Doctor said "Fantastic"

I have been trying to exercise and have a better diet in order to get my cholesterol level down and yesterday the Doctor called to say my blood test results were FANTASTIC!!!  My total cholesterol went from 314 down to 259 dropping 55 points!!  My LDL went from 182 to 144, my triglycerides went from 266 to 184 and my HDL level stayed the same.  It has been hard work trying to fit in 30 minutes of exercise each day and my average was about 5 days per week.  I have been working on it for 3 months.  I didn't do as well on my eating habits as I would have liked and my weight seems to be down one day and up the next.  So I was really surprised that what I had done dropped the level as much as it did because what I could see happening was on the discouraging side.  But these results give me incentive to keep pushing and moving forward and maybe eventually the weight will come down as well.  My doctor says I don't have to go on statin pills and to get my blood retested in 6 months.  I am so excited about the great news!

Yard walk

I have been trying to get in 30 minutes of walking everyday.  My average is 5-6.  I have a meandering path around our place which takes me 10 minutes to get through one round - so I try to walk it three times.  It could be rather boring BUT I am trying to learn to be more observant.  Spring is a fun time of year to look for new things each day on the path.  Today I noticed some desert flowers starting to get buds, and the baby apple tree is starting to get some leaves.  So are the lilac twigs and the rhubarb seemed to grow twice its size overnight!  The quail skitter from bush to bush and start shouting "Dogs are out! Dogs are out!"  We can also hear the doves cooing and the frogs croaking.  It is amazing how many 'voices' frogs have - high, low, gravelly.  We also have a woodpecker that visits the bird feeder.  And two deer visit quite often - even coming up to the front porch.  So I have seen their tracks in many places.  Unfortunately, I also see lots of mounds made by a mole and ant hills (some small but one is really large and covered with juniper "leaves".  There are juniper berries all over the ground because the robins have been eating them and dropping them everywhere.  The rabbitbrush, bitterbrush and sagebrush are all getting their leaves.  One of them looks feathery.  So everyday the walk is a little bit different.  Bogey and Birdie find lots of areas to sniff too!

A visit with Grandpa

Terry had a run that took him to Dodge Center, MN which was close enough for the Minnesota kids to take a Sunday drive to see him.  Ryan and Julie, Lance, Liam and Shella May met him for lunch and afterwards they went to get ice cream.  You really can't visit Grandpa without getting some ice cream right?  I remember the first time we met Shella May, Grandpa got her the first ice cream cone as a member of our family.  (They have grown quite a bit since the ice-cream picture was taken!!)  Terry called me so I got talk to everyone and share in the fun.

For supper time, Eric and Michelle, and the 6 kiddo's arrived.  Terry remembered to take pictures.

  Becca

 Christy showing the gloves she designed and crocheted.

Dan with Daddy Eric

                                  Silly Sam

The twins sleeping and Michelle watching.

A sign of Spring

One of the signs of Spring for me is my grandsons playing baseball.  I spent all day Saturday watching TJ play baseball.  It was sunny which was very nice but the breeze would blow down the valley in Warm Springs and really put a chill in the air.  One minute you are basking in the sun and the next your are pulling your coat around you tighter!!  But it didn't matter as I enjoyed the outing very much.  TJ was the catcher for several innings of each game of the double-header.  He also hit a double and if the runner ahead of him had run faster, TJ may have gotten on third base as he had to slow up heading to second waiting for the other runner to get past second and head to third.  Here are two pictures and a very quick video of MY most valuable player!!!

TJ catching.

 TJ  batting

Easter 2012

Happy Easter everyone!  HE IS RISEN!  Early this morning I let the dogs outside and heard quail and doves and chick-a-dees all singing praises to our Lord.  This is the first time I have heard them in the mornings.  Usually I hear them in the evening.  Singing for the day continued at the church worship service.  I was the alto in a trio and we sang 2 extra songs during the service - "Majesty", and "He is crowned with  many crowns".  It was so fun to sing praises in harmony.  Our weather was fairly good for a Central Oregon Easter - sunny with a slight chill.  Much nicer than usual.  After church, the Paster and his wife treated several people to an Easter dinner which was scrumptious and we had a great time of fellowship.  The day was topped of by having a new dress to wear!!

Fitness update

Update on my Fitness adventure - I have walked at least 30 minutes everyday since January 25th (only missing 6 days so far).  I lost 10 pounds, then Terry came home for a week and I gained 5 pounds back :(  We both feel like we are on vacation when he is home and when we are on vacation our favorite things to do is to go out to eat with our friends.  We also try to pack 2 weeks worth of "stuff" into just 4 days which doesn't leave much time for walking either.  So, after he left I lost 4 of the 5 pounds AGAIN, then went on a business trip.  That meant more eating out but managed to get in my walk each day.  I THOUGHT I was eating carefully but came back home with those same 5 pounds back!!  Terry reminded me that  I should measure inches lost instead of pounds and thankfully I have lost some inches!!  I am going to keep trying to keep trying :)  It was windy and cold today, threatening snow and took me a 1/2 hour to talk myself into taking the dogs for the walk.  But we did it and I am glad that I did not give in to the temptation of just sitting on the couch.  Will be going on another business trip very soon, so hope I can make progress this time instead of sliding backwards.

Snowy Road

On Sunday, I had to take Terry back to Portland, OR so he could go back to work.  It was snowy on the mountain pass on Hwy 26 through Government Camp.  Even though it was slow going (40 mph) on packed snow, it was still beautiful.  I came back home through The Dalles so I could be on bare pavement - but the snow blew in on Tuesday night so have had snowy roads in Central Oregon the last few days.