Sunday, February 17, 2013

Share and Relish - Zero Point Veggie Soup


I have been making this recipe for awhile now and I'm telling you, it's so versatile, it never is made the same way twice.  And each time I make it, I swear it's better than the last batch.  So my best advice for this one is to play with it and make it yours.  This is a good basic to get started but you can go ANYwhere with it!

Originally, this was a recipe from Weight Watchers.  I made it exactly like the recipe and I just didn't care for it.  But, even I could tell it had potential!  First off, I got rid of the spice mixture of basil, oregano etc.  Hey, if that's what floats your boat, put it back in.  But here is the way I made the soup tonight.  Again, play with it and find your favorite version!  The best part of this soup is that it's ZERO POINTS which means that I can eat as much of it as I want!  Once in awhile, you need a food like this.  Something you can eat and eat and eat and not feel guilty.  Keep in mind if you're with Weight Watchers that this version is zero points.  Depending on what you substitute, it may no longer be zero points!  Make smart choices!

Ingredients:

1 spray (or 1 tsp) olive oil
1/2 cup chopped vidalia onion
1 handful of mushrooms
1 container (32 oz) of 99% FAT FREE chicken broth (or 99% fat free beef or vegetable broth.  I just prefer the chicken)
2 to 3 carrots, sliced to 1/8" pieces
2 cups chopped cabbage
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup butternut squash
Tony Chachere's creole seasoning to taste

In a large sauce pan, I used one spray or one teaspoon of olive oil.  Once it got hot, I added the one half cup of onion.



There's not a lot of oil in this pan so it's hard to saute the onions.  But, I cook them long enough to get them soft.  This was a good time to put in the mushroom and get them a little time in the hot pan.


Once the mushroom start to sweat, I added the broth.  I've tried all three, the chicken, beef and veggie.  My personal favorite was the chicken.  Whatever you use, if you're going for zero points, make sure it's the FAT FREE broth.  Also,  I buy whatever brand is on sale that week.  They are all good!




Add the carrots, cabbage and tomato paste.  I then put enough Tony Chachere's creole seasoning to cover the top.  This will really give this soup a kick, so please season to taste!


Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for about 15 to 20 minutes.  Add the butternut squash, recover and cook another 10 minutes or so until the carrots and squash are the consistency you like.

This pot should be full of veggies and light on broth.  You want a filling soup!  I guessed on some of the quantities, I eye ball a lot on this one.  I know the major veggie I use is the cabbage.  That's a lot of bulk for no points!  But, lessen the cabbage and add spinach, or kale or swiss chard or any other leafy green you can think of.  Also, instead of butternut squash, I have used zucchini.  But like the squash, the zucchini won't take as long to cook so add it towards the end.

This really is a fun soup to put together and once I got rid of the original Italian type seasonings and went with the spicier creaole, this was one of my new favorite things.  

Enjoy!!


Thursday, February 14, 2013

She Said What??

My Thursday night routine starts right after work when I go to Sam's Club for my weekly shopping.  Right after Sam's Club I go for my weekly weigh in, so before I leave the store I make sure I go sit in the bathroom for awhile just to make sure I get rid of every ounce I can!  As a side note, as far as public bathrooms go, Sam's Club is definitely one of the better ones.  But, I digress.

Anyway, just as I am finishing up tonight in the bathroom, some woman walks in ON her phone.  I didn't get a good look at her to see if she was actually holding up the phone or if she had a blue tooth in.   But I hear her talking to someone about their weekend plans. 

She walked by my stall just as I was walking out of the stall, talking all the way.  I can hear her pee for crying out loud!   I couldn't imagine what the person on the phone was thinking even though their conversation didn't miss a beat.

I stood at the sink washing my hands then moved over to their hand dryers.  They have the kind of hand dryer where you slide your hands in to two openings and draw them out slowly as the force of air dries them.  Would you believe that this broad had the audacity to bitch pretty loudly to whomever she was speaking to about ME!  It went something like this:  "Can you believe it?  She is actually using the HAND DRYER while I'm on the phone!"  For real, the person on the phone is ok listening to YOU take a crap but you don't want to hear ME use the hand dryer.  C'mon people, I can't make this stuff up!

This just proves that crazy comes in all shapes and sizes.  And, crazy was last seen in stall # 4 at Sam's Club.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Old Habits Die Hard, New Habits Hurt Like Heck

One of the things that we talk about a lot at our weekly Weight Watchers meetings is habits.  You need to replace bad habits with good habits.  Hopefully little small changes will add up and help me to a healthier lifestyle.

Yeah, that's the official version.  As we all know, change is hard.  I hate change.  I don't even always like changing my underwear for crying out loud.  I don't do change.  But change is what I need to do.

Through this last year with my journey, I have made some positive changes.  No where near enough, but I am still trying.  I know I make better choices in my life when it comes to the food I eat.  Not EVERY choice is the better choice but I make more good than bad choices.  I can't ask for more than that.

My next step to a healthier me is my addiction to Diet Pepsi!  For real people, here is some insider trader information.  If you own stock in Diet Pepsi, you might want to think about selling quickly.  Today is day 4 and NO DIET PEPSI.   Diet Pepsi has to be feeling the ripple already I'm sure.

An addiction is an addiction is an addiction.  I quit smoking on January 31, 1995.  I went from three packs a day to nothing.  Cold turkey.  I haven't picked up a cigarette since that day 18 years ago.  That was truly one of the hardest things I ever did.  Is stopping Diet Pepsi as hard as quitting smoking?  Not AS hard but I'm telling you, there is definitely pain involved.  Ugh.  Good health.  I'm hoping this is going to be worth it.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

Another Obsession

Ok, maybe obsession is too strong of a word.  But this is something I really, really, really, REALLY like!

One of my favorite places in the world is the San Diego Zoo.  If you've never been there, seriously, this needs to be on your bucket list.  It is so worth the experience.  If you are in the area, call my friends David and Edna while you're in San Diego!  They are the best San Diego tour guides and just all around good people. 

When Ron and I were in San Diego with David and Edna a few years back, this zoo is one of the places I fell in love with.  One of the huge draws at the San Diego Zoo is the giant pandas.  We were lucky when we were there, to see a baby panda that was on display at the time.  The line to get into the panda exhibit at the time was NUTS.  And for real, with so many people waiting to get a glimpse of this little miracle, there really was no time to stand there and enjoy the moment.  You walked in, got a glimpse, and had to leave.

Now I have found my new love.  We all love babies whether it's baby people or baby animals.  You gotta love a baby.  The newest giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo was last year on my Dad's birthday, July 29th.  Baby giant panda cub Xiao Liwu is on display daily and available on a live cam feed!  I can't get enough of this baby!

I find myself checking in on baby Mr. Wu (as he's affectionately called) at odd times during the day.  I am fascinated with watching him take a nap and have even worried that his breathing isn't "right".  It's a good thing there isn't an 800 number for the giant panda caregivers or I'd be on the horn with them all day long.  Watching little Mr. Wu fall out of a tree is heart breaking!  The vet has recently said not to worry, it's expected for the baby to fall out of the trees.  Often.  It's how he learns.  He's in great shape and he bounces!  (It's true!!)  I love watching Mom Bai Yun munching on some bamboo, playing with Mr. Wu or just enjoying a nap herself.

My favorite part is when Xiao Liwu is napping on one of his favorite spots when mama comes to mess with him.  She will sit on him and just nudge him and nudge him until he moves and she takes over his spot!

I love the San Diego Zoo and I love the giant pandas, especially the new baby Xiao Liwu.  Check him out.  I can watch him all day!  I dare you not to fall in love with him too.

San Diego Zoo Giant Panda Cam

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

50 / 1,000 / 100,000

What could the numbers 50 / 1,000 / 100,000 all have in common?  In common enough to rate a blog post?  These are all milestones I have reached recently!

I was trying to coordinate so that all three milestones happened on the same day but I missed it by a bit.  Oh well!  You know what they say about trying to plan things in your life!  Nothing ever goes according to plan!

Let's get back to those numbers:

50:  The age I turned on January 16th.  Hey, why hide it?  I have always been up front about loving my birthday and part of loving your birthday is accepting how many candles are on your cake.  I've been jiggy with it.  Next year may be another story, but for now, I'm jiggy.

1,000:  This is my 1,000th BLOG POST!!!!!!!!!!  I can't believe when I started this blog on August 18, 2005 that here on February 6, 2013 I'd still be at it.  7-1/2 years later I'm still writing about nothing and everything.  Well, most everything.  Believe it or not, I do edit myself and not write about EVERYthing that is on my mind!  Lucky you!!  Let's just see where the next 1,000 blog posts take us to.  After all, with all the notices I am receiving from AARP, Alzheimer's can't be all that far off.  That could only be good for my ramblings on this blog.  

100,000:  This is the mileage on my CAR right now!!!!!!!  Friday night, I thought I was going to roll it over.  After work, I picked Ron up and I drove to dinner.  I thought for sure that would have been enough.  Nuhuh.  On to Plan B.  We needed to go shopping after dinner!  I know I need SOMEthing from Home Depot!  So, on our way, I had to pull over into the Lorain Police Auxiliary parking lot to get this picture!  Soooo close!

   
I left the police parking lot, headed down Leavitt to our destination of Home Depot and right as I pulled into the parking lot of Home Depot, it happened!!  I pulled right over and snapped the pictures!


100,000 miles on my 2004 Honda Accord.  I just sunk $1500 into it for the 100,000 mile check up.  That better last me because I can't afford to replace this car.  To quote my Dad, "I'm going to drive it until the wheels fall off!"  And he did.  I hope to be as lucky.

2013.  A year of milestones and it's early in the year.  I can't wait to see what's next!

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Stray Cat B&B

My family humors me in my obsessions.  That is a given.

For my birthday, my brother Mike and two of his grandsons built me what I like to call the Stray Cat Bed & Breakfast, or Hemingway's Home.  Either way, what a great birthday present!

I wanted another shelter on my porch for my stray cats.  Mike was too happy to help a sister out!  This was totally his idea, his design, my dream!

This is the Stray Cat B&B:


To make this box even more comfy is it's interior design.  As you can see, the entrance to the B&B is there on the left.  When the stray cat walks in to the B&B, he or she would be in the sitting room.  To the right of the sitting room is the sleeping chamber!  Complete with a bed of straw!  Here is the view when you lift the top and look into the Bed & Breakfast!


See?  Sitting room on the left, sleeping chamber on the right.  Pass the word, reservations are now being accepted!


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

On the eve of 50

I told you getting older was not for sissies.

I went to my first physical therapy appointment on Monday morning.  From what the therapist was saying, "frozen shoulders" are not that uncommon.  What seems to be uncommon is getting "frozen shoulders" out of the blue and not from an accident.  Leave it to me to get them out of the blue.  Whatever.

I was twisted and poked and moved and measured.  All the while she was explaining how my shoulders are going to get worse before it gets better.  And, that getting better part?  It's about 6 months to a year before that happens.  Seriously.

I can't even put my thoughts into words here.  I barely held on to make it to the doctor's appointment.  Now I'm told that too bad so sad, it's going to be awhile before you get relief.  And, that relief won't come until we make you much worse first.  Really?!!

So I did my exercises and was rewarded with a heat pack around my neck since now my neck is as tight as steel bands.  That was the best part of the appointment.  I had the heat pack while she did an ultra sound treatment to my right shoulder.  I'm sore as all get out now but I'm told I have to work through it.  Sounds like fun, huh?

The therapist suggested I buy a contraption for home that mirrors some of the treatment I got at therapy.  I look at this thing and all I can think of is that if I bought this when I was 25 it would have a whole NEW reason for being used.  I buy it today and now it's used as old lady exercises.  Oh the horrors.


In case you can't figure this out, it's a pulley system to try help exercise my shoulders.  Like I said, at 50, it's to exercise my shoulders. 

I think now this is going to be a touchy subject for me.  Lucky for you, I don't think I'm going to be posting updates on this. 

Lucky for me I have cats that keep me stocked in stories to tell.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Let the parties begin!

You know how much I love birthday, especially my own!  My birthday celebrations started Saturday night when my adopted family invited me over for a home cooked meal.  It doesn't get any better than that, especially when I'm not the one cooking!

First, as promised, there were signs and balloons in the yard.  For ME!!

  


(And, I AM aged to perfection!  Or close to it!!)



The food was fabulous but more important was the company.  Birthdays are all about families and friends and I was surrounded by both.

Everyone was in on the cooking and what a spread they put out!


My job while everyone was working was to take pictures and have a glass of wine.  I could so handle that job.  You know, when you get to be my age, you need to slow down a bit! 


From the bottom of my heart, thank you to Nick, Sally and Ramzi for making my birthday party so spectacular!  And this is exactly why I love birthdays!


Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Wanted Poster, Chestnut Ridge Road

From someone else who has been robbed and felt the lack of help from the local police, I wanted to give this guy in Carlisle Township on Chestnut Ridge Road a shout out.  I feel your pain, brother.


Tuesday, January 08, 2013

More Mountains to Climb

Some days it feels never ending.  When one thing starts to go well, somewhere else the poop hits the fan.

You know the issues I have with my back pain.  Just when I think I have it to where I can live with it, or in spite of it, something else poops out on me.  I'm telling you, turning 50 is NOT for pansies!

It started about four or five months ago.  I noticed it while going through the drive thru bank.  My left shoulder would hurt like hell trying to reach out through the window to put the deposit into the little tray.  If I thought that was hard to do, going to the drive thru ATM became absolutely impossible.  It was like my shoulder was on fire!

Easy fix.  Get off my lazy ass and walk in to the bank instead of going to the drive up window and as for the ATM, stop the car before the ATM, get out and walk up and do my transaction.  See?  I can adapt.

That was my left shoulder.  Now in the last few months, my right shoulder started to hurt.  I have no idea what in the hell I did.  But now my right shoulder has absolutely been a show stopper to the point that I now need help dressing in the morning, I can't always drive my own car because it's a stick shift, and sleep?  Yeah, I haven't slept in months.  I can't lay on that shoulder, I can't lay on my back, I can't lay on the opposite shoulder because it pulls somehow and hurts like hell.  If I do manage to fall asleep, the slightest movement of either me rolling over or Ron moving and forget it.  I'm up, I'm done with sleeping.  I can get more comfortable on the couch, but I can't get up off of the couch.  I told you turning 50 wasn't easy.

I finally reached my breaking point.  Trust me, I know pain but this had me crying "uncle".  I have now been to three doctors with the last being an orthopedic specialist.  I saw him on Monday.

This guy is no stranger to my life.  He took care of me after my car accident and it was one of his associates that actually did my back surgery back in 2002.  Like I said, I am well acquainted with the practice.  One of the things about this practice is that it is run extremely well, especially for a specialty.  When you make an appointment, they mean it.  They really stay on schedule and I appreciate that.

I gotta tell you though, when I was waiting in the exam room for the doctor to come in, I thought DANG!  Even though I won't be in here for long, you could update your magazines!!  For real, 2006???  For my next appointment, I'm buying him a new National Geographic!


If this is the worst thing I find with this doctor, I'm doing well.  Anyway, he x-rayed both of my shoulders.  He said I have "frozen shoulders" with calcium deposits in my left shoulder.  The calcium deposits are evidence of an injury but I swear, I don't know what I did.  I don't remember falling or getting hit or anything else.  I don't know what happened.

The good news is that it's fixable and surgery is not necessary.  In order to "unfreeze" my shoulders, I have to get my range of motion back.  Once I can move my shoulders again, the pain should go away.  Easy, right?   I think it sounds like a no-win situation.  The only way to get out of pain and to get my shoulders working again is to get into a lot of pain and move my shoulders.  Ugh, I am booked for physical therapy twice a week for four weeks.  I can't wait to get the bill for this one.  Then I go back and see the ortho guy in six weeks to see how I'm doing.

If that wasn't enough, I have come down with the flu over the weekend!  Before you think I'm just over here looking at this glass half empty, I will say that the flu has done me some good.  I have caught up on some sleep that I have missed for the last year.  Plus I've watched some great daytime TV in between my naps!  Thank heavens for the Game Show Network and Investigation Discovery!  A great way to waste a day!  And, thank heavens for cold and flu medicine.  Hmm, maybe I should say forget the physical therapy and just stock up on the meds!  At least I can get some sleep.  Who needs to be able to dress themselves?

Saturday, January 05, 2013

Iced Over

Today at work, I noticed this bush in front of the building.  Too bad I didn't get out there to take pictures earlier in the day when the sun was shining over here.  The ice on this bush was beautiful and these pictures don't do it justice. 

Hey, any excuse to post a picture or two!



I lose weight, but it finds me anyway

I am not a paid spokesperson for Weight Watchers.  Perhaps if I was, by now I would be in the maintenance part of my weight loss journey and not in the still losing part. 

In case you've been watching, I finally updated my weight loss on the right side bar.  In the past two weeks, I have GAINED five pounds!  Ugh, I am still beating myself up over this.   It's not like I have been doing all that well these past few months but geez!  Five pounds?  I know, it was Christmas and all that but c'mon, I honestly have little to no will power.

I am NOT bashing Weight Watchers.  It REALLY does work and is worth every penny I pay.  If I follow the program a little bit, Weight Watchers works a little bit.  If I work the program a lot, Weight Watchers works a lot.  It's just hard to always follow portion control and continue to make smarter choices.

Here is a case in point.  We had my family's Christmas dinner last Saturday at Mike's house.  My sister-in-law surprised us all by making a traditional Slovak dish that my family made every Christmas Eve since what feels like the beginning of time.  I haven't had this dish in over 15 years and I was SOOO excited to see it on the table!  Please note, I am NOT blaming my sister-in-law for my irresponsible eating.  I truly was so excited to have this delicacy again after all these years.

We call it bubalki and I'm not guaranteeing that the spelling is correct.  We would make small balls of bread.  By small I mean marble sized.  Half of these bread balls would be mixed on Christmas Eve with butter and sauerkraut.  The other half would be mixed with poppy seed paste and milk and sugar.  Now, the bread alone put up a red flag when it came to choosing what I was going to eat Saturday.  We won't even talk about the butter, the milk or the sugar involved.  If our Weight Watcher's leader would have been there, she would have told us it's ok to eat the bubalki, just take a spoon of each to get a taste and move on.  THAT would have been the responsible answer.  Forget that!  I figured it's been over 15 years since I've had this stuff, and it may be another 15 years before I get it again.  I started off with one spoon of each and when I ate that, I filled up my plate with more.  I figured I was going to eat this stuff until it was coming out of my ears!  Damn that was good!

Was it worth five pounds?  In hind sight, I don't think so.  It would have been worth three pounds, not five!  It wasn't just the bubalki, it was everything else I shoved in my mouth over the holiday.  I'm usually good as passing on sweets but the last couple of weeks I just passed them right onto my plate. 

I keep saying it out loud and to myself.  I really need to get my head back into this.  I am making excuses as to why I am not succeeding but that's what it is; excuses. 

It's no secret that I hurt.  A lot.  I have reached my pain threshold once again.  So I have not been exercising.  At all.  That is ridiculous.  I have a treadmill right in my living room, and I have no excuse not to step up and walk for 1/2 hour instead of sitting on the couch watching TV.  I don't have to walk fast I just have to get moving.  Any activity at this point would just help my cause tremendously.

I am trying to take this excuse off of the board.  I have an appointment on Monday to see if anything can be done.  This is my third doctor visit but this time it's with an Orthopedic who hopefully will get to the bottom of it and get me motivating once again.  Keep your fingers crossed.

I put my weight loss tracker on the side bar of this blog to help keep me motivated.  I thought if I was public about my journey I would be accountable to the three people that read this blog!  In reality, I'm not accountable to anyone but me.  I need to realize that I am worth the fight, worth the hard work, and worth the results.  I need to do this for ME.  I may have gotten to the level of being a "former diabetic" but I still have a long way to go. 

I tell myself every day that it's a new day and today I will be successful.  As long as I have more successful days than non-successful days, I will go a long way. 

Friday, January 04, 2013

Happy Birthday, Georgia!

Happy birthday, Georgia!!!

What's Your Name

One of my pet peeves:  Someone that wants to know my name that just doesn't need to know my name!

There used to be a bagel place that was by the job I had in my last life.  Unfortunately, it didn't last long, but while they were there, they had the most awesome bagels.  I would stop there at like 6:30 in the morning on my way to the office.  I would order my cheddar cheese bagel (the cheese was baked right in!  MMMM!) toasted with just a little cream cheese.  Since they had to toast it, you would pay for the bagel, they would fix it as requested then hand you the finished product and you were on your way.

Did I mention I'd be there at like 6:30 in the morning?  There was NO ONE else in the place!  They would ALWAYS ask for my name before they'd go heat my damn bagel.  My name is not a state secret, but it just irritated the heck out of me that they had to ask.  It was their policy to call you by name when your order was ready so that the right person would get the right order.

Call me silly, but I'm darn happy with a number system.  If I have check #4, call out #4 and I know it's mine!  Or, and this is my favorite, since I am the ONLY person in your store, trust me, I will get the right order!

Then it got to be a mission.  If I'd stop in the morning for a bagel, I would change my name every day for my order.  Hey, same person was working the counter and if you can't remember my name from day to day, you don't deserve to know my name.  On Monday I'd be Petunia.  Tuesday maybe Zelda, Wednesday I could be feeling like a Mamie Eisenhower.  The fun came in if we would go there for lunch.  They actually make some kick butt bagel sandwiches for lunch.  Now I'd get more creative since they usually got pretty busy at lunch.  You never know, there could be two Petunias in the restaurant.  Now for lunch, I'd pick better names.  I have been Frankenstein, Bambi, Andi Hardy, Humpty Dumpty and my personal favorite, Harry Potter.  There is nothing like a room full of people turning to look at you when they called out "order for Harry Potter!"  Yes, there were a lot of disappointed people in the house when they would see that the "real" Harry Potter wasn't there and the order was just for me.

Fast forward to today.  My brother Phil has been sick all week.  Actually, all three of my brothers are very sick but Phil lives with me so I have a vested interest in him getting better before he gets the rest of us sick!  Thursdays is my Weight Watchers weigh in after work, so Ron and Phil usually each go out to dinner that night since I'm not cooking.

I wanted to be a nice sister and I figured that with Phil feeling as badly as he does, he probably shouldn't be out in this cold.  I offered to stop and pick him up some dinner after weigh in.  Phil decided he had a hankering for some Arby's and since it's right across the street from Weight Watchers, I stopped in on my way home.

I ordered Phil his sandwich and then decided I was ordering something for myself so I didn't have to cook when I got home.  I wanted to order something healthy.  I decided to try the turkey and swiss wrap.  Then they asked me!  WHAT IS YOUR NAME!  What the heck!  I paid cash, what does it matter?  I was told they need it for the receipt so that they could call me by name.  Are you serious?  Once again, I am the ONLY one in line!  Trust me, I won't be confused when you come up with my order!  You know, if this were a high end restaurant, I would appreciate being called by name.  Or, a low end restaurant where I am a regular, I like that I am called by name.  But a fast food restaurant that I haven't been to since I lived in that area 10 years ago?  Trust me, you don't need to know my name!  I know it's a stupid point but it irritates me.  What irritated me even more is that I was too tired to come up with a cool name.  So, last night I was Katy.  Don't ask me why.   It was either that or Armour Hot Dog (that song was stuck in my head all day long yesterday but I was trying to get that OUT of my head!)

To continue my irritation for the day, I get home and start to try to enjoy my sandwich and what do I find?  My lovely turkey and swiss wrap had dijon mustard on it!  Eww!  What a way to ruin a sandwich!  This was absolutely disgusting.  So much for my dinner last night, blech.

On the good side, here is what I saw when I parked my car!  If you know the Arby's on Detroit and Abbe Roads, you know that is a huge hill that goes from Detroit Road down to the restaurant.  I wish I would have seen the person/persons running up and down this hill!  Now THAT would have been a picture! 


Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Challenge: Complete!

My friend Lisa was doing a photo blog, posting one picture a day throughout 2012 from within the city limits of Lorain.  That sounded like so much fun, I joined her in this challenge!  We were Lorain365 and our tag line was "2chix, 2pix, every day".

I committed to the blog, to the cause.  I posted 365 pictures in 366 days of 2012.  Ok, personally I figured if it was Lorain365, I had a pass for one day!  I took it!  What can I tell you, that's the way my mind works.

Now 2012 is over and my commitment is over.  This was more of a challenge than I ever thought it would be.  On the other hand, this was also more fun than I thought it was going to be.  This challenge gave me a better appreciation and understanding of Lorain.  I also learned a LOT about my camera this past year.  I still have a far way to go, but I am much farther along in my knowledge than I was a year ago today.  I want to thank Lisa for the allowing me to play in her reindeer games, for letting me pick her brain on all things camera and pictures and of course, for being my friend!

As much as I like playing with my camera and taking pictures, it was time for me to put a fork in it and call it done.  My true passion in blogging and my reason for the blog is writing.  I will still take pictures, but they will be to support a story that I want to tell.  And I know as I approach my 1,000th blog post, I still have a lot of stories to tell. 

While I have completed my commitment to Lorain365, this is still Lisa's passion.  So, for 2013, Lisa and Laura will be the new 2chix for the blog!  Please continue to stop by and check out what they are doing.  You never know when I will pop up as a guest blogger!  This can be one crazy city sometimes.  I'm sure I'll see something that needs to be put out there!

For this first day of 2013, I have to post a picture of what I saw today looking out my window.


It looks like the kitty highway was all coming to my house to surround me!  Aaah, life is good.

2013 - Life IS good.  Stay tuned!

Monday, December 31, 2012

Cleaning up the blogs

Here we are, at the end of 2012!  Can you believe it??  This year went by so quickly.  It's true what they say, the older you get, the faster time goes.

Well, one thing I wanted to do was to catch up on some blogs I've had sitting on the back burner.  I have a lot of ideas that I want to write about and I have files of pictures I want to post but that's as far as it's gone.  So, tonight I'm trying to sit here and clear out the cache of blogs that were stuck in my head!

This was a great photo taking opportunity.  I know I've mentioned before that I love a cemetery.  The last time Cathie was here I told her about Lakeview Cemetery over in Cleveland by Little Italy.  I love this cemetery and every time I go there, I see something new and interesting.  The workmanship on the stones is unbelievable.  It's really a peaceful place and I think if you need to be in a cemetery this seems to be a good one to be in. 

Cathie and I loaded up our cameras and headed east.  There isn't much of a story to tell here, just a lot of photos of a beautiful place.  We started at the President Garfield Monument.  It is absolutely amazing.  I've posted pictures before of this monument, so I tried to pick a couple of different pictures that I don't think I've posted before.





And what still gives me goosebumps, is the actual resting place of President Garfield.  His casket is the one with the flag and the other casket is his wife.  The two urns at the end hold their daughter and her husband.


As we were leaving the President Garfield Monument, I saw my mandatory Macro for Mark!  This little guy was on the walkway right outside of the monument!


We headed over to the Wade Chapel.  We got to hear the story of the chapel and I could never do it justice to retell it here.  You really need to make a day of it and go check out this cemetery on your own.  It's worth the stop.  Keep in mind, I still don't know how to do everything I want to do with my camera.  This is really the only picture at the Wade Chapel that turned out half way decent.  This is titled "The Resurrection".


After the chapel, Cathie and I just walked around the cemetery.  Again, the workmanship is just phenomenal.  I could have taken pictures all day long and posted ten times as many pictures as I have here today.  I want to start with my absolute favorite!  And this picture does NOT do him justice.


This statue is so lifelike it is scary.  I wish I would have taken pictures of his eyes.  For real, it was like he was looking right at me.  I don't know who he is, I've googled him and the only thing I could find is a mention of this monument at the cemetery.  Here is a picture of the plaque with the artist's name.  He deserved a shout out!


Here are just random markers that I thought were blog worthy.  Trust me, Cathie and I only walked a little piece of the cemetery.  There is so much more I haven't even seen there yet.  First picture is Cathie, checking out the monuments.  Isn't she cute?!! 


We had a beautiful day to walk around and take pictures.  Here are some of those pictures!












 






I need more adjectives because all I can think of is that this is one amazing place.  And, if you are driving all the way over to Lakeview Cemetery, on the way back you really should at BD's Mongolian BBQ.  I really do like this place!  But it's a far drive over to Coventry.  Like I said, if you're over there, it's another place that I totally recommend.

The best part of our lunch at BD's was the deep fried oreos.  For REAL people!  This is what they look like!


Honestly, Cathie liked them more than I did but that's ok.  I like the vanilla ice cream that came with it!  Our waiter, I hope his name was James, told me that if Cathie ordered the deep fried oreos, she'd never get back on the plane and go home!  I told him he would be my new best friend if he could get Cathie to stay in Ohio!  Here is me and my new best friend James!


We had such a good time with him that day!  And hey, have you seen my finger?  That joke will be much funnier after you read the next post on this blog!  Remember, you heard it here first!  Anyway, James is holding up the deep fried oreos while helping me mug for the camera!

While Cathie liked the oreos much better than I did, it wasn't enough to make her stay.  That's ok, we had a great time while she was here.  We shopped until we dropped, went sight seeing at a cemetery, ate, ate, ate and just enjoyed sister time.

Once again, thanks for coming to visit, my sister!  I love you!