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Wordless Wednesday - 12

Labels: WW

posted by Melli at 7:32 AM | 41 comment(s)

Isn't It Ironic?

About a week ... maybe 10 days ago we got Derek this niiiice little car! It's OLD - a 1989 - but it's got power everything and was clean as a whistle! NICE little car! Only 20,000 ORIGINAL miles on it! SWEET!



Friday night on his way home from work a deer jumped out in front of Derek's car. He missed the deer! He hit the tree. (yes... he's okay!) His car isn't. The funny thing about Derek is, he's a really SMART boy. HIGH I.Q! Zero common sense. Derek did not think to call Mom & Dad... nor did he think to call the police. But he did think to call a tow truck! The tow truck he called belonged to the dad of one of his friends - who kindly towed Derek's car down to his gas station!

Today Derek and I went down to the station to pay the towing bill and have the car towed back up to our house. The guy followed us home and deposited the little broken car at the bottom of our driveway as close to "out of the way" as he could get it. Then he got in his truck and tried to drive away. But uh-oh. He stalled out. And now he won't start again. And I have a BIG OL' TOW TRUCK stuck in my driveway!


Oh Boy!

posted by Melli at 5:25 PM | 5 comment(s)

Memorial Day

Remembering and Honoring...

George W. Beatty
Jesse M. Hopkins
Charles A. Lantz
&
my beloved brother,
My hero...
George M. Hopkins

posted by Melli at 10:53 PM | 5 comment(s)

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt -- Red, White & Blue

Grab the Photo Hunt code.
Join the blogroll. Visit participants.


This is one of my favorite sights in all of Southern Maryland! This is the flag in the memorial garden, right as you arrive in Chesapeake Beach. This is only about 15 minutes from my house, so I am fortunate to be able to see it fairly frequently! I just love that flag with the Chesapeake Bay back behind it!

Labels: Photo Hunt

posted by Melli at 9:22 AM | 29 comment(s)

REAL AGE ... the update...

Three months ago I took this test. The REAL AGE test! And here are the results it gave me ... 3 months ago...


At that time it told me that I could be YEARS younger ... in JUST 3 MONTHS... if I would follow their advice! Sooooo... I did follow most of their advice. (not all... frankly sometimes they have stupid advice!) And today I went back and took the test again ... and DARN if I'm not younger! It's AMAZING I tell ya! LOOK! Here's my new results!


I have lost almost 13 years off my REAL AGE!!! Boy, if I keep this up, I might be a baby again by the time I lose all my weight! (wouldn't THAT be just my luck?)

posted by Melli at 7:08 PM | 3 comment(s)

Friday Weigh-In ...

I think I mentioned that I am only posting weights from my doctor's office now - right? The whole home scale issue became TOO MUCH of an "issue"!!! They are far too temperamental and drive Amanda especially crazy - but they drive me nuts too! Soooo... today I stopped in at the doctors and his scale had GREAT news! I have now lost 33 LBS! (of course on HIS scale I'm not down in the 240's yet - which was a pretty big deal a few weeks ago on the home scale -- but I'll get there again on his scale - and then it can be a BIGGER deal!)

I also had my 3rd visit to CURVES today ... and I am still LOVING it! I now use Curves as my "reward" for pedaling! I have to do my hour on the bike before I'm allowed to go to curves! I'm not really sure how good that is though - because yesterday I could NOT talk myself into getting on the bike, but I really wanted to go to Curves - and I didn't because I hadn't pedaled! Now, one would think that it would make sense to go ahead and go to Curves and get SOME exercise - as opposed to none - right? But Amanda thinks that if I start allowing myself to do that, then I'll give up pedaling all together... Hmmm... she may be right! LOL! I don't really think so though. I'm pretty good about gettin' on the bike... but I DO like Curves waaaaaaaay more! Curves is just FUN! It's like going out to play!

posted by Melli at 1:12 PM | 4 comment(s)

Thursday Thirteen -- Honey's Harley

13 Things Melli's HUBBY Loves About His Bike I gave up MY Thursday Thirteen to my hubby this week. This is HIS chance to tell the world the 13 things he likes about his brand NEW Harley Davidson FLHT! (as opposed to his OLD - 1975 - Harley Davidson FLH) Mind you, BOTH bikes still live in the garage where they share side by side parking spaces where NO CAR has ever gone! LOL! So... here's Dennis' list! 1. The Seat. It feels better on my butt. It has a higher backrest than the old one. *melli's note: the seat pictured came stock - he has replaced it.* 2. Gas gauge. It HAS one! I no longer have to peer into the tank to SEE if I can make it to the next gas station! 3. Tachometer. Again - it HAS one. 4. Turn Signals. Can you guess? It HAS them. And they are self-cancelling too! 5. It's a SMOOTH ride! It has a rubber mounted engine as opposed to metal on metal. Less vibration. 6. LOCKable saddlebags. Self explanatory. I like feeling that my stuff is safe. 7. Windshield. The old bike has one too, but the new bike has the ferring and the whole magilla. It also has room on the dash for a radio. Hell, it has a dash. 8. Fire Red Pearl paint. ;) 9. Chrome rims WITH chrome spokes. Old bike had chrome rims... not spokes. 10. Dual front brakes. Now I can stop on a dime! 11. Handle bars. Yes. The old bike had handle bars. The new bike's handle bars have a better feel to them. They fit me more comfortably. 12. The new bike handles smoother. It's easier to ride. 13. The overall look. It's your basic stripped down tour bike -- no gaudy stuff, no "trunks" - doesn't look like a two-wheeled minivan! It's just a bike. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

posted by Melli at 6:42 AM | 25 comment(s)

The Letter Game - " V "

I noticed FrogLegs had the Letter Game on her site, so I asked her for a letter and she zapped me with a "V"! Can you imagine? I didn't think 10 words started with "v" - but I thought of them! I did NOT use a dictionary to go to the "V" section and pick out some words - I only used the on-line dictionary to verify ONE word. And the first one is one of my favorite words! So... here goes! (oh - the point is to take the letter given to you and pick 10 words that start with that letter and tell why you chose them.) Here's mine!

1. VERBOSE - I love this word! I learned it in high school and when the teacher used it in a sentence she said "Melli's energetic spirit, coupled with her love for adjectives and adverbs makes her most verbose." I have never forgotten that! Normally a teenager is embarassed when a teacher points them out like that -- but I was PROUD! It has always described me! And I suspect it always will! (And by the way, English was the ONLY class I really liked in school!)

2. VACCUUM - I chose THIS word because I hate it! I hate to do it when it's a verb, and I hate to use it when it's a noun! And I don't like looking at it either!

3. VIM, VIGOR, & VITALITY ... These are three great words that describe energy! I am exercising my glutous maximus off in search of (hopefully) enormous quantities of vim, vigor and vitality!!! (and I'm only counting them as one word... LOL!)

4. VETERAN - To me this word conjures up GREAT people! For me they are mostly military people... my daughter, my brother, my father, my grandfather, and all the men and women throughout the world who are putting in time or have put in time helping to keep our country a safe place to live, play, pray and prosper! I don't just think of the Norman Schwarzkopfs and the Colin Powells of the world... I think of all the little grunts that never received any recognition for are their hard work too! Every soldier... every sailor... every marine... I salute them all!!! I do recognize that we also have "veteran athletes" and "veteran school teachers" -- and the word can be applied to anyone who's been around and know's the ropes of their trade -- but the military is what comes to my mind! (see? I'm verbose!)

5. VAMOOSE! - I actually had to go to the on-line dictionary and see if this was a real word before I put it here! LOL! I wasn't sure! And I learned something! It IS - and it comes from the spanish word vamos - meaning "to go". And that's why I like it! It's a FUN word to say! VAMOOSE! I say it to my kids and my animals when I want them to get out from under my feet and let me get something done! There are other words to use - git! Skedaddle! - but they don't start with "v" - so VAMOOSE it is!

6. VILE - I like this word because it's a good descriptive word! If you find something to be just completely totally and utterly disgusting there is no better word to describe it than VILE! There was a picture on a blog last week of a baby in a microwave -- I found that picture to be VILE!

7. VASELINE - It's so versatile! It can take off make-up, or soften feet, un-chap lips, protect a baby's bottom, it can be used as a ... "personal lubricant"... or as a mechanical lubricant! But my personal favorite when I was "young" was... it can be invisible to smear on toilet seats so your drunk roommate sits in it when she goes potty! Hahaha!!! (honey works too ... but it's not AS invisible!)

8. VIOLET - I love those purple little flowers! Annnnnnd... She was MUCH nicer than Lucy in the Peanuts comic strip!

9. VINTAGE - Great word, huh? Who wouldn't like it? I collect quite a few antiques ... my husband is one of them... and so I have a fine appreciation for vintage pieces!

10. VILLAIN - I LOVE to read - always have at least 2 books going! One in bed at night, and one on my bike for exercising. Now how good is a book if it doesn't have a GREAT villain? The more you HATE the villain, the better the book is! Am I right? Of course I'm right! After all... this is MY list ... and these are MY opinions! If you want to make YOUR list with YOUR opinions, let me know! I can give out letters too!

My "v" words that didn't quite make the cut? View, value, violin, vegetables, veterinarian, veal, vase ... and vericose veins!

posted by Melli at 1:40 PM | 3 comment(s)

Wordless Wednesday - 11

---->Yes! I took this! On King's Ranch in Texas<----

Labels: WW

posted by Melli at 1:57 AM | 36 comment(s)

Adding A Little Extra...

Sooooo... today I joined CURVES! And I LOVED it! I had my initial weigh-in and measurements taken -- something I have NOT done at home, so I have no idea how many inches I may have already lost... not that it really matters. I guess it will be nice to keep track from here on though! I only joined for one month because I had some concerns about my feet working out in SHOES -- I only exercise barefoot at home -- or in my house slippers! And also because of my bum shoulder. But NONE of the equipment hurt my shoulder, and even I can wear shoes for 30 minutes... so it all went WELL! I'm really really happy about this! I've been wanting to add something more to my workout and this is going to be perfect! There is NO WAY to get bored when you're only on each piece of equipment for 30 seconds at a time! As a matter of fact... if anything, I was wishing I could be on SOME of the equipment for a whole minute! LOL! But not the stepper... me and steppers don't get along at all, so 30 seconds was more than enough on that one!

3 CHEERS FOR CURVES!!!
YAY!
YAY!
YAY!

posted by Melli at 11:55 AM | 5 comment(s)

A Sweet Gift!

This was given to me by my friend Barb in honor of my weekend efforts! I surely dO appreciate HER efforts! Thank you SO much Barb!!! :)

(I had wanted to put it up over on my side bar ... but it doesn't fit. I tried resizing it, but it lost too much doing that.)

posted by Melli at 5:59 PM | 5 comment(s)

MARATHON!!! DAY 2!!! (will she survive?)

DAY 2!!!
(see day 1 below!)
Well... I did not sleep as well as I expected to last night! Here I thought exercise was supposed to MAKE you sleep - but I spent about as much time awake as I do on any normal night. Was a little disappointed about that -- but I'm awake and rejuvinated ENOUGH! My legs, butt, and stomach don't hurt at all. My legs feel slightly fatigued... but not sore. What is amazing is that my neck, shoulders and back ARE stiff and tight! What is UP with that??? I've had a bowl of cereal and am heading toward a cup of java and I am 90 minutes away from the beginning of Round 1/Day 2!!! See ya in a bit!
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And we're off!

Amanda had to grab this opportunity! This is me in my "music mantra" -- when I listen to music while I pedal I actually go off into a little trance and it allows me to go on for a lot longer! Since I finished my book during this session, I had to resort to my music to finish the round! :)


This time Dennis was given the "honor" of awarding me my 2nd purple bead necklace!

So LOOK at THIS! I am off to an even BETTER start than I had yesterday! This is SO surprising to me - because I honestly didn't even want to get ON that bike this morning! I couldn't believe I found myself back in that same old spot again! LOL! Mentally today is going to be MUCH more challenging than yesterday was!
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ROUND 2

Things are definately getting harder much faster today! AND I am absolutely starving! ALL the time! Despite a snack of yogurt and an orange BEFORE this round, by the time I finished I was famished! I felt shakey and in need or nourishment QUICKLY! I scarfed down a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich - protein, sugar and carbs! And a glass of milk! I'm still hungry and heading back to the kitchen again!


I just managed to tie yesterdays Round 2 with 43 minutes. I'm still pleased with this -- I didn't expect to be able to do AS MUCH as I did yesterday today. I know that my body is worn out, even if my determination isn't! Amanda is at the gym right now, so Krysti awarded me a new purple necklace, and took the picture! (can you believe my lazy boys are still SLEEPING? What's up with THAT?) LOL! I'm going to eat! See you at the end of round 3!
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ROUND 3

You have got to be BORED to death of seeing these "round" pictures at this point! I'm bored to death of putting them up! I'm tired at the end of this round and I want to lay down for a few minutes! So I'm going to forgo eating anything -- figuring if I need something I can eat while I pedal in round 4!

I have managed to pick up a few more extra minutes over yesterday this round. Must be due to the SPINACH I had after my PB&J last round! LOL! Amanda is still not home and Krysti has left too -- Mathew doesn't know where Amanda hid the necklaces, so ALAS I must wait to receive more *bling*! LOL! Now.... I have 40 minutes before I pedal again and I'm going to lay down for 30 of them! Seeeeya!
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ROUND 4


I guess first we have to start with the presentation of the necklace from Round 3 -- because Amanda came home while I was (trying) to rest and adorned me with my 4th purple necklace ... and of COURSE had to take a picture! lol! I didn't get much rest anyway... I was having "bathroom issues" that I thought MIGHT keep me from getting a good pedal in round 4 -- but it didn't!

Thus begins Round 4.


And now... only Derek and I are at home, and Amanda forgot to tell HIM where the necklaces are! So now I must wait again! *sigh* :) Amanda accused me of trying to outdo all my scores from yesterday! ugh! How dAre she? Would I do a thing like that? You BET I would! (of course I missed on round two - only tieing!) I succeeded again this time though! Only by 3 minutes -- but a minute is a minute!!!
So there we are! How is YOUR guess coming along???
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ROUND 5

Before beginning round 5 Mathew got to give me my LOVELY Yellow necklace from the preceding round! I have quite a collection going!


And the required HIGH 5 indicating that I have only ONE MORE ROUND AFTER THIS ONE!!! LOL! And that's the important thing!


And ... Barb? Are you paying attention here? I DID surpass yesterdays round 5 -- by ONE MEASELY MINUTE! But as I said last round - a minute is a minute! So there! Do you notice the gorgeous GREEN necklace that has been added to my collection? I'm sO excited! I'm told after the NEXT round I get a very SPECIAL necklace! And to think... I thought all of THESE were special!!! YAY oh YAY! Only ONE MORE ROUND to goooooooooo! ~~happy dancing~~
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ROUND 6 - The FINALLY!

I was sO excited to start this round that I actually started it 3 minutes early!

When it was over things got a little "backwards"! First Amanda awarded me a Tiara! And a mug trophy! And a sparkly wand! And THEN I was made to RUN through a finish line... (cuz it's hard to pedal through on a stationary bike!)... but the finish line said finish toward me and not toward the camera! LOL! See? Backwards!

Here you can see the Mug Trophy!

Then in this one I also got a certificate declaring that I am pretty darn spectacular for having done what I did! ( don't we KNOW it!!! ) YAY! Don't read the certificate yet - cuz that's cheating! Look at the next picture first! (cuz things were backwards!)


TA DA!!! Whhhhhhoooooooooo Hooooooooooo! The end and FINAL results! I pedaled a grand total of 511 minutes!!! Which translates to 8 hours and 31 minutes!!! And let me tell you ... that's a LOT of minutes! Chilady guessed the closest with 8 hours and 34 minutes! So Chi -- YOU and ME are BIG WINNERS!!! Whooooo hoooo!

posted by Melli at 8:27 AM | 20 comment(s)

TODAY is the DAY! MARATHON!!! YAY!!!

PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT IS BELOW THIS POST!

Oh my goodness! I am excited to get started and see how many minutes I can pedal this weekend! But I do believe my daughter, Amanda, might be even MORE excited! Just look at how I found my livingroom when I woke up this morning!


I can tell this is going to get very "picturesque" so I'm making the older pictures small -- you can click on them to see a bigger version! (just trying to keep this post from getting 10 feet long! lol!)


So here begins round 1 -- I'm FULL of energy and raring to go!

And the results? I had planned to just do my normal hour, and conserve some energy for later -- but you can see I couldn't resist to push just a little - and I ended with 72 minutes! Do you not just LOVE my new purple necklace I was awarded for having gone "more than 5 minutes"!? LOL! Amanda is REALLY making this day fun!!!
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Round 2 begins! I am STILL pretty energetic and excited to go again!

Here Amanda presents me with my 2ND necklace of the day! GOLD this time! Whooo hooo! I'm doing good so far!

And the results for Round 2 -- 43 minutes! WHOOOOO! I'm way farther than I thought I'd be now! This is great!!! Are you guys having as much fun as I am? I hope so!
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My legs are starting to feel like rubber, but I'm still pumped up and raring to go!Thank goodness I have a really REALLY good book to read!




I must be doing okay because Krysti awards me my THIRD necklace of the day! At this point my bowl of cereal from this morning has worn off, and I am ready for a LOTTA lunch!






I am slowing down a little -- but I think some nutrients will rev me back up! I'm amazed that my legs don't HURT at all -- my biggest problem is that my feet and my BUTT keep going numb! LOL!
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So Round 4 starts after I have had enough salad to feed 3 people, a piece of bread with jelly and blueberry cereal bar! And water... ever more water! Even with the food, I feel like I'm starting to fade...


BUT... I have this cute little cheerleader jumping up and down and believe me -- she's NOT hurting for energy at this time! LOL!


And she must be doing something right too - because I'm still going a LOT longer than I thought I would at this point! This really is amazing... though I do notice a very distinct pattern here!


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As Round 5 begins I am fading fast, but have a determination to carry on! I also have a mission for this round...

... my mission BEING to stop the downward trend! And I accomplished that goal - even if just barely! A two minute rise in Round 5 over Round 4!!! YAY! As you can see, I am also now wearing FIVE necklaces! 1 purple bead, 2 gold beads, an orange lei and a hot pink lei! Whooo! I am lookin' HOT! (goes along with feeling sweaty!) LOL! 38 minutes until my 6th and final round for today! I have already exceeded my expectations, so whatever I do next round is icing on the cake!

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LOL! Do NOT let this smile fool you! She MADE me smile big! At this stage in the game, I am truly dying and wondering what the HECK I was thinking! All I wanted was to start pedaling and get in a respectable number of minutes! The next thing I wanted was a BIG OL' plate of dinner! ;)


As you can see, I felt that 20 minutes surely HAD to be respectable at this point! Earlier in the day 20 minutes would have NEVER satisfied me -- but by round six my butt hurt - and even my stomach muscles hurt! However, my legs still do NOT hurt! Go figure! Soooooo... this ends day 1 of my marathon -- I feel that 4 hours and 7 minutes is a pretty darn good showing! (I had honestly thought that would be about it for BOTH days! ... but it still may be... let's wait and see how sore I am in the morning! Ohhhhhhhh deeeeeeear....)

posted by Melli at 8:40 AM | 19 comment(s)