Hiking with Chihuahuas

I spent the Memorial Day weekend in Signal Mountain, Tennessee (a Chattanooga suburb) where my sister recently moved. It was great to see her new home and be with family for a few quiet days.

I LOVE my sister’s new neighborhood. In fact, I’ve now got a serious case of neighborhood envy. There are lots of hiking opportunities within a few blocks of her house. We took advantage of one of the trails – and took the doggies. Hiking with chihuahuas was a first for me.

With a bit of coaxing, Bunnie was able to get little Mukti out on Rainbow Lake dam with her. But, she wasn’t having ANYTHING to do with this – the swinging bridge!

Her companion, Sandy, was even more reluctant. There’s just something about not having solid ground under ones feet that turned these two totally off.

I really do believe that even if we had completely disappeared on the other side of that bridge, the dogs would have stayed rooted in place. Having pity on our furry friends, we only went over far enough to get some mid-bridge photos.

Finally, on the way back to the house, we took a detour to the scenic overlook – a mere five or six blocks from home. This is a view worth moving cross-country for. I’m counting the days until I can experience it again!

Fat pants!

I haven’t talked much about my weight loss campaign lately. I guess that’s because it’s going well, and there really are no issues. It might be more accurate to say there weren’t any issues. I’m gettin’ issues.

It’s my clothes. They are – er, uh – too big. When the weight first started coming off, I cleared out all of the very biggest things. Hauled ‘em to the Goodwill. That left a lot of stuff hanging in there! But, I’ve been ruthless. About every ten pounds, I evaluate things and get rid of some more items. Suddenly, I realized I had nothing to wear. Well, not much.

So, I went out and bought about a dozen linen shirts and 7 or 8 pairs of pants in a smaller size. That worked for a month or so. Then, I began to notice the butt was getting saggy on the pants, and the shirts looked like maternity tops. Hmmmm…time for more new stuff. This week I did it again…bought a whole new wardrobe in the next smaller size. I don’t have time to comb the thrift stores. I barely have time to whip into JC Penney and grab a handful of what I hope will fit. This is getting expensive!

I’m hovering very close to the halfway mark in this little project. I’ve got a few more sizes to shrink. I guess I should just look at it as an investment in my health and be glad I’m not going in the opposite direction!

Oh…and I am most chagrined that in these smaller sizes, elastic waists are becoming harder and harder to find. I haven’t zipped anything in probably a decade or more! It was intimidating to slip into those zippered pants this week. You don’t realize the full impact of gaining a lot of weight until something specific hits you right between the eyes. At least I don’t. Going from elastic to zippers was one of those watershed moments. Part of me was glad to be leaving the Dowdy behind…but the other part of me was a little intimidated to give up the comfort and room. I guess it’s a small price to pay!

Rising Fortunes

Sunday evening I made the short journey over to Tunica, Mississippi to meet up with an old, dear friend who was here on a gambling junket. Karen and I have lost money together in more casinos across this country than I can even name. We were brought together by my former job, which took the both of us to the far corners of the United States. And, being betting girls…we always took advantage of the “local color.”

So, Sunday night she played blackjack while I fed the machines. Neither of us did particularly well. We enjoyed a lovely steak dinner (comped by the house) and caught up on our families and gossip. Eventually, we wandered back to our hotel in the wee hours. A little poorer, but richer for the experience.

No matter when I get to bed, I always wake up at the same time. 6:30 a.m. It’s a sickness. Karen was still zonked, so I freshened up and went back down to the casino to kill time before we were to meet for breakfast. It’s more fun to play in the mornings, because there aren’t many people around, and you can pretty much play any machine you wish. I love the “Wheel of Fortune” machines. So does everybody else. In the morning, they are nearly always available. They consumed a couple of twenties in short order. Bummer.

I wandered here…and wandered there. Nothing. Finally, I just chose a random machine and poked a twenty into it. Hmmmm…it was a “live one.” Before I knew it, my twenty had grown into seventy bucks! Not bad for a few minutes play. This was a “ten times pay” machine. That means, if the little “ten times pay” oval shows up on the payline, along with two other matching symbols, you get ten times whatever those other two would normally pay. If you get TWO of those “ten times pay” ovals, then you get ONE HUNDRED times the normal payout. So, I’m hitting the spin button…and hitting the spin button…and…and….

One Ten Times Pay oval pops onto the payline. Then another! And then a red 7! Lights started flashing! Bells started ringing! I frantically looked for the payout chart that shows what red sevens are worth. 100 coins. Quick…do the math! Lesseeeee…100 quarters = $25.00 right? So, 100 times $25.00. Can it be that I just won $2500!!!!? You betcher bippie! 2500 smackers, baby! Right there in my palm! I can’t tell you how much FUN that was! Just plain fun.

My payout was completed just about the time we were due to meet for breakfast, so I showed up wearing the classy jackpot necklace they gave me…and stashed my winnings in the purple velvet pouch. I would have bought breakfast for Karen, her brother and his wife, except they’re comped for everything…so I actually made it home with ALL of my winnings! What an amazing morning!

Sad, sad day….

I’ve known this day was coming for quite a while now. I have two part-time staffers over the age of 80. One of them has had health issues that have seriously affected his ability to do his job. I kept hoping he would catch on and realize it was time to hang ‘em up. But, of course, he didn’t.

Things have gotten progressively worse these last few weeks. To add more stress, we are over-budget on staff expenses, and we’ve been asked to find ways to save. My guy was the first logical choice. I hate it. My boss hates it. My boss’ boss hates it…and even the guy above HER hates it. But, it was inevitable.

So, today, three of us met with him, and our executive director told him the bad news. Unfortunately…he cried. (So did we!) I feel like I’ve squashed a kitten! And, I’m worried that this might be the beginning of the end, as frail as he has become.

What a crappy thing to have to do. I’m not very happy this afternoon. That makes at least two of us.