Bittersweet Memories

Hello my friends and Happy New Year! Another year gone by - Christmas is over and we're off to make plans to make this year better (I hope!). I've started Weight Watchers (again) only this time I'm going to the meetings because doing it by myself just on line did not pan out for me last time. I failed miserably. Obviously, I need the support meetings give you. My next meeting is on Tuesday morning, so we'll see how well I did. I gained a bunch of weight over the holdiays and my blood pressure was over the roof and that really scared me so that I can no longer afford not to go to Weight Watchers. I know it works because every time I stick with it, I lose the weight ... I love this plan better than anything else because you are not restricted and can have anything you want. I don't have to buy supplements or special foods unless I want to and it's ok to use with any foods that you like, be it vegetarian, low carb, even the Paleo diet. You can do it all with the help of Weight Watchers. It's just a matter of being reasonable and accountable. I'm an impulse eater and often over eat, so now I'm mindful of what I put in my mouth and it seems to work because as a bread addict, I have not eaten any bread (except a few whole weat tortillas to make some wraps) I do not miss it. It's all a matter of establishing good habits. I suppose only time will tell because I'm in it for the long haul.

I hope you all survived the holidays relatively unscarred and made some good memories. Mine were quiet and somewhat melancholy. I had some health issues (as usual) but for the most part, I'm ok. I look healthy, so if I ever drop dead unexpectedly, people will say: "oh, my gosh! I just saw her the other day and she looked so healthy!" well, that's me... I rarely look sick unless I'm dying or under general anesthesia ;-) Must be all the water I drink and the veggies I eat, they give me a healthy glow. I'm lucky to love fruits and veggies, that makes losing weight easier. My problem is carbs and portion size, but I'm getting that under control.

As you know, I live on Facebook now and if you ever want to visit, just type in Doris Sturm (in Lakeland, GA) in case there are other Doris Sturms and even my dogs have pages. My Weezie Mae and Mr. Ted E. Barker (aka Teddy Ruffhausen).... and I still keep Gizzy's page up ... I miss him so much and it's been two hears since he died.

Another reason I hardly blog is that every time I come here, I remember my boy and all the wonderful times we've shared... this blog isn't about crocheting at all (as it turns out) but a memorial to my Gizzy and it just hurts me so much to remember those times of us together - even though I should be over it by now, especially since I have two other fur babies to love. But, so be it!

Again, I'm on Facebook, but will try to check in from time to time. I can barely keep up with my friends on Facebook, so blogging on top of it would eat up all my days... I'm trying really hard to get away from computing so much. I enjoy it, but it really takes up most of my time if I'm not careful.

Oh, by the way, I'm in a new apartment. They refurbished/redid all our units, so I'm living in another location, but same complex. I love it. We have a much bigger kitchen now and a dishwasher (my new best friend) I love cooking and baking because clean up is so easy now. They also provided all of us with a Whirlpool energy efficent front loading washer and dryer, so I sold my Kenmore set and they're working on making us a community carden. We each get a 4' X 4' bed to grow what we want ... a lot of people won't want to gaden, so who ever wants that space, can have it. Also, our Social Hall has a computer room with three computers with internet access and a small gym with two recumbent bikes and a thread mill...so I'm pretty happy about that :-)

Tomorrow is Holy Three Kings day, or the Epiphany, so that's when I'm taking down all my Christmas stuff, so here's a photo of my little 4' tree and some decorations. I made it look cozy for myself and the dogs. I had no company, but got lots of cards and a few packages in the mail, including a new digital camera from a friend in Singapore. My Fujifulm Finepix finally broke and the cell phone photos just did not cut the mustard (so-to-speak) All in all I feel blessed and wish you all a happy and healthy 2014!

 Weezie Mae, the sweetest and calmest dog in the world.

Teddy Bear (aka Ted E. Barker, Teddy Ruffhausen, The Tedinator, Teddy Kreuger, etc)

Teddy loves the squeaky doggy toys I crochet and here he is chewing on a drumstick I made for him.

A collage of my apartment with the decorations.

Weezie wearing her pink hoodie she got from a friend in a Christmas gift exchange.

Teddy wearing his hoodie he got from a friend in a Christmas gift exchange.

Happy Mother's Day 2009

This is my wish to all mothers and especially those whose children cannot be with them on this day...Happy Mother's Day and may your memories bring you joy and comfort! This is the handbag I knitted for my mother in Germany and when I called her this morning to wish her a Happy Mothers day, she said she received the bag and she really likes it. No matter how old my daughter gets, she'll always be my little girl to me. This is one of my favorite photos of us. It was taken back in 1997 at Mimi's Restaurant in California. I find great comfort in my little fur balls, to whom I'm a mom too. My dog, Gizzy and my cat, Middi. It's nice to be needed, even if only by a fur-baby ;-) My Middi is a very good and smart cat. She has to put up with a lot of nonsense from Gizzy and so far, she's been very tolerant of him. (Guess it's still better than starving outside) I took Gizzy to Bank's Lake in the afternoon to spent a few hours with my friend who runs the Outpost. We shared some ice cold watermelon and watched a fisherman catch and release a nice sized (pregnant) bass. I also bought Gizzy a new plush hand puppet at the Outpost, where they sell only animals that one would find at this National Wildlife Refuge. As you can see, he loves his new alligator! Earlier today, I received a surprise invitation to join my long-time friends in Valdosta for dinner. We all went to a nice little seafood restaurant (no, not the Red Lobster) that served us an assortment of tasty seafood and I enjoyed some fried green tomatoes. But best of all was the company. It was so nice seeing them again! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

A Gator and a Skink

Hello again from Bank's Lake. Today was a beautiful day (and still is) with a nice breeze. If you can stay away from the trees where the moist, shaded spots are, you should be ok with the mosquitoes not being too bothersome. I visited my friend (who runs Bank's Lake Outpost) with Gizzy today and we sat outside on the bench chatting about this and that (my favorite topic.) That's us: My friend, I and Gizzy! (oh, and the guy who's taking the photo) As we were sitting there talking, she pointed out an alligator to me. I left Gizzy tied up to the bench for a minute, while I walked on the dock to take a closer look. My camera doesn't have a very strong zoom lens, so I had to crop the photo to see it better: Just double-click on the photos to make them bigger and that should help. Wile I was out there by myself (without the dog) I took a few photos of some water lilies. They are all over the lake now and from a distance look like big, puffy snowballs. You can even smell them way before you get close to them (especially today with a nice breeze going.) Their scent reminds me of a mix between a passion flower and a tuberose. They smell sweet with a hint of citrus. I just love it! We watched the fishermen pull up with their boats and walking to the Outpost to purchase their crickets and such. The worms were all gone because there was a big fishing tournament yesterday. I read the paper and suddenly noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye...here came along this little skink, it's a form of a lizard, and he ran right past us and back towards the Outpost because he knows where he can find some crickets ;-) It was another beautiful day and I couldn't resist taking a few more photos: There were quite a few people canoeing and kayaking today. Here we saw what looked like to me a father and son team, coming back in: As I drove away, I saw a couple having a picnic under a tree with their three-wheel motorcycle right next to them. You see a lot of motorcycles here because it's just such a beautiful place to ride.

Walking Buddies (with video clip)

This clip is from last year, in July, but since I didn't blog then, here it is now. A few of us always ended up being at the lake (Lake Irma) in the morning at the same time. Some walked regularly, others fished and I just did whatever Gizzy wanted to do because, after all, it's HIS walk. (Lake Irma, March,'09) We decided to have a little celebration whenever it's someone's birthday. This time it was Joe's 70th and I brought my camera along. This little clip was an accidental movie (July, '08) because I had never filmed before and somehow I recorded, when I thought I was just making a group photo. I think it's kind of cute, so here it is ;-)