Time for a Change.

So have I always been into fitness? Well yes, sort of. But 2 years ago I got on the scale and realized I weighed MORE than when I was 9 months pregnant!! What I was doing to try and lose weight was not working. I DECIDED to make some changes. I changed my workout routine. I changed my nutrition plan. I COMMITTED to a healthy lifestyle. And guess what? It worked. Was it easy? Depends. It required commitment. Once I made the commitment, the rest fell into place.
Team BeachBody has what I need to stay on track. Workouts, Shakeology, Support.
BeachBodyCoach.com/txsjd

Love to Cook!

Well I thought everyone knew that I love to cook. Apparently not. I had a nice conversation last week with someone I have know for YEARS. A professional acquaintance. We were talking business and sort of wandered off onto events of our lives. I never knew that she lived all over the world- her dad was in the military. She never knew that I love to cook!

Well anyway about me and my love of cooking. For many years now I have wanted to go to a cooking school in Italy. I actually had made arrangements to go a couple of years ago to a school in Tuscany with my husband and 2 other couples. But they changed their minds and so we (Bryan and I) ended up not going. That always bugged me. So anyway, last year I decided I STILL wanted to go to Italy to learn to cook. Bryan said "great but you can't go alone. Find someone to go with you". Well I did. Bryan is going with me!!

So I have planned this entire trip myself. Went on the internet and found a nice looking school in Modica, Sicily. We will have a week there and a week to tour around Sicily. We decided to spend all of our time in Sicily rather than run like crazy people trying to see everything like Rome and Venice (which I have seen before when I was a kid. But I have never been to Sicily)
Why Sicily? Well because it is someplace different. And my grandmother (my dad's mom) was born in Sicily. In Saint Agata di Militello to be exact. We are actually going to spend 2 nights there at a Bed and Breakfast. How cool is that? My grandmother came to this country via Ellis Island in 1911 at the age of 10. Giuseppa Valore. Along with her mother Maria Antonia Guglielamotta and 4 sisters and one brother. The youngest (Teresina or Tessie) was one year old. The others ranged in age from 4 to 15+.
I remember most of my gram's sisters. Aunt Tessie, Aunt Katie(Concetta), Aunt Genny(Angela), and Aunt Mary(Maria) and Uncle Charlie(Carmelo). I don't remember Biagina. Of course I never met my great grandmother or great grandfather Biagio Valore.

I remember when I was a kid going into New York, Queens or Brooklyn, I'm not sure. But I do remember the wonderful food we got to eat!!! Mama Mia!

I have often wondered if I have any relatives over there. I must. The story is that once my great grandfather got to this country he decided he did not like it. He was a shoemaker and back in Sicily in his town he was an important person. In New York, he was a small fish in a big pond. He wanted to go back! My great grandmother after having traveled all that way with 4 kids on a ship (probably in steerage class or worse!!) told him she would NEVER get back on a boat again and if he wanted to back to Sicily he could, but she was staying in America. So he left!!! That is the story I was told. So more than likely I have distant cousins there.

We leave tomorrow. San Antonio to Dallas to London to Catania. The past 3 days have been crazy trying to get everything ready to leave. Pay bills, take care of gymnastics stuff, put together important papers, instructions, etc. (just in case we don't get back!). But now I think I am all ready. My suitcase of course is maxed out. Just under 50 pounds. I did go back and remove quite a lot of stuff. But not the shoes. My God. You can NEVER have too many shoes. Shoe priority. Took out 3 outfits, a sweater, sweatshirt, snacks, books, and various other items to assure adequate shoe space. NEVER too many shoes.

Cooking school on Sunday. I tried to add a link to the school but now sure if it will show up. But if anyone is interested in where we are going, here is the URL: http://www.lovesicily.com/

So Buon appetito and Ciao for now!

Bells on my toes

(Dec. 19, 2010) 

So every year I go through my ritual of obsessive traditions. Not really obsessive I guess. Just some things I do every December as Christmas approaches. I used to bake like a fool. Cookies, pies, cakes. But I found that for the most part, I ended up eating it all! Then I asked myself "why do I do all this holiday baking?" The answer: because that is what my mom always does. Hmmm....forget that! Now I bake two types of cookies and that is it! And most of them I give away.

But the traditions I still keep:  I watch "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" EVERY YEAR since I got it as a gift when it first came out. I have since upgraded to the DVD version. I don't care how many times I watch that movie, the squirrel scene kills me.

When my kids were younger and still living with us, we started doing jigsaw puzzles. I have 2 that I pull out every year. A Times Square New Years Eve one, and the one I started just tonight- Santa with his bag of toys. A 500 piece round puzzle. I LOVE puzzles. All kinds. Word puzzles, jigsaw, you name it. Except Sudoku. Hate it. Can't spell it. Maybe because I can't do it. Anyway I start that Santa puzzle and it becomes my mission. My obsession. I have to keep going back to it. Kind of like a good knitting project. I will work on it until it is done.  So when I finish it (probably tomorrow!) I will let it sit on the table until we have to eat at that table. Then I break it all up. And No, I don't leave any of the pieces together so it will be easier next year when I open it up again!

But the tradition that I have had for the longest time, and it is just MY tradition (no one else in my family or that I know does this) is that ever since I was a Freshman in High School, I have put bells on my shoes. I love the sound of the jingle, jingle with every step. It helps me keep the spirit of the season in mind. And besides, it just sounds cheerful! So that is a lot of years with bells on my toes.

So those are my Christmas traditions. I wonder sometimes if anyone else does the same thing with the bells.....