Happy Birthday x2!

The YaYa Sisterhood has not had a meeting since the Groove Walk in Holland on October 18, 2008. Way too long! The occaision that brought us out tonight was a matter of celebration! Two of our very own YaYa's have the same birthday! That would be our dear girls Bunny & Jamie.So, of course, we called an official meeting. This one took place downtown at 84 East. As usual, we carried on the ritual of the sacred object photo shoot. If you will recall from prior posts, we met at Blazers for the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics~there, we had the chapstick parade. The bonfire meeting at Jamie's included the secret ceremony of the Cabbage Patch doll head! When we went on the Groove Walk, it was Alex's black sheep that we immortalized. You can find all these posts in the Compass Pointe archives if you care to take a look. Tonight it was the little blue umbrella I plucked from my Thai pasta salad and the semi-nude hunky dude on Jamie's birthday card! We are easily amused...and we hope you will be too!




Before adjourning this evening, we decided to plan another party for Patricia's birthday in March and my 50th in May. Plus a cruise next year in March or April. I'm not sure we'll be able to share those pictures! Can you imagine what we could get into on a cruise ship for an entire week? Carnival....be afraid, be very afraid!

Add Two More To The Collection!

My client, writer Myron J. Kukla, gave me a copy of each of his books for Valentine's Day~authographed! I can't wait to read them because the titles alone are cracking me up! Listen to this...

Confessions of a Baby Boomer: Memories of Things I Haven't Forgotten Yet

AND

Guide to Surviving Life-The new 4,387 step guide to self-improvement.

If the books are anywhere near as funny as the titles, this will be a lot of fun! Thanks so much, Myron!

The other books in my autographed collection include:
Out of the air and onto the ground by Clarence Davids. I got the book from Joyce Vanderbent-Davids and she had Clarence autograph it for me. We still laugh at the fact that Tyler had to read it one saturday when he was in detention!

Tyler had Mike Coney as a teacher when he went to Cityside Middle School. So, when he was in school in Mexico, I got Mike's book to send to Tyler and he was gracious enough to autograph it. Tyler and I both read it twice. The book is called I've Passed This Way Before.

Then, of course, I have my cherished copy of Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. I wrote a post about it when Keith signed my book. I have a little cyber crush on him.Actually, I won a contest a couple years ago and got a one hour coaching call with him that was very impactful at that time in my life and resulted in my starting this blog...so, I guess, if you don't like my blog you can blame Keith Ferrazzi!

I'll let you know if I get anymore autographed books.

A Pound of Cure: 10% goal and beyond!

Finally, I hit and surpassed my 10% goal this week-I am 16 weeks into the process and 24 pounds lighter. My fitness assessment showed that I can bench press 495 pounds with my legs, 90 pounds over my head, do 25 pushups without stopping and 48 situps in 1 minute. My flexibility is in the excellent category for my age. I am only fair in the cardio rating for my age~that was a surprise because I've mainly been running, biking, and doing the eliptical so I would have thought I'd be further along in that area. I am going to have another appointment with a trainer soon to learn all the weight machines and to be put on a lifting regime so that I can do more firming, toning , and building muscle. That's my progress report so far.I set my final goal today with my Weight Watchers leader and set another 10% for an interim goal along the way. My goal, going into next week, is to reach that 25 pound mark.

The Path I Walk-Lord & Eternity

I'm back-tracking a bit. Two weeks ago we had a commitment service at VPM where we heard the testimonies of new members and had baptism service. I love to hear what people have to say about how God came into their lives. We talked afterwards about what it means to claim Jesus as Lord. Pastor Steve asked us to think about, pray about, and commit the areas of our lives that we have held back from allowing Christ to be Lord of. The big clue is to look for areas in our lives that are not going well...those are the areas that we are maintaining control over and not surrendering to God! I really found that opportunity helpful. To look and see where the chaos is running rampant and to ask Jesus to be Lord of that area, person, or situation. This past week was the last topic of our All-Church Teaching Series: Core Values. Here again, Pastor Steve got us to stop worrying or focusing on the details of heaven or hell~both real places, but whether or not the streets are made of Gold or hell is an actual lake of fire is not the most relelvant point. The more important concept is to make sure that you've made your reservation for heaven by being reconciled to God through Christ and to use the time we have here on things that carry an eternal weight: sharing Christ with others, loving others, and doing the things that are pleasing to God and build his eternal kingdom. We all get so busy that many times we fail to see the big picture~we only see the immediate issue before us at the moment. Time to look at where in our lives we need to surrender control to God and what we can do to further the cause of Christ. I remember reading this saying in my Grandma LuLu's old Bible years ago: Life on earth with soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

Celtic Women Substitute

I had planned to take some amazing pictures at the Celtic Women concert tonight but they looked through all the purses and confiscated any cameras until after the show~Damn! So, you'll have to settle for this quasi-Celtic pose with a pink mannequin in Macy's pre-concert. If you haven't seen the Celtic Women special that has been on PBS, you probably don't know who these ladies are. It would be worth doing some research on Google. They do a mix of Celtic and contemporary songs done in a Celtic style. They all wear elegant, feminine gowns, they are really beautiful, and the sets are always elaborate with art, lighting, an extensive percussion section, dancing and backup musicians and singers. Quite a production! Really special. They got two standing ovations from the crowd at the Van Andel. It was a full afternoon. After church I went shopping at River Town, then out to dinner at TGI Friday's. Believe it or not, we had a real Irish waiter! Accent and all. Cuter than all get-out and a big flirt! Then the guy who always waits on us when we go to concerts was there too-his name is Brad Wagbo and I'm going to name my next dog Wagbo after him just because I love that weird, quirky name. It's Swedish or some such thing.He always remembers us because we do the "festival of the shots" and we'll try anything! Then the concert. So, another fun weekend comes to a close. Back to old grind...

Valentine's Day 2009

The Singles by Design group shared dinner at the Kirby Grill, followed by bowling at Starlight Lanes in Grand Haven. A good time was had by all:

Week of Love~Day 7

 

Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue,

I'm lucky to know

Such great people as you~Woo Hoo! Cheesy, but true!

Hope your life is full of LOVE today and every day!

Happy 91st Birthday to my mom, Lillian Baker! You are one sweet Valentine!

Week of Love-Day 6

This is the case of the wandering hearts...We played Conversation Hearts Roulette at Body Perfections today-which is kind of like Magic 8 Ball only with Conversation Hearts-and here's how it turned out:

Week of Love~Day 5

How about a good read for Valentine's Day? Here are the books that made us feel the love:

Pretty much anything written by Nicholas Sparks~
A Walk to Remember
The Notebook
Nights in Rodanthe
Message in a Bottle
The Wedding
At First Sight

Danielle Steele:
Amazing Grace
Bittersweet
Irresistible Forces
Dating Game
The Cottage
A Good Woman

Barbara Taylor Bradford:
Three Weeks in Paris
Unexpected Blessings
A Sudden Change of Heart

Sandra Brown:
A Kiss Remembered
Led Astray
Seduction by Design

Catherine Coulter:
The Courtship
The Heiress Bride

Cecilia Ahern:
P.S. I Love You

Fern Michaels:
The Marriage Game
Up Close and Personal

Luanne Rice:
Dance With Me
Last Kiss

Nora Roberts:
Remember When
Rising Tides
Tears of the Moon

Of course, there are many more love stories out there that merit mentioning. So, please feel free to add your favs along with ours or mention other authors that write a good romance cuz it's nearly impossible to get too much love...Happy reading!

Week of Love~Day 4

 

Here's our list of romantic, sexy, aphrodesiac food and drink for your Valentine's Day menu:

Oysters
Strawberries
Cherries
Grapes
Champagne
Wine
Whipped Cream
Itallian Food
Hershey Kisses
Godiva Chocolates
Wedding Cake

Week of Love-Day 3

Once again, I have counted on the resident svengalis of love, who work with me at Body Perfections,to come up with this list of favorite love themed movies. Here are our musings:

Titanic

The Notebook

A Walk To Remember

Ghost

Somewhere In Time

Love Story

An Affair to Remember

Hope Floats

Love Actually

Fireproof

So, if you're thinking about spending Valentines Day at home, having a romantic dinner, one of these movies could be just the deal closer you're looking for! As a side, note, aren't you glad that, even with the recession slowing our biz a little, we are able to use our time constructively between appointments to make these lists?! We do amuse ourselves!Another sidebar-I personally found it highly amusing that most of the girls didn't know anything about the movie Love Story! That was such a big deal when I was in middle/high school~a classic for crying out sideways! And none of my girls knew anything about the movie, the book, or who the heck Ali McGraw is! Hey, remember when we all wore those dorky looking crocheted hats trying to look like her? Back in the day....

Week of Love-Day 2

~

Me and my compadres at Body Perfections came up with a list of love songs that we are currently in love with! Check out our Valentines Day/Springtime Love Playlist from the Body Perfections Girls:

This Kind of Love~Sister Hazel

It's Your Love~Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

I Could Not Ask For More~Edwin McCain

When You Say Nothing At All~Allison Krause

I Cross My Heart~George Strait

Come Away With Me~Nora Jones

Feels Like Home To Me~Dawson's Creek

Answer~Sarah McLachlin

Whiskey Lullabye~Allison Krause and Brad Paisley

She's Beautiful~Shane Minor

You can add your favorites to the list by leaving a comment. I'm sure there are many more great ones that we have not listed here. I hope you enjoy listening to a good love song today!

Week of Love~Day 1

Valentine's Day is coming, followed by Spring. Both make us think of love. For the next week, I am going to celebrate love in my posts. Feel free to add your thoughts and comments!

Love Quotes:
The only true gift is a portion of thyself.
~Ralph Waldo Emmerson
In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities.
~Janos Arnay
There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.
~George Sand
Love is friendship set on fire.
~Jeremy Taylor
The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.
~Wm. Shakespeare

Ahhh, Spring!

The sun is shining. The snow is melting. The birds are beginning to flit about.Little critters emerge. Love is in the air. And so is the scent of dog poop defrosting in the yard !We've not seen temps and sun like this for many moons. We're experiencing a heat wave in the 40's which is having a dramatic melting effect on the humongous piles of snow surrounding our house. As you can see, whenever the thaw takes place, we have a lakeside property for a number of days! Swimming anyone? Gunther sure likes it~prime field mouse hunting! This gives us all hope that we are on at least the homestretch of winter. It has been a long one! This is a welcome sight after an especially trying week! Hope springs eternal.The only thing I will miss is the skiing. I was hoping to go one more time this season. Maybe.

Rotsa Ruck!

Stopped at China Town in Zeeland on our way home last night for Chinese. Trev had Thai Pad, I had the chicken and vegetables with flied lice, and Tyler had Moo Shoo Beef. Forgot about our fortune crookies though until this morning. So, better late than never~ here's our fortune crookie wisdom for today:

Trevor~Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is.

Lana~If you do more than what you get paid for, then, in time, you will get paid more than what you do.

Tyler~We all have more in common than it seems.

Bathroom Crooners

Those of you who know me by now, know I'm obsessed with Youtube! These two girls are all over the place on Youtube and the other day while I was working out at Family Fitness, I saw these beauties on the Ellen show. They both work at a Chinese Restaurant and started out practicing their singing in the bathroom because they liked the acoustic in there. The girls call themselves Rin on the Rox. It's a play on combining their names. They are fantastic~take a listen! Wish I sounded so good in the bathroom...or anywhere for that matter!

Dear Doggie Diary~

Gunther here. It's 6:00 am. Surely it's not too much to ask to stay in bed this morning. I'm all comfy cozy with my dog-Patches-and just because my mom is a little on the chubby side, why do I have to go for a walk in this freezing cold weather? I know us dogs are supposed to LOVE going for walks but bUcK-it just pisses me off! Which is why I piddle on everything that protrudes 1/2 an inch or more along the route! You'd think she'd get the hint! Get discouraged! Go home! But NO! Doesn't she see all the dirty looks I turn around and give her? Doesn't she get it when I lay down and refuse to move any further? I poop five times in a row while crossing State street, always in the middle of the road, in the crosswalk, during the morning rush, so she has to dig plastic bags and papertowels out of her pockets and pick up what I'm puttin' down! In front of a whole line of traffic! I hold up the line of traffic! I stop traffic with my pooping! What's wrong with that woman? Why doesn't she get the hint? You'd think some concerned citizen, passerby type would report her for animal cruelty! Whew! Thank God that ordeal is over for today! Finally, she's in the shower getting ready for work. I can just lay here and read the paper~

8:00 AM. Here it comes, the "be nice to the kitties today" speech. Ho-hum! Fine. I'll act like I like those cats...but as soon as you shut that door, Mom, it's open season. Kitty tag! Head for higher ground all you feline types! Run, kitties, run! While mom is away, the doggies will play!

9:00 Kitty chasing arobics over for today. I'm worn out. Think I'll have some kibbles and water. Then settle in with my dog, Patches, for a little "cat nap"-that is, my nap after chasing the cats!

10:30 Time to bark at the UPS guy. It's not what Brown can do for me...it's what I can do for Brown-like scare the Brown out of him! Hey, dude, see the hair standing up on the back of my neck? Buddy, I mean business! That was exhausting. Nap again!

1 PM:

Me thinks me hears a mouse farting in yonder field. Time to bark! And bark! And bark! Gosh, I love the sound of my own powerful voice!  Time to drag my butt on the carpet. Okay-now to go through the trash...hope there's something yummy in there or at least a bunch of paper to tear up!

2:30 Up in the bay window. The daily stakeout. Bark at the neighbor kid getting off the bus. Bark at the runners. Bark at the mail carrier. Oh, yippeee~tomorrow is garbage day! The trash guy is my favorite!

3:30 Oh, good, mom's home! Great, we're going to the dog park! Lots of behinds to sniff there!

I sure hope mom doesn't try to get me to do all these obstacle course things and fetch a ball. Too much work. I'll just play dumb. It is kinda funny watching her try to get me to do it though...all the baby talk and dog treats! Humans sure act dorky! I don't think I'll ever get her trained!

5:00 PM-Hey, let's head home. It's dinner time. I've got a powerful appetite worked up from my hectic schedule!

Oh, good, Trevor's home. Maybe he'll take me hunting...or just pet me. That works. Thanks!

Hey, maybe lets do a little Guitar Hero...

9:00 PM-Mom's getting her jammies on. Time to study. Hope she pops some popcorn. I could use a snack. Oh, great, schoolbooks all over the bed. She sure goes to school a lot! We should put that on her tombstone. Doesn't seem to be getting any smarter though...Does a good job with the food, water and treats. That's a point in her favor!

11:40 Hurry up Jay Leno. I want to hit the rack! I'll wait until mom starts snoring like a freight train and then I'll hop up there and sleep on the pillow next to her. I sure hope mom never gets married again. I like my little spot on the bed. Some guy comes along I'll just have to bite him! Oh, well, I'll think about it tomorrow...time to count sheep~yawn.

Goodnight, Dear Doggie Diary~See you in the morning light!

~Gunther

A Pound of cure: The lowdown on liquids

Tonight at weight loss church we discussed the role of liquids in the diet. I think we all had a pretty clear grasp of that concept on Super Bowl Sunday! The new momentum plan, however, differs from the former guidelines in that research has found 6-8 oz. glasses of any/all liquids is what our bodies require to carry out daily function and processing needed for life. It is no longer required to be just water...however, water continues to be the beverage of choice, for so many reasons, including the fact that there are no calories or points in water. This is not the case with some of the liquids we listed and found the points values for. Some of the examples:
Cappuccinos and lattes can have anywhere from 1-8 points depending on the type of milk used, the syrups used, if they are sugar-free and/or fat free, etc.
Light beers are 2 points and regular beer is 3. One ounce of hard liquor for most drinks is 3 points-THEN add the points for the mixer on top of that!
Diet soft drinks are generally 0 points or 1 at most but the "real" thing can run you 3 or more points for basically no food value!
Milk is 2 points for non-fat(8oz), 3 for 2%, and 4 points for whole milk.
We even found out that coffee-normally 0 points-actually has .5 points for a cup. So if you are a person who drinks a lot of coffee(like me), you might be racking up some unaccounted for points there...hmmm, naw! Denial sets in. The list went on and on but you can think of beverages on your own and look them up in a WW book or calorie counter. You may be surprised!
We debunked the old notion that water fills you up and makes you eat less and feel fuller-false! If you drink water with your meal, however, it will have that effect and we discussed the fact that many times we eat something when actually we are thirsty instead of hungry. We also talked about the benefits of water. Water helps us flush waste products from our bodies, gives us fluid for bodily functions such as digestion and sweating, helps with the complexion, helps with constipation(TMI?), is good for metabolizing vitamins and minerals within the body, helps regulate temperature and keeps our blood volume stable. I am very close to my 10% goal but still fighting my way through this plateau. I lost .4 lbs this week. Still a loss I tell myself! Next week the booklet we get at WW is all about plateaus. More on that then. I also get 4 sessions with a trainer included in my gym membership at Family Fitness. I'm having my initial consultation on Saturday so I'm hoping for some practical suggestions to get moving again. This coming week is the first week in a long time when I haven't had some big eating "event" so maybe I can get ahead...stay tuned!

Happy Groundhog's Day!

I could really care less what the verdict is today. I am living in a state of resignation regarding all things meterological! I don't think the Groundhog deal means anything. But the chubby little guy is endearing nonetheless~look at that face!

SUPER Bowl Par-Tay!!

Thanks again to Scott Arndt for hosting one of the best Super Bowl parties I've ever been to!Scott, I love your house! It is the perfect place for entertaining. We all felt very comfortable. The hospitality was wonderful. Such a great turnout and the food was fab on both floors~plus, the company was the best! Bruce Springsteen was in fine form at half-time and the last 15 minutes of the game were heart-stopping!! Barack Obama and Matt Lauer had some pretty tough competition for an audience tonight!I especially liked the way people were lobbing mini-footballs and imitation "rocks" at each other...although, it got a little intense there at the end. O, well, good fun and good times!

Finally, Facebook!

OK~I did it...you can now find me on Facebook. I am using my complete name to avoid confusion with the other Lana Bakers(Scary!). Look me up under Lana Mae Baker.

Also,I signed up for Yahoo!IM: my yahoo account is baker.lana@yahoo.com-let's chat!

I'm sure there will be more to come. Trevor, God bless his little heart, was the first to friend me. Tyler says he will, too. Trev let me go through his friend list and invite people from his group. I thought that was a big compliment. So, little by little I am going through the list of who I know and asking to be their friend. I hope people say yes. I just hate rejection!Look for interesting Facebook stories in the future. My sons both assure me that there are people out there looking for me. Looking or lurking? We shall see...