Meet The Parents

Kerry's new boyfriend came in from Ft Myers the other day. She had come to me and asked if it was OK if he came for a couple of days so that we could meet him. I was totally up for that as she seems head over heels over this new guy.

Kerry started talking about this grad student named Zac around her birthday. She said "Mom, I met this amazing guy named Zac and we have SO much in common". I, of course, wanted to know what all this "in common" was. Well, it turns out that his mom is Jewish, his dad is Irish, he is a vegetarian, is an animal activist and an environmentalist. To top the whole thing off he loves dogs and even has one up at UF. I said "it sounds like you are looking in the freaking mirror". She got a dreamy look on her face and said "yeah".

Kerry had sent me some pictures of them together partying up in Gainesville so I had somewhat of an idea of how he looked. When he walked in the door I was blown away. The pictures didn't do this kid justice. What a good looking guy. He looks like the Irish side of his family with red hair, blue eyes and fair skin with lots of freckles.

Kerry and Zac

It turns out that he is 25 years old and a PHD student studying cognitive psychology. Not a dummy! He seems sweet, kind and totally into my daughter. He also passed the Rigby test which is all important. The dog loved him.

We all went to El Mariachi for dinner which is a nice Mexican restaurant and had a great time. We had Margaritas which loosened things up a bit. We ate way too much and laughed and laughed. Even Pat was very impressed by this, I was going to say boy but I guess he's a man. It was a just a wonderful time. I think he liked us too.

The happy couple

Now it's Kerry's turn to meet the parents. She is leaving this afternoon to spend a few days in Ft Myers with Zac and his family. I am not worried about this one bit. Kerry does parents very well. They always love her. I'm happy to say that Kerry has inherited my people skills and she puts them to good use. I expect a very upbeat report when she gets back.

I am thrilled to death by this latest development in my daughter's life. She seems so happy and I love the fact that Zac is up at UF with her. He takes care of her and she is the kind of person that sometimes needs that. (I'm thinking that is my fault for hovering over her her whole life.)

This time you won't hear a peep out of me. This is a good thing. Let's hope it lasts.

Ebates Is Cool

As many of you already know I love to shop and I do a lot of online shopping especially this time of year. I came across this website called Ebates and it is cool as hell. So cool in fact that I decided to blog about it here and maybe save you guys some cash which is always a good thing.

If you are an online shopper like I am you will probably love Ebates as much as I do. They have agreements with all of the big online sites like Bluefly, Victoria's Secret, Macy's, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Ebay, Borders, QVC, Barnes and Noble , Sephora, Best Buy, and just about anything you can think of. They have hundreds of sites linked to this website. Things like cosmetic sites, shoe sites, fitness sites, golf sites, department store sites. They really have it all. The only thing that they don't have is Amazon.com. That makes me sad because I love Amazon and buy a lot from them but I guess you can't have everything.

The cool part about this website is that if you sign up and then shop at your regular websites they credit money back to your account. Each website gives you a different percentage of money back. So far I've made over $10 shopping the normal places that I would have shopped anyway. Now I realize that $10 isn't that much money but I figure that it's 10 more bucks than I had before. I'm always up for new ways of making money and this really works for me. You can either be paid by a check or a deposit into your paypal account. You are paid every three months. Perfect for holiday shopping.

They run specials and also offer coupons for some websites. I've also noticed that they have the same deals that are offered to me directly from these sites. Take Victoria's Secret for example. They recently sent me an email offering me 20 percent off my next order. When I logged on through ebates I was offered the same 20 percent off. Not only that but I was able to take advantage of a free shipping coupon as well. On top of all of that I got back 4 percent of my order. Not bad.

If you sign up, please mention my name as the referral and I'll get $5 in my account. If you tell people and they sign up with your name as a referral you'll get $5 in your account. Like I said, it's as cool as hell.

Check it out and let me know what you think. The link is www.ebates.com Happy shopping. :)

All Is Well After All

I'm thrilled to say that the universe shined down upon us yesterday. The cardiologist gave us the answer that we wanted to hear which was don't worry be happy. I think I can do that. It was a scary time but I'm happy to say all is well in the end.

On another note, today I am getting my hair cut. Ever since I was in LA and had my hair cut by Rick I have been chasing that haircut. I've gotten good haircuts but never one as good as Rick's cut. I've tried using the hair stuff that he sold me but I still can't get my hair to look like it did in LA. Maybe it was the weather or maybe it was the company I was keeping. I don't know. I guess we'll see how it goes.

My LA haircut along with Laura, Beth and Vennie with their LA haircuts

I still have lots to do for the holidays. I have to get Pat to get the Christmas tree down from the attic and I have to buy Chanukah candles. Yeah, we do both around here. I still have some gifts to buy and I also have to find a way to wrap the presents without wrapping paper. Kerry doesn't want to use wrapping paper because it's bad for the earth so I guess I'll go to the dollar store and buy some fancy boxes that don't have to be wrapped. I'll also use the comics from the newspaper. We do all we can to be green around here.

I'm still doing well with food as I promised Laura I would do. She is doing very well too as I knew she would. Her blog about the brownie dilemma proved that. I'm proud of her and I'm proud of me too.

Changes

It's amazing how quickly life can change. In the wink of an eye it can go from great to crappy. From happy to sad. From young to old. From healthy to sickly. I am OK. This is not about me. This is about someone else very close to me. I'm hoping the universe will be kind to us this morning in the cardiologist's office. Please wish us luck. It's looking like we are going to need it.

My Life On A Tuesday

This semester Kerry has been taking music theory 3 which includes an ear training test. She has been having one hellva time with it as all the kids have been. Her professor has been giving these tests over and over because you have to pass one in order to pass the class. She has taken a bunch of them with no luck and I know she was starting to get nervous as the semester is coming to a close. Well, I got the call yesterday. Kerry passed her ear training test!! Yay!! Now it's on to music theory 4 and then she is finished with music theory. Believe me, she will throw a party once she is done with it.

Today is yoga day. I have my private with Juliana which I am always looking foward to. Not only do I feel better physically after a private I feel much better mentally. She has a really good effect on me. She is my spiritual mentor.

Yesterday was a great food day and I'm going to have a good one today too. I'm happy to report that I am still holding at 152.5 which means I'm keeping my promise to my fellow fabbie Laura. I am behaving myself with food during the holiday season.

My heel is still bothering me big time. It gets better for a day but as soon as I stand on it or walk for any period of time I'm in pain again. I think it's time to give in and go see Dr Bob. I was hoping to wait until the first of the year to see him. He is not included on my medical insurance plan which means everytime I see him I have to pay him and it goes towards my out of network deductable and I hate to waste an expensive office visit at the end of December but you gotta do what you gotta do and I gotta do it.

I'm off now to try and work out to one of Richard's videos if my foot will allow me. I also have to work at Curves today which means standing up for hours and hours. Oy vey! Oh well, such is life. See y'all...Did I just say y'all????? LOL LOL

GO GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When Kerry got accepted to the University of Florida we had no choice but to become Gators parents. Anytime I wear a UF shirt someone that I don't know in a mall or at a gas station passes me by and says "go gators". It's what you do when you are a gator or a gator parent. One time I was walking through the Luxor casino in Las Vegas wearing my screaming orange Gator shirt and someone from the top of the pyramid yelled "go gators" at me. I, of course, yelled back. Like I said, it's what you do when you are part of the gator nation.

Saturday night was the SEC championship football game to decide who was going to go to the national championship game. It was between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Florida Gators. It was a HUGE game especially around here in South Florida. One reason for this is that so many of our local kids are up at UF. It's the premier college in Florida and if you can get in you go. The kids all work their asses off all during high school trying to get into UF. If they have great grades, great SATs, great extra circulars, great essays, great letters of recommendations and happen to play a mean clarinet they get in. If not, if's FSU or UCF for them. All Kerry wanted was to go to UF and I am proud to say that she made it, not an easy task these days.

Kerry playing at her junior recital.

The other reason that this was such a huge game was we wanted, we needed, we had to kick Nick Saban's butt. Nick Saban is the coach for Alabama and a few years ago the Miami Dolphins lured him away from college football and hired him as our coach. He sucked as many college coaches do when they come to the NFL. That in itself wasn't so bad but as the media was giving him a hard time for being a sucky coach a rumor started that he was going to leave the Dolphins and go back to college. Even that wasn't so bad. We would have understood that but the corker was when the newspapers and TV people asked him outright "Hey Nick, are you leaving the Dolphins and going back to college?" he said "No, I'm here and you can count on me." Well, needless to say, the next day he was gone. He not only proved himself to be a crappy coach but he was also a liar. This was the real reason that we all wanted the Gators to beat the Crimson Tide. To kick their asses all over the field. To humiliate them.

The game started at 4:00 and I was ready. I was wearing my UF shirt in front of my big screen HDTV with Rigby dressed in two bandanas. One blue and one orange. He is, after all, a Gator dog. I don't remember being this excited about a sporting event since Jimmy Connors played his last US Open or maybe Tiger Woods playing his last US Open. No, this was more important. We HAD to win.

Gator Rigby

It was a very exciting game. Tim Tebow, our superman quarterback, played his ass off as all of our Gator kids did. The lead changed 4 or 5 times. I sat on the bed yelling and screaming and finally the game was over and the Gators poured a huge vat of Gatorade and ice over Coach Urban Meyer's head. We had won. It was not the ass kicking that we all had hoped for but just winning was good enough. Nick Saban had been sent packing with his head down low and us Gators? We are going to the national championship game in Miami of all places. We will be playing the Oklahoma Sooners on January 8.

By the way, the Dolphins won yesterday without Nick Saban and are now leading the division so yeah, GO Dolphins and GO GATORS!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Laura

Today is a very special day. It is a special day because it is the birthday of a very special friend. I met her only by chance on the internet. She was a member of Richard Simmons clubhouse as I was. I had been reading her posts for a long time thinking to myself that this was an incredibly intelligent and strong person. Her posts were always funny, interesting and thought provoking. She also went against the grain on many occasions standing up for herself or others if she thought that she should never fearing retribution from the other people there. I liked that.

Beth on top, Vennie, Claudia and Laura. The Fab Four

I also admired her strength. Not only her strength of character but also her physical strength in coming back from life threatening illnesses that would have put anyone else either in the loony bin or the grave. Not to mention the fact that she had lost over 200 pounds!!! I remember thinking to myself that I wished I had that person for a friend but I also thought that she wouldn't want to be friends with me. What attributes could I possibly have that would make that person want to be my friend?

My gorgeous and brilliant friend Laura

Then Mac, my beloved lhasa apso and son, got terminally ill and I was thrown into a complete tizzy. I loved him so much and I was going to have to put him down. I thought I wanted to die with him. I posted about it on the clubhouse boards and who was it that posted back? It was this wonderful and wise person who gave me the strength to make the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. She kept me calm and assured me that I would have the strength to do what I had to do. I don't know what I would have done without her at that time in my life.

My son Mac

From that time on she has continued to be my wonderful and beloved friend. She keeps me sane when I go off the wall for whatever reason. She makes me laugh when I am sad. She gives me strength when I am weak and she gives me her friendship when I am feeling lonely. I'm still not sure why she would want to be MY friend but I thank the universe that she does. So.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA. HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY

Wednesday Is The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life

Today's exercise will be an hour and a half yoga class and I'm happy about that. Wednesday's class is a ramped up hatha yoga practice. It includes vinyasa flow, more standing postures and sun salutations. It kicks my butt. I need to remember to bring a towel. I know Richard doesn't consider yoga exercise but he has never taken Juliana's Wednesday class. It would kick even his well toned butt.

Here is Juliana on the beach. Hey Richard, let's see you do this!!

Here I am in Downward Facing Dog

This is Pidgeon pose

I know you' ve seen this one before but it is one of my favs. Richard and me in love!!

I have promised Laura that I will behave myself during the holidays where food is concerned. In keeping my promise to my fellow fabbie this morning's breakfast was an egg white scramble with onions and red peppers. It reminded me of the fab breakfasts I get when I am on vacation and staying at the Hotel California aka Chez Laura. The food is outstanding and there is lots of it but I still manage to lose a couple of pounds when I go. So hey, hey, I'm on my way. OK Everyone sing along.....

Easy Come, Easy Go

Thanksgiving was great. Kerry was home and Cousin Stevie came over for dinner. He and Pat played golf in the afternoon while Kerry and I did the cooking. The kid has turned into this amazing cook! She made a spinach and cheese quiche that was just fantastic. I'm sure the calorie count was way up there but I ate it anyway. After all, the kid made it!! It was a nice low keyed dinner which worked for me because I did most or all of the work. We didn't get to eat the birthday cake. Everyone was too full from dinner. I guess that's a good thing.

Black Friday was soooo much fun. Kerry woke me up at 6:00AM and we were at the Town Center Mall by 8:00. We totally shopped our brains out getting some really great deals at Bloomingdales, Lucky Jeans, Clarks Shoes, Anthropologie and Coach. Most of the stuff was for Kerry with one or two things for me. Anyone who knows me knows which store was the one that I bought myself something at. Yeah, I spent most of the money that I won at the casino but what the hell. Easy come, easy go.

My heel is still giving me some trouble but I think it's getting better slowly. I was able to workout to a video yesterday so that was good. Today I think I will stick to some weight training. It will be much easier on my heel and I also have to work tonight which puts me up on my feet for hours.

Food could have been better but on the other hand it could have been a lot worse too. I was down to 152 yesterday which shocked the crap out of me. I figured I was totally out of the 150's and into the 160's but I'm happy to say not even close. Now if I could just get rid of the extra few pounds as easily as I was able to get rid of my winnings I'd be happy. C'mon extra weight!!! Easy come, easy go.