Odds and Ends

A couple of you asked for pix of my new finery.  I tried, but failed to get pix I liked. Google came to my rescue, sort of, and I found a picture of my new dress (forever after known as 10P) in a different color.  10P is the exactly the same style, but the material is in a different pattern, a mixture of dark blue/green, a little aqua, and a splash of leaf green with black.  I love the color.

I once saw the tooth fairy in the act of exchanging a quarter for the tooth under my pillow.  Yes, it was a long time ago.  Inflation has taken over.  Back to the tooth fairy.  She was beautiful.  She smelled of Arpege.  Her hair was "fancy" and she was dressed in the most beautiful dark green dress (very similar to the material of 10P) that had tiny little cloth buttons.  Many years later, while clearing out my mother's dresser after she died, I came across her button jar.  I spread out the buttons and immediately noticed a tiny, cloth-covered green button.  My mother was born in 1920 and was very thrifty.  She saved things like buttons, long after the dresses were gone.  I had totally forgotten having seen the tooth fairy until I saw that button.  She and Daddy must have gone out to a party that night and made the exchange afterward.  True story.

I got motivated (by one of you, I can't remember whom) to clean out my closet--specifically my underwear shelf.  It took me about 45 minutes.  You'd think I hadn't gotten rid of anything on that shelf for year and years.  But I could certainly tell that I'd made several expeditions to Walmart to buy a yet-again larger size.  I had 4 different sizes, and I got rid of the three largest.  I wouldn't buy used underwear, so I'm not going to put it in my thrift store box.  On the bra side, I tried them all on and was able to get rid of eight or nine of them.  One downside of being "large" is that I was never comfortable getting "fitted" for a bra.  Often, I bought them without trying them on.  Not a good or smart way to buy.  Anyway, those are gone, too (I did put the new condition ones, some with tags still attached, in the thrift box) and my shelf is nicely uncrowded and much easier to navigate.

I haven't taken a break from exercise for about three weeks.  I think I'm going to skip my gym workout tonight. I may go on a walk with DH later because it's so pretty out, but nothing strenuous. Tomorrow I'm going to take a nice long bike ride. I haven't quite decided what route I'll take, but it's sure to be less crowded tomorrow than on the weekend. I don't fancy dodging preschoolers zigzagging back and forth on the bike trail while their parents chat on cell phones 20 feet away!

How's your weekend shaping up?

Summer Diet Buddies Summary, WI

The Summer Diet Buddies Challenge ended this week.  I had set a goal of losing 12 pounds in the eight weeks of the challenge, from July 4 to Sept 7.  Long story short, I'm happy with my progress.  I didn't lose 12, but I lost 10.2 pounds.  I also trimmed 2 inches from my bust and from my hips and 3 inches from my waist.

Mystery Loves Company Book Shop

I'm still feeling great about all the biking I did last weekend.  Our weather is turning beautiful (cooler and waaaay less humid) and I plan to get in some more, longer rides on the weekends.  Our last morning on the bike holiday, I decided to get in a run before we had to check out. DH went out for one last (fast) bike ride while I ran for about an hour through the beautiful residential streets of Oxford.  It was lots of fun. I found myself running by a book shop called Mystery Loves Company. Of course, I had to stop and go inside.  What fun!  I love small, independent book stores.  There were no other customers in the shop and the owner and I had a great chat.  She's a former public librarian and we have similar tastes in reading.

I ran again this morning, my usual four mile "last chance" run before my WI.  I'm loving the weather and hope to work on the quality of my runs (less walking, more even pace) during the next month or so. After a quick shower, I stopped by for a brief visit with my Dad, and then went to WW.  Despite the weekend's splurges (Smith Island Cake, Raspberry Sorbet, Key Lime Creme Brule, toast  and butter with breakfast,  and bread with dinner)  I managed to lose one pound at my WI.   Yay!  I'm guessing that the ~7 hours of biking calories spent probably cancelled out the extra calories from my splurges.  Oh, and I got in Kettle Bell workout #3 on Monday, too.  This time the Turkish Get Ups were a tiny bit easier

I had a fun NSV yesterday.  I set out for the Farmer's Market with the grand babies, but they were being great, so I ducked into a shop and noticed some cute dresses.  I decided that I would try them on.  J&E were in a shopping cart and cooperative, so I grabbed my favorite four dresses.  I decided I'd only try on the size 12s, except for one which was a petite, so I grabbed the 14P.  All of them fit, more or less, and I bought two of them. The 14P was my favorite.  It fit okay, but I decided I'd lose 5-7 more pounds before I'd wear it. That's okay.  I like goals like that.  Here's the NSV---When I got home, I noticed that I hadn't gotten the 14P, I'd grabbed the 10P !!!!!

180.8

Bike Holiday, Continued

Church of the Holy Trinity, Oxford, Maryland

Gosh, today is even more beautiful than yesterday, if that's possible.  The high temperature reached the mid 70s.  It's sunny, with a slight breeze, and beautiful wispy clouds in the bright blue sky.  We got up in time to get to early church.  This beautiful little church is a short, 10 minute walk from our accommodations.  The bright sunshine showed off the pretty blue rose window to best advantage.    When we're traveling we usually go the the nearest church that best suits our schedule.  [I think I read that that's what Billy Graham and his wife did when they were traveling and it has worked well and taken us to some wonderful places over the years.]  Anyway, today we hit the jackpot.  Great message, good music, welcoming congregation.

We had another great breakfast.  This time I got fried eggs, easy over, wheat toast and coffee.  I considered getting my usual cereal, but their cereals were all sugared and I haven't had a fried egg in ages, anyway.

We took advantage of the great weather to get in another bike ride.

This route is 38+ miles as mapped, but I didn't want to tempt fate (or annoy my muscles) by pushing it quite so hard, so we cut out the the first segment and all but one of the side trips for a ~26 mile ride.  We started about 12:30 and rode for about 2 1/2 hours.  We only stopped about three times, for water/snack breaks.  There were beautiful water views and, again, very nice wide bike lanes and roads frequently signed to remind drivers that they need to "share the road."  I neglected to bring the charger for my camera batteries, but I took a few pix with my phone.  I've had the phone for a few years, but have never purchased the software necessary to transfer the pix from the phone to my computer.  You may (or may not) see the pix later.

Smith Island Cake

We did not reprise yesterday's visit to the Highland Creamery, although DH just came to find me (in the wi-fi-friendly part of the Inn) and see if I wanted to go.  Undecided.  He's reading the sports section of the paper.  We'll probably just take a walk and skip the ice cream.  Desert is included with our dinner . . . .   In the comments to my last post, Debby mentioned gaining 10 pounds once while at a vacation spot with menus such as they have here.  I'm hoping not.  I brought the scale along [you KNOW I always travel with my scale, daily weigher that I am] and seem to be doing okay.  I'm trying to order wisely, enjoy what they have, and follow Sarah's plan of "renoncement"--tasting, but not eating every single bite of everything on my plate.  DH was willing to make the sacrifice and finish half of my Smith Island cake last night. LOL

Karen, you asked where this place is. Click on the Bike Map link in yesterday's post for some very good maps of the area.  I think you can click on the individual maps to enlarge.  Basically, it's in Talbot County, Maryland, on the eastern shore. This is on the Chesapeake Bay side, not the Atlantic Ocean side.  The inn where we stayed is the Robert Morris Inn in Oxford, Maryland.

We're off to take a walk.

Bike Holiday

The gracious front veranda of the Robert Morris Inn

We're here.  Earl caused gray skies and choppy water yesterday, but today it's sunny and beautiful as you can see from the picture I just took.  We took a short ride to look around around town when we got in--and ended up going about 12.5 miles.  VERY flat--I love it.  So far, I've only found one thing I forgot to pack---my new snazzy shoes that fit into my snazzy bike pedals.  Oh well, at least I chose the pedals that work for regular and snazzy shoes.  It wasn't a problem riding, altho DH lobbied hard to buy me a new pair here. (do you suppose I'm too slow for him?)

After a wonderful dinner  and a good night's sleep we got up bright and early, dressed for our ride, and went to enjoy the breakfast included in the price of our room.  The menu was extensive and it was a bit hard to resist the temptation to overindulge in the bounty on hand (Belgian waffles, blueberry pecan muffins, Scottish oats, scones, granola, eggs, fruit platters,  pancakes,  etc.).  DH,  ever mindful of the economics of the situation, sampled two or three of the offerings, but I got by with scrambled eggs and 7 grain toast.

The local tourist board published  a wonderful  Bicycle Map featuring six great rides.  We chose the Oxford/St. Michaels ride for today which is supposed to be one of the top 25 cycling routes in the country (according to somebody or other's list). It was great.  It was almost completely flat (SCORE!). It was also about twice as long as I've ever biked in one day, let alone one ride.  The day was bright, sunny and fairly windy.  We set off slathered with sunblock and fully equipped--helmets, bike gloves,  biking sun glasses, front and rear lights, snacks (water, almonds and dried apricots), cell phone, cash for the ferry and misc. expenses, bike locks, and written route directions in case my memory failed. (Everything except my snazzy bike shoes.).

The first part of our trip was a 20 minute ferry ride an a tiny ferry said to be the oldest still operating private ferry in the country.  A lot of the riding was on quiet country roads--no bike lanes, but very little traffic.

The parts that were on more major roads all had well signed, wide bike lanes.  I never felt like things were unsafe (and that had been one of my concerns when thinking about this trip).  It was fun crossing all the various waterways.  The wind was great when is was pushing us along, not so much when it was a headwind--the sharp-eyed among you may have noticed the flag on the ferry stretched out to its full size.  I felt great the entire ride, but will admit to being tired and ready to stop by the time we got back to Oxford.  Our last stop was at the Highland Creamery, where I indulged in a raspberry sorbet (AND a large cold water).

It's coming up time for dinner.  We reserved an early time tonight because we're off to a jazz concert in Easton this evening. Hope you all are having a great week end as well. I'll be back to read about what you've been up to on Monday.

Non Caloric Cupcakes!!

A big thank you to Patrick who gave me a sweet award yesterday.  DH spent a little time reading some of my past posts last weekend.  At one point he called to me from the office "Just who is this "Patrick guy, anyway??"  I think we can safely say that having been married for 37 years we're pretty confident in our mutual love, but it was funny.  I had him "meet Patrick" on his blog.  And I'm not telling him Patrick sent me cupcakes yesterday! OR that his post today was titled Fit to KISS. ;)

Okay, the Rules:

List Ten Things I LIKE:

1. Snuggling under the covers with a new book by a favorite author, a CD on the player and a pot of hot tea on the bedside table AND nothing I have to do for at least 3 hours.
2. Singing with DH in our choir's annual performance of Handel's Messiah, complete with orchestra and 30-50 singers from the community.
3. Inviting all my grandkids and various other youngsters to an annual Christmas tea party--real china teacups, angel tea, homemade iced cookies, hand crafted decorations, chocolate dipped apricots, finger sandwiches, party favors, singing and fun.
4. Getting to see my BFF every week at WW and going out to lunch together afterwards.
5. Riding bikes through the neighborhoods with DH after dinner in the summer.
6. Canoeing in a small canoe.  My grandfather had two Panamanian Indian dugout canoes and I canoed every day when we visited there.
7. Playing the piano when I'm alone in the house.  I took for 12 years and play fairly well, but I get nervous playing for other people--I hated recitals with a passion!
8. Playing board games with my grandchildren.
9. Running along the river trail, especially on the boardwalk over the marshy part, and seeing the wildlife and plants.
10. Getting comments on my blog posts!

Ten bloggers with whom I'd like to share this award (It's a very pretty one for your sidebar with non-caloric cupcakes!)

Michele
Jessica
Sarah
Siobhan
Alan
Arlene
Cammy
Tami
Sharon
Vladdie

Hurricane Earl is doing his thing, but we're going to do our best to do OUR thing this weekend.  It should be okay. We've got two long-ish routes mapped out--one route goes through 3 or 4 of the cute Eastern Shore towns with a 25 minute ferry ride, the other is billed as the Shore ride. 30 miles along the ocean on flat, non-busy roads. Our bikes are back from their day at the bike spa and mine is sporting a new computer!!  We're going to pick up some good bike locks on our way to the gym (Lori, I'm thinking of you!) and we'll leave around mid-day tomorrow.  I'm definitely an optimist, but I was also a Girl Scout, so I'm packing some good books, flashlights, umbrellas and extra batteries.  I'm knee deep in laundry today--my standard mode for the day before a trip.

I think we have wi-fi at our Inn (unless Earl disrupts things) so I'll be checking in this weekend.
Be Good!

Wordless Wednesday, WI

Turning Back the Calendar

Today's WI:  -5 Sticks o' Butter     (-1.2 pounds)

181.8

To Market, To Market

but not to buy a fat pig! ;)

I went to the local farmers' market with the children bright and early this morning. Here's what we brought home: Peaches and Tomatoes. My favorites. The peaches are out of this world. They told me that they'll have them through into early November. Last week I bought 9 peaches and they only lasted until Thursday. Let's see how we do with a dozen this week. The basil is from my garden. I wanted to use some in tonight's dinner.  I pick it in the morning and stick it in a glass of water and my kitchen smells wonderful all day. The tall white flowers in the background, just behind the rosemary are chive blossoms.

At the market this morning E was lobbying for a cookie. I set a bad precedent by getting her cookies each of the past two times we went. I tried to talk her out of it by asking her what else she might like instead. Her answer? Mandarin orange sections!  Score! This little cutie is miles ahead of her grandmother in learning to make smart, healthy choices.

Here's the latest Hurricane Earl track. It's worse than yesterday's, having it closer to our destination on Friday. We'll see what happens. We lived in Rhode Island in 1991 when Hurricane Bob came.  It was 19 years ago today. The eye of the storm went right over our house. We were without power for 5 days. The public library where I worked, however was open every single day. Cold showers are not a way of life I would choose, but because we had several hours advance notice, there was no loss of life and it was heartening to see how the community came together. The most memorable sight was looking out our window and seeing a bright blue 8 foot children's plastic pool flying through the air, about 15 feet off the ground, looking for all the world like a well-tossed frisbee.

I wasn't sore at all today from last night's workout.  Yay!  Tonight we'll go to the gym to work out after dinner.  We always go Tuesday and Thursday nights and sometimes add a third strength training session on the weekend.

Today, just to check things out, I counted my calories (using fitday.com). They came to 1300 which is just about right for me.  I also counted my WW points, 24, also good--my allotted 21 plus a few of the 35 weekly extra points I'm supposed to have.  I don't usually count anything, but it's nice to know that my eating is on track. Oh and I bought a neat set of stainless steel measuring spoons at WW the other day.  They measure 1 cup, 1/2 cup, and 1/4 cups. They double as serving spoons and make portion control uber easy. WW sells them at all its locations (you don't have to be a member to buy).  I see that amazon also has them.

What do you do to check on your portion sizes?