Go Rest High On That Mountain

Oh, how we cried the day you left us
And gathered round your grave to grieve
Wish I could see the angels’ faces
When they hear your sweet voice sing

Go rest high on that mountain
Son, your work on earth is done
Go to Heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and the Son

Written by Vince Gill

Back in January, we celebrated my Grandad's 85th birthday.  We expected about 25 people, but packed a room with over 50.

 It's a testament to the many lives Grandad touched.

 On Good Friday, Grandad's labored breathing ceased and his earthly life ended.  

 It's hard to say good-bye to such a great man, pictured with one of his many great-grandchildren.

 On the day of his visitation, his older brother who had flown in for the funeral, suffered a massive stroke and passed away a few days later.

 But if heaven works like I think heaven should, both were greeted by their mama (in the middle of the picture above), and if heaven really works like I think it should, she fixed them a big ol' fried chicken dinner.

We will miss you terribly, Grandad, and we'll see you soon.

This Is How We DU It!

Today my little ol' college WON THE NCAA II CHAMPIONSHIP!  Couldn't be more proud to be a Panther!  Well done Drury!  We watched the nail-biter of a game in a room full of other excited alums and fans.  It was a GREAT way to spend the afternoon!

Losin' It!

Near the beginning of our Biggest Loser contest, one of my teammates found a free app for counting exercise and food calories.  We quickly all adopted it as our own.  It's call Lose It! and it's available as a free iPhone app or as a website:  www.loseit.com.  We found it very easy to use and it's kept me on track better than the site I was using previously.  

One little detail that I have really liked about it is that it awards you "badges."  It's kind of like getting a special sticker on your spelling test in the 4th grade.  Just a little thing, but I've found it motivating.  Especially so when I earned the "Exercise King" badge which means I have exercised at least 3 times a week for 8 weeks.  For me, a real live couch potato, that is BIG!

The badge I am currently most proud of is the 25 Pound Club badge.  Since January 4, I have lost just over 25 pounds!

The app and website have been very helpful, but the only reason I've been able to keep doing this has been the support of family and friends.  David has been especially wonderful - he's been a great cheerleader and has not once complained about the small changes I've made in dinner. :)  Thank you, David!

The best part of this is that I feel GREAT...and clothes shopping is so much more fun!

Weird Weather

The weather 'round here can often be a little odd.  Last Friday when I was off school, I sat outside reading with short sleeves and no socks.  It was sunny, warm, and delightful.

This was what I saw when I left home this morning to come to work.  Snow!  And quite a bit of it by our standards.  Not so much that school had to be cancelled though.  It's pretty, but this late in March, I'm much more fond of no-sock-weather!

Zoom Zoom

A couple of years ago, we went to our first 100 Acre Wood Rally. It was lots of fun, except that it gave David the desire to drive like they do. ;)  Despite the snow on the ground, we decided we'd check it out again this year. 

 It didn't seem to us like they were going quite as fast as last year, but we were watching at a 90 degree turn...and there was snow on the road.  It was still fun, and there was a big variety of spectators there to take in the sights.

 Too bad they don't let us get really close!  That would be exciting.

 Once all the racers were through, they opened the road again.  We went back to the highway via the road that the racers had just taken.  It was a pretty drive in the snow!  I doubt the racers noticed.

Somehow David managed to control his urge to drive like a rally driver, but he did come home and search the web for affordable rally cars.  I'm a little concerned, but I still hope he'll pick me to be the navigator!

When Losing Means Winning!

Our Biggest Loser contest ended yesterday, and The Hungry Dames WON!  We are so proud!  We lost a total of 87 pounds.  Each of us made it to 20 pounds lost, and I can claim 22.5.  

 The prize for the first place team was $60 each (and bragging rights!).  Jenny won first individually and got a snazzy pair of running shoes for her efforts.

Don't you think that our local Y, where we are all now members, will want to use this on their website? ;)

I think we're all glad that the contest is over.  Maintaining our first place was a little stressful! Even without the contest, we're all still planning to continue.  Our paper chain has grown, and grown, and grown.  It will almost reach the wall on the right.

Scavenger Hunt!

We had a really fun weekend last weekend.  During the day on Saturday, we went to the 100 Acre Wood Rally Race (post to follow), then attended a birthday party/scavenger hunt on Saturday night.  You're never too old!  The first leg of our scavenger hunt involved a list of items or pictures, such as a picture of one of the team members at a local high school, a Steak and Shake hat, ketchup packet, receipt for gas, etc. 

 David and I finished that part fast and were the first to meet the organizers of the hunt to get our next clue.  It was downhill from there, as I kept messing us up, but it was lots of fun!

This one stumped everyone for a while, and I think all the teams headed toward our farm-team ball field.  Turned out to be the wrong kind of diamond!  It was the intersection near a jewelry store that we were looking for!  

 My mom got to play with us from home (got to, had to, whichever) as I kept texting her the ones that stumped us.  Without her help, I think we would have had to give up on this one.  It was Triple Eights Chinese restaurant, and I don't think we'd have come up with that!

In the end, we finished 4th out of 6 teams (and one the 6th team had given up before they were done) but it was so much fun to do.  Maybe we'll plan one sometime!