A Day of Confirmation

If you have been a reader of my weight loss journey on my blog, then this entry will make sense to you. This morning I decided to go through my closet to find coats that could be donated to the shelter this cold, cold winter. I came across an old coat that I bought over 10 years ago (before I ever moved back to Utah but was missing cold weather) in the back. When I first moved back, I was unable to close the front of this coat (it was too tight), and was saving it for my mom for when she visited in the winter. This morning, going through the coats, I decided to throw it on, and was shocked to really see how much I have shrunk. It has been so gradual that I had no idea how much I had changed.

Yes, I had to take a picture. These are huge milestones for me. I did cut my face out of the picture because I have my glasses on and still needed to shower when it was taken (still in my PJs too).

Cleaning off the camera

I haven't blogged in a while. First it was Finals, then the Christmas craziness set in, add a little bit of an illness, and I just didn't have the time or desire to write. This evening I tried to get a couple of photos of the crazy snow we have had today, and realized that I had taken a couple of nice sunset photos sometime last week.



Tonight's photos of the snow.


This one is blurry because I didn't have my tripod, but I like how you can see all the snow.

First Snow

Yesterday we had our first real snow storm. It snowed for most of the day and coated our neighborhood with about 2 inches of the white, powdery stuff. I always take pictures the morning after the first big storm.

Chistmas pics

It is that time of year again for the dreaded Christmas photo. We decided to incorporate the Christmas theme and the result was hit and miss. We couldn't find our tripod, so we were unable set the camera in the right spot for the flash. The outcome was that we were either washed out or the picture was too dark. In the end, my favorite photo made Larry fuzzy, and in Larry's favorite I was staring off in space. By 9:30 last night we gave up and just went with one.

We both liked this one, but the colors seems a little off.

Larry is fuzzy here, not to mention my glowing shine.

I'm partial to this one.....

Me getting cheesy and tired of taking pictures.

Cute, but too dark. I won't post the one we picked just in case someone reading this will be getting it in the mail. Don't want to spoil the surprise.

Taking Turns

We spent Thanksgiving in So Cal with Larry's parents and family. The week before we were due to arrive, the MIL and FIL's house was under an inch of water. They were lucky enough to get to experience what happens when the water dispenser in the refrigerator decides to express itself when it shouldn't. We offered to wait and postpone our visit until everything was cleaned up and repaired, but they insisted that we come out as planned.
Side note: Larry and I have also had this most unpleasant of experiences. When we were remodeling this house, we hooked up the ice maker on the new fridge and left for the weekend. When we returned, we found the house pouring over with water. Did I mention we were days away from moving in? The basement was destroyed and we basically had to start all over. So we do understand the chaos and stress of having water running through the house.

We decided to fly out at the last minute and arrived Thanksgiving morning. Upon entering the house, we were stunned to see the extent of the damage. I should also add that my in laws are pack rats to the umpteenth degree. They will be the first to admit to their pack rat abilities, but only until they had to remove everything from every room, could they fully realize the extent of their "pack rat-ness." There were piles and piles everywhere. Larry and I could do nothing but start to dig in and try to help get things organized. They were both overwhelmed and stuck in that "where to begin" mode. We started with one pile and asked "do you use this," or "do you need this," or "when was the last time you opened this book," and every variation there of. We took old furniture out to the garage and called the Salvation Army for a pick up, and we loaded up the car and drove to the Goodwill for a drop off. I actually found an old furniture catalog from 1960! Yes, my friends 1960!

After our busy weekend, we went to leave Monday afternoon only to find all the flights had been rerouted due to coastal fog. Result.....no empty seats for us to use. At the airport, we stopped off at an Applebee's for lunch and with a full stomach, decided to rent and a car and drive home. I drove us from Ontario to Mesquite, and Larry took the last leg from Mesquite to home. We arrived about 1:30 in the morning, but were happy to be home in our bed with our little fuzzy babies.

On the long drive home, we started to see that our relationship with Larry's parents has changed. It has begun to shift from a parent taking care of a child to a child taking care of the parent. I suppose this is something that happens with everyone at some point in their lives. My mom is only 58 and full of piss and vinegar, so I think I have a bit of time to still be her kid, but with Larry's folk we can see now that they need us to be near and to help them even when they insist they don't need it. They have lived their lives as good and loving parents, and now it is time for the kids to help take care of them.