Monday Mailer

Here is the Monday Mailer I received when I returned home from my trip.  Isn't it great?  There is no stamping on this card .... makes it so easy!  She used Tea Party designer paper.  (Guess I'm going to add that to my wish list.)  She cut 3 of the flowers out of the paper and adhered them with a blue brad.  Such a spring-y card!

I'm Back!!

Well, I'm back home. Wow! Did we have fun! Everyone should have a daughter that is also a best friend. Over the next few days, I'll be sharing pictures with you of my trip.

When we arrived in DC, we took Mom and Angela downtown DC. We did a few touristy things - Smithsonian's and statues - as I described earlier in THIS post. Here is a picture of the 4 of us with the Capitol in the background. (you have to click on picture to see all 4 of us!)

Here's a picture of Mom and Angela with the Washington Monument behind them.

Here's the Hope Diamond - although this picture does not do it justice. But, you get an idea of how huge it is!

I love beautiful flowers - just not the work that goes into growing them! These are some of the gorgeous orchids that we saw in the Orchid display in the Smithsonian.

Monday Mailer

Here is the last April Monday Mailer I will be sending to Jennifer.  Love this Sock Monkey!!

Baby Card

This card is for Sean and Becca.  They are high school friends of my son's who have just announced they are pregnant!  They are the last of the "gang" to have a baby.

Did You Know?

•  It takes one ton of water to make one pound of refined sugar.
• A honeybee must tap 2 million flowers to make one pound of honey. A bee produces only one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey during her entire lifetime.
• American and Russian space flights have always included chocolate.
• The best selling chocolate bar in Russia is Snickers.
  ~The Amazing Book of Useless Information by Noel Botham &
             The Useless Information Society

American Idol Results - Matt in bottom?????

Well, I missed the results show last night!! After taking Mom & Angela to the airport, Sonny & I met Ashley downtown (at an Irish bar, are you surprised?). About 8:30, Ashley tells me that she taped the Pittsburgh basketball game (Sweet 16 and they won!) for her Dad instead of Idol. (She can only TiVo one thing at a time.) Well .... we were watching the basketball game at the bar anyway!!!

So, when we got home, we had to watch the results show on the internet.

Some elimination are real shockers, like last week's out-of-no where ousting of one-time favorite Alexis Grace. Eliminations like that, you don't see coming. And then there are others that are so obvious, even Scott McIntyre could see 'em coming. Like last night's eliminated singer, Michael Sarver. Not exactly a shock, there. The real surprise was that the judges still forced the poor schlub to sing in vain, in the hopes of getting a Judges' Save. Not gonna happen!

No surprise to see Michael and Scott in the bottom three. But, Matt???? For him to almost get eliminated last night. What the heck? Was America watching the same show as me this week? Did the people in TV Land watch Wed. night with the sound off? With the SCREEN off? Matt was at his best on Motown Night. He sang "Let's Get It On" and made you want to "get in on"! Simon and Randy even declared Matt a serious new threat in the competition after his killer, confident performance. I'm utterly baffled that Matt was in the bottom three. And I'm even more baffled, when I think about it, that he was in the bottom TWO--Scott was sent back to safety first, which means the lowest two vote-getters of the evening were in fact Michael and Matt. This would have made sense if Matt had stumbled through but he deserved to be in the TOP three, not the bottom. I dunno, maybe it was Opposite Day or something...

Anyhoo, America ultimately made the right decision and sent Michael, not Matt, packing. I have a feeling if it had been Matt in last place, the judges might have deliberated a little more seriously over whether to exercise their Judges' Save veto power (I don't for a moment think they ever considered using it on Michael, since Simon had emphatically declared last night that Sarver had "no chance of winning").

American Idol Recap

Motown tonight! Yay .... I can relate. We watched the taped version of Idol when we got home last night from NY. Here's my recap:

Matt Giraud — Let’s Get It On: My initial impression from the rehearsal is that this will be a perfect song choice for him. Oooh, nice touch, moving away from the piano halfway through. Great job! Randy thought he "set the tone" and Simon thought it was a cool performance!! Kudos to him. Don't think being first to perform will hurt his great performance.

Kris Allen — How Sweet It Is: Smokey seems impressed, so we shall see. Well, he IS putting his own little spin on it. I think I like it. Another nice job. Paula was up and dancing. Simond thought he was smart to do his own version of the song but he needs to believe in himself. Not to sure about his shirt.

Scott MacIntyre — You Can’t Hurry Love: Yeah… I’m not so crazy about this. Hold on a sec. Is he wearing pink pants? Okay, now tht’s funny. They told him 10 minutes before the show started that his pants are pink. That’s classic. Simon thought it was "honky tonk piano" and Randy agrees.

Megan Joy — For Once In My Life: Why is she suddenly Megan Joy? Did she give up her last name? Everyone says she’s so original, but I just think her voice is odd. I don’t know why the judges fawn over her every week. Ahhh, okay, the judges DO have some sense. Randy calls it a train wreck. I quite agree. Simon says she’s in danger. . Let’s hope so! They all agree that she looks incredible. This is a strange season — it’s going to be all men by the final five at this rate!

Anoop — Ooooh, Baby Baby: He was good in my opinion. I am a huge fan of Smokey Robinson and this song is just one of the greatest, so sometimes that sways me. Kara thought overall he did a pretty good job. Simon thought it was a great vocal but he looked like he was half asleep. He needs to show some showmanship and turn it up next week.

Michael Sarver — Ain’t Too Proud To Beg: He was sick last week and didn't get to go to Detroit with the others. He got good advice from Smokey, and it looks like Michael took his words to heart, but maybe not far enough. It was a few steps above a karaoke performance. The judges weren't nice to him - even Paula!! He might be going home this week and it's probably time.

Lil Rounds — Heat Wave: Lil is ON FIRE tonight. I hope she sticks around another week. Again, Kara nails it. This should have been Lil’s week, and it… wasn’t. Disappointing. They pretty much all agreed .... except Paula .... that it was the wrong song choice for her.

Adam Lambert — Tracks of My Tears: I’m loving this side of Adam tonight. Okay, the ending was a bit overdone, but SMOKEY ROBINSON IS GIVING HIM A STANDING O. And so is Kara. Classic American Idol moment. Like him or not, Adam is in his own league. And yes, that is Paula’s line. Simon said it was THE BEST of the night - it was original, the right song and he emerged as a star. Didn't he look like Elvis???? Scary!

Danny Gokey — Get Ready: Okay, I still love Danny. He put just enough of his own spin on this to make it fresh. It was fun — quintesential Danny Gokey. It wasn’t a masterful performance, but it was good. He’s really going to have to turn it up a notch to compete with Adam, though. Only Paul thought it was great though. The other judges thought it was good, just not great.

Allison Iraheta — Papa Was A Rolling Stone: Okay, Allison. It’s all on you to represent the ladies tonight. Oh girl. The crowd is on their feet. Kara and Paula are on their feet. Okay, Paula is always on her feet. Kara says, “That is from God. You can’t teach that.” So true. That about sums it up. None of them could believe she had been in the bottom 3 last week. She's definitely one they would have used their "saving power" on.

Best of the night: Adam -Allison - Matt
Bottom three: Michael, Scott and Megan.

Sharon .... from North Carolina!

This is Sharon from NC - live from THE VIEW

OK ... I am in the bus now headed back to DC .... pretty tired!! We had a great time in New York and I'll be sharing lots of pictures and stories in the coming days. We were able to cram a lot into a few days.

The biggest news I want to share with your now is that I will be on THE VIEW on Friday!! Ashley got us tickets for the taping of Friday's show. We were VIP's of one of the producers. I was actually pulled from the audience before the taping started and asked to do the commercial break where they say "this is Sharon from North Carolina" and then I read the tele-prompter to tell what was coming up next. It was pretty cool! So ..... set your DVR's for Friday's showing of The View. (It comes on at my house at 11 am).

We had been told in advance that since we were VIP guests if they did any give-aways, we would not be eligible for anything over $75. Wouldn't you know it!! They had Mr Gadget on and he demonstrated a lot of new electronical gadgets totalling $1,300+ and everyone in the audience got one of each item!! Just our luck! Oh well, guess you can't win them all. Just think of the taxes I saved!

I'll be in DC until the weekend helping Ashley spruce up her condo to put it on the market. Sonny & I will be heading home Sunday or Monday.

Dreams Come True One Step At A Time

Dreams Come True One Step At a Time

When going through life
and traveling in the direction
of your dreams, the best way
to get ahead is the simplest way:
Take it one step at a time.
Don't look over your shoulder; if you do,
you'll feel the weight of all your
yesterdays upon you.
And don't worry about what lies ahead.
By the time you get to
the bend in the road
or the crest of the hill,
you're going to be better and stronger
than you ever were before.
Just go a step at a time,
one day at a time.
And you'll find a rich, thankful life
you never thought you could afford.

~A. Rogers

Activity in your life

I started bowling a couple of weeks ago and man, was I sore the first time!  But I figure it's a fun way to get in my exercise.  Here's an excerpt from a newsletter that I receive.  Thought it was good advice!

By Dotti

Getting some kind of activity in your life is probably one of the most important things you can do for your health and well-being. In fact, a lot of experts are recommending you focus on getting more activity in your life before you make any dietary changes. Why? Moving more will give you a jump-start by revving up your metabolism, helping your body to be more responsive to losing body fat. You will see results when you become more active.
Let’s talk about some strategies to help you stay on your course of activity. Why not see if you can come up with a few of your own too.

• Get an activity buddy to help keep you accountable
• Set goals and give yourself rewards to help keep you motivated
• Always look for new ways to get more activity into your life
• Hire a personal trainer
• Try something different from what you are doing; mix it up
• Get your activity where others are active
• Keep a log of your activity; review it often
• Put your activity time in your appointment book; make it a priority

Why is it that activity is the last thing we seem to fit into our busy schedule? I’ll bet if you planned a fun activity like maybe bowling, water skiing or swimming at the lake you’d fit it into your schedule. So, why not start out by planning some activity that is fun, playful. As you become more active you will be able to start focusing on the frequency of your activity, along with increasing the time and intensity.
One of the most important things to remember when planning your activity is to pick activities that you will enjoy and be able to do over the long run; not just to lose the weight you want to lose. Physical activity not only helps you lose the weight but it also helps you to keep the weight off for good.
Hands down, walking is the most convenient activity for most people. I personally like walking because it is something I can do anywhere, any time. I can also fit walking into any time frame. If I only have 15 minutes out of my day to get some activity in then a walk will work. You don’t have to do all your walking at the same time. You can string together a couple of walks during the day, maybe during your two fifteen minute breaks at work. Walking is relaxing too!
Walking is aerobic and works the large muscle groups, so it’s great for burning calories. You can burn anywhere from 100 to 200 calories during a moderately-paced walk. Do you know how many calories you’d burn in a year if you did this every day? 36,500 calories or 10 lbs! Amazing, huh?
The experts say that you are better off walking a longer distance for 25 minutes at a slower pace than trying to jog, getting tired, and quitting after only 10 minutes. Did you know that you burn almost the same number of calories walking a mile as running it? It just takes longer to walk it. (You get about 90% of the same benefit from walking as you do from jogging, with a lot smaller risk of injury!)
The same goes for your other activities also. When you work harder or faster for a given activity it will increase the calories spent, but not as much as lengthening the time spent on your activity.
Here are a few ways to get some extra activity into your life without even realizing it. You can add to the benefits by putting some extra movement into them like swaying your arms as you walk the dog or doing a little dance around the car as you wash it.

• Vacuum briskly – 5 minutes
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator – 3 minutes
• Walk the dog – 10 minutes
• Walk to lunch instead of getting it delivered – 7 minutes
• Wash your car instead of going through a car wash – 15 minutes
• Make extra trips carrying in groceries – 5 minutes
• Rake leaves – 15 minutes

Total Time – 60 minutes
Look how fast those minutes of activity added up! WOW! You may be sitting there thinking you are getting no activity but in reality you are!
If you are one of those people who have problems regularly setting aside time for activity why not try adding short segments of activity (short walks or the examples above)? The goal is to try and get in a total of 30 minutes, but you can accumulate that amount over the course of the day. The separate bits of time spent do not have to happen back to back in order to reap the benefits.
A total of 20 minutes of activity a day is recommended but for weight loss results, 30 minutes is best. Of course, doing a longer stint of activity daily (40, 50 or 60 minutes a day) will burn even more body fat. Your heart will also reap more benefits from the added activity. Please remember that, if you’ve been inactive for some time, be sure to start with shorter activities and increase the time gradually.
I have started adding a regular exercise program back into my life recently and I can tell you I’m reaping the benefits. I have decided to make my elliptical trainer time fun. I watch an episode of Sopranos (HBO) every time I get on the elliptical. I don’t get off until the episode is over (usually 47-55 minutes). It’s a long workout but goes by quickly because I’m enjoying my show. I’ve also added in a 2-mile walk at lunchtime with Al, which gives us time to hold hands, talk, get out in the fresh air and just be together with no interruptions. Priceless. I’m losing weight again and feeling much better physically and mentally.
It doesn’t matter how you get your activity into your life. I’ve used walking as an example of one of the easiest ways, in my opinion, to accomplish this. Joining a gym, bowling league, or hiking club are a few other ways. Make sure if you can’t schedule your activity into your life, then do the short stints of activity during the day. Whatever you decide, make sure it’s something you enjoy and will be able to continue throughout your lifelong Journey.
Let’s all plan to move more in the upcoming months as spring approaches bringing the warm weather, beautiful flowers and birds singing.

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