School Has Started

Quickie here. School has started and I'm trying to get my stuff ready for the young minds! It is, however, at the expense of my blogging time.

Later, skaters!

I Did a Craft!

Okay, I am not crafty AT ALL. But, I found this little bracelet at some random Hallmark store in the Altoona Mall. I took some pictures of my two nephews and the bracelet's makers have a website that will shrinky-dink them for you. The website is www.luckyfeather.com (I got the baby memories bracelet or somesuch.).

It was WAY easy to do, but did take about 20-25 minutes to shrink the six pictures I wanted to use. It's Granny's birthday present and, I have to say, it's the best I've done in years. I just printed the pictures out on my computer on regular paper. The packet suggests that you use index prints from your photo center. That's not a bad idea, but this bracelet is fine with regular paper. I'd say that it took me about an hour to do this. The payoff was great for me looking at it. I think Granny will like it.


There are five charms. You could put pictures on both sides, if you wanted, but I put the babies' initial (first name) and years of birth. I know that I'm gushing, but the bracelet is CUTE. It's got one of those really cute toggle closures too!

Weight

Okay, I have come to a weird conclusion. I have weighed myself almost every day for about three weeks now. The wild swings in my weight are crazy. There's been as much as a 3-pound swing. That strikes me as crazy. I am large. I've got about 90 pounds or so to lose. I decided to weigh myself daily to see how much difference there can be on a daily basis. For about the last two weeks, I've been eating very wisely. I've discovered that if I eat a smaller dinner, that not only do I sleep better, I also seem to have more energy the following day.

Some of you may think that I am crazy. Weight is very simple. Just expend more than you take in. I've heard all about this. My grandmother always talked (read: nagged) me about my weight. She said that she always weighed within 5 pounds of 130. She said, "If I see the scale creeping up, I just cut back until I am back down to around 130." I totally understand this idea. It makes complete sense. But for some reason, I have not been able to implement it. I don't think I'll ever be down around the 130 area, because I'm just more comfortable a little heavier. I was in that range when I was in college. I had the unitard with the little "underwear" that you wore over it. It was hard core. Of course this was when "Home Sweet Home" was number one on the MTV countdown forever, needless to say that was YEARS ago.

Can I just say that if you have a few pounds to lose, take care of it NOW? It was so easy to lose weight when I was young. Your metabolism is your friend. Now, at age 40, it's quite a bit more difficult to shed the pounds.

I am on board with a newish eating plan including the awesome QUINOA, and more veggies. I am training for 5Ks since that season is coming up. I know that if I keep this up, I'll lose some weight, but I'm really good at starting these things, not so good at keeping them up. I'm keeping a journal of things that are good about this way of eating to help me realize how important it is to have good nutrition.

SIDEBAR: Last night I had a tasty bowl of quinoa (cooked in beef broth), black beans (rinsed and heated in beef broth), and two fresh small tomatoes diced up and thrown in. It was SO good. I just added a little cayenne pepper (don't really care for black pepper), onion powder, and salt. The tomatoes really brightened it up.

Well, to keep with the plan, I must go to the gym. I'm enjoying my last week of freedom until school is in. Grrrr.

(Edit at 11:20 a.m. -- I am losing my mind. I have told this stupid post every way that I know how that I'd like it all to appear in the Georgia font. Some paragraphs have acquiesced, others not so much. Sorry for the font change right in the middle. Boo!)

Training

Okay, I am officially in training. I am going to do another 5K. My friend Snoopy has gotten me into this mess, and I won't forgive her for it! Actually, I'm really glad she got me started on this. I feel better than I ever have, well, since I was bouncing around doing aerobics in college. That was 1988.

Anyway, I am having a really good time getting this together. I am planning on continuing this when I go back to school next week. Since it's over 100 (degrees Fahrenheit) here, it's difficult to train outside. I do have to get several of those workouts in because the 5K is in about two weeks.

One More Farm Parade Item & Drum Roll. . . Pittsburgh's Children's Museum

This truck was rolling on through the parade. I laughed when I saw the small sign below the tank.














Field of Dreams is one of my favorite movies. I like the license taken with the catch phrase from this movie.














After a bit of terror in downtown Pittsburgh and Snoopy lamenting that we weren't going to PFC Park, we were beckoned by fish on a stick. There were three to be exact, but here's one.












This is the Children's Museum. The back side is what must be a re-purposed Allegheny Post Office, or so says the historic places marker.

I really liked this detail on the former post office.

Okay, I have to tell you that I love Mister Rogers. It's almost to the point of obsession. I just know that he always liked me just the way I was and that was cool. Another cool thing was that he was the first person to introduce me to jazz, which I LOVE. My parents never played jazz in my house, so I don't know if I would've been so appreciative of it otherwise.

Mister Rogers memorabilia is located in a special part of the Children's Museum.

Here are his sneaks! I loved watching him take off his street shoes and put these on.

Made by his mom, Mrs. McFeeley, here is one of his zip-up sweaters!

I saw many a film on the illustrious (literally) Picture, Picture!

Oh yeah, it's the trolley.
As the placard says, here's the very gentle Daniel Striped Tiger. He was SO sweet. Notice he's wearing his watch!!!!

King Friday and Queen Sarah Saturday were there too!

Henrietta Pussycat has definitely seen better days, meow meow.

I'm still totally wigged out by Lady Elaine. Toot, toot!

My all-time favorite is X the Owl. He is SO kickin'.

Look at that expression on his face. Nobody rocks it like X! I think he's responsible for my elementary-school obsession with Ben Franklin.

The actual swing from his porch
The traffic light
The aquarium

Okay, I've totally indulged myself on this post, but the Children's Museum is WAY cool. More on that another time!

Exasperation . . . and then it was gone

I am so exasperated, or I was. Some changes have been made at my school, which do not affect my job directly, but do affect me personally. To be wise, I shan't mention the particulars except to question. . . Why do people use businesses and public entities for personal get-backs that run counter to the good of the business or entity? Why is this allowed? The public has no idea what kind of foolishness goes on behind the scenes in entities they have concerns with. Although, sometimes they do know and don't care.

Good is often rewarded with evil, but that doesn't mean that one should stop doing good. I will go on, with a smile on my face, thankful for all that I have and all the wonderful people I am allowed to work with. I am even thankful for the not-so-wonderful people I work with because I have faith that things will work out for good. The funny thing is, the "hurt" person will be fine. It's other innocents that will be adversely affected. But personal issues and vengeance is obviously more important than the innocents?!?

It is nice to at least know where evil people are. . .

All this fell into perspective after I flagellated about it all day yesterday. I got up and turned on the radio to ESPN Radio (Is there any other radio?!?). Of course, "Mike and Mike in the Morning" is usually the first thing I hear. Today is the V Foundation Auction Day. Jimmy V is Jim Valvano, who was the basketball coach of NC State from 1980-1990, among other things. He took his 1983 team to the NCAA National Championship. He died of cancer in 1993.

Two months prior to his death, he gave a speech when he received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPYs. The speech is INCREDIBLE. You should bookmark it. It will help you re-focus on occasions when you are misdirected and spinning out of control. He truly puts it all in perspective. Please watch and contribute to the Jimmy V Foundation, if you are so inclined.

Please check out Jimmy V.'s speech.

More Trip to Pa

These people were totally for real. I don't know if it's visible, but some of these tractors obviously are in parades routinely. You can tell by the little plaques on them that tell what year and model they are.

Lady tractor-driver is pretty cool. I like the tractor.

I liked the flower arrangement in the front of this tractor. Festive, no?

Front view. . .

Side view. . .

Nice RED wheels. Contrast was GREAT!

I guess I'm just over the whole John Deere thing, because I really am digging the orange and red ones.

This girl was riding the tractor with Paw-Paw.

Farmall, I didn't even know that there were tractors by that name.

For my friend Fiona, whose brother is named after this tractor!

Even Uncle Sam drives a tractor.

Check the look on the dog's face. It's as if the mother-ship has contacted him/her. "Hey Marge, I'm taking Rico to the parade. He's gonna ride shot-gun with me! Be sure to take the camera to the parade!" I'm totally glad I had mine there!

The funny thing is that this wasn't even a drop in the bucket. There were probably over 100 tractors and pieces of farm equipment in the parade. It was really pretty cool. . . for the first hour and a half! After the first 90 minutes, I was D-O-N-E!

Pics from the Farm/Agricultural Parade

This was my ox-roast sandwich dinner. It's actually not ox, but I think it is roasted. It is beef that is kind of chipped up. There was some kind of seasoning that was kinda/sorta like sloppy joe, but no goopy sauce. The fries were quite tasty. I even made an exception to my no artificial-sweetener policy to try the tasty Ritchey's Diet Iced Tea. That was a HUGE bun! So delicious, I ate it all. Later, I wished I'd left some on the plate!




When I looked down the road, this was my view. Evidently, the farm parade is a pretty big deal.




I don't recall what this squirrel was supposed to represent, but getting a thumbs-up from a squirrel is pretty cool!



I didn't catch the names of these fellows, but I tip my hat to them. The jeep was restored and the gentlemen looked resplendent.

Never before seen by me, these were milk maids and dairy princesses handing out milk! I have witnessed the throwing of candy, but never the dispensing of milk.

The Ritchey's Dairy is very big in this area. We went to the ice cream store during the week, and I have to say they know what they're doing.

I Might as Well Face It, I'm Addicted to Quinoa

With apologies to Robert Palmer, I am addicted to quinoa. It is DELICIOUS. I've eaten it almost every day since my return from Pennsylvania. I feel GREAT!

My favorite way to prepare:

1/4 cup of quinoa

1 "dab" of butter/Smart Balance buttery spread, etc.

1/2 cup of chicken stock

splash of half-and-half

2 "grabs" of extra-sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)

Melt butter (at a medium heat) in a small sauce pan (a really small one). Add quinoa and cook for about two to three minutes. (If it burns a little, it won't hurt. I did this the other day and it just gave a sweeter, nuttier flavor.) Next, add the chicken stock and let it come to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low. I cook the quinoa for ten minutes then check to see if all liquid is absorbed. If not, I cook a few more minutes. Then remove it from heat, add the half-and-half and cheese and stir.

It's really enough for two or, if you're hungry, it's for one.

I also cooked 1/2 cup in chicken stock, let it cool and added cherry tomatoes, celery, and green onions, chopped really small. Then, I added a balsamic vinaigrette (just a mix of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and brown mustard, whisked together). It was good right away, but wow, after marinating all night, CRAZY DELICIOUS!

Yum. It's almost lunchtime and that means some more salad!

Trip to Pennsylvania -- Part I

Well, I am considering myself officially recuperated from my trip to Pennsylvania. Three days was what it took. It's nice to be back home. But, I would like to thank Snoopy for inviting me and driving me the WHOLE way there and back.

This was my lovely lunch from the trek we started last Monday. It was consumed in the Lake Norman, North Carolina area. The bun wasn't too toasty, but the sandwich was pretty good.

Later in the day, we stopped at a place called Fancy Gap (I think it was in North Carolina.) for gas. It was here that I got Fiona some things for her history class. Actually, I got her two shot glasses. One has generals of the Civil War and the other has all battles that took place in Virginia.

It was a lovely trip. We made really good time through Georgia, South and North Carolinas, and Virginia. I didn't think we'd ever make it through Virginia. I just checked the map. I thought we went through from east to west, with my lacking sense of direction. It was south to north. It seemed infinite.

It started raining/misting in West Virginia, through the tip of Maryland and into Pennsylvania. By the time we stopped in Pennsylvania, it had cleared up.

Once in Pennsylvania, we dined at the ever-delicious Bob Evans. I enjoyed a tasty dinner of breakfast. I had the healthy egg omelette with spinach, 1/2 as much cheese, and onions. I indulged in the home-fries. They were pretty tasty. I didn't get the before picture, since I was REALLY hungry.

We then arrived at her dad and step-mom's house in the hills of Pennsylvania. The area was near Altoona. Think Al-T(heavy on the T)oona. It was one of the most lovely areas I've ever visited.

Well, I was quite tired when we got there, but we went to WalMart to pick up a few things. I forgot shampoo?!? Snoopy's step-mom works there. She wanted something to do in her spare time. She started out as the quintessential greeter, but they moved her to cashier. You can't hide talent, you know! She's a wonderful lady and was very welcoming to a stranger from down south!

This was my lovely accommodation after watching the end of the Pirates game and a little David Letterman. The mattress was FANTASTIC. I probably should be scouting out a new one soon, but that's lower on my priority list.

When I awoke on Tuesday, this was the lovely site I saw while I ate breakfast. Their garden with water-feature. Everything up there was so lush and green. They are, as you can see, BIG TIME gardeners. Their yard is completely immaculate.



I am so NOT an outside person. I just happen to have a yard outside my home and someone else mows it. I haven't even wanted to take care of the yard and start some gardening, but this has made me at least THINK about it.




















This is the view out the front of the house. The hills are so lovely.

Tuesday was the AWESOME agricultural parade. I can't wait to post some of the sights from that!

Later!

Quick Post

Hey! I'm in the Land of the Yankee, Pennsylvania. It's BEAUTIFUL up here. Hills galore!

Pictures will be posted when I get back!