Before and After the tree

I will miss our tree, but it was time for it to go. I'll have to dig around and find the picture that was taken when the tree was about 5 feet tall - somewhere about 1980.

Memorial Weekend - camping trip

We drove about 3.5 hours north of the city of Detroit, to a tiny spot in Michigan between AuGres and Tawas City. It's a nice little campground called "Brown's Landing" - very small, nice, clean and quiet! Here I am with a cup of hot coffee on a sunny and quiet morning - just enjoying how to relax when I get away for a few days.

We did run into a couple of celebraties during our long weekend - very exciting for us. It's not often that I meet famous people. Patrice is posing with Dora and Brett is probably arguing about the price of carrots with Bugs.

Bead Cruise 2007

Here is the group in all their glory posing for the ship's photographer. This was very, very nice. We were organized by the photographer or by importance. It's either the taller in the back or the short people in the front. I'm still not certain.

Here is Bev Herman, one of the (in)famous Beadin' Buzzards and I relaxing before dinner or trips or something. Also, a picture of my husband and I as we left the ship in Cozumel. We were a little disappointed that our tour was cancelled, but we had a nice time walking through town, shopping and running into other beaders. We sat down for lunch and when I turned around to look around the patio, there they were! Yummy cocktails at this place! Alan and I bought some Mexican blankets; one is hanging by the front door, and the other I might make into pillows. But I might not either!

We landed the next day at Costa Maya - basically just a tourist town on the beach. Alan, Maggie, Sharon and I had signed up for the Chacchoban Mayan Ruin tour - an hour bus ride through the swamps, jungle and small villages (no shops, no gas stations, nothing!!!) to the ruins. They exceeded all of our expectations. I really enjoyed it. It was hot, it was humid, it was lots of stairs and walking and it was breathtaking. Going on a tour to see the Mayan ruins was the one thing that Alan really wanted to do, and I am glad that we were able to do this.

Beading? Oh, yes, we still beaded on the cruise this year. Lots of beading took place.

Another week - another loss

And I am down another 2.8 pounds for this week. I'll take it. And Tina did take my tracker to review. She is going to point out that I need to eat less carbs/crap and eat more dairy, veggies and fruit. Stuff that I already know that I should be doing it.

But 7.8 pounds in two weeks is really good. I'm happy, and hopefully happy will jump start my motivation.

p.s. Weight Watcher works....

.....I did what I should do, I wrote it down, I behaved. I ate reasonably, I counted points, I measured what I should have.

I lost 5 pounds in one week. After a gain of 3.6 pounds the week prior, this was a good week.

Tina asked me how I did it. My answer: "You asked me last week for my [weekly] tracker, so I was really, really good this week. I wrote everything down - everything. Even the bad stuff."

It worked.

P.S. Tina still wants to see my tracker next week and she's not kidding!

This is why you keep your animal's rabies vaccinations current....

....because you never know when a squirrel is going to chase you and bite you.

Just like Molly learned this afternoon.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it. The squirrel lept off the fence and chased Molly. Before I could get to that area of the yard, Molly was yipping, running from the squirrel and bolting for the back door. I wish, I wish that I would have had a video camera - it would have made money on one of those shows.

(Molly is fine, rabies is up to date until November. Vet said keep the bites clean).

Weight Loss Battle

(p.s. This is Ramon, and not the physician who insulted me. Ramon is a sweetheart from Peru that will be leaving me in late June of this year.)

Yup, still fighting this one. And it's not a battle any longer, it's a war. Unfortunately, 2006 was the year that I gained most of what I lost in 2005. Not quite back to square one, but not too far off. I want to win the battles that will eventually lead me to win the war.

But why? Why do I do this to myself? Why can't I retrain myself to eat more healthy. What am I waiting for? I know that I don't want to have weight loss surgery, I don't want any more of the obesity issues than I already have (i.e., joint pain and high blood pressure). I don't want to have to ask for the seat belt extender on an airplane trip.

And I don't want the humilation that one of the doctors did to me one day while standing in line for food - which I was actually getting something healthy that day - salad, etc. He said to me "Why are you getting food, you don't need it." You could have heard a pin drop - there were only about another 12 people around. I wheeled around, looked at him and put my plate in his hand and walked away. I was so furious that I could have strangled him. I have still yet to forgive him in his highly educated ignorance - and I certainly am never going to forget him (imagine years from now "Oh I remember him - he's the a$$hole who insulted me").

I have eaten really good this week - especially since Tina, my Weight Watcher leader, asked to see my tracker this coming week. I have kept it pretty good - of course I have - the "teacher" asked for it!! Last Thursday, I had a bad evening and had too many snacks, and Sunday I had a few more merengues than I should have had. But basically I did okay. Time will tell on Thursday at noon when I weigh in.

But, I digress. Why haven't I been able to keep up with this? Do I think that little of myself that I don't want to take care of what I have? I know that when I hurt my knee last spring, I gave up with the exercise, but why should that affect what I throw in my mouth? Why can't I keep the momentum moving? What the f**k is my problem?

There are two WW programs - Flex and Core. In my tracker, I am trying to keep track of the foods that are on the Core food plan. They are supposed to be more filling and satisfying than the food that aren't on the plan. For those foods, I can use Flex points. I am just going to try to increase the amount of these foods that I eat, which should make me feel fuller and should help me with my weight loss.

Tina - I am doing this for you. Well, no I'm not. I'm doing it because I need to. Because I want to. Because I want to.

*edited on 5/9/07 because I realized that the whole WWW doesn't need to be bombarded with my foul language.....

Short visit from EnglishmaninNY

We had my husband's cousin from England(via NY) for a short visit this weekend. The main purpose of the visit was to see his Aunt Sheila, who is currently in a nursing home secondary to Alzheimer's/dementia. On Friday, my husband and he didn't have a good visit. Sheila was pretty zoned out and didn't know much of what was going on. On Sunday, we stopped by again and "Bravo" - it was a good visit. Sheila was pretty animated (compared to the visits that we have had since Christmas) and knew my name (for the first time in 4-5 months), and understood that Andy was visiting from New York. Of course, she did ask him where he was from in England, because some portion of her brain registered the accent.

Hubby - look! My work is out there.......

I was very pleased to notice that Robin Atkins featured Ganesha in a blog posting about Our artistic Inner Process

Alan - I am getting my name out there. And not for just being the bad Liz!!

Cozumel

I'm back from vacation - another wonderful bead cruise. Still cropping many pictures, but wanted to get this one in.....

How much of a Michi-gander are you?

You are 98% Michiganian

YES! You know the Great Lakes State, and have seen a beautiful peninsula - probably even two! You have seen The Island, and crossed The Bridge. Troll or Yooper, you're a true Michigan soul.

How much of a Michi-gander are you?
Create a Quiz

Spring???

So maybe Spring isn't coming to Michigan.................yet........

Driving

I don't understand how most of the people that cut me off on the expressway have religious bumper stickers on their cars.

"Honk if you love Jesus" - heck, I'm honking because you cut me off and you don't know what a turn signal is for.

I just don't understand it.

Ahhhhh, Spring

I love spring. Sunny Spring days. Dogs happy to be outside. Flowers beginning to bloom. Seeing the first flock of geese flying north.

Alan having a quiet moment with his mother. Birds flying in and out of the tree in front of the house. Sudden rain showers beating on the window.
Spring. It's spring again and that's a good thing.

I don't understand...

....the driving habits of many people in metro Detroit. I drive a section of eastbound I-94 expressway every morning to get to work in Detroit. It's a nice section of road - made especially beautiful because of the Superbowl in 2006 that was held in Detroit - this is the direct section of road that is between the city and the Detroit Metro Aiport (DTW). I don't understand the logic of the speed limits along the road. In the suburbs, the speed limit is 70 - and pretty much everyone goes 70mph, perhaps 75 - but pretty much travels in a pack (just like wolves). But as soon as the speed limit goes down to 55mph in the city, people actually speed up. I'll admit that I don't slow to 55mph - hell, I would be mowed down and eaten alive, but I do go about 65mph.

Is it because there are fewer cops in the city that travel the expressway because they are more concerned with catching murderers and drug dealers?

Is it because there are more donut shops in the city and it's coffee break time?

Is it because they know that they can get away with it?

I'll admit that I drive 10 over the speed limit in the city - and it pisses me off that I get monster sized SUVs and trucks behind me that still think that I am going too slow. Why on earth do you need a Ford F350 for city driving anyway?

Go around me. See if I care.

Star of David - completed!

Religious Icons Part 5 - Ganesha

Ganesha and mouse have more colour that before! I am going to remove the feet and do them again - I do not care for the way that they have turned out (especially now that I have finished his hand). I know that I can do better. The garnet necklace lays better since I have gone through it a second and third time. I just have the finishing of the head, the circle behind it and to decide what the complete background will be.

Ganesha is coming along nicely!!

Beading, still Beading - Religious Icons continued.

I wish that this scan would show the colours a little better in this piece. The background is actually a pale blue and a midnight blue. The star is grey and hematite seed beads - or two shades of grey. The star is actually two pieces that have been woven together and sewn to the background of the curls. This piece is 7x8 inches. All I need is several more hours of beading and it should be finished. This is the most serious of the icons that I have worked on - and I don't know why I chose serious colours for it. The rich colors just seemed to work the best. I originally wanted to have a silver star, but after about 4 hours of work on part of the star - it just didn't look good, so out it all came.

My series of religious icons is growing. Last weekend, I was invited to a wedding of one of the doctors that completed his training in my program, Dr. Nikhil Goyal. As much as I would LOVE to go to his wedding - it's in India and way out of my budget. I took the icon that was on his invitation - Ganesha. I just learned the following about Ganesha: "By ancient tradition, the elephant-headed god, GANESHA , is always worshipped first in every ritual or festival. Ganesha has a pot belly, is short and is usually portrayed in a sitting position with one leg folded and the other touching the ground. Around his waist, there is a hooded snake. In his four hands, he carries a noose (human bondage to desires); an axe (destruction of all evil); a modak or sweet (joy) and a lotus (human evolution). His trunk, usually turned to the left, represents OM, the origin of the cosmic universe. Ganesha is the lord of all learning, the arts and of finer skills."

Obviously my Ganesha is a different model, because my Ganesha doesn't have a snake or axe or a noose. His trunk turns to the right. Sunil (another doctor) told me that Ganesha travels on the back of a mouse, which is why there is a little mouse in the picture. The bindi will be a red crystal and the necklace with the smaller red crystals as I was told that they are very important.

Messy Desk - before and after

I have a problem.

I am not a neat person when it comes to my workbench or desk or counter. I am pack rat. I don't put things away and ultimately - madness prevails.

It's awful. You can click on the pictures to see how awful it really is.

Last last Friday night (it was a dark and snowy night), my beading angel - Sandy - came over to help me with my madness. She pointed me in the right direction with what to do, where I should start, and how I should progress. We made a lot of progress in one night. I still have a long way to go, but there is a huge dent in the mess.

My homework from this event was to look at all my beading magazines from 1998 to current (both Bead & Button and Beadwork) and decide what I wanted to keep, what projects I wanted to copy and what I wanted to get rid of. I decided on about 10 articles - and I am selling all my magazines, especially the ones that I haven't looked at in over 5 years. I think the auction starts tomorrow.

Now, I am afraid to bead because I might mess it up!!!

Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild - Quilt to honour Barb Davis

It's been a year in the making! The Great Lakes Beadworkers Guild bead quilt to honour Barb Davis - long time guild member who lost her battle with breast cancer.

Isn't this wonderful!!