Catching Up With Harper Doodle

Amazing how many pictures we take. Here are a few recent ones.

Artist at work:

Good oral hygiene is important. Bear takes note.

Hanging in the basket while we fold laundry.

Oh the hair.

New PJs

Ice Cream cones are yummy.

We went on the train at Travel Town.

We got new backyard equipment.

Harper likes to take selfies.

I can't remember who but someone gave us these ADORABLE Chuck Taylor's. They finally fit her so we use them as much as possible. CUTE!

Speaking of cute, I got a hot tip on a great Fall shirt from this awesome website: Julia's Bookbag (No relation to yours truly, but I know that Julia's mom from our childhood days on Maui.)

MEOW!

Fall In Los Angeles

First, replace the pine needles with brightly covered leaves, then replace the broom with a rake and you have the stereotypical Fall Fun Picture!

At the Aquarium

We bought a membership to the Aquarium of the Pacific in the July. We waited until today to back again -- less crowded, much cooler! Harper is still not quite as into the animals as we are, but it's a place to run about. Mostly her favorite thing at the Aquarium is to push her stroller. To be fair, that's her favorite thing anywhere we go.*

One of these days she'll be excited by these cuties.

We went to see the birds there, the Lorikeets. That was fun--you buy a little cup of nectar and they come eat out of the cup and hang out on your arms. Harper seemed to like the birds up close.

We only stayed a short time, then came home for nap time. The beauty of the membership is easy in/easy out. We'll be going back again soon I'm sure.

*I'd like to open a business which is simply a big open space (indoors with AC or outdoors with a big cover) and you charge parents with toddlers to come and push their own strollers. That's it. You could get fancy with a track they could follow, or just a free for all space. Or both! Why I'm not actually looking into this is beyond me...we could franchise it...

Return To Wii Fit - Snowball Fight!

My dear friend Jackie in Scotland (or as I know her best @JacMac30) commented on my recent post about the 5/2 plan and getting back in shape. She said: "well done you! I've dusted off the wii fit and have been enjoying the snowball fights once more ;)"

SNOWBALL FIGHTS!!!!!!!

I thanked her profusely as I hadn't thought about that in about two and a half years and it's just what I've been needing for some additional core and leg work on top of walking.

Kurt had to find/dig out the Wii Fit Plus disk and this morning I retrieved the WF balance board, scraped out the very dead batteries and fired the whole thing up. WOW am I out of shape. (This is not a surprise, by the way.) But it felt good to do the crazy chicken flappy thing, the obstacle course (gotta to get that jump mastered again), the skateboarding (oooh my neck gets so stiff!) and the snowball fight. There was much muscle memory but muscle fitness was lacking. Can't wait to start approaching my high scores again.

Funny thing was, in the couple of days before finding the disks, I was trying to remember what the snowball fight images even looked like. I couldn't do it! Amazing how memories get buried like that.

Here's a screen image I found on the interwebs.

I had actually forgotten all about the skateboarding game until Saturday when we were watching Yo Gabba Gabba and Tony Hawk was on doing some sweet moves. I got doubly excited remembering how well I used to do with the skateboarding. So aside from the stiff neck, that was super fun to return to this morning.

Wii Fit has not been updated in years, however. I don't know if there is a plan to update any of the courses or games, but that would be great as they can get old after a few weeks/months...

But thanks for the kick in the pants, Jackie! (And you know I don't mean "plastic"!)

OGG -- Days Gone By

My mom sent this to me recently and it brought back some great memories.

Going to the airport or just to town the back way was so much fun! Especially on days when the top was down on mom's red Bug. Those planes would be right over our heads. Awesome.

I Want To Be Pen Pals With Emma Thompson

I could have said, "I want to meet Emma Thompson" or "I'd like to work with Emma Thompson" and both of these are true (and both are not outside the realm of possibility). But being a pen pal is different. It is about creating a relationship with someone who is a stranger and who lives far away.

Now of course, Ms. Thompson is not exactly a stranger. She's an award winning movie star. I can read all about her all over the interwebs, but I hardly do. I prefer to watch her movies and to see her on talk shows when possible. I admire her talent and style and humor...but wait, all this should be in my opening letter.

Dear Ms. Thompson,

I would like to be pen pals. My name is Julia and I live in Los Angeles. I am married and have one daughter, her name is Harper, she's almost two and she's adorable. Okay, all mom's say that about their own kids and it's always true. I'm originally from Hawaii and moved to LA for college and to work in the movies. I love to travel and have been so lucky to do a lot of it, sometimes for work, mostly for pleasure. My favorite country is Italy. The food! The language! The wine! The scenery! Ireland is a close second. So green and the people can be so kind.

I'm looking forward to seeing all your upcoming movies and I hope you'll write more about your screenwriting work. (I loved your diaries on Sense and Sensibility.)

I'll end here as this is harder than I thought! I'm nervous just writing this simple letter. But my desire is sincere and I do admire your writing talent, your acting talent and your no-nonsense style and humor.

All the best to you and I hope you'll write back.

With affection and aloha,

J.

There. That should do it.

HA!

Weigh In Wednesay - Going Down!

Woohooo!

My weight today is 183. I started this at 192. That makes nine pounds total lost so far in the last six weeks!

The Fast Diet is working as it should, slow and steady. I have realized though, that I'm taking a bit too much advantage of the "eat whatever you want on regular days." I still eat too much bread, not enough green stuff. Even if I'm eating whole wheat pasta, I do still like to toss in some broccoli or spinach or something. Get the green!

I'm pleased as punch!

Weigh In Wednesay - Maintain

I'm still at 185 this week. All good. The key thing is that my eating habits are changing for the better. Fast days are getting easier and easier. And on regular eating days, I'm now finding I just don't really care about snacking. I go to the kitchen but then am not pleased with anything there is to eat so I get some water and leave. Also on regular days, as I'm taking a bite of something I'll suddenly panic and think "Should I be eating this today!?!?" I am becoming more and more conscious of what I eat. 

But all that didn't stop me from having a milkshake for lunch yesterday.

 

 

 

Harper's First Art Piece

She went to town with new markers from her Big Papi.

Books Books Books!

My bedside bookstack is getting out of control. But in a good way.