Hodge Podge ....

I sure do like having Christmas and New Year's Day on Tuesdays! It is like a great wonderful long weekend starting on Friday for me! It has been very restful and very nice. For people traveling and having holiday parties, it must also be nice. Next year, 2008, is a leap year ... so that means that Christmas and New Year's Day will be on Thursdays .... So will it be a 4-day weekend starting on Wednesday evening? That could also be cool!

I am hoping and planning to spend the holidays next year (2008) in Australia with Tom and Robbie ... staying with my sister and her family in Perth, Western Australia. That means saving apporoximately $6000 for airfare alone ... but I have several months to do that ... and once I set a goal in mind ... well ... I'll do my best. I haven't talked to Tom and Robbie about it yet ... and Tom doesn't seem to want to fly for 22 hours .... but we will deal with that as it comes.

I have been walking this week since the pool is closed ... today went a lot better than yesterday .... and I plan to try again tomorrow ... plus going to the gym to lift weights ... need to do legs tomorrow. Walking is actually kicking my butt ... but I plan to keep it up. What I really need to do is walk on the days I don't swim and lift weights. Every day needs to have some type of exercise in it. Tom wants to go back on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet ..... BLAH! I really don't want to ... but might as well try something diet-wise since I am doing all of this exercise now. We certainly haven't been dieting over the holidays!! Oh My!! LOL .... but there is so much food left over from Christmas!

I do know that if we want to go to Australia, we will need to lose as much weight as we can ... as Derek and Lori do have issues with people who are overweight. Tom and I will always be overweight ... but we plan to be in kick-ass shape! Ha! Walking with the iPod does seem to help some ... can't wait to try it in the pool!

I need to do some educational blogging while I have this down-time .... topic reminders to me:

• Education and IQ
• The Success if my Tutoring Business
• What exactly would it take for me to go back into the classroom?
• Thoughts on how to expand my tutoring business

Marsha gave me a great book of Sudoku Puzzles .... edited by Will Shortz .... who is also the author of the New York Times crossword puzzles. I have recently started trying the NYT puzzles and I really like them. These Sudokus are also more fun than the ones in the paper ... but I am not sure why! Anyway ... I am enjoying doing them and working on getting better!

Today is Sunday .... still 2 more days of holiday this weekend ... very cool!

Post-Christmas ....

Yes .... it was chilly on Christmas .... and we had way too much food .... but then, we were expecting 16 people and 5 of them didn't show. So Tom and I have leftovers galore! The 5 who didn't show were all in one family ... and reports are that 4 of the 5 were sick so they decided not to infect us all ... which we appreciate!

Robbie is still in Hillsboro being spoiled rotten by his grandparents .... which I am sure he loves ... and they love even more. Christmas isn't quite the same without a kid around .... even though he is 18 .... he is still my baby.

Tom enjoyed opening his socks and underwear! Hey ... that is what he asked for ... and some new shoes .... all very boring! I think he was pleasantly surprised by the Nintendo DS and the BrainAge game I got for him. He has been missing his nightly games of Spider and whatever since his Dell Laptop started acting up on him. NOw he has something to play with ... and we had to go get a couple more games for it the next day!

I spent part of Tuesday and most of Wednesday trying to get my new iPod shuffle to work. It is a Waterproof iPod .... and the waterproofing makes the buttons very stiff, according to the paperwork ... so it took me awhile to figure it all out. I finally got music put on it and I think I have managed to get the waterproof headphones attached to my goggles .... now I just need to try it all out in the pool!! Sadly .... the pool is CLOSED!!! It is EMPTY! Yikes!! It is supposed to open on January 2nd or 3rd .... so we shall see how it goes then. I miss it!! I hope it opens on time.

I got my haircut yesterday .... really short .... a Pixie! I haven't had a pixie since the 60's .... but my Mom always claimed that it was the cutest haircut I ever had. My stylist wasn't too happy with my plan (she kept saying "It's Winter!!") ... but after she was done she was impressed! She thought it looked cute. Tom isn't too happy with it, I think .... but it will grow on him. I like the feel of it ... but need to wash it and mess with it myself .... we shall see. I'll do that later today.

I emailed Swillow and she claims no knowledge of my Blog or it's contents. Says she has never visited it. I emailed Lilaz and she was honest. We emailed back and forth and chatted a bit online. She does read my Blog and says that she never did ask me to stop contacting her. I could swear she did ... but if she is willing to communicate with me now, it's all good.

Chill in the Air!

Looks like it is going to feel like Christmas around here this year! Yay!! Low tonight is supposed to be 27 degrees with highs in the 50's and lows in the 20's for the next several days .... that sounds good! No rain ... so no worries about ice and such ... just cold.

Tomorrow Tom and I will take Robbie down to Hillsboro to see his Grandparents and his Dad. I am always glad when Tom is willing to go down there with me ... I don't like that drive very much .... and I wouldn't do it at all except for Robbie's Grandparents being totally wonderful people and they should see Robbie as often as they can.

I need to do some spot cleaning of the carpet and get ready to have guests for Christmas Day .... still deciding on the menu ... but we've got all the booze!! LOL ... the important stuff. We are having quite a combo of guests .... and the food will be served buffet style .... it will all be fine ...

The pool at the gym is going to be closed for one week ... Dec. 26 - Jan. 2 .... Grrrrrrr!!!! I think that means the spa will be closed, too .... and I LOVE sitting in the spa in the winter ... That's okay .... Brandon will be gone that whole week, too .... so maybe I'll do some more walking and try to work back into that, too .... I must say that I am sleeping a LOT better and dreaming a lot more which I think means I am getting more REM sleep. I haven't had dreams like these in a long time. I am pretty sure it is all because I am working out more and I am grateful for that.

I finally realized who is checking this BLOG from Owings Mills, MD and from Liverpool, NY. For some reason MsWillow and Lilaz want to keep tabs on me on a regular basis. Just click on my Site Meter at the bottom of the page and then click on Location in the left bar .... they seem to be a couple of my biggest fans!! I think the person from Manhasset, NY is the guy whose estate WF is in charge of. I think his name is David. I really don't understand why these people keep checking on me. Do they not have lives of their own to live? Whatever.

Looking forward to the long holiday weekend .... sleeping .... eating .... drinking .... laughing with friends .... I hope everyone has a Merry and safe Christmas!

Merry Christmas to ALL!!

No Big Title ....

Haven't had much to write lately ... obviously!

Hey Caterry .... whatever it is you want to know .... just ask .... I have never been anything but honest with you .... despite what others might have told you. I see you visited here quite a bit last week ..... just wondering what you want?

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I am still going to training 3-4 days a week .... working mostly with Brandon .... haven't been measured again ... and haven't weighed ... still swimming .... and enjoying the spa and sauna! Otherwise, not much to report. The Body of Change staff has changed and I am not fond of the new managers. Tyler (Mr. Sunday Morning) left to go work for an oil/gas drilling company .... Oil is becoming big in Texas again!! And Daniel left to go back to school ... or that is what we were told. The new guys are no fun .... no sense of humor .... pffffft. What fun is life without a sense of humor?? But Jace and Brandon are still there and I am getting to know some of the sales guys ... you know, enough to say HI and Have a Great Day ... and really mean it.

I did go walking the other day and hoped it would be a breeze due to all the swimming I have been doing .... Ha!! Clearly I need to start walking some, too. Swimming is easy on the joints ... walking isn't and uses different muscles .... so Tom and I are also going to start walking again ... when we can .... the hardest part about that is getting out of a nice warm bed when it is still dark out and walking in the chill .... LOL ... It is soon to be Winter. Maybe I will try to walk when I have hours between or before tutees ... And I won't have any tutees the 2 weeks after Dec. 20 ... plenty of time to get back into walking ....

The weather around here has been entertaining ... 80 degrees to 30's ..... thunderstorms to bright and sunny .... windy to calm to windy again .... now they are predicting "wintery mix" for tomorrow. We have nowhere to go .... so bring it on!! I am tutoring Noon-3:00 .... but that depends on the weather, I guess. We need to put up the tree and get it decorated .... perfect weekend for that, too.

It seems my melancholy has passed. Several people contacted me about the post I wrote before I posted Robbie's pictures. It was nice to hear from all of these people. Trust me that I do understand that things can never be the same ... and trust me that I know the people who caused this are mean-spirited and small-minded. I know .... I know .... I know. But I can still miss what once was.

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Robbie's Senior Pics

Robbie over the Years

Memories ....

'Tis the season for memories, I guess. I am dreaming at night about my Mom and family and Christmases past. With Mom and Dad now gone and my siblings and I scattered around the world, literally .... the memories remain.

During my waking hours I am finding that I achingly miss my old online group of friends and the wonderfully comfortable camaraderie we all used to share. That group is gone now .... split and shattered and dispersed ... gone to other boards or threads or just flat avoiding contact all the way around. Lies were told and distrust was nurtured .... to the point that things can never be as they once were.

Still .... I wish that RH and Belly and Do .... Looney and Swillow and Poople .... Cat and Caterry and WF ..... Gilly and Sailor and Sparkle .... Nunnie and Bree and Linda ..... T4 and Charley and Sweeney .... Sunshine and Bev and Deb .... La and Sizz and TiT .... and many others I have forgotten to mention, but not intentionally ..... could once again meet online in Fewl's Paradise and play like we once did. And not just play .... but share our lives .... the good and the bad .... in a safe a trusting environment. I wrote this post 7 months ago .... just re-read it and it made me cry .... http://fewlsparadise.blogspot.com/2007/05/what-i-miss.html

But this can never be again. So why do I waste my time and emotions longing for that which can never be again? I guess for the same reason I dream about my Mom and Dad and brother at night. Gone, but not forgotten. Yet I wake up sometimes from these dreams with such a physical longing .... the dreams seemed so REAL. The longing for my old online group is also physical and REAL. I am hoping that just writing about this longing will help get it out of my system somehow. I still get sick at the memory of the things that happened starting 11 months ago in FP. I still am totally clueless as to what initiated all of this and was it just against me .... or was it against others too? I know Bree was a target, too.

Sigh .... it is just a melancholy Saturday afternoon .... I miss Tom's Mom and our champagne Scrabble games .... I miss Christmas at Mom's .... I miss the old management crew at BJ's .... I miss .... I miss ..... I miss ....

But nothing stays the same .... everything changes .... don't wanna be a stick in the mud ....