An Alka-Seltzer Moment

The plinky prompt today was describe your most embarrassing moment.

This one is the stuff legends are made of.

Think back a long, long time. Are you back in the early days of television, when there were a whole series of Alka-Seltzer ads. They were one liners, followed by the picture of two Alka-Seltzer tablets being dropped in a glass. There were things like

“Are you SURE you paid the mortgage?” Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz

and

“Why is the dog digging in the neighbor’s flower beds?” Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz.

Well, my darling husband and I were newly married, and were visiting his parents. We were watching TV after dinner and one of those ads came on. I thought it was pretty funny, and repeated the words…

“I don’t nag – your mother nags!”

…and his mother walked in the door from the kitchen.

Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz…

Diet – the End of Week Five

I weighed in this morning and had lost another 2 pounds – that’s 8 pounds overall.  It’s getting to be a little easier, although I still look up just about everything I eat to make sure it fits in my daily allotment of points.  I also made a real effort to walk a little farther and a little more often this week.  I found while I was at the Casino that I could walk all the way from the casino floor, up the ramp, and through the lobby to the elevators without having to stop and breathe.  That’s an improvement from before Christmas when we were down there.

On the strength of two pounds, we went to Tokyo One – the sushi buffet – for lunch. 

You might think that sushi is not very diet friendly, but seaweed salad is 1 point for a whole cup, kimchee is virtually point free, cucumber salad is very light on points, and each piece of sushi roll is only 1 point.  I had 20 pieces of various flavors and fillings for 19 Weight Watcher points.  And as a proof that I’m serious about my diet, I passed up ice cream – my favorite thing in all the world.  I also gave the Shrimp Tempura and Creme Brule a pass.

Looking at my calendar for next week, I see I will go to my bookkeeping job tomorrow morning, so I will have a venti, non-fat, no-whip mocha  and a granola bar instead of my regular venti mocha and blueberry scone. 

On Wednesday, I’ll be careful with my sandwich at bridge – maybe I’ll take a Subway  cold cut combo – and I will say “Thanks, but no thanks” to the chocolate candy that always gets offered. 

I’d better skip breakfast at Toastmasters on Friday, and have a banana  at home because I have Presbytery on Friday afternoon and on Saturday. I’ll eat before I go on Friday, and I won’t have their breakfast on Saturday, but I will have one of their box lunches on Saturday, but I won’t eat the chips or the cookie.

I’m going to keep on keeping on with this diet, come hell or high water…

Really Busy…

Right after I posted my blog yesterday we left for an overnight run to Bossier City to the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel overnight, and then a trip to the commissary this morning.  We got home about 4 p.m. and by the time we got the car unloaded, the meat repackaged for the freezer, and all the bags of groceries unpacked it was after 5:30.  I’ve been reading e-mail since then, and it’s now 7 p.m.

I’m going to put my feet up this evening, and then tomorrow I have to go to Officer’s Training/Retreat at the church.  We’re having Len Sweet, author of Nudge  as the featured speaker.  That will last from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and I know I’ll be mentally fried after it.  Either that or over-stimulated.

Then Sunday we have a guest preacher, and I think we’re supposed to have another speaker in the afternoon and a concert in the evening.  I will probably skip the afternoon and evening stuff, and come home for a much-needed nap.  (I don’t ever sleep well the first night in a hotel, and when we’re only there one night, I don’t sleep well.  Duh!)

Monday I go to my 2-day-a-month bookkeeping job, and Tuesday I’ll have to take my car to the windshield repair place because we got a rock kicked up into it and it made a little crack.  Then Wednesday I have bridge again, and I’m going to try to make it to the Taise prayer service at the church at 6:15, since it will be the first day of Lent.

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been busy for seven or eight days straight.  I’ve gotten completely out of the habit of having to be somewhere every day!  I like being retired…

My Favorite Way to Go

I used to love to drive, just about anywhere, and I still love to “take a ride.” When I was growing up, we would escape the heat and stillness of a Sunday afternoon, by piling in the car and taking a ride down shady country roads. At least the motion of the car stirred up a breeze with all the windows down (I was 10 years old before air conditioning became ubiquitous in houses, and even older before it was standard in cars).

I don’t love fighting traffic –

By neutralSurface

semi’s on the interstate scare the p-wadden out of me. Because lots of other people also seemingly like to drive, I have transferred my love of touring to riding in a train. If there is a train going there, I will opt for that mode of transportation every time.

Riding in a train, you can look out of the windows and watch the countryside roll by.

You can get up and walk around.

You don’t have to stop for a potty-break or to get something to eat. “Dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer than to have your ham and eggs in Carolina.”

You can read a book,

take a nap,

sleep “comfortably” and still be on your way.

We travelled all over Europe by train in 1982. Since we’ve been in Dallas, we’ve taken Amtrak to Chicago

and San Antonio several times, to the West Coast (Seattle via Los Angeles),

across the Empire Builder route from Portland to Chicago,

to the East Coast (New York via Philadelphia)

and from New York back to Chicago via the Lakeside Limited.

So when it comes to “going” I will opt for a train anytime. Sometimes we just ride the Dallas Area Rapid Transit to the end of the line and back. We will ride the train from Dallas to Ft Worth for an outing. I can’t wait until we get to Tacoma and can take a train more often and to more places, with decent schedules.

 By 棟樑‧Harry‧黃基峰‧Taiwan

One of these days, the United States is going to catch up with the rest of the world and have high-speed rail going everywhere we want to go! If only I live that long.

This post inspired by another plinky prompt.

Fashion Statements from Past

The Plinky.com prompt today was “Post a photo of a fashion statement you regret making.” 

That’s me in the striped shirt and checked shorts (what was my mother thinking?)

The skirt was pea green and the turtleneck was pink – but it’s the shoes and socks that “make” the outfit!

In my defense, I was being the upstairs maid for my grandmother during the summer to earn money for a trip to Europe.

I “LOVED” that sweater, although it makes my eyes hurt to look at it now.  It was black & white, so you’re not missing anything here with the photo not being in color.

My recent fashion “faux pas”s seem to consist mostly of stuffing my fat butt into too small pants, and I’m NOT going to show those!

In Honor of Presidents Day

I thought I’d go back and repost this…

“It’s Nice to Be Reminded…”  Check it out!

Diet Check-in

I’ve lost another pound this week.  That’s a total of 6 pounds over all.  It was harder this week since I ate lunch out on Wednesday, and, then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were all dinner (at lunch time) out.

I don’t foresee any major hurdles this week except on Thursday when we are going to Bossier City for our bi-monthly shopping trip.  We’ll go down Thursday afternoon, and stay at the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel overnight.

The problem is they have a wonderful buffet, and I just have no will power at buffets.  I seem to think that because I’ve paid whatever the price is, I ought to eat, at least a taste, of everything in sight.  That would be all right if I just had a taste, but I never seem to know when to stop.  Maybe we’ll eat at a restaurant instead of at the hotel.  I should be able to handle that better.

Friday I’ll walk a lot of what I eat that day off in the commissary, I hope.  It takes upwards of an hour to shop, and, although it’s stop and go, I’m on my feet the whole time.  Big Al used to do the shopping while I stayed at the casino and tried my luck on the slot machines,

By Katie & Ian

but the last time we went he asked me to go with him.  His back really bothers him when he is on his feet for that long.  We’re just getting too old for this!

I’ve been getting a little bit of exercise every day, but I need to get more regular about it.  That’s my goal for the next couple of weeks – to actually walk more than just what I HAVE to for shopping and housework.  (Groan…)

New Socks

I took a break from knitting Aran sweaters to make myself some socks.  I found this great yarn that is “self-striping”. 

I didn’t have any brown socks, and I thought these would be cute.  (I think they are!)

I think the striping on the left one turned out better than the striping on the right one.

(I don’t know who those scaly, alien legs belong to!)

It’s been years since I’ve knitted socks, but they were quick and fun.  I may do more!

Words Matter

The National Council of Churches, U.S.A. has published a booklet of Lenten Devotions called Words Matter.  You can download a .pdf copy if you’d like. 

The introduction says:

This lent, the Words Matter project invites you to the spiritual discipline of paying attention to your words.  Far from a desire to be politically correct, Words Matter focuses on deep thinking about what is really at stake in the words we use, acknowledging that words can be used to tear down – but hopeful that more of us will embrace the potential of words to build up.

You can read about the history of this project here.

“new awarenesses have emerged from other communities within our churches about language that reinforces harmful stereotypes about persons with disabilities and persons of color, heightening sensitivity to the use of words in general – words that can create or disrupt community and wholeness.  Biblical imagery of light and dark, for instance, tend to associate all that is good with white and light, and all that is bad with black and darkness, reinforcing racist stereotypes.  The use of “blindness” to designate not just the ability to see or not see with one’s eyes but seeing or not seeing in a spiritual sense can be offensive to those with physical disabilities.

“The term ‘expansive language’ has been used in some circles to indicate that respectful language that honors all of God’s people is more than just gender inclusive.  It also seeks to find words, phrases and images that do not offend or reinforce stereotypes harmful to anyone.  As our denominations celebrate being multicultural and multiracial communities of faith, welcoming forms and styles of worship not historically or traditionally associated with our origins, the conversation about the use of language in our churches becomes more critical, and more challenging.”

I will be reading and reflecting on the devotions here on this blog throughout Lent this year.  Download a copy of the booklet and reflect along with me.  And let me know what you’re thinking.

I Was Born Under a Wand’ring Star

This is another Plinky.com prompt.  (If anyone can tell me what I’m doing wrong and why I can’t automatically cross-post from Plinky, please let me know!)

What is the farthest you’ve ever travelled from home?

Boy, this is a tough one. The first problem is figuring out where “home” is.

I’m 66 years old and have lived in 27+ houses in 21+ cities, towns, and villages. When I say “lived” I mean used the address on my checks and slept there more than 14 nights in a row. My father worked for Shell Chemical Co., and my husband was in the Air Force.

If you want to count distance from then current “home” to travel destination, it’s probably a tie. When I was in high school my Girl Scout troop travelled from Westfield, NJ, through England, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Spain. Farthest east on that trip was probably Switzerland. The other “far” trip was from Dallas, TX, to Fairbanks, AK, on a cruise.

I won’t tire you with listing the dates and places I’ve lived, but it’s a given that I get bored when we don’t GO SOMEWHERE, ANYWHERE, even if it’s only to Shreveport to the commissary, at least every other month.