Happy Fourth of July

Tonight we went to the Fourth of July fireworks with our friends Chris and Dawn and their three kids. They are an adoptive family too. In addition to their family, they had two of their daughters friends with them. When we were walking in together, it would have been hard to determine which child belonged to which parent, if someone was watching from the outside. I have light hair and freckles. One of their guest had light hair and freckles. One might think I was the mother of the girl, but I was actually the mother of the two Indian girls.

Then, there was the very tall African American teen, and a smaller African American girl, and they weren't related at all. The young one was the daughter of my friends, and the older one was the friend of their daughter. And so forth and so on. If you were looking at the adults, it would be hard to tell which ones were married too. Two white ladies and one African American man, so which two are married, one of the white women and the African American man, or both women, or all three. LOL Just kidding. And then their oldest daughter who is a bi-racial person, who looks like both of her parents but not anything like her brother or sister. We always end up getting stared at when we go out together. Sometimes I feel like sticking my tongue out at people, but I usually just keep on walking.

Well, Happy Fourth to you and yours! Enjoy good healthy foods and moderate drinks. ; )
Jyotsna

Weight Loss

Something you should probably know about me.....I was nearly 80lbs over weight. I am shocked to write it. Last March, I hit an all time high when I went to the doctor and she said I was very close to being considered "obese" based on the measurements she took of me. She slide her finger across the chart and stopped at my weight, then ran her other finger to the number represented. I knew I had to do something. But wasn't inspired. Then, someone took a photo of my son and I together. I was so shocked, that I started Weight Watchers the next day. My anniversary for 1 year was just four months ago. I was told I could possibly lose all of the weight in 1 year. Ha! I did lose 50lbs though. I'm different looking, but I am not done yet. These 50lbs represent my divorce, massage therapy school, having to move out of my marital home with my young children and more. Losing these pounds has brought me to a very happy place. I lost some of those memories, though not all of them. I'm in a place right now where I am ready to start new. It's wonderful to feel this way. I do have 30-40 more pounds to lose. So how are you doing? Is it time to eat healthy foods again? Foods that revitalize your mind, spirit and body? I'm really thinking hard how to incorporate healthy food and exercise into my daily life to lose the balance of my weight. Weight Watchers was good for getting started. Now I've got to do the rest on my own. Will you join me?

New House....

Our new house....


Well, I need to do a little catching up. We moved into a new house in January (actually rented in Jan, but moved everything in March). We are in the city again. It's good and bad. There are parks and sidewalks, and neighbors, and that is very nice. Most of my neighbors are terrific. And I did pick a house that has a very large corner lot. It took us weeks to get used to the street lights outside. It was like day light inside the house. But now we think nothing of it.

It's nice to enjoy the simplicity that we have been living for a few years. Things are too cluttered, except for my room. And that is about to change. I have a garage (carport) sell planned with a neighbor, and we are going to set up our wares and put up signs, advertise, and try to get rid of everything we don't want or have room for.

Once we do that, it's Craigslist or Freecycle for everything else. I love my simplicity, and it seems the kids are getting into the groove too. Ravi is honestly having a harder time parting with things that are his though. He wants to save everything for his son. He's 14, so that's going to be a while. ; )

Our lives are really starting to settle down and get into a normal routine for the first time since my divorce 6 years ago. I'm feeling very happy, and I think the kids are for the most part too. I started thinking about how much I want to be a foster parent, so I am going to explore the foster program here, to get trained. Maybe in another 6 months I'll be welcoming in a baby or toddler to our home.

Our home is close to the park, and to our favorite Pizza place. We walk many places, and my son takes his bike too.

I'll add photos to share our new house with you. These photos may not have our house in lived in look, but these were from March. Thanks!

Where have you been? : )

Hi there and so sorry I've been away for so long again. I'll try to post more frequently, and hope to hear from anyone who is reading my blog.

Lakshmi and Priya just had their birthday party (a sleep over) and they had a blast. Priya turned 11 this week, and Lakshmi will be 11 next in a few days.

The photos are from the slumber (birthday) party. Lakshami and Priya made hummus and spicy tortilla chips.