Great Day

We enjoyed a wonderful day yesterday. We slept late and then had a good breakfast. (Mine was Grape Nuts with raspberries!) Then I readied the dish we were to take to Harold's party. I made my fabulous spinach artichoke dip. (Put spinach in the search line of my blog for the recipe!)

The party was fun, and the company amiable. One highlight of the party was Earl and Vicky's son Chris, who played guitar and sang for us. He did some good old songs, but also some very cool things that he'd written. He played along with Harold and Rob, we all sang, and a good time was had by all!

There was lots of great food, but I was able to eat with restraint. In the past couple of parties, I've found that a good way for me to limit my eating is to stick to water to drink. I think that alcohol, besides being empty calories, and lots of them, serves to heighten my appetite, along with diminishing my will-power. I don't "need" to drink to have fun, so .. why do it? A glass of wine is fine, so long as it doesn't turn into two!

And, as a reward for my restraint, I saw a new number on the scale this morning -- 131.6! Might I actually make 130.0 by the 15th of January?

I talked to Dave yesterday, and that was good. We always enjoy a laugh when we talk, and this was no different. :)

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! And it's gotten off to a very happy start for us. We went up to the clubhouse yesterday afternoon, taking garbage and recycling, and happened upon our Activity Director Lily working on decorating the Fiesta Room. There was lots to do, and we were happy to join right in! Jack filled helium balloons, I tied on ribbons, we covered tables, put out candles and confetti. It was very festive when we were done!

Last evening, we enjoyed a quiet dinner together, relaxed for a couple of hours, and then got spiffed up to go to the New Year's Dance. I wore a black (size 8!) jumpsuit in a sort of slinky fabric, and my gold collar necklace. I'll have a photo soon!

We were among the first to arrive for the dance, and we got the best table! Joining us were Harold & Kathy, Pam & Mike, Denny & Karen, Marv & Jean, and Kim. As the time passed, even more people joined us.

Of course, we were not just sitting around! The band was engaging and we enjoyed dancing just about every song. They even knew the Bunny Hop! Jack's asked every band we've had, and this is the first one to know it! What fun! I felt great in my new outfit, too!

I'd committed myself before we left to drink just a couple of glasses of champagne, but I did even better than that, having just a sip at midnight with Jack. We actually saved our bottle for another day.

Midnight came much sooner than we all thought it would, and hugs, horns, hats, champagne, and "Happy New Year" ruled the night.

New Year's Resolution

I love making New Year's Resolutions, and I'm pretty good at keeping them. This year, I'm resolving to write in this blog MOST days. I won't say EVERY day, because I don't know if I'll have internet access every day of the year, but I can make a promise for most days.

Life has been good and we're staying healthy and happy. We're loving our Wii! We have several games including the Wii Sport, Wii Fit Plus, and Mario Carts. I love the fitness stuff. The tennis feels very real, and the golf makes you feel like you're in the PGA. The coolest thing is that you're playing games, moving around, and you don't have to leave home to do it!

My weight is now at a new low! This morning, I saw 132.2 for the first time in a long time -- certainly before Michael died. I think that the added exercise has helped, and it's helped to keep my eye on the ball as far as food. I'm still measuring my cereal, eating no more than half of a restaurant meal, and am really enjoying every bite that I put into my mouth. Staying just a tiny bit hungry is working, too, though I don't think that this is really recommended.

We had a really merry Christmas. We went to Christmas Eve services at both St. John's and Desert Skies. I've joined the choir at St John's and we sang! What fun. Both services were really good, and we enjoyed the camaraderie.

Besides the Wii, we got ourselves some neat kitchen appliances, including a little omelet maker and an immersion blender. We also ordered a new cooktop to replace the one that we have here. The new one has continuous grates of cast iron. We received some wonderful gifts from afar, too, including the most beautiful vase of red and white tulips, which have beautified our table for the past 2 weeks. A photo frame will be good on our TV table. We still have to sort out some good photos to put into it. We got tumblers with J's on them, and we can't decide if the J stands for Jack or for Janee. I think that half stand for Jack and the other half for Janee.

We got a wonderful box of delicious meats, which we've begun consuming. The fruitcake is about half gone. We limit ourselves to one tiny slice every couple of days, so it doesn't destroy the weight-control efforts. Delicious trail mixes will accompany us on our hikes to come. And so.. what a wonderful holiday season we've enjoyed!