The Fifth Anniversary

I don't remember what the official gift of the fifth anniversary is according to the books of etiquette and tradition, but what John and I had for our 5th anniversary was Italian food.

Our official anniversary was Wednesday, but neither of us remembered it until Thursday. But it seemed like a good reason to go to an ultra nice dinner, once we realized we had a reason to celebrate. After all, we've been through some tough times already and it's a great thing to have a happy anniversary.

We went to Zazio's Restaurant, a modern-type Italian restaurant at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo.

It was yummy. Here's the pictorial!

They start you off with bread, crackers, a roasted head of garlic, olive tapenade and tuscan bean tapenade. Since I'm not eating much bread these days, they brought me some thinly sliced carrot ribbons and I enjoyed that with the spreads very much. I also had an arugula salad with mushrooms and parmesan ... the flavor of the greens came through so nicely.



My entree was Alaskan halibut with mussels and Yukon Gold potato slices in a white wine broth. Yum!


John had a rabbit sausage ravioli in a garlic cream sauce and a balsamic vinaigrette glaze. Very different! Full of ricotta and mascarpone cheese.


I was doing so great on my healthy eating plan up to today!

We kept thinking about Joe-Dad and wondering if he would like the food. He and Kathy and 2 other couples, – old friends of theirs – are staying up at the cottage this weekend. So we gave Joe a call and chatted.


We are the happy couple. We try to be.


Here is the Radisson in downtown Kalamazoo. K-zoo or "the Zoo" is a pretty interesting town. Much of the downtown is spiffed-up and well-kept (not mostly abandoned like Battle Creek's). It's only about a half-hour drive to downtown Kalamazoo.


Here's to 5 more years! I hope they are easy ones!

Not bad at all

I recently realized I've lost 20 pounds in about a year.

This time last year, I was wondering why the baby weight from the AJ-pregnancy wasn't coming off. It had come off pretty easily within three months of Stella being born, and I kept waiting for that to happen last summer . . . but it didn't. I was older, under more stress and just not losing it.

I joined Weight Watchers last September. For the third time. I'm one of those who quits and goes back, quits and goes back. I lost about 15 pounds before I quit; going to the meetings was cutting into my work time and I was gaining, so I gave up.

About 8 weeks ago, I got my determination back, and I've been working harder than ever. It's coming off slower now that I'm getting down into the lower weight ranges (it sure came off easily when I had A LOT MORE to lose). But even though sometimes I only lose a ½ pound a week, I will not give up! I'm also using a different Weight Watchers program. Before I did their Flex plan, the one where you count all the points of everything you eat. Since I'm not good with numbers and tend to estimate points, this was a downfall for me.

Now I'm on their Core plan, which is similar to, but not exactly like, the South Beach diet. You can eat all you need of certain foods and you get 35 points a week for treats. It is working much better for me. I'm still losing weight, but more comfortable and not starving.

Here are some pictures.

Last summer:



This summer:



In a world where it seems like I accomplish nothing, I guess this is nothing to sneeze at.

Wish me luck on losing even more!

"Up North" with our boy

John and I just spent a fun weekend at Glen Lake with A.J. Joe and Kathy stayed at our house with Stella. I think both kids enjoyed the one-on-one attention and a break from each other.

A.J. did great on the trip up. At some point along the way, he realized he was the only child with us and that made him happy. He didn't fuss at all the whole way there, but I can't say the same for the return trip.

Stella enjoyed her time with Papa and Grandma too. They took her everywhere ... for ice cream, to Kohl's, Menards, etc. And of course our house was in much better shape when we returned. It amazes me how efficient those two are at getting things done! They did a tremendous amount of stuff while we were gone, even with the high demands of taking care of Stella.

I remember having a lot of fun up north with Stella, before A.J. came along. So it was nice to focus on him for a couple of days.

He got right into the water upon our arrival.



We introduced him to one of my favorite places: Leland. I just love "Fishtown." I love the boats, the smell and coolness of the air, and the view of the Manitou Islands, which I hope to visit someday. It's always a favorite destination of mine when we're at Glen Lake.



John loves Leland for Carlson's Fish Market, mainly their fish paté and beef jerkey. We always go in there.


John, the classic car enthusiast, would appreciate me posting a picture of this split window Corvette:


I've been working on healthy eating, but I did indulge myself in some deep fried smelt, which John says are "deep fried minnows."



We went out for ice cream in Glen Arbor. That's John's Mackinac Island Fudge in a waffle cone.


Albert John had lots of fun on our last morning there at the Old Settlers Picnic Grounds:


It was a windy day when we left; the lake was very choppy so we didn't take out the boat.


Hope you enjoyed these pictures! Thanks again to Joe and Kathy for letting us get away!

Amazing boy with autism

This little 9 year old boy has autism, and up until a few years ago, he was nonverbal. Here is a video clip on his local TV station: David Millitello


Here he is performing on America's Got Talent: