So much time and So little to do....strike that ...reverse it!

This week we are having company and we can't wait.  But let me back up some and start by saying that "WOW"  @ Katie Guevel!  First an earthquake, then a mid term, then a hurricane...and now Ryan has car trouble.....you have had more than your share of headaches!!!  Hang in there - the weekend is coming....a three day weekend.  We are just glad that you are safe!  PS. Great job on your midterm. 

Jenny is finding out that nurses REALLY do a lot and have to know a lot!  She (like always) at the start of the new school year is a little overwhelmed but I know her and she will trudge through it!  We have all always heard that if you have a great nurse you will have the best care in the world!  I know Jenny will be great!

Atlanta on Friday was fun.  Linda (P.E.O.) and I met at Costco near the TN/GA line and I drove down since I was the one going anyway.  We went to Lenox Square Mall and shopped....Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel.  Got some new bedding since Jenny took hers to school and some new wine glasses that are more up to date and not so "cheap" looking...although don't know why since we put "cheap" wine in them anyway -ha ha.  We went across the street (kinda) and went to another mall...the really ritzy mall....with Nieman Marcus, Nordstrom and more shops that I can't think of only know we didn't go in as we both knew we were out of our league!  We did have lunch at Nordstroms but it wasn't as nice as the one in KC.  Went to another gift shop that all the mags rave about called Boxwood...it was okay....  Came home in good time and did not hit Atlanta traffic on a Friday afternoon. 

Pat and I had grilled chicken wraps for dinner.  He was so tired. He fell asleep on the couch. We have new channel on our TV called EPIX.  It runs movies without commercials.  It is kinda like HBO but no cost.  We are enjoying seeing some movies that we never saw at the theater for FREE!!!  We watched Daybreak with Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton last night.  It is really good.

Saturday we got up and went and worked out and then I came home to go to Reciprocity PEO luncheon about 45 minutes away in Cleveland, TN.  It was very nice.  I sat next to a lady whose husband had been in nuclear...now a contractor.  Her daughter just married someone from Yates Center and she and her husband both grew up in Lexington, MO - where Pat's folks grew up.  They knew his Aunt Shirley.  Small world.

We have been furniture shopping...mostly looking.  It is so expensive.  No Nebraska Furniture Mart here.  I think we will take a weekend and go to NC and look and see if we can't save some big $$$$.  Pat's trip to Atlanta in Sept. was canceled so now we have the weekend to go there!  He doesn't know it yet and I have to do some more research! We did buy a headboard for the guest bedroom that was just delivered.  Wrought Iron ...I love it!

Sunday we worked around the house.  Today I just did stuff around the house getting ready for our company. 

Know Katie will be with Ryan doing something fun and Jenny will be going to Chicago with Walker and family - say Cubs game.  We will try and show John and Janet a good time.  Others were invited but said not this time! :(

Tomorrow I having laser surgery on my eye that I had operated on earlier to clear up some cloudiness.  I hope it helps. Holding steady on my diet, no more loss but no gain either! YEA.  I am grilling out a lot to keep the heat out of the house and the clean up to a minimum.  We are having hamburgers for dinner.

If all goes well tomorrow, lunch on Wednesday with some gals and then nails, cleaning and cooking and then FUN!

Until next time...
Living Sweetly in the South!
Miss Jan

Not sure what direction....

Yea! After a week, I have lost 10 pounds and 4 inches.  I feel so much better!  We don't eat as much as we used to...for dinner we usually have a meat and side salad.  We went to a farmers market here last Sunday after church.  It was a lot of fun.  Music, arts and crafts, food, flowers, vendors etc.  We bought a bouquet of Zinnias...Dad... and then some salsa and came home and made salsa chicken on the grill.  It was so good.  I used two chicken breasts (boneless/skinless) and marinated them overnight in lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, pepper, oregano, sugar and some vegetable oil.  (Did you know not to use olive oil on the grill...it will burn faster than other oils...)  We grilled the chicken and then added the salsa over the top on our plate.  We had some brown and wild rice with it and a salad!  Very good!
See picture below:

Wow, it has been a week since my last post...sorry.  Time just gets away from me.  I am just not sure when I wake up what direction I will go. Last week I went to the eye doctor and found out that I only really needed to wear one of my contacts...go figure...guess what ...I CAN see better.  I was told that I  need to have laser surgery in the next few weeks to clear up one eye that I had operated on before and that should really help and then later I should really think about having the other eye done as well.  We will see (get it!). I go tomorrow to get some measurements taken for surgery in the future. Anyway, that was kind of a blow to my mind set...  How do you really know if the doctor you are seeing is giving you the best advice and care possible...  Maybe my kids will be smarter about all that than I am. 

Second blow or *sigh* came when on Friday, Jenny went to her Nightingale ceremony and we weren't there.  First Katie's then Jenny's!  I hope they understand.

Without the kids at home, Pat and I trying to figure out how to fill our time etc again.  Some evenings we just get in the car and drive.  We have explored a lot of new directions, found short cuts, said...oh that is how you get to that area....  It has been an EYE opener but also a confusion mess for me.  Sometimes I feel like there is so much to see and explore that I find myself in my comfort zone.

I tried to get Pat to sign up for scuba lessons but it is for an entire weekend and he is reluctant to give up that much time together.....double edge sword.  It is offered two weekends a month so who knows.  He has been working on some big projects at work and is bothered by them a lot....stress.

On one of our evenings we looked up churches in the area and found a few so we scoped them out and Sunday we went to a church closest to us.  It was very nice, bigger than Burlington, but smaller than Huntsville. They have four services each Sunday.  The people in this service were older so we may try a different service.

Monday I went and got some very subtle highlights done and Pat said he liked my hair.  It really is getting back to normal finally after all the hormone changes from last year.

Yesterday I went to lunch with some P.E.O.'s.  I had made the comment at our last lunch that Pat and I couldn't wait to have hot dogs and mac and cheese when the girls left.  Funny, they all agreed and we decided to try a hot dog place yesterday at Debbie's recommendation.  I met Debbie earlier and she took me to some cute shops that I didn't know about.  She drives a red VW bug convertible so we went around 'nooga with the top down.  It was fun. I told Pat we needed one!!!  Ha ha! She is about 5-6 year older than I am.  She has two grand kids and her husband is a pathologist for a hospital here.  They live near the Georgia line.  We had looked at houses in that area but the drive was too far.  Anyway,  she was really nice to show me around...been here about 5 years...but in driving - I quietly learned that I knew my way around downtown a little bit better than she did....again...change direction.  We had a good day.  One of the gals and I are going to Atlanta on Friday to go shopping.  That should be fun.

Today I am going to the Sports Barn and then doing stuff around the house.  Saturday is reciprocity lunch for P.E.O.  Should be nice.

Living Sweetly in the South!

Miss Jan

Two steps forward....three steps back.

I got up today with a lot of excitement...I have lost 6 pounds on this diet and feel really good.  I am not hungry although the chocolate chip cookies I made last night to welcome some folks to our neighborhood sound really good....I have not indulged.  OK OK....a little batter and 1/2 a cookie!  But, seriously, this diet is working for me...no cravings, no hunger, no headaches and I have been sleeping through the night and my thermostat is more on an even keel!  All good!

Tonight when Pat comes home we will take those cookies out of here!  This guy who just built a house used to work with Pat and now is in the fossil fuel division of TVA.    They have 5 kids but I thought it would be a nice thing to do.  There is another new house going up just down the street from us.  Good to know we live in a sought after neighborhood.

I was going to work out this morning and had my clothes on when the phone rang....it was a new hairdresser that I was trying to get in with calling to say that he had a cancellation.  It is the Splash Salon across the river. One of my P.E.O. friends goes to him and just raves about him....Well, I got my hair cut and styled by him. It is quite a bit shorter but it feels much better.  I needed all the "yuck" cut off to start to let it grow out.  Next Monday I am going to get a few highlights in the top, but still keep the dark. 

We had chicken Caesar salads last night for dinner.  Very easy....I took a short cut and bought the precooked chicken strips and the prebagged salad.  Tonight we are having grilled hamburger patties and salads. 

Like I said before I had started cleaning.  The downstairs is almost done...laundry room and back entrance still to do and the upstairs but I haven't done much for the past 2 days.  Need to get back with it tomorrow.  Got caught by the "squirrel" on my desk and started going thru all the papers in drawers and files.  I bought a shredder and have been shredding all recycle things so my name is not flying around out there.

Talked to the girls last night.  Katie was not feeling very well...summer cold, it sounds like.  She had seen her first patient yesterday - a young woman with 3rd degree burns over most of her body.  She said it was really sad.  She said she was a little disappointed at first because she was going to be with other med students at the same time in the room, but then said it was a good thing because it was hard to keep the conversation going. WOW!

Jenny is doing great!  She bought her scrubs yesterday and found out her first rotation is in the orthopedic section of the hospital.  That will be very interesting!  She has her "nightingale ceremony" on Friday...wish we could be there but alas....John and Janet will be going!  YEA!

Well that is all for now -

Living sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Day Two on Xyngular

After having thyroid cancer last year, I continued to gain weight.  I am now trying a product called Xyngular.  It seems like it is basically a low carb diet with supplements to combat the hunger, cravings and other nasty side effects of a yucky diet.   I am starting with an Ignite program that is supposed to jump start your metabolism.  We booked a crise for next April so I have A LOT of motivation.

Pat is gone today in Chicago.  I wish I could have gone with him but I really didn't want to go anywhere after moving us, then Katie, and then Jenny!  I just want to be home for a while.  I like my house! 

Jenny starts orientation today.  I am so jealous! (of both my girls)  I wish that I had known what I was going to college for.  I made sure both of them know that it is hugely important to be able to get a good job.  Now I will have a doctor and a nurse! Katie got 100 on her first med school quiz last Friday.  Yea, Katie. I am also SO proud of them.

This past weekend a flyer came in the mail for community college classes.  They are offering Bridge.  I would like that and think I will enroll.  They also have wine tasting classes. We are considering those...

I am going to see about enrolling Pat in a scuba diving certification program today.  I think he would love to go with my brother when we are in St. Thomas in April.

I am going to go hit the Sports Barn and then keep cleaning the house.  It really needs a lot of little cleaning things done that I neglected while the girls were home.

Until next time.  Livingly sweetly in the south,

Miss Jan