A Shocking Before and After

Looking back to last year's blog entry about my New Year's resolutions made me feel pretty good...because, in 2011, I actually kept one of them...I lost weight.

This Post may be the most embarrassing one since yours truly wrote about eating dog biscuits back in a March post. But I've vowed to "keep it real" on the blog so I'm going to reveal some of the ugliest "before" pictures you have ever seen...me at 188.6 pounds. These photos are for mature audiences only so clear all children (and men!) away from the computer. Oh...and get ready to laugh...I did (after asking my DH why he didn't just shoot me when I looked like I did then).

Here I am in 2004...proving that Denial is a lot more than a river in Egypt. (I can assure you that no hot guys were honking at this big mama as she drove by!)

And with my sister Nancy in 2006...we were both heavy then but doing a really good job of kidding ourselves about it. After all, what are sisters for?

Here is yours truly with my friend Claudia in February 2010...at an Italian restaurant, of course. My waistline did not need one more ounce of pasta!

I saved the best for last...here I am dressed as a "wizardess" for our July 2010 Gourmet costume party...white is clearly not the best color to wear at 188.6 pounds.

Hmmm, maybe adding a jaunty little wizard's hat will improve the look...

NOT!

And with Nancy again in September of 2010. She had been on chemo for four years by then (she called it her "cancer diet") but I was still piling on the pounds.

I joined Weight Watchers in October of 2010 out of sheer desperation. After seeing myself as the obese white wizardess, I simply could no longer kid myself: I wasn't "big boned"; I was fat. And the program worked. By December 31, 2010, I blogged that I had lost almost 20 pounds...I was down to 170.

I think losing weight is definitely a mind game. You have to be ready to commit to changing your lifestyle. I still hate to exercise but, by staying with the program, I was finally wearing size 10 jeans in this September 2011 photo...with 30 pounds gone.

In November, as I struggled across the grocery store parking lot with a frozen fifteen pound turkey in each arm, it suddenly hit me that that was how much extra weight I'd been dragging around all these years...two whole turkeys worth!

And now, at 150 pounds, I look and feel so much better...

And am comfortably wearing my first pair of size 8 jeans...EVER! Even I can't believe that...I was a size 16 when I started this journey 14 months ago.

I still have another 10 pounds to go to get to my goal of 140...I'm 5'5" tall and that is the weight my doctor would like to see me reach. I eat completely differently now and know that 2012 will be the year I'll make it to goal. When I do,  I'll celebrate by sharing the "After" photos...

I can't wait to write that post!

p.s. Thanks Mary Elizabeth...world's best WW leader ever...you and I will have all the hot guys in Maine running after us soon!

Brownstones and Bagels

Whenever we return from visiting my son, Rob, and his family in Brooklyn, fellow "Mainers" invariably ask me, "So, when is he moving back to Maine?" or "Why would they live in Brooklyn when they could live in Maine?' or simply, "Brooklyn ???"

Sometimes I get the sense that friends who haven't had the opportunity to explore Brooklyn, and get to know its amazing diversity of people and places, may think of it like this...

I  now  realize that part of the answer to why my son and his family love Brooklyn may be hidden in the photos I took last Saturday (sunny and 56 degrees!) as we walked through Park Slope with camera in hand...

through quiet early morning streets lined with brownstones...

each with a stoop and small garden in front.

"New York is the biggest collection of villages in the world.".

~Alistair Cooke

We loved exploring the amazing variety of shops that lined the streets on each block...

and admiring the window displays...

especially this one!

Since my DH had injured his foot playing tennis just before our trip (and we had a lot more walking to do!), I treated him to an hour of Chinese reflexology, acupuncture and hot stone massage at this shop. Can't walk down to the corner for that here in Maine!

While DH was having his feet rejuvenated with hot stones, I enjoyed an early morning latte on a bench at the Gorilla Coffee Shop right across the street...a perfect spot to just sit and watch the world go by on a Saturday morning in New York.

“People always think that happiness is a faraway thing … something complicated and hard to get. Yet, what little things can make it up.”

~ Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

On this corner, you could even have a hat made...just to your liking.

As we walked, I kept reminding myself to look up...each building we passed was a work of art displaying architectural details from days gone by.

And, on these last few days of December, a few hearty geraniums were still blooming in window boxes.

Where else but in Brooklyn can you rush from your traditional Chinese foot massage to buy a superhero costume...all on the same block?

Or stop in to buy a baker's dozen of the world's puffiest, crustiest, most delicious bagels, still warm...

...and find that the man behind the counter has quietly slipped a huge Black & White cookie into the bag for your grandson...at no charge? 

From Rob and Tomomi's neighborhood in Brooklyn, you can walk just a few steps down to the subway...

And, in less than 10 minutes, emerge to see this...

and this.

And where else can you see real subway art?

I think I now know why Ron and Tomomi have decided to stay in Brooklyn. It is not beautiful in the same way that Maine is...it is beautiful in its own way. And as our grandchildren grow up, they will experience the best of both of all worlds... the vast rocky beaches of Maine... the cherry blossoms of Japan... and the rich multicultural neighborhoods of New York.

How lucky they are!

"We'll leave now, so that this moment will remain a perfect memory...let it be our song and think of me every time you hear it.”

~ Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn



New Granddaughter, New Year

The highlight of our New Year's week was seeing our new granddaughter, Miyo Alice, who was born in Brooklyn on August 29th, just as Hurricane Irene made its way through New York City.

We brought Miyo (pronounced Mee-oh) a doll but, in this photo, I think she looks like a little doll herself.

 Miyo's first name is Japanese to honor her mother's heritage and her middle name is after my mother, her great-grandmother, Alice.

This is a photo that was taken of my mother as a baby in England in 1921. She is 90 now and thrilled to have Miyo Alice named for her.

Miyo with her mother, Tomomi...

 And her Dad, my son, Rob.

Miyo joins her oldest brother, Takanori, who, at age 7, loves Chess...

And subway trains...

And her 4 year old brother, Toshinori, who loves Thomas the Train...

Going to the playground...

And being with his new little sister.

We had a wonderful three days in Brooklyn and feel very blessed to have a healthy new granddaughter.

Happy New Year to all!

What Women Want?

It's Christmas night...time for women everywhere to reclaim their sanity after weeks of joyous exhaustion. Don't get me wrong...I love Christmas as much as the next person...but I think I like Christmas night even better. The frenzy of almost non-stop crafting, shopping, wrapping, baking, card-writing, cooking, dressing up, visiting, and eating is over for another year, but the best things, the peace and goodwill of the season, linger.

So, when we passed Santa leaving Maine in his big red pick-up truck tonight, I had very mixed emotions. The child in me didn't want to see him go, ever...but the exhausted woman in me wanted to open the window and yell,  "And don't let Rudolph hit you in the *** on your way out!"

Big, fat snowflakes were falling when we arrived home...a perfect end to a crazy-perfect day. With tummy and car uncomfortably full, I found myself thinking about what women (at least this one) really want as Christmas draws to a close for another year.

So, as the snow falls silently outside my window, and the house is finally still, here's my humble list:

1. I want to walk around wearing flannel, slippers, no make-up, and crazy hair for at least a week. I do not want to wear a sequined sweater or singing stocking cap for at least 51 more weeks.

photo from Mary Engelbreit website

2. I want my house back. I am ready to see every last pile of crumpled gift wrap gone. I want to wake up in the morning and fill trash bags to my heart's content. I want to walk from one end of a room to the other without tripping over bags, boxes, bows, candy canes, walnuts and elves. I want to walk into my craft room and not see this for 11 more months...

3. I want to gorge on salad and fruit. I do not want to be asked if I would like to try "just a little bit" of any of the following for at least 340 days: sugar cookies, egg nog, yule logs, baked brie, candied nuts, stuffed squid, chocolate-covered cherries, cheese balls, latkes, or pecan pie. It has taken me over a year on Weight Watchers to lose 37 pounds and I don't want one ounce of it back. I'm relieved that the annual holiday bacchanalia is over for another year...trying not to disappoint my (fantastic) WW leader, Mary Elizabeth,  is hard enough on a good week, a major challenge at the holidays.

4. I want to buy bins. I know it's crazy...I don't even need them...but when the Target flyer arrived in this morning's paper, there they were: colorful bins in all shapes and sizes, and, even, better, on Sale.  After saying I would never set foot in a store again after December 24th,  I have this insane compulsion to set my alarm for six a.m. (Target thoughtfully opens at 7:00 tomorrow for us after-Christmas women-on-a-mission-to get-their-homes-back), grab a Pumpkin Spice coffee on the road, and head the sleigh over to Target to load up on the latest accessories for the modern obsessive-compulsive.

5. I want my blogging time back. I have been so "wrapped up" in holiday preparations I've let my blog go and I miss it. I miss the creating, photography, and writing...but I especially miss my blog friends. I love nothing more than spending quiet time reading my favorite blogs, sharing comments, and being inspired by the amazingly talented women I meet in blogland. So I apologize to those Followers who wonder if I've dropped off the face of the planet (I haven't) and promise to do my best to reconnect with each of you in the coming weeks. My Sister's Cottage is here to stay.

Now that I've shared the Christmas Night confessions of a happy but holiday-weary woman, I'd love to hear from you. Are you sad that Christmas is over or anxious to get back into comfortable old routines?

This post is happily linked to :

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch