I want to write a good post, I really do

I had a plan for a thoughtful post tonight, based around a really kind and sweet comment I received yesterday (thank you Rebecca!).<br /><br />I had an exhausting two days sitting in a training class where I was bored out of my mind. For some reason, that just wore me out and now I just want to sleep.<br /><br />In addition, my lower back and is killing me, and it's because of a new exercise I tried yesterday. The inch worm. It looked simple in the book. Just stand up, feet flat on the floor, shoulder width, and bend over from your waist. Put your palms flat on the floor in front of your feet. Don't bend your knees. Walk out your hands (right, left, right, etc.), until you're in a full pushup position but walk your hands out even further out i front of you, then walk your hands back until you're bent at the waist again. Sounds really easy, right? <br /><br />The guy in the video isn't really doing it correctly because he's bending his knees, they're suppose to be straight, but you get the idea. I only did six reps but thought I was going to die. It's suppose to be for your abs, so I must have been doing it wrong because it's my back that hurts.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kLP8ECOfxNE" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br /><br />My lower back is in total agony from this exercise. I just want to curl up in a ball and cry. I guess I pulled something or used a muscle I didn't know I had back there. Anyway, I don't think I like this exercise. <br /><br />I'm going to do some stretches, take a couple aspirin and go to bed. Thoughtful post tomorrow. :)

I want to write a good post, I really do

I had a plan for a thoughtful post tonight, based around a really kind and sweet comment I received yesterday (thank you Rebecca!). I had an...

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Drawing Inspiration From Places Other Than the Scale

With the <a href="http://www.kittanningpaper.com/2010/11/09/obit-clara-mabel-clawson-shelocta/12010">death of my grandmother last November</a>, it became very apparent to me that life is so short, and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle is absolutely essential to a long <b>AND</b> happy life. <br /><br />My grandmother suffered from many illnesses, including diabetes, Parkinson's, and ultimately cancer.  She was on countless medications.  Aside from all of the illnesses she dealt with, obesity was probably the single disease that she could have controlled on her own that may have helped eliminate some of her other medical issues, but we will never know.  I can remember as a child and into my adult years always having the 'weight' conversation with my grandma.  I think I had a special connection with her because of it.  I'm the youngest of her only three granddaughters, and the only one who has dealt with being overweight.  She, too, seemed to struggled with it for most of her life.  There was a period of time where she joined <a href="http://www.tops.org/default.aspx">TOPS - Take Off Pounds Sensibly</a>.  Grandma seemed rather successful with this, though I currently do not have the photos to share of her moments of triumph, receiving awards and trophies for reaching her weight loss goals.  Still, like so many of us do, life and food got the best of her, and she put that weight back on.   <br /><br />After spending the last few days of her life by her side in the hospital, I knew that I had to stop going down the self-sabotaging road I was headed.  While there are days when I think otherwise, I'm still a young woman at a fresh 27 years of age, and I still have time to change my life for the better. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvclhriP3EUoWKtkI30FNDiKKfIg4bYgSxd_Nxj36hKjlmrumDtMKH6K1y8sAkBRXf99ras-vy-JtbPW_avtDApNCWRWEI35YFq5mfNTTD8Nt72D1TeNRZF5XLQaziY68wXheTre_TKE/s1600/exercise-busy-schedule.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZvclhriP3EUoWKtkI30FNDiKKfIg4bYgSxd_Nxj36hKjlmrumDtMKH6K1y8sAkBRXf99ras-vy-JtbPW_avtDApNCWRWEI35YFq5mfNTTD8Nt72D1TeNRZF5XLQaziY68wXheTre_TKE/s320/exercise-busy-schedule.bmp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy of <a href="http://promotehealth.info/?p=277">here</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />After my final visit with Grandma, I made the drive back from Pittsburgh with a heavy heart, but knowing that it was finally time to change my life.  That week, I signed up for a membership at the local gym.  I am proud to say that I have been going to that gym every single week for at least 4 days/week since I signed up.   And while my progress isn't showing on the scale, it's important to count successes elsewhere.<br /><br />Though despite all I shared above, that's not to say that I still do not have days like these:  <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQY1_zS7lJOpUdSgKIqnnv4MbsDIRIeLE-qIasrMh4WH8ZR8cAkoXPO2CuH69by769MDoC2XfbKETATT6jvbmjxjkiW1ic5Bpjui7d7BN33yISEVIbEv3FL6__Q-q4AgC8c1d2D56bVuw/s1600/exercise-cartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQY1_zS7lJOpUdSgKIqnnv4MbsDIRIeLE-qIasrMh4WH8ZR8cAkoXPO2CuH69by769MDoC2XfbKETATT6jvbmjxjkiW1ic5Bpjui7d7BN33yISEVIbEv3FL6__Q-q4AgC8c1d2D56bVuw/s320/exercise-cartoon.jpg" width="221" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy of <a href="http://carharttsandcoachbags.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/there-are-lots-of-cartoons-in-this-post-because-exercising-is-funny-to-me/">here</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table>Still, we must keep on keepin' on... because as they say: <span class="messageBody"> </span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote><blockquote><i><span class="messageBody">"When it is darkest, you can see the stars....."</span></i></blockquote></blockquote></div>

Inspiration Success Drawing Inspiration From Places Other Than the Scale

With the death of my grandmother last November , it became very apparent to me that life is so short, and the importance of living a healthy...

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Friend Making Mondays: The Grocery Store

I just recently started following <a href="http://alltheweigh2009.blogspot.com/">All the Weigh</a>, a weight loss blog written by a woman from NYC. I love her stories and I also love her idea regarding "Friend Making Mondays".  You simply answer the questions below and <a href="http://alltheweigh2009.blogspot.com/2011/04/friend-makin-mondays-grocery-store.html">go back to her blog</a> and post a link to your answers.... read a few of the participants blogs and comment on theirs and then hopefully you've made a few friends!  Here's my first shot at it, and it's about our habits when going to the grocery store:<br /><br />1. <b>Do you make a list when you go grocery shopping? Do you stick to it?</b>  I agree with Kenlie on this one!  I do make lists but I hardly ever stick to them.  I always buy what's on my list, sure, but then I buy more!  I especially make lists when I'm making a recipe.<br /><br />2.<b> Do you buy more groceries when you're hungry?</b>   I cannot recall going grocery shopping while hungry, so I would say no to this.<br /><br />3. <b>Coupons. Use 'em? </b> Do I use coupons?! Heck yes!  Joel calls me the "Coupon Queen".  I have 3 coupon organizers, divided into food and non-food coupons.. and categorized within each one!<br /><br />4. <b>Have you ever complained to the manager of your grocery store?</b>  I have not, but have thought about it on MORE than one occasion!<br /><br />5. <b>Do you like to buy groceries at huge chain stores like Wal-Mart and Target?</b> <b>Or do you shop exclusively at food stores?</b>  I prefer Wal-Mart/Target for grocery shopping.  The food prices there are almost always cheaper.  Though because I live in a place where my Wal-Mart is not a SuperCenter, I get what I can at Wal-Mart/Target and hit up Giant/Bloom/Safeway for the remainder. Our Target recently got a makeover and now carries some produce though - score!  <br /><br />6. <b>How much time do you spend reading labels in the grocery store?</b>  I do not spend a lot of time reading labels because I do buy a lot of the same things over and over.  The only time I read labels are when I don't know the PointsPlus value of something because I've never had it before.<br /><br />7. <b>Do you push your own grocery cart to the car and return it?</b> Yes I do and I ALWAYS return it.  I intentionally park my car very far from the store so people don't ignorantly hit it with their car doors and so a cart-return is never close by.  However, I return it because it's a way to add more steps into your day and also, most importantly, it's the right thing to do!<br /><br />8. <b>What is the one food item you always buy at the grocery store that you must have in the kitchen?</b> Milk<br /><br />9. <b>Do you enjoy grocery shopping?</b> I do when I'm back home in the Motherland and can go to the far less crowded grocery stores there.  I also enjoy it back home because I can typically go to one place and will be able to find everything I need (my hometown Walmart SC) instead of having to run to 3, seriously 3!, grocery stores until I can get everything I need.<br /><br />10. <b>How often do you shop for groceries?</b> I try to limit it to once a week but sometimes it ends up being more..

Friend Making Mondays Friend Making Mondays: The Grocery Store

I just recently started following All the Weigh , a weight loss blog written by a woman from NYC. I love her stories and I also love her ide...

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16th Annual Run/Walk for Hospice of St Mary's

Saturday I participated in the <a href="http://www.runforhospice.org/">5K for Hospice of St Mary's County</a>.  The forecast for the day was rain and thunderstorms, and fortunately both held off for the duration it took me to finish the race.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVdcIYp2WYAd5ttO1CM04HKNI85g4lvw_IncCy3xYNehMqQStZx6eeQFBPlSIhq2CFz3ORUJCsPVJnqVMkAPZPZeMqI3PLwHSsww2C-TUD-cG_kU9UrYfMHhEwNnbM13BaYvfhgHjWso/s1600/run_for_hospice_logo_500px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVdcIYp2WYAd5ttO1CM04HKNI85g4lvw_IncCy3xYNehMqQStZx6eeQFBPlSIhq2CFz3ORUJCsPVJnqVMkAPZPZeMqI3PLwHSsww2C-TUD-cG_kU9UrYfMHhEwNnbM13BaYvfhgHjWso/s320/run_for_hospice_logo_500px.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><br /><br />This race went a lot better than <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/04/1st-annual-peter-mahon-memorial-trail.html">last week's 5K</a>.  For starters, this took place all on paved streets.  I was able to jog for roughly half of the race as a result (off and on).  This was so well organized and fun and I'll definitely do it again next year.<br /><br />I'll have the weekend off for 5Ks this upcoming weekend, so I'm thinking about <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2011/04/bloooower.html">going back</a> to the <a href="http://www.charlescounty.org/pf/parks_rec/parks/trails.jsp">Indian Head Rail Trail</a> and riding a little further this time.  <br /><br />My next 5K is on Sunday, May 1 and it will be for the March of Dimes! If you'd like to donate please click on the link below - I'm soooo excited to participate in this 5K, as it will be the first one I've ever raised money for.<br /><br /><br /><center><script language="javascript" src="http://www.marchforbabies.org/includes/badge_2011_vert_js.asp?w=4786860&u=hilaryjp248&bt=2" type="text/javascript"></script></center>

5K 16th Annual Run/Walk for Hospice of St Mary's

Saturday I participated in the 5K for Hospice of St Mary's County .  The forecast for the day was rain and thunderstorms, and fortunatel...

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Bloooower

This was the first week I had tracked ALL week and <b>every </b>single thing I ate in a very looooonnggg time. I was so proud of myself for doing it after so many failed attempts. I participated in a 5K on Saturday and I was active all week long - making it to the gym everyday, adding on an extra 5 minutes to my cardio routine and even incorporating weight lifting into it all. Let's just say the scale did not reveal my hard work! I gained over 3 lbs! After all that, <u>ALL THAT</u>, and I had a gain?! This is not at all what I expected. I know you have weeks where you know you derailed big time and a gain is inevitable, but this week was not one of those weeks for me.<br /><br />I've heard and read many, many times that I should be focusing on the other achievements I had this week, such as tracking and fitness, but I am doing both of those things to achieve weight loss after all.  And when the scale does not show a loss, it's hard to see the light in those other things! <br /><br />I wish I could say I came back with a vengence for the upcoming week, but no. Even though I don't want to have this mentality, I couldn't help but think all weekend "why bother, the hardwork doesn't pay off anyhow!" and the eating pattern sure did reflect that attitude.<br /><br />Saturday I did another 5K (more on that later) and then Sunday I took an 8 mile bike ride with Joel's mom.<br /><br />The bike ride was great! I have not been on my bike in almost 5 years.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5epcHE1gMKeAa8KVXYN6v_YfdR4g06-E6boI1NnwuXa8fx8ib6KiY5hI1GOrLXHRehoMHwNyNwhOaIGtQ8oEPdOcP1XkMnpZlI1PIgwIxnFzbWghowO4ymi4YI-GBsc0bjJugeGIJsM/s1600/Me+Indian+Head.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5epcHE1gMKeAa8KVXYN6v_YfdR4g06-E6boI1NnwuXa8fx8ib6KiY5hI1GOrLXHRehoMHwNyNwhOaIGtQ8oEPdOcP1XkMnpZlI1PIgwIxnFzbWghowO4ymi4YI-GBsc0bjJugeGIJsM/s400/Me+Indian+Head.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br />Other than the issues I had with the seat not staying in position, it felt great to get out and do something other than my normal walk/jog. The trail was AWESOME - both scenic and flat - and I will definitely be going to that place again!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii383rqVkUiVAfi4iyNLOT_Oh6UIkjcwe8498yMqYikH0ehzLllecRNLXjBHfeBkLDhHUIK_Uermeol16BvJnApqZPvJrdMF2bv8NrVOYTgdL4UwXpsUts3YnKuzSn_AygxJ4XdsJI5p4/s1600/bike+weathervane.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii383rqVkUiVAfi4iyNLOT_Oh6UIkjcwe8498yMqYikH0ehzLllecRNLXjBHfeBkLDhHUIK_Uermeol16BvJnApqZPvJrdMF2bv8NrVOYTgdL4UwXpsUts3YnKuzSn_AygxJ4XdsJI5p4/s400/bike+weathervane.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cute weather vane, nice bathrooms!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4h_acRpHsRnOTXqcwsPMVYLdzmvOWrrYKzo7weOlP5aU3taxgXmMv5QL-tgBSfxrENbIUg8u_-ncjQW3pqPRbRVDNQStBjYd8KmlRxeFnUFEiDQCufo7ySqKSDtWGVw4SipxvjJa3JdA/s1600/laurie+indianhead.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4h_acRpHsRnOTXqcwsPMVYLdzmvOWrrYKzo7weOlP5aU3taxgXmMv5QL-tgBSfxrENbIUg8u_-ncjQW3pqPRbRVDNQStBjYd8KmlRxeFnUFEiDQCufo7ySqKSDtWGVw4SipxvjJa3JdA/s400/laurie+indianhead.JPG" width="398" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">they did a great job with this trail</td></tr></tbody></table>

5K Gain Bloooower

This was the first week I had tracked ALL week and every single thing I ate in a very looooonnggg time. I was so proud of myself for doing ...

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Learning from my past

Reading some of my old posts from when I started Weight Watchers in 2008 made me realize just how obsessed I was back then on getting to goal. There was no stopping me (so what the hell has happened?). <br /><br />In five short months I lost 60 pounds. On February 19, 2008 I weighed 239 and on July 7, 2008 I weighed 179. I was down 60 pounds. By February of 2009 I had lost a total of 84 pounds and weighed 154.6. I wasn't obese or even overweight, I had a normal BMI. For about five minutes as my weight starting bouncing up and down for the next two years.<br /><br />After reading some of my old posts from that first year I saw some huge differences in what I was doing then versus what I'm doing now.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">  <b>Tracking what I eat.</b></div><br />Then:  I was fanatical about tracking my food. I weighed and measure EVERYTHING and used the online eTools to keep track.<br /><br />Now:  I often start out the day with the best intentions to track every bite, but usually by late afternoon I quit tracking. I often don't tack anything after lunch ad get very sloppy about weighing and measuring my food. I guess on portion sizes, which is a huge mistake.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Exercise </b></div>Then:  I was a crazy woman about exercise.<br /><br />Now:  I'm still pretty crazy about exercise. Although reading about my workouts in 2008 versus my workouts now, I was really into trying different routines, new exercises. At the moment I'm in a bit of a rut. I work out on most days, but it's basically always the same routine.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Meetings</b><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> </b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then:  I rarely missed a Weight Watcher meeting.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now: I seem to continually come up with excuses to skip meetings. I wasn't going to go yesterday (Saturday), but my husband asked me point blank, "why do you keep paying $40 a month and you hardly ever go to a meeting?". I went to the meeting, and I was one of the best meetings I've ever been too.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Blogging</b></div><br />Then:  I read a lot of blogs back then and left comments on those other logs. I had a lot more readers that left comments.. I remember how much so many people there helped me along my path. People were always encouraging and kind.<br /><br />I posted on my own blog almost every day.<br /><br />Now:  I have a few faithful folks out there that leave comments, but I haven't been returning the favor like I did in the past. I know how much I appreciate comments, so I'm pretty sure the rest of the bloggers feel the same way. In the blogging world what goes around comes around.<br /><br />I think about blogging every day, but I often go days without posting anything.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Enthusiasm</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>Then:  I had really high hopes for getting to my goal weight. I was excited, and I just knew I'd make it.<br /><br />Now:  Lately I've been overridden with guilt for gaining weight, and fear that I won't be able to stop the weight gain. My enthusiasm has dwindled to almost nothing.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Goal Setting </b></div><br />Then: I was always setting mini goals for myself and even though I didn't always make them, at least I tried.<br /><br />Now: I don't set goals, or if I do, I don't even try.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Health Eating Guidelines</b></div><br />Then:  I really paid attention to Weight Watchers Healthy Eating guidelines. I took them seriously.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Now:  I try halfheartedly, but since I don't keep track of my food, I'm obviously not keeping track of the healthy eating guidelines foods (ex. 2 teaspoons of healthy oil, three dairies etc). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Posting my weekly weighins</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then:  I posted my weight every week.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now: I almost can't remember the last time I posted an official Weight Watcher weighin.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>My self-assessment of where I am now</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The last several months I haven't really been trying to lose weight. I feel like I've barely been hanging on.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I know what to do and how to do it. I have a proven track record that shows I'm capable of losing weight. I say I want to lose weight, but I don't make the effort it takes to get there. I know that losing weight takes hard work. Just like most good things in life, you have to work for it. It doesn't just happen.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Basically, I have a lot of work to do. I need to address every one of the items above. Those are the things that worked for me in the past and they can work for me again.</div>

Learning from my past

Reading some of my old posts from when I started Weight Watchers in 2008 made me realize just how obsessed I was back then on getting to goa...

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Riding The Range On A Fine Spring Weekend

I drove into White Pine County listening to Ranger Doug’s Classic Cowboy Coral, feeling thankful for Sirius radio when the Spanish language cd’s have over taxed my brain. After awhile I had heard enough of Gene Autry and The Sons of the Pioneers, and switched to Andrea Bocelli singing Cor Te Partio and Jasha Heifetz. I take my musical vacillations as proof that we are made up of diverse subpersonalities. My subpersonalities have little appreciation for each other’s music. <br /><br />I arrived in plenty of time to check into the Hotel Nevada where they recognized me on the computer, if not by face, as a regular. Last time I was here, it was Halloween. Looking back at my blog posts, I seem not to have described the amazing bar scene at the Hotel Nevada that night. Right out of Star Wars. Incredible costumes on characters of all ages, many of whom would have been pretty colorful without costumes. Saturday afternoon in mid-April, things were more sedate.<br /><br />When I drove to St. Bart’s for Margaret Bath’s slide show presentation on her mission trip to Kenya with Melvin Stringer’s Kenya Keep project, the first thing I noticed was that there was nowhere to park for a long way around the church. The second thing I noticed was that the parish hall was packed with people. The third thing was that the people included young adults and children. This was Saturday night at church. And in Ely there are options.<br /><br />The slide show was splendid. It was not the old pity and guilt kind of thing we used to get on TV with Sally Struthers. We saw a lot of beauty and fascinating culture. We saw a land that is trying to get it right – protecting its environment, struggling unevenly toward democracy, working constructively with religious and cultural diversity. We also saw the Kibera slum, one of the world’s largest and poorest centers of urban blight with devastating impact on human lives. We saw the Emmanuel Clinic supported by Kenya Keep alleviating that suffering in Kibera. We saw schools where Episcopalians are sponsoring children for a better life. It was a presentation about poverty and affliction but surrounded by hope and an opportunity for us to make a difference. <br /><br />To my bishop’s eye, there was something else noteworthy about this – a shared mission between St. Bart’s, Ely and St. Tim’s, Henderson. A diocese is not a regulatory body. It is a partnership (koinonia) in God’s mission. A diocese does not exist in a static way. It is always becoming, forming anew, like fresh skin cells. Margaret’s trip with Kenya Keep was an occasion of our becoming a diocese anew.<br /><br />Breakfast at the Hotel Nevada. Generous portions. Good prices. Waitresses engaging in witticisms about people with bad altitudes needing altitude adjustments in the form of stiletto heels. I barely noticed the man sitting a stool away from me, but after he left my waitress told me he had bought my breakfast. What do such things mean? My guess is that I was the beneficiary of a gesture of thanks to God for some blessing in his life. Had he not done this, the waitress might not have asked my name and where I am from. She told me about a traveling preacher she knows who lives in Tonopah and also works in mine safety. “Oh, that would be Ken Curtis, I said. He’s sorta one of ours.” A grouchy mustached man sitting down the counter glowering over allegedly hard biscuits explained what Ken does at their mine. We all agreed that Ken is an exemplary person. Before long the waitress owned knowing Fr. Red and Paula Sims. I told her about the Kenya presentation by Margaret – of course, she knew Margaret and Tom, and said the former cook at Hotel Nevada went to St. Bart’s. I opined that “They are good folks over there.”<br />All I said. Evangelism – all starting with the generous gesture of an anonymous man – who, btw, was only there this morning because his coffee maker broke. Rare to find such generosity in a man with a broken coffee maker.<br /><br />It was a good Palm Sunday complete with receiving into the church a new young adult. We got the perfect photo of Fr. Red with a mother and baby for the planned billboard ad. Then we dashed to make a house call for a home communion, receiving another new member, and anointing a St. Bart’s veteran member for healing. He is facing a possible major surgery late in life. The new member was his daughter in law who was serving the Lord at home with the gathered family.<br /><br />Then off to Eureka to celebrate Palm Sunday with St. James. Along the way I listened to Hillbilly Jim’s Moonshine Matinee with included Whisperin’ Bill Anderson singing “The Tips Of My Fingers” and Baldomar Gomez Garza (aka Freddy Fender) singing “Wasted Days And Wasted Nights.” St. James is still a small gathering – 8 people this time – but we sang “the blood songs.” Fitting for the day.<br /><br />Then it was on to Austin for a working dinner with Frank Whitman, our Lay Chaplain to Miners and Energy Workers. We ate at the Toiyabe Café where I had my customary Ortega Burger. There is a lot of shifting of roles along the Highway 50 Corridor these days. Frank and I were strategizing how to respond to the coming molybdenum boom in Eureka, the geothermal and mining surge around Austin, and the challenge of population growth and social services reductions in Tonopah. A productive meeting. Things are exciting in Central Nevada these days.<br /><br />Then it was on to Tonopah. I am now safely ensconced at Tonopah Station. Tomorrow Deacon Clelia Garrity and I will sit in on a meeting of Attorney General Reps, county officials, and ecumenical leaders to discuss how this community can find ways to fend for itself as the population surges while state services are being withdrawn. I’m just here to listen, but it sounds like we need to do something.

Riding The Range On A Fine Spring Weekend

I drove into White Pine County listening to Ranger Doug’s Classic Cowboy Coral, feeling thankful for Sirius radio when the Spanish language ...

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Baseball - By Ken Burns

The week before baseball season began, I started to watch the Ken Burns documentary called <i>Baseball</i>. It traces the history of America's pastime from it's inception to 1994. Most of its history covers the Major Leagues, but it does also cover much of the Negro Leagues' history, and briefly covers other leagues from history.<br /><br />I enjoyed watching the documentary, but it did have a few spots that were sour for me. First, the good:<br /><br /><b>The Height of Baseball is Thoroughly Covered and Very Entertaining</b><br />Once the history of baseball reaches 1919 and the Black Sox scandal, the documentary finds its footing and takes off. The histories and recollections by historians and writers really helps you to understand all the sides of the stories that are heard. "Innings" 3-7 are the best innings by far to watch.<br /><b> </b><br /><b> Buck O'Neil is Fantastic</b><br />Much like Shelby Foote in Burn's other major documentary, <i>The Civil War</i>, Buck O'Neil is a man with very simple words that really keep you entertained. When he appeared on the screen, I was always tuning in a little better to see what he had to say. Not only were his insights interesting, he also had firsthand experience playing in the Negro Leagues in the 1930s and 40s. It was evident that he loved the game of baseball very much.<br /><b> </b><br /><b> Any Major Baseball Stories are Covered</b><br />You may have heard the phrase, "The Shot Heard 'Round the World," but do you actually know what even it refers to? Not only does Burns cover it, he really makes sure you understand the mindset of the fans involved.<br /><b> </b><br /><b> It Tells One of the Funniest Stories I Have Ever Heard</b><br />In 1962 the Mets were one of the worst teams in baseball. So much so that centerfielder Richie Ashburn and rightfielder Elio Chacon constantly were colliding in the outfield when they both tried to catch the same fly ball. So Chacon taught Ashburn how to say "I've got it" in Spanish: "Yo la Tengo." Ashburn repeated that phrase over and over again so he had it down. Finally the day came when a fly ball flew into the outfield, and Ashburn yelled "Yo la Tengo!" as loudly as he could. He was about to catch the ball...when leftfielder Frank Thomas crashed into him instead.<br /><br /><b>The History of Free Agency </b><br />I didn't even realize how detailed and lengthy the history of free agency was in baseball. The term "player reserve clause" kept popping up all over the documentary, and over and over the baseball team owners rejected it. Finally, after the formation of a player's union  and an arbitration court, free agency was born. That story was far more interesting than it should have been!<b> </b> <br /><br /><b>It Starts Each Episode with the National Anthem</b><br />Each National Anthem is not the same - there are tons of different variations that are heard throughout the documentary. The other commonly used song and variations are to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." The other music used help to set the scene of the inning. At the beginning there is a lot of ragtime, in the 40s a lot of big band, and by the 70s and 80s there is tons of rock.<br /><b> </b><br /><b> He's Not David McCullough, but He's Good</b><br />The narrator this time around is John Chancellor, and he does a great job narrating. I was disappointed that in the sequel to this series, <i>The Tenth Inning</i>, he did not return to do the narration.<br /><b> </b><br /><b> </b>And now, some of the negative parts:<br /><br /><b>The First Part is very Dull</b><br />I understand that to start a documentary on baseball, you need to start at the beginning. But the beginning of baseball is made to seem very dull and boring. It took me a while to get into the documentary because of it. It took a bit to find its rhythm.<br /><b> </b><br /><b> The First Part Also is Parallel to <i>The Civil War</i></b><br />The pictures are the same, the music is the same, and even the voices are the same. I almost thought I had put in a <i>Civil War</i> DVD instead.<br /><b><i> </i></b><br /><b><i> </i>There is a Major New York Bias</b><br />Not until the second half of the documentary does is begin to talk about the woes of the Boston Red Sox, but the ups and down of the New York teams are never more than ten minutes away! I understand that a lot of baseball history was accomplished by the Giants, Dodgers, and Yankees back in the day, but there was so much <i>other</i> baseball history being made by other baseball teams outside of New York and some of that gets pushed by the wayside! Which brings me to my next point...<br /><br /><b>Where's the Tigers???</b><br />Ty Cobb was, at the same time, a bright spot and a stain on Detroit Tigers history. And unfortunately for us, he <b> </b>is the only Tiger to truly get screen time here. Aside from a brief two-minute discussion on Hank Greenberg and his impact on Jewish players in the League, that's it for the Tigers. No mention of their World Series wins in '35 or '45, nothing about their impact on the city of Detroit in '68, and nothing about their wire-to-wire dominance in '84. Heck, there wasn't even anything about Mark Fidrych, which shocked me! I spent so much time waiting for the Tigers to make some sort of dent in the documentary, and was left very disappointed.<br /><br />In 2009 Burns went back and filmed <i>The Tenth Inning</i>, which "covers" all the history between 1990 and 2009. I was very interested in hearing these events that I was familiar with as a current baseball fan, but this documentary was not very pleasing to me. Burns decided to have the entire four hours revolve around the career of Barry Bonds, someone that I have always disliked. There would be a few other stories, but eventually the story got back to Bonds in some way. I enjoyed hearing about the 1998 home run chase and the 2004 Red Sox World Series and the emergence of Ichiro Suzuki, but other stories that they chose to talk about, like a lengthy discussion over the Mitchell Report, and the Yankee "dominance". All other World Series championships of the past 20 years were largely ignored.<br /><br />I would recommend that any die-hard baseball fan make sure to watch <i>Baseball, </i>but the likes of <i>The Tenth Inning</i> could be ignored. The former did its best to combine one hundred years of baseball history into 18 hours, and also succeeded in revealing to me some of the best players in the game: Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Buck O'Neil, Cy Young, John McGraw, Lou Gehrig, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Bob Feller, and Sandy Koufax. These are great players that helped revolutionize the game with their talents and skills, and hopefully this documentary will help their efforts to not be forgotten.

Baseball - By Ken Burns

The week before baseball season began, I started to watch the Ken Burns documentary called Baseball . It traces the history of America's...

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The rock climbing experience

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EN3jebLcCDNttdk7DY6a-fne3ChlvpLkp5Ge_2UfZIeWgmQAUxwxFoaT6s4mqdAvXnqyXMTbMNphP3pW-eG8ZWnZI62b9oVhoegR5-FQODEziCnBjfii8j0pyuiGGdjXgzdzOAFARlGK/s1600/P1020789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1EN3jebLcCDNttdk7DY6a-fne3ChlvpLkp5Ge_2UfZIeWgmQAUxwxFoaT6s4mqdAvXnqyXMTbMNphP3pW-eG8ZWnZI62b9oVhoegR5-FQODEziCnBjfii8j0pyuiGGdjXgzdzOAFARlGK/s640/P1020789.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Yes, that's me, climbing the wall today.</div><br />I have never gone back and read any of my old posts. Until tonight. I wanted to find the post from the last time I went rock climbing. It was February 6, 2009. Here's the blog <a href="http://diana1359.blogspot.com/2009/02/not-one-not-two-not-three-but-four.html">post</a>.<br /><br />It was on my "old" blog. If you don't know the history of my old blog it has to do with an online "fight" I had with a guy named Tony, the Anti-Jared. It was very ugly, and becasue of it, I shut down my blog. The entire incident reminds me of some of the online stuff I see these days between bloggers. Really stupid. Of course I immediately regretted my knee-jerk decision about shutting down my blog in February 2009, so I started a new blog, same title (this one).  <br /><br />As I was going through my old posts trying find the rock climbing one, I read several of them. I use to put a lot of thought into my posts. I was also very determined to lose weight and be healthy back then. As I read through my posts from 2009 I started wondering what happened to my spark. I was on fire back then and now I barely have an ember of enthusiasm left. I want to recapture that feeling.<br /><br />I've decided to go back to my very first post on May 13, 2008, and read my history. Maybe I can learn something about  myself. Maybe that girl that was so determined can help this girl that's feeling hopeless.<br /><br /><b>The Rock Climbing event today</b><br />It wasn't as fun as in 2009. Part of it was probably because I was exhausted from the last two weeks of working crazy hours and major stress, but a much larger part of it is my weight. When I did this in February 2009 I weighed 157 pounds (I posted that weight in the rock climbing post). Today I weighed 185 pounds. That's a difference of 28 pounds. The difference in how much harder it was today than it was in 2009 was huge, 28 pounds of huge.<br /><br />I only climbed one wall today. In 2009 I climbed four walls. It wasn't the toddler wall like in the video from my 2009 post, but it was one of the easier ones. The only things positive about it is that a.) I did get to the top and b) my butt isn't quite as gigantic as I have it pictured in my head. Although the difference in my body from 2009 as seen in the video on my old post, and today, as I saw in pictures of myself, is huge and not in a good way.<br /><br />Sadness<br />I'm not sure why, but for some reason I can't pinpoint I feel very sad tonight. Sad that I didn't get to my goal weight when I was so close to it in 2009, sad that I've regained 28 pounds from my February 2009 weight, and sad that I didn't really have a good time today because of my weight.<br /><br />Something I wrote in my 2009 rock climbing post keeps going through my head:<br /><br />"That's what it all boils down to: self-care. Do we care enough to take care of our body? Maybe it's just something fun, like climbing a rock wall or opening day at the pool with your kids or riding in a 100-mile bike ride and giving it your best. Or maybe it's some type of critical surgery that your life depends on. Will you be ready? Think about that the next time you want to throw this all out the window. The next time you want to say to hell with counting Points, to hell with the freaking treadmill, to hell with the whole thing. You might as well be saying to hell with your life."<br /><br />Why didn't I listen to myself back then? Maybe it's not too late. I can still take my own advice, right?

The rock climbing experience

 Yes, that's me, climbing the wall today. I have never gone back and read any of my old posts. Until tonight. I wanted to find the post ...

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30 weeks

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg232CPZOC-oinpIDB7rqetPIaFAnv0gy67M8-7C3k4DFY503Zn9bwH9df0FTnMGswjcoUWBvSNH56kAr-VHxnP5k10u8ButCht3SFMlzj_75mhQvHQxUIcAsBE-sD8WuQCuF6higJCeKTS/s1600-h/30%20weeks%20-%204.12.11%5B4%5D.jpg"><img alt="30 weeks - 4.12.11" border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyx4eU1n-q6bK__tq2-PBR3XbDonFK8OBkm3djpMThLa2MDXcdlfbrMPTjWB5L6IrIKc0aF_fbkvtx7dNfwaGARgvJEfhWSlf0aMeb50o4PHM4VXU8oJ3JwZ6IyJJ7Tzm67c1uurN5BYY7/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="30 weeks - 4.12.11" width="354"></a> </p> <p><strong>How Far Along:</strong> 30 Weeks <p><strong>Size of baby:</strong> Baby Bangert is the size of a head of cabbage, almost 3 pounds, and a tad over 15.7 inches long from head to heel. <p><strong>Maternity Clothes:</strong> I wear maternity jeans, pants, and I’ve recently started wearing a few shirts I got from my sister. I’m still squeezing into a few regular things though, like the brown tee in my picture this week! <p><strong>Gender:</strong> It’s a girl!!! We’re still working on names…I sure hope we can get one picked out soon! <p><strong>Movement: </strong>She is a busy little girl! I feel her moving around all throughout the day. I love it though…there is a tiny little life inside me! <p><strong></strong><strong>Sleep:</strong> Eh, it’s been ok! I’m not the best side sleeper and I wake up on my back quite a bit. Plus a few bathroom runs! <p><strong>What I miss:</strong> Sleeping on my stomach, a bigger selection of clothes, and buying regular clothes (the maternity section needs to expand)! <p><strong>Cravings:</strong> Lately it’s been Lucky Charms…not sure why! I am quickly finding out the bigger she gets the less I eat…I get full SO fast! <p><strong>Symptoms:</strong> Really can’t complain! Feeling well for the most part, just stiff/achy & tired by the end of the the day. <p><strong>Best Moment this week:</strong> It’s been a pretty laid back week, but a fun one! I was at a work conference out of town the end of last week and did a little shopping for Baby Bangert! I got this outfit and it was 1/2 price!! I love the ruffles on the back of the pants!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi-Pr6RhJxk98faskS5hlQsJEdK43OyvFyrqQYhBpy5dkUCbyVaImLTvH7EjyFRvtRg_J7x0u77oESMR7einI660ZpIPBrfCgRJg7kZ4GRrpKoxb6yuK92xF5gMuEfm0iKzekacTbv-QO_/s1600-h/DSC09877%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09877" border="0" height="471" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqcs7PbwDahwKRjRzjjv52bt6MWAlsoomQD0Zo_G8NW55TAJbTrX5dltFWjmrJQEuSY5mZYhd-vZWAS98t3Ca_fItz-1c9IkZoNE_LtGN9srO33FZDGieMhkyPdd95Ky8FrGuG-xBR1S43/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09877" width="354"></a> <p>Friday was my friend, Sarah’s, baby shower. She is 3 weeks ahead of me and expecting a boy! We couldn’t resist a belly picture together! They live not too far from us and we joke that our kids will have an arranged marriage!<img alt="DSC09881" border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcONfcDvp0xRFjeJoxcshVFHMXXzrA7oXldcHkvJyo-O05WcaIgF5AddLGhHs33pTI3FkpbS4HrSY6EhnWAFPnjrKOFGnnAGLV5Zs_TY5iB6y6Ogk_TVVsyg9N1on4aw6PPomYl36J628T/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09881" width="404"> <p>On Saturday Kyle & I went to Target to get our registry done. He had to test out the stroller before we could add it to our list! ;) It was so fun picking out everything we needed for our baby girl!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYGUMVANaeVjj__L4Rfo96Jwqmuf_oMQrbdcPIrGFNme-iZ9g0zI2qwVxZg3k2VNJECY6PsgXYHCJOo5Qi3RWOsMTbNqQnyvCFw9UNNNpf_dforwFrtKlX4pIxptbSClJCZw6Fjtl8LJj/s1600-h/DSC09882%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09882" border="0" height="471" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGbr7sS2o9ugK9XSi8Wuowf7vcfRoyRhCJvAvx3YuPFYVi_8soN0ARfccNtf4tAKknCt_XPF9u4Mku8ds-2Ue8E9LcOSpRDTdvFg92Odh7CBhbjNPtO5CadPjSMDTNKpIPnVrQECZSut_m/?imgmax=800" style="border-top-width: 0px; display: block; border-left-width: 0px; float: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-right-width: 0px" title="DSC09882" width="354"></a></p>

30 weeks

How Far Along: 30 Weeks Size of baby: Baby Bangert is the size of a head of cabbage, almost 3 pounds, and a tad over 15.7 inches long f...

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Pretty funny & Climbing the Rock

A comment left on my last post titled "Fewer candy bars, more vegetables":<br /><br />"On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 7:10 AM, hrgottlieb <span dir="ltr"><Inoreply-comment@blogger.com></span> wrote:<br /><a href="" target="_blank">hrgottlieb</a> has left a new comment on your post "<a href="" target="_blank">Fewer candy bars, more vegetables</a>": <br /><br />I wonder if your readers would benefit from a good resource for <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">candy fundraising ideas</a>? There are tons of different <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">candy fundraisers</a> to consider. But not all <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">candy fundraising</a> programs are the same."<br /><br />Can you imagine me with a couple cases of candy in my house, for "fundraising" purposes? Pretty freaking hysterical.<br /><br />Climbing the Rock<br />Remember my post from a couple years ago about my 25th anniversary with my company. Probably not. I can't even find the post, I think it was February 2009, so that's in my "old" blog (long story). I weighed 166. I always remember my weight. I chose rock climbing as my activity of choice for my team. So off we went to <a href="http://www.verticalworld.com/">Vertical World </a>in Seattle.<br /><br />So, here I am, 20 pounds heavier and my coworker celebrating his 20 years with the company today has chosen rock climbing for the team. Everyone had so much fun at mine that he wanted to do it again. Today I will be pulling my 185 body up a wall. I hope my arms can sustain this extra weight. I have my doubts but I'm going to give it my best try.<br /><br />Wish me luck!

Pretty funny & Climbing the Rock

A comment left on my last post titled "Fewer candy bars, more vegetables": "On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 7:10 AM, hrgottlieb <I...

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Rich Generosity

<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Even after all this time, <br />The Sun never says to the Earth, <br />"You owe me." <br />Look what happens with <br />A love like that. <br />It lights the whole sky. </i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~Hafiz of Persia </i></b> </div><br />A few amazing things happened over the last 24 hours.  I met both, not one, but <b>BOTH</b> of my goals for the March of Dimes and Cystic Fiborsis walks!  I am so pleased and thrilled with the generosity of my friends and family.  I know that for many people in this day and age, the need to make ends meet is a daily struggle.  But God wants us to be generous beings no matter what our situation.  In fact, in today's daily message from Joel Osteen it said:<br /><br /><blockquote><div style="color: #3f4f55; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><i>“By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence”</i><b>  (2 Peter 1:3 NLT)</b></div></blockquote><br /><center><br /><a href="http://www.marchforbabies.org/personal_page.asp?w=4786860&u=hilaryjp248&bt=12"><img border="0" src="http://www.marchforbabies.org/includes/getaspirationalbadgenew.asp?id=4786860&s=contact_photo&f=&u=hilaryjp248" /></a></center><br /><br />What do you think?<br /><br />I'm so happy I got the 5K bug because raising money for causes like these makes a person feel really good. It is my hope that people continue giving even though I've reached both of my goals.  <br /><br />While I doubt that those who gave are reading this message right now, I still want to thank you for donating your hard earned dollars to two important foundations.  The people who are affected by Cystic Fibrosis and Premature Births are more grateful that I can adequately express here.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRB6PhLt3LO3JPIxOGq0b3rMZrh3GJDM7_-904UVZa5cnWs2G6aEqzzj6CCqp6tMB6HL8A5B1tcz8J0NluyrtU8-924hqJMBHwnnGBcCsjFXoADJXa5KUYgqRw2CYSM9DPL8BznBwgEZc/s1600/Cystic+Fibrosis+Goal+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="65" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRB6PhLt3LO3JPIxOGq0b3rMZrh3GJDM7_-904UVZa5cnWs2G6aEqzzj6CCqp6tMB6HL8A5B1tcz8J0NluyrtU8-924hqJMBHwnnGBcCsjFXoADJXa5KUYgqRw2CYSM9DPL8BznBwgEZc/s400/Cystic+Fibrosis+Goal+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See that? <b>110%</b>!</td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote><i><span class="versetext" id="2co9-11" style="display: inline;">"You will be made rich<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4573828983660444179&postID=1392085567552652971" name="1"></a> in every way so that you can be generous<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4573828983660444179&postID=1392085567552652971" name="2"></a> on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." </span><span class="CurrentPassageTextLink">2 Corinthians 9:11</span></i></blockquote>

5K Rich Generosity

Even after all this time, The Sun never says to the Earth, "You owe me." Look what happens with A love like that. It lights the ...

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I'm a happy girl again!

My coworkers are hysterical. This was my cubicle today (and it's a mess). The red flag means stay out. No one has been allowed to talk to me for the last twelve days. Today someone put up the police tape. I didn't even notice it when they put it up, and I was in my cube. I had my headphones on and was totally focused. It's like I've been in solitary confinement.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibSW4rHD2WHJKLjneBgM6wjGx1byKSYsEZRB1tkMjTlVZeQyxsn_pjQe5eQSrsyuWLodxRoKKYOwqLWA4s9ObFb6igiucqAEDlNQ8ovHPtGovX0_qhHZDWoZEmLBMxvOy8rVjnbk3Q73xx/s1600/P1020761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibSW4rHD2WHJKLjneBgM6wjGx1byKSYsEZRB1tkMjTlVZeQyxsn_pjQe5eQSrsyuWLodxRoKKYOwqLWA4s9ObFb6igiucqAEDlNQ8ovHPtGovX0_qhHZDWoZEmLBMxvOy8rVjnbk3Q73xx/s400/P1020761.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />After twelve days of feeling like I was in the depths of despair in my job, a miracle happened today. Seriously. I'm not a kidding. A real miracle.<br /><br />First of all, I've never been this frustrated over a work project. I've had difficult tasks, but I've always had enough time to complete them. This time I was under the gun. After taking over something from a coworker, I had twelve days to complete something that after I got into it, I realized would take at the bare minimum a month, and to do a good job, probably a couple months or more. Of course, by the time I realized this I was knee deep with the a solid deadline in front of me.<br /><br />Today my manager came back from vacation. She had left right before I started working on this project from hell. Have I mentioned I really like my manager? She's fair, understanding, and really wants the best for her employees. I'm very lucky.<br /><br />We just happened to arrive at work this morning at the exact same time. Although I hadn't planned to catch her first thing, I asked if we could talk. After I explained the problem to her, she immediately came up with a much quicker and easier solution. Something that would take me about four hours to code instead of two months. She ran it by the director and it was quickly approved. Like I said, it was a true miracle.<br /><br />I can breathe again.<br /><br />INO<br />Yesterday <a href="http://doingaone-eighty.blogspot.com/2011/04/ino.html">Helen </a>wrote a post about INO. It's a great post and really hit home with me. It's really simple, INO stand for "It's Not an Option".<br /><br />I've been using INO for over three years when it comes to exercise. There are mornings when going to the gym is really not something I want to do. It would be much easier to sleep or find any excuse to not go. There are many mornings when I'm getting dressed in my workout clothes that I think about not going, but I always tell myself, "hey, not exercising is NOT an option. You have do this, regardless of how tired you feel or if you feel like crap from eating candy yesterday, you're going to the gym!". That was my Sunday conversation with myself after my big Saturday Milky Way bar binge. <br /><br />I don't know why it's never occurred to me to use INO for eating. Helen talked about INO for her exercise <u>and </u>her food. Eat smaller portions of healthy food. It's worked these three plus years for exercise. I am trainable.<br /><br />It's almost 2:30 a.m. (yes, I was testing the quick and easy fix before it goes to our QA group tomorrow morning). I ate healthy and smaller portions than normal all day yesterday and today. I thought about getting a snack tonight several times while I was working (I'm working from home). I used INO, and oddly, it worked.<br /><br />At the moment I'm more tired than hungry so I made it through two whole days now without eating at night. Lately, that's some sort of record for me. <br /><br />Here are a couple pictures I took after work tonight. I love these trees. I'm not sure, but maybe they're cherry trees? This is right outside my office. That's the moon in top picture, between the branches. It was about 7:30pm last night (I still haven't been to bed yet, but I'm going as soon as I hit publish). The other picture shows my lonely car in the parking lot. :)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifx_lOi2UQD90rIOjYSh358U5yfBgF027MMd0MiTdQVV48JWxJTIyzTkFfHSQlC1yZ4v3B5D_5E4LfZrQ0f0DxmX3ybHhOfumNvGWOePkum8XNaY4opTVuLNUNev4oYutW5l53TC-Ai-bA/s1600/P1020767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifx_lOi2UQD90rIOjYSh358U5yfBgF027MMd0MiTdQVV48JWxJTIyzTkFfHSQlC1yZ4v3B5D_5E4LfZrQ0f0DxmX3ybHhOfumNvGWOePkum8XNaY4opTVuLNUNev4oYutW5l53TC-Ai-bA/s400/P1020767.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGk9zv6YVNCUjNLpkFwZ2fnIyJQLM-S1WeWUNdVGjO2gNzeXVUqgfIvjU9zbKwSDA1FPQZRh2kQfhbbEGDhAvadYUEJ3rKut0gSE-gBpQFSgP-XPYEYyVOhkFL1Rp1Lea4IkhcLeitHPyf/s1600/P1020764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGk9zv6YVNCUjNLpkFwZ2fnIyJQLM-S1WeWUNdVGjO2gNzeXVUqgfIvjU9zbKwSDA1FPQZRh2kQfhbbEGDhAvadYUEJ3rKut0gSE-gBpQFSgP-XPYEYyVOhkFL1Rp1Lea4IkhcLeitHPyf/s400/P1020764.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>

I'm a happy girl again!

My coworkers are hysterical. This was my cubicle today (and it's a mess). The red flag means stay out. No one has been allowed to talk t...

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Corkscrew Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

To continue on with cooking my way through all of my cookbooks, the next meal I made came from <a href="http://www.marlenekoch.com/">Marlene Koch's Eat What You Love</a>.  I first learned about Marelene through my beloved QVC.  This was a very easy dish and my first attempt at making homemade alfredo sauce... not too shabby!<br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhctzzzglrVr3L_BpnAGVQDABQHvINAoMH8kWL7JSlofL9RhYeMtmj_xYwNH4Y7qHATaf4GGREd-_qVhVTc0E7jSeh8g3Fg7BvL-zUBdGKvdnlQx4UjicyLpeD6rwrNJA6ZHXZzKx5tud8/s1600/eatwhatyoulove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhctzzzglrVr3L_BpnAGVQDABQHvINAoMH8kWL7JSlofL9RhYeMtmj_xYwNH4Y7qHATaf4GGREd-_qVhVTc0E7jSeh8g3Fg7BvL-zUBdGKvdnlQx4UjicyLpeD6rwrNJA6ZHXZzKx5tud8/s320/eatwhatyoulove.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ideal-weight-corner.com/eat-what-you-love-more-than-300-incredible-recipes-low-in-sugar-fat-and-calories/.html">Courtesy</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Corkscrew Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo - 7 PointsPlus</b><br /><b>Makes 6 servings    Serving Size = 1 1/2 cups</b><br /><ul><li>8 ounces (3 cups dry) bowtie pasta (I used Barilla Plus Farfalle)</li><li>5 cups broccoli florets</li><li>1 cup low-fat milk (I used skim)</li><li>1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch</li><li>1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth</li><li>1/4 cup light cream cheese</li><li>1/2 teaspoon garlic powder</li><li>1/4 teaspoon pepper, or more to taste</li><li>1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese</li><li>2 cups shredded cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast</li></ul><b>Preparation</b><br />1.  Cook the pasta according to the package directions while preparing the sauce, and set aside.<br />2.  Place the broccoli in a large microwave safe dish. Add 3 tablespoons of water, cover, and microwave for 4 minutes, or until crisp tender.<br />3.  In a medium saucepan, whisk the milk and cornstarch until smooth. Whisk in the broth and place over low heat. Add the cream cheese, garlic powder, and pepper. Bring to a low simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the Parmesan and cook for 1 to 2 more minutes, or until sauce is smooth.<br />4.  Toss the cooked pasta, broccoli, and chicken together in a large serving dish. Pour the sauce on top, and toss gently to combine.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3p_gRnl6TfrwRY-XV3vvo5XbGzzRNY50o6WGdy78mNHPKkBi6sJ5-9YwIlWoZWfT16wXfpqvWbn22ACGQrs3wcT8t1zIME8NK3D-B7fjBlthBwSJzAC5klkCU4AQlCx10_t-CYlgVpzU/s1600/brocalfredo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3p_gRnl6TfrwRY-XV3vvo5XbGzzRNY50o6WGdy78mNHPKkBi6sJ5-9YwIlWoZWfT16wXfpqvWbn22ACGQrs3wcT8t1zIME8NK3D-B7fjBlthBwSJzAC5klkCU4AQlCx10_t-CYlgVpzU/s320/brocalfredo.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /><b>The results:</b><br />This dish was quite tasty right after I made it.  It did require some salt to give it more flavor but all in all not bad.  When I make this dish again, I would recommend doing the following... First, because I failed to read the recipe ahead of time, I just went ahead and cooked the broccoli according to the directions.  I would suggest cooking the broccoli how you like it cooked - I would choose steamed (in a steamer basket on the stove) or roasted next time.  Also, for the chicken, I simply cooked 3 chicken breasts in the skillet on the stove with only salt/pepper as seasoning.  Again, I would add some spices to the chicken next time to give it more flavor. <br /><br />I brought this in my lunch today for work and it definitely needed salt for more flavor.  Also, since I know I'll be eating this a few more times this week, I would add additional parm to it for some added taste.  I think there must be a recurring theme here: more flavor, more flavor, more flavor.  Don't get me wrong - I thought this was a very filling and tasty dish, and I will definitely make it again no doubt.  Still, next time I will make the modifications identifed above and I think it would be a true hit!<br /><br />Do you have a healthy recipe for chicken/broc/alfredo??  

Weight Watcher Recipes Corkscrew Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

To continue on with cooking my way through all of my cookbooks, the next meal I made came from Marlene Koch's Eat What You Love .  I fir...

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Fewer candy bars, more vegetables

My last post was titled "into every life a little rain must fall". That theme continued throughout the week and into my weekend. <br /><br />Yesterday, Saturday, I drove into the office so I could do some heads down coding, without the interruptions at home. I was there for twelve hours. <br /><br />I took an hour break and drove over to a Bally's gym in Kent. I'd never been to this gym before but it was 5 miles from my work so it was convenient. Even though I got in a a 30-minute elliptical workout, it was probably the worst gym I've ever visited. I felt like I was going to hit my head on the ceiling when I was on the elliptical. <br /><br />To annoy me even further there was some goofy guy standing right in front of me doing weird stretching exercises and wiggling his butt back and forth, sticking it up in the air. He did these odd stretching exercises for twenty minutes. It was very odd, especially since the gym was almost empty and he could have chosen a more private location for his obscene stretches. I didn't stay for any strength training. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.<br /><br />My job these past few weeks has been more coding than anything else. It's hard to explain coding if you're not not familiar with writing code (software development). It's sort of like figuring out a puzzle and getting all the pieces to fit together to create something. Sometimes though, you just can't get the pieces to fit so you try to force them and then you wind up with a big, ugly mess. That's where I was after twelve hours yesterday. Nothing worked.<br /><br />Last night I dreamed about writing code all night. I tossed and turned, trying to come up with a plan to fix the mess I created. I came up with a few new approaches to try and after trying them today, they seem to be working, with the exception of one test scenario that I can't seem to figure out. <br /><br />My eating has suffered a lot lately. Yesterday I ate candy for the first time in several weeks. The vending machine kept calling my name, and I had the stupid thought that maybe a little sugar would help me figure out the problem. After three Milky Way bars and two packages of cookies (at 600 calories each for the cookies and they were tiny packages), I was worse off than before. Not only was my mind not working at peak performance (which I desperately needed), but I felt sick and guilty. <br /><br />I had brought healthy food with me to eat during the day, fresh fruit, turkey breast, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, some hummus. Good, healthy food. I didn't want it, I just wanted candy. Something, anything to make me feel better.<br /><br />It totally backfired on me. The sugar made me feel sick, hot, sweaty, and my mind wasn't working. All I wanted to do was just cry. Finally, by 9pm, I gave up, went home, feeling sad and defeated. <br /><br />After four slices of cheese and a glass of wine, I felt even worse. My husband was already asleep so there was no one to share my misery, just me and my cat. <br /><br />Today, Sunday, has gone a tiny bit better. After a marathon house cleaning this morning, with my husband's help (he's trying to be super nice because he knows I'm stressed to the max right now), I started working on my project starting at noon. It's going a bit better, but I'm still not code complete.<br /><br />I finally have accepted that the world is not going to end if I don't get this done. Life will go on.<br /><br />My eating this past week has been all over the place. Healthy one day, candy bars the next. I don't think I ate a single vegetable yesterday (I made up for it today). Candy bars, cookies, and fruit. It was a terrible day that was was reflected in what I saw on the scale this morning. 188.6. Talk about adding insult to injury. I know it's just a number. I know it doesn't define me, etc. etc. etc. However, it's a direct reflection of how poorly I handle stress.<br /><br />Right now, I'm just trying to remember to breathe and try my best to eat healthy good  in moderate portions. Fewer candy bars and more vegetables.

Fewer candy bars, more vegetables

My last post was titled "into every life a little rain must fall". That theme continued throughout the week and into my weekend. Y...

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1st Annual Peter Mahon Memorial Trail Run/Walk 5K

Yesterday I completed the Peter Mahon Memorial 5K that was held at La Plata High School in La Plata, MD. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1n_hDH2MjDBjwoGXqNuXA1GP9wmhDp_F1TuDPSAXf7IFEBc81EaO5TX8ekxLi43Mc6kzkLTc4AARkiAh0xDyE-GYB2z5OFfqM9NbHfbZYV_z_KPUfbhHtVYjp9Hv_JX4yTULJBZzBKEI/s1600/Mahon5K+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1n_hDH2MjDBjwoGXqNuXA1GP9wmhDp_F1TuDPSAXf7IFEBc81EaO5TX8ekxLi43Mc6kzkLTc4AARkiAh0xDyE-GYB2z5OFfqM9NbHfbZYV_z_KPUfbhHtVYjp9Hv_JX4yTULJBZzBKEI/s320/Mahon5K+2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />I didn't realize until I received the t-shirt that it was considered a "trail' run/walk.  I had never done one of these before but I figured it would be a scenic walk at least. <br /><br />And I got a number! I don't recall receiving a number in the first 5K I did MANY years ago.. but I was excited anyhow.. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30SVr_p55t9B0p4txEuVKZdiLyJeA4ZgeWdIKbqJAcK2EVLyypnCzaAQaEPreC_cL4JGLul23P1RfhunrmrwhwWgP43Hyt5C1hwKN1ivxocrv3HtNzIXQLoUH5TDITUMrN_JV51JJuw8/s1600/Mahon5K+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh30SVr_p55t9B0p4txEuVKZdiLyJeA4ZgeWdIKbqJAcK2EVLyypnCzaAQaEPreC_cL4JGLul23P1RfhunrmrwhwWgP43Hyt5C1hwKN1ivxocrv3HtNzIXQLoUH5TDITUMrN_JV51JJuw8/s320/Mahon5K+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />It had been a rainy week and so the majority of the walk was EXTREMELY muddy and wet! We got started on the high school track field and once we made it off the nice paved track, it was a sloppy mess!  My poor white shoes were brown by the end.  <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwuOIBc_nbzbZrSrmf2Nglud4ggvAiREkOz5z6JXQ78O9sY-q-849NabzEW1Uc9AbgiTiMAqvW_mfTSbkwTlP6k-NtzV15BwWEgTesqjwoqupVWrUM6u4ARuOaJ3h_1cbHv0DRrK6ItD0/s1600/Mahon5K+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwuOIBc_nbzbZrSrmf2Nglud4ggvAiREkOz5z6JXQ78O9sY-q-849NabzEW1Uc9AbgiTiMAqvW_mfTSbkwTlP6k-NtzV15BwWEgTesqjwoqupVWrUM6u4ARuOaJ3h_1cbHv0DRrK6ItD0/s400/Mahon5K+1.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I turned around to take this shot... hard to tell how muddy it actually was</td></tr></tbody></table>I didn't want to stop too much to take pics because I wanted to see how quickly I could finish (by my watch I did it in 49 minutes, but I am waiting to hear the official results).  I did jog for about the first 5 minutes or so of the race.  About halfway through I jogged again for about a minute.  Then to finish off strong I ran the remaining distance of a high school track field - 1 lap around that.  Honestly, I had on my <a href="http://www.ladyfootlocker.com/catalog/productdetail/model_nbr--140052/sku--320991&SID=9433&inceptor=1&cm_mmc=SEO-_-Feeds-_-Froogle-_-null#sku=320991&size=09.5">Reebok EasyTones</a> and my calves were on FIRE so much so that it made it too difficult to run.  I think a lot of this had to do with the fact that because we weren't walking on nice, smooth ground, my legs were working overtime to stabilize myself (those shoes don't have a nice, even bottom), and then add in the special toning shoes and my muscles were burning.. but it was a good burn!<br /><br />I felt good after the race and I'm looking forward to doing more over the next several months.  My next 5K is this upcoming Saturday, April 16.  It's the <a href="http://www.runforhospice.org/">Run for Hospice of St Mary's County</a>.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVdcIYp2WYAd5ttO1CM04HKNI85g4lvw_IncCy3xYNehMqQStZx6eeQFBPlSIhq2CFz3ORUJCsPVJnqVMkAPZPZeMqI3PLwHSsww2C-TUD-cG_kU9UrYfMHhEwNnbM13BaYvfhgHjWso/s1600/run_for_hospice_logo_500px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVdcIYp2WYAd5ttO1CM04HKNI85g4lvw_IncCy3xYNehMqQStZx6eeQFBPlSIhq2CFz3ORUJCsPVJnqVMkAPZPZeMqI3PLwHSsww2C-TUD-cG_kU9UrYfMHhEwNnbM13BaYvfhgHjWso/s320/run_for_hospice_logo_500px.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.runforhospice.org/">Courtesy.</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

5K 1st Annual Peter Mahon Memorial Trail Run/Walk 5K

Yesterday I completed the Peter Mahon Memorial 5K that was held at La Plata High School in La Plata, MD.  I didn't realize until I recei...

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Father of the Bride (1950)...and a reflection on mid-century Hollywood...

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjUTaNJlyyj_G5lT9Xjqv-v6zrCLkmgEWXLm49C0-LAQXMHqtjHp_KNA-TR-1lkNlU8IaCrPUol9tME59_oK9KpmKfzt0LORi_4xf6oPfFfuszELZmJV7qjWxtPRH1JEUOQ2slEA8tcdW/s1600/ElizabethTaylor_FatheroftheBride%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjUTaNJlyyj_G5lT9Xjqv-v6zrCLkmgEWXLm49C0-LAQXMHqtjHp_KNA-TR-1lkNlU8IaCrPUol9tME59_oK9KpmKfzt0LORi_4xf6oPfFfuszELZmJV7qjWxtPRH1JEUOQ2slEA8tcdW/s1600/ElizabethTaylor_FatheroftheBride%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">During World War II Hollywood churned out popular pictures both entertaining and patriotic, bolstering home front morale and earning enormous box receipts. Between 1942 and 1945, Americans were spending 23% of their recreation dollars on movies and by 1946 weekly attendance was over 90,000,000. But the boom years would soon go bust.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A decline in movie attendance began in the late '40s driven by changing audience tastes and two major events. In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled that certain film industry practices violated anti-trust laws and required studios to divest themselves of their theater chains. Without a guaranteed outlet for every film produced, filmmaking became riskier and the studios began cutting costs and making fewer films. And then, just as the 20^th century reached its mid-point, the industry faced a threat unlike anything that had come before - the arrival of commercial television.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmJvSWrW4TroK8KfI6nnX_fCVOcZ10PKaFfvDFQlr6XP2CzTuBr6MCqOvVFzo4KbrToKXn011CZ7BwQAAYXVEN7iBcZBPpOUcKieoAzmCQ6FR6hiayoQoho9a2VwmxWco-Jsb3w_x_MvH/s1600/vernon+theatre+empty+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="129" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmJvSWrW4TroK8KfI6nnX_fCVOcZ10PKaFfvDFQlr6XP2CzTuBr6MCqOvVFzo4KbrToKXn011CZ7BwQAAYXVEN7iBcZBPpOUcKieoAzmCQ6FR6hiayoQoho9a2VwmxWco-Jsb3w_x_MvH/s200/vernon+theatre+empty+2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">empty seats</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, headed by founder Louis B. Mayer since the 1920s, had been the dominant studio for nearly two decades. But the blow to the studio system and declining audiences affected production companies large and small.  By 1951, Mayer was forced out and MGM’s head of production, Dore Schary, took over.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Director Vincente Minnelli had been one of MGM’s top directors since his breakout film, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Meet Me in St. Louis</b>, the top-grossing film of 1944. Minnelli married the film’s star, Judy Garland, in 1945. The following year he and Garland produced Liza Minnelli, but from 1946 to 1948 the director's career was uneven, including only minor successes along with outright failures. But a 1949 effort, <b>Madame Bovary</b>, was successful and a point of pride with Minnelli. For the most part he'd felt sidelined from major film work by the overwhelming demands of his marriage to the emotionally volatile MGM star.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In 1950 MGM assigned Minnelli to a Robert Walker comedy, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Skipper Surprised his Wife</b>. The director was rescued from this bland task by producer Pandro Berman who offered him a more enticing project. Also a comedy, it was an adaptation of Edward Streeter’s 1949 bestseller, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Father of the Bride</b>, for which Berman owned screen rights. Because the two stories shared similarities, Berman wanted the director of <b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b> on his new production.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">  </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp74-3-IJjZw8lrVEewBoJL4apHbBA9ydL5CHmbAuU7uAnUDSKEVJvq6-lCtH_9Ehg3TGpDqnI2D7fB4YXlD6avIb5BHCwO0OiI6agsXYgEVGtDqtNtlrHKAgKI5E-Zqf2mez2nn-qQ_an/s1600/jack+benny.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp74-3-IJjZw8lrVEewBoJL4apHbBA9ydL5CHmbAuU7uAnUDSKEVJvq6-lCtH_9Ehg3TGpDqnI2D7fB4YXlD6avIb5BHCwO0OiI6agsXYgEVGtDqtNtlrHKAgKI5E-Zqf2mez2nn-qQ_an/s200/jack+benny.gif" width="144" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Benny</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As the project began to develop, comedian Jack Benny heard about it and approached Dore Schary. He told the production boss he wanted the role of Stanley Banks, the father of the bride. Without consulting the film’s production team, Schary all but promised Benny the part. Berman was not pleased, nor was Minnelli who went to Benny Thau, veteran MGM executive, and told him he wanted <a href="http://myloveofoldhollywood.blogspot.com/2011/04/spencer-tracy-1900-1967.html"><span style="color: #990000;">Spencer Tracy</span></a> for the part and no one else. Thau gave Minnelli the bad news that Tracy was out of the running – the actor had already flatly refused to do the picture.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1950 would mark Spencer Tracy’s 20^th year in movies. The winner of back-to-back Best Actor Oscars in 1938 and 1939, he was by this time one of the most respected actors around. Laurence Olivier remarked that he learned more about acting from watching Tracy than from any technique. But away from the set Tracy wrestled with a serious problem - he was a notorious drinker. Between the efforts of MGM’s PR team and Katharine Hepburn’s care, Tracy had been able to avoid scandal and continue working. By the late '40s it appeared the actor’s drinking had tapered off somewhat, however, his hard living had aged him and he looked older than his years. Despite all this, Tracy was still much in demand and worked steadily, even as the industry went into a serious slump.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7aPKgiTOmYaTFXr9ZZoqRZk8eIU0UAEqb-ARbLNCuWFVw1Gsyn_kpkYqdfULV3eL-fq0px4-FB1ijOq5MI1VUX_QJ1aq2VpztVH_qBBiiNcgTq4-PiSni68sLIjsOJWS7HxqTcjGqNaG9/s1600/Adams+Rib.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7aPKgiTOmYaTFXr9ZZoqRZk8eIU0UAEqb-ARbLNCuWFVw1Gsyn_kpkYqdfULV3eL-fq0px4-FB1ijOq5MI1VUX_QJ1aq2VpztVH_qBBiiNcgTq4-PiSni68sLIjsOJWS7HxqTcjGqNaG9/s320/Adams+Rib.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hepburn and Tracy, <b>Adam's Rib</b> (1949)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the midst of the box office downturn, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Adam’s Rib </b>(1949), one of the the best of the Tracy/Hepburn battle-of-the-sexes comedies, became a major hit. Though Tracy’s follow-up had been a less memorable potboiler called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Malaya </b>(1949), Vincente Minnelli remained convinced that he was the only actor to play Stanley Banks. Eventually, Minnelli decided to enlist Katharine Hepburn’s help. Hepburn invited him over for dinner and, during the meal, Minnelli told Tracy that with him in the lead the comedy had the potential to become a real classic.This was all it took to win Tracy over and he agreed to take the part. It came out that the actor had not refused to do the picture at all, but had known others were being considered for the part and assumed Minnelli didn't want him. To save face, Tracy had resorted to spreading a rumor that he had turned down <b>Father of the Bride</b>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Joan Bennett was chosen to play the bride's mother, Ellie Banks. Bennett and Tracy had last co-starred in Raoul Walsh’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Me and My Gal</b> (1932) eighteen years earlier. That film had ended with Tracy and Bennett’s characters marrying each other, and Tracy liked to joke that the plot of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Father of the Bride</b> indicated that his 1932 “marriage” to Bennett had worked out. </span>  </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> <br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMxb69uq8Ej7XmK3lGRyQVkMGd1Sy1_lwHyyCVIfc1Qycg18lWDw4V8znCZYjnhPI-U_H1oitLadXAZeHHMEAbyYv10fw_3Gsq3lZuFP5tW3NmSUfdAxVV_fDD7E9RyHztc2b_qZfMp8c/s1600/father+of+bride+taylor+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMxb69uq8Ej7XmK3lGRyQVkMGd1Sy1_lwHyyCVIfc1Qycg18lWDw4V8znCZYjnhPI-U_H1oitLadXAZeHHMEAbyYv10fw_3Gsq3lZuFP5tW3NmSUfdAxVV_fDD7E9RyHztc2b_qZfMp8c/s320/father+of+bride+taylor+2.jpg" width="252" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Elizabeth Taylor in the 1950s</span></td></tr></tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Elizabeth Taylor, as bride-to-be Kay Banks, supplied the delectable frosting on the rich cake of <b>Father of the Bride</b>'s cast. Spencer Tracy cracked that the film's only hard-to-believe detail was that the lovely girl could possibly be his daughter. Taylor was just 17 when she made the picture, but had already begun to portray more mature characters; at 16 she’d played the wife of 38-year-old Robert Taylor in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Conspirator </b>(1949). But Elizabeth Taylor was not so mature off-screen. She was still under the thumb and eagle eye of her mother and although the young actress had begun to date, her romances consisted of girlish infatuations and arranged dates mined for publicity by MGM. She was, despite her stunning beauty and poise, quite naïve when it came to love.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>Father of the Bride</b>, like <b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b> before it, is in its way a fond glimpse into American family life. Contemporary when it was released, the film plays today as a snapshot of a bygone, fairly idyllic, era. That mid-century moment is caught as if in amber by the solid screenplay of screenwriting team Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, Vincente Minnelli's meticulous attention to what is now period detail...a well-chosen cast, cinematographer John Alton and the minimal, mostly diegetic soundtrack of Adolph Deutsch. <b>Father of the Bride </b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">is invariably referred to as a “sparkling comedy.” It most certainly sparkles and brims with sophisticated humor as it casts a skeptical, if bemused, eye on the incongruous goings-on at the heart of its plot, the American marriage ritual, circa 1950. The plot follows suburban lawyer Stanley Banks who is by turns besieged and put upon as he as he spends an enormous amount of money to finance every stage of a tradition that will end in his beloved daughter Kay leaving home. Adding insult to injury, Banks is (amusingly) ignored, belittled, the butt of jokes and barely tolerated while at the same time forced to pay and pay and pay. As the wedding nears he is beset by irrational fears and surreal nightmares. Given that the Stanley Banks character, a lovable and loving curmudgeon, carries the film, Minnelli's judgment was unerring when he insisted on Tracy or no one for the part.</span><br /> <br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAdP91dKKmqd2nucNypyWa7ZZGqFOyvFTfVedRVFPo-dVrai626P6CEc5wK9QQeli-iEGlQiLyqIGsO1P_x3BFayf63qo4sWZI7zXf3mX0-xk6KqFhGG0HoMO_m-b_wche5yhzE0Bvutu/s1600/crying_over_invitations%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAdP91dKKmqd2nucNypyWa7ZZGqFOyvFTfVedRVFPo-dVrai626P6CEc5wK9QQeli-iEGlQiLyqIGsO1P_x3BFayf63qo4sWZI7zXf3mX0-xk6KqFhGG0HoMO_m-b_wche5yhzE0Bvutu/s320/crying_over_invitations%255B1%255D.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Bennett</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>Father of the Bride</b> was released on June 16, 1950, and was an immense hit. Contributing what can best be described as a publicist's dream, Elizabeth Taylor married her first husband, Nicky Hilton, just weeks earlier. Hilton was the son of the founder of Hilton Hotels, and though the pair had only begun dating months earlier, they succumbed to a whirlwind courtship. MGM naturally, and heartily, approved. Taylor's marriage at the very moment she starred as a virginal bride onscreen was an early indicator of something that would become a habit...her life imitating her art. Taylor's marriage to Hilton ended less than a year after it began...even before a quickie follow-up film to <b>Father of the Bride </b>was released in late 1951.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b>Father's Little Dividend </b>(1951) is a charming, if less inspired, sequel. The dividend is Kay and her husband's first child and the plot, once again, covers the indignities Mr. Banks (Tracy) must endure...this time as grandfatherhood approaches. It, too, was a hit, but it was not on a par with <b>Father of the Bride</b> which had earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Actor and become an instant classic.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLdT8R8EqIPDf0-eVrhfklePCwb-0reSRCPRba3qhJBiaBuPbBQyb5mtdB0ti-02GhSvFO8cG1WNl7Yl1e7d1jPPmJZ0K1qHysrXBfASewtZtYrg4Rn1u0cjLrbxtS5lMdxXbgv3SxeGa/s1600/2009_oscar_winners_and_results%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLdT8R8EqIPDf0-eVrhfklePCwb-0reSRCPRba3qhJBiaBuPbBQyb5mtdB0ti-02GhSvFO8cG1WNl7Yl1e7d1jPPmJZ0K1qHysrXBfASewtZtYrg4Rn1u0cjLrbxtS5lMdxXbgv3SxeGa/s200/2009_oscar_winners_and_results%255B1%255D.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana;">By the time both films had been released, Minnelli and Garland were divorced. Their final split came not long after MGM terminated Garland's contract in 1950. As she struggled to rebound and rebuild her career, Minnelli went back to work with a vengeance. He embarked on the most productive and celebrated decade of his career, a period that included <b>An American in Paris </b>(1951), <b>The Bad and the Beautiful</b> (1952), <b>The Band Wagon </b>(1953), <b>Brigadoon </b>(1954), <b>Lust for Life </b>(1956), </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Designing Woman </b>(1957), <b>Gigi </b>(1958) and <b>Some Came Running </b>(1958). Minnelli received a Best Director Oscar nomination for <b>An American in Paris</b> (winner of six Oscars including Best Picture)<b> </b>and won for <b>Gigi</b> (winner of nine Oscars including Best Picture). Though Minnelli wasn't nominated, <b>The Bad and the Beautiful</b> won five Oscars.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Spencer Tracy went on make another 17 films and earn five more Best Actor Oscar nominations. His later years were difficult; he fell off and got back on the wagon, became withdrawn and taciturn and lost his health. He was fired from a picture for the first time with <b>Tribute to a Bad Man </b>(1956); it would the last time he worked for MGM. He was so ill during the making of his final film, <b>Guess Who's Coming to Dinner </b>(1967) that he was uninsurable and Hepburn put up her own money to help cover the costs. Spencer Tracy died a few weeks after the film was completed and received a posthumous Academy Award nomination for his performance.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Elizabeth</span> Taylor made a permanent transition to adult roles with <b>Father of the Bride</b>.<b> </b>Her stardom was cemented a year later with the haunting George Stevens drama <b>A Place in the Sun</b> (1951). Taylor went on to become one of the biggest film stars of the 1950s and 1960s and remained a celebrity for the rest of her life.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSh2CGpbZc4XjkYD-KlZWEeX_mQ7AdcSyX9D22TC4lZOxroon-52rtH1N0KcVlLbJD6fqZcGDPwOr9Ca0FMg8gTFNLDta6kMPLGQHCWSJvxlRudfl6DICKqPgV8fOpo6wt9RcKWpS1Pdn6/s1600/TV+set+w+rabbit+ears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSh2CGpbZc4XjkYD-KlZWEeX_mQ7AdcSyX9D22TC4lZOxroon-52rtH1N0KcVlLbJD6fqZcGDPwOr9Ca0FMg8gTFNLDta6kMPLGQHCWSJvxlRudfl6DICKqPgV8fOpo6wt9RcKWpS1Pdn6/s1600/TV+set+w+rabbit+ears.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The studios of Hollywood met a less cheerful fate. By 1951, TV had made significant inroads into the movie audience. Cities with TV stations showed a decrease in movie attendance and wherever TV appeared, theaters closed. The age of the studio system came to an end by 1954. In 1956, Dore Schary, who had tried in vain to restore MGM's glory, was fired and in 1957 Louis B. Mayer, who had never recovered from his ouster, died at age 73. T</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">elevision, of course, continued to flourish. By the end of 1952 there were 19,000,000 TV sets in homes across America and by 1955 there were 31,000,000...</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Some have called <b>Father of the Bride</b> prototypical of the family-oriented TV sitcoms of the '50s and early '60s. In fact, in 1961 a series version of <b>Father of the Bride</b> debuted on CBS; it was shot at MGM studios. Ruth Warrick (<b>Citizen Kane</b>) played Ellie Banks, Myrna Fahey starred as Kay...and Leon Ames, who had portrayed the father, Alonzo Smith, in Minnelli's <b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b>, took the role of Stanley Banks.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gC3Ic5qOWkc" title="YouTube video player" width="425"></iframe></div>

Dore Schary Elizabeth Taylor Father of the Bride Father's Little Dividend Joan Bennett Judy Garland Louis B. Mayer MGM Pandro S. Berman Spencer Tracy Vincente Minnelli Father of the Bride (1950)...and a reflection on mid-century Hollywood...

During World War II Hollywood churned out popular pictures both entertaining and patriotic, bolstering home front morale and earning enormou...

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Slow Food Fast: Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onion Hoagies

<a href="http://prittygoodbooks.blogspot.com/2011/04/hungry-girl-cooking-eggamuffin-101.html">Yesterday I posted about my goal of cooking my way through ALL of my cookbooks</a>.  I thought better about posting these recipes under my "Pritty" blog because part of my reason for cooking is to eat healthier, and that's what this blog is about. <br /><br />Anyway, on to the recipe!  Tonight Joel & I made a dish from my newest cookbook, <a href="http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.F07711.desc.Bob-Wardens-Slow-Food-Fast-Pressure-Cooker-Cookbook?&cookie=set">Bob Warden's Slow Food Fast</a>.  This book goes with <a href="http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx?view=2&app=detail&params=item%5EK22739,RecTypeInd%5EIOFFER,navlist%5EK22739*K26345*K29862*,cp%5Edetail,tmp%5Erelated,cpprod%5EF07711,cm_scid%5Edtlr&walk=&cmtags=">my new pressure cooker</a> I received on my birthday!  Tonight we made Italian Sausage, Peppers, and Onion Hoagies.  They were SOOOOO good!  The sausage was incredibly juicy and I'd venture to say that these are better than the ones we used to make over the camp fire when we'd go camping when I was a kid. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvrfGxHj2oMfDKFesjlSmULtHgMEobU3IHRcTZPV3cGWCRztQ1mhl6f0wWu8zttk5rwmTzDWM1MEzbzy3FMSk2YcsCXpiICr3iZ5Nyul5o5bbclB3z8P_27mwxgWH7v28kwoIWe0ELwM/s1600/Bob-Warden-s-Slow-Food-Fast-Warden-Bob-9780984188710.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvrfGxHj2oMfDKFesjlSmULtHgMEobU3IHRcTZPV3cGWCRztQ1mhl6f0wWu8zttk5rwmTzDWM1MEzbzy3FMSk2YcsCXpiICr3iZ5Nyul5o5bbclB3z8P_27mwxgWH7v28kwoIWe0ELwM/s320/Bob-Warden-s-Slow-Food-Fast-Warden-Bob-9780984188710.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><br /><br /><b>Ingredients</b>:<br />-2 Tbsp olive oil<br />-2 lbs sweet or mild Italian sausage <i>(I used turkey Italian sausage)</i><br />-2 teaspoons minced garlic<br />-2 white onions, peeled, cut in half and sliced in 1/2 inch wide strips<br />-1 c. green bell pepper, cored and sliced in 1/2 inch wide strips<br />-1 c. red bell pepper, cored and sliced in 1/2 inch wide strips<br />-1/2 c. dry white wine <i>(didn't have this so I used chicken broth)</i><br />-1 c. water<br />-1 tsp Italian seasoning<br />-1/2 tsp salt<br />-1/2 tsp ground black pepper<br />-6 Hoagie Rolls<br />-Provolone Cheese<br /><br /><b>Directions</b>:<br />1. Add the oil to the pressure cooker and heat on high or "brown" with the lid off.<br /><br />2. Add sausages and saute until well browned on two sides.<br /><br />3. Add the garlic and about 1/4 of the onions and saute together for another minute.<br /><br />4. Add the remaining ingredients, securely lock on the pressure cooker's lid, set the cooker to high and cook for 10 minutes.<br /><br />5. Perform a quick release to release the cooker's pressure.  Safely remove lid and serve with a slotted spoon into Hoagie rolls.  Top with provolone cheese.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVDTMySe9hiNardAAnzPcF8stve9y0z7sBBOCYEG8ePcl_rRmSjxXRmT-EnsWXaREgqfw9KYHwreJRz08mOvy_cLR5WpZ1vMfNV-Ofoe6jGwOhX-oa3pxL9KO6q-C8eQm0ZpEmlBusto/s1600/sausage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVDTMySe9hiNardAAnzPcF8stve9y0z7sBBOCYEG8ePcl_rRmSjxXRmT-EnsWXaREgqfw9KYHwreJRz08mOvy_cLR5WpZ1vMfNV-Ofoe6jGwOhX-oa3pxL9KO6q-C8eQm0ZpEmlBusto/s320/sausage.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't eat onions & peppers :) but it was SOO delicious!</td></tr></tbody></table>

Weight Watcher Recipes Slow Food Fast: Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onion Hoagies

Yesterday I posted about my goal of cooking my way through ALL of my cookbooks .  I thought better about posting these recipes under my &quo...

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29 weeks

<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIofri7QAzr9Z_Shyphenhyphen4wpPX3w_kgw266IJtNXiYXy5dRYiKTAYvl_eMQR7sqBi6IP634mCEydxyXL_CbthhKwQCSMyJg6D5STIuFRGeKMBY2kBXsP5X4K5kfrzeL_sqScQSfns_dBbJ4aVq/s1600-h/29%20weeks%20-%204.5.11%5B3%5D.jpg"><em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFy8ukBDm0H7AillSxpIxNqrHrxTdvs_4iCEyrRjjNGsYrVjcd70JnSFkbJi6j7f0zCCwxEqulS-349ynyYiOL8F1PmcLzXEc0DdiRJK5qd1DupLf_yovCcMYLa8Z-9VS63X6Xt6xBcgAW/s1600-h/29%20weeks%20-%204.5.11%5B4%5D.jpg"><img alt="29 weeks - 4.5.11" border="0" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0QW_INahyiT_tmOHKKpAwTcBlXkSAALWdCyS3xjHWGYPGoXVu-iJQChQRtMtiAKCjWjBx7U10wDQyYiK7RfAsyrlef6Yu3RPLAVtXDfM88AgQyOvgscviQZNGQy83Yqm4ePKox7ejBR_F/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="29 weeks - 4.5.11" width="354"></a></em></a></p> <p><em>(FYI: Thursday I was actually 30 weeks…but wanted to get my 29 week post up anyway!)</em></p> <p><strong>How Far Along:</strong> 29 Weeks </p> <p><strong>Size of baby:</strong> Baby Bangert is the size of a butternut squash, about 2 1/2 pounds, and a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel.</p> <p><strong>Maternity Clothes:</strong> I wear maternity jeans, pant, and I’ve recently started wearing a few shirts I got from my sister. I’m still squeezing into a few regular things though! </p> <p><strong>Gender:</strong> It’s a girl!!! We’re still working on names…I sure hope we can get one picked out soon! </p> <p><strong>Movement: </strong>She is a busy little girl! i feel her all throughout the day. I love it though…there is a tiny little life inside me! </p> <p><strong></strong><strong>Sleep:</strong> Eh, it’s been ok! I’m not the best side sleeper and I wake up on my back quite a bit. Plus a few bathroom runs! </p> <p><strong>What I miss:</strong> Sleeping on my stomach, a bigger selection of clothes, and buying regular clothes (the maternity section needs to expand)! </p> <p><strong>Cravings:</strong> Pretty sure I don’t got 2-3 days without ice cream! That is pretty normal though! ;) I am quickly finding out the bigger she gets the less I eat…I get full SO fast! </p> <p><strong>Symptoms:</strong> Really can’t complain! Feeling well for the most part, just stiff/achy by the end of the the day. </p> <p><strong>Best Moment this week:</strong> Spending the weekend in Omaha with my family! (Don’t mind my tired face…we had just spent 6+ hrs shopping and then waited 1hr to get seated at the restaurant.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NXxZvECK79YKzwnUzxZ2VWBMmVjzPoVKC9kNtlW76Q1MZV0dU4mR8omNQLfh19urAYmryr6DTzvu6zsS8S11IqWspw0JORMk38ADQAW-YOua_Qxn1iVLtCCezbprucmIUW3CrQsX10xs/s1600-h/March_2011_169%5B5%5D.jpg"><img alt="March_2011_169" border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_x1To_TqZ4vqhHUwzJdC71-vxH7kTJjhbZRgXJWrtJ13XRowsxhZOQ9uK0pQM8N72d9Hj82O4xmxxS8JOScpc0hGlf2J53s052f8Sa864G2Ge9516qgiYiVwMhdd4LPV5RZ_ZZzLKybVA/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="March_2011_169" width="404"></a></p> <p>I realized I haven’t posted a picture of my cute little nephew lately, he’s getting SO big! He’ll be 7 months in just a few days!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfoySZn75RVMbugFaXOFNO4LOTr98_ohzRi9BB9xnYlHvkZm9QB06UtewF2NiVGuqDQCtm_BvT1KU6ZvhEqRny6gv1R7RAp08c48aNjdDeI7NdXUKEaAA0lwlS9qP7-AkmplOBhFJHtLpy/s1600-h/March_2011_133_-_Copy%5B7%5D.jpg"><img alt="March_2011_133_-_Copy" border="0" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxnDNWw_CazMftX3GyvLBRMxpaowkVsz-k0Xim-sMYoXgFilJb8CnOPe0PIDSDxRuP17B7kIZV2qCTOHcNexkxIHsOOLMKW0r84r1venUOhU6TJQkWywje4OEh-hKCTxSiqGFJfTv1aTQ3/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="March_2011_133_-_Copy" width="354"></a></p>

29 weeks

(FYI: Thursday I was actually 30 weeks…but wanted to get my 29 week post up anyway!) How Far Along: 29 Weeks Size of baby: Baby Bangert...

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Another 5K!

I am making HUGE strides in raising money for two walks that I am participating in: <a href="http://www.marchforbabies.org/hilaryjp248">The March of Dimes March for Babies</a> & <a href="http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/HilaryPritt">GreatStrides - Cystic Fibrosis</a>.  That's right folks, I will be walking in the March of Dimes on Sunday, May 1.... yet another 5K I have signed up for!  Go me!  <br /><br />Please consider donating to either (or both!) of my walks by clicking on the buttons on the left of the screen!  A HUGE thank you in advance!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34iVUeX1SPmBL7HT9U0n8S0z2RJX2yr1tl3QfzG-oTvo1glrUsLwsjPzw-ZMLeXpMqK-L9NIJcBemtwGAvEkSfQ8GeqV1Zhqxd6sFW90MnLAUeQlC5K61YBDF78sKRROp6HKYU6_i7Rk/s1600/Cystic+Fibrosis+Goal+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34iVUeX1SPmBL7HT9U0n8S0z2RJX2yr1tl3QfzG-oTvo1glrUsLwsjPzw-ZMLeXpMqK-L9NIJcBemtwGAvEkSfQ8GeqV1Zhqxd6sFW90MnLAUeQlC5K61YBDF78sKRROp6HKYU6_i7Rk/s400/Cystic+Fibrosis+Goal+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>

5K Another 5K!

I am making HUGE strides in raising money for two walks that I am participating in: The March of Dimes March for Babies & GreatStrides ...

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