Books read in 2010

Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story, C. David Heymann
Fletch, Too, Gregory Mcdonald
American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy, C. David Heymann
Tis Herself: An Autobiography, Maureen O'Hara and John Nicoletti
A Woman Named Jackie: An Intimate Biography of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, C. David Heymann
John F. Kennedy, President, Hugh Sidey
Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery, Norman Mailer
First Ladies: The Saga of the Presidents Wives and Their Power 1789-1961, Carl Sferrazza Anthony

Currently Reading: The Saga of the Presidents Wives and Their Power 1961-1990, Carl Sferrazza Anthony
Up Next: Real Life at the White House: 200 years of daily life at America's famous residence, John Whitcomb

What You Waiting For?

I forgot how much I love this song and video by Gwen Stefani.

Snow keeps falling

So much snow has fallen since last night. This snow isn't the nice fluffy stuff. This snow is the wet and heavy kind. The snow is supposed to continue through this evening.

I already had enough of it. I've been outside for the past hour shoveling. I shoveled the back deck and walk, the sidewalk, front porch stairs and the entry to our driveway. The entry to the driveway was the worst. The snow was piled so high thanks to the city plow trucks. I will probably go outside later to shovel some more.

How much longer until spring? I'm really getting tired of snow and winter.

Random things

I couldn't believe the church was packed on Ash Wednesday. Last year, not too many people showed up. Every seat was full this time around. Something else that made me shake my head. People were still coming into church at 12:35 p.m. The service started at 12:10 p.m. The latecomers were only in church for ten minutes.

As part of Ash Wednesday, I did fast and not eat meat. I had breakfast around 7 a.m. I was still hungry so I continued drinking water. The many cups of water kept my mind off of being hungry. When I got home, I had a handful of Chex Mix. I wanted to eat more but I couldn't. My next meal was dinner around 6:30 p.m. I probably only had between 500-800 calories worth of food yesterday. That's not too good. I'm glad we only have to fast twice for all of Lent. I think the lunch my husband and I are having today will top yesterday's calories. My husband and I are having hamburgers and tator tots. MMMMM.... food.

As my husband and I were sitting down to lunch Tuesday, I turned on the TV. The TV came on but our cable receiver box didn't. I asked my husband to see if he could get it to work. He fiddled with a couple of buttons and got the receiver to turn on. We watched TV for five minutes or less and the screen turned green and then went black. My husband called the cable provider to try to get answers on how to fix it. He pressed some buttons on the remote, the receiver and went into the basement to see if that TV was working. It wasn't. The receiver was dead. We were told that a new receiver had to be shipped to us. Today is the day that the receiver is supposed to be delivered to us. It would be nice to actually watch the Olympics again.

GTA - Adrian, MI

Line - Adrian, MI

I made it back into the dance studio Monday. I was so thrilled to see ballet and jazz again. This photo is one of my early favorites while editing. Still have many more photos to go through.

DCO Photography

My photo business, DCO Photography, has been dormant since April 2009. I decided to resurrect it this weekend. I'm not going back to photographing weddings, but I wanted to continue photographing some dance classes and selling my photos. I want to give it a while and see what becomes of it.

View the DCO Photography blog.
View prints.

More loss

I was hoping to say this when I lost one more pound. But it is very exciting news. I have lost 14 pounds since the second week of January. Fourteen!!

The last three times my husband and I have eaten at restaurants, I have taken home a to-go box. That never happened before. Usually I would finish everything on my plate. Not anymore.

Why did I wait so long to do this?

Valentine's Day early

My husband and I had our Valentine's Day dinner Wednesday evening. We decided to celebrate it early because my husband works on Sunday.

Before going into the restaurant, my husband pulls out two envelopes from under his visor. I said that I thought we were exchanging cards on Sunday. He said I can, but he wanted to give me his Valentine card during dinner.

He handed me the envelopes after ordering dinner. I started with the huge envelope. It was my Valentine's Day card. He wrote a nice note inside the card that made me smile. I then opened the smaller envelope. I couldn't believe what I saw inside. He bought two tickets to see Wicked at the Stranahan Theatre in Toledo, Ohio in April.

I was surprised. I mentioned to him back in December that I wanted to see it again. We saw it together during our 2008 trip to New York City and both liked it. When I asked him about it then, he said that he didn't want to see it again. That disappointed me because I thought he liked it. On the Toledo radio stations, they have been playing commercials for it. I was sad that I wouldn't be hearing "Defying Gravity" live again. My husband feared that I would buy tickets to go see it anyway. I didn't because I didn't want to go by myself. My husband is a sly one. Way to fool me!

Since he got the wonderful tickets to see Wicked, I have to pick up a nice gift for him. Usually we don't buy gifts for Valentine's Day. But I need to repay him for such a wonderful gift. Can't wait to see Wicked on April 3! Yay!

Books read in 2010

Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story, C. David Heymann
Fletch, Too, Gregory Mcdonald
American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy, C. David Heymann
Tis Herself: An Autobiography, Maureen O'Hara and John Nicoletti
A Woman Named Jackie: An Intimate Biography of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, C. David Heymann
John F. Kennedy, President, Hugh Sidey
Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery, Norman Mailer

Curently Reading: First Ladies: The Sage of the Presidents Wives and Their Power 1789-1961, Carl Sferrazza Anthony
Up Next: Library trip

Hot Chocolate Hustle 5K

I ran in my first winter 5K this past Saturday. I debated all week as to what I would wear to run. A couple of days before the race, I thought of running in a dri-fit long sleeve shirt and shorts. That combination was quickly thrown out the window when I saw how cold it was supposed to be that morning. I wore a dri-fit turtleneck, dri-fit long sleeve shirt, a jacket, tights, shorts, windpants, ear gear and gloves. I think that is the most I have ever wore while running a race.

I think the temperture was right around 20° at the start of the race. My toes and fingers were getting numb waiting for the start. At the beginning of the race, I started running at a comfortable pace. I really didn't care what anyone else was doing. About a half mile in the race, I was behind a guy running in '70s clothes. He was wearing a polyester shirt with butterfly collars and polyester pants. I thought it was really weird. I saw him before the race and thought he came to watch someone run. I was wrong. Another weird sighting was a man running dressed as the Statue of Liberty. I passed him around the mile mark. A volunteer was calling out times at the mile mark. I passed and heard my time. I was pleased with it. It was right where I wanted to be. I continued on trying to hold my pace.

Around 1.5 miles, I saw a woman in a blue coat ahead of me walking. She passed me around the half mile running fast. My goal was to catch her. I started to pull her in slowly. When I would get near her, she would start running again. I finally caught her near the 2 mile mark. I pulled ahead of her and again tried to keep my pace. Even with my iPod on I could hear loud footsteps coming up behind me. I looked out of the corner of my eye and it was blue jacket lady. I knew that there was no way she would be able to hold up that fast pace. When she got about 10 yards in front of me, she started walking again. I caught her and passed her again.

Continuing the run, the course lead us through some neighborhoods. Then we turned a corner and there was open spaces, no houses. The houses blocked the wind. Now we were running straight into the wind. And it was awful. I tried so hard to keep my pace up, but I knew the wind and the snowy roads were slowing me down. Less then a half mile to go, I heard the loud footsteps once again. Blue jacket lady passed me again. This time she got about 20-30 yards ahead of me and stopped to walk again. I started to pick up my speed again and caught her a third time. I told myself that this time she wasn't getting me. My turnover got a little faster once I saw the finish line. I saw the clock was at 33 minutes and I really wanted to finish below 34 minutes, but it wasn't to be. I finished in 34:13 and blue jacket lady finished behind me. My time put me fourth out of eleven runners in my age group.

I was pleased with my first 5K of the year. It can only get better from here.

Snow is on its way

The biggest storm of the winter season is heading my way. The whole area is already under a winter storm watch until Wednesday morning.

The National Weather Service in Detroit issued this:

.. WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DETROIT/PONTIAC HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING.

* SNOW WILL SPREAD NORTH ACROSS SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN THROUGHOUT THE DAY ON TUESDAY AND BECOME HEAVY TUESDAY NIGHT. SNOW SHOWERS WILL TAPER OFF AND BECOME SCATTERED BY MIDDAY ON WEDNESDAY.

* TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED BY WEDNESDAY MORNING.

* WINDS WILL INCREASE FROM TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WITH SUSTAINED WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH AND GUSTS TO 30 MPH CONTRIBUTING TO BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW.

* ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL MAY LEAD TO POOR ROAD CONDITIONS DURING THE EVENING COMMUTE ON TUESDAY WITH TRAVEL BECOMING DANGEROUS ON TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

Can't wait to shovel! I will be outside a couple of times tomorrow shoveling. I want to keep up with the snow. I know more snow will fall overnight. I'm thinking if I shovel a lot of it Tuesday evening, only a couple more inches will fall on top of that. Meaning, my car won't get stuck in the driveway Wednesday morning when I leave for work at 4:20 a.m.

Random things

One of my headlights on my car went out this morning. I figured after work I could have my husband or an auto store replace it. I drove the half mile or so to work, parked and walked into the building. As soon as I got into my office, a co-worker asks the question: "Do you know you have a headlight out?" I said that I knew. It has only been out for five minutes. And by the way, who doesn't know that they have a headlight out? After work I had my headlight replaced by an nice man at a local auto store. It took him a while to get my headlight out, but it was replaced. YAY!

Michigan has dodged a huge bullet. We are only getting about 1-1.5 inches of snow tonight. Northwest Ohio is getting between 2-4 inches. I can't believe the east coast may get 1-2 feet of snow in some areas. One to two feet! Yikes!

I'm running in a 5K Saturday morning. So I really happy that we are not going to get much snow. I wonder if the 5K would go on if we did get a lot of snow? Still debating on what to wear. I know I plan to wear a hat, dri-fit short and long sleeve shirt. I want to wear shorts, but it may be too cold. It is supposed to be very windy tomorrow morning. I could always wear tights and shorts. I will have to figure it out before leaving the house tomorrow.

Graffiti abstract - Adrian, MI

Miles run in 2010

A co-worker and I were singing "Pants on the Ground" early this morning. I told him that I have lost 10-11 pounds so far and that my pants were really baggy now. I was joking when I said that I could probably pull my pants down without unbuttoning or unzipping them. In the restroom later, I wanted to see if I could do that. So I did. I actually pulled my pants down without unbuttoning or unzipping. That made me feel really good.

Now that I have lost some weight I know my running will improve. I'm hoping my times will improve also. I will be able to test that out Saturday when I run my first 5K in the winter. I'm a little worried because the forecast in the area is calling for 2-4 inches of snow. I hope we don't get that much.

2004: 34.3

2005: 42

2006: 40

2007: 40

2008: 90

2009: 96

2010: 161.3

Books read in 2010

I had someone ask me what I was reading. I answered, "A book about Lee Harvey Oswald." The person who asked gasped. Weird.

Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story, C. David Heymann
Fletch, Too, Gregory Mcdonald
American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy, C. David Heymann
Tis Herself: An Autobiography, Maureen O'Hara and John Nicoletti
A Woman Named Jackie: An Intimate Biography of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, C. David Heymann
John F. Kennedy, President, Hugh Sidey

Currently Reading: Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery, Norman Mailer
Up Next: First Ladies: The Sage of the Presidents Wives and Their Power 1789-1961, Carl Sferrazza Anthony

Caressa Cameron

When Miss Michigan Nicole Blaszczyk didn't get picked as a semifinalist Saturday at Miss America 2010, I went with someone else who I thought would make a great Miss America.

I picked two girls during the swimsuit competition. I picked District of Columbia Jen Corey and Virginia Caressa Cameron. I thought Jen and Caressa looked great in their swimsuits. Where I thought one competitor separated herself from the other was in with her evening gown. Caressa wore a beautiful yellow gown. It looked wonderful with her skin tone. In the talent portion of the show, Caressa blew away the competition with her singing "Listen" from the movie Dreamgirls. Jen also sang and I thought it was good, but sadly the judges disagreed with me. Jen didn't move on into the Top 7.

The on-stage question was asked by people on the Las Vegas strip. Caressa's question was about how to fight childhood obesity. Caressa said, "We need to get our kids back outside, playing with sticks in the street like I did when I was little. Expand your mind, go outside and get to see what this world is like." Which I agree with. When I was a kid, I was always outside playing. I rarely watched TV.

Caressa was crowned Miss America 2010.

Photo Credit: Associated Press

Miss America

I've been watching this for as long as I can remember: Miss America. I remember sitting in front of the TV with my sisters watching the competition. As I got a little older, I would write down the scores from swimsuit, talent, evening gown and on-stage question to figure out the winner. I don't know if I ever picked the correct winner.

Saturday night TLC will be showing the 2010 Miss America Pageant live from Las Vegas at 8 p.m./EST. I will be watching. Last July, I was photographing the Miss River Raisin Festival Scholarship Pageant for work and Miss Michigan 2009 Nicole Blaszczyk helped host the pageant. Nicole performed her talent of a lyrical dance for the crowd. It was wonderful. She is a beautiful dancer. Last night, Nicole won a preliminary award for talent on the last night of competition for the 2010 Miss America Pageant. I'm hoping she will will make the top ten and have a chance for Miss America 2010.

Photo: Nicole Blaszczyk on stage at the 2009 River Raisin Festival Scholarship Pageant.

Oakwood Cemetery statue - Adrian, MI

Random things

I was putting dishes away yesterday and a plate fell from the dish rack. I didn't want it to break the plate so I put my left foot in its path. My foot did the job I wanted it to. It stopped the dish. In the process, the side of the plate landed on the top of my foot. It hit where my toes crease near my big toe. It instantly hurt and left a mark.

It still hurts and I was actually limping this morning. I was thinking will I be able to run today? It took a while, but the limping went away. I will be running later today. If I didn't let plantar fasciitis stop me from running, do you think I would let a plate falling on my foot stop me? The answer is no.

Besides losing weight, I'm trying to improve something else as well. Its time. I'm working on my posture. My posture is horrible. Most mornings you'll find me slouched down in my chair at work or I'll slouch sitting at my desk at home. I'm trying to be aware how awful it is. If I catch myself doing it, I will sit up straight. I noticed that when standing, I still slouch. I'm learning to keep my shoulders back.

I think this is the year I will try improve everything about me.