The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Can you tell that Christmas season has begun at our house?  We got back late last night from our Thanksgiving trip to daughter Laura's family near Seattle.  The high temperature here dropped 20 degrees from yesterday's mid 60s.  My title is from an Amy Grant song that is playing on my Christmas playlist.  The first creche is up on the piano and the first of the Christmas bins is empty and ready to put back in the storage closet.  If you were here, you could smell the cranberry bars that I just took out of the oven.  I made a double batch because today is Jay's birthday and he'll take a tin to his friends at his job and the rest are for the dessert buffet after our annual Messiah sing next week.

Here's a picture of the cranberry bars.  Definitely not diet bars, they have a full complement of butter, sugar, and flour, but these are the BEST bar cookie I know.  I always buy multiple bags of fresh cranberries in the fall to have on hand to make these as needed during the year.  I'll put the recipe in the recipe section at the right.

And here's the first creche that's up.  I collect them and we usually put up seven or eight each Christmas.  I guess I always refer to them as creches because that's the term I heard most at home (my mother's mother was French).  I'm excited because I have a small box that my cousin gave to me when he was clearing out my aunt's house.  The box is marked "creches."  I haven't opened it up yet, but am going to sit down with a cup of hot tea and see what's there sometime soon.

We had a whirlwind trip to Laura's.  We had been thinking about meeting them in the southwest and going to various national parks, but opted to go to Seattle instead.  It worked out to be the best plan.  Laura dislocated her elbow during a coed soccer game last weekend.  The pain didn't recede as expected and a return visit to the doctor and subsequent MRI showed more extensive damage than they'd first thought.  In short she has three bones that were shattered, including the radial head.  She went back for 4 1/2 hours of surgery on Wednesday.  They weren't able to put things back together as they had hoped, so they removed the bone chips and we're praying that the bone she has left will mend itself well enough to give her a decent range of motion in her right arm.  It was good to be there to help.  John took care of the kids and David and I took on the nursing duties and took turns getting things ready for, and cleaning up after Thanksgiving dinner.  Fortunately I'd gotten a lot done early (before the surgery), so things did come together pretty well.  Laura felt well enough to come to the dinner table for the Thanksgiving feast and we had a good time afterwards playing games at the table.  Lots of laughter.

Ben, Rose, and Jeanning posing at a local nursery.

Ready for TKD, but playing a game until time to go.

Jeannine learned to make crepes at school and made them for  breakfast for all eight of us!

Ben and Rose fooling around with the Photo Booth app on my iPad.

The grandkids are a joy.  They are 12, 10, and 9 (in 3 more days) now and full of life, smart as can be, and funny.  We played lots of games (telestrations, Scramble with Friends, tripoly, 10,000, Draw Something) worked together to solve several New York Times Crossword puzzles, played basketball outside, and watched National Treasure together.  They were all willing and eager to help their mom when she needed something and I'm sure will continue to take good care of her while she recuperates.  David brought home a new ping pong table from a Black Friday sale and I'm guessing the kids are playing as I type this.

I am up a couple pounds from when we left for Seattle.  I drew a line in the proverbial sand when we came home last night and am back to 17DD, cycle one until I get back to my pre-France weight (about 5 pounds).  I made the cranberry bars today because I'm feeling quite strong and resolved in my plan.  I need to get them safely out of sight into their tins and then I'll be set.  Jay asked for meatloaf (!!) for his birthday dinner and was quite happy with the offer of Boston Market meatloaf, so he'll get to choose whatever he wants and bring it home and DH and I will probably have turkeyburgers, veggies and salad.  Haven't figured out the birthday dessert yet, but I'm sure it'll have a candle in it and he'll love it.

Oh, Laura has a new fitbit and loves it.  I love it too!  I've ordered one.  Do any of you use one?  Any tips?   Laura, the day after her surgery had registered 91 points by dinner time.  She's using that as a baseline to build up to being active again!

Enjoy this most wonderful time of the year!

Off to the gym.

Tish

Bonjour!

It's been way too long since I posted.  Lots has happened in the meanwhile, but basically, I'm in good shape and have kept up with my eating plan and my exercise.  Except for the past two and a half weeks when DH and I caught a Space A flight to Europe.  We spent most of that time in France.  We had a marvelous time.  Really, it was probably our best vacation ever.  We enjoyed French cuisine (crepes, omelets aux champignons, pommes frites, boeuf bourgingnon, and creme brulee, plus generous samples of pain au chocolat and croissants from the local boulangeries) but, generally, we tried to be fairly circumspect with respect to eating.  I didn't do any formal exercise, but I'd guess we walked at least 5 miles per day and climbed a gazillion steps up and down various castle towers, church spires and, yes, the Eifel Tower.  Long story short, I gained 1.2 pounds from the day we left to this morning.  Not bad, or "pas mal" as the French would say.  I'm back to my routine now and hope to whittle off the French pounds plus a few more of their recalcitrant American cousins.

Hurricane Sandy hit this area (metro DC) with a rainy, windy bang yesterday, but we managed to get home safely just before the worst of it hit.  Long story, we got a Space A flight home, too, so decided to accept a ride to Charleston, SC.  We landed at 10:30pm Sunday night, rented a car, and drove through the night (9 hours) to get home.  We were lucky not to lose power and our basement crawl space is dry [whoops, I spoke too soon.  It had about a foot of water in it, so DH has the hose set up to siphon it out]  and our trees are still standing.  We were fortunate.  Others were not so lucky.  Our heart goes out to them.

Some of those steps we climbed were at the end of the 30 minute walk from the parking lot, the climb up to the top of Mt Saint Michel.  Here we are, about half way up.

With hopes of being back on track and posting and catching up with you all much more often!

Tish

Notes from the Road

Hey.  I started this a couple of weeks ago and never finished it.  I'm going to post it anyway to sort of catch you up on things.  Since I wrote this I had a nice 4 day trip to NYC with my mom's 89 yr old sister, and my sister and brother.  Now I'm working hard to get ready for our trip to FRANCE!  We're leaving in 9 days and I have tons to do.  I'm on the 3rd of 5 levels with Rosetta Stone and still think it's a super program.  My favorite sentence:  J'ai envie de manger un chocolate, mais je ne devrais pas.  (I want to eat a chocolate, but I shouldn't).  I may actually rely on that phrasing when we're in France! Still doing well on the weight loss front.  Down about 3 pounds from my last report.  A little hard to get in all my usual exercise during these trips, but I'm surely moving.  Lots of walking.

Hi all!  Long time no post, so I thought I'd snatch a few minutes and try to catch you up with my doings over the past couple of weeks.

When last I wrote, I told you that we'd be taking a small bike-holiday over the Labor Day weekend.  Well, we did, but we didn't go to Maryland's Eastern Shore, as we'd planned.  We decided to avoid likely traffic jams on the bridge, and headed west, instead.  We booked a hotel in Shepherdstown, WV, loaded our luggage and bikes in the car and looked forward to biking on the C&O Canal.  I forgot to pack my camera (grrr!) but managed to get a few pix with my iPad.

This is the Bavarian Inn, noted as one of the best hotels along the C&O Canal.  No camping out by the trail and and roughing it for this girl!  I was taken with the line "jacuzzi hot tub in every room" in the hotel write up and never looked back!  Totally worth it.

The building just right of center was where we were.  Just beyond those buildings is the Potomac River and our balcony looked over the river toward C&O on the other side.

This is the only shot of the C&O, but does capture rather nicely the nature of the trail (flat, covered with loose gravel, and somewhat uneven).  The bower effect of the tree canopy was lovely and makes the C&O several degrees cooler than out from under the trees.  The river was on our right, close enough to see, often, and to hear water noises as we rode.  Even though it was a holiday weekend, our two rides (Saturday before dinner and Monday morning) were not crowded at all, but with enough traffic so that we didn't feel alone in the wilderness.  We both rode our hybrid bikes, which were much better on the gravelly surface.  We did hop over the the parallel, lightly travelled Canal Road, for the last few miles, though to enjoy the paved surface.  We rode 12 miles the first day and 17 the last.  

On Sunday morning we drove our bikes to Antitem NP Battlefield and rode there.  Almost no traffic at all, nice paved rodes, a few hilly spots which challenged me, but which I overcame.  All in all, a fantastic ride.  We rode a couple big loops around and took lots of side roads, including one which took us by a local poultry farm.  We went back on our way home and bought two dozen eggs (brown eggs, still warm because the farmer took them right out of the nest to give to us).  The family was Amish.

I was feeling great and hopped right off my bike and up the stairs to the top of this tower.  Great views.  We seemed to be the only ones in the park that morning, just the way I like it.

Look at the hills in this next picture.  It was so steep that there are parts you can't see.  It actually doesn't look as steep as it was!  I balked at this part and opted to repeat the loop we had already done.  That old law of physics applies--whosoever goes DOWN must come UP later!

The following pix are from our next trip, about a week later.  DH had two conferences in the northeast. One in Connecticut and the other in Boston, Massachusetts.  We were gone from Wednesday morning through Saturday evening, took our bikes along and had a great time.  The following pix are from a place we rode near Groton Conn, Bluff Point State Park.  Gorgeous day.  DH talked me into riding to and from the park despite some fairly impressive hills.  I did it!  The park was beautiful, but the path, although hard packed dirt in some places, was mostly covered with gravel, sometimes as deep as 2 or 3 inches.  NOT FUN to bike in.  And this time I had my road bike with its skinny tires.  Besides the gravel, there were some definite hills, up and down, along the 6 mile trail, and small boulders and tree trunks that posed threatening obstacles and demanded carefull navigation.  A couple near misses, but I returned home mostly unscathed, except for one distinctive set of parallel grease covered cuts which still highlight where my chain came a little too close on one hairy descent on a very gravelly steep down hill part.  Note to self:  Do not rely on reviews in Map My Ride when they report that a ride has "paved trails!"

One of many self portraits with my iPad.  This was my favorite.

Going Green, WI

Our heat seems to have abated, but I still have to get up fairly early a couple days a week to get my run in before the grandkids arrive at 7:20.  This beautiful sunrise over the Potomac River is just one of the rewards of my early morning run.  I also enjoy the fresh cool scents that are more evident at that hour. Joe Pye Weed and Sweet Autumn Clematis were especially evident on my last run.  There is also a select community of early morning exercisers who nod or wave to one another in acknowledgement of our dedication and commitment.  I look forward to greeting the blond woman who looks about my age and is always coming from the opposite direction as I am finishing my run.  She's always out there, is in fantastic shape, and is an inspiration to me.  I usually run in the morning and bike in the afternoon or evenings.  DH and I have loved riding together after dinner this summer.  We're planning a short "Bike Holiday" weekend next weekend.  Thinking about going back to Maryland's Eastern Shore and doing a few of the great bike routes in Tablot County.  We've done two of them before but are excited about exploring a little more.  I love that this coastal county is pretty flat!  I'm getting better at hills, but they sap a lot of my energy on a long ride.

Going green?  Well, you know I like my charts.  This chart shows my weight loss for 2012.  That nice downward slope shows the trend of my loss well.  As you can see, I've lost an average of just about one pound every week for the first 34 weeks of this year.  There are obviously some pink spikes, where my daily weight went up, the last being when we were up in Canada (s'mores!) but you can see I've managed to get back to losing each time.  

At my WI on Wednesday, I lost 2.4 pounds!  I am in that new decade, now, and just over 15 pounds from my goal weight.  I also weighed less than I have since 2008.  All this means, of course, that I'm spending a lot of time in my closet.  I love trying on cute clothes that have been waiting patiently for me to trim down.  My 12P jeans that I reclaimed last month are getting roomy and the 10P are already on my shelf.  I've culled out a couple bags full that are now definitely too big and that I'm not going to wear again. Ever.  In the past, despite good advice, I've always saved some of my favorite "big clothes," just in case.  Not this time.  They're out of here.  Clothes shopping is fun again, too.  Cute, normal sized clothes from the "regular" section of the store fit.  I'm not buying much, because I'm going to lose more and because I have all those "old-new" clothes that fit again.  But I'm really loving the ability to "reject" anything that I try on, not because it's too tight, but because it's not exactly what I want!  

DH and I are having fun going through Rosetta Stone French lessons.  We're planning a 2 week trip to France in October. We're going to spend a few days in Paris and then rent a car and drive to places we want to go--Bayeux, Normandy, the chateaux country along the Loire, the Perigord region, Lascaux, and Bordeaux.   I used to be reasonably fluent in French, but living in Italy for three years pushed my French abilities out of my brain.  The lessons are bringing it back.  DH has never studied French but is whizzing through the first units and enjoying it.  

Parlez you francais?

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

This is a view from the car window as we drove across

Vancouver Island.  Beautiful lakes, big cedar trees, mountains

and sky.  It's gorgeous the entire way.

Hi!  We're just back from our vacation.  We were gone just 8 days but packed a lot of fun and time with loved ones into that time.  We flew out to Seattle and, along with Johnny's family, spent the weekend with Laura's family.  Then we made a brief visit to John's sister's new home in Mt Vernon (the Washington State version--funny that we live in Mt Vernon, Virginia).  We crossed the border Sunday night and caught the early morning ferry to Vancouver Island.  The drive across to the west coast takes about three and a half hours.  John's mom bought some prime beach front property back in the late '60s and we've vacationed there with the growing family around every other year for almost 40 years.  His mom died a couple years ago and the property is for sale.  This was a last hurrah reunion and all but one of the 35 assorted descendants made it--a record attendance.  The weather was great.  High 60s, mid 70s, the entire time and although some of the days started off foggy, we saw the sun almost every day and only had one overnight rainy patch.  

The house on the property is pretty small and has just one bathroom.  A few of the younger generation families stayed there.  The rest of us stayed in nearby accomodations.  This was the view from our place, a two bedroom apartment.  The beach was just at the end of the walk and there's a nice hot tub there on the left just before the beach.  The water up there is always cold--avg temp 60 degrees, so the hot tub was very welcome!  Cox Bay, where this place was is a great surfing spot and we were the only ones in the water with bathing suits instead of wet suits!    The apartment also had a fully equipped kitchen.  We cooked our healthy breakfasts and often popped back for lunch.  We also cooked a couple of the dinners for the entire crowd.  I made fajitas (sliced grilled flank steak, tons of sweet peppers, caramelized onions, portobello mushrooms, sauteed chicken tenders, guacamole, sour cream, shredded romaine lettuce, and grated cheese.  We had chopped fresh pineapple on the side and, later, at the beach campfire, s'mores.   I made a ton of food for that night.  John grilled and cut 6 flank steaks!  I served everything separately so that people could create their own favorite mix.

I only ran twice while we were there, once near my daughter's house and in BC on the morning after we arrived.  This lovely bike path paralleled the main road and I ran from our apartment to the beach house and back, a total of 5.5 miles.  I would have run more, but there were plenty of opportunities to get exercise and most of them also offered the opportunity to visit with loved ones.  I walked the beach a few times a day (~4 miles), joined in a little in the everlasting volleyball game--there was almost always a game going on.  Another fun activity was walking out on Frank Island--a rocky part of the beach that becomes an island at high tide.  It's a fun climb, and a bit challenging.  This was the first time in years that I felt fit enough to go the distance.  :-)  The Pacific Rim National Park is just a couple miles down the road and we went on the Rain Forest Trail one morning.  That's where my new picture (the one w DH at the top of the page) was taken.

This is Jeannine who was quite fearless in clambering all over Frank Island.  The edges and tidal pools in the rocks provide lots of interesting fauna and flora.

DH admires a sea urchin that Rose found.  The kids are great about knowing that the critters go back to where they were found after they've been admired and examined.

SIL David and grandson Benjamin pose on the rocks.  David took a couple of the great pix that I'm sharing with you.

Laura and Tobey pose with me.  We hadn't noticed that we weree in a similar colors until the photographer said something about it.

Our SIL, David, took these next two pictures on the evening before we left the beach.  We were outside after dinner and someone noticed whales in the water just off the shore.  There were at least three and they played there, jumping out of the water, chasing one another, blowing impressive waterspouts, and waving their tails above the water.  They played there for about 30 minutes just before sunset. The first picture shows the whale's tale above the water to the right of center.  The second picture captures a view of the mountains, layered with mist and sky and clouds.  I really like it.

One other very cool thing happened while we were there.  On at least three nights, after it got dark, there was phosphorescence on beach. John and I only saw it once (being part of the older, early-to-bed-generation), but it was amazing.  The wet sand, near the surf literally sparkled and glowed when we stepped on it.  We could kick up water droplets that shone and glittered on the dark beach.  It was a greenish-blueish glow, very sci-fi! The others reported that later on, the surf was glowing, too.

DH and Johnny spent 45 minutes surfing on the day we left.  Jack was among the admirers and got caught by the waves.  He was a pro by that time, though and said, "it's okay, they'll get dry!"

Another shot of my two daughters, Laura and DIL Tobey.  We went out to a place near Laura's and had a great breakfast.  I managed to stick to my plan and special ordered an eggwhite omelet with summer veggies and a fruit plate, neither of which was on the menu.  It was deelish!

A group picture just before we left Seattle.  With DH, our kids and all five grandkids. I can't wait until Thanksgiving when we'll all be together again.  I'm hoping to be almost to my goal by then!  Funny how I'm a lot more willing to have my picture taken as I get closer and closer to my goal weight.  :-)

My plan for the vacation was stay as close to my plan as was possible and to allow myself at least one treat every day.  I had four s'mores, a cookie, a goodly share of tortilla chips, and whatever was being served for dinner.  I did eat my planned breakfast every day and stuck to my plan at lunch time too.  Altho I didn't do my regular exercise routine (biking, running, and weight lifting), I got a fair amount of exercise every day.  Did I mention the beach volley ball?  I was not quite up to Misty May in skill or sartorial splendor, but it was fun and good exercise!

I went to my WI this morning.  I lost 2.6 pounds at my last WI, two weeks ago and was hoping to avoid gaining today.  Although our scale, which always travels with us, showed a 3+ pound gain on the day we returned (Saturday), I managed to jump right back into my good eating and exercise habits and LOST an additional .6 pounds at my WI!  This morning my scale showed me the upcoming decade for the first time!  Color me happy.

Lots more pix on my FaceBook site.  Friend me and you can see!  Tish Farrell Oliver.

July Happenings

Hi all!  Long time no write.  Sorry!  

Things are going well.  I celebrated my 61st birthday this month and feel just fine.  I used to think 61 sounded old, but one's perspective changes.  Actually, with my weight loss and exercise program, I actually feel younger than I did several years ago when I weighed much more and exercised much less.

We had a great trip to New York City a couple of weeks ago.  DH was involved with a conference, but I was free to explore and enjoy myself.  Highlights were a repeat visit to The Cloisters (one of my favorite places in NYC), an 8.2 mile run around Central Park (!!),  shopping (nice to have some of those 12P dresses fit!), and Pinkberry!  I first read about Pinkberry (non-fat frozen yogurt) on Debby's blog.  Lo and behold, there was a Pinkberry four doors from our hotel.  Let's just say I'm hooked!  Thank goodness my closest one is 30 minutes from here!

Part of the lovely walk through Tyron Park on my way to visit The Cloisters when I was in NYC. Doesn't this look like something out of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

The last bit of the walk to The Cloisters (that tower in the background is part of it).  The Hudson River is directly on the left.

This is one of the cloisters.  It is planted with a medieval garden and each plant is marked.  I got some ideas for my garden here.

I asked one of the other visitors to snap my picture.  That's the Hudson River in the background.

I was out having lunch in a restaurant by myself last week and discovered something.  I looked over the appetizers and found a good looking salad (Caprese, one of my favorites) that I thought I would eat for lunch.  Then I was tempted by the lunch salads and thought I'd just order both--salads, right?  That couldn't be too far off the mark.  Well, besides the expense, the calories did add up, so I decided to use my tendency to procrastinate to my benefit.  I ordered the appetizer and decided to defer the decision on the lunch salad.  By the time I'd finished the Caprese, I was content and didn't order the other salad.  SCORE!  Who knew that I could turn one of my bad habits to work to my advantage?!  

DH and I have been enjoying our bike riding.  Yesterday and the week before that we ate early and took an after dinner ride to Fort Hunt Park.  There is a Sunday evening concert series there all summer and we enjoyed the music while we rode the mile+ loops around the park.  In the middle we zipped over to the Mount Vernon bike path and rode to Mount Vernon and back along the river just before sunset.  B-E-A-utiful!  Last week's ride was 20 miles and last night we added a bit more and got up to 23+ miles.  

Ella playing dress-up after I allowed her to rummage in my scarf drawer!

Jack was not amenable to having his photo taken, but he said something cute as I was putting him down for his nap the other day.  I had refused some final request (I think it was a third story) and he looked at me with his big blue eyes and said, "If I was Amie and you were Jack I would read another story to you!"  So do you think he got the third story??   Youbetcha!  

One of several red lobelias (cardinal flower) that I planted this year.  My camera was not quick enough to accurately catch the hummingbird (see the blur?), but this plant sure attracts them.  They ignore my feeder now, in favor of these alluring red plants.  This plant is about four feet tall.

Of course the birds all disappeared when I went outside with my camera, but we usually have at least three or four on each feeder (plus the hummers on the lobelia, beneath).  The pink and white are spider flower, or cleome, and are descendants of those that my grandfather used to have in his garden when I was growing up.  They seed themselves and are quite striking.

Where I spend a lot of time every week.  This is the Long Bridge on the Mount Vernon Trail, alongside the Mount Vernon Parkway.  I love this part.  This was early morning (~7 a.m.) about a week ago.  There is a marshy part on either side and a small river that passes under the center part.  I like it best at super high tide.

These are some of the pretty plants I've seen lately.  The flower is a large hibiscus type and I've seen them in gardens.  I've also noticed at least one plant that had dark pink flowers. They definitely like very wet soil as they were in the marshy part.  Anybody know what kind they are?

Lots of "Art Time" these days while Jack is napping in the afternoons. Lke most four year olds, Ella loves all things "princess" and this crown was an immediate hit.

I keep track of my running and biking on Daily Mile.  This chart shows the combined distance for the past 26 weeks.  I'm not trying to set any records, nor am I training for a race, but I'm finding it pretty comfortable to run 4-5 miles three times a week and to bike 12-20 miles three times a week.  Not charted is my twice weekly trip to the gym where I do resistance weights for about 45 minutes.  

All this activity and following a WW/17DD approach to my eating has yielded a good weight loss.  This chart is from Dec 6, 2010 until the present.  My father died on the 6th and I spent an entire year gaining weight.  Finally, in the past few days, I've gotten below that weight again.  And I will definitely  lose more.  I'm going to reach my goal this time and stay there.

A couple posts ago I had expressed a hope that I could lose 7.5 pounds before we left for a family reunion at the end of this week.  Well, guess what?!  As of this morning my daily WI shows me down 7 from that day and I still have 5 days until we go to drop the last half pound.  I will be down ~13 pounds from our last family reunion there.  Did I mention this is a beach holiday?  Yes, I'm going to feel great!

I took a chance on a flat of Costco peaches the other day.  YUM!  I love peaches.  I had to let them soften for a couple of days, but these are super.  

What's your favorite summer produce?