, I am walking the 5K with a few other BOOBs in the Susan G. Komen Walk/Run for Breast Cancer. The afternoon another bunch of us are going on a River Cruise around Chicago. The evening is a dinner and partying wherever our hearts lead us. Sunday, well for me a bit of a sleep in and then I'll try a bit of shopping. I'll move into another room with my roomie Rani for Sunday night and leave Chicago on Monday. So without further ado, here is my wardrobe:

Casual Duds

I love this frilly little top and below my white blouse and jean vest (new jeans too!).

Dressier Duds

This has a frilly collar and the shrug will keep me warm (shown with skirt),

Below is another frilly top shown with pants.

My small assortment of shoes/boots

Costume jewellery.

My favourite Celtic Silver earrings at the bottom.

Walking duds, but we might have the BOOBs T-shirt too! And lastly, to keep warm I will probably bring this merino wool wrap I bought in New Zealand last year. And probably a red rain jacket in case of rain.

There you have it! Now will I be voted off the weekend? I'll crash it anyway. And today I got a pedicure and my hair coloured and cut. Tomorrow is the waxing of the eyebrows so Gilly won't feel faint from bushy brows.

And I have a little suggestion for all those BOOBs and bloggers that can't meet in Chicago. I think we should all set a time, lets say 7:00 pm Chicago time (Central Daylight Time) next Saturday, the 25th and all raise a toast to success. The problem is that it will only be 1 am in London, England and 10 am in Melbourne, Australia.

But then it'll be 5:00 somewhere (California and British Columbia)!

Dealing with Memories

Amey in Idaho posted a powerful post today. She made reference to a post made from Drazil. And so the string continues…

As I left a comment (which I have been really bad about these last few weeks), it started to get very long. Way long. So I am doing a post with a similar theme and hope you don’t mind Amey, and Drazil (Yeah right!).

The Coles Notes version: Losing weight means moving into different clothes, which hold powerful memories for us. We can’t wear them anymore. Drazil’s was mourning the loss of her Snakeskin Shoes. It wasn’t the item, but the memory.

Don't give those memories away. Keep the best in a box to remember your past. If you can't keep the entire piece, cut out a little square of material or pictures of the outfits. Handy, creative types would scrapbook them all with little anecdotes. Amey mentioned a bra she wore at her wedding. I would definitely keep that bra. Pull it out for the memories. Maybe even put it in a shadow box. I’m not kidding.

I save a couple of little outfits from when my kids were babies (my youngest is almost 25). They still invoke these strong memories. I think in my heart I will have them to try on my grandchildren (if and when that ever happens). I still have the head piece from when I was a flower girl over 50 years ago (picture to come).

And although we cannot live in the past, it's ok to keep the memories, whether they are the actual item, a poem, a story or maybe a photo. We haven't lost what we were, but we have to move into the future—the scary unknown. I didn’t tell everyone about all the cool clothes I bought last weekend. Well daughter was there “forcing” me into most of it. I now wonder if it was a bit of a mental block to not recognize that the weight has left the building. There may be future sightings but really it is gone for good. Elvis costume might have been good at the time, but they and him are gone. But the memories live on.

Life is about memories—good, bad, ugly, sad, happy, disgusting, sweet and ...  It can be a piece of clothing, a picture, a song, even a smell. And as we grow older we develop new ones. We just have to know that those new memories will be just as powerful as the ones in our past. Guaranteed.

Or do like me and just use a memory stick!

Thousand Word Thursday

I was almost stumped last night figuring out a heirloom or a picture of something important to me. I was all alone in the house except for the crazy cat who recently attacked me, so he is no longer on my list! No family around except for pictures, so I wandered into my dining room and found...

 

Lladró (pronounced Yadro). My very first Lladró statue was a little cook holding a pig. It wasn't till years later I found out there should have been a tiny tail attached, but I guess it broke off before I bought it. I used to go into the jewellery store for months to look at it and finally bought it way back in my university days. Up until two years ago, it was displayed on my kitchen counter until one day the cleaning lady knocked it over and the head popped off. She was mortified. But it was successfully reactached and is now in my china cabinet. One day it'll come back out. I have a collection of about 10 Lladró figurines, but my second favourite is the one of the nurse. My sisters got together and gave it to me when I graduated from Nursing. The bowl beside the statue above, with the ugly brownish flowers was from a set of dishes from my mom who died almost 3 years ago (on September 24, 2007). My daughter and niece inherited the set of the dishes but I wanted a small remembrance of Christmas dinners so "stole" it from them!

Thanks for the memories.

Going Shopping

I have a date. With my daughter. On Sunday, September 12^th at the Mall. To shop for some cute clothes. She told me it was better that I buy a few clothes now so I feel better and not wait for the proverbial “end” which may be later rather than sooner.

She has warned me that I have to try on the stuff she chooses. So if I look like a floozy in Chicago, it’s all her fault. And if I look rather cool for an old lady… Well that will be her fault too.

And Drazil made me do it. She’s bringing like 14 suitcases of clothes. I’m not sure if I can even fill one!

I’m still up a couple of pounds and just finished French Fries for lunch. Not feeling guilty, just fat. Why is it that we can lose a lot of weight and still feel fat? And NSV. Even though I feel fat my DH walked by me last night and told me I looked skinny!

Thus the fries. As Robin mentioned in today’s post: "Back to our regularly scheduled eating tomorrow".

Numbers

I have always been fascinated by numbers. Since I was little, I have loved math and calculating and all things with numbers. Today, Alycejo from My Rescue is Possible posted about seeing numbers on her scale (which she wasn't happy about). She posted the following note which I love:

All this got me thinking about how numbers define my life, such as:

• Birthdate: March 15, 1954 (The Ides of March and a Pisces)
• Age: 56
• House Number: 56 (coincidence, I think not)
• Estimate of years left before I die (at 85): 29 !!! (I’ve added a year to my life by losing weight. Use this calculator to estimate your life expectancy)
• % life already lived: 66% 
• Birthweight: 6 pounds 8 ounces
• Weight at 11 yrs: 127 lbs (put on amphetamines to lose weight)
• Weight at wedding (27 yrs old): 127 lbs
• Highest all-time weight: 215 lbs
• Weight pre-band: 209 lbs
• Goal weight: 154 lbs
• Number of pounds to lose: 55 lbs
• Pounds lost: 38 lbs
• % excess weight lost with band: 38/55 x 100 = 69% (Common % weight lost with the band: 50%-70% of excess weight)
• Ticker Weight: 171 lbs (ok, my weight today is 173—it was the caramel popcorn last night!)
• Years married: 29 on 10/10/10 (cool date!)
• Children: 2 (27 yr old daughter and 25 yr old son)
• Number which I see all the time on the clock: 11:11 (the month and day my mom was born)
• The most useless number I know: Derivative of a Function (I had to teach this—just for you Tina)

Which goes to show, I have too many numbers floating around. There were more, but this post would have gone on for pages. This now brings me back to Alyce’s comment about numbers ruling our lives and how we should look at what is really important like:

• The love of family and friends (all of you in blogland included)
• Having a smile back on my face
• Being happy and feeling good about myself!
• And many, many more intangibles

Because these are all priceless!

And to pay-it-forward, come meet a new bandster Bella Noche-The Beautiful Void and give her some love.

Thousand Word Thursday

For your viewing pleasure:

I had to go back into the archives of scanned pictures to find this picture on my 21st birthday. I was waiting for my date, who arrived 3 hours late. He only stayed a couple of minutes but left me some lovely silver earrings. Guess my come-hither eyes couldn't compete with his poker game. I don't think I saw him after that. Good riddance. Look at the lovely he missed!

Happy Friday everyone!