Sledding

I remember once going sledding with some kids from church. But I know I just watched and didn't ever go down the hill. I was always afraid to try new things. But better late then never, right? We took the boys sledding a week ago andf I watched. It wasn't a big hill to most people, but was huge to me. This time we went to a tiny little hill. I figured it was a good place to start. And I love it. I think I'm turning into an adrenalin junkie. Thought I'd share some pics.

Going up the hill.

Do I really want to do this?

Coming down the hill! Notice the smile.

Amy and Wyatt's turn

Spencer and Jayden watching us.



It was a fun day and I can't wait to go again.

Running High

I now understand why people run. I have started putting short 60 second intervals of running into my treadmill workout. I wear my heart rate monitor when I am working out. Wow, it gets my heart rate up to 170 bpm or higher. And I can only run for 60 seconds. I have been doing at least four of those intervals. Today I did five. So in a 40 minutes walk, I ran five minutes of it! That may not seem like at lot to some of you. But for me it is a major victory. I try to keep my walk at 3 mph and the run at 5 mph. At the end of the minute run, I feel like I'm going to die. But after slowing down for about 4 minutes, I'm ready to do it again. I'd only been walking about 20-25 minutes, but today I wanted to push it. I did a total of 40 minutes and a total of 2.2 miles. I'm tired, I'm exhausted. But mentally I'm on such a high. A year ago I couldn't do more than two minutes on the stationary bike with leg cramps. Today I'm running! I've dropped 70 lbs.

There was a time when I couldn't walk from the parking lot into Walmart without being out of breath. Today I don't drive around looking for a close parking spot. I just take the first spot in aisle 7. If it's at the far end, that's ok. By parking in the same aisle, I can find my car. LOL And at my age, that's important. I never thought in my lifetime I'd weight below 200 lbs. I honestly can't remembver when I last weight that. I'm sure it was at least 30 years ago. And today I'm under 200. That was my original goal. But now it's changed. I am going to lose another 50 lbs. There is no time limit on it although I would prefer to weigh that in a year from now. But it actually seems possible.

Old Age

For all of you who are worried that you are getting old, here is what you have to look forward to!



I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful.
But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

[]

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.
So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.
I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!

MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EVER! FRIENDS FOREVER!


[]

Jayden and Family

I just had to share these pictures of the newest member of the Weaver clan. Isn't he adorable?

# 18 Jayden Nicholas Weaver

Introducing my eighteenth grandchild. Yes, I said 18. Jayden Nicholas Weaver was determined to be born early. Amy has been on bed rest for the past two weeks and on medication to stop her labor. The doctor told her if she could go until Monday he wouldn't stop the baby. He would be born four weeks early. So Monday came and no baby. Yesterday Amy got up very ambitious, so I started thinking maybe we were having a baby. They went to the hospital just before midnight. By 6:30 this morning she was dilated to an eight, and Spencer called to ask me to bring the camera. In their rush, they had left it home. So I got up and showered and was heading out of the driveway at 7:30 when Spencer called to see if I'd gotten the pic. I said 'oh, what?" And he said "of your new grandson." Then he said "we had an emergency c-section and I have to go." I drove as fast as I dared to the hospital not knowing what to expect when I got there.

What happened was as her water broke, the cord came out first. Everybody was frantically trying to keep Jayden's head from pressing on the cord as they rushed her to the C-section room. Luckily it was set up as they had one scheduled for just minutes away. The doctor was in the hospital for that and had come down to check on Amy. But I don't think luck had anything to do with it. I think Jayden's Uncle Nick was watching out for him.

Amy's epidural hadn't numbed her enough, so they had to knock her out, rush to the surgery room with both doctor and nurse on the bed with Amy. But everyone did their job. And at 7:07 am he was born. He is 7 lb 1 oz. 20 inc long and perfectly healthy. He even screamed for a while until they gave him a bottle. He loved it and seems to have a healthy appetite. His Grandpa Bryant took some pictures of him wit his eyes wide open, and I will post them as soon as I get a copy. Anyway, here hs is:

Letter to my Son

Nick,

You've been gone two years today. I have had a lot of tragedy in my life, but I have to say that two years ago today was the worst day of my life. I still remember that phone call. I've relived those moments over and over again. Part of it is blurry. The shock ws so great. I can remember the day your Dad died and standing there thinking this has to be a dream, this doesn't really happen. But it did. And two years ago I lost you, Ruth and Audrey. I find myself thinking of you so often. The two of you probably wouldn't have changed much. But Audrey would be almost five. What would she be like today? I know she would still be as beautiful as she always was. And she would probably be as full of life and stubborn.

Every year on Oct 15th I would crawl in a hole and hide from the world. I would even make sure that I didn't have to work. But I had so much to do today. I told myself that after it was all done I could cry. And sure enough, as I was driving home from all my errands the tears started. I went to the cemetery and sit at your dad's grave. And I talked to him and asked him what it was like when he got to see you again and if you are all happy. But I think I know the answer to that question. Just keep watch over Joie. She needs to be able to feel you once in a while. You left her in good hands. I know you guided all of us in choosing Tim and Mary. She is growing up into a beautiful young lady. She still has your beautiful blue eyes. I love the three of you, and I miss you so much. It hurts that you are not here. But I will see you all soon.

Learning to Drive

Spencer got his 4-wheeler running this morning. I don't think I've ever been on one until a year ago when he took me for a ride. After he took Bryton for a ride, he called me over. He told me to get on and drive it. I immediately said 'No.' He kept coaxing me. So I finally told him I would without Bryton on it. If I was going to crash it, I didn't want him on it with me. After a run or two around the yard I was hooked. It was such a high. And it's a good feeling to not let my fear keep me back. I love trying new things. So then I took Bryton for a ride or two or three or four. Here are a couple pictures of us having fun.

2.5 K High

Last weekend we went back to Evanston. It was a multi-purpose trip. We wanted to visit family and friends, pick up the last little bit of my stuff, and go to the County Fair Concert. The concert is a whole other blog post.

When I was online reading about the fair activites I noticed they were having a 5K run and a 2.5K walk Saturday morning. We were able to go up on Friday evening. So I called Monique to see if she would do the walk with me. She was such a wonderful walking partner when she was here in June. I wanted her to do it with me. She said she would although she wasn't as enthusiastic shortly after 7 am when we picked her up. And she did not want her picture taken.




Skeeter took us over to register for the race. We ran to get water and got back just before the orientation. Evanston has a beautiful walking path that goes from the ponds and goes all the way to the state park. As we crossed the beautiful bridge, the walkers turned to the right and looped around and the runners turned left and ran all the way to the state park. We lined up and then they let us take off. There were only five of us walking, and maybe twenty or so runners. I'm not a very fast walker even when I push it. I blame that partially on my short little legs. So as we started I was behind the other walkers. At first this really discouraged me. But then I remembered that this wasn't a competition for me with the other walkers. This was a competition between me and myself. I reminded myself that a year ago I could barely walk from my car into Walmart. So I just kept telling myself that all I wanted to do was finish the race.

A 2.5K is about 1 3/4 miles. I have been walking for about 45 minutes several times a week but wasn't sure how far I walk. So I got a pedometer and earlier in the week went for a walk and walked that distance. Later I drove the route and found that my pedometer is very accurate.

The walking path curved a little so for part of it I couldn't see the people ahead of me. Then I'd catch a glimpse and it would cause me to make sure I was walking just as fast as I could. At one point I was all alone and started thinking about Ruth. Her memory has inspired me to start to want to compete. All of a sudden it was as if she was walking right beside me cheering me on. I had a lot of energy and realized that I was walking much faster than I usally do. When I could see the rest of the walkers, I was excited to see Monique in second place.

Spencer, Amy and the kids were coming from the motel to watch me cross the finish line. I told them to be there about 8:30. As I got close to crossing the bridge again, I looked at my watch. It had been about 17 minutes. So I figured they weren't there yet. But I knew Skeeter and Monique would be there. As I came over the bridge, I looked toward the finish line. And there they all were. They had made it! They were all cheering me on. And Skeeter had the camera out. I really didn't want my picture taken which explains the face. But what a high it was as I crossed that finish line and realized that I did it! I competed in a 2.5 K. I finished and felt wonderful.

I asked for my time and was told I had finished in 18.32. I couldn't believe it. Then I looked at my pedometer and realized that this wasn't a 2.5K. The path was only a mile. They had just called it 2.5K or 1 3/4 mile. Then I realized that last spring when I started walking it took me 25 minutes to walk a mile. And now I was walking a mile in just under 20 minutes! And at that moment all I could think of was that I wanted to do this again and again and again. It was such a feeling of accomplishment. Go me!!!



There were five walkers. Monique came in second place. I was so proud of her. Two of the women styaed together, so they tied for third place. And I finished fourth. yes, that was last place. But I wasn't walking against them. I was walking against myself. And I won that race. I finished a race, my time was good, and I felt fantatsic when I finished.

Slideshow of Headstones

This is one of those blogs that is extremely hard to write. But I just got the slide show show of Nick, Ruth and Audrey's headstones. Mary must have worked for a long time to get this to me so quickly. The headstones were placed today. She did an awesome job on this. It is a hard thing to look at, but they are beautiful.

The first picture is of Joie sleeping while waiting for the trucks. For those of you who knew Nick well, cover up her hair and tell me who you see! She still looks so much like him. I'm glad she does.

The link to the slideshow is at the bottom of the blog.

Happy Father's Day

I have the best Dad in the entire world. Now I'm not going to argue this point with anybody because I know I'm right. I could give examples of this, but won't. But I do want to pay tribute to my Dad. I miss him today as much as I ever have. A few months after he died, Mom and I were weeding her flower beds. I said something about the empty chair, and she said that sounded like a title of a poem. So I sit down and wrote a poem in tribute to my Dad. Here it is.

THE EMPTY CHAIR

The old chair sits there empty
It says to us “he’s gone.”
He left us all alone here
It was his time to move on.

We all loved to come and visit
And sit right by his chair
Hear his stories and his wisdom
That he always loved to share

The legacy he left behind
Is much more than we can know
So we’ll keep his memory living on
As we continue on and grow

He left three lovely daughters
And a wife he loved so true
We’ll live the way he taught us
In all we say and do

Then there was the grandkids
He welcomed them, each one
Their memories are so special
He made everything so fun

But no matter what he taught us
It was taught with joy and love
So our memories will see us through
Until we join him up above

So when we come and visit
And there sits the empty chair
We’ll remember the good times we had
When Grandpa was sitting there

My New Baby

When I moved back to Vernal I couldn't bring Demona, my dog. Spencer and Amy have three of their own. So Lala agreed to take care of her for me. But about a month ago she got a phone call about a girl with four little baby kitties. Now I should have known better than to go see them. Lala took me so I could tell her no, don't get them. Instead we ended up with four little three-week old kittens to bottle feed.

As soon as I saw Esme I fell in love with her. The mother cat was wild, so the girl had caught the kittens and tried to take them to a shelter in SLC. But they wouldn't take them. When I picked her up she hissed at me. Maybe it was a love-hate relationship. LOL But it didn't take her long to settle down and fall asleep. I thought I'd share pictures of her. She is such a sweetheart. Well, when she's not biting my fingers or nibbling on my toes. She is extremely playful and has learned to sleep in her basket on a blanket instead of in bed with me. But she comes on the bed first thing in the morning to let me know she's awake and wants food in her dish. Oh, and should I mention that she eats Fancy Feast in a pink heart-shaped bowl? Can you say spoiled?

So here she is, my new baby girl:

Biggest Loser

I am absolutely addicted to Biggest Loser on tv. A year ago I would watch it and get hungry and eat. My intentions were to work out on the bike while watching, but it didn't happen. By the time this past season came on, I was riding the bike for about a month, so I would get on and get my time in during the show. I found that being in a lifestyle change as I am, I got so much more out of the show. And I say lifestyle change because I'm not on a diet. I will eat this way the rest of my life. It is amazing how much better I feel now than I did any other time I've lost weight.

Did any of you watch it? I think the part I found the most inspiration was that the people who won both contests were close to my age or older. It goes to show that it's never too late to make changes and improve your health. I remember hitting 50 and thinking that it was too late to do much cuz my metabolism had slowed down so much. I tried the traditional cut calories shortly after my birthday and the weight just wouldn't come off. This time it was so much easier. I eat what I want but in moderation. I love the 100 calorie packs for convenience. I would only take one at a time to work so I couldn't open and eat two or three. I adore fruit and salads.

A year ago I went in for a physical. My blood pressure has always been normal for most of my life, but has slowly crept up. At that time it was borderline high. If it kept going up they were going to put me on medicine. The doctor ordered blood work and told me I wasn't pre-diabetic yet, but as close as I could get without being there. And diabetes scares me to death. When I went to the doctor a year later my blood pressure was 120/70. My resting heart rate has gone from 70 to 60. This morning I rode the exercise bike for 45 minutes instead of my usual 40 and didn't realize it until I looked at the stop watch. What a difference a year makes. Although I've only been doing this since the middle of November, the tests were a year ago. Wow, go me!

Max and the Two Bears

We have a bank up here that we call the Bear Bank. At the moment, I can't even tell you the real name of it. But they sell the cutest little bears. I got two of them this week as a present. I named the one Strawberry. Bet you can guess which one.



The other day I was driving with Max. I told him about my two bears cuz they are sitting on my dashboard. I told him I had named the one Strawberry, but couldn't think of a name for the boy bear. I told him he could help me name it. He thought for a few minutes. Then he said "Pancakes." So the two bears are Strawberry and Pancakes. I thought that was pretty imaginative of him.

Before and After Part 2

Ok, I'm ready to post before and after photos. One was taken a year ago and the other was taken yesterday after playing dress up in Lala's closet. Which one is which?

No Pictures

I have realized why people should always take 'before' pictures when they start losing weight. I put on my new blouse that I was so excited about yesterday, handed Monique the camera and told her to take pictures of me. Then I looked at them. And I hate every last one of them. All I can see is all the fat I'm still carrying. And I have nothing to look at to see how much I've lost. Yes, my clothes fit looser. Yes, I can buy smaller sizes. But that isn't enough right now. I wanted to see with my eyes there is a difference. So I won't delete the pictures taken yesterday. But I probably won't post them either. I guess I could do the Biggest Loser thing and hold my clothes up in front of me and then drop them. I'm just not sure that will work. So for now, no new pictures.

Before and After

The one thing I didn't do before starting this lifestyle change was take a before picture. I have a couple I've had taken in the last year. But when I dressed up to go somewhere I usually wore a jacket over a t-shirt because I just knew it was hiding how big I was.




Yesterday I went to Walmart. I've been wearing my old clothes because they are perfectly nice clothes. A month ago Angela said to me "Mom, you need new clothes. you look like a little girl playing dress-up in her Mom's clothes." So I figured I'd go see what is on sale. Although I won't tell you how much I weighed when I started I will tell you I was wearing a 4X shirt and some styles were tight across my tummy. I've always carried the weight there probably because after having five kids I have no muscle. Well, I saw a couple of pretty blouses clearenced for $3. So I took a couple of sizes in the dressing room. I will be posting a picture probably tonight or tomorrow. Because the ones I got are a size (drum roll, please) a 1X! I honestly have no clue when I last fit in a 1X. That is all the motivation I need to keep going on this. It's been a hard thing for me to do. I love food, I'm addicted to food, I reward myself with food. I hated exercise. But I started taking baby steps four months ago. I have hit the 45 lbs weight lost mark and now lost two sizes. I could only do 3 very slow minutes on the bike the first of December, now I can do 40 minutes. And if I can do it, anybody can!

Again, please check out my other blog on the 5K race. I hope everybody who reads it will get motivated to make some small baby steps in their own life if they need to. I told somebody I'm like a convert to the church. I've seen what this can do for my health, and I want everybody else to feel as good as I do! I promise to blog about something else too and not be totally boring. But if I can motivate or encourage just one other person to make some changes and improve their health, it's worth it.

Ride 'Em Cowboy

A few weeks ago, Spencer and family came up for Tommy's birthday. I just had to snap these pictures cuz it was so cute.

New blog

I have started a new blog. I hope all of you will come and read it and join the challenge! At least come and read it and see what I've been up to and what I'm going to be doing just over a year from now. If you want to join the challenge, let me know.

http://gotcar.blogspot.com/

Choir Concert

Tonight was Monique's spring choir concert. It is so wonderful to go watch this young lady sing. She loves doing it and it is obvious in her face. She generally has either a solo or sings a part with another couple of kids. She opens her mouth and sings and everyone can hear how beautiful her voice is. I am very proud of her. Last spring she tried out for the Jazz Choir. She was chosen and was thrilled. But it was a big committment. She has to go to school shortly after 7 am three days a week for practice. She was there 100% of the time the first two quarters, but finally was so sick she just couldn't get there and missed a day. We videoed the concert tonight, and I hope I can figure out how to put some of it on here tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Excuses and a Birthday Party

I didn't post yesterday, but I honestly had a good excuse. So here's my story:

Yesterday was Tommy's birthday party at the rec center. Lala went nuts with decorations, gifts bags, a pinata and everything else for the party. And Tommy loved it. The theme was Star Wars. Of course, she also got the brilliant idea to have me make an R2D2 cake. And I can't say no to my grandkids.

Setting a New Goal

My goal was to start writing in my blog again. I'm way behind, and there have been some major changes in my life lately. So here is my new goal. I will write something in my blog every day. It doesn't have to be long, it probably won't be brilliant and might not be interesting to anybody but me. It's just going to be the habit of writing every day that I'm working on.

So here goes for today. In a nutshell, the changes in my life are I got my hours cut at work to 20 a week, gave up my apartment and am now living with Lala again/ There are definitely pros and cons to this. I know the grandkids are glad I'm here until I make them clean their rooms, that is. And I hadn't realized how much of a hermit I've become since moving into the apartment. There were days I would go home and find any excuse not to leave for any reason. If I didn't stop at the store on my way, I made do without.

I have internet access here but no tv service. I have a bigger kitchen to cook in but have to be careful not to go back to my old eating habits. I have a huge bedroom but lots of stairs to get down to it.

A few days before I moved I was sitting on my bed feeling totally and completely sorry for myself. I'm 52 years old and can't keep a roof over my own head. The fact that there are thousands of people all over the country in the same boat didn't make me feel any better. So I had my pity party, ranted and raved, screamed at a couple of husbands because they're not here taking care of me or at least here to hold me when I get scared and cry.

And then I realized that I am truly blessed. When I told Lala and Spencer about my hours being cut and not being able to pay rent, both of them immediately said 'come live with me.' So I guess when times are black and gloomy and all seems to be lost, families are all that is left. And I am grateful for mine.

My Name

Malia had this name thing on her blog, so I followed link. I think most of it isn't true. What do you think?

You Are Seductive and Ruthless You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are a very lucky person. Things just always seem to go your way.
And because you're so lucky, you don't really have a lot of worries. You just hope for the best in life.
You're sometimes a little guilty of being greedy. Spread your luck around a little to people who need it.

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.
You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.
You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

Happy Birthday Howard

Happy Birthday Howard. Do they celebrate birthdays in heaven? I have thought about you all day and wondered where we would be and what we would be doing if you were still alive. I have met so many people who divorced after 25-30 years. We would be married 31 years in Aug.

Happy Birthday Spencer (yesterday)

I couldn't get to a computer yesterday to say:

Happy Birthday, Spencer. You are now a very old 29 years old. It about broke my heart when I asked how old you were going to be and you said you are now older than Nick.

Spencer was due on Christmas Day. I remember telling Howard that he would be born at home unless he waited until after the other three kids opened their presents. Well, by the time I went into labor on Jan 3rd, I was wishing he would have come on Christmas Day. At that point, there had been no New Year's baby born, so i was excited when I woke up with some mild contractions. I called Brenda, and she said they were inducing her friend that day. I told her that was cheating. We got up, took the boys to Brenda's and went to the doctor appt I had that day. Then we went shopping for Howard's birthday presents cuz his birthday was Jan 6th. Mild contractions all day, doing nothing. The doctor wanted to see me again that afternoon and I wasn't doing anything.

That evening about 10 pm I headed to the hospital. Still no progress. In fact, they said they would keep me for two hours and if no progress, they would send me home. Well, in two hours a little progress, so they kept me. After a very restless night I decided Spencer was gonna stay just where he was. After all, it was nice and warm in my tummy. But finally just after twelve noon he was born. It had been a hard labor, I had finally pushed before they told me to cuz his head just wasn't down enough to do anything. When he was born he had a bright red mark over his left eye and the back of his head just before his skull. I was upset for days over that, but they finally faded. But for several years when he cried, they would show up again. Thank heavens he was finally born.