@MusicCandy @SadMe70 A place to communicate

Hello! I hope things are going better for you. I am sorry to hear about your aunt. It's sad to lose the last one of a generation too. I hope things have settled down and you have gotten some rest. Don't worry about the wine - you know you will go back to your good habits.

I had hoped to maybe keep up my no alcohol at all, but I wanted wine so many times over Lent that I immediately drank some yesterday. Otherwise my diet has been pretty good.

I had two fantastic hikes last week. I did get to Mary's Rock and it was so much easier than in the snow. I'm really glad we went in the snow though because that was so pretty. This time was pretty in a completely different way since I could see the scenery all around. I plan to go again this summer and instead of going out and back, continue on down the trail because it comes to another parking lot at about the same distance as the one I have been starting from. That way I'll see another piece of trail!

On Thursday we went to First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. Google maps said 3 hours, but it took 4 each way. Three to get down there, and a whole hour in that awful traffic to get the last 20 miles. The park itself was stunning. It has a cypress swamp, tidal marsh and sandy shoreline along a small river and Broad Bay, and forest. Very diverse habitats all in one small piece of land. The other end of the park has beaches on the Chesapeake, but I only went on the trail side. I am so grateful that this land was preserved in the 1930s so that it has remained so beautiful and not gotten developed like every other inch of land down there. I have now been to 6 VA state parks - 33 to go!

Still no more baby goats. I have one very close and I hope she goes into labor today so I can be with her.

Have a great week!

Hello! My husband bought a state parks lifetime pass years ago, which I think they no longer offer. Now you have to buy one annually, so he's saved us a lot of money! I hope to go to Westmoreland this weekend. My favorite trail there was closed for months due to a cliff slide, but is now open again.

My kayak paddles always drip on me so I do usually get wet, but not too much. Back when we had a lab that used to go with us, she would get out and swim a while and then climb into my boat to rest. She would drip a ton of water each time, so I'd not only be soaking wet, but also paddling a bunch of extra weight!

I am glad you enjoyed your visit to NC. I understand about the pull of the place you've been raised. When I visit mom, I feel so sad when I leave. I would move back except my children are here and I want to be near them. I'm also not sure I could hack the winters up there anymore. My dad used to take me to graveyards to look for old relatives graves when he was doing genealogy. They were huge old cemetaries in Baltimore, full of really interesting statuary. I actually really enjoyed that.

My eating and exercise have been pretty good this week, but I have been really bad with the wine. I drank almost every day, despite my previous plan of not drinking on school nights because it makes me sleep worse. I hope this is a reaction to not drinking for so long, and that I will get a grip and stop soon.

I was going to do chores and errands today and treat myself with the hike tomorrow, but I see rain in tomorrow's forecast so I might hike today. I am still waiting for more baby goats!

I hope you have a great week!

I love seeing the flag on my page and a note from you - like getting a nice surprise in your mailbox, except postage is going up - again. I don't mail much at all anymore and do bills online. f the internet goes down for real, I'd be in trouble. I hope you have a nice hike, whichever day. My time will come after the weekend. I do love being in the water - there' something calming about it .. but I like to hike for exercise too. This is the start of my favorite seasons so i may not get any more housework done.

I took off last night 11-7 so I could attend a prayer workshop at my church this morning. It was a district meeting so ladies from other churches came too, and I never take off so I miss out on a lot of those gatherings. But since it was at my church, I didn't have to go out of town and i came to work right afterwards. It was nice to meet nee folfs and I don't mind a meeting that is not too big, and especially since it is prayer - I don't get nervous with them.

Of course, that threw me off my routine of working the weekend and sleeping mornings, so that was as good an excuse as any to go off my no wine routine. I put together a make ahead, refrig overnight and bake in the morning breakfast casserole - so i was putting that together last night at 11:30 PM.. with a glass of wine. We seem to just sync up on these resolutions. Always somewhat of a struggle, but we won't give up.

I hope you have some new additions soon- i saw where a lady started a "yoga with goats" class -in Charlottesville, naturally. I can't imagine downward dog with goats!! Anything for a gimmick I guess. Relax and enjoy- your way.

I look forward to your message each week as well! I don't correspond with anyone anymore either. I see snippets of people's lives on FB and that's about it. It's nice to tell somebody about my week every week!

I did have my hike on Sunday and it was wonderful! A big chunk of my favorite trail there was closed for months due to a cliff slide. They rerouted that part of the trail and it's open again so I walked there. Other than a couple of people right near the trailhead, I saw no one else on the trail the whole time, just how I like it. I did divert to another trail to a beach on the river and of course there were people there, but that's to be expected. The newly reopened part of the trail goes through a swamp. I sat in the sun on a boardwalk that crosses the swamp and listened to frogs and birds for 10 minutes.

I did my other exercise this week too, but my bad knee has been hurting for a week. It's testing season at school, so I was covering a K class for half of each day, and on my feet a lot more than usual. I have shoes with very cushioned soles (they remind me of Herman Munster's shoes!) but my knee still hurts. First grade classroom coverage is coming up next week, so I'm keeping the ibuprofen handy!

My wine rampage has continued. Mostly I don't drink a lot any one night, but I have been drinking some every night. Last night I did drink a lot since I could sleep in today, which in turn makes me eat more. Other than last night, I have been eating well. Good luck to you on getting back to your wine routine but if you aren't there yet, you are in good company!

I'm glad you got to go to the district prayer workshop! I'm glad you were comfortable too. I know you and I are alike in not really wanting to be in groups of people where you have to actually talk to them! I can see how being in a group praying would be more comfortable. I rarely take off work because it makes me feel guilty that my kids most likely won't get their services that day, and I know you work all the time and hardly take off either, so I'm glad you went! I have 4 personal days a year and I've used 1.5 so far and school is almost over! I am taking this coming Friday off though for my son's graduation on Friday night at the convention center. He is just going to the engineering school ceremony and skipping the university one on Saturday, which suits me fine.

Tomorrow we are moving my son out of his apartment (in the rain, sigh) and finding somewhere to cram all his furniture in my already crammed full basement. His crazy dog will be living here as well and I am not happy about that. I also know that he and my husband will bang heads and I'll be stuck in the middle of all the tension. (So I guess I am likely to keep drinking a lot of wine!)

Last weekend my oldest goat had twin girls and they are completely adorable! I immediately had to tell myself sternly that I could not keep them! I had always planned to keep a female from this goat to start my next generation, but since my husband can't help me with them anymore I am going to have to end with this generation, but it's going to be hard not to keep these two. I have seen goat yoga classes around and it's pretty silly. A place near here charges $35 for it!! A farm near Charlottesville also does snuggle sessions for $10! And people go to these things and pay these prices! I am missing out on a lucrative market apparently.

I hope you have a great week!

Hello, It looks like we are exactly on the same wavelength on the resolutions.. I also had some wine ecery night last week, but not too much at any one time. I do think it is smarter to give my body a no alcohol break a few days a week, but it is not working right now. I don't even remember ewhat I had for meals last week.. one day dentist and the rest of the mornings were at the church setting up for Saturday yard sale. I love to organize and it was mostly on my own so it was kind of fun. I picked up a few "preshopping" things like a new blow up bed and some nice candles, but not too much. I'm trying to get rid of some of my junky stuff too.

I'm happy that you had a lovely hike. It sounds like a perfect day. Thursday, fiance went on the double kayak to Henricus park/ Dutch Gap and wore ourselves out. We were on the river a couple of hours before turning back, and the return trip was harder and then we couldn't put out where we put in ( river was lower and there was a foot of mud and silt) so we had to pabble a mlie upriver to the big parking lot near the power statiuon - AND it was late in the day and the power boats were all getting in to fish- so there was a lot of wake. THEN we had to walk back further to the car another mile and a half. But we still enjoyed the afternoon, I was just really tired to go into work at 11. I've since made up for the lost sleep and finishing out my work week-end.

I know you are glad that your son wants to go to the Engineeringceremony and not the big one. My daughter went to both, but she was so psyched about every detail of the accomlishments of school life. She loved all the drama. It was funny.. her Dad had just gotten out of jail from the 10 months ( 4 DUI's) and fortunately he was able to go. she would have been heartbroken if he had to miss it - she is Daddy's girl. He took Rachael, and i went separately with fiance, who he didn't know about at that time, even though we were divorced. i didn't want to spoil her day, so we just put off that revelation. As luck would have it, in that huge auditorium, He and Rachael came in and sat 10 feet from us !She didn't see us, or she would have yelled out "DEE!" ( that is what she calls fiance) He cam in in his cowboy hat and flashy outfit, as he likes to be the center of attention. We got through that and Thank god, daughter got a job pretty quickly. does your son have prospects? An engineering degree should be a good start. i hope that he gets settled somewhere else soon. I know what you mean about too many people and too much stuff in one household.

Baby goats! I can imagine how hard it must be to let them go. but you are right - we have to be practical. Stay strong!!

I'll be thinking of you with the move and hope it goes OK. I won't blame you for that extra glass when its all over.

PS My sister reminded me it was Kentucky Derby day, and I have mint in my garden, so I just finished off 3 mint juleps! I didn't get around to actually watching the race...

Hello! Graduation was last night, so now we've got another college grad in the family! My mom, sisters, and aunt came. Today we are going to our favorite restaurant for lunch with all of them plus my other son (who opted out of the ceremony). Then we will come home and have CAKE from a great local bakery and I am having all I want today. I will probably also have a chocolate martini at lunch and maybe some wine back home. It is a guilt-free celebration day.

The moving out was long and tedious but my older son and his gf helped a huge amount. We ended up renting a storage unit because we could see it was not going to fit in my basement. So, another expense until he gets a job. He does have prospects but he is looking at defense work (a big industry here with the weapons research base) and that all requires a security clearance. That will take about a year in his case probably, so he will need to find some other work meanwhile. He is leaving tomorrow to be gone a month visiting his wife who is still stuck in Korea. Immigration was supposed to be sending the paperwork for her to come back with him but it never arrived. More delays and frustrations there.

I hope the yard sale goes well today! Sounds like you got some good stuff. I love candles! I've got a big rose scented one in a jar that is Yankee Candle that I got really cheap at a discount store. It smells so good but I only burn it occasionally so it will last longer! I like inscense too and I like that but I usually forget I have it.

Your kayak trip sounds fun despite the extra miles paddling and walking. I don't like being near power boats in my kayak either. When we go to Luray, the river there (Shenandoah) is extremely shallow so no power boats. When we used to go here on the Potomac they were always there. I don't know if I will get to kayak at all this summer. We won't be going to Luray probably, because my older son is saving his vacation days for a trip abroad next fall or spring, and my younger one's plans are up in the air. My husband can't do it anymore and I don't want to go by myself. I can hike by myself some places though, so I'll be more focused on that this summer I think.

I am still waiting on my 3rd goat to have babies. She looks pregnant now, but based on when the buck left, if she doesn't have babies in the next few days I think she is just fat from the extra food I'm giving her based on me thinking she is pregnant. I'm heading out soon to check on her and feed everybody.

Have a great week my friend!

Hello! Well I had lots of cake and it was all delicious. I put some pounds on but I think I can get those back off. Today we are going back to our favorite restaurant again for lunch (3 weekends in a row!), with my older son and his gf, for my birthday which is Monday. I will be 49. I can remember my dad turning 50 when I was 6, and how OLD he seemed. It is hard to wrap my head around being almost that old myself.

Congrats on keeping off your 4 pounds! I'm glad you got out on some new walks too. I am really hoping to visit more state parks this summer. How cool that your fiance was an extra in a movie, and he took you around to see where the scenes were shot! That sounds like a fun outing for sure.

I hope your Mother's Day was nice. I know it's sad without your mom, despite how things were. I was blessed to see both my mom and and kids on Saturday. A Celtic service does sound really beautiful. Is there music with that? I'd like the music part a lot. I like Gregorian chant also.

My fat goat is almost certainly just fat. I checked with my friend that I passed the buck (ha ha) along to when I was done with him, and 150 days gestation from the day he left would have been May 7. There is almost no chance she is 11 days overdue. I am very disappointed to lose all her milk for a year. At least I will get good milk from the other 2. Someone who bought 3 kids from me last year is going to buy the one boy, and is thinking about the girls. They mostly want boys as they are just using them to clear brush and not planning to breed/milk. I am crossing my fingers that they will take all 3!

I hope you've had a good week!

Hey there, I am happy for you that you got to share some fun family time, and eat cake! and Happy birthday to you!

I remember turning 50, ( that was 15 years ago) and I was kind of a mess emotionally with the bad marriage and menopause and still dealing with the worst of my mother. I planned, and paid for, a weekend with my sisters in Williamsburg ( except they paid for one very nice dinner). I am glad those days are over now, and I am more at peace. Speaking of peace, the Celtic Sevice is just that- very peaceful with music and readings and prayer. I tried to paste a link here, but it didn't work. you can see a snippit of the sevice - google St. Stephens Celtic Service and it comes right up. This is my last week of discernment for the Healing Prayer Ministry, and after that I will serve on the weeks of my turn with the team. We simply offer a hands on the shoulder personal prayer and some people receive an annointing of holy oil. I just love the whole atmosphere, and the prayer team supports and prays for each other like family.

Sorry the goat plans went awry. you can lead the goat to the... but you can't do it all! I know you enjoy the babies that you did get. I worked in my little garden area on one of the nice days. I had to rest my back for 2 days after that, but I was at a bad angle which I knew better. Today it is really warm and there is a festival downtown at the river. But I'm at work go I have to go later. Overall I had a good week. Really trying to get in the fiber with supplements and oatmeal, and not too much wine. Children are healthy and happy. ; I'm so grateful for that blessing. I'm getting in my stairs today, took a break to write to you so I'm going back to finish before the Saturday night patients roll in. "Friends" just drop them at the door and say 'I don't know what happened, I don't know who this is, ect" The drug crisis every day . Lord help them.

Hello! Well, I have been Really Bad with treats for 2 weeks now. The only ones I planned for were the grad and bday cakes that first weekend ,and gave myself permission to enjoy. But then there was a cake at a meeting that week, cake at my surprise party, and pan of brownies one day at work for my bday, donuts the next day at work for my bday. By then I was out of control and ate treats in the office all week, which led me to eat too much junk at home and drink too much. I've un-done all the weight I lost during the challenge. I got myself up this morning and exercised, and I'll be eating better now that I'll be away from treats, and I vow to get the alcohol under control too. I am going to try writing down a weekly weigh-in each Sunday.

Yesterday was the last day of school and I went for an hour hike on the rail trail here. I was parked in a narrow place with woods on either side. I tried to back onto the road but I could not see and almost backed into a passing car, so I tried to turn around in the narrow place, backed into a tree, and smashed the entire hatchback window, which also ruined the rear wiper mechanism. Sigh. I will be driving my truck for a while until we decide what to do. The car is old, and we have the identical car sitting in the driveway (bought 2 of the used years ago because we liked the first one so much) and the transmission is broken on that one but the body is better than the one I've been driving. So, we can take the window from the other car, take the whole hatchback from the other car, or put the engine/trans from my car into the other car. Have to check on costs of all of the above.

[Funny side note on the car - I have a student named Christine who draws me little pictures of hearts etc. on scraps of paper. I taped 2 of them up in my car so that if I had a tough day at work with some kids, I would go out and see the notes from her and remember why I do this. My son asked me about the advisability of putting anything saying "Christine" into a car. Well, I went out this morning and my rear window has not regenerated on its own overnight, so I think I'm safe!]

I am leaving Wednesday to visit my mom for a week. We already have plans to hike and kayak, visit her health food store, and have lunch with some of my dad's family. I will also see some high school friends for dinner one night. I am looking forward to seeing my mom. She eats really well, and the same kinds of stuff I like, so that will help me get started back on the right path. I am planning to go hike at Mary's Rock tomorrow, so there's another step in the right direction.

I looked at a video describing the Celtic Service and also another one with some of the music. I really loved the music! I am glad you enjoy praying with/for others as well. It is one more example of how you do so much for others!

Sounds like you are doing well with your eating and wine! You are doing good work at the hospital too. So many things happen to so many people because of other people's actions. I see it at school with the sad lives of some of the kids. I am glad your family is well, and I hope your week has not been too hectic!