What a week!

I love to dream of my job as a comfy, cozy, jammies-and-coffee kind of thing! How I wish! The truth is that my job is comfy and cozy every now and then, but this past week has been far from it!

My local doctor client has been dictating onto those little minicassettes, and I have been driving back and forth to pick them up and drop off the finished work. Up popped my little dream of lounging at home, so I asked him if he would be interested in changing over to digital recordings that could be sent to me over the internet, with my finished work returned to him the same way. He was! I saw visions of no more driving in the snow and me having lots of extra time! I researched, updated him, researched some more. After much discussion and frugal searching to find the best for the least, we decided on the recorder for him and the accompanying software that lets him load his sound files from his recorder onto his computer, encrypt them so they will be HIPAA compliant, and send them over the internet to me. I got the software and foot pedal that will unencrypt those sound files, play them for me to transcribe, encrypt them back up again, and send them back to him so he can unencrypt them and print them out. See how quick and easy that sounds?

I've been back and forth to his office several times to set up his software properly so that it will do everything automatically for him. The instruction manual should have been twice as long to have all the info I needed! I even had to take Trent with me one day because things weren't working, only to find out we had been using the wrong password! I really don't think I am smart enough to be my doc's tech support! I have to say that he has been carefully keeping up on all he has to know for doctoring and has been pretty much leaving computer skills to others. He and I have been over enough bumps in this road to make our teeth rattle, I'll just tell you!

Yesterday was a mess. He used the wrong program to open the encrypted work I sent back and therefore saw only gobbledy-gook. (Bad because it didn't work; good because it was encrypted like it should have been!) I sent it again, but it was blank. (Totally bad!) I sent it again. (This time I attached the wrong file, and it did him absolutely no good!) The fourth time was a charm: I sent it right, he got it right, it printed right, and we were elated! I was just finishing the second bunch of work when...blip, blip, blip...one after the other, 16 new files came to my computer from his computer!! Oh, that made me feel good!

We had a rough start today when he forgot how to open the work I sent him and deleted it! I sent it again, and the fact that my phone did not ring again is very positive! Since then it has been smooth sailing. All the work is done and sent back now, and I am blogging. (Blogging is the REAL jammies-and-coffee-cup thing!)

And as for the eating...I think I have been more successful so far this week at working out computer problems than I have been with my food control.

Andrea is coming home tomorrow for spring break, and we are going to encourage each other in person! Plus she is bringing an exercise video for us to try. Things are looking up!

Thankfulness...

What a difference thankfulness can make! An 88-year-old friend who had Alzheimer's passed away recently. His family, and especially his wife, cared for him lovingly, and he was able to be at home until just before the end. At his funeral yesterday, so many wonderful things were said about him, and one of them was that he had a grateful attitude. He was always thankful and always satisfied with very little. As his disease progressed, he became more gentle. His widow told me she is so thankful that his long ordeal is over and even more thankful because she knows where he is now -- in heaven with Jesus who has been his focus for so many years. What a difference her thankfulness makes! For my part, I am thankful to have that family in my circle of friends and thankful that I was able to help with the music for the funeral.

Now I have to admit that preparing for the funeral has been hard because I am probably the princess of nerves! I won't claim to being queen, because I know there is room to be worse! I was asked to provide the piano prelude, accompany a young violinist for "Amazing Grace," and play the piano for and sing two hymns with Elaine (a near neighbor of mine). The source of my nerves is partly good and partly bad, the good being a desire to do my best and not disappoint anyone, the bad being that I have not been practicing the piano as I should! Thus, this week has been very full of practice, practice, practice, alone and with others. In the midst of this stress, though, what a difference thankfulness has made -- thankfulness that the family wanted me to be part of the funeral, thankfulness that I could actually do what they needed, thankfulness for music and for the irreplaceable beauty of the old hymns. And after it is all over, I am EVER so thankful that everything went well!

As I was hurrying out to practice with Elaine on Friday night, I forgot about some ice on our dark driveway, and...well, I think I might have been fodder for one of those funniest home videos! I said out loud, "Am I all right?" I seemed to be, so I got up and went on up the street to Elaine's. But in the back of my mind, I knew that if you are middle-aged and go wham! on the ice, there might be a price to pay, so I was praying all the time that I wouldn't wake up the next morning so stiff and sore that I could not play the piano properly. Yesterday, except for some slight tenderness when I set my right elbow on the table, I really did not notice anything wrong, and I can assure you my thankfulness was soaring! Today I am noticing that there is some muscle strain in my right arm, but how thankful I am that my prayer was answered!

Now tonight I am practicing being thankful again. Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the dentist. He told me I have a cavity under the cap on one of my teeth as well as one on the adjacent tooth, so tomorrow he is "going in there" and will decide if he can fix it or if I need to have a root canal. Oh dear! So now I am practicing being thankful... I'm thankful that I live near a dentist, that there are pain meds available to me, and that I can afford to go and have my cavities taken care of. That is not the case for many of the people in this world. How blessed I am!

And as far as the weight loss goes...I will be thankful for any weight I show tomorrow morning...gain or loss!! It has been that kind of a week!

Tax Day

Self-employed people like me have certain dates memorized, and January 15 is one of them! Not a happy day but one we have to think of anyway. So today I got out my income stats for the last quarter, spent some quality time with my little calculator, and then shook my piggy bank to see what would come out! (Well, that's SORT of how it went...)

Update on exercise: This week I have been able to increase the intensity of my treadmill sessions. It is kind of surprising that in one week I would already notice that it is getting easier! I'm not planning to ever get it up to the "light jog" setting (4 to 4.5 mph or 6.4 to 7.2 kph) because I'm sure that would not be positive for my feet and knees, but I can now easily spend several minutes around 3.5 mph (5.6 kph) which for me is a pretty rapid walk. Thus far I haven't had any muscle soreness or joint pain, so I would rate that as success!

I'm so pleased that we had a drop in weight for this last weigh-in! Way to go, us!

My Christmas Blessing

My dutiful subconscious woke me early this morning. Yesterday was all rush and run, and I dreaded the thought of leaving my warm cocoon, but that internal clock knew it was time to put the turkey in the oven, and there was no off button on the alarm!

It was early and dark, but... What?? Is it snowing?! A minute before, I had been dry-eyed and draggy from lack of sleep! Now, peering through the window was not enough, so I tiptoed back into the bedroom for my shoes and squeezed out the back door.
My Christmas blessing came first thing this morning before the busy world woke up, not from my wonderful family or the carefully-wrapped gifts or the delicious food, but from this -- stillness, quietness, purity -- a perfect picture of peace. It melted right down into my heart and has stayed with me all day, an outward picture of the inward heart-peace of Christmas!

Holiday Celebration Tips!

My friend Heather sent me this, and I just had to share it with you! I needed a laugh, and I hope you laugh as hard as I did!

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's a treat! Enjoy it! Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by:
'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, sandwich in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO what a ride!'

Thanksgiving Day

What a great time we had today for Thanksgiving. There were 16 of us, and everyone had a great time. There was our family of 4, Gord and Paula with Nathaniel as well as Ji Won and Jonathan (Korean high school students who live with them), our elderly friend Warren who always shares Thanksgiving with us, and the DiLorenzo family - Peter (dad) and his four sons (twins who graduated from high school last year and two younger boys under 10) along with a Japanese high school student (young man) who lives with them. (Mom is a nurse and had to work most of the day.) I have missed having teenagers around!

ELMO'S FASHION SHOW! As promised, Elmo has had his photo shoot. He is posing in our dining room.




Here he is, dressed for extra warm weather in his BVDs!












Elmo dreaming of the beaches in Hawaii!

















Blue jeans and smart blue-striped shirt, perfect for hanging out with Bert and Ernie and, of course, Coral!

















Just in case of snow, Elmo is ready in this trendy vest and scarf set!

















We have had so much fun with Coral's birthday present from Aunt Paula and Uncle Gord -- clothes for Elmo!
"A merry heart does good like a medicine." -- Proverbs 17:22

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Birthday!

I snatched this Thanksgiving pic from Amrita's blog!
Happy Thanksgiving you guys!
Take the skin off of it and eat as much turkey as ya want!

He told me to let you know he's sorry he's late,
but Elmo wanted to say "Happy Birthday" to you, Coral!