Thursday, June 20, 2019

So Much For Blogging Regularly

Well, I didn’t  wait quite as long in between blog posts this time.  Once again, my absence has been mostly due to everyday life.  There have been a few bad things, a few good things, and mostly just average things going on.

Our neighbors invited us over for Easter.  Nick was sick and didn’t get to go, but I went.  They made a delicious dinner (I brought sweet tea, per their request), and they sent lots of leftovers home with me for Nick to enjoy.  The best part, though, was that I got to hide and hunt Easter eggs for the first time ever.

As we were sitting around talking after dinner Lori asked me if I wanted to help hide eggs for the kids to hunt.  I had never done it before, so I jumped at the opportunity.  Lori hid eggs in their front yard, and I hid eggs in their back yard.  When it was time to hunt them, Lori hunted with the kids in the back yard and I hunted with the kids in the front yard.  It was so much fun!  I had no idea what I had been missing out on for so many years.

The neighbors have said we’re invited for Easter next year.  They said we can do Thanksgiving, and they’ll do Easter.  I love that we’re establishing holiday traditions.  We are now in possession of our very own Easter eggs.  The neighbors gave us some, and one of my coworkers gave me some.  I’m looking forward to filling them to take to hide next year.

I’m still very, very, very slowly losing weight.  My weight loss total is now at 55 pounds.  I still have a long way to go, but it’s still ever so slowly moving in the right direction.  Sometimes it gets discouraging thinking about how much I still have to go.  It doesn’t exactly make me feel good that I’ve lost 55 pounds, and still need to lose more. 
The nice thing, though, is that I’m starting to notice some positive differences in how I feel.  I feel a little better in general, and I have a lot less trouble with my feet hurting.   People at work all started noticing around the same time, too.  Honestly, it was a little strange.  No one commented at all for months, which is fine.  I’m losing weight for myself, my health, and the future Nick and I want to have.  But over the course of a week or two, it seemed like half the people in my building started telling me I looked like I was losing weight.  I guess there’s a certain point where it does become noticeable, even to people who see you every day. 

We’ve been watching The Golden Girls on Prime.  Nick had watched reruns as a kid, but had never watched the whole thing in order.  I had never watched it at all.  In our defense, Nick was two and I was three when the pilot aired.  We’re about halfway through Season 2 now.  I love it, and am totally addicted. 

The rose bushes we bought on clearance and half dead a few years ago are absolutely thriving.  It still surprises me a little bit every year when they come back, and that they’re doing so well.  Neither one of us thought they had much of a chance when we planted them, but decided to give them a try anyway.  I’m so glad we did. 

Nick taught a first aid class for the Boy Scouts a few months ago.  Our neighbors are actively involved with them, and it came up about Nick teaching.  I think he was happy to get the practice in before he taught a class for work, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it.  They gave him a very sweet thank you card.

I’ve been trying to learn how to crochet.  I need a hobby that doesn’t involve food!  It’s taking me a while to catch on, but I’m enjoying it so far.  I’m left handed, which makes it difficult to find someone to teach me.  I’ve been using You Tube videos so far.  My aunt has also said she’ll help me whenever they come to visit.  She’s technically right handed, but does a lot of things left handed.  She said she’ll practice her left handed crocheting so she’ll be ready to teach me.  She lives in Florida, and there’s not a definite date lined up for a visit yet, so I’m hoping I can learn the basics before I see her, and then she can help me with some of the more advanced things.  I’d love any tips or recommendations anyone may have for learning.

We are still working on organizing the house and getting rid of clutter.  That seems to be another slow process, but we are seeing progress.  It’s a small thing, but now that we’ve organized our board games and made them much more accessible we seem to use them more often.  

I know that’s a really small thing, but I’m beginning to think that’s kind of the point of having everything in your home in good order.  It makes all of the many, many small things you do throughout the day or week easier.  We still have long way to go, but I am planning some posts with some our progress.  Maybe it won’t take me months to get around to them this time. 

So what have you been up to lately?  

10 comments:

  1. Gardening is definitely a hobby that doesn't involve food ;)

    I wouldn't think it would be so hard to learn to crochet left-handed (although what do I know as a rightie?). Can't you just put a mirror up to what everyone else is doing? There must be a way to do this on YouTube (where all the good tutorials are nowadays, anyway).

    There's a show on PBS: Knit and Crochet Now. It just started a new season. They have all sorts of interesting projects that they demonstrate. I learned to knit from my great-grandmother, but my crocheting was learned via books and watching shows with crochet. Watch with yarn and a crochet hook in your hand and try what they're doing. It's the best way to learn. Good luck.

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  2. It is good to hear from you Danielle.

    Well done on the weight loss. You are doing it the right way, slow and steady.

    You are organizing your lives, making friends in your neighbourhood and making a home you enjoy. You’ve been busy!

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  3. I will follow you to do right way...
    Have a wonderful day

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  4. Just thinking about you earlier today, LOL. Good that you are still losing weight. Taking it off slowly is the best way to go. How fun with the hiding and finding of Easter eggs. Its such a cute thing to do! We have to be careful here filling the plastic eggs with chocolate in our heat we have some years for Easter. But I do like your traditions you are establishing! Getting rid of clutter is so freeing; I think its good for the soul myself. Glad to see the rose bush is flourishing too! Now let's hear from you before the holidays come around!

    betty

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  5. That is so nice to have neighbors to celebrate holidays with. My son's gf is from China, so she has never celebrated any holidays we have here. She has now had Thanksgiving and Christmas with us and went to her first Memorial Day parade as well. It's neat to experience these things with her!

    I was just discussing weight loss with a friend yesterday. I lost 10 pounds (though it was over a number of years) and nobody noticed. We were thinking people don't notice until maybe 25 pounds? I'm so proud of you for sticking with it! I'm sure with the summer heat, you will notice a difference in how you feel and your stamina, too.

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  6. My! 55! Well, I think you need to give yourself a huge pat on the back and congratulations and some sort of sweet treat (and I don't mean candy, I mean a special day out or something fun!). That's really, really hard. And it really takes a long time. I know. I've gained and lost and regained and it just creeps back, like, "Well, what's a pound. Oh, maybe two." And pretty soon. (The best thing about having pneumonia is I lost six pounds. I live in fear of its return.) I'm glad people are noticing. But it gets weird, too, when that happens. Well done, you!

    I'm delighted you are establishing a holiday tradition with friends. I'd never hidden eggs till this year (and since Carson was barely two, I wouldn't call them "hidden.") It was such fun to watch him collect and I can't wait till next year.

    With all the problems with the basement I got more purged down there than planned, which is a good thing. I wonder if I'll ever make it to the upstairs?

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  7. 55 pounds! That's amazing. Go girrrlll!

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  8. It's great to hear from you. I was glad to see comments from you on some of my recent posts too.

    The Easter sounds fun. I've never had the opportunity to do an Easter Egg hunt either. I did get to do a gift hunt once. It was my 10th birthday. Anyway, that's nice about the Easter and Thanksgiving customs you're starting with them.

    Great about the weight loss! No matter how much you have left to go, you've done great so far, and the fact you're starting to feel the benifits of it too makes it even more fantastic! Congratulations!

    Glad the roses are doing well, and there's good progress on the de-cluttering.

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  9. We kids never had Easter Egg hunts, which would have been fun, but we did have plenty of Easter Eggs - chocolate heaven until they were finally demolished!

    What have I been up to? Nothing very dramatic. Jenny and I went to see Naomi Wolf talking about her new book. We've booked a guided tour of the Canadian Maritimes, which should be pretty spectacular. Otherwise, just the usual day-to-day activities.

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  10. Danielle! It's so nice to see a post from you. You and Nick have been busy, and doing lots of cool stuff. We love that you are establishing holiday traditions with your neighbors. And congrats on the weight loss. It is really hard to do, and we are proud of you for taking charge like you are. :)

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