Yep it's that time of life where I have to have one of these once a year.  Oh joy!  This is my first and today is my prep day.....no food, only clear liquids, yadda yadda yadda!   I made my MoviPrep; mixed it with Gatorade and will begin to consume that at 7:00 tonight.  I don't do well drinking thick stuff so I hope this goes down okay.  Actually I'll probably be happy to have it because I'll think I'm eating something.   Then I take the second dosage at 3:00 am.  Yep 3:00 AM!!!  Don't think I'll be doin much sleeping tonight.

My friend, Carol, suggested I stay in my pj's and pretend I'm on a cruise drinking margaritas.  At 7:00 this evening I'll start doing that.  For the day, I will consume clear liquids and fast and wish the day would go faster so I can start the process.  Anticipa ya tion is making me wait!!! 

One really good thing about this is it's going to help me lose weight though it will all be water weight which I will put back on immediately....but I'm not going to think about that.  Weight loss is weight loss, especially when one is dieting.  Another good thing is I won't be awake for the procedure so there's really nothing about which to be nervous, right?  I can't imagine having to be awake for something like this....yuckers!

And come Friday, when it's all over and done with, I can drive to Baltimore to see my sister and I won't have to think about it until next year.....yeehaw!

I talked to my best friend today and feel absolutely riddled with guilt.  Why?  Because in the four years we've been friends, I have only blogged about her once yet I blog about everything else under the sun.  Maybe it's because I am selfish and want to keep the friendship close and personal, or maybe it's because I didn't blog for two of those years we've been buddies, but whatever the reason I want to make it up to her.  So let me introduce you to Tezza!

It was four years ago and I had recently left a bed and breakfast, where I worked, due to financial reasons, a relationship that suffered because of the B&B and financial reasons, and I found I had not really gotten over the fact that my husband of 25 years had left me.  I was living with my daughter and her husband and son in a little, tiny townhouse in Virginia.  The place was always a wreck.  It could be cleaned but still be a wreck because the baseboards were missing, the downstairs bathroom didn't work, the yard was a dump area, and the only help I received where trying to fix it was concerned was with Bub; but she put in 48 hours a week and was completely exhausted.  So I lived in this little blue bedroom while I took online classes and watched over Mikey, my precious grand and the light of my life.

About four months after I moved there, I started playing around with Facebook.  It occupied much of my free time as I explored it's many characteristics, one of which was games.  "The rainbow game" was the first thing I every played and consisted of a rainbow of which people stole and posted on their own wall.  Once you steal from one person, you keep checking back to see if they have it again.  If they do you steal it again.  I would feel guilty taking it so I always thanked them for the rainbow and wished them a happy day.  One of the people from whom I frequently stole the rainbow was Terri from Melbourne Australia.  And that's how the friendship began. 

It's been four years and so much has happened between us.  We met each others families through Messenger, where we learned to video chat.  We shared everything from our labor pains to our menstrual cycles and whatever was in between.  There were no secrets between us and we continue to have that same kind of relationship today.

Another woman joined our inner circle, Cathy from Washington State and I was blessed to have them both at my house in September of 2011.  Cathy was there for a week, Terri was there for three, and what a wonderful time we had touring D.C., and traveling up and down the east cost....and we continue to have fun like that making plans for when we see one another again.

So I want to say, Happy Anniversary Tezza.  Hope to see you in your neck of the woods in October/November.  Keep your fingers crossed!

So Angelo suggests we play tennis which, in itself, isn't strange but I haven't played in over 10 years and all I'm used to doing is situps, squats and walking.  But, okay, let's give it a go.  First of all, I arrived at the courts and my tennis shoes fell apart.  I guess if you don't use something it disintegrates  overtime.  The rubber on the bottom of the shoe separated from the sole itself but did I know this?  No.  It wasn't until I was running full speed ahead to get a ball that my legs didn't move as fast as my upper body, my shoe snapped and I flew ungracefully about 4 feet landing on my knee and shoulder, spinning my body and coming to a final stop on my back.  I know I scared Angelo to death and the people in the other court were probably trying desperately not to laugh...unlike me who started laughing hysterically.  "Are you okay?....Come on Caroline, are you okay?"  You could hear the real concern in Angelo's voice.  After a full two minutes I got up and limped back to the service line, my bloody knee groaning with every step.

Now Angelo is a big man.  He's overweight but still knows his way around a tennis court.  Every ball he sends my way is well placed so I don't have to run.  We see how one-sided this is going to be so instead of really playing, he starts coaching me; and I must say that of all the tennis coaches I've had in my past, he is excellent, the best.  Unfortunately, I was pretty sore so we only played for a short time.  We left the courts and headed to Dick's sportswear to get me some new shoes and to get some balls...yes a dozen was just not enough.  Not only that we got a "hopper", one of those great baskets that picks up the balls with little effort whatsoever.  The thing holds 72 balls...hope that's enough!

So Angelo suggests we play again today.  Oh sure, she says, stiff muscles groaning with every step.  But the day was absolutely beautiful and the courts we almost empty.  We worked on my serve for awhile, then it was backhand.  I have always hated my backhand, no control of where the ball would go at all, but as I said, Angelo as a coach is terrific.  Two baskets of balls later and I'm starting to place those balls where I want them.  He did the same for my forehand which is extremely rusty.  It was over an hour and a great work out, if I do say so myself.  AND, I didn't fall once!  I probably won't be able to walk or lift anything tomorrow, but it was a great day!

I must admit that the more I see of what is going on in America as well as overseas where terrorism is concerned, and as much as I do NOT see their own countrymen denouncing these acts of violence against "infidels", the more I am pigeonholing the Muslim population.  This is very sad to say as I once lived in Muslim nations that welcomed me into their families.  We ate together, danced together, laughed together, and cried together.  Yet the terrorism and the hate against Western civilization grows and I see no end of it in sight.  Our own countrymen of Muslim background are now acting against us, setting off bombs in crowded locations and to what end?  What do they hope to achieve?

I was reading some things on Facebook today and saw a quote by a young Arab woman.  Yasirajaan said, "Muslims view "Islamic" terrorists the same way Christians view the Westboro Baptist Church..."  I guess Muslims find them to be an annoyance.  But the last time I looked, the Westboro Baptist church didn't set off a bomb in front of a synagog or drive jet airliners into tall buildings because it's in a country that they do not like.  Terrorists are not annoyances....they are terrorists!

What I would like to see is an Arab Nation, such as Saudi Arabia, or Jordan, get on the television and denounce these people.  Then I would like to see them take action against them, help us ferret them out and deal with them accordingly.  I know that if these "terrorists" were plotting against the King Abdullah, he would have them killed, in a public square, beheaded or hung, for all to see.  Yet I see none of this.  I see complacency.  I don't even see annoyance!  And hence, I begin to pigeonhole.  To question the beliefs of the Muslim population, to be cynical and damnatory of their interpretation of the Koran, and fear the spread of a religion that allows terrorism to rule the world.  And I hate this in me....I hate hating but I feel my hands are tied as well as my heart!

Just got back from a three and a half mile trek around the neighborhood.  So far I've lost 13 pounds and seem to be stuck at that weight which is terribly frustrating.  I keep telling myself that I'm getting muscles which weigh more than fat, but it's still exasperating.  Angelo has noticed a change in my body; stomach smaller, butt smaller, posture better, legs thinner, so I suppose I should be very happy with the way things are.  It's just so infuriating to walk and sit-up and squat until your muscles scream the have nothing weight wise to show for it.  I have upped my walk to five laps which is 3.3 miles and can be done in about 50 minutes.  Now that the weather is better there is so much to see.  Mothers walking with babies, small kids on bikes, people walking their dogs, green leaves finally budding from the trees, flowers in bloom, pollen on every surface known to man.  Luckily I am not bothered by this, I'm only bothered by being stuck at 187 pounds for a week!  I keep telling myself "patience woman; after all it took you months to get this big and it will take you months to lose it."