guess who's coming to asheville?!

yep. mom and dad (anita and jerry) are coming tomorrow. they should roll in sometime on friday afternoon. and if you think anyone will be excited, you should ask the dogs. cotton will be ecstatic! and barley will be because cotton is. but it will be a happy reunion for all. and then on saturday dad and step-mom (larry and mitos... need to find out how to really spell her name!) will be coming down. and when they come, so will jay's new truck. yes. his first new car ever. it is a silver 2007 fj cruiser. he's been drooling for one since they were created. he said farewell to the blue 80 series land cruiser yesterday. but it is still here in town. so he can "visit" it if he wants to. :)



and, of course, one the new car arrives, we will have pictures to share of it. and all the fun we have this weekend with our visitors. have a good weekend. i know we will.

w.w. update: week 4

well, not sure about jay this week. he's at work. he will weigh in tomorrow. but he is losing. i think about 1-2 pounds for this week. i lost about 2-3 pounds this week. so last week i got chided for gaining a pound. this week i got in trouble for losing too much. you just can't please these people. i didn't do anything different. so basically this week, i have permission to splurge! so maybe i will. ok. time to feed the dogs. have a great week!

enjoying nature

last week we did a little driving on the blue ridge parkway and did a little hiking, too. it was a beautiful day and we got some lovely pictures and enjoyed the scenery and the cooler temperatures. at 3pm it was only around 71 degrees up in the craggy gardens area. we took the craggy gardens trail on a short hike to a rhododendron bald. (too bad they aren't blooming anymore.)







so after that we drove up the road a little bit and stopped at the greybeard mountain overlook. and we took a little walk in the woods along the mountains to sea trail. (see pictures!) and we found some really old and interesting trees. and one butterfly was kind enough to pose for a picture.













if it is this pretty here now, i can't wait until fall. cooler temperatures and beautiful leaves.

w.w. update: week 3

so i didn't think it was true when someone said that week three was the hardest. well. i should have listened. it was really hard. and my work schedule didn't permit for me to easily exercise or really crave a delicious frozen meal in a box every day. so i didn't do so well. jay didn't either. we both gained a little. but not too bad. so that is where we are at this week. we still weigh less than we we started so life is still good and we are still plugging along.

courtney keeps growing!

well, it has been awhile since i put any pictures of my cute little niece on here. samantha just sent some of her trying to sit up all by herself. they grow up so fast. and she just gets cuter every day!

daveheart, the (new) lion king

so dave has finally gotten shaved again! long live fewer hairballs and flying fur. not to mention he feels better, too. but i thought i would share with you his new look. he is sporting the lion cut. and he is acting like a king, too.





so now you can laugh along with us for a few days because it always takes a little to adjust to his new look. too bad it doesn't last that long. perhaps he can inspire you to get a new haircut!

w.w. update: week 2

well, i can't speak for jay because he is still at work and won't weigh in until tomorrow. but i have now lost an additional 3.4 pounds, bringing the two week total up to 5 pounds. apparently, i have lost the weight of a sack of potatoes! haha and it won't be much longer when this healthy eating and exercise should become more of a habit... isn't if you do something consistently for at least a month that it can become a habit? i can't remember but that sounds familiar. let me know what you've heard. and i will update you on jay's progress soon. happy mon(fun)day!

two things

barley made it through her surgery just fine. she is still enjoying her anesthesia. we are too. :) cotton can't seem to figure out why she can't play but is being careful and cautious. which is really sweet of her. she'll be down and out for a few days and then can slowly return to her normal activity. funny story. the vet office called shortly after she was sedated and said they saw a growth on the roof of her mouth and if the vet thinks it is bad can he remove it? yada yada yada blah blah blah so, of course, yes, he can. well, come to find out, it was just a biggo blob of food. like she was saving it, knowing she wouldn't be able to eat for awhile. that's our barley. she is holding down water and a light supper just fine. pets are so resilient.





other thing i have noticed... the color pink is totally infiltrating my wardrobe. i think it is somehow an unconscious thing but my blues are fading out and the pinks are in.

w.w. update: week 1

ok. so yesterday was the big week 1 weigh in. (in the comfort of my bathroom.) i lost 1.6 pounds and jay lost 2 pounds. so we are slowly on our way. :)

big barley

well, barley is 6 1/2 months old and weighed in today at 60.8 lbs. she is one big baby. she is only 10 lbs away from cotton. but will probably lose a little this week. she has her big surgery tomorrow. poor little barley.

why can't mondays be fundays?

let's change the name. it wouldn't seem so bad if monday was called "funday." maybe then it wouldn't have such a derogatory connotation. like, "oh it's muunnday." it may as well be called mundane the way we act about mondays. but if it was called funday then it would imply that it would have to at least be a halfway good day. like today, i am cleaning. not my favorite activity. but if today was called funday then cleaning wouldn't seem so bad. following? "i'm all jacked up on mountain dew" right now so my brain is firing off random thoughts like no other. and i have no one to share them with besides the dogs, and dave, so i figured i'd jot one down. speaking of the dogs, and dave, here are some recent pictures. in a couple of hours, barley and i will be at the vet for her pre-surgery consult/first visit appointment. it is time for her be to surgically altered, if you will. spayed. so soon we will know how big she is. about a month ago she weighed in at 55 pounds. cotton is 71 and done growing so we shall see where barley ends up. and tell me, please, how do cats know when you don't want them to lay on your freshly washed sheets? and then why do they lay there?


barley: "maybe if i put my head next to cotton's, i can be smart like she is."




cotton: "maybe if i hold her head with my feet, she will quit trying to steal my intelligence."



both: "mom, can we please have the knitting needle you are teasing us with?"



dave: "just thought you needed some fur on your clean sheets."

weight watchin'

ok. so after filling up on food and me filling out surveys that ask what i dislike about my body... i signed up for weight watchers (online) last monday. so did jay. we both need to lose weight but need some sort of guidance. we don't need to lose much so we signed on up. we are using the points system and the website makes it really easy. it also has tons of great recipes and meal ideas. what is really helpful is that you are accountable for everything you place in your mouth so it makes you realize what kinds of things you are putting into your body on an every day basis. but for the first week, it has been easier than we thought. so we will see if it continues to be as easy. but it is fairly inexpensive and worth a shot. we have our first (at home) weigh in on monday. so we will be tracking that weekly. i will keep you posted on our progress. this picture was taken in may a couple of weeks before we moved. so it can serve as our "before" picture. i can't wait to send you the after pictures!!!!