My Funny Valentines

Happy Valentines Day, my dear friends!
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As a single mom (and likely to stay that way, apparently), I was tempted to adopt a "Bah, humbug!" attitude about Valentines Day.

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I guess the secret romantic deep within me is just too strong.

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Besides, my life is filled with the love of a wonderful family and great friends. How do you ignore that?

So I bought little heart-shaped boxes of chocolates for the great loves of my life, my sweet children.

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Then, of course, I had to buy a box of sugar-free chocolates for myself. You know, just so I wouldn't be tempted to sneak sweets from my sweets!

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Besides, who would bring candy to an old lady like me?

Surprise! My darling Sarah stole away this morning and came home with a dozen red roses and a box of sugar-free candies for me. I was so incredibly touched by her thoughtfulness.

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I hadn't even dropped any hints, so it all came straight from her beautiful heart.

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We immediately put the roses in water, then we broke open the chocolates and shared them.

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Jacob has been gone all day on his own Valentine's Day quest. The SADD Club is in charge of the school's Valentines Dance tonight, a girls-ask-guys affair, so he left at 11am to decorate.

Jacob's friend Chelsea asked him to the dance, so after decorating he and his friend Bryce (they're double-dating) planned to meet up with Chelsea and Bryce's date Monique. Chelsea wanted to do Jacob's hair. I admit it makes me a little nervous.

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I okayed dye (gulp) but no tattoos!

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Here are Jacob and Bryce with the chocolates and roses they got their dates.

Tonight I am chaperoning the Valentines Dance. I will be there armed with my camera and poised to slightly embarrass my son (he's been forewarned).

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Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on the big dance!

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May your every day be filled with love!

The Black Range

The temperature was 13 degrees when we left for school this morning. It is now a toasty 42 degrees outside, with a moderate wind that feels like it is blowing straight off the ice. I think I'll write about something nice and warm... like my new range!

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Last fall my ancient oven's door quit opening all the way. The door only opened about a foot, causing risk to life and limb when trying to insert a cake or casserole.

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Luckily I have appliance insurance, a great blessing when you own a 33-year-old home with the original appliances still intact. They sent out a guy and then desperately searched for replacement parts so they wouldn't have to purchase a new range for me, as specified in my contract.

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Am I bad for praying they wouldn't find the part? I confess I've been hoping for several years that my old range would die!

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Happily for me, they don't keep old hinges around for 33 years. I was offered a new range, with an option to upgrade and pay the difference.

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Let's see, the old range was not self-cleaning. It had 3 small burners and only one large burner, a real pain when cooking a meal requiring 2 big pans, like spaghetti. Did I want to upgrade? You betcha!!
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For just $136, I now have a lovely, self-cleaning black range (I heard black is easier to keep clean) with two large burners and a wonderful, smooth ceramic top. After using the stove for 2 weeks now, I can testify it is SO much easier to wash up!

I had to take a picture of the inside before we used it. Self-cleaning or not, you know it'll never look this good again!

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Jacob got to cook on the new stove first. That's him frying eggs for breakfast before school the morning after we installed it.
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This range is taller than the old one, so we need to raise the spatula-holder hanging above it.

I was first to use the oven when I baked these yummy stuffed bell peppers a few days later. Here they are, ready to go in.

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I must say, the range works great. The flat burners heat up fast and cool down fast. The oven interior is huge compared to the old one and heats so evenly. I'm sure it also uses much less energy.

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Thanks so much to Robert, Susan, and Tony Bob for helping us install the new and haul out the old!

For Dylan, of course, the range was pretty unexciting. The box, now, that's something else entirely! The next day it was transformed into a fort, which Dylan generously shared with Diego. In fact, Diego spent part of the night sleeping in it.

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The old range literally fell apart when it was pulled out. One metal side fell off, the top was hanging by the wires, and the bottom bent and broke loose.

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Those of you in my age range may recall those funky colors from the 1970s: avocado, tangerine, harvest gold. Well, I'm thrilled to have one less bit of harvest gold in my kitchen!

Sixty Seconds of Snow

Perhaps you can tell I love snow. Although I played in the snow a few times as a child, I never truly saw falling snow until we moved here to the White Mountains. Ever since then, those fat flakes softly, silently falling have felt like magic to me. I took this video on Sunday morning when the current weather pattern moved into our area. It's been snowing off and on since then, and last night we got about 10 inches more so school was cancelled today.

This is the only snow that Fresno ever received during the 12 years I spent growing up there. It was so exciting to see all that white stuff on the ground early in the morning.

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However, by the time I left for school the snow had stopped, and by the time I returned home that afternoon it had all melted. So much for my big plans for building an igloo after school!

I remember how I fantasized in my 2nd grade class all day about playing in my igloo!

I also recall that LeRoy was thrilled about the snow until he actually stuck his hands in it. He wasn't too jazzed about his wet, freezing hands after that!

This was in February 1962. I was 7 years old and LeRoy was about a month from his 3rd birthday.

This is me this morning heading into the backyard. I'm a lot bigger now and the snow is a lot deeper!

Diego also adores the snow. Here is Sarah kicking up the snow, which he loves to leap up and catch in his mouth. By the time they're done playing, he looks like the Abominable Snowdog!

This is the southwest corner of our backyard. To me it looks so peaceful and inviting under its sparkling white blanket.

Our next-door neighbor just dropped by to plow our driveway, using his ATV equipped with a snow plow shovel. What a nice surprise! We went out to let him know how much his kindness was appreciated!

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On another note, we have 2 new blogs to announce! Dylan has been begging to start a blog for about a month, so we set it up today. His blog, Dylan's Daring Discoveries, can be found at:

http://daringdiscoveries.blogspot.com/

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Sarah then followed suit and started her new blog, Sarah's Sweet Surprises, found at:

http://sarahssweetsurprises.blogspot.com/

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Their blogs can also be accessed via the left panel with all my other favorite bloggers' sites. Check them out!

The Temptations

Week 5 of my New Years resolution to lose weight and get healthy was less frustrating than week 4. Although there were several highly stressful events during the week, I managed to lose 2.2 lbs. more, for a total of 15.3 lbs. in 5 weeks.

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There were temptations, but I stood up to them!
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Student Council brought the Love Cart to my classroom on Friday, laden with gooey, crunchy, chocolatey, salty, and sugary stuff. I took a bottled water and reminded the kids how nice it would be if they stocked things like diet soda and nuts.

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One boy snapped his fingers: "Wait a minute..." He rummaged around among the boxes of junk food and--voila! He handed me a whole can of mixed nuts! I'm set for afternoon snacks these next couple of weeks!

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Aren't high school students great?
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That same day, Jacob made himself a deep-dish pizza in culinary arts class. He put it behind my desk so my students wouldn't eat it.

Oooh, the delicious scents wafting from the pizza to my nose! I was salivating all morning.

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When Jacob offered me a slice for lunch, I accepted. Did I cheat? No way! I only ate the topping of mozzarella, gouda, chicken, cilantro, and lots of red onion (my favorite). The thick white-flour crust remained untouched. Okay, Jacob ate it--but I didn't!

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For now, I'm feeling more confident that I will get the pounds off, even if it takes longer this time. What's the rush? This is not a "diet," but a lifestyle change for many years of better health. That is worth waiting for!

At Gunpoint

I never dreamed we'd start our weekend with news that my 11-year-old son was threatened at gunpoint in our own rural neighborhood.

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It began innocently. Last night my sons had friends over to spend the night. Jacob and Bryce are 17, Dylan is 11, and Tony is 13. At 8:30 the younger boys decided to see if a friend wanted to hang out. Since it was dark, the older boys walked with them.

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The friend and her father, a firefighter, live around the corner from us. Both my boys have visited them for years, playing games, watching movies, having bonfires, grilling, jumping on the trampoline, often staying late.

Jacob and Bryce waited in the road, talking, while Dylan and Tony went to the friend's gate. Seeing someone near the house some distance from the gate, Dylan called to the girl by name: "Can you come out?"

Jacob and Dylan told Tony not to open the gate, but he stepped inside. The girl's dad headed down the drive toward them. His body language warned Tony to turn and run.

Dylan stood outside the gate, unsure why Tony fled. He planned to ask if the daughter could play, but the dad reached the gate, raised the gun and pointed it at Dylan's head, saying, "You f---ing better run, too!"

By now Bryce was gone, but Jacob witnessed it all before Dylan ran. Dylan was terrified. It was in his eyes when he showed how the man held the gun pointed at his face.

I grilled the younger and older boys separately to figure out what happened. Their narratives matched exactly, so I called the Sheriff''s Department.

Life in a small town: firefighters and law enforcement officers all know each other. Two deputies came and asked the same questions I'd asked, wanted to know if we were willing to press charges for aggravated assault, and assured me the firefighting father would not receive preferential treatment just because they knew him.

I didn't want to press charges unless necessary. I only wanted the dad to know I was taking this threat seriously and to be warned to use better judgment in the future. I respect what our firefighters do, but I am appalled that a man with his training, entrusted with public safety, would aim a gun at an 11-year-old child's head and threaten him.

After talking to him, the deputies returned and said he "openly admitted" to pointing a gun at my son's head. He said the safety was on. He claimed he heard male voices talking about his daughter and felt threatened, but didn't take action until "they came through the gate." He said he didn't recognize them in the dark. The deputies reminded us that citizens have the right to protect their homes when threatened, with deadly force if necessary.

I wholeheartedly embrace the right to protect our families, but I take issue with several things. First, this man did not ask the boys to identify themselves. Second, he did not ask them to leave or even speak to them. Third, he did not warn them he had a gun before aiming it. Fourth, Dylan was outside the gate the entire time. Fifth, Dylan never made a move or sound that could be construed as even slightly threatening. Sixth, there are lights at the gate; even if this guy somehow missed hearing Dylan's young voice calling to his daughter by name, even if he didn't recognize Dylan's face for some unexplained reason, he was close enough to see that Dylan was only a child. (You can see the lights in the picture above; Jacob says Dylan was standing a few feet back from the gate so the light was shining right on his face.)

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Once I pointed these things out, the deputies admitted that the lighting was good enough to clearly see this was a young boy and not a threat. They said they impressed upon the dad that pointing a gun at an 11-year-old child is "a stupid thing to do" and he'd better improve his judgment before using a gun again.

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I do find it troubling that this man, who traumatized a young boy with a gun, hasn't seen fit to apologize to Dylan for his mistake. It kind of shakes my confidence in the basic goodness of those who choose to serve the public.

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To those of you who have or know children who spend time in my neighborhood, I strongly recommend you warn your children to stay away from the house with the big gate seen in the final photo of this post. The next child at the gate may not be so lucky.

It Makes Me Cry

My bathroom scale was not my friend this week. It just didn't want to budge. I put in a new lithium battery in case it was stuck, but it barely moved.

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I've been good all week. I never cheated once. Oh, I thought how yummy M&Ms or a Hershey bar might be, but never seriously considered going for it.

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When I stepped on the scale this morning, yes, I shed a few tears.

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So I'm trying not to be too discouraged and instead focus on how much better I feel.

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This is the point where I always give up and regain the weight, but not this time. I knew the poundage would come off more slowly now than it did when I was in my 40s, so I must be patient.

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Even if I only average a 1-pound loss per week, I'd still be almost 40 lbs. lighter by the time we go on vacation in July. I can live with that.

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I lost less than half a pound this week, which puts me at a 13-lb. loss. Not too bad for 4 weeks.

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Patience and perseverence . . .

Feeling Flat?

Did you ever have a day that turned out to be everything you didn't want it to be? Feeling a cold coming on, I planned to spend Saturday resting. Perhaps organizing my computer files, but nothing more strenuous than that.

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After school yesterday we discovered my rear passenger tire going flat. Okay, slight change in plans. In the morning we'd air it up and go to Big O Tires for a patch. I'd have the rest of the day to relax.

Airing up a tire. Simple, except every air compressor we tried to borrow was broken or unavailable.

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Our generous friend and neighbor A'Lece offered to drive Jacob and the tire to Big O, and helpful Garry from next-door came over to help Jacob take off the tire.

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The verdict at Big O: beyond repair. I gasped when I read their estimate for a new tire.

Next plan: put on the spare doughnut and drive over to WalMart for a new tire. Jacob installed the spare, lowered the car, and you see the result in the top picture: flat as a pancake!

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So I call AAA and about 45 minutes later our doughnut is aired up and seems to be holding. The AAA guy offers to follow us to WalMart, just in case.

By now it's after 3pm. Luckily we are among the last customers accepted for the day. They say it'll be done in a few hours. What?!

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Jacob and I wander around for 2.5 hours. I could easily fill the time if the shopping weren't already done! We browse the books, jewelry, videos, clothes, car supplies... Plenty of time for mother and son bonding!

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It was nearly 6pm when we got home with our shiny new tire. My body is unrested and my files are unorganized. Yet, looking back, I am warmed by the thought of good friends, neighbors, and business people who took care of us in our need. And, by my way of thinking, a few hours spent with one of my children is always time well-spent.

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No, today didn't go at all as I'd planned, but it was a good day nonetheless.

Middle School Musical

This morning I attended a musical performance by Dylan's 5th grade class. It was called "We Haz Jazz." Every year I look forward to watching Dylan and his classmates singing and dancing their way into our hearts. They are always so adorable!

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Dylan was a little disappointed that he didn't get a speaking part this year, but as you can see in the video below, he still managed to steal the show!

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Keep your eye on Dylan: he's in the purple and gold football jersey on the very top left of the screen. It happens suddenly, so don't blink!

I didn't know Dylan could move so fast! He could hardly stop laughing after that to sing and remember his dance moves. I've never seen his face turn so red with embarrassment, but he kept his sense of humor. When I asked if he minded my posting this video on my blog, he answered, "That's okay, Mom, I like to make people laugh!"

When the performance ended and the students were allowed to visit with their parents for a few minutes, half his class wanted to watch the action on my camera since they missed it the first time. They got a big kick out of Dylan's disappearing act!

It wasn't exactly High School Musical, but it was certainly a performance I'll never forget! No mom could be prouder!

First Challenge

This week was challenging with little reward, but I still feel I was successful in my efforts to get healthy.

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Over the 3-day weekend I lost 1.8 lbs, but over Tuesday and Wednesday I gained 2 back! I hoped it was just temporary PMS bloat (I can't believe I still have to deal with that at age 54!), but I was most distraught!

On Monday I had faced down my first big challenge.

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Sarah, Dylan and I went to see Bedtime Stories, but I was prepared: I took along a delicious Ross Dark Chocolate bar (sugar-free) so I could resist the theater popcorn. Oddly enough, I'm not that fond of popcorn, yet it somehow smells so much more delicious in a theater!

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I topped it off with a diet soda and made it through the movie without weakening.

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When we got home, I ate some roast beef au jus before we headed over to Callie's big birthday bash.

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It's a good thing I did, because that helped me withstand the temptation of corn dogs, tater tots, pink jello, Capri Sun, ice cream, and especially that gorgeous birthday cake. Did I mention that the cake had a particularly yummy-looking lemon cream filling? Ahhh, so very tempting! But I stood strong!

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By Thursday morning, though, I was thinking defeatist thoughts: "Just give up, you'll never lose all that weight." That small weight gain had really hit me hard.

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Then the Love Cart came along...

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Once a month Student Council rolls a cart around campus, stopping by each classroom to treat high school staff to 2 choices from the cart: sodas, chips, candies, Ding Dongs, you name it. It's their way to show appreciation.
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I wavered. I wavered hard. Then I said no thanks and suggested they stock some healthier items like nuts.

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How did I do it? Was I picturing my new slender figure? Was I imagining fashionable new clothes? Was I thinking of my health? Goodness, no!

Only one thing could get me through this crisis: my commitment to document both my successes and my failures in this blog! I couldn't bear the thought of confessing that I'd given up.

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So I stuck with it, and now 1.8 of the 2 lb gain is gone again. It turned out that it was just PMS bloat after all.

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Now I know this little experiment is working, so I'm going to keep at it. Thanks for sticking with me for the long haul!

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Added to the weight loss from weeks 1-2, I'm now 12.7 lbs lighter. Not as much as I'd hoped, but nothing to sniff at!

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That's Mary: 1, Junk Food: 0!

Bonfire

The other night Jacob, Dylan, and friend Eric heated up the chilly backyard with a small bonfire featuring our dry, bare Christmas tree. They used to enjoy post-Christmas tree burning with their dad, so they continued the tradition.

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You can't tell in the camera's flash, but the red-orange flames and sparking embers were quite a sight in the pitch-black of a moonless night.

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I tried to get a shot without the flash, but it didn't come out too great. I wish you could see how the embers were swirling upward like a flaming whirlwind!

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We didn't have to worry about the flames escaping the firepit, since there was still plenty of snow on the damp ground!

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This weekend, Jacob and his friend Bryce rolled up their sleeves and tackled a truly dirty job: cleaning out the shed.

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The shed was always Mark's domain. He went there to smoke, among other things, when the weather was cold. I haven't set foot inside it in years (other than to the freezer just inside the door). Mark left it in a mess when he moved out 2 years ago, and my sons and their friends have only made it worse since then.

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I put off cleaning it out because, frankly, I was afraid of what we might find inside.

Last night Jacob and Bryce pulled almost everything out of the shed. This is what the pile looked like this morning.

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They spent most of today sorting through everything to see what was worth saving and what was beyond redemption. The good stuff was re-stacked neatly in the shed while the large trash went into another pile to be hauled away by a friend on Monday.

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The boys found a few questionable items, like a broken crack pipe and pages from naughty magazines, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.

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Unfortunately, most of our stuff was trashed. Old camping supplies, chairs, ice chests, a stereo system, all gone. On the plus side, there is now plenty of shelf and wall space, as you can see here! Now I can actually use the shed again without fear.

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When it comes to hard work, Jacob and Bryce make a great team. Good job, guys!