Weekend Fun

Last week was such fun.  We watched little Miss Rio Wednesday night while the parents had a date night.  Clayton was quite happy to lend a watchful eye.

She enjoyed cottage cheese, cucumber, fig, asparagus and cauliflower.  Her fav though is truly cottage cheese. 

Then Thursday we all went out to In The Raw to celebrate The Hubby's birthday.  Ordering veggie rolls Rio got to enjoy a bit of brown rice and avocado, with chopsticks no less. 

The weekend I planned a huge party at the cabin on Friday night to again celebrate his day as it was his actual birthday.  Wow, it was a great success and The Hubby was thrilled.  

Saturday morning I took the golf cart and my trusty camera over to a fellow cabin to snap a few shots of his wonderfully decorated place.  I think I have several to paint! 

Birthday Boy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVE

The Hubby!

Moon - Doggie

It's Wednesday morning, and thought I would share a pic of our little guy.  Sweet Clayton is finally feeling better.  For the past two weeks he has battled yet another urinary tract infection and a nasty infection on one of the pads on his back leg.  He had some kind of injury, the foot was swollen and he was just not eating or feeling well at all.  Thankfully the vet gave him an antibiotic for the UTI and it worked for the foot too.  He's back to his usual sweet and happy disposition.  

That being said he got me up at about 3:30 this morning trying to puke in bed!!!!  Eek!  I jumped up and put him down on the wood floor which I knew I could clean much easier than my sheets.  The poor guy does this a lot so it's not unusual.  Since the day we got him he has had these bouts.  Just has a sensitive tummy. 

So, since I was up and awake I ended up going ahead and getting up and ready for workout.  I thought I would do some blogging and check emails...blah, blah, blah.  That didn't work out as our Internet was still down from last night.  Well, off to workout early then.  The moon was just beautiful. 

So as you can see that I am posting that the Internet is back up and running.  I plan on staying home most of the day today to paint.  This evening I'm watching Rio while her momma and daddy to the movies and dinner.  She is so much fun and almost walking!  My house will not be the same for awhile.  

Ohhhhh, and the scale FINALLY moved...I'm down 18 pounds!

Pizza...maybe

I've been following a site on Facebook called The Lighter Side of Low Carb and found this absolutely delicious recipe.  It's pizza but there is no pizza crust found.  The "crust" is made from grated cauliflower, egg and cheese!  Genius and fantastic!

Wow we so enjoyed this!  There are so many variations for toppings out there I can't wait to try.   

Baking 101...NOT

I decided today to try that yummy Southern Caramel Cake that has been floating around on FaceBook lately.  We're going to a garden dinner tonight with tons of people and I'm doing fried okra and at the last minute the cake.

So far, so good... 

Not too bad but when I turned to put the caramel icing bowl in the sink...slip sliding away the cake was going.  I put the icing on while it was still too warm. 

I reached to catch and since it is a caramel icing, well it stuck to my hand.  When I tried to push it back the back side of the cake broke too.  Oh well, a baker I am not I guess I will stick to the paintbrushes from now on or just bake it in a retangular pan. 

I seriously thought about dumping it in the trash but just can't waste it.  I'll pick on of my huge hibiscus red flowers and cover up the breakage. 

 

Inspiration

Yesterday when the alarm went off I knew that I was going to stay home all day so I sent a text to my trainer that I was sleeping in, which is kind of funny since I can't seem to do that, sleep in.  Anyway, I rolled around in bed and tried to sleep in but decided to get up to start my day.  I just needed a day to hang at the house and not budge which is what I did.  I was very productive too. 

I worked on some paintings and even started and finished one.  I'm working on a small commission for a photographer that wants one of his photos painted to look like a painting not a photo.  I got that for sure.  

After finishing with some more black lines I had to put aside to dry for a week or so.

Then I decided to start this one of Af.  She took it with her phone and I love it and thought it would be a great painting.

I usually paint to classical music but decided to use some jazz and popped in Af''s guy's new CD - Nick Mancini - Storyteller.  Wow, this is what happened with the inspiration!  Thanks Nick! 

Loving Myself

What a day, what a week.  It's kind of same-o-same-o lately.  Up each morning, quick low carb breakfast, workout, shower, work, low carb lunch, play with Rio, grocery store, home, low carb dinner, a little TV, bed...then we start all over again.  Each day, plodding along sometimes it kind of gets to me but that's just how life rolls forward. 

The scale has stabilized on one number and has not budged in two weeks.  I can feel the body change but I so want the scaled to move down, down, down.  Yesterday I had a facial and massage and the massage girl, Carrie, told me of a no carb/low carb pizza dough made out of cauliflower, cheese and egg!  I'm on the hunt now for some different foods/meals to make for us.  I know that eventually the scale will budge downward so I just have to keep up the good work.  I'm sure if I did a bit more cardio it might work, but basically, I'm a lazy person when it comes to that.  Even though I have been working out for close to 20 years I'm just not a person who does it on my own, hence the trainer or when I did Jazzercise I was responsible for opening and setting up the morning.  People counted on me.  I have to be responsible but somehow I can't hold myself responsible for myself.  How is that possible, but it is.  I will not beat myself for this flaw in me but will embrace it.  I am who I am and I love me!  

Dancing Queen

Definitely related to her granddaddy!

My Life - Lately

Not much to write about here today.  We had a fantastic weekend enjoying the cabin and much cooler temperatures, even in August.  Actually, it's hard to think we've even had a summer because of the cooler temps and rain, but I'll take it.

The diet is ongoing and my jeans that I put on this morning I realized are just about to fall off of me!!!  It is so amazing!

I've done a lot of reading lately finishing about 3 books by the end of the weekend.  I have found a series that I really enjoy.  It is the White House Chef mysteries.  They are:  State of the Onion, Hail to the Chef, Eggsecutive Orders, Buffalo West Wing, Affairs of Steak (I'm reading now), and Fonduing Fathers.  Nice summer reads and quick.

Wednesday evening I had dinner with my bestie from high school, Sharon and on Thursday I had dinner with my bestie Christine.  After lunch I headed to the local Office Depot for a new printer for home and a paper shredder for the office.  We burned up the last one.  I found a great one that was much quieter (per The Hubby's request).  Back at the office I was hefting the shredder out of the back of my Jeep when the stupid cardboard handhold snapped.  EGADS!!!!  My right arm, which has already been injured felt a a snap in my muscle.  OH MY GOODNESS, my arm is so sore, STILL.  Then today I was assisting our shop guy to tip the thing over to attach the wheels that we didn't find until it was totally uncrated, inside of it, when it slipped and of course I grabbed with the injured right arm.  My muscle will never be the same.  OUCH!

Okay that's kind of life for me lately.

A Dress

Well, well, well, look at what has been unearthed out of tons of pictures and scanned photos.

I am 14 years old and going to a DeMolay dance with a guy named Paul.

The dress my mother crocheted for me.  I wore it for the 9th grade Sweetheart banquet where I was so nervous that I had to call my Daddy to pick me up because I broke out in HIVES!

This one is a DeMolay dance of which I broke out in hives also. 

Now here again I am wearing the dress but I am 17 going to my Senior High Prom with Mike.  I did NOT break out in hives. 

It's Just My Opinion

It's just my opinion but...

• I hate going to bed watching the news and waking up to the same news, EXACTLY as it was the night before.  Aren't there new stories overnight.  I have to watch a completely different station that is not my favorite to get something new.  
• Why is that the lottery is NEVER won in any other state but New Jersey, New York or California!  Come on, why can't it be Oklahoma just once when I buy a ticket.
• Why is it that when you watch television and the commercials come on, the "old people" commercials, the volume is turned up so much you scramble for the volume control to quickly turn it down.  Is it because the elderly are more often than not hard of hearing and the commercial making people want to make sure they are heard.  Watch if you don't believe me.  It is happening people.  (I hate getting old!)

Weight Loss

I know it's hard to tell but I'm still dieting.  The loss is still only 17 pounds but the body she is a changing.  I will continue!

Happy Birthday Daddy

This past weekend I thought the best birthday present to give my Daddy was to take him to the cabin for the weekend!  I emailed him and he replied back in all caps, YEAH!  Today is his 78th birthday and he had the best birthday ever.  We had people over on Saturday night for The Hubby's brisket and he was overjoyed to get to mingle.  Saturday morning The Hubby took him fishing and look what they caught.  Look at that fabulous smile on his face.  He was so happy.

Oh and The Hubby was pretty happy too.  Unfortunately someone who helped them didn't tie the stringer very well and the fish were lost.  RATS!

10 Months Old

This little doodle-bug turned 10 months old yesterday.  I can't believe she is growing so fast.  She should be walking in a few short weeks, standing alone all the time now.  That face, oh how I can't turn away from that precious face.  Check out her little dress.  Her Momma has become quite handy and whittling down shirts to make dresses for her.  That little jewel was once one of my very favorite shirts that she cut down.  It tore in a bad place, ye,t I didn't have the heart to get rid of it and thought she could use it.  Voila!  

Sweet Memories

Briana has been a scanning fool as of late, going through boxes and boxes and boxes of pictures and memorabilia.  Today would have been my granddaddy's 98th birthday and I celebrate that.  I miss him tremendously.  He died in 1979, June, a few months before his first great grandchild, Briana was born.  Taken too soon by the horrible effects that cigarettes can cause, lung cancer.  Took his only child, my mother to soon also from emphysema, COPD.  Anyway, Briana found some of these gems I am sharing today.

Here he is in front of the feed store he owned in Broken Arrow when I was a child.  Cool huh!  

This picture I haven't seen in YEARS.  It's my greatgranny and greatgranddaddy, Maggie and Grady.  They lived in Rattlesnake Hollow in Jay, Oklahoma.  I loved this garden and don't remember the roses in the garden but there they are and I think peonies too.  I know they had roses along the front road.  I LOVED that place and those people dearly.   

Weight Loss

Monday morning and it is very early but I'm a bit excited.  I've been trying to not weigh very much but this morning I am starting 6 weeks of a new eating lifestyle and I needed to see if I have made any more of a dent.  I will be honest here with my weight...I started at 236, but this morning I thought I had gained weight when I saw the scale.  I was getting ready to be very, very upset...drumroll...219!!!!!  I am down 17 pounds this Monday morning.  I saw the 9 and thought WHAT, I gained but it is early and my mind was not awake!  It is all paying off!  I think chasing little Rio Saturday night because she spent the night again was good exercise.

She is so stinkin' cute.  I kept calling her Miss SnickleFritz which popped into my head.  A memory from Momma.

Week Wrap-Up

Wow, this week has been quite a week in a lot of ways.  I'm down another pound and I was able to pass up these puppies that a salesman keeps bringing to our office.  I breezed right by them, after snapping a quick pic!  A small victory.  I (we) also went out last night to Mexicali Border Cafe for a small class reunion dinner (The Hubby's) and I ate ONE chip, grilled chicken with sauteed veggies.  Success!

I'm kind of addicted to Island magazine and then I saw this magazine where I get my nails done and just had to subscribe.  I am not really a great traveler but I kind of dream when I look through the pages of these magazines.  Maybe, someday we will be able to take the time but work goes on... 

I have some other news but need to let it bubble around for a bit before I let it out there.  I can say it involves my painting and is very exciting, for me.  

Lastly, our little Clayton had visitors yesterday, his former owners, who live around the corner stopped by to visit him.  The still so love him but know he has such a wonderful home here.  They come by once in awhile to see his sweet face and get some of his slurppy kisses.  That's my boy.   

Summer Storms - July in Oklahoma

What a time we had last night.  Summer storms in July in Oklahoma!  Our generator, thankfully came on and has been running like a top since about 11 pm last night.  Our whole small neighborhood is without power as are tons of people.  It was truly scary and had the feeling of the ice storm of '09 when I stepped out of the house this morning. 

 

The first picture is of the neighbors to the north of us.  The house on the corner lost a limb and it is in the next yard down, our closet neighbors house. 

Small stuff in our yard, we were very lucky. 

 

 

Not so much the neighbors across the street and two doors down.  This massive oak was literally pulled out of the ground and is laying on the corner of the other neighbors house. 

 

Oh my goodness, just look at that thing.

Distraught and Heartbroken

I am utterly distraught and heartbroken.  Say it isn't so, PLEASE!  The local garden, Conrad's, that I have been going to since I was a child is selling!  They will sell out to local developers probably who will ruin the ground by developing a shopping mall or houses.  The 400+ acre farm has been growing and selling produce since the 1930's.  I used to go there with my Granny and Momma.  Before there, we went to a place called Bogg's but that has long gone too.  We even used to be able to pick our own produce.  Unfortunately the town has started closing in on the farm and so the land is highly coveted to destroy.  I'm am just beside myself with grief on losing history but understand that the Conrad's are tired and ready to let it go, to take a vacation once in awhile.  It's a very sad day when we lose precious farmland, especially good bottoms farmland.  My Momma and Granny would be as upset as I am if they were alive.  No more taking the kiddos to the gardens and bringing home bushels of corn, peas or tomatoes to freeze and can.  Life as we know and knew will be but fond memory.  I was actually going to head out there this week to get some purple hull peas and I will have to MAKE that happen!

Monday Morning Ramble

Monday morning...uh, yeah, Monday morning.  Another week, another day, another low cal meal! It's day-in-day-out of the same-o, same-o for me right now.  But, I am feeling good and we are going to continue the diet or food lifestyle that we have adopted as of late.  Granted this weekend we did indulge a few blue corn chips and a bowl of fresh strawberries and homemade ice cream but you have to live.  Last night for dinner I had three leftover ears of white corn from the weekend festivities and I decided to cut them off the ear and make a kind of corn tomato salsa to go with our grilled chicken.  We attended our 4 year old great-nephews little birthday party yesterday and went away with a sack full of fresh red tomatoes and jalapenos from their backyard so the idea popped into my head.  I cut the corn off, added chopped tomatoes and jalapeno, lemon juice (would prefer lime but did not have) and red onion.  Let it marinate a few hour and YUMMY!  Tonight we will have it over grilled tilapia.  Oh, and I picked, from my tiny garden, two zucchini and tons more cucumbers.  We ate the zucchini last night, but tonight will be cucumbers and onion in a little brine!  YUMMY, I so love summer veggies for the table.  I am hoping this afternoon to head out to the "gardens" in Bixby for purple hull peas, and hope my Daddy will shell them for me.  He loves to do that and I will oblige him the job, thank you! 

Hope all have a good day!