So, I was playing on my computer today, and I found this really cool website called "tickerfactory.com". I found a weight loss tracker, which you will notice (if I did everything correctly) on the right hand side of this blog. Hopefully it will show my continued progress as I practice eating more healthy foods in the coming months. I actually joined Weight Watchers a couple of Thursdays ago, during an exceptionally cold spell, figuring that there wouldn't be too many people there. Well, since then the Thursdays with crappy weather are adding up quickly! Last week was just about as chilly, and this week looks to be extremely snowy. It's like the enemy is trying to keep me from going to the meetings, but I'm not going to cave. I really want this to work :)



In other news, because of the snow today, I didn't go to work. I'm really bummed about it, because I LOVE MY JOB!!!! Do you know how cool it is to say that?? My lead teacher called to tell me not to come in because of the snow (it took her 2 hours - normal is about 20 minutes). We will still have our Open House today, but I won't be there :(



Well, that's about it for today.

Doctor's Orders

So, I went to the doctor on Friday. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned my intolerance of extreme cold, such as we have experienced here lately. Since I have Raynaud's (an autoimmune thing), it should come as no surprise. I told her I'd like to go south for a bit, but that's not going to happen. She wrote me a prescription: "Move to warmer climate (as soon as possible) for winter months". Now that's one prescription I wouldn't mind getting filled!!

Is Your Shopping Done???

Attention: Only 345 more days until Christmas! :)

Happy January

Welcome to January - you know, the month after the holidays where everyone is sick of the cold and snow (it was nice for Christmas Eve) and just wants it to be Spring. As my darling hubby says, "We're one day closer to Spring!" I have to say, that does absolutely nothing for me - especially when I'm skating across a patch of ice on my way to start the car in the below freezing temperatures we get here in Western New York. I could cheerfully wait for Spring in, say, Myrtle Beach, or maybe Orlando. I'm sure Spring is one day closer in those locations as well. I am currently looking into going south for a long weekend to visit family. If I can work out the logistics, I may be able to convince hubby that it's a great idea. Time will tell.

Merry Christmas

To all my friends and family who might actually be reading this, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a New Year full of God's blessings. We spent last weekend visiting our daughter's family for a combination Christmas/baptism "event". We arrived late on

Saturday and immediately "did" Christmas. The grandkids are so adorable, and I just reveled in watching their excitement at what was coming next. Their parents were just as excited when they opened their gift from our other daughter - a handmade reversible fleece blanket - one side is the Buffalo Bills, the other side is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Everyone was pleased with the (Pittsburgh) Zoo family membership from us, something we've done for a few years now. Even though it's not something the kids can touch, our daughter reminds them whenever they go to the zoo that it's because Grandma & Grandpa gave them the membership. One of these days maybe WE will get to go with them!



On Sunday, our little Sweet Pea was baptised. I got to hold her for quite a bit of the church service; can you say "Grandma Heaven"? The other two were in a cute little Christmas program. They were standing on the altar steps singing. At first Ladybug didn't want to go up, but one of her little friends came and got her (kind of ), so up she went. They were adorable, of course! Immediately following the service, all three of the kiddos were in the live Nativity being held outside. There was even a petting zoo set up around the manger scene, complete with sheep, goats and a couple of llamas! Our kids were a kitty cat (Superman), an angel (Ladybug) and Baby Jesus (Sweet Pea). We celebrated Sweet Pea's baptism afterwards at Ceci's Pizza with family and a few friends - nice.



Meanwhile, back at home (Western New York), it was, well, snowing... a lot, as in everything was closing for Monday already!! So, on Monday morning we went to Superman's Preschool Christmas program and then headed for home. It was dry roads and sunny skies when we left Washington, PA... somewhere around Meadville I noticed that it was pretty snowy... a short while later we were in the middle of extremely heavy snowfall doing about 40 mph on the interstate! There were cars going off the road all over the place, and I would usually be a basketcase, but God was there with us and He kept me calm (probably so I wouldn't bother hubby while he was driving!). Erie was awful, with more cars off the road and lots and lots of heavy snow. After stopping for a late lunch at Bob Evans, we braved the interstate again. When we got to the PA/NY line, the snow stopped and the road was absolutely dry, bare pavement!! God is good!

Oh Christmas Tree

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree... wherefore art thou Oh Christmas Tree?? My hubby and I like to put our tree up practically before the turkey is cleared away from the Thanksgiving table. So, what happened this year? It's pretty bad when you have to schedule an appointment to put the tree up, don't you think? I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say that we have not had a free evening together when we could put the tree up. Finally my Honey was able to put the tree up and get the lights on it on Saturday. Is it decorated yet? Well..... it does look beautiful with just the lights :) Here it is Sunday (almost Monday) and we're about to embark on another hectic week. I don't hold out much hope for decorating unless we both have insomnia and decide to decorate at 3:00 in the morning! Stranger things have happened, I guess.

In other news, our church's Christmas musical was this weekend, and hubby and I were in it. We were part of the "faux" choir - that would be the unmiked people in the background who move their lips like they're singing (we were really singing) but usually don't get heard. Our big scene was after the opening carols. We stepped forward and sang a really, really bad rendition (on purpose, honest) of Joy To The World. The audience actually applauded (I called it "pity applause"). Then we were done until the last scene, where we joined the "real" singers for the finale - "Joy". It was a lot of fun, and I wish we would do more of that kind of thing. Who knows?

Knock, Knock

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Stupid.

Stupid who?

Stupid me, I actually clicked on something I KNEW was dangerous to my computer and I got a nasty virus from it. (And yes, stupid is an appropriate word for this situation!!)

Yeah, I really did. It seems that "timing is everything" as my hubby says. I thought one of my daughters had posted a video of me online, which they did not, however, I received a message from a Facebook relative saying he'd seen me in a video. Well, I fell for that hook, line and sinker. I wanted to know exactly what was online, and, yes, I clicked on a link that I had been warned about. So, why do I even mention this? In hopes that someone, somewhere will learn
from my mistake. Apparently this virus is called "koobface" and it is a very malicious thing. It has infected my home computer, but I'm still able to use my laptop, thank goodness. I'm not sure if my hubby will be able to fix it or not, but if anyone can, he can.

In other news, our Women's Ministry held their annual Christmas Celebration this morning. It was absolutely delightful. There was caroling, a drama, really good food, and our Pastor's wife spoke. All in all it was a very nice morning.

Okay, that's about it for now. Have a blessed day!