Singles Ad - pre Internet dating

Everyone likes to read about a singles ad story that actually worked and that is how Alan and I met. During the winter of 1993, we both placed ads in a small publication called “Less than a 10.”

My ad was as follows:
Finally the nerve for this! But how do I start? I’m 34, blue eyes, curly hair, love traveling, Bogart movies, cycling, flowers, camping, flea and antique markets. I’m searching for a man to be happy with, to build a relationship with and to grow old with. Is this what you would like?

Alan’s ad read:
NMWM, 5’11”, 210lbs, smoker, brown hair, brown eyes, average looking, non-religious, short beard, employed, 32 years old. I’m looking for a meaningful relationship with a woman between 30 and 40 years old who loves children. Only sincere replies, please. My hobbies include fishing, camping, movies, watching sports. Also am a cat lover. Photo is unimportant, but phone number is desirable.

And the funny thing is that we answered each others ad with a follow-up letter. And we called each other. Our first date was in a Mexican resturant which I decided on. I wasn't going to marry someone who only wanted American food for the rest of eternity - I love ethnic foods - India, Arabic, Thai, Mexican, German, the whole lot. We met in the resturant at 7:00 and they asked us to leave about midnight - after they vaccuumed around us and dishes were done. And Alan (who started out in my life as bachelor #4) ended up as man #1 which is the important part, nicht wahr?

We were married on the first Sunday in May in 1995 - I want to keep our anniversary as the first Sunday in May because then you will never work on your anniversary (which is a very good thing)

The story of Buzzards

Ah, the story about the buzzards. We certainly have been around the block several times, haven't we girls (or should that be ladies)? Many of us started on an internet group at BeadTalk - which I occasionally still post at. Then many of us moved on to a Yahoo group called "For Beadin_Desires." I believe that it had to do with jokes that weren't related to why we were supposed to post at BeadTalk. That always confused me that jokes weren't bead related, but prayer requests were. But, I digress.

Due to circumstances beyond our control and angry emails back and forth, we formed another group of Bitchen Biker Turkey Buzzard Beadin Babes. And many of the core group remain to this day. We have some great nicknames which are not dubbings (this is important for some reason. These are bequeaths of royalty. And some need some work. Very different, very regal, very confusing.

Crystal - Countess Crystal, Gazing Crystal Seer of the ForBeadin realm

Audrey - Lady Audrey, Nahani Warrior Woman Crone of the Wolf Pack in the Snow belt of the ForBeadin realm

Liz - Baronessa Alces Alces, Wild Realm of the North Urban Population area of the ForBeadin realm

Aim - Goddess of the Starseekers of the ForBeadin realm

Nikia - Queen of the Cosmos (a small parsonage near the Southwest border of the realm) of the ForBeadin realm

Annie - Duchess of the Western Realm and Goddess of Family and Peace of the ForBeadin realm

Sharon - Warrior of Wire and Youthful Crone of Copper of the ForBeadin realm

Kat - Baronessa Midnight Kat of the ForBeadin realm

Sharon - Multi-named/personality(?) Bar Belly Dancin' Ileea Karima from a duchy north of the border of the ForBeadin Realm

The one for Miki, which is sad because Miki passed away the spring of 2005 Miki - Her MOST Royal Highness, Queen of the World, and Empress of the Beads who doesn't do company cleaning any longer of the ForBeadin realm

These women/girls/ladies are all considered my friends, even though I haven't met all of them. I believe it's like the connection with Kevin Bacon - we have all met someone who knows someone who has met the others. Annie, Bev, Debb and Gene, Kerry, Ava, Kat, Sharon (both of you), Barb, Annette, Audrey, Crystal, Nikia - we are the Turkey Buzzard Beading babes - and I love each of you!!

It's my birthday!

And getting old sucks. Although the alternative really sucks, too.

Diagnosed with high blood pressure, meniscal tear and cyst on the right knee, and peridontal disease - I learned that I have all of them this week. Fortunately, they all should respond to treatment.

So I will just do what I need to do, take care of this body, because it's the only body that I have. And I will dream of my cruise which leaves in 1 1/2 weeks.

Below is a preview of my next piece of bead embroidery. I received this picture from my friend, Bev. Something about it just spoke to me. I enlarged the picture on the copier machine to about 167% (or so), copied it to my piece of pellon for embroidery. I simplified some of the lines as on this piece, there would be lines of just one colour and lots of black on it. It's been drawn, and it just waiting for "Phases of the Moose" to be completed. Perhaps I'll have a chance on my cruise to start this..... It's a very Incan/Mayan design, but I can see an Oriental/Asian twist on this.

Update.....

March 17th - good day to update my progress on this piece - I am almost 50% completed with it. I have been trying different ideas with regards to circles - small and large. It's been coming out nicely and I am pretty pleased with it. I have a bead show on Sunday in Southfield and I will be working on the piece there - something to do when I sit at the membership table, maybe catch the eye of some prospective beaders. I just have to remember to take my battery operated light so that I can see what I am doing. I am working the same shift as my friend Linda, so I don't know how much beading we will actually complete! I'll add a picture so I have an in-process picture of it.

Also - check out the new earrings and pendant (which sold off my neck last weekend)!

Am I insane or what? Don't answer that.....

Am I insane or what?? I loved the first bead embroidery piece that I completed so much, I started another one!!! This one I have named "Phases of the Moose" and it's about 7 inches by 8 inches. I have beaded all the lines again with size 11 black opaque seed beads, and the moose are lines in size 15 black matte beads.

Oh - and the diet is stalled. I haven't made any progress since Christmas. My motivated has been lost - and I have an injury to my right leg. It's either a pinched nerve in my lower back or a blood clot. Seriously, I have a doctor appointment next week to figure out what is going on. I still need to get the PAP done (assume the position) but the Mammogram has been completed. On the good side, I don't have breast cancer.

Colours

And completed in 20 days. I just need to get this matted and framed. I'm happy with this piece and looking forward to the next one that I do!

The colours came out differently than I originally thought about. I was going to do the moose in browns, and he ended up in blues and greens, with an orange antler. That was fun. I also did mostly circles, which certainly gives the piece an interesting flow in the design. It has a Barb Davis head on it, an eye bead, a wooden bead from a Buddhist prayer bracelet, and a pearl that I have had so long I forget where it came from. I think that I found it on the floor at a bead show. Being vertically challenged, I usually find nice things on the floor at shows - I'm closer to the floor than many.

I had colours that blended from one colour to another colour, usually in the same family of tones. I used everything from 22's (meaning beads that are 22 beads to the inch) to 11's and some hexes.

This was an enjoyable project.

I've learned something new

I really enjoy bead embroidery. It might be my newest addiction. I traced around a moose that I had on some really thick Pellon and added the other shapes and lines. Those shapes and lines have been beaded with size 11 black seed beads. The moose will be completed in size 15 brown or black seed beads. The embroidery will be completely mostly in circular patterns, emphasizing the shapes that I have drawn.

I will be adding other items on the piece through it's completion, such as special beads that I have purchased through the years, perhaps some moose beads that I haven't use or one of the wooden beads that I bought while I was in Korea in 1999.

This is the first piece that I completed about 2 weeks ago. I really like the circular pattern that evolved around the Barb Davis heads. This piece is just one piece that will be placed in a "Bead Quilt" to be auctioned off to raise money for a breast cancer charity.

I'm pleased with the way that my piece turned out - with the yellow on the left representing the sun. The blue in the top stripe is the sky, followed by brown mountains, purple flowers, green grass, blue water and dark earth. I don't even know if I was consciously making these deicisons with the color choices as I was beading, or just picking up the colors that pleased me.

I'll update with pictures of the top piece when I complete it.

I've also recently inherited a great storage system for all those little bead boxes. Old wooden slide (like from a slide projector) boxes that the hospital was going to get rid of. I was gifted with 14 of these treasures!!! I can't wait to start filling them!

The saga just keeps continuing.

My mother-in-law, Sheila, has been in the hospital since very early on Thursday morning, Alan and I weren't going to cry "Wolf" until we knew what was going on - which we still don't know exactly. What we do know is:

Sam (father-in-law) called 911 late Wednesday night because Sheila fell in the bathroom and he couldn't get her up.

Her blood pressure was so low that the EMS drivers took her to the nearest hospital (Huron Valley), who transferred her to Henry Ford Downtown because of her medical records there and insurance.

Sam called me to find Alan because he wanted to go with her. Al had just left work, and he didn't hear his cell phone, so I called Paul to go over and check out what Sam needed. Sam, obviously, just got in the ambulance and went with her, but didn't tell us this.

She was admitted very early Thursday to a medicine floor, fortunately with physician that I know.

Sheila had a chest x-ray, Cat Scan and an MRI yesterday. They are looking for fractures of bones, and a mass that might indicate that she has had a stroke or series of strokes - THEY DON'T KNOW IF SHE HAS! They are just looking. This is on top of the kidney stones that we found out about that were blocking her kidneys last week. The stents have been placed, and hopefully she'll respond to the lithrotripsy (sound waves to break up the stones).

Yesterday, when I went to see her in her room, she was crying about how she couldn't get ahold of her husband - she was so worked up that she didn't know who I was for about 10 minutes. She was just crying and crying because she didn't know where her husband was. I later found out the reason she couldn't find Sam was because she was calling my house! I got her calmed down, she spoke with Sam. 15 minutes later, she forgot she just spoke with him, and she wanted to talk to him..

Last night, she called the house in hysterics because the hospital lost her clothes (she didn't have any, she was in her nightgown with no shoes when she went to the hospital) and she was going to go home. She said that she was in a hallway, she was in a chair, she was walking around, when the whole time, she was in the bed. It took Alan about 20 minutes on the telephone to get her calmed down. We talked to the nurse who explained that they moved her bed from one room to another because they had a man coming in, and two women (Sheila and another) needed to be put in the same room.

The resident in charge has my home number, my cell number, Al's cell number as do the nurses, and even the medical student.

Bottom line: We are working with the social worker on the floor who gave us a list of nursing home that will take the current insurance and will work with us getting her permanent placement in a home. Sam can't (or won't or doesn't know how to) take care of her.

So, how is your week going?

Edit Feburary 6- No cancer, no metastatisis, only minor changes due to aging on MRI, no changes in xray, no sign of stroke. No underlying changes. That's all good. Orthostatic changes due to dehydration. Will perform steroid test to check the adrenal gland, check for autonomic dysfunction.

It's been a year......

It's been a year since I joined Weight Watchers and I have lost 44 pounds. The difference is really evident in the current picture here. I feel great compared to last year. I have lost a whole chin, and three sizes in my jeans. I can run (well, I can run a little), I certainly can walk three-four miles without thinking that I might die. My knees don't hurt (I was taking 1-2 Motrin 800's a day for my knees) except when the incline is too high on the treadmill.

I like dressing in fashionable clothes. I like people noticing that I am looking better, younger and more fashionable than I did last year. I'm wearing heels, and vee-necks, and turtlenecks have disappeared from my wardrobe. My husband loves the colors that I have started to wear. I actually have fit into clothes from my pre-husband days.

I have sold lots of my "fat" clothes on Ebay and I have used some of that money to finance a cruise to Mexico with my beading buddy, Sharon. I have given bags and bags of clothes to a weight loss buddy in Michigan. I have donated things to American Council of the Blind that needed to be moved from my closet to ANYWHERE else.

I want to loose another 50-60 pounds. If I do it in 2006, that would be awesome. If I loose another 44 pounds this year, that's just as good. But I know that I can do it.

Somewhere in this body is a skinny woman waiting to burst free!

List of Five Simple Things

5 things I plan to do before I die:

1. Obtain my goal weight

2. Maintain my goal weight

3. Visit all 50 states

4. Live as well as I can

5. Be financially secure

5 things I can do:

1. Curl my tongue.

2. Run 2 minutes at 5 MPH

3. Realize weight loss

4. Tell the truth

5. ohhhhhhhhh, embellish the truth

(just because I can tell the truth, doesn't mean that I can't embellish it)

5 things I cannot do:

1. Naps

2. Math - I am a math atheist

3. Full marathon (who wants to?)

4. Murder

5. Wear spiky high heels

5 Things that attract me to other people:

1. Honesty

2. Kindness

3. Intelligence

4. Playfulness

5. Honesty

5 things I say most often:

1. Whatever (boy, does this piss the husband off)

2. Nicht wahr (basically, it's whatever in German)

3. Nein!

4. Shit!

5. Fuck!

5 people I want to do this next:

1. Brett

2. Paul

3. Bbarb

4. Joan

5. Kris

Little Miss Isabel

Isabel Thompson is almost 6 years old and boy, does she have a personality. She is my niece, daughter of Sandy Fonseca and Paul Thompson. For a young girl, she is very opinionated and strong willed, which is okay - at least we know that she will be able to hold her own if necessary.
When Isabel comes to my house, I still haven't figured out if she is more excited to see me or my dogs. Molly and Isabel love to roll around on the floor and see if Molly can find a way to kiss Isabel. I do believe that Molly usually wins this battle, and Isabel then has to wash her face. I think that the dogs are winning. Just last week, I took this picture of Molly and Isabel sleeping. Hmmmm, Isabel not talking and Molly not licking. Something is really wrong.

Isabel recently moved to California to live with her mom, and will be missed in the metro Detroit area. However, winters in Long Beach versus winters in Michigan? Easy decision!

Take care Isabel! Uncle Alan, Aunt Betsy (or Auntie Liz) and the girly girls will miss you!

How I keep my sanity..

Although it could be a matter of opinion if it really helps me keep my sanity - or if it is the reason that I am insane. I do beadwork. It is a relaxing hobby (well, to a degree) and it keeps me home.

The Santa Claus pattern is from a designer (note to self - credit this artist when you get a chance - Kris Raines???) who does some beautiful work. I have completed this necklace with a 4-strand braid in some beautiful Christmas colors. Yes, it's for sale to the first person to give me $250 for it. It measures about 2 inches wide, by about 4 inches tall and it is a pouch.

The Asian dragon is taken from a photograph that I took while I was in Korea. It's a temple dragon - and I have named this piece Soraksan - which was the name of a national park that I visited while I was in Korea.

I manage to complete a couple of large pieces every year and lots of smaller pieces. While I would like to sell on a larger scale than I do, with working full time, it's going to be really, really hard.

Since I have picked up the beads, I haven't gone back to any of the hobbies that interested me before. It's amazing how these little pieces of glass are so addictive!

Mr. and Mrs. Cool and Casual!

So here is a picture from the fateful wedding. Alan looking like Mr. Cool and Casual - and me. Looking like a red-head and frilly. This is even way outside my normal comfort zone, but it was for a wedding and my sister didn't want me to wear black. So I humored her.

The wedding was very nice - there were a lot of family members there and it was nice to get a chance to talk with them for more than just a minute or two. My cousin, Amy and her husband Andy are so nice to talk with - even though it's been YEARS since we have talked, it was very easy to do. Cousin David still reminds me of John Denver - always have thought that. Al and I stayed in Dad and Pat's RV - they are heading out west for 8 months or so. I just hope that when I am their age that Al and I are able to travel - physically and financially!



But here is a picture that really shows the difference that at least 40 pounds makes on a person. I might have weighed more last summer - I don't know because I refused to get on a scale. But this really shows that I have taken Weight Watchers by the hand and I am watching the food that gets into my mouth.

Well, with the except my sister's wedding cake!

Memory of Jim

Jim - about 3 weeks prior to his death

It was one year ago yesterday that my brother Jim passed away from complications brought on from his liver transplant 14 years earlier. True, he wasn't a compliant patient, so I am not saying that University of Michigan didn't do a good job - they certainly did when Jim was being compliant. I do have some anger in my system towards Jim - who knew that something was wrong. He knew 6-8 months before his death that something wasn't "right". I have anger with Jim's primary physician, his internist, who should not have been refilling the prescriptions for the anti-rejection medications. That alone might have given Jim several more years.

Jim received his liver transplant at the University of Michigan Medical Center in September 1990. His recovery was lengthy, including a stay in the hospital from September through January 1991. Once recovered, Jim went back to school to learn a new trade, in electronics repair, a field that he worked in up to April 2004.

Memories of Jim:

Flaring his nostrils at the dinner table - timing this maneouver to coincide with my younger sister drinking milk. This technique usually resulted in my sister choking on her milk or laughing it up her nose.

Canoeing at Proud Lake Rec Area - actually, I just sat in the canoe because I was horrible at paddling and he said it was just easier for him to do.

Camping with Jim multiple years in Mio, MI - Jim really enjoyed going on this tubing weekend. He had a chance to meet and talk to many people - people that I don't even know if Jim realized that they were his friends....

Saturday afternoons - Living across the street with Jim, I had the pleasure (?) of Jim, with his trusty companion, Cinnamon, walking over to just sit and relax, chat with Alan and I. If it was summer, we were outside. Winter? Inside. Jim didn't care - he was just there with us.

I remember that Jim once told me that I was a gold-digger expecting men to buy me drinks at a bar. I asked him to clarify this. He then told me that if a man offered to buy me a drink, I should say no thanks. If the man offered a second time to buy me a drink after I said no, then he was a fool and I could accept without being a gold-digger. The same thing was true with a man buying dinner. Come to think of it - I wonder how Jim knew all this. He didn't date.......

All that said, I'll just end with one of the last things:

In a conversation near the end, with Patty (oops, Patricia), Jim and I - Patty said that she described Jim as "still waters run deep" - he thought quietly in his typical Jim fashion - and said "Patty, still waters don't run."

Two days later he was gone. His last meal was his favorite chocolate - Hershey's Kisses and his dog was under his bed.

Rest in Peace Jim - January 24, 1958 - August 2, 2004

Life does have it's twists and turns.....

...and vacations are cut short by things that are unexpected. Back from vacation as there was a death in the family of my friend. She needed to come home to be with her brother and family. So here I am, back in the city.

Life is not always what we want it to be, but we do what needs to be done.

Week 24 of Weight Watchers - down 36.8 pounds. Very happy. A little frustrated that the weight loss has slowed down, but I am watching what I eat, measuring amounts and servings again (just like in the beginning of the year). I have 7.9 for my mini-major goal and I hope to hit that by Labour Day weekend.

Countdown to vacation....

...We leave on July 15th, in the morning for along weekend of camping in mid-Michigan, a relaxing day of floating down the AuSable River in Mio, Michigan. We have a 4 hour (or so depending on the swiftness of the river) relaxing raft floatilla down the river, complete with adult beverages and Jello Shots. Life can't get much better than this.

On Sunday, we will move from our friends property and to a campground - actually, more of an RV park in Sterling, MI - Outdoor Adventures I'll be camping there for a week for free. Free is a good thing. Actually, Alan and I had to listen to their sales pitch for almost 2.5 hours over Easter Weekend to qualify for these 21 nights of free camping. But my travel friend Joan and I will be able to just sit and relax, do some floating on the river, bicycle riding and just a little bit of nothing. I just couldn't resist a vacation where it's just the gas and the food that we will have to pay for! And let's hope that the weather is better than we had below......

buzzard gathering

So, do you think that this cop is at all intimidated by my gesturing? I personally believe that he looks pretty scared by this Detroit woman! He just stood there and was afraid to move while I gave him my opinion of what I thought!

I was just in Milwaukee over the last weekend for the Bead and Button magazine bead show. It's my fifth year going and it's just a weekend of shopping, beads and fun. This year our group consisted of myself, Sharon from Akron, Ohio, Audrey from Sharon, Wisconsin, Anne and Kat from the Des Moines area.

We all arrived at different times on Thursday (or very early on Friday morning) to the Courtyard in Downtown Milwaukee. The beaders were out in masses and it was a very busy weekend. One of my best purchases is from "Buy the Kit". I have a great kit from Nikia Angel - a herringbone lariat that is wonderful!! I also splurged on a kit from Cynthia Rutledge. Both these women put together some great kits and have wonderful ideas. It's hard to come up with that original idea for a pattern or a kit. One of these days, I'll have my thinking cap on and have a great idea.

Another item that I have bought was from The Craft Kit Company in the United Kingdom. This is the best storage system that I have found for my beads. It's a little pricey for my wallet, but I don't splurge like this very often. I have several of them now - Liz's case, Jane's case, and Polly's case. They are perfect for camping because everything is so contained and portable. Part of the fun is putting everything in the system - neat and tidy!

This was a really good year because we had time to enjoy the hot tub, pool and even see a little bit of the city!

This picture confuses me. How on earth would you "disturb" petrified wood? Shake it and wake it up?? Yell and scream and call it names ("You are just laying there like a bump on a log!")? I still don't know exactly what this means. But it's a great sign - one of those that don't make sense. Like "Warning, Men at work" - you never see a sign saying "Warning, Women at work" - those signs would take over the planet.

Week #22 at weight watchers: I lost 4.2 pounds and have a 5 month total loss of 36.6 pounds. That's about 1/3 of the way to my goal. This was my second largest drop for the year. It's weeks like this that make it all worthwhile. That and the fact that almost nothing in my wardrobe fits - I've bagged up 4 bags of clothes to give to another person who is getting into the sizes that I have just left. It's been a slow journey in some respects, but a fast one when I just sit and think about it. I've been on a "diet" - I hate that word - since January and I haven't had to eat cottage cheese. And I like cottage cheese. It really shows that if you work the WW program, it works. And it works well.

It's a beautiful day.....

.....in Downtown Detroit. Gotta love it. Sun is shining, it looks like a wonderful day out there. Of course, I am in the W**k place. Shhhhh, that's our secret. But the w**k is getting done, so that boss can't whine and life is sweet.

Weigh in today was down 2 pounds for a total loss of 32.8 pounds. 32.8 pounds in 20 weeks. How awesome is that? My pants are all too big. My summer clothes need a serious date with the tailor (i.e. Me) to take in some waistbands. I'll be damned if I am going to buy lots of clothes for this year and then buy clothes again for next year. It's very nice, when an item that I purchased over the winter, that I couldn't fit at that time, is getting very loose on me now! That is almost enough to make me cry (but I am not at that point in life where I cry over everything - that comes later....).

Another week - another loss

I guess that I am a loser (I know, those of you that have known me a long time, know that this is something that I don't need to write - you know that I am a loser)!! But I am down another 1.8 pounds for a total of 30 pounds since mid-January. I am very happy with that. I have 14.6 pounds to go for my next BIG goal - and I hope to make that by the middle of July. I was going to say the end of June, but part of being on Weight Watchers is keeping realistic goals for yourself. And that two weeks can make a big difference.

I have recommitted to writing down everything that I eat - tracking the food seems to be a huge help. I have also been journaling - really - with pencil and paper - just like in the olden days (and before my ex-husband read my diary. Which explains why he is an ex-husband).

It's Liz on the Rocks!! It's the newest non-caloric drink!! And it's not a size, it's not a goal - it is all about attitude. And "letmetellyouthankyouverymuch", I have an attitude!! Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Although, if your hair matches the rocks, it's a good time to get your hair colored! This picture was taken in Red Rock Canyon in Nevada - after climbing on several rocks to get this stunning picture taken (it's got to be stunning.....okay - I feel stunning in this picture.). I had climbed on this rock when I was in Vegas shortly after my brother passed away and I had difficulty doing it. In April, I just climbed up and did it!

I love the Grand Canyon - it's just so..........grand!!! Words just can't do it justice!! We had a great day - the sun was out more than in, and the temperatures were perfect! We saw a condor (below) soaring over the canyon - it was beautiful!!