Saturday, April 29, 2006

Shoe shopping

My mother and I went to Nordstroms yesterday to look at shoes. Wh had a ball. I was looking for black slides, because my old ones are ready for the garbage can. I found a lot to try on and bought 3 pairs--one black slide, one brown and one orange sandal with turquoise beads. I must have tried on 10 pairs of shoes, but making my final decision wasn't hard. I have decided that I have to upgrade my wardrobe and shoes are part of the wardrobe. My mother bought 2 pairs of sandals, and was very happy with her purchases.
Yesterday's Oprah show was interesting to me too. The topic was pants and how to buy pants that don't make the butt look big. I got a lot of ideas, but she didn't cover other problems, such as general fat. My figure problems are many. Please Oprah, how about a show for people who have a big butt, big boobs and a big stomach? I think that I will send her an e-mail.
Today I helped out at the play at the junior high. I sold tickets and saw the kids in their costumes. The show was Into the Woods, jr. It looked and sounded, at least from the lobby, pretty good. Wilmette Junior high is worlds apart from the Nichols, the school I used to teach at.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Trip Mania

I am driving myself crazy planning for this trip. I went to the library and checked out 6 more guide books. I decided to buy two general guides on Amazon. Now I am trying to plan what to do in Rome and Florence, since we have only part of one day to look around. I have a plan for Sorrento, one day to Pompei and one day on the
Amalfi drive. I want to see Ravello--lots of artists, writers and musicians hung out there. Wagner used a garden there as a scene in Parsifal. Venice and Dubrovnik are small and walking around is the best way to go there. I read in one guide that much of Dubrovnik was destroyed in the wars in the 1990's. I remember seeing that on TV. I also remember how nice it was in 1976.
From what I have read, these Italian cities are much more popular with tourists than in the 1970's. When I finish this post, I am back on the web looking for more information. Now I am also worried about the cost of the day trips. Planning is more of a pain than a pleasure. I hope that my attitude improves soon, because I am reluctant to go.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

A slow Sunday

My grand niece and nephew left for home today. It's a lot less chaotic around here, but we are missing a little bit of fun around the house. We went out to eat at Hackney's last night. It was too cold to eat outside, the kids were disappointed that they couldn't play in the playhouse. We still had a good time inside. They tried the deep fried onion rings--a Hackney's speciality. I love them, even though they are loaded with calories and fat. When we got home, they wanted a story. So they got a story. I will post a picture of that later.
My sister and brother in law left for their new home on Saturday. They don't ever plan to come back here unless someone dies. We have no plans to go to where they are moving. I guess that we won't be seeing them again. So much for family closeness.
I have been going to physical therapy for a week now. It was determined that I have a weak stomach and hips--so I have to build those areas up and that will stop my back pain. The exercises are so boring. I know that a little bit of exercise goes a long way, but I really don't enjoy doing this stuff. I still haven't done them today, and it is already 6pm. So, I will get to it later. So much for twice today.
I think that I am finished with cruise clothes shopping. I have enough. There are washing machines on the boat. I am through with fashion for a few years. Now my husband and son need to get a few things.
I bought a very large suitcase and garment bag at Target last week. The suitcase is expandable. I don't know why I need that feature, since we aren't planning to buy anything--just see the sights.
I am getting worried that we won't see anything since we have so little time in each stop. Both Florence and Rome involce travel of about 1 -2 hours to get there. That cuts into seeing much. I have read that reservations are available for the museums in Florence. I plan to take advantage of that. In Rome, we may just take a quick
look around on the bus.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

I went to physical therapy yesterday. My back has been bothering me since I worked at Nichols earlier this year. I think that I sat in one of the student's desks and twisted myself the wrong way. Anyway, the therapist made me do a lot of things that didn't seem too bad, but it did make my back sore. Then she had me lay down on a really hot pad. Boy oh boy it was hot, but I sure felt good when I was finished. So far, no more pain. I am going to do the excercises as soon as I finish this post.

The dog went to the vet yesterday. I was hoping that she could get her shots, but she has a hot spot on her cheek which is a little bit infected. The gave her two kinds of pills and a salve. They shaved her cheek. She got a good report for cooperation. What a good dog! She really hates the vet, but she doesn't have to go very often. She still neeeds her shots, but that is put off for a while.

My husband met up with a bomb sniffing bomb yesterday at the train station.He didn't
know about the dog's ability to find explosives, but it did zero in on his bagel.

Monday, April 17, 2006

The Promised Pictures



I promised the publish pictures of my grand niece and nephew. Since I am new at this, I had a lot of trouble working it out. Now I try again.
This is Lillian with her Easter eggs and a picture of Joshua, the whipped cream guy. You can see that they are really cute!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Easter Fun


A big crisis. How do I get red wine stains out of a very special tablecloth? Well, I used salt. Somehow I rememembered that was the thing to do. Later I looked on line and the site suggested salt! I soaked it in cold water and washed it in cold water. Hopefully all the stains came out. I will find out soon.
I promised some pictures of my grand niece and nephew today. They came over and we colored eggs. They had a great time, drawing on the eggs and then they used the plastic egg wraps. The final product looked pretty good. Then we made easter baskets. The kids put the jelly beans in a plastic bag and added the chocolate eggs. Then the final touch--the colored eggs. I added some bows. For the time we put into them--I have to say that the baskets looked almost professional.
I did wash the tablecloth as directed and the wine stains did come out.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Holiday Fun

My grand niece and nephew are in town for a few days. They are the cutest kids--Lillian is in 2nd grade and Joshua is 4. They were over for a Passover dinner on Thursday and stayed overnight--with their parents. They are coming over for an Easter dinner tomorrow and then staying overnight again. I set a little table for them on Thursday with a little tablecloth and napkins. Tomorrow they will sit at the big table. I bought egg decorating stuff for them tomorrow and boiled a dozen of eggs to work on. My husband went into the crawl space to look for two baskets. I bought some basket grass--pink for Lillian and green for Joshua. I also got some candy--jelly beans, of course, and some chocolate eggs. I hope that the eggs keep them busy for a while, since it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Lillian is planning to go to the American Doll place this week. I may go along. I don't have any of my own grandchildren, so this is a lot of fun for me. My husband just realized that he didn't get any maraschino cherries at the store today. He'll have to run out tomorrow.
We'll take a picture tomorrow and put in on the blog.
I went shopping again today. My mother still needs clothes. We went to Chico's and she just loved it. Everything was good for her--stylish clothes, nice fitting rooms, clothes that fit, good sales ladies. Needless to say, she spent a lot of money. She looked good and had a nice time trying on a lot of clothes. It looks like Chico's and Nordstrom's are the place to go for nice things for a very small person.
What is funny is that my brother--who pays my mother's bills, has taken over the role(according to her) of keeper of the funds. Acutally my brother has told my mom many times that he doesn't care how much money she spends on anything. He just pays the bills. He doesn't judge.
Writing a blog is hard. I mean the discipline to write every day. I don't have it yet. Actually I enjoyed writing this entry. Maybe it is because of the grands (neice and nephew).

Friday, April 07, 2006

Cleanup time!

I cleaned out my closets today. I got rid of old stuff and stuff that doesn't fit and stuff that was too good to get rid of. Just so I couldn't change my mind, I took 6 shopping bags full to the thrift shop today. I did this last summer, and today I got rid of the maybe stuff. Actually I feel good about this. I just had too many outfits that I haven't worn in several years in that closet. Some of it I bought when David was a freshman in high school--some was even older. All of my fat pants are now history. I know that I am still fat, but I was even fatter. Now I have only black, taupe and kahki pants. I also addressed the tee shirt issue--old, pilled, stained--all gone. I am not saving stuff to wear around the house anymore. I still have some old jeans to look over. I will save them for the next cleanup.
I went into Sephora today. They have a new store in Old Orchard. It was quite a pleasant experience. I bought some eyebrow mascara. What a great product. It does it all, colors, shapes and controls the unruly stray hairs--all in a little wand!

Thursday, April 06, 2006

My garden is starting up.

The lawn service people were here yesterday. They did their spring cleanup--areated the lawn, raked, overseeded the grass, cleaned the leaves out of everywhere. I had them transplant the climbing hydrangea, which was supposed to climb up the ash tree, but since the tree was chopped down, I had them move it to a new home. It is now going to be climbing up a fence. I also moved my annabelle hydrangea to a spot where it will get more sun, and hopefully bloom. It didn't have a single flower last year, but it looked good, so I concluded that it needed more sun.
A few bulbs are blooming now, and more are getting ready to bloom. The weather isn't great. No sun today, and rain is predicted. It's not warm, but it isn't cold either. We really don't have much of a spring--just weather like this, and then summer.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Yoga and me

I have decided to get back into working out now that I am finished with my job. I went to a yoga class on Sunday and another one today. These were not gentle yoga classes, but full scale faster paced ones. I can do most of the poses, but some are very hard, because of my knee issues. I really enjoy yoga. This is ironic because when my mother was doing yoga about 30 years ago, I thought it was funny. She still does it, and she's 87. She did have several years away from it. I also am ramping up the cardio. I ran on the treadmill on Sunday and yesterday I did the eliptical for 15 minutes in addition to the recumbent bike. I am so sick of my fat body. I hope that my new enthusiasm with bring some changes.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Cruise wear

I have been looking around for clothing for the cruise. I got rid of a lot of stuff last year because it was either too big or too worn out or out of style. I don't have much of anything, at least not nice resort type wear. I have nothing formal or fancy. I have worn the same outfit to the last 4 weddings I have attended. I do plan to wear that on one night--it still looks ok--its black.
I think that this cruise has a higher standard of dress than all inclusive resorts in Mexico. Dressy there means that you wear some thing that isn't a bathing suit. It didn't really matter what anyone wears.
So I have been shopping around for clothing that I can use again.
What do I see in the stores? Peasant skirts. Every store has some version of peasant skirts in about every color. Tops that are not appropriate for women of my age and size. Dresses that look like mother of the bride or groom--long with a lot of sparkles. My shopoping has been so basic--I buy pants, tee shirts and really plain stuff. Target is one of my regular stops.
I think I need a new handbag. That is also a big problem, since everything is so ugly and expensive.
I want clothing that is plain, useable and smart. I need pants or something that I can wear with gym shoes and not look too weird.
I have only started. Any suggestions?

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Designing a mixed bed

I went up to the Botanic garden for the 2nd time this week. I signed up for a class because I needed continuing ed hours for Master Gardner. Today's class was a very pleasant surprise. It was the best presentation on garden design I have ever sat through. Actually, the classes offered at the Garden are pretty good.
I can't believe that I sat from 9am to 3pm and wasn't bored. The presenter, Scott Scafone is from Baltimore and has a system for garden design that makes a lot of sense.
basically, he uses the iseas of architectural design to set up a garden plan. If you use his system, you won't waste a lot of money on plants that won't look good or grow in a situation. Check out his web site--www.oasisdesigngroup.com. He is writing a book, I don't know when it will be out, but I plan to buy it.
I went to Costco today and on the way I checked out the landscaping. Most of the houses could use some of Scott's ideas.