Hee hee….I guess most of my blogmates are busy celebrating father’s day with DH & the brood. Well, here’s wishing everybody a teriffic day. Me? Well, I guess this is one of the casualties of matrimonius interruptus, so to speak. AND remarrying someone with no offspring. Oh, my kiddos will stop by later on, undoubtedly, with cards and little gifts for DH - as their much loved step-dad - and DS will call from the west coast later (much later; he worked last night) in the day, but the girls will be taking their bio-dad (kind of reminds me of bio-hazard) out to dinner after church. Along with my son-in-law’s dad, who is a real, honest-to-goodness gem of a man, and if it weren’t for the ex going along, DH & I would most certainly accompany them. But, things are what they are, and so there will be no (or at any rate, very little) “hopping on pop” here today. And none of you need start thinking in any lewd and lascivious directions, either, because I am most certainly not hopping anywhere, and you can take that to the bank. yes indeed. LOL!

Okay, now for the good news! Oh, it’s not all that momentous, but I did finally force myself onto the scale yesterday morning, and have lost another 2.5 pounds. I am indeed pleased, because I haven’t felt like I was “dieting” for months, now, and yet there does seem to be a definite downward progress. Not fast, by any means, but definitely moving downwards, and I am quite happy, for the first time in years and years, with how and what I eat - and the results. For so long, it’s been a matter of eat what I want and steadily GAIN weight, or be miserable eating according to some diet plan and be half-way happy with how I look. Finally - FINALLY - I am eating well, I am happy with what I’m eating, AND I’m steadily losing as opposed to gaining weight. I’m actually beginning to think that maybe by the end of this month I’ll haul out the bathing suit that I invested in last year and try that sucker on (in the privacy of my bedroom; let’s not get too carried away, here…). But wouldn’t it be lovely if during July and August, I could take myself to the beach and actually have my bathing suit on and ENJOY myself instead of wearing a pair of jean shorts over the stupid suit?

In the meantime - more of the same in terms of eating well and exercising (walking) as much as possible. I really admire those of you (Ms. Close - omigawd!) who work out regularly at fitness centers because just the thought of it makes me need a nap. But DH & I have been getting out and trying to stay as active as possible - yesterday was a nice day here in the unpredictable northeast, and we went and did the grocery shopping and then after bringing the stuff home and putting it away, we had a modest lunch and went down to Lake Quinsigamond where we soaked up some vitamin D (VERY good for you, according the Jon Gabriel, eh, feathers?) and walked for 45 minutes in the process. Lovely walk; we really enjoyed it, and plan to go there again soon (except it’s raining today, dangit!). The dirt walking path meanders along the lake, through fields, and into and out of the woods surrounding the lake. Just lovely, really, and yesterday was a little overcast, but sunny-ish and not too hot. Here’s part of the lake (It’s close to five miles long)

and heres part of the walking path:

DH, of course, was born and raised in Texas, while I am a New Englander born and bred, and don’t ask me why my font got smaller after I inserted that last picture because I am also technologically challenged and haven’t a CLUE why it happened or how to fix it. So, if anyone is reading this, now would be the time to go get your glasses or pop in those contacts. Anyway, I raised my kids in Worcester, and many of these places that DH and I are now “rediscovering”, so to speak, are places where my kids and I spent time - Lake Quinsigamond, for example, better known to us locals as Lake “Quinsig” was where their high school rowing teams met, and they played tennis on the public courts at Lake Park, and even put in some beach time there, too. Of course, once the kiddos were grown and off pursuing their own lives, I didn’t have much reason to revisit these places until now, and I’m just now remembering why I did raise my kids here - all the wonderful resources: parks, lakes, recreation, hiking, sports stuff, etc. within city limits - and Worcester is second to Boston, the second largest city in Massachusetts, but so much of it still retains its rural character (the house where my kids grew up was about a ten minute drive from downtown Worcester, but we were on a dead-end street with huge expanses of lawn and shrubs between us and our neighbors, and our backyard bordered on a big forested area.) So, anyway, here I am, with DH, exploring the old haunts and getting in better shape besides. Not a bad way to spend your declining years, eh? Nice, too, with gas prices as high as they are, to be able to find things to do within a two-or three mile radius of home. Speaking of which, it’s now costing me $80 a week at the pumps to drive back & forth to work. SO not optimum! I’m considering making a request at work to telecommute a couple of days a week at least.

Well, it’s getting along after noontime, here, and I’m still in my nightie, I’m afraid. Wet and rainy outside, so we won’t do any walking today. The kids are supposed to be coming by @ 5:00 so I should try to make this place a little tidier.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful day and that you have lovely upcoming weeks, as well!

Hugs,

Z