Ideal weather

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When I was a teen, living in Florida, I looked forward to being independent and moving back to New York State's Southern Tier. There I would be greeted by varying seasons and hills, as opposed to Florida's constant heat and humidity and flat terrain.

I've been back here since 1965 and love it - weather, terrain and all. Except that now I'm beginning to revise my image of my ideal surroundings. I moved last year to a quieter part of town and still love being able to view tree-covered hills from my valley location.

What can I do about the weather? What do I want to do now that I don't appreciate the highs and lows of the temperature as much as I used to. Heat and humidity are irritating in combination, particularly the humidity which reminds me of the uncomfortable Florida years. As much as I like snow and cold, wind and ice are no longer my friends.

Yesterday, here in Corning NY, we had what I consider within the range of ideal weather. Sunny most of the day, just a touch of humidity at times. A bit of a breeze. A high of 73, low of 51, .56-inch precipitation. Where in the world would I find ideal weather year-round, or at least for the majority of the year. I'm thinking daytime temps between sixty and eighty degrees Fahrenheit, cool nights, low humidity, rainfall somewhere between "occasional" and "frequent", sunshine at least part of every day. Yeah, right, like I'm going to be able to find such a thing. And if I did, how long would it be before I craved variety again.

French fries and Weight Watchers points

My grandson plays t-ball. It's so exciting to watch the kids. They've progressed, learned so much, all the while letting their attention wander, turning their backs on the balls and often swinging at air. My favorite is when three or four of them dive for a hit ball all at the same time. They forget they're on the same team, and it's every man for himself.

Curses on Little League concession stands. For $1 you can indulge yourself in a HUGE container of freshly deep fried, salty french fries. I've taken the plunge several times. Not every game, mind you. Last game, I actually struggled to get through them all. After all, I was raised not to leave food on my plate. Just to keep it honest, this time I looked up the Weight Watcher points online for fast food fries. A medium-sized container is 10 WW points! Large container is 15. Omigosh, I won't do that again. Ten points is over a third of my daily allowance. What was I thinking?

Unexpected bonuses from losing weight

My eyes are blue. When I was much younger than my now 63-years, I often got compliments on my eyes. Several years ago it came as a surprise to me that my eyes didn't seem as prominent or blue or striking as they used to be. They also seemed less wide open. I blamed it on aging. After all, most everything else changes as we age. So, maybe eyes dull as time passes.

When I started wearing glasses full-time, my eyes seemed more wide open, blue, more noticeable again.

Then I lost weight. Lo and behold, my eyes have appeared again. They're the same bright blue, still basically striking. The fat around my eyes (even eyelids gain weight) melted away, proving to me the excess weight was the culprit.

Real people answering business calls

I'm in a really good mood these days, all because of the many phone calls I've been making. I occasionally email or do online chat with businesses, but nothing is as satisfying as talking to real people. In the past couple of years, those I've connected with were all about getting business done and moving on to the next customer.

Not so in my recent contacts with these companies...

TimeWarner: signed up for their 3-way package and then called them several times re how to's and accounts. Two credit card companies: questions about charges and balances. Apple sales, applications and technical representatives about my new Mac Mini. Everyone has been pleasant, helpful in referring me to the right person, and patient with my questions about where they're located, what's the weather like there, etc. Some even initiate the more personal location/weather questions. TW is top rated on my list. The most pleasant and helpful - females. Men are pleasant and helpful, yes, but they get right to business, get it done and say goodbye.

Of course, all these contacts come only after managing to get to a real live person in the land of "press 1/2/3/etc". I appreciate a challenge. Takes me back to the days when I worked in a municipality and navigated the phone lines finding insurance and retirement info for employees. No "press 1/2/3/etc." but lots of "hold on, please, while I transfer your call.

We have a choice. We can moan and groan about getting through to a real person, the right person, or we can have fun with it. I choose to have fun. Then there are those who own cell phones, connections via Twitter, etc... They don't know what they are missing, talking with real life business reps, getting to know them, asking where are you, what's the weather like.

When signing up for cable, TW rep was up for a long chat. I was dreading the thought of so many commercials when she asked if I wanted DVR. Tell me about it, I suggested. She took the time to tell me about her own experiences with her DVR. Turns out we like a lot of the same shows. As soon as she mentioned pausing for commercials and then coming back to fast forward through them, I was sold.

No sun yet today, but the birds are singing this morning here in New York State's Southern Tier. Talked with a credit card rep last night. She said the birds there in Idaho start communicating the moment it starts to get light at 4 A.M.

Getting my writing and my life unstuck

I seem to go through varying degrees of stuck... in this blog and in losing more weight. When it comes to the blog, I don't feel it's overly ambitious wanting to do a post or two each week. For some reason, however, in the past month, getting my fingers to click the right spot for starting a new post, just isn't happening. It's not that there's nothing to write about. There's actually a great deal going on in my life and my mind that I'd like to share, so what is my problem?

The weight, too. I'm at GOAL. That's a wonderful thing, so why can't I continue to maintain for a while and appreciate my accomplishments. I've been lucky in the past six-seven months in that I've not hit a plateau, and I haven't hit one now. Instead, I'm eating things I shouldn't again. Well, more than that, I'm eating too much of anything I choose to eat. I wouldn't be surprised if I've gained some, and there was no weigh-in this week because of the holiday. Hmmm, it should be noted that I've thought I GAINED every week for the past 6-7 months!




What could I have written about? First and foremost, my weight-loss odyssey and all the unexpected odds and ends associated with it. Then there's cooking and grandsons. Grandsons, ah, t-ball... first time since my kids were in t-ball many, many years ago. Growing... a garden, my thoughts, a life. The weather. Facebook and memories it's triggers. Volunteering. My new home. Susan Boyle and Paul Potts. Books--coffeeshop-based mysteries by Cleo Coyle. Sophie Kinsella's hilarious book, Remember Me?

At least I've written this... (Love these - ...........)


To see more of my writing:
Helium
My Writer Zone
NYS's Southern Tier

Watching my garden grow

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The garden is growing. Seeds planted several weeks ago are producing great plants. Five pea plants that I staked out with small tree branches today. About a half dozen nasturtiums. Mesclun... wow, the mesclun is doing great. I plant the rows thick, then thin them each day, using those I pull out in a salad. Love fresh salad with a touch of olive oil and vinegar--rice wine vinegar or balsamic. Sometimes I stir fry some veggies and toss them in the mix.

One of my neighbors gave me four plants. I had to dig them up. Hard going on the hosta, but worth it. Also a large chive plant, johnny jump-ups and something with cute little yellow flowers. Hosta and "something" looked pretty sad for the first couple of days following the transplant, but they're recovering.

Shopped at a garden center yesterday and planted everything this morning. A cherry tomato plant, and yes, I remembered (for once) to bury about half the plant to give it a sturdy base. Purple sage, lemon thyme, and some low-growing annuals with little purple flowers. For the planter - 4 pale yellow petunias and a yellow daisy-like plant. Notice how knowledgeable I am (not) about the names!

Now I get to weed and watch them grow. I wonder how they'll do with the limited sun in that spot. When I first planted, sun hit it 3-5 P.M. Appearing earlier now, but still only for a couple of hours.



After three years of container gardening, it feels so good to have a small plot of land to call my own again. Love squatting down and digging in the soil with my hands. Even love pulling weeds.