And this was the most flattering of the pictures that compelled me to go back to Weight Watchers!

can you imagine the others? Michael took this picture of me when we went to Highlands and hiked to see Glen Falls. I should have dropped at least five pounds that day because we took the wrong the turn and ended up in the opposite direction of the falls. Of course, I don't think 5 pounds would have made any difference in how uncomfortable these jeans were to wear! I've lost 11.4 pounds since this picture and I am wearing those very jeans now - they're still a little snug but I can at least cross my legs without losing consciousness!

I never met an animal that I didn't like...

even if it's a statue of a dog! Here we are in Savannah on the River Walk. This is the girl that waved at all the ships that came into the port waiting on her true love to come back. She never did find out that he drowned at sea. Quite a tragic story. Perchance that is why they allow you have liquor outside - I took full advantage of this opportunity earlier this year when I met my high school buddies, June and Debbie and we had a girls' weekend. It was actually quite fun. June is planning next year's or so she led us to believe. However, she's in the throes of fresh romance so we never hear from her. I finally found these pictures she took in Savannah while I was ferreting through all the junk on my desk at home. I've had them since I got back from Chicago which was about 5 weeks ago. Apparently I had not moved them to one of my infamous paper sacks that I then in turn stuff into one of two closets. This getting organized business is going to be taking up the majority of my time!

Sitting on the dock on the bay - Chicago Style

Yup, another picture from Chicago. It was a most beautiful day! That would be Byars, Morales, myself and June. Chicago is a great place to visit and live in - at least in the summer and if you have money and lots of it! But that's probably true of about 80% of the places in the world! We took an architectural boat ride down the Chicago River (great way to see all the famous buildings!); had drinks in the lobby bar of the Drake Hotel (we fooled no one into thinking we were staying there!); went to Second City Comedy Club (great fun!); Navy Pier; The Field Museum (I know, I know - we were actually improving our minds - of course, we had to have a drink in the museum bar.); Rush Street (we were once again reminded that we are aging albeit quite well, if we may say so ourselves!). It was a small crowd this year - only 13 of us. But I do like a smaller crowd - so much more manageable. And actually, 13 may not seem like a whole big crowd until one attempts to organize anything then 13 is a huge number!

Now, June will tell you that I forced her to pose for the picture...

and she'd be telling the truth. We were in Savannah on a Girl's Weekend and on our tour this phone booth was pointed out to us. Once we went on our own little walking tour, I recognized the landmark. June just wanted to get back to the hotel. I think she was over all this sightseeing stuff. Me, on the other hand, I was looking at this as a photo op. Finally I could get someone else to take the picture so I could be in one. Not that this is my finest hour but one has to start somewhere! This phone booth, folks, appeared in the movie, Something to Talk About with Julia Roberts. I was hoping some of the glitz and glamour would rub off on me. June thought I was acting a little juvenile - I think she was embarrassed of me - maybe for me! I would have thought she would have known me better than that!

Pump it Up ...

I'm trying! I had to finish off this roll so I could get the Savannah weekend with my high school buddies. So I thought, an excellent opportunity to capture how I seem to spend most of my free time! I've been at this since about July of last year. I am finally getting some definition in my arms and abs. I start boot camp in about a week and that will be brutal! I'm pinning a lot hope on the fact that this will jump start my metabolism again. It's getting harder and harder every day to stay focused. I'm one of those people that need a goal to work towards.

We're thinking about opening up our own furniture refinishing shop!

Not! Linda gave me this class as my Christmas present - a faux finishing class. I think we both thought that this was like a painting walls type of faux finishing class. We were surprised! But it was very informative. I learned all sorts of things. I learned I like French polishing as my furniture finish of choice. Too bad the spindle does show up better in the picture. It was gorgeous! We tried the crackle finish. Of course the sample we did was with the glue thinned. It was thinned too much and we got nary a crackle. I thought for a minute I had a crackle on the side but it was just where I'd taped the board into sections. Bummers! The others crackle samples looked marvelous! I learned I don't have a knack for colors. The instructor asked me if I could see the green in the finish when he held up a red handled pair of pliers. All I could see was the yellow in the wood. Apparently all browns are either green or red based. Yellow is not part of the game there. I could tell I was in trouble!

On Our Way to the N'Sync Celebrity Tour!

I was so excited to go! That's me on the right and Michelle on the left. We're a little toasted and very relaxed in the limo on our way to Phillips Arena. I found a couple of adults to accompany me to see my favorite boy band and we found a child, Sidney, to be our 'cover' child! I mean, we couldn't have everyone thinking a bunch of 'old ladies' (it's all relative you know) were being more than a little perverted in our quest to be up close and personal with our boys/men from N'Sync! I refused to worry about driving and parking so we splurged on a limo. It was so much fun - I was very 'happy' if you get my drift! Michelle and I made tee-shirts to wear to the concert. We were just amateurs compared to some of what we say at the concert! This concert ranks in the top three concerts of my lifetime! Loved it and loved them... still do!

Here we have Jimmie 'pounding' the meat. Of course we referred to it, as beating the meat.

Obviously we have the mind of young deviants. Jimmie is one of my team mates on the Data Services team housed within the Pink Palace. We're DBAs and we say it with pride. And we have a mission statement. Our manager made us all say it out loud together in a meeting when I admitted that I had no idea what the Data Services Team Mission Statement stated. Boy, was I sorry I asked. Now I dream about it at night! But this is not a Dilbert moment. We are enjoying our annual team meal. It was a lot of fun. We met at Cooks Warehouse and had to prepare a pre-selected meal. Jimmie was on the Pork Loin stuffed with Apple Dressing team (or some such thing) - it was delicious. Me - I was on the Gorgonzola and Toasted Pecan Puff appetizer (which I am making again - it was so good - though not low-cal... do you see why I'm having issues with food!) We learned how to butterfly the pork loin which leads us to the explanation for the wielding of the hammer upon the meat. It was not to tenderize it - it was to fl

Washington DC is the United States' City of Fountains

I swear everywhere we went there was a fountain. Nothing like Atlanta where I think we have three fountains in the entire city. Here we have Teresa behind the US Capitol building. Our hotel was The Hotel George which was 2 blocks from Union Station and 2 blocks from this spot. After we had dinner the first night we walked around just to see what was close. It was almost a Vanilla Sky moment. There were no people anywhere; no cars on the roads; no signs of human life to be seen. Pretty spooky! I had a wonderful time - even vacationing with my mother! It was great to see Lorie and Teresa again. We had not seen them since my father's funeral. I know it meant a lot to Mother to see them, too!

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Wanna ....

Okay, it wasn't really my party. It was Scott's party, as in birthday party. It wasn't a milestone one - that was last year. We all went to the New Indigo Grill. Here he is with Linda. He's still a child (read that, younger than me) and he always will be (read that, younger than me). He loves to frequently remind of that fact. I am absent from this picture because I was next door, busy replacing his broken hula boy. I thought it would an interesting object for their bar downstairs. But I did notice last week when I was dog sitting for them, that the gift was nowhere to be seen. I absolutely hate to buy him any presents - he always 'hides' my gifts. Either down in the basement on the 'secondary' Christmas tree or down on the guest room walls or tucked deep in a closet (or even out in the garage) - heck, half of my gifts I'm sure went directly into the trash. So I think that from now on I'll just give him gift certificates to Lowe's or Home Depot or Highland Hardware. To hell with being thoughtful!

Masquarading as someone else!

Yea, right - I am in my dinner attire for Sherry and Richard's dinner party - you quessed it - a Mardi Gras theme! We drank more than our fair share of Hurricanes. The price was extracted the following day! However, one dish paid the price that night for our Hurricane intake - Sherry left one dish in the stove and found it a week later after it began to grow another life form! Typical dinner party for my crowd!