Playmates

Today's Beautiful Thing is having someone to play with--even if he's a little immature, hyper and drives you a bit crazy. :)

Welcome Ace!

Waiting

Today's Beautiful Thing is anticipation. Ace will probably be here in an hour or so. In a couple of hours we'll know if he's ours or not, but for now, I savor the joy of anticipation.

Atticus buddy, Lulu may have a stand-in for you in the friend department. I know you wouldn't be jealous because it wasn't your way. I think of you and smile tonight because I know the new little guy would make you happy too. In fact, I picture you with your guardian angel wings, possibly being the one who orchestrated the match. I miss you and I hope you are well.

Good deeds

Today's Beautiful Thing is is doing a good deed. The people who run rescues, work at shelters, train therapy dogs, etc, are the best kind of people. One particular lady named Liz, is doing the work of angels with her wonderful dog and cat rescue.

Ace!

Today's Beautiful Thing is a little French Bulldog named Ace. Thursday night the owner of the rescue is going to come by, check out our yard, talk to us, and see how Lulu and Ace get along. If everything goes well, we'll have a new member of our family Thursday night. We are very excited!

Chicken Salad

Today's Beautiful Thing is a great big chicken salad. I had a huge pile of romaine lettuce, chopped tomato, cukes & onion, along with 1/8 of an avocado (one fat exchange), 3 ounces of chicken breast, some non-fat salsa, non-fat sour cream and 5 baked tortilla chips for the crunch. It was dee-licious!

Diet Update: 23 pounds in 18 weeks. My pound-a-week goal is working just fine.

Knitting Supplies

Today's Beautiful Thing is new knitting stuff. My friend Rox (1st row-second from left) taught me how to knit at the conference in Ohio/Kentucky last month. Joann's just so happened to have a sale this weekend, so I bought new #7, 13" bamboo knitting needles and two packages of matching green, blue, teal, beige and brown variegated (is that what they call it?) wool yarn. I can't wait to start practicing. This week is busy. Probably next weekend.

Sweet!

Today's Beautiful Thing is a handful of spiced gumdrops. I'm particularly fond of cinnamon-red and yellow--I have no idea what flavor they are--spicedrops.

TV Time

Today's Beautiful Thing is spending a few hours vegging out in front of the TV. I don't do it often, but today I needed it. Watched an hour each of King of Queens and That 70's Show and the movie Family Man.

Just in Time

Today's Beautiful Thing is getting everything baked and having just enough time to get dressed and arrive on time for a change. :) Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Friends. I'm thankful for all the Beautiful Things in my life, friendships most of all. (Pictured: Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle, Cheesecake with cherry topping (Low fat!) and pumpkin pie, natch.)

Gingerbread!

Today's beautiful Thing is the smell of ginergerbread baking. Bonus Beautiful Thing: the taste of hot gingerbread fresh out of the oven. :)

Bully Kisses

Today's Beautiful Thing is a kiss or two from Lulu. :)

ETA: Lulu's eyes look awful and stained. It's not because we don't wipe them (several times a day) but because she has allergies and they are so drippy this time of year. The eye cleaners just irritate her eyes (and make them tear up more) and the problem gets worse.

Old is New Again

Today's Beautiful Thing is wearing clothes I haven't been able to wear in a while. I wore some cute old jeans yesterday and some old work pants today. The work pants were actually a little bit baggy. I'd forgotten what that felt like. Go me!

Bully Snores

Today's Beautiful Thing is a snoring Bulldog. Lulu had a great time at the dog park today and she is fast asleep. :)

A new look

Today's Beautiful Thing is a new comforter set from Overstock.com. We've been in our house 13 years and it needs updating. My red lamps, ruby sheets and black frames will still look nice with this new set, and I'm thinking of painting the plain white walls a nice warm taupe color. Then, all we need is new window treatments since we got a new window a few months back. Isn't it pretty? It comes with all those pillows and shams. :)

(secret) Birthdays

Today's Beautiful Thing is J. It's her birthday today. She tried to keep it a secret, but we wouldn't let her. She's just too special for that. Happy Birthday J!

Double-Take

Today's Beautiful Thing is the fun of making people do a double-take. I always straighten my hair before I go to the hairdresser to make it easier on her. Naturally, I get comments from people seeing it straight for the first time.

Writing

Today's Beautiful Thing is writing. I'm making slow but steady progress on chapter one. The butterfly photo is inspired by a line I wrote last night that I particularly like. Probably a darling I'll have to kill later, but oh well. Embrace the joy when you have it, that's what I always say.

The protagonist gets a telepathic message from her aunt, who is near death. Here's the line: I felt a weak flutter of recognition in my mind, small and soft as butterfly wings.

An E-mail from Dad

Today's Beautiful Thing is getting an e-mail from Dad. He lives far away and he's a very busy person, so we don't talk much. I e-mailed him for his birthday and he sent me a long reply. It made me happy. (I don't have a scanned picture of me and my dad, so here are my cousins Kari and Kristy with their dad, Terry. Kari was beautiful 7-7-07 bride.)

Walking

Today's Beautiful Thing is walking every night. Some nights (like tonight) I really don't feel like walking, but I'm always glad I went once we get a few feet from the driveway. Pictured: Lulu giving us the "Lets go!" face. Off I go!

The perfect gift

Today's Beautiful Thing is finding the perfect gift. My friend C's birthday was 10/29, but I knew I wouldn't see her till Thursday 11/15. I went shopping today and found these adorable PJ's. They are perfect for her. Since it's her big Four-Oh, I also bought her a more mature gift, some pretty note cards with matching envelopes and seals with a "C" on them. But the PJ's are my fave.

Iowa's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

Today's Beautiful Thing is 3 hours of political speeches by the Democratic candidates. (Yes, I am a political geek.) The hubby and I enjoyed watching all the speeches--though we missed Edwards because we tuned in late. We'll be looking for the reruns on CSPAN. :)

Simple Dinner

Today's Beautiful Thing is the simplicity of cereal and fruit for dinner. The hubby picked up a couple of little McDonald's hamburgers (extra pickles please!) for himself, but I had Special K (the one with the chocolate bits!) and raspberries. It really hit the spot. :)

De La Rosa Mazipan

Today's Beautiful Thing is one of my favorite candies, De La Rosa Mazipans. You can find them in stores that sell Hispanic foods. They are seriously yummy!

MOM Time

Today's Beautiful Thing is doing something for someone else--Mom. While I am happy with my new plan for ME time, it is also important to remember that others also need my time. I'm always happy to give time to my fabulous mom. (Pictured: Mom and my niece a couple of years ago. I need new pics of Mom.)

Me Time

Today's Beautiful Thing is making time for myself--'cuz I'm worth it! :) My new plan is to get everything done before I sit down at the computer, that way I have 2 hours of uninterrupted computer time every night. An hour to answer e-mail and play and an hour to write. Go me!

Warm and Cozy

Today's Beautiful Thing is my new velour sweatsuits. I got a sweet deal (both pieces for $19.99) so I had to buy two sets, right? I don't know which I like better, chocolate or olive. :)

Sale

Today's Beautiful Thing is Armstrong's Fall clearance sale. We picked up a couple of half-price flats of flowers (mostly pansies) and some Halloween decorations (a welcome mat, A Beautiful black raven and 2 raven babies) for 70% off. Bonus Beautiful Thing: even with the time change, the hubby still got them all planted. The front yard is a beautiful sight!

Pretty Dresses

Today's beautiful Thing is buying two pretty dresses just because I liked them. Bonus Beautiful Thing: the hubby liked them very much too. :) (If they were twirly dresses, like the kind these little girls are wearing, I'd be twirling with them. But, alas, they are straight. )

Cookie Recipes!

Today's Beautiful Thing is this website with many cool holiday cookie recipes. My aunt sent me the link today because I bake cookies for family and friends every year. Maybe I'll find a new recipe to add to my list of annual favorites. :) I hope you do too.

Yummmm

Today's Beautiful Thing is leftover pizza. Ordering pizza is our Halloween tradition. (We get too many trick or treaters to worry about cooking.) Today I worked it into my diet by eating one slice with a large green salad & non-fat dressing. It was dee-lish. And I'm up to 20 pounds lost. Go me!