More Birthday Greetings from NE!

Happy Birthday Jim! Hope your steak tasted great tonight! I had a great Spring Break! I did lots of shopping and found some great buys! Better yet I had some great outings with friends and with Brandon. I did get in good exercise! My kickboxing DVD is a challenge for me. I cannot do the whole DVD yet, but will work up my endurance until I can. This week is very busy at work and next week will be too. I get Good Friday off and then go back to a plan day on the Monday after Easter. I know this school quarter will go by fast too! Speaking of Easter and Easter candy - I am looking forward to malted milk ball Easter eggs. I don't think they are too high in calories. Well - I hope that you are enjoying some delicious birthday dessert tonight Jim! Love to all, Anita

Birthday greetings from NE

Happy Birthday Wayne! Hope you have a fantastic time in Mexico! Yeah-my Spring Break just started. I am getting together with friends for breakfast this morning. We are supposed to have rain starting tonight and lasting through Tues. That should make the yard green up and the Spring flowers appear. I maintained my weight this week, but only walked for exercise. I know that this week will be full of exercise. I plan on getting in some Mall walking alias shopping today. Brandon had the flu on Mon. for his first official day of his break, but bounced back wonderfully on Tues. I will be excited to hear about his adventures in Utah when he returns tomorrow night! Wayne with all of your energy you are a Spring Chicken and each year brings you more friends and more love! Blessings! Anita

Excited for Vacation and March Madness

Hi All:
The weather is variable here from day to day. Today I walked to work and back it was brisk and refreshing. I went to Zumba last night and have been walking and exercising on a daily basis. I am on my own as my walking partner Sarah left tonight for Atlanta to visit her son. I will get up early and go walking so I can watch Blair Taylor and Marquette play basketball in the am and Wisconsin in the evening. I am packing my clothing for vacation ( I have to many clothes) but don't tell my husband. The love of my life will be 55 on Saturday so we shall celebrate with dinner in Madison before we drop off Ben. Ben and Sara have been very busy with papers. But I think Ben enjoyed just being home and getting "real food" for a change. Sara had alot going on, but sounded like she accomplished many things also. I am proud of them both for making good choices. We will be off to sunny Los Cabos so this will be my last blog for a week or so. The temperature has been in the 80's there so I can definately handle that. Everyone have a great weekend and enjoy the warmer weather. Talk to you soon.

Love,
KRJ

March Madness & Exercise in Chicago

Hi: Jim & I were delighted to go for an hour walk today to the Zoo & Conservatory.
I was so grateful for 50 degree temperatures! We know it will be an important week
for exercise to prevent "sprouts" from growing as we enjoy the March Madness college
BB tournments. In fact we hope to go to the Health Club & watch some of the games as
we glide on the ellipticals & walk on the treadmills. I have been trying to do alot of writing
on my dissertation proposal with the goal of forwarding to all my committee members this
coming week. I sure wish writing burned more calories!!

The streets of Chicago are filled with "green" St. Patrick revelers this weekend. Sara--We fondly
remember the year you celebrated St. Patrick's Day in Chicago. Jim plans to make his tasty
Irish Lamb Stew tomorrow for our St. Patrick's day dinner with Mary.

Love you all lots,
MJH

Healthy eating in NE

I did well in terms of healthy food choices again this week. I was slow still on the exercise side of things. I am almost back to normal health wise. I did fine in terms of weight maintenance. According to the school scale I have went down 1/2 of a pound each of the past two weeks. The week ahead is supposed to be nicer weather wise so that should get me out for some walks. Brandon hopes to get his homework done on Mon. and Tues. before heading to Utah on Wed. He is with a couple of his friends tonight that are home from Texas on their Spring Break. I am sure that both Sara and Ben are enjoying their Spring breaks and a little slower pace for a week. I am hoping to call Wayne early for his birthday with your trip coming up soon! I am excited for Spring as I know all of you are too. Yeah, Spring is in the air! Anita

Cold Again in Wausau

Hi All:
We have had really cold weather with wind chills in the -16 below again. I can't take much more of this!!!! I am glad to hear your feeling better Anita. Wayne came down with a cold-sinus a few days ago. I told him to go to the Dr. he sounds like he has the same symptoms as Anita had. We have a lot of strep throat going around also. Today, Thursday we will head to get Ben from Madison to come home for the week. He also had and has alot or work completed and more to do. I stocked up on his favorite foods so we will have to spoil him this week. Sara of course is extremely busy and cannot wait until her break. I have continued my walking, workouts and Zumba. I plan to teach a soccer after school program next month on Thursdays after school and than join a Yoga class that is at school on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. I will continue with the Zumba also. Wayne and I are counting the days until we leave for Los Cabos. The temp. has been in the high 80-90 degrees. Hope the weekend is great for all.

Love,
KRJ

"Soggy" in Chicago

Hi: I hope your healing process continues to go well Anita!! Jim & I had
a dip in our exercise patterns this past week, however hope to get back on track
this week when both our work schedules look more sane. We had a nice long walk
on Friday night when the temperature was in the 50s! It rained and rained on Sat.
and Sunday in Chicago. Kathy--Great to hear your excellent health news!

Have a super week!!

MJH

Heading for a positive climb in NE

Glad you annual check-up went well Kathy! Keep up the healthy life-style it is paying off big time. I have been healthy all school year, but one of those upper respiratory blahs hit me this week. I stayed home on Monday, because coughing, sore throat and laryngitis type symptoms don't make for effective Speech therapy provision. I hadn't improved on Tues. morning so went to the doctor. I did get medicine, and was told that I had an upper respiratory infection with a viral component also. I stayed home still on Wed., but was back to work on Thurs. Needless to say I only had my pedometer points to count for exercise this week. I did have a craving for the good foods and not the bad, so I did not gain any weight. I am really looking forward to being active again, but will start out slow today with perhaps a half hour of moderate aerobics and see if I can pick up the pace tomorrow. I guess the good news is that I have the motivation to exercise, because I am tired of being slowed down. We all have a lot to be thankful for in our overall good health. Another bit of positive news. Brandon is going to Utah on Wed. March 18th and will come back on Sun. March 22nd. He is going with his Chi Alpha group. It is a missions trip, so he has limited expenses for the trip. He is going with a great group of people so is very excited. He had two big tests this past week and I know he has at least one major test coming up this next week. He will definitely be ready for break. Wishing all of you a healthy and movement filled week! Anita

Looking forward to warmer weather in Wausau

Hi All:
We are finally suppose to get some needed warmer weather. I washed my car today so I think that should count as exercise. I walked and went to my "Zumba" class. I love this activity. It does not seem like exercise it is very fun. I would suggest trying it out. Anita your new DVD's sound like fun also. It sure helps to have variety in your workout. I went to the Dr. for my annual visit. I am having my cholestrol, blood sugar etc. looked at and have to schedule a colonoscopy for summer. My blood pressure and weight she told me were excellent so that is always good to hear no major problems for this 56 year old. Wayne and I are helping with a speed skating event on Saturday. We have social hour at church with my mom on Sunday so need to plan something healthy to share. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week and weekend.

Love,
KRJ

Hats off to the birthday girl!

Kathy congratulations on your 56 years, and hats off to you on your great fitness choices. I had a great week in the exercise category. I got in an hour of high impact aerobics on Sun., Tues., Thurs., and Sat. The other days I just had my pedometer points and cleaning points. I did get some snow shoveling points on Sat. morning. We woke up to somewhere between 3 to 5 inches of snow, but more snow than that decided to drift into parts of our driveway. With the exercise I guess I also let myself have some treats that I was desiring, so I did not lose any weight, but at least maintained. I came down with a cold and am at the coughing stage today, so decided not to do my high impact aerobics. I did buy two new exercise DVDs on sale at Shopko: Super-charged Kickbox party by Jeanette Jenkins, and Dance off the inches Samba, Cha cha, and Jive. I am looking forward to adding the variety to the workouts. Our sermon this morning was on belonging. I am very thankful that I belong to the family that I do! BEST WISHES ON YOUR FITNESS ENDEAVORS! Anita