Ahhhh.....

For our anniversary in March, the kids got us a dual control heated mattress pad. When we opened the box, I must admit we thought it was a nice gift, but just a little extravagant, especially after we saw the price on the invoice. Dad thought we should send it back, but I said let's give it a try...we don't have to use it if we don't like it. So I put it on the bed and thought those little wires running through the pad are going to be annoying to sleep on - kind of like the "Princess and the Pea" story.

Time for bed and I turn on both controls to 'high' before I brush my teeth. While I am brushing, Dad gets in bed and calls out to me "you're going to like this". I go to the bedroom and dad is enjoying the warm bed so I climb in and he was right....I really liked it. I had never put the flannel sheets on the bed this year and sometimes the sheets were so cold. When my feet are cold, I can't sleep - I rub them on the sheets for friction or hold them against Dad's legs but they just don't warm up. Finally I resorted to soaking them in hot water before bed which someone in the house thought was ridiculous but it did the trick. But since getting the mattress pad, so more soaking my feet. It is wonderful to have a warm bed.

But a word of warning - don't fall asleep with the control still set at 'high' because you will wake up in the middle of the night, sweating, and looking for a cool spot which you won't be able to find.

Thank you, kids, for the gift - we won't be using it much more this year but I am already looking foward to winter and those cold nights when I will be toasty warm!!

Not much news from PA

All right, it's time to write again. I have been hassled by my children for not writing - but it's because I haven't had anything to write about. I've been busy with church (YW), volunteer work, etc, but nothing exciting has happened. Still fighting the faux ladybugs.

I taught "Strong Women" at the nursing home on Monday and made a dollar. Didn't even pay for the gas to get there but it sure is nice to visit and talk to the women I've met. I must admit that my children are fodder for our talks - most of it good!!

I started a "Biggest Loser" group at church and we met on Monday. Four other women came and we talked about exercise, weight, and food in general and laughed (until we did the weigh-in). There is a pregnant women in our group so if our numbers are bad we will blame her. Did you know that Ben and Jerry's ice cream - Chunky Monkey - has four servings per container and that a container has 1200 calories? So as I sat on the couch and read and absently ate half the container, I consumed 600 calories!! Each one of them tasted so good!! Another woman at the meeting understood exactly what I said when I shared my experience with "bad" food in the house - instead of tossing it out, which would be wasteful, I eat it to get rid of it. I was brought up with the "clean your plate" mentality. I hate to waste food. We're meeting again on Monday and I said I would lose 2 pounds this week. I bought journals for everyone and we are supposed to record what we eat and drink. I'm only two days behind..... Wish me luck!

Here's my update on the Prevention exercise plan: 6 days last week, 3 days so far this week. Each day the exercises are adding distance and time so it's becoming more challenging. But I'm hanging in there.

Since American Idol honored Dolly Parton this week with her music, I think next week the contestants should all sing John Denver songs. That would be the best show ever!!