It's Official!

 I have officially lost 20 lbs!  

That was my initial goal, but I'd really like to get back down to around 135.  That means I have 6ish more pounds to go.  Then the real work begins -- keeping it off!  That's where I've always struggled, because I simply get tired of never being able to eat what I want, when I want to.  As a result, I'll say, "Just this once," which turns into "Just this twice" and before you know it, I'm pigging out on junk food.  Let's hope I can stay strong this time. 

I got some bad news this afternoon.  My neighbor to the East, Mac, came over and told me he and his wife are moving out.  There were ... um, issues with the landlord, none of which surprised me a bit.  Remember a few years ago when the one I called Tomato Man asked if he could plant tomatoes in my yard?  For those of you new here, you can read about him here:  Tomato Man.  Well, Tomato Man is Mac's landlord, and he wasn't taking any better care of the house than he did the tomato patch.  He was wanting Mac to fix things up at his own expense, but wasn't reducing his rent for it.  Long story short, Mac was going to buy the house, and they'd agreed on $80K, when all of the sudden Tomato Man upped the price to $95.  So, they're moving out.  

Which means I'm going to get two new neighbors --that house, and Mr. Clark's house across the street.  There is no small trepidation there.  I just hope they're quiet.  And leave me alone for the most part.  

But the whole reason Mac came over was to give me a business card.  He's a mechanic, and said any problem I had with my car, to give him a call and he'd fix me up.  He's a good, honest man, too, so I know he won't try to rip me off. 

Before that happened, I was getting a post all ready for you about my flower beds, so here is what you were going to get:  

Look!  I have marigolds!  

I'm so excited to see them blooming after I thought they were going to die.  I guess from now on, I'll be putting them into containers, because it's working.  And here is the long awaited photo of my petunia. 

My lantanas are starting to come on as well.

I finally got around to replacing my Texas flag.    

My old one was looking pretty bedraggled.  My brother and his family had sent me one for Christmas, so I finally got it out and hung it.  Now I need to replace my American flag, because it's also looking a bit faded. 

And finally, never leave your popcorn alone with cold lemonade. 

Or maybe we're supposed to eat it alone.  I don't know...

*Yes, this was an actual notice posted at work.