Saying good bye to January

Hard to believe January is coming to a close.  Hope u had a great month! The month left me with some more happy memories.

I worked on my New Year's Resolutions and lost 2 pounds!  Hurray I now only have to lose 8 more pounds by April 30th! to make my goal and hopefully get off the blood pressure meds! 

I am making progress on my second goal to spend less busy time and more quality fun time!!!  I started a painting for Terri at the Art Studio, and finished 26 scrapbook pages (22 at the crop and 4 at home), I made a few Christmas cards for next year and a few Valentines and I started crocheting myself a grannysquare scarf!! 
Hi-lites of the crops for me were winning a cricut cartridge in the raffle and spending time with my daughter, Paulette!! 

I walked to and from therapy twice this month so I definitely got some exercise it was a 20 minute walk one way so that totals 80 minutes of walking.  It's a start! and I do several exercises at therapy for  my back and shoulder.  I am also taking a yoga class at Chesapeake College. 

The TV show Alcatraz wasn't all that hot!  I took it off my agenda but I did see some good netflix movies this month including Water for Elephants (I read the book and still enjoyed it), Super 8, Midnight in Paris (typical Woody Allen film), The Guard (a real surpise! dry comedy, I loved it), Moneyball (another surpirse, I'm not a sports fanatic but loved this movie), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (enjoyed it).
TV shows that I enjoyed this month are Housewives of Atlanta and Beverly Hills, Judge Judy (always reminds me of my Mom), Divorce Court, Antique Roadshow, Jersey Shore (reminds me of my old friends from Philly), Kim Kardashian (I have no idea why I watch that dumb show) and I watched Luther a BBC detective show on netflix I don't like a lot of detective shows but this one is good!  

Had a checkup this month at my Cardiologist.  She sent me for a carotid doppler test and no problems were found!!  GOOD NEWS! 

Still reading Carribean - it's worth finishing but its a slow read for me and it weighs a top!!

Black headed gull front

Western Kingbird on fence

Cornell feeder watch is going good.  One day I had over 80 red-winged blackbirds in the yard.  LOVED IT!!  Other birding hi-lites included adding 2 new birds to my life list - received email regarding a black headed gull in Hunt Valley Maryland - the hunt was on and Bruce and I found the bird in the shopping center parking lot  - second alert sent us in search of a Western Kingbird.  Luckily we found it!!  These birding trips gave me an opportunity to do some photography and use my big 500mm lens!

Did a lot of cooking and eating this month! but I tried to keep it low calorie and healthy some of my favorite recipes for the month were: bacon corn chowder, spiced pecans, pear & blue cheese salad, clam chowder, Paulette stopped for lunch on our way to the crop and gave me a thumbs up on my red lentil soup, and Terri gave me a thumbs up on my bean soup! Bruce and I enjoyed our weekend dinner of Pork Chops, sweet potatoes, squash and green beans; I accompanied mine with a glass of apple cider yummy! 

Our dinning out included a visit to one of our old favorite Chinese restaurants in Annapolis, a new restaurant highly recommended in Easton, Maryland El Dorita where I tried a Peruian dish, sangria and flan for dessert.  Fish & chips at Rams Head shorehouse on Kent Island with blueberry streudel for dessert are you hungry yet?  and a nice meal at Ichiban including miso soup, port dumplings and a Philadelphia roll! yum-yum! 

Bruce and I also visited Friday Creek Winery in Owings Maryland and enjoyed tasting the wine and brought some home with us.  and that was fun!