Sunday Morning Weigh-In: The Competition I Fell Into

So the weight-loss thing is getting more comical and more intense at the same time. … (Comical will be explained in a later post this week.)

After I began gunning to lose at least the 10 pounds of holiday weight I’d gained (with some up-and-down success – I still haven’t gotten the full 10 pounds off yet), my company decided to launch into another “season” of its “Biggest Loser” competition.

Now, I work with a bunch of really competitive people: poker tournaments, golf games, golf pools, football pools, you name it – they’re in it to win it, no matter what it is.

So a couple of years ago, they started playing “The Biggest Loser,” and have had two big competitions (lasting 3 months each) over about three years. The pot gets pretty big, and payout goes to first through third place. The guys always win over the gals, but the winner is determined by percentage of body weight lost, so ultimately it should be fair. Since I handle social media for the company, I usually blog about the competition and tweet/FB it.

But this time …

This time I decided to play.

(Egads.) Continue reading

Spring Flowers

A couple weekends ago, all four of us went to a local nursery we love around here, Roger’s Gardens (here’s a post I wrote about Roger’s Gardens for my other blog), and we oooh’ed and aaaah’d over all the beautiful spring flowers and Easter decorations. (Nathan mostly just tried on the funny men’s gardening hats and played with the windchimes.) I think we were all, though, just in the mood for spring, sunshine, pastel colors, rabbits and eggs. …

Rene had decided earlier in the week that she wanted to plant some flowers in our brick flowerbed, so we let her pick out some annuals. She also found two succulents she loved. As soon as we got home, she went into the back and spent about an hour in gardening gloves and planting soil.

Here’s what she planted. So pretty!

A “rose” succulent:

These cool bright-green succulents that looked so adorable in this heart-shaped clay pot (so we got the clay pot, too, and she re-created the look at home!):

Some bright purple pansies and daisies (and a little pink, for accent):

And a couple yellow pansies, which she put in our nonworking fountain:

It’s feeling like spring now!

 

A Perfect Spring Break

Ah, that was a fun spring break!

We kicked it off with a road trip through the desert:

Then cruised into Arizona:

Picked Ricky up from the airport in Phoenix:

We thought we'd kid around, and set Nathan out there in front of the terminal with a sign saying "Ricky" (like the limo driver standing behind him).

Went to Angels Spring Training at Tempe-Diablo Stadium:

With my parents:

And watched some really close-up ball:

We also sat by the pool, went to hotel happy hours, caught up with my parents, caught up with my boy, relaxed, read (I’m reading The Hunger Games), tried to stay off line, relaxed some more, went out to eat at some fun places, and did a road trip back with my college boy in the car.

I’d say as far as spring breaks go, that was tops. It was fun to travel with my parents, fun to have Ricky home for a week, nice for him to “thaw out” from the Montana snow, and great to enjoy some sunshine and baseball.

Nothing beats the smell of the grill, the sound of the bat, the sun beating down, and the general joy of baseball to get you ready for summer. …

This was an ideal spring break.

What are some of your favorite spring traditions?

 

 

Hoppy Easter!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter, if you celebrate it.

We did something different this year and had an Easter brunch at my house instead of Easter dinner at my parents’ house.

The change was mostly due to the fact that we had to take Ricky back to the airport to fly back to college (after his spring break) at 4 p.m. Plus, one of my brothers was gone, along with his wife, since they’re traveling this month in the Phillipines.

So … little different this year … but it was really fun. I’m getting used to changing up some traditions now.

We had my parents over, plus my other brother and my little nephew. (It was fun buying “Easter bunny” things for a little one again!)

And the brunch menu was fabulous! Here’s what we had (wish I took pics of the food, but I was too busy … er .. eating …): Continue reading

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