Angelrose's Journey

[minniecarousel]

Wow! Congrats, Angelrose - I didn't realize that exercising can help that much with bone density. Way to go!

Weird weather here too. Very summer-like heat on Saturday - back to cold today. Expecting rain on Wednesday.

We had a great Saturday afternoon/evening. We went to a reception for the 1972 Oakland A's World Series Champions. Not all the players (who are still alive) were there, but a good showing. We made a donation to the A's Charity and the event was limited to only 100 people. We could get autographs and talk to the players. We took our older son and daughter-in-law.

We were even able to eat enough of the appetizers so we didn't need to buy food at the game that followed.

Way back in 1971, 72 & 73 I worked for the A's selling game-day tickets. (I was a mere child at the time ) Back then, I don't think I really appreciated the history that team was making - 3 World Series Championships in a row!

 

[Angelrose]

Thanks Julie. Any weight bearing exercise is good for building bone density. You don't have to lift heavy weights. You can do 3 pounds as long as you do it consistently. Even pushups are good for arm strength.

That sounds like a wonderful day with the A's. It's always nice to do something like that with the whole family.

 

[snapppyd]

I know what you mean about the weather. A few days ago I had the air conditioner on and now I need the heat back on! This weather feels more like March and March felt more like May!

I have two colors of pants, capris, whatever. Blue and black. Then I can wear any color tops I like. Sometimes I will go wild and buy shorts in pink or a floral, but that is rare. I'm just too lazy to try and buy coordinating outfits. Too much money too.

I got good news about my bone scan. My bone density has grown 10% since November. It's all thanks to my DIL Karen who gave me a walking dvd after we got back from Disney. I started doing that on Valentines day and started lifting weight regularly. Then I started doing situps and pushups. They all helped. So I don't have to take any meds or anything. I just have to keep up with my calcium tablets and Vit D and keep up my exercising.

I am a happy camper tonight.

Wow, that is wonderful! Natural is always better. My doctor wanted me to start taking Boniva when I was around 52, I took it once and said never again, just didn't like the way it made me feel. I started walking, now I'll add some weight training. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[4nana]

Angelrose, Snappy & Minnie ~

Angel, LOVE the nice Easter pix of your sweet grands...I enjoy seeing their progress, as they are growing up so fast. Snappyd, enjoyed your beaufitul pix of Central Park, haven't been there in years, so thx, they brought back some fond memories.

Glad everyone had a wonderful Easter . We are counting our blessings for the good times shared while everyone was home together . Some got to stay a week, but it's back to 'empty nest' now and you can hear a pin drop . DS is officer in military and being transferred end of month, so I am preparing myself once again for not seeing them/grands often...but thankfully with modern technology of compt/web cam/digital pix, etc., we're always close in spirit and I am only a call/text away . As a military mom you quickly learn to swim or sink.

Angel, I'm so impressed with your continued commitment and the great job ur doing keeping in good physical shape . You must feel so much better, not only physically, but mentally also. Our 2 mo. aqua therapy was such a beneficial exercise we really enjoyed, but we've dropped out for spring/summer as there are lots of other activites happening, incl grands sports & activites, etc., to busy ourselves with, and will rejoin in fall.

TTYL and take good care ladies...

 

[Angelrose]

snappyd, my DIL tried Boniva and it made her legs hurt so bad she could hardly walk. She stopped taking it too.

Thank you 4nana and God bless your son in the military. I do feel better with all the exercise. I'm really happy that I no longer have to use my cane. YAYYYYYY me. That was a real thrill for me. I do my exercises every morning. I hate to get started, but once I do, it's always a surprise when I'm done. It goes so fast. Today after I did the dvd and the weight lifting, I went outside with the weed whacker for an hour and 15 minutes. I got it all done, thank goodness. I can probably wait another two or three weeks before I have to do it again. Depending on the rain I guess.

Now I hope I've lost something this week. I do all the exercises, but then I'm so hungry and eat more. LOL I'm trying to eat right, but it's hard.

 

[Angelrose]

Hello everyone. I've been busy with the weed whacking. Let's see, what's new. Our Karen did a 5K in 37:26! It was her first and I think she did great. I am so proud of her.

I babysat a couple of times. Zoey is getting to know me now and just loves to sit in my lap and let me read to her. When we watch a movie, she has to sit next to me. I always get a big hug from her when I come in the door. Of course I always get a big hug from Jesse too.

I donated over 250 books to a library. I have so many more to donate, but Chuck's van was filled up. So I have to wait until next year.

I used to collect book marks. Every time I bought a book, I would see what they had new and buy them. I had a drawer filled with them. They needed to go.

I decided to take them to the grade school that Chuck went to. It's a small school just down the road from me.

As I drove in the parking lot, another car pulled in and a tall, pretty young woman got out. She asked if I was going in and I told her I had these bookmarks to donate. So she let me in the back door instead of walking all the way around the front.

As we were walking down the hall, I mentioned that it had been MANY years since I had walked down those halls. I told her my son had gone to this school. She asked his name and when I told her, she said her sister had gone to school with him and told me her name. Well, what a small world! Her sister was a sweet girl and died tragically in her early 20's of a brain tumor. But her sister got her teacher training at this school and is now a teacher there. They were very glad to get that huge bag (4 Zip lock gallon bags filled). I thought they would be a good incentive for the kids to read more. So they were happy and I was happy and I met the sister of the girl my son went to school with after all these years. I was amazed that she grew up. LOL

I am still going up and down with my weight. But I'm still down 52 pounds so I guess I should be happy with that.

Today I went shopping and I fit into a size 8 Capri's! And a size medium tank top. The Capri's are turquoise and the tank is a sort of tie dye in turquoise, blue and purple. I also bought tanks in red, black, pink and blue. I found a nice purse in the turquoise colors and a wallet to match. I am now all set for Mother's day dinner with the kids and the family dinner in June.

When I came home and had my lunch. I didn't feel like doing my workout so I just did my weight lifting. Since it was cloudy and foggy all day, I decided to go out and get the leaves and oak strings out of the pool. I still have to drain the cover again. Then I got out the weed killer and got the weeds in the cracks of the black top and in the sidewalk. I still had some energy left so I got out the weed whacker and did the whole back, side and front yard.

That was almost two hours of a workout. Funny that I didn't want to do the easy dvd workout. LOL I was exhausted by the time I got in. I came in and ran to the shower. I was stinky and covered in pollen. I washed my hair and felt better after that. I sat in my recliner for the rest of the day.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

 

[minnie56]

I love reading your posts Angelrose..they are so descriptive. I can envision where you live as you go about your days so well! You keep busy and rather put me to shame! Good for you..and you have done amazing (!!!!) with your weight loss. I bet you feel so much better...I need some of your motivation...

Take care of you...you are one very special lady

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Hi, Angelrose and all!

It has been far too long since I've stopped by to say hello, but I still receive email notifications and read every post.

Minnie said it so well - your posts are a delight! I am so happy for your weight-loss and road to a healthier lifestyle! Wish I could follow your example, but no idea how to even begin....I am not good with weight watchers on line and could not get a meeting. A funny story though...many, many years ago I went with a friend to WW (after my second baby), we both weighed in, but I was rejected because I wasn't overweight at all! Boy, those were the days.

Congratulations!! 52 lbs is such an achievement - and a size 8!!! Way to go, Mary!!!!

 

[Angelrose]

Thank you minnie56 and Minnie&Nana. I do try and keep up with my journey to better health and looking better to myself.

It's a hard road for me. My motivation was seeing a picture of myself at our family dinner. I was the fattest one in the family. I also didn't want to have a stroke like most of my family. That is not a good way to go. I didn't want to get diabetes either. I was very close. Now all my blood work is good. My high blood pressure is very good now and I am off the water part of the pill. Hopefully I will be off the pill altogether soon.

But the best part was being able to walk without my cane! That means so much to me.

I use the Leslie Sansone 4 mile walking express dvd. It was a good way to get started. I also started lifting weights to stop the progression of bone loss.

Since I don't work, it's easy for me to do the exercising. I do it first thing in the morning usually. It takes me a little over an hour to do everything. Then I take my hour walk in the afternoon provided it isn't too hot.

I absolutely HATE to get started in the morning. But once I get into it, I actually enjoy it! I do talk back to Leslie because she is just too darn happy that early in the morning. LOL Good thing she can't hear me.

Today I was going to skip doing my workouts. I was going to take the day off and just be a couch potato. I made it until after lunch and I couldn't stand being so lazy. So I did my full workout, vacuumed and washed the kitchen floor. Since I had redeemed myself, I was able to watch the last two Harry Potter movies without feeling guilty.

I do love my WW meetings. Our leader is very good. High energy, funny and inspiring. If you don't have a good leader, it's very hard to stay motivated. In fact, every once in a while when we have a substitute, I just get weighed in and leave. I stayed once and almost fell asleep with the substitute.

It will be two years in October since I started WW. I know I will probably be doing it for the rest of my life. I need those meetings and I know if I ever stopped, I would go right back to my bad habits. I don't ever want to go back to that.

Minnie&Nana, being rejected by WW! WOW, how I wish! When you are ready you will find the motivation to do it. No one can tell you. It's just something you do for yourself. Put yourself first for a little while each day.

Wishing you both good luck in your journey.

 

[minniecarousel]

Gee, Angelrose, I get exhausted just reading all that you do!

We went into San Francisco today with our younger son and daughter-in-law. We went to their favorite dim-sum place, where we spotted Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester on Glee). We rarely watch the show, but DH was the first to recognize her. Then we went onto Golden Gate Park to see the exhibit of Jean-Paul Gaultier - wearable art (he's famous for his cone-bras for Madonna).

It's funny how we so rarely go into the Big City, when we live so close!

 

[Angelrose]

That sounds like a wonderful day minniecarousel. How neat that you saw Jane Lynch.

Well, I bought a new Leslie Sansone workout dvd Saturday. It's a 75 minute 5 mile walk. I tried it today. OMG how intense! They also give you a resistance band to work your arms and legs. Sort of like a big rubber band. I had to sit down for a few minutes after that workout. But I did my weight training along with the situps, pushups and squats. I even did 5 times around Smithville this afternoon.

I don't know if I'll be able to do that workout every day. I might do my old dvd every other day until I get used to this more intense workout.

The pollen is just horrendous. My car usually red, but today it was yellow. It was so bad, I hosed it off to go to Smithville. By the time I turned off the water, went inside to get my car keys and got in the car, it already had another coating of pollen! There were waves of it blowing off my blacktop today. I can't wait for the rain on Wednesday to get rid of it for a few days.

 

[Angelrose]

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO EVERYONE!

I'm going to be with my family tomorrow. Chuck and I are going to see the Dark Shadows movie and then we're all going out for dinner. A perfect day.

Chuck and the kids came over this morning. He had to put up my new blinds in the kitchen and I played with Jesse and Zoey. She calls me MOM! She usually yells it too. She can't quite say grandmom yet. They both love to play on my organ. I have to make sure I sit with Zoey so she doesn't fall off the bench. She just laughs when she jams her hands down on the keys. Then she claps. She had the rhythms going and was moving around and groovin' to the "music". I wish I had a video of it.


Everyone have a great day tomorrow.

 

[minnie56]

Happy Mothers Day Angelrose and to all the other Mum's that stop by here too

That does indeed sound a perfect day! Enjoy every minute...

 

[Angelrose]

Thanks minnie56. I did have a wonderful day. They picked me up around 11 and we went to Olive Garden. I had the stuffed chicken and it was fantastic. I only ate half of it, but I can't begin to think of the points and calories I used. I guess if I eat bread and water for the next few days I will be OK. LOL

After lunch Chuck and I went to see Dark Shadows. We both loved it. It was very funny in parts but a good story too. After the movie Chuck drove me home and I just relaxed and watched tv the rest of the day.

I did do my full workout this morning so I know I used up some of those calories.

I'm a happy camper tonight.

A friend of mine in California and I were chatting on line the other day and she was telling me that her sister brought a lot of silver jewelry back from Colorado. Her friend had gone out of the jewelry business and gave her a lot.

She gave my friend Sue anything she wanted from a pile. She picked out a ring and a moonstone necklace. I told her that I have a moonstone ring that I wear all the time. It "talks" to me. I can't explain it other than somehow I feel it's part of me. I know I'm weird.

Well yesterday I received a package in the mail from my friend. It was the moonstone necklace! When you get it in the sunlight you can see flashes of bright blue irridescence (sp?). I was so surprised. She told me she had picked it up 2 or 3 times and kept putting it back and then picking it up again. When we talked she knew that she had picked it up for me. Wasn't that sweet of her? I haven't taken it off since. I keep rubbing it like Aladdin's lamp. Although if a Genie appeared I would faint dead away.

We've been online friends for about 13 years. We got together in a Beanie Babies club. After that some of us all got together in New York at one friends home. We went to Niagara falls and into Canada. We spent 4 days laughing together. There were 6 of us and 4 of us are still friends. Isn't it strange that we found such good friends because of a little stuffed toy?

 

[minniecarousel]

How nice about the moonstone necklace (& the on-line friends). Sounds like you had a nice day, Angelrose.

DH took me out to the Cheesecake Factory for brunch. We were going to go to a movie, but we were too full, so I said let's just go home. It's cool out today, so I got the ironing done. (it always seems to pile up when we have a heat wave!)

We'll be meetng our kids at a steakhouse at 7 for dinner. The boys got together and planned it. Works for me!

 

[Angelrose]

Sounds like a great day for you too minniecarousel.

I am blessed to have some wonderful friends, on line and in person.

 

[snapppyd]

Good morning ladies!

We got back from WDW last Wednesday and I spent the rest of the week doing laundry and cleaning. It was a very relaxing trip - we spent the week at the Beach Club and didn't even go to the parks! Then we went to the NJ house for the weekend - more unpacking of the summer clothes.

The pollen down there is terrible, our porch was covered in yellow dust that looked like talcum powder. We cleaned it on Saturday and by Sunday morning it was covered again

We don't have children and our Moms are both gone so we had a quiet weekend - went to the pizza place on Friday night and grilled some tuna steaks on Saturday. The weather was so beautiful this weekend.

Hope everyone has a nice week

 

[Angelrose]

WOW snappyd. You had a such great time at Beach Club that you didn't even need to go to the parks? I can't imagine that. But so glad you had a good time relaxing.

The pollen is slowing down here now. But the pollen has been terrible this year. I have to get it out of my pool cover too. I've gotten out most of the leaves and the oak strings. I'm sure there is more in there now. I did put in some algeacide so it won't get really nasty.

Another two weeks and I have the pool man coming to take off the top and get the filter running and the solar heaters connected. He does a great job and doesn't kill me with a big bill. I can't wait to start swimming again.

 

[Angelrose]

Well, I am depressed! Last week at WW meeting, I thought she said that I had gained .2 and this week I gained .8. Well I looked at my book and I gained 2 POUNDS last week. OMG I have gained almost 3 pounds in two weeks. I know what I need to do now.

I have been eating more because I get so hungry after all the exercise. Now I know I have to drink more water and eat some fruit instead of potato chips. Even though it's only 2 points I have to cut it out and eat something more healthful. I can't go over my points like I have been doing. They allow you 5 extra points each day and extra points for exercise but when I do that I gain. I don't know why. But I have to go back to religiously stay within my 26 points.

Tonight I know I ate more than my points because I was mad. Stupid thing to do, I know. But tomorrow is another day and I WILL get back on track. I have to. I can't go back to where I was.

Funny thing is that I feel thinner. But the scale doesn't lie. Somehow I wish it would. LOL

 

[snapppyd]

Angel, muscle weighs more than fat! You are doing great.

It's such a miserable, rainy day today. I'm going to read my Kindle, I'm 38% through David Copperfield. I'm loving it, but it is LONG, so today is a good day to make some progress.

Hope everyone has a sunny weekend!!