Kevin is okay, and he's supposed to come home today. He had an angioplasty yesterday (I believe) and they put a stent in him. He had a 90% blockage near his heart. This could have been "the big one." It's really woken him to the fact that he (a) HAS to quit smoking, (b) has to eat well, (c) has to exercise, and (d) HAS to take care of himself.

And it's woken me to the same facts, minus the smoking one... I MUST STICK TO WW. I MUST NOT CHEAT A LOT. I MUST EXERCISE. I WILL EXERCISE. I NEED HELP TO EXERCISE.

Last week was so productive - at work and at home (at least over the weekend). I will be as productive this weekend at home (if we don't go to the lake), and I'm going to try to be as productive at work for the rest of the week. I've done okay, but just not as well as last week...

A had had her braces removed! Apparently I'm allowed to know, but not allowed to acknowledge, according to C.

Had lunch with Eva today. She had a bit of an argument with her mom last night. I feel so badly for her. She is trying so hard to eat healthy, exercise when she can... She just doesn't get support from her family; she only gets criticism. Her sister seems to be supportive, as much as little sisters can be, and Eva doesn't have a problem with Paul, but the rest of them? I wouldn't give you a plug nickel for 'em! It really makes me appreciate my family, even on their worst day!!!

WE HAVE A NEW CAR!

We bought a 1998 Subaru Forester, white (yes, I still hate white cars, but what are ya gonna do?!), manual, AWD, $3700, 98K miles... and yesterday I went for my first lesson in driving a stick shift...

Well, I didn't break the car. And I didn't break my marriage. A wonderfully accomplished day, if you ask me! I thought I did remarkably well considering that although I'm not a clutz and have never broken a bone, I don't really think of myself as all that coordinated a human being... I realize it's all timing and coordination, but I really think part of my biggest problem is not associating "downshifting" with increasing your speed going up a hill. Innately I feel you "give it more gas" in order to "give it more power." It just doesn't seem to work that way with a manual transmission. Of course, it could all be in the translation - maybe I just don't understand Jack's instructions/explanations... It could have been filmed for a movie - how cliche - I'm at a stop sign at a traffic light in the Meadowlands (near Medieval Times, for any of you who know the area) and although there's turn on red there, I'm behind the wheel of a car with a stick shift, so the automatic (pardon the pun!) "look three ways and proceed" just wasn't happenin'! I was in a mild panic 'cause there was a car behind me, but Jack told me to take my time and turn when I was ready. So I was talking myself through it when all of a sudden, Mr. Rude Driver in the silver sedan behind me blew his horn. Well, I stalled. Three times. And each time I stalled, it bucked, and I got flushed, and cranky, and sweaty... AND THEN, WHEN I FINALLY TURNED THE CORNER, HE WENT STRAIGHT AHEAD!!! Whoever you are - you suck!!!

But I'm sure with a little practice and a lot of praying, I'll be able to drive a manual transmission and Jack and I will still be the happy-newlywed-couple-even-after-7.5-years that we are today!
I worked hard this weekend, even though I believe with all my heart that weekends are for goofing off! When you work all week and are almost never home in the evenings, weekends just have to include some housecleaning and other boring chores. Although I didn't squeeze in any scrapbooking, here's my weekend in a nutshell:
Saturday 1/27 -
* up at 6:30am, in the car at 7:00am, en route to the DMV to register my white non-rental Forester, even though we found out the DMV opens at 8:00am on Saturday
* at Panera's for coffee and a bagel by 8:45am (thanks, DMV, for being so efficient and easy this time!!! For NJ residents, bet you never thought I'd ever write anything like that!!!) - Panera's is Jack's new favorite b'fast place (along with our local Atlanta Bread Company)
* home by 10:15am and back in the car at 11:10am to go to the lakehouse to check for frozen pipes - it was COLD this past Saturday - 0 degrees in the house according to our weather barometer thingee on the island and 23 degrees outside - we poured some more anti-freeze in the pipes, crossed our fingers, and left for Wal-mart
* 12:00noon - shopping at Wal-Mart - bought a pair of jeans that claims they will make me look thinner - we'll see
* home by around 4:30pm, ate dinner normal time, then showered and left to see Tommy's band, 50 Amp Fuse, play in between Alternative Groove sets at the Exchange on Main Street in Rockaway - their band is great, but I think their singer isn't as good as their musicians are - we had a great time, though!
* home at 1:15am - tuckered out
Sunday, 1/28 -
* 7:00am - up for Mass at 8:00am
* 8:00am - Mass
* 9:00am - breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company
* 10:30am - home with the TV on - took down Christmas tree (don't worry - it was a fake one!) - now that Mom's home and we had our belated Christmas dinner/party, the decorations (sans my Santa collection) can come down without tears! AND I WORKED MY A-S OFF (well, if only it was that easy!) - It's all down except for a candle in the main bathroom, a sled-and-only-three-tiny-reindeer in the stairway, and the clingy gel "Merry Christmas" words on the kitchen window - it all just has to get carried upstairs... Jack...
* 11:30pm - lights out, to bed

Tonight we're picking up Mrs. D. to take her to see KD in the hospital - apparently he suffered an infarction of some sort on Saturday morning - he's got a blockage. They're transferring him from St. Clare's in Dover to Morristown General (Memorial?) today so we're going to see him tonight - be well, KD! We worry about you! (See what happens after about a year of eating better, exercising, and cutting down substantially on his smoking?! To say nothing of his seeing a lady we have yet to meet...)

Okay - 'tis actually work time, so I'm off to be as productive as I was last week...

I need to retire...

I spend a bit of time daily looking at my favorite blogs - correction - I USED to spend a bit of time daily looking at my favorite blogs - NOW I can only pop on by a time or two a week... I miss all those scrapping bloggers! I need more hours in a day, or less work to do in a day, so that I can apply myself to more fun in a day...

Mom is home! Hip! Hip! Hooray! I picked her up at Newark's Penn Station last night at around 5pm. I sat in the Amtrak Luggage Office with a few very nice men - thanks to the Amtrak guys for keeping me company 'til Mom's train came in! I had fun!

After we dropped her luggage at home, we went to IHOP for dinner, and C, J, and A came, too. Jack was at a Special Olympics dinner in Jersey City. Mom got home around 8pm and I went home and plopped down in front of the TV to watch Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and Men in Trees. I like Thursdays!

We have a three day weekend - I will be minimally creative since I have a lot of my tools and other scrapping stuff at home, but I will try to make some more cards, covers for my new planners (wonder if I can make a transferable cover that can go from month to month... hmmm... must put on my thinking cap...), and perhaps a page or two. Or perhaps I will remember my camera and I can learn to use it. Maybe I'll see some interesting photos to take and print and scrap...

I have a doctor's appt on Monday at 4:15 (gyno annual) - will talk with Dr. K. about the spotting these past two months (we'll see if it happens again this month...) - perhaps he'll suggest another pelvic ultrasound? And I need a prescription/referral for my annual mammogram.

P and C and I are going to try to create a reading list for the next 12 months that includes 12 books we really want to read, excluding my usual monthly release type reading... I started and have already added Kite Runner, Knowledge for Generations, and Reading Lolita in Tehran to my list. I'm going to try to pick some stuff I wouldn't normally read... step out of the box, so to speak...

Eva wants to talk with me about a career decision she has to make - I wonder what that's all about. More when I talk with her...

Eva got a new car. Finally. With help from mom & dad. Finally. 'Nough said.

I asked Jack to help me be a better person. I'm quick with the sarcastic comment or the biting response, and it's not the best character trait I have... My wonderful husband said I already was a nice person (without a hint or any prompting from me!) but I truly want to be a more compassionate and more generous and more loving person. I will try.

Okay, on with my story...

FHP year was great. Having skipped senior year in high school, I was only 16-1/2 when I started college. And a young 16-1/2 at that. I came from a very protected home - looking back at it, it was such a wonderful gift that my parents gave me. We didn't have a lot - Dad worked the night shift 'cause of the 10% differential, Mom made most of our clothing when we were younger, she was a stay-at-home mom 'til C was in high school - if I had had children of my own, I would have been so proud and happy to be 1/2 the mom mine was. And my dad? Does "perfect" describe him? Yes. He was so smart, and loving, and caring, and sacrificing...

I think Mom and Dad each deserve their own part in my story, so I'll save more on each for later...

As a FHP, I was part of a rather unique group of kids - they were SMART. Smart and weird. Most of them felt compelled to be "different" - to act differently, to dress differently, to draw attention to themselves by being what others easily considered "weird." There was Klaus, who wore his hair long and scraggly and dirty, and wore a long woolen coat even in May... There was Elizabeth (?) who walked around with unshaven legs and underarms, wearing long flowy skirts and John Lennon glasses, with her flute in hand... There was RichS (whose first and last names were always used, like they were actually one word) who, looking back at him, so obviously acted a bit strange to be the center of attention... As an adult, he was less strange and weird than he was unsure of his own worth, but that didn't help in 1977... There was Rhonda Y., my accordian-playing, felon-dating first-semester roommate...

Then there were the Wesley students we all interacted with on a daily basis - Drew R. (an older man who became a good friend of mine - 26, in college on the G.I. bill - whose "What I Did over Summer Vacation" report was entitled "How I got V.D. in Greece."), Dana P. (basketball player and extremely nice guy), Nancy M. (my ex-second-semester roommate), Buddy N. (my freshman year crush - he was from Kenilworth), and many more...

I remember the Amish coming in their buggies to the little deli on the other side of campus, near Williams and Gooding Halls. I remember the guys in Williams putting a sign out when the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crashed and Ronnie Van Zant died. I remember snowball fights between those two dorms. I remember meeting Chris the first time on the steps of Carpenter Hall, on the way back home from breakfast the day before Thanksgiving, when he made a joke about the donuts I had for breakfast. I remember the guys from Budd Hall lifting Buddy's car (a Celica) out of the snowbank so he could go get food. I remember the campus being quarantined due to the Russian Flu - I WAS SO VERY SICK THAT WEEK. I can barely remember EVER being THAT sick EVER. I remember hanging out in the College Center lounge, with Chris, until all hours of the night. I remember the girls who had crushes on him - Ginger, Lorna. I remember a party at Drew's room, with microdots (I left when I found out they were drugged with LSD). I remember being in the boys' bathroom with Jeff F., helping him get ready for the Halloween party. I remember driving home in Sue L.'s little VW bug, with Drew. I remember Sue and Melissa L. rooming together next door in Carpenter Hall. I remember them dressing up for Halloween. I remember Nancy's birthday party. I remember mystery meat and scrapple and spam. I remember the salad bars in the cafeteria at Wesley College.

I remember.

It's 2007 - I went to my Weight Watcher's Meeting last night and the topic was resolution vs. lifestyle. Resolutions have a beginning and an end, and lifestyles are forever. What a great way to look at it. WW is an easy change, at least for me - the plan was easy to begin and who wouldn't like a diet where you can eat anything you want, as long as you honestly account for the points! I'm at 21 pounds and still going... (To be honest, I made it to 23+ but have had a bit of a slip up recently... I hit one of those plateaus the leaders are always talking about... I'm hoping it's over since last night the scales showed a .8 lb loss - after the holidays and two weeks of not weighing in!!!)

I have treadmilled every day since the new year began (yes, I know, that's only two days!- but that's two days more than last year!). I'd like to do it at least 4 days a week and when my endurance and breathing and strength has improved, I want to add a bit of weight training and exercise ball toning to my plan. And it will be easy - I have my own personal trainer - my sister-in-law does that for a living! We've already discussed some exercises that I can add in but that was months ago, when it briefly crossed my mind... I'll meet with her again to create a plan when I really decide to add it into my daily program...

Santa came and his imminent visit was the impetus I needed to clean my house. It looks so nice and festive and the holidays will last until at least Martin Luther King Day this year - my mom isn't due home from Arizona until the 11th and I'd like to do a family dinner the following weekend to welcome her home... Of course, since this is the place I can be honest (after all, who's reading this but me!), you can't go into Maria's room or into the computer room (formerly known as Johnny's room) without a helmet on - all the stuff I cleaned out of the rest of the house is hidden behind those two closed doors! That is part of my New Year's resolutions - no - lifestyle changes - to clean and keep my house clean.

My friend Chris has this habit of missing my b'day by one day every year - he either calls or emails or snail mails the day before or the day after - this year I must have been really good 'cause he emailed me, and then sent me a card, too! Thanks, Chris!

Well, this was much ado about nothing, to quote Bill and imply a Seinfeld connection... perhaps my next entry will be a bit more in keeping with the story of me and mine...