A Very Social February

Every once in awhile, Layne goes on a dieting kick.  He is on one now.  He starves himself into losing 20 pounds, rejoices over it for a day or two, then begins to delight in putting it all back on.  We are in the losing cycle at present.  Since I have 10 extra pounds that I've been thinking about losing for some years now, I decided to join him in his dieting efforts.  So we have come up with a system:  we eat breakfast, then only one more meal between 2:00 and 3:00.  Nothing but drinks after that.  I have to say that the pounds do drop off under such a routine.  My plan is to lose just a pound a month for this year so that I have some hope of keeping it off.  So far I'm ahead.  But once Layne goes off his diet, I may have a harder time.  We will see.

A little challenge to our eating plan comes up when we eat with friends.  Which we have done a lot of this month.  We've served dinner for our missionaries, our local CA friends, and several other groups.  I continue to be surprised by the social activities we find ourselves indulging in here on a very regular basis.  This is a social, friendly place like no other I have experienced.  Our CA friends, Chris and Hedy Eyre, came for lunch this week, on their way to Twin Falls, to visit their son, Adam.  They are quality people and a joy to be associated with.  It was a short, but lovely visit.  I'm happy that we are on the way to other places people want to go to.  It seems like we often get visitors on their way to someplace else.

I don't think I mentioned before that not long ago I went in for a yearly physical where they took my weight and height.  "Five feet four and a half inches," the nurse informed me.  Hum.  I'm supposed to be five feet six inches I told her.  Firmly she assured me that her measurement was correct.  I've lost one and a half inches!  That puts me in a whole new weight category!  Hence the weight loss discussed above.  Here you see me with Chris and Hedy.  I look pretty short, don't I?  But keep in mind that Hedy is six feet two and Chris is slightly taller.

Among the many dinner and lunch dates we have had was one with my neighbor and buddy, Carol Wintersteen.  She wanted to take me to lunch for my birthday.  Yes, I know it was in January, but this week was the first time we could get together.  And why not stretch a perfectly good birthday out for as long as possible?  So we enjoyed a Chinese lunch complete with a free Birthday dessert.  Not very good for the diet, but I didn't eat anything for the rest of the day.  Aren't I the disciplined one!  Here you can see Carol and me at the end of a delicious meal.

Our snow fall has been amazing this winter, and covered the ground for many weeks.  This past week brought lots of rain, finally washing all the snow away and revealing the dead lawn and plants below. How dreary the landscape has looked without its white covering.  But, we decided, for this year the snow is gone for good.  Then today a snow blizzard arrived.  We are under snow again!  What a wonder!  I'm sure it won't last as warmer weather is due, but what a fun, unpredictable winter it has been.

Lately I've been frustrated in my efforts to get any of my many goals met.  I have a whole list of things I want to accomplish.  But my mind has been made of mush lately.  "Just relax," my husband tells me.  So, for the last few days I have.  But my muddled mind is churning with a hazy view of what I should be doing.  How does one achieve the right balance between producing and relaxing?  I struggle with this, even now.  Perhaps I'll ponder this for awhile while I watch the snow fall.