Author: julesfarm@yahoo.com

A Visit from my Daughter, Tess!   I had NO intentions of not blogging all weekend long! It was a great weekend though, and if you’re interested, here’s a recap. Friday night, I picked up Tess from the airport and we went to one of my favorite little neighborhood spots, The Sunset Grill. There was some great live music, a chatty and somewhat entertaining girl sitting at the bar beside us, and some yummy food! Saturday morning was coffee, catching up, and snuggling on the couch with one of my favorite movies, Working Girl! This is a Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford movie from the late 80’s. Melanie Griffith’s character’s name, in the movie, is Tess. She plays a smart, strong willed young woman, fighting her way to the top! I loved her character in this movie! It is this movie that the name Tess first stuck with me, and […]

I survived the day, and NOTHING crazy or bad happened! It was actually a really great day! I got a lot of things accomplished, I saw a few friends, I picked up Tess, my daughter,  at the airport and she got in a lot earlier than I was expecting! We made it home from the airport without a flat tire or anything! I was actually so relaxed in the afternoon and evening, that I forgot to take food pictures, and I hardly ever forget that! I’m keeping today’s post short. Busy day ahead! The A/C guy will be here soon to give us a bid. Tess and I are taking a long walk together after that. The weather is gorgeous right now and I hope it stays that way for our outside festivities today at the Food and Beer Festival called Boulevardia!! I’m lovin’ the App!!   Music All Day […]

My current Facebook Status:   Yesterday, the new water heater was installed. Tomorrow, the A/C guy is coming to give us a bid. My hope is that today, Friday the 13th, nothing breaks or goes wrong. I am picking up Tess at the airport late tonight and I am seriously anticipating a flat tire on the way to the airport! If it does happen, I figure I’ll be mentally prepared, and if it doesn’t happen, I’ll be ecstatically happy! After 47 years of never really being superstitious, I am now one of those people! Tess will be here for a nice long weekend visit! She will be here until Tuesday and I can hardly wait! We are celebrating a belated Mother’s Day all day Saturday at Boulevardia, a Beer and Food Fest in the West Bottom’s. If you know us together, this comes as no surprise. There is even an […]

Okay, First….Exercise I’m really glad I set this goal to run ONE mile everyday this month. It’s getting me out the door everyday, and it feels good to be accomplishing this goal. I seem to now comfortably run a 12 minute mile. Nothing speedy, just a casual jog. My heart rate gets up and I feel good about it. I did decide to try and pick up my pace a bit before the end of the month. I ran with a friend the other day and she pushed me to go a little faster. We did our mile in 9:50! As much as I hated it, it did feel good. I was hoping to get in a 10:00 minute mile by the end of June, and it happened! Yay! Yesterday on my run, I decided to see if I could improve my pace while running by myself. I did it […]

House Repairs Good Morning! I hope you all are having a great week! I am keeping myself busy, hoping nothing else at home breaks and getting my “Mile” of running in each day! Did I tell you that not only did the sump pump go out Saturday and the basement flooded, but on Monday, the water heater wasn’t working? The pilot light had gone out, but Mike discovered that the bottom of it is completely rusted out and it is leaking bad. It’s being replaced tomorrow. Anticipating trouble, we are now beginning to get A/C bids! (no joke…..the unit is 15 years old) We also just got a bid on having the house painted. Mike’s decided to have someone else do it this time! We get to spend money on ALL sorts of fun stuff! Whoo Whoo!!   Lunch with Mom My mom doesn’t really get out and about much. […]

Before I talk breakfast, I have a short story. Really. It’s just a paragraph. I was out before noon yesterday to run my ONE mile. I went with my friend that helped me get through the TWO mile run the day before. I knew I was good with only running ONE mile this time out, but together, we decided I could pick up the pace. I almost died you guys. I stopped for a second (twice) near the end to catch my breath, then started up again. Well, no wonder I almost died! We ran ONE mile in 9:50! And that includes my two baby stops! It was my goal to run one mile in 10 minutes by the end of June, and I guess that happened! It was NOT fun, I am NOT excited to do it again, and I CAN’T imagine running a 5K (OVER THREE MILES) at […]

(This post also has a link to Chicken Kabob’s and Salmon Kabob’s closer to the bottom of the post. This is a long post and I had lot’s to say!)   Before I talk about these delicious Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Potato Fries, let me tell you that I DID get out and run TWO miles without stopping on Sunday afternoon! Yay! I asked a friend to go with me for support, and she was all in! I knew I wouldn’t run two miles without stopping if I was by myself. Her legs are twice as long as mine, so I’m sure my slow pace was killing her, but she never complained and it made me go just a tad faster. That was my best time for a mile so far. We actually finished the first mile in 11:17! Here is our time for two miles. We walked before and after […]

Dog Training I woke up at 5:00 am on Saturday morning to Tucker wondering around the bedroom. Then Tucker kindly did number 1 AND number 2 outside, and I guess I was just so excited to see progress, and no mess on the carpet, that I just couldn’t go back to sleep! At 8:00 pm last night, I was ready for bed! The training is going well. He is kept in the kitchen when I’m not home, (thanks to Mike’s custom built gate!) and when I am home, I’ve got my eye on him like a HAWK!! There is now a gate closing off the upstairs, and one closing off the basement, two places he liked to wander off to and do his business! He has still pooped in the kitchen 6 of the last 12 days, but I figure at least it is on the kitchen floor, and I […]

I really can’t begin to explain how good it feel’s to be back to my Friday routine. There is something about that weekly meeting that feel’s like so much a part of my week. I need it. I like it. It keep’s me focused. Some meeting’s are much more intense than other’s, but I always take something away from the meeting. Last week we discussed finding an anchor. What could we use as an anchor to keep us motivated? As I sat there thinking about what my anchor would be, I realized it was sitting in my lap! It’s my Weight Watcher’s Notebook with all of my success charms on it!   Each charm was earned and means something specific. The keychain itself, is earned when you reach your 10% weight loss. The 5K charm speaks for itself! The silver round charm represents 25 pounds lost! The copper round charm […]

On Wednesday, I didn’t run until 9:30 at night, and running in the dark, I feared the boogeyman and wild animals. On Thursday, I left the house around 2:00 in the afternoon for my run. It was broad daylight, and I had no fears. One block from my house, a bird pooped on my shoulder. I wiped most of it off with a leaf. My fear of a wild animal did not include one POOPING on me!!   When a bird poop’s on you, it is supposed to be a sign of good luck. Apparently this has something to do with “what are the odd’s of THAT happening?” It has actually happened to me before. I prefer to win the lottery if we’re talking odds, but ah well. Anyhow, I wondered what great “lucky” things the rest of the day might bring. So far, I had cooked my first artichoke, […]