Merry Christmas

We will be sending out our Christmas cards before Christmas Eve this year. I picked the picture where most of us look the best, but these are the pictures I really wanted to send! Rob looks like we photo shopped him in but he really was there.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

New York, New York -- It's a Wonderful Town

And no Emily, I did not take blog worthy pictures. I did take these however.

I love NY. It is such a fun place to visit. Bob took Rachel and Sarah when they were 15 and 14. I stayed home for some reason. Can’t remember why. I was very nervous about them going and being on their own. So I gave them some boundaries – Central Park to Time Square, 5th Avenue to Broadway, or something confining like that. When I talked to them the next day, I asked what they had done and they told me they had gone to Brooklyn!!! So much for boundaries. I guess I just had to cease worrying because they seemed to be OK. NYC is the safest big city in the World. I guess we can thank Guliani for that though New Yorkers I have met say "No, not really".

Anyway, we arrived in the Big Apple late Thursday night and checked into our overpriced, under-loved hotel – the Sheraton NY. The rooms are tiny, the bathroom is tinier, the carpets and wall paper are very worn and the TV channels are few. The movie selection is OK, but you can’t start a movie anytime you want; you have to wait until it spools again. What is that about?

Friday, we went to the LDS Temple. I am sure I have never been in a more beautiful place, nor a more peaceful setting. The spirit is so strong and you can’t hear anything from the outside world. It is quite compact with a limited schedule, but always seems to have something going on.

Afterwards we went to a German restaurant on the Lower– Upper East Side (85th St. and 2nd Avenue) – The Heidelberg. The food was great, but the best part was the gay, Mexican waiter in Lederhosen and an elf hat. I wish I had taken a picture, but that might have been rude.

After a nap, we took a rickshaw/pedicab to a dinner with other attorneys sponsored by the AAJ – the organization formerly known as ATLA. I think it was just an excuse to drink a lot of wine (not us). We never really talked about anything specific except law and what I thought of Mitt Romney and why everyone thought Mormons were so odd. They were a very nice group, but I suspect they are all Clinton supporters.

Next morning, Bob went to meetings and I went to Harlem!! We saw the new Harlem renaissance. A lot of middle class and upper class families are moving back into Harlem because no one can afford homes in Manhattan. The old brownstones are being refurbished and selling for hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. I wonder where all the poor people are moving to? The is the biggest problem with gentrification. Donald Trump wants to buy a bunch of the projects and tear them down and replace them with luxury condos. Again, where do poor people, and just working class people go. We stopped by the legendary Apollo Theater,

the Jumel Mansion – George Washington really did sleep there,

and when one of the tour leaders found out that I was from Utah, she just had to take us by the new LDS Chapel in Harlem. It is on the corner of 126th and Adam Clayton Powell Drive (actually, I think that it may be 8th Ave. – but the street has been renamed.)

We had a wonderful soul food lunch and dessert at a jazz club. I will need to go back because there was so much to see.

That evening, I ran to China Town to buy purses, of course. We then met Joy Kaler from Advocate Capitol for dinner – and no we didn’t eat the entire time we were there. I selected Spamalot for the play we went to see with Joy. I am so sorry I chose that one. It was exceptionally vulgar – more vulgar than Monty Python usually is and uncomfortably irreverent. They added lots of things that were not in the Holy Grail movie and then just went on way too long.

Speaking of way too long, I will end this entry by stating that we went to church the next day, I flew home, Bob drove to Oswego, emptied the storage unit and flew home on Tuesday. All in all, it was a great trip, but next time, I don’t want to do so much with other people.

P.S. -- Over the last 2 weeks, I have lost 3.8 lbs.

My 25 Pound Washer

I know I promised I wouldn’t boor you to tears with my weight loss saga. But I have to brag. I have lost 25.2 lbs. WW gave me this cute little washer for my efforts. I was also hoping that no one noticed that I have worn the same dress every time I weigh in. Alas, they have. I guess it is time for a new dress.

How I can tell i have lost weight.

I don’t mean to bore you with continual blog entries about my weight-loss triumphs, but I just can’t help it. I feel so empowered by it all. I promise I will not do this every blog. Just today.
At my WW meeting, we talked about how we can tell we have weight loss success even if the scale did not exist. I have made my own list.

1. A couple of years ago, I bought a skirt and 2 sweaters in the wrong (definition: smaller) size. I couldn’t wear the sweaters. I could wear the skirt if I buttoned it over a smaller portion of my body that wasn’t my waist (definition: about 5" higher). Well, I can now button the skirt at my waist and I can wear the sweaters; I don’t like any of them. Go figure.

2. I can tie my shoes and cut my own toenails without having to reach to the side of me because there is less in the way. The true sign of a fat person is that one’s shoes are tied at the side and not in the center.

3. I can stand up to put on my socks in those teeny little changing stalls at the Salt Lake Temple.

4. I hate to say it (reference: Confessional 10/22/07), but I actually have a little more energy and feel like doing more. Actually, my plantar fasciatus pain is gone. A coincidence?

5. I look thinner.

I have lost a grand total of 21.8 lbs. Hurray for me.

It's Not Easy Being Green

It’s not easy being green. Just yesterday, I received 8 catalogs in the mail. For some reason, you buy one item online and for the rest of your life you receive catalogs from places you’ve never purchased from before.

And just try getting off the Victoria Secret list. I bought 2 dresses for Rachel and Sarah when they were 12 & 14 (Before you question my judgment, they were lovely, long-sleeved, cowl-necked, knit velvet dresses that hit below the knee.) I have received 2-3 VS catalogs a week for the last 11 years.

Then there are the Harry & David, Hammacher-Schlemmer, Orvis, Travel Smith, Coldwater Creek, Brookstone, Wine Enthusiast, Sur La Tabla, etc. Though I am not a great recycler, I have been concerned about the number of trees and the amount of energy required to produce catalogs for things I am not going to buy.

Now, I do usually just toss them in the recycling bin before they get in the house. But I have discovered a new web site. You register – they promise not to send you a catalog or sell your information – and then you can access all the catalogs you do not want anymore and they say that within 10 weeks, your name will be off the list. Try it. You’ll like it.

http://www.catalogchoice.org

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK

Just in: I remember now what else I was going to say about this book. I am so tired of subtle and not so subtle jabs at the war in Iraq, George Bush, etc. I don't really care what your opinion is. It had so little to do with the story, that it could just as well have been left out. It appears that this was added because it is a popular thing to do. Stop it. Same goes for TV shows.

Do not read this book. When we originally started the Scarpetta novels, Kay was strong, intelligent, witty, professional, etc. Where did you go? All we have left is a miserable, whiny, old, passive woman. There is no life to her any more. The book has so many characters that no one cares about. They are all unpleasant -- even the ones we used to know and love. This book is a continuation of the last one -- it is so unmemorable, I forgot the name. I couldn't remember what had happened in the last novel, so I spent most of my time confused. That she has so many odd story lines that kind of meet up at the end doesn't help. It's almost as if she said -- "oops, I'm out of paper, I better wrap this up." And what is the deal with Marino and where did he go? Don't waste your money. Borrow my book if you must read it. I've already wasted $17.61. If I ever read another Cornwell book, it'll be from the library though it bothers me that my tax dollars are used on this tripe!!

I Am Thankful!!

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving!! Christmas is good. I can take or leave Halloween and the Labor Day, but Thanksgiving is about my 2 favorite things!! Family and Food. I am always a little sad because Thanksgiving seems to get pushed to the side with a little teeny display of paper products somewhere between the behemoth bags of fun size candy bars and the tacky dancing Santas. This is a perfect time for me (and everyone) to think about the things I am grateful for and consider the source of these blessings.

Here is a list of all the things I am grateful for:

Bob Sykes, Rachel, Sarah, Robbie & Kathleen Sykes, Aunty Kate and the Lewis’, the Gordons (even though we miss Aunty Fran something awful). My house, my Huntsville House, Weight Watchers, my health (but not MS – it is no friend of mine); okay – Otto and Daisy, but not their byproducts; my car, washing machine, dishwasher – especially in Huntsville. A good night’s sleep. I don’t get those very often. Good books. Comfy shoes, a good bed. Hot baths. Lotion after the hot baths because my skin gets so dry. United States of America. Election day. Blogs. Emily Jones. Young Women and Mutual (I know, I grumble sometimes, but I still am grateful for it.) Education. The temple, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Prayer, the scriptures.

That my Heavenly Father loves me and all His Children. He is the source of all these blessings. And I am grateful to Him.