Weight Watchers Saturday! wOOt! wOOt! Couchsurfing!

Are You ready?  I LOST 4 POUNDS THIS WEEK!!!

Yes, I was really happy.  I have now lost 87 pounds. I really gave it my all this week because I know I have to stop futzing around and get it done.  I’ve still got another 100 pounds or more to go.

Well,  I’ve removed all refrigerator magnets so I have no more excuses.

Sarah and I are working hard making our home made Christmas gifts.  Unfortunately, I can’t post any photos or even tell you what we are doing because certain people like MY SISTER read my blog and I want her to have some surprises.  Notice how she never leaves comments.  But that is probably because we talk on the phone at least 5 times a day.

My sister, My best friend, My therapist, My mentor,  I call her Bobbie or Sister B.  I’d be lost without her.

Damon is in Kill Devil Hills, NC.  He doesn’t know if he is going to stay there because there are no fishing jobs now.  He might go further south.  We talk about 10 times a day on the cell phone.  Every time he sees something cool he calls me.  I now know there are a lot of logging trucks on Route 64 and there are a lot of cotton fields.  He has been couchsurfing.

“CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit.”

Basically if you are a member and have good feedback other members will let you sleep on their couch for a night or two when you are traveling. Damon and Anna have done a lot of couchsurfing.  They did a lot of it when they went to Alaska and it’s free.

“CouchSurfing Collectives (or CSCs) are held in order to bring participants together to improve the CouchSurfing website and grow our community. Participants enjoy an exotic and fun environment, as well as free meals and accommodation. They are invited in order to contribute towards improving the CouchSurfing experience for everyone.”

This is the Couchsurfing Collective that Damon and Anna went to in Alaska.

Damon is on the far right.  This is the photo that is on the main page on the couchsurfing website.

Well, now that you have all had a lesson in couchsurfing I don’t have much else to write about today.

One more thing, it is freakin’ cold today!!!

Advertisement

What Time Is It? Damon Is On His Way South!!

Where I live, it is 6:49PM on Tuesday November 18.  I think it is unnecessary to put the year.  I’m hoping you all know that already.  What freaks me out is: it is tomorrow in some places.  Like’ it’s almost 1:00PM in the afternoon tomorrow in Auckland, New Zealand.  Now, I know people there.  I find it so weird to think they are living in my tomorrow at the same time I am living in their yesterday.

It’s the little things in life, eh?

Now if  “Scotty” could beam me over there,  would I be 18 hours older in the second it took me to get there? I’d be in tomorrow land.

Sometimes I think of the weirdest stuff.

OK, enough of the space and time continuum.

Damon left to go South tonight at about 5:30 PM my time.  We took some photos of the tearful goodbye.  Who knows when I will see him again.

Damon saying goodbye to his beloved cat Yoda. The cat I will never let him have even though it is technically his.

Obie, Damon and the Wasband

Damon and me just before he leaves

Damon and Me–The final teary goodbye!!!  I’m wearing my old fat pants–they make me look even bigger!!

Sarah was still at work so she wasn’t home when he left.  He wrote her a nice thank you letter.

He’s been gone two hours.  I’ve already talked to him three times on his cell phone.

He’s actually headed west to Syracuse, N.Y. to visit his girlfriend for one night before he goes South.  Only a couple of days out of his way but I suppose there is really no hurry to go South.  It’ll be there when he gets there.

Two Days Of Fun In The Sun!! Wasband Has Sandwich Stolen By a Seagull!! Damon in Alaska!!

Oh, I so wish I had video of the Wasband on Sunday.  We all decided to go to the beach:  Me, Sarah, Obie, Wasband and his friend Leslie.  Sarah had to leave to go get Obie.  Leslie and Barry decided to eat their sandwiches.  I warned them of the dire consequences of doing this on the beach with those extremely aggressive FREAKIN’ SEAGULLS flying around.  He hadn’t taken one bite of his sandwich and a seagull swooped in from behind him, landed on his leg and swiped his sandwich.  I could hardly breath I was laughing so much.  I tried to video tape the after shock that Barry seemed to be going through but I was so hysterically laughing I forgot to turn the camera on. Just remember, I did not refer to anyone as a dumbass but it sure wasn’t the seagull.

After the beach we had to go to a memorial concert.  Our next door neighbor’s ( the ones I have lived near for 34 years and actually speak to) son passed away a few weeks ago.  He was only 45 years old.  I’d known him since he was eleven. He was a rock musician. His birthday was yesterday and they held a party anyway as a benefit. Lots of people came to honor him. There were about 5 bands and we ended up staying for three hours. They were selling 2 freshly grilled hamburgers, with chips, potato salad, baked beans for $5. I didn’t eat anything.  I did have 2 Bud Lights but I counted the points.

The motorcycle guys

One of the bands.  We sat way in the back.  It was very, very loud.

Sarah’s knees, Leslie and the Wasband

Today, Sarah and I went to the beach again.  We went to a different beach and the seagulls weren’t so bad so we carefully ate our sandwiches and none were stolen.  I didn’t have my camera with me because I forgot to charge the battery.

Oh, and on Sunday after the wasband’s sandwich was stolen, a woman came up to us and said the same thing just happened to her husband.

So I had a busy two days and am now behind in my comments.  I’ll catch up soon.

Damon’s girlfriend, Anna,  just sent me 250 photos of them and Alaska. I will post two now but write a post about their adventures soon.  Damon and his girlfriend Anna both left comments on here.  I cried when I read them. I’m such a baby.

Damon loves catching salmon.

I don’t know why sitting at the beach makes me so tired, but it does, so I will catch up with evreyone tomorrow.

Happy Birthday To My Son!

Happy Birthday Damon!!  I love you so much.  This was my birthday cake and I wanted to share it with you.

I have nothing else to give you but my love which will always be there for you.  Oh, and advice.  Whether you want to hear it or not.  You know me, I have to tell you what I think.  Whether you take my advice is up to you.

I just talked to you five minutes ago and you sounded so happy and excited.  I’m glad the sun is shining for you today in Alaska.

I can’t believe you are 27 years old.  Where did my little boy go?  Remember playing “Tame Pony”  You used to love that.  Remember all the rides we would take together? Going to the airport just you and me? Trying to drive down every single road in Falmouth and checking them off on the map as we did it?  Chasing around town when we heard stuff going on the police scanner?

I remember the day you were born and you wouldn’t open your eyes for two days.

I remember when you first learned how to talk and you thought you were Italian and called me, Mammia and Dad, Daddia.

I remember when seagulls hovered over you at the beach because you were always covered in peanut butter and jelly and Auntie Barb and I called you “alien piggy” because you always seemed to be staring up at the sky.

I remember the little boy who loved his “Care Bear” and who used to make long lines with all his matchbox cars.

I remember when you put a baseball hat on and never took it off again.

I remember my little fisherman.  You would go to the pond and fish for hours all by yourself. I would bring you lunch.

Now you are a man but you still have the baseball hat on and still catch the fish.

I think of you everyday and hope  the best for you but only you can make that happen. I know in my heart you will get the best.  It may be a hard road sometimes but you will travel it and eventually reach your goals.

I love you,

Mom

Meme from The Girl From The Ghetto! Includes Fun Facts about Toilet Paper!

So I was tagged to do a questionaire-type meme by The Girl From the Ghetto. She has a most awesome site. She keeps me updated on my favorite show “Lost”. Stuff happens on that show and I’m watching it but somehow I miss it and she is very smart and observant and doesn’t miss a thing, thank goodness, otherwise I would never know what was going on. She also writes about lots of other interesting things. If you haven’t been there you should check her out.

Favorite person (outside family

This is difficult because I don’t hang out with much of anyone outside my family. I do have three friends though and I can’t choose between them. I don’t even hang out with them that much but I always talk to them on the phone or e-mail them and they are always there for me. First is my long lost sister Wendy from Life with Buck. She has been my sister’s best friend for years and we decided that my mother must have lost her in a store when she was little and never told us about it. She is so much like us that she has to be our third sister.

Cindy is a woman I met through my store about 10 years ago. She started coming in and we started talking and we have been best friends ever since. I talk on the phone to her everyday and she tries to get to see me as often as she can but she lives maybe 30 miles from here and with gas prices…

The other is Nancy, who lives even further away but I met her when I was 10 years old and we have been best friends ever since. OMG, the stuff we did when we were young.

Favorite food?

Another tough one because there is very little food I don’t like. One of my favorite foods is the potato in all it’s cooked forms–mashed, fried, scalloped, homefries, chips. It doesn’t matter how you cook one I will eat it.

Quirks about you?

Oh Lord, ask my daughter. She probably has a list a mile long. One of my quirks to someone else would seem normal to me so another difficult one to answer. Well, I won’t put the toilet paper on the paper holder thingy. Not because I can’t but I always want to see if anyone else will do it. Most times no one does. It’s sort of pointless having the thing.

Fun facts about toilet paper from Wikipedia:

“New Yorker Joseph C. Gayetty produced the first packaged bathroom tissue in the United States in 1857. The Gayetty Firm from New Jersey produced the first toilet paper named “The Therapeutic Paper”. It contained an abundance of aloe, a curative addition. The company sold it in packs of 500 sheets for fifty cents, and Joseph Gayetty had his name printed on each sheet!

Before toilet tissue- wealthy Romans used wool and rosewater and sponges soaked in salt water at the end of a stick. Wealthy French used lace, wool and hemp. In the Middle Ages they used hayballs and a scraper/gompf stick kept in a container in the privy. Early Americans used rags, newsprint, paper from catalogs, corncobs, and leaves. Vikings used lambs wool. Hawaiians used coconut shells. Eskimos used snow and Tundra moss. A bidet is used in France. Defecating in the river is very common. Cleaning with the left hand and water is common in India. Sailors used the frayed end of an old anchor line.”

This looks like it might work for us!

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? (Ask them)

loving, loyal, funny, forgetful, quirky, accepting, helpful, honest, smart and sassy.

My daughter typed in the above herself. I didn’t even prompt her.

Any regrets in life?

Hell yea!! I wouldn’t have eaten so many fried potatoes!!!

Favorite Charity/Cause?

I don’t have a charity. I am a charity. Sometimes I feel useless being disabled. I want to hang out on some corner with a tin cup and beg for money so I can pay back my daughter and my wasband for all they have done for me.

I do have a cause. That is the consumption, the breathing in of, and the putting on our skin of way too many chemicals. The average person manages to take in almost 200 chemicals a day. Don’t get me started on this. I could write a 10,000 word essay on it in 2 minutes if I could type that fast.

Favorite Blog recently?

All my blogs are my favorites otherwise I’d delete them. I can’t think of anyone on my blogroll that I don’t absolutely adore. You have all changed my life for the better.

Something you can’t get enough of?

Potatoes?

Worst job you’ve ever had?

When I was in high school I worked on an assembly line putting little white covers on little white boxes, over and over and over again. It was sort of like the I Love Lucy show, the famous episode of her and Ethel on the chocolate candy assembly line. Only it was me and Nancy. We didn’t last too long at that job.

What job would you pay NOT to have?

Come on, what did I just say, remember already, the little white boxes?

If you could be a fly on the wall, where?

Hillary Clinton’s bedroom. I’d love to hear the love talk between Hill and Bill. I wonder if she wears a Monica wig and they play Bill and Monica.

Favorite Bible verse right now?

Sorry, haven’t read it recently. I still have a version of a Children’s Bible Stories book that my brother gave me when I was about 10 years old. It’s in my book case. I’ll just give you my favorite saying. I guess you could call it my mantra–“It is what it is” That’s how I am able to accept a lot of stuff I can’t change. It’s a lot shorter than that Al Anon one I can never remember the words to but is basically the same thing and I can remember this one.

Guilty Pleasure?

Being unemployed. When I’m not feeling guilty about it, it sure is fun.

Got any confessions?

I’ve already confessed about stealing my sister’s diary when I was a kid and finding my brother’s pot stash. I can’t think of much else.

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it?

I couldn’t spend it on myself. Well, maybe just a little of it. I would probably buy that King Arthur statue from Design Toscano. I’d have to give most of it to my daughter towards bills.

Favorite thing about your house?

My bedroom. I wrote a whole post about it with photos.

Least favorite thing about your house?

Not having walls in the bathroom. It finally got a door after quite a few months. You can’t see into it but when you are in it all you see is the insulation. Oh, and we have no front steps. You walk out the front door and you are going to drop three feet to the ground. Thank goodness we have a side door with a railing so I can get out of this place when I want to.

One thing you are bad at?

Singing. You don’t want to hear me sing. First I can never remember all the words to any song except “The Eensy Weensy Spider”.

One thing you’re good at?

Cooking. I think I do a damn good job cooking for this family. Except I’m not cooking tonight. I got off prednisone completely and I didn’t think it would cause so much pain. I can hardly walk at all. I couldn’t even go grocery shopping so I am getting back on a low dose until I get to go to the pain management clinic. I don’t know what they are going to eat for supper . I told my daughter and she kept saying “Don’t worry about it Mom”, but I do.

If you could change something about your circumstances, what would it be?

Having the money to buy a bigger house for us all.

Who would you like to meet someday?

I’d like to meet up with my father again, even for just a minute so I could tell him how much I love him.

What makes you feel sexy?

Nothing I can think of until I lose another 125 pounds. Then talk to me, Baby.

Who is your real life hero?

My Dad. He was such a hot shit. He was a wonderful father. Someday I’ll have to tell some good stories about him.

My Dad

What is the hardest part of your job?

Since I don’t actually work at a job and mostly what I do is cook I guess I would say grocery shopping. Until they give those cripple carts more power, grocery shopping takes forever.

When are you most relaxed?

When all my cooking chores are done and I sit in my big comfy chair and relax for the rest of the evening.

What stresses you out?

Worrying about my son.

What can you not live without?

My family

Why do you blog?

It’s free therapy!!

I am not going to tag anyone but feel free to do this meme if it pleases you. I know it would please me.