I'm having a great day! I've been dehydrating the pears.... here's a picture of some that are dry. In the dehydrator are Asian pears. I wanted to buy some more trays for the thingy, but the store was out of stock. Little by little.
Here's a picture of some of my plants that I haven't yet killed.
BoggyWoggy and I went to a local nursery today and she helped me pick out some succulents. I have always loved the look of them, but have never had the courage to grow them.
Here's a picture of one of my hanging baskets... Notice, these too are still alive!!
On a side note... I do solemnly swear I am up to no good this evening.
I have pears from our yard. We didn't plant these trees, they were grandfathered in... I don't like pears too much, but I thought I try and do something with them this year.
I searched online for how to can pears, but then I read you need to be really careful, or you can get botulism. I suppose that can happen with any sort of canning, but it was enough to scare me off.
So, I've decided to dry them...
I went to the backyard and sliced up the pears and dunked the slices in apple juice to keep them from browning. Then I just placed the pear slices into the dehydrator... I hope they turn out!
Today's the "Diet Kick-Off " day. I weighed myself this morning when I woke up... yuck. Then I went downstairs to the computer to find a "Stone to Pounds Converter" and converted.
I'm not quite ready to share the actual weight, but I will share my ups and downs. I know it's probably more motivating if I put the numbers down for all to see, but I'll try this first. I find it rather motivating not wanting to put myself in that position, so we'll see.
Today = 0 Goal = -52
I will weigh myself every Saturday morning with the goal of losing 1 pound per week for 52 weeks (1 year.) My children say that I should try to go for more than 1 pound, but I want to set attainable goals and I think I'd be happy losing 52 pounds : )
I have talked with my friend, who also happens to be a dietitian, about losing weight. I've been thinking about this for quite a while, but with my bum knee, it makes it difficult to get in the exercise that I want to get in. So... my friend's got me figured out.
She says that I should aim to lose 1 pound per week. I didn't think that sounded like a lot, but when put into the context of a year, that's 52 pounds!
This is how it's going to work. I weigh myself (naked) on Saturday mornings and I check in with my friend (who will also be doing the diet.) If I (or she) has lost at least 1 pound, great! However, if I (or she) has gained, or hasn't lost, $5 goes into the kitty. At the end of the year, the biggest loser gets the kitty, or we'll both take it and go have fun : )
That's the plan man. I'm debating on posting my weight on the blog, but my courage only goes so far. We'll see.
I'd like to have a scale that measures me in pounds. As it is, I can only tell how many stones I weigh.
It was a good weekend for Thing 2. She's never came away with a haul quite like this before... It's not about the awards, but it sure does feel good to know you did well. She had a great time and is understandably exhausted. ~ch
This isn't Thing 2 either.... BUT.... Thing 2 took 2nd place in the first two rides and FIRST in the 3rd ride of the day! I'm not about the placing. In fact, I would be boasting about her with whatever her score turned out to be. It just happens to be that she's wonderful. Tomorrow, I'll include actual pictures of the wonderful Thing 2 and her ribbons... and her horse. Good night everyone, ~ch
(this isn't Thing 2, but this is what she looks like on a horse)
Today my daughter (AKA Thing 2) is riding in a dressage competition at the Lake Oswego Hunt Club. Today's competition is only a practise for tomorrows recognized event. She requested that her dad and I not come up for both days, but just come to the Sunday show.
So far today, she's called me twice. The first time was right after the first ride where she said "I started out good and only got better!" She was very excited.
The second call was after her second ride and after all of the riders scores were posted. She said she place 2nd (!!) on the first ride and though she didn't feel that she did as well on the second, she placed 2nd again (!!!) She has one more ride to compete in today. I love it when she's happy.
I'm looking forward to going up there tomorrow and watching in person!
This is the first installment to answering Boggywoggy's list of things I'm into.
This summer, I decided to take a Corvallis Parks and Recreation course in golf. I was very excited, because I thought, if I liked it, it would be a good way for me to get in exercise. I don't like to exercise to exercise. I like to have competition and a goal.
I've strayed...
Back to the P&R class. We met for 5 days for almost an hour. We practised hitting with different clubs etc. But on the last day, I was sad because we never got to play a game. I asked our teacher if we could play and he said "no." He also explained that Trysting Tree is really set up for men and that I would find it too stressful. All this did was piss me off. So, I called Marysville Golf Club and talked with one of the owners who invited me to join the Marysville Ladies Club. The idea scared the crud out of me, but I did it anyway. I'm so glad I did it. The ladies are wonderful, I'm getting better with my game, plus I'm getting a wee bit of exercise!
I'm planning on playing at Trysting Tree sometime before school begins. I think I can handle the stress...sheeesh.
I'm a bit sad that the season is coming to an end. I hope to be able to keep working on getting better for next summer.
Just one more thing to add to my list of nerdy things I like.
I am a parent of two great kids. Thing 1 is my experiment kid. I seem to do everything wrong on him and learn for Thing 2. Anyway, Thing 2 had great advise for me last evening. She said, "mom, no offense, but we've been hearing you and dad talk at us all our lives." "Sometimes, we don't want to hear you." "I think you should watch and listen and see what happens."
The Corvallis Gazette-Times doesn't have an article, nor did I hear anything on the radio... so what's up? Last night around 8pm, our family was eating on the back patio and my daughter looked up and said "hey, is the power out again?" Sure enough... Lights didn't come back on until 1:30am. Maybe I just missed hearing it on the news, or our area is just not news worthy.
So, whadya think? Will Corvallis see it's own baby boom?
So, my patronus would be an otter? That's cool, I like otters.
The summer has flown by and I've not accomplished a whole heck of a lot. Though, in the past two days I've managed to scrub the outside banisters, clean bathrooms and get some laundry done. I suspect it's because school is around the corner. I actually woke up worrying about school this morning. Speaking of school... I need to head to one of the outlet malls and pick up some new school clothes.
This summer, though seemingly dull, has had its moments... I'll share.... Thing 1s band Hooray! Hooray! won the DaVinci Days Battle of the Bands and they put on a great show at the final performance. Boggywoggy got on my case because I didn't post one of the videos, so here it is...
If you want to see more of Hooray! Hooray! you can find them on youtube! Search for Hooray! Hooray! Corvallis, or Hooray! Hooray! of Montreal (this one will give you another video.)
Thing 2 has been preparing for a horse show this weekend in Lake Oswego. She rides dressage and is fairly fabulous at it! I don't have a youtube of her yet, but maybe I can figure out how to work the camera so I can! She has been reading like crazy this summer too.
My husband is still on the campaign trail, though he wasn't invited to Iowa, dang! He has built some lovely steps in out back yard. He ripped out the wood (it was slippery in the winter and it turned out it was gross and rotted too) and replaced the steps with big herkin' stones.
As for me... I have been loving my time at home this summer. I've taken up golf and have joined the Marysville Ladies Club. I've never understood the attraction to the game before. I thought it must be the worlds most boring game, but aucontrairmonami... it's addictive and stinking fun : ) I've even won a little bit of money that paid for my new cool golf shoes. I have been geocaching only a few times with Boggywoggy and not too much on my own.
My arm is starting to hurt, so I think I'll quit for now.
I'm having a great day! I've been dehydrating the pears.... here's a picture of some that are dry. In the dehydrator are Asian pears. I wanted to buy some more trays for the thingy, but the store was out of stock. Little by little. 
Here's a picture of one of my hanging baskets... Notice, these too are still alive!!
I have been 