Daylight!!

I know that is has been forever since I blogged. I am a slacker, I know it. This has been a very busy fall/winter with a wedding and Christmas, travel, etc. But today I noticed something that I just had to comment on.

I was driving home from the office at 5:15 pm and noticed that it was still light!! and also at 5:30 when I got to my driveway. It was light enough that I was able to go outside and scoop up a little dog poop. I don't do that for fun, I do it to keep my lawn from dying. With it being light, the neighbors can see what a pile of crap my yard has become.

I just love it when the days get longer! I feel so much better. Now if I could just figure out what to do with all that poop!!

In Praise of the Fast Past--London Style

Bob and I just got back from London (well almost, just -- it has been a week & 2 days but I've been busy). He went on business. I went on Holiday. It was really fun. I knocked 2 items off my list of things to see (yes, I keep a running list of things I want to see in London) -- The Palace of Westminster (That's Parliament to the uninformed) and the Tate Modern. They had a great Gaugin exhibit. Bob and I took a open air bus tour; I went to Harrod's (Bob hated it). We saw the V&A, St. Paul's twice.

We went to the Royal Albert Hall. The tour was a hour away. Bob had a "fast pass" (ala Disneyland) and we took a really quick tour. Later that evening, we went to services in Westminster Abbey. Walked over to the London Eye. Bought a ticket. Again, Bob had a fast pass for the line.

Here is the London Fast Pass:

I have a question. Do you have an answer?

Here is the question:

I purchased a coupon for laser hair removal -- one area on my body, 6 visits. Do I want to remove the Tom Selleck-esque hair on my upper lip, or the fuzzy soft long white hairs on my chin that you don't think about until you see an old lady in church and the sun hits her in profile and you wonder if you too look like Sasquatch?

I know it was long (the sentence not the hair) but I really need an answer.

PS I lost 4.2 lbs at WW last week. I am not passing 25 lbs for a second time.

Why Weight

I think I used this title before back 2 years ago before I seemed to lose total control over my life. Anyway, I went back to weight watchers last week -- after losing a total of 53 pounds, over the last 18 months I have gained back 33. To look on the bright side, I have lost a net of 20 lbs.

So, in order to be good, I went back today. I think that is the key. go back even if you are sure you have gained weight. So I did.

that's all.

OK, I'm really back.

Kathleen just reminded me that I hadn't lived up to my promise to update the blog. I'm sorry. She did tell me that I was a funny blogger and really needed to get back to it.

So much has happened since I last blogged -- trip to Europe, hauling my carcass across Austria on a bike, robbie going off to school is the rain-soaked northwest, my nephew coming home from his mission next week, lots of other changes that can only be speculated about (or about which we can only speculate - don't like to end my sentences with a preposition).

Anyway, I left with a cryptic note about what I was doing 5 years previous. I guess I should elaborate. Several years ago, I bought a book, "1000 things to do before you die". (I'm not really sure if the punctuation should go inside or out of the quotation marks. Don't judge me.) I had been to London 3 times previously with my kids and/or my sister Kathleen, so I was looking at things to do in London before I die. There was this entry of the Chelsea Flower Show, the most incredible garden show on earth!! I decided then and there that for my 50th birthday I and my friends and sisters and daughters would go to the Chelsea Flower Show. I issued an invitation to anyone who wanted to go over the week of my birthday, 2005, with the caveat that they had to make all their own arrangements, I would not coordinate anything but my own travel.

It was so fabulous!! Rachel and Sarah came; my friend Pat Peterson and her daughter Katherine; Sarah's wonderful friend (and my extra daughter) Emily Jones, and my wonderful sisters, Kathleen Lewis and Fran Gordon. I guess what made this extra special was that Fran had been recovering from breast cancer treatments and it was such a miracle that she was able to come. Maybe this was extra, extra special because just a little over a year later, she succumbed to that awful disease. We still miss her terribly.

That was such a magical trip that I want to take it again. I use the pictures of the trip as the screen saver on my computer and when I turn away for a minute and then return, there is a picture of London and the people I love.

Take a look at these pictures and I dare you to tell me you don't agree.

The Blob is back.

OK, the blog is back. I can't believe it has been 7 months since I have posted an entry. I promise, I'll update tonight.
Let's talk about what I was doing 5 years ago this week. Any guesses?
See you later.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

This is what met us yesterday morning. Of course, Bob Sykes wanted to finish picking all the apples in the snow.