Just when things were going so well...

We have a problem, my husband and I. The problem is baseball. While we both love it, well, he loves the Yankees and I the SF Giants, I am more open, say, to baseball as a whole. I love the game. There I said it.  Our problem started with this latest series between the Diamondbacks and the Yankees in NY. I am not, repeat not, a DBacks fan-never will be. However, there is a certain player who I am, say, enamored with, ahem, Cody Ross. It seems Cody played excellently this series and I can vouch for this because I watched the entire series on TV. This infatuation I have with him  may have something to do with the fact that Cody used to be a Giant. Enough said. He got picked up by other teams I don't really care about, although I did follow his career with every team. OK stalker quality? Not yet!
Here's what happened during the series. Cody started hitting. Easy. Then he caught everything that came to him, around him, in the vicinity of and basically pissed off my husband and his beloved Yankees. To say by the end of the series (tonite, thank God, there is mercy) Cody had a new middle name! And it's not Joseph.
Easy, easy, I said to my husband. Let's not be rash (like I really talk like that, ha!). He, of course, said right back, don't tell me what to do (google translate into man language).
Well, the Dbacks are on their way to Colorado (get ready to freeze boys. Like it wasn't 28 degrees in NY tonite, snort). The Yankees head for Toronto. Yikes, talk about cold.  My Giants are home, thankfully, Milwaukee was a miserable series.
My son posed a very serious question to me during our yelling and screaming  family time. He said, "What happens when the Giants play the Dbacks and Cody Ross faces Tim Lincecum. Who do you cheer for?" Like any politician, I smiled, and said, (Seriously, I was saying to myself, who asks those kinds of questions to their MOM? He knows how I feel about both subjects of that sentence. How can he even ask me to pledge loyalty to one over the other? Has he lost his mind??) "Dude, I would just hope that each player does their best."
And walked away. Like all Mom's should...

Postscript: I need to write about Francisco Cervelli of the Yankees. He is definitely someone that baseball fans need to watch. So I will put in my two cents worth next time.

Night y'all. Happy baseball dreams!

Laying It Down

It's no secret I am a baseball fan and would rather watch baseball every minute of the day than do anything else. With a few exceptions, of course. Now, baseball in the springtime can be a bit chilly, as the SF Giants learned today while playing in Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin' town. Take a peek at these shots:
That's Pablo Sandoval and Nick Noonan trying to keep warm at the park. Since I'm not in Chicago, and it's been  a little chilly where I live  these past few days, what better way to watch a game than to curl up with one of these lovely blankets made by Shari @ Kashmere Kisses

Wouldn't that be lovely to hold on your lap with a nice warm cuppa tea while cheering on your favorite team?
Her entire blog is just filled with the most exquisite handmade items, and if you are partial to bunnies, you have to take a look at these. Don't you just want to squee everytime you look at one?

Shari's blog Kashmere Kisses is one of my favorites and I urge you to take a look at it right now. Go ahead.  I know you won't hesitate signing up and following this blog.
Psst, sign up now! She's giving away the bunny above and the lovely pin cushions too! How could you not want to win this? Go to her blog, follow her, leave a comment, and have a chance to win. Who doesn't like to win beautiful things?

Day 3 The Fat (not Rum) Diaries

Is there already a Fat Diary somewhere in blogland? I guess since the Rum Diaries is already taken I'm sticking with fat, er, the fat is sticking with me, uh, to me. In any case, here I am again (distracted to day the least because the Giants, or rather, Brandon Crawford just hit a 3-run home run and there is only one out in the inning) to talk about today's events, or food - falls. Well, I ate fruit! Seriously. The strawberries were a little sour but the kiwi was absolutely delicious. And then I found the leftover Easter candy.
My Giants tied the game in the 6th. All the more reason to talk about their dietary peculiararities. Tim Lincecum had to gain weight for this season. He is comfortable at 170 lbs. on a 5'11" frame. He gained his weight in a healthy manner, along with weight training, so he didn't follow the In-N-Out burger routine from a year a go. Good for him. Hunter Pence is now Paleo and love to eat and talk about his new favorite food-kale. I have tried baked kale chips, garlic seasoned. Not my favorite. I tried the Paleo diet, and while not adverse to it, I just don't like that much meat to sustain a full diet. This diet seems to work well for him. he looks good, lots of energy. He even seemed to have lost weight without looking too thin. Brandon Belt loves junk food and the Olive Garden. I have never eaten there myself, but Brandon loves it and was even a special guest of theirs early this week. Something about their house dressing...
I'm going to finish watching the Giants/Rockies game, maybe grab a bowl of cereal, and enjoy the rest of the eveing.
See you all later.

Day 2 On Being Fat

OK so I plagiarized Stephen King's title of his fabulous book On Writing. It's his own fault, if it weren't such a great book I wouldn't have to steal things from it!
Day 2 and the food issues continue. I had my tea in the morning and was good until I got to the training room at work and there was a bucket of Nancy's cookies. Now this woman, out of the kindness of her heart, makes cookies every Monday so that we may indulge our sweet tooth. Absolutely fabulous, every stinkin' one. As I spied those cookies this morning I was so tempted to open the lid and just graze right from the bowl, I was, after all, the only one in the room. However, I did not. I went back to my desk and drank my mango ice tea. For lunch I had pasta salad and half a bagel with cream cheese. (Remember the story about me not liking bread? Bagels don't count!) AH, I did stop for a soda at lunch (I was shopping at Hobby Lobby and was parched, for cying out loud). On the way home from work, I ate the fruit I brought. The strawberries were so-so but the kiwi fanatstic.
Now, dinner is always a stretch, and since I brought my son shopping after work, it was a scrounging act when we got home. The lesson here: PLAN AHEAD YOU MORON. Because I didn't, I ate (and this was just while I was looking for something to eat) half a Hershey bar, 3 almond cookies, lemonade. Then I found the leftover chicken and made some pasta to go with it. Yeah, pretty crappy eating day.
The good side is, tomorrow I can start again. The bad side, my stomach is growling and I hear the sounds of a box of raisin bran pouring into a bowl. All I can say is there better be some milk left!

Good bye lovelies-see you all tomorrow.

Hi, Still Fat!

It is almost summer here (temperature in the 90's) and I'm still fat. The great plans for weight loss last year fell through like a Krispy Kreme donut (you know, greasy, leaden, heavy in your stomach). At least I can say that I truly do NOT like Krispy Kreme and that the last shop actually went out of business. So no tempting smells caused by a drive by, which of course, would trigger an amazing amount of eating. And speaking of eating, have I mentioned that I do not like food all that well? Surprising, considering the amount of weight I need to lose. (Did I mention my constant thyroid monitoring, the fatigue and depression symptoms that never go away...) I decided to do a wrap up of what I actually eat in the course of a day to see where the culprit is.

Morning: no breakfast-makes my stomach upset all day. so just tea (milk and sugar included, or if you just get down to it this:

the best thing since sliced bread (and when I say sliced bread I'm kidding. I don't like bread and it's a good thing since I recently read that hypothyroid people-me-are most likely prone to celiac and other celiac related problems. Now ID makes a gluten free French Vanilla. Let's sing it-Heaven, I'm in heaven....

And I don't know if International Delight knows it or not, but pairing this French Vanilla with

makes the most amazing drink on the face of the earth. Please don't tell me that this tea is available year round, because I would be like Jobba the Hut with a travel mug, drinking this all day in obesity induced coma. Not to say that this stuff makes me fat, not at all! It's everything else I eat during the day that does that.

So let's get on with the rest of the day.

Mid Morning: soda (sometimes diet, hey, I'm not a total heathen!)

Nacho Doritos (hey they're gluten free)

Lunch (late afternoon): Soda, of course, sometimes I kid myself and have an ice tea, but after I've redeemed myself, I always go back to soda. Hamburger, maybe, pizza most likely.

Then from all the salt consumption I crave sugar like crazy, like an entire red licorice barrel, by myself.

Dinner: Ugh, I hate, but I make. Sometimes I can do a little damage on the plate and swirl it around to look like I ate (eating disorder? I've got you covered!)

Then late at night when hubby's asleep I sneak into the kitchen for my nightly bowl of cereal. Ah, it's nirvana. Cereal and late night TV in bed, all while hubby's asleep.

I'm sure there's something to read into this, but I have always loved cereal at night, mostly because milk in the am makes me barf. Nice image, huh?

What brought all this on was this lovely little Tumblr blog called Lobley Cottage. There are some truly lovely images, but also realistic ones-and encouraging ones. Not like the beat you over the head for not working out in a gym pages, or the if you're not doing yoga like this

then there is something wrong with you (even though I did take this from her blog!) Instead of looking through the window wishing I had a beach body (in the middle of the desert. Hey, some things can't be helped)

Instead of wishing and hoping (gee I hope this weight falls off while I'm sleeping tonite) I am going to move, change, do something different. And basically, not be afraid. Because what I'm really scared of, ready for it? is to SUCCEED!

What if I do lose the weight? What kind of person will I become? And do I deserve to lose weight, to be nice to myself?

I leave you with those words, my friends. I will dream of them tonight and see what my brain comes up with in the morning.

Love to all,

Happy Birthday, Ellen!

Today is my sister's birthday. I won't tell you how old she is because that's not important. She is my older sister, the one I hung on to growing up, the one I wanted attention from, the one I bothered the most. I guess form her I learned how to be an older sister for my younger sister, only I didn't complain as much when my younger sister wanted to hang around me! Just kidding.
I always have good intentions, I wonder what I can buy her or make for her that will let her know how much I love her and appreciate everything she's done for me throughout my life. When it comes down to it, there is nothing in any store that I can buy to show her those feelings. So, I am sending her these wishes and hope, after reading, that she believes in her heart what a great sister she truly is.


After cake, there's presents:

I wish for you:

laughter until tears run down your cheeks
lovely memories
a big hug
a heart full of love
tea and cookies at your favorite bakery
lunch outside in Santa Barbara
meeting a favorite friend unexpectedly
a teddy bear
a brand new magazine before anyone else reads it
a tea party, complete with goody bags

Happy Birthday, El. I hope it's one of your best.
With love,
Mare

Birds and Owls

Thinking here about what kind of craft goes well with a birdhouse? Of course, a bird. Now to make 200  of these lovely birds I just volunteered myself for. Why do I do it? Well, I am a co-captain in the Home Depot's Kids Workshop once a month and my partner and I like to do something extra for the kids each month. January workshop kit is the birdhouse, and aside from giving out cutely (?) wrapped cups of seed, I would like a small birdie to go along with it. Something like this:

I like it rustic, it's for boys and girls alike, and all age groups. (Thank you Me Making Do for this pattern).
I need to get my sewing fingers going for this to be ready by January 5!
In the meantime, I will count off the days on this new, FREE, printable and customizable Owl calendar that you can get here:My Owl Barn. Here is just a sampling of some of the beautiful artwork you can choose from to customize your calendar.


Are these not the cutest owl art you have ever seen. But don't take my word for it. Folks, two words, Owls and FREE. Download it now and enjoy your new year month after month. Why not give them as gifrts? You can print for all your friends.
So have fun, and take advantage of the lovely art that people are willing to share. And spread the word!