Memories

This has been a good week. I've had lots of moments to reflect on memories of my kids. Adam's been busy between school and his new job, and being a typical almost 17 year old, I've only spent time with him on the drive to/from work, and in our History discussion at school.

Logan & Jordan on the other hand...I know they're 12 and almost 15, but this week was a week of reminiscing. They did things they haven't done for years. Maybe out of bordom, maybe because neither have friends that are close enough to come over. Anyway, this week they watched the oldest Veggie Tales videos with me. If you haven't watched these, you should. They teach important lessons to kids but there's one-liners thrown in to amuse the adults as well. Being older, my kids caught lots of the jokes they never did when they watched as younger kids. I think even they were surprised that they remembered the words to the songs.

I also heard them playing hide & seek one day. It's a big house, so you really can play a good game here. It made me think of how they used to play in NH. Because Adam was the oldest, and his personality makes him quite the loner, Logan & Jordan were the two that always played together once Adam hit about 10. It was fun to hear them playing games and laughing together again.

I also caught them sitting together on Logan's floor building things out of his enormous Lego collection. No fighting. No bossing each other around like usual. Just two siblings, playing side by side, sharing time together.

I'm so thankful for the chance to reflect on a simpler time in our life when they were younger. Although I homeschooled and never missed a moment of their growing up, it still happened too fast and I often wish for the chance to relive a few days with them when they were younger.

Hang onto every moment with your children. Soon they'll be moved out and you'll wish you had. Appreciate the blessing while you can.

Time for Tea

I love to just sit and talk with the most special people in my world, accompanied by a cup of tea. Not the tea bag grocery store stuff - real loose-leaf tea. There's something about it that makes even just sitting and talking seem special. Yesterday I got to do that with Tim's Mom.

You would think living in the same house, we'd all be sick of seeing each other by now, but the way the house is laid out, there's sometimes DAYS that I don't see Mom. We each are a blend of 2 personalities, and one of those two, we share. That allows us to understand what the other feels in different circumstances, why we responded or reacted to it the way we did, why certain things get on our nerves, and what things mean the most to us. We spent two full hours just relaxing, getting caught up on the latest news, sipping a decaf. vanilla tea from our special teacups and saucers. We talked by the fireplace (the only warm spot in the house these days). I bet she spent lots of time just sitting and talking with her Mom a while back - now it's my turn to sit and talk with her. Sometimes we invite Jordan to join us, and she was only a few feet away on the computer, but it was good to have adult conversation without the constant interrupting of a 12 year old pretending to understand all we're discussing :-)

It was the great event of my day, until her cats began racing overhead (we talked an hour past their usual feeding time). When we stood up, we gave each other a hug, hopefully both feeling a bit more relieved and relaxed, and for the rest of the day, I felt like I'd done something special and memorable that day - and it didn't cost a penny!

Down 16 pounds!

Today is a happy day! In about 8 weeks, I've lost 16 pounds and still going! I don't have to kill myself at the gym, give up taste, or starve all day. It's the new product line RVL from Monavie that's really making it drop off fast. I'm only using half the system (and some days I miss taking my shake because we aren't home). I'm eating healthy around the shake, and when I eat my "sensible meals", I'm following The Maker's Diet, which isn't a diet, doesn't restrict calories, just avoids sugars, preservatives and processed foods. I can eat 2 eggs, scrambled with onions, peppers and mushrooms, with an ounce of goat cheese, and turkey bacon. Then for lunch I can have coconut-mushroom soup, a generous salad with homemade dressing, with any kind of meat in it I want (but not nitrate-filled deli meats), and a shake for supper. With RVL, I can either snack on bars that are part of the system, or a Special K 90 cal. bar, or berries with some organic plain yogurt and a dab of honey.

The only exercising I get lately is walking around the house (about 1 1/2 to 2 miles a day, according to my pedometer), going for a walk (3 miles) outside when it's warm enough, and walking through grocery stores & WalMart when I'm in town.

This is the best thing that's happened to me in a long time - and you know what? - Tim's down 39 pounds so far and almost to his goal! He weighs less now than when he was a young teenager! It's the lowest he remembers weighing.

If you want to get healthy too, you should consider the RVL program.

Skype

I'm a person who hates the telephone. I would much rather text or type on Facebook chat with someone. I'm not sure why, maybe because growing up there were so many bill collectors that when it rang, my mother would say, "Don't answer that!". Yes, that was before the world of caller-ID.

Anyway, I've always been especially close with my sister, Alana, but I haven't been with her in a year and a half. Today we were able to use skype to not only talk, but to see each other. She talked to all the kids first, said hi to Tim briefly, then we got to talk. It was so nice to see her expressions as she talked, it helped us understand that Boston accent we've been away from for so long!

It wasn't perfect, it got all pixel-y, we lost sound quality towards the end, only picking up about every 10th word. Good thing I read lips pretty well. Anyway, it was a lot more fun than a phone call, and I hope I get to do it again soon. I usually walk away after a phone call getting back to what I was doing. This time, I really feel like I spent time with her.

Thank you Skype for bringing me closer to my sister.