Frump to Fab 2017 - A Whole New World

lessonlearned

maman wrote: »

Quick post: WOW! I wasn't expecting that!!!:D

Delighted for you. Enjoy! However it works out, it's great news.

I wasn’t expecting it either.......totally out of the blue!! :rotfl:

Anyway slept like a log, just weighed myself and I’ve put on on 2.5lbs - not too bad. I should be able to tackle that fairly quickly.

The knee held out well but now is the time to get serious about strengthening the supporting muscles and ligaments so I will make a start this week by seeing my Physio.

The car is booked for a service tomorrow but after that I need to start actually using that gym membership :rotfl: - so I will book that free appointment with the personal trainer and get cracking.

Today I will unpack and get organised with the laundry etc. I am pretty well stocked up food wise, so can leave the big Aldi shop until one day in the week.

Right time to get cracking. Today I feel a bit tired and “hung over” after the homeward journey. My shoulder aches from handling my luggage so I am going to start with a nice soak in the bath and hopefully try a few simple yoga stretches later once the early morning stiffness eases off.

I have a nice gentle tan but my hair is pure white after being bleached by the sun. It’s 12 weeks until my Amazon trip so I think I might book a hair colour because once the tan fades then the white hair will probably make me look a bit washed out. And then the Amazon trip will probably bleach it white again. :rotfl:

As I say it’s 12 weeks until the next trip so I have set myself a target to lose an additional 1 stone by then. So dear ladies, I will report my progress to you so you can give me a kick up the derrière if I fall off the wagon.

Hope you all have a good week.

Wonder if the delightful J2 will make good and contact me. Or will he have second thoughts in the cold light of day back on terra firma. Will it be a mere shipboard flirtation or something a bit more substantial.

Only time will tell..........

sugarbaby125

Hello LL,

I am so glad to hear that not only did you have a really enjoyable time on the cruise, but to find yourself being pursued by 2 men, well Wow! and Wow again! :j It could not have happened to a lovelier woman. You deserve every moment of happiness that you have experienced.

I hope you hear from J2 soon

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I went to Karaoke at a different pub last night and I had such a good time singing and dancing my legs off. The Karaoke was from 9pm to midnight, then it was the same DJ playing great music until 1.30am. :j

I sang Fever by Peggy Lee, Hurt So Good by Susan Cadogan, Return to Sender by Elvis and Dream Lover by Bobby Darin. As this was mostly a new crowd who had never heard me sing before, I got some lovely compliments paid to me about my singing, which was very gratifying.

I wore some of my matching body lotion as well as perfume and I painted my nails with clear nail polish. I wore a black, flippy, pull on skirt, with a red short sleeve top with diamante embellishment on the front and a cut out back. I wore a black V neck cardigan and my black M & S coat with black velvet collar and cuffs. I wore my black leather Clarks ankle boots. I wore solid silver and diamonique jewellery. The weather was surprisingly warm, so I had to carry my coat on the way to the pub, but I knew I would need it for my journey home.

I am off out again this evening for a night of dancing and I am really looking forward to it.

I have stones to lose, if I want my health to improve to the level of fitness that will see me not having to worry about having a heart attack or a stroke. I am tackling my weight in stages, so my current goal is to get to 16 stones, then I will move the goal posts to 15 stones and so on until I am finally at a really healthy weight. I am not daunted by the challenge, I have kick started my weight loss and I know from past experience, that I have the determination to keep going. This time round, I will make sure that I maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life.

I am currently on 2 non working weeks work wise, so I have to work hard at exercising or go out dancing enough to maintain my fitness levels and my steady weight loss.

Floss

LL me & DH spent our first 3.5 years 50 miles apart- I think it gave us time to develop our communication and appreciate each other's company, but also to retain independence until we were ready to move on. Good luck!

lessonlearned

Thank you ladies for your kind wishes re J2. We will just have to wait and see if he delivers...........:rotfl: If not, well no harm done. As SUgarbaby says it was fun being pursued by two “Gentleman Callers”. Lol. And you know the old saying .......plenty more fish in the sea. And as I shall be crossing the oceans again in the very near future I am sure there will be a few more nice men on my horizon. I might be able to lure a couple more into my net.


Ooh-er Matron.......that sounds a bit rude.

SUgarbaby I love all those songs, especially “Fever”. It’s just one of those songs that hits you. I am quite in awe of your ability to stand up and sing in front of an audience. I wouldn’t dare but then again I can’t sing. Ok for a choir but nowhere near good enough for going solo.

We had an amazing singer on board, well they were all pretty good but one girl in particular was spectacular. Obviously classically trained she was a wonderful soprano. They did a classical evening to showcase her talents, it was so popular they had to do it again on the last night. She sang lots of my favourites, the flower duet from Madame Butterfly sent chills down my spine whilst her rendition of Nessen Dorma had quite a few men in the audience openly weeping.

Music definitely reaches the soul. For a long time Since my husbands death I haven’t been able to listen to music, it was just too painful but I am starting to enjoy it again. We had a lovely quiet area at the back of the ship which was very sheltered and caught the sun even on the cooler days. They played a taped mix of chilled out Californian soft rock and lovely Romantic Irish melodies.

I didn’t recognise the Irish singer and asked the barman who it was but he didn’t know. He was Romanian and his English wasn’t too good so he probably didn’t understand my question.....so despite promising to get back to me he didn’t manage to find out. I will have to try and do a bit of research myself. I would love to try and find the cd.

There were also three “boys” and they gave us a great “Ratpack Evening”, doing all the great Sinatra and Dean Martin classics.

shanks77

Great news LL I hope that J2 calls you and that you can develop something at a level you are both comfortable with. Glad you had a good trip out with the romances
Sugarbabe I wish I had some of your willpower I start off well but then the momentum slowly fades. I have several stone to lose and having just come back from a few days in London and caught some very unflattering glimpses of myself it has to start soon. I am off til Tuesday so hopefully will start then. Have got a yoga DVD as I am so stiff and inflexible that I am hoping this will help.

maman

50 miles is no distance, or even London if the relationship develops LL but as you said it may or may not. Whatever happens it's a great confidence booster that he's shown an interest, fleeting or otherwise.

DH and I were 200 miles apart for the first 2 years of our relationship but I look back with many great memories of weekends where we'd travel to a mid point and phone calls and being pre Internet actual love letters!! (I still have them).

My BIL was widowed some years ago and he first met someone on a Nile cruise. It didn't last but it did give him the confidence to 'go fishing ' and he's subsequently remarried.

Football for me today so smart casual in team colours!:D

I'm still trying to lose the holiday weight gain from July! :eek:

[Deleted User]

Chanie - loved your analysis of pippa. Made me smile. Fewer sightings of rich and famous here in shropshire lol but i like to people watch at local theatre. Look i am leaning towards now is bit more quirky than classic. Trouble with latter is it can make you look older if you're not careful?

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies.

Good news.....I’ve lost 1.7 lbs of the holiday weight gain, so hopefully the last lb will come off quickly. Then I can get down to tackling that 1 stone (maybe even a bit more) by Christmas.

Well if the prospect of a new romance doesn’t motivate me then nothing will. :rotfl:

I have to confess here that the thought of “getting down and dirty” with a new man terrifies me on so many levels. I have been celibate now for 12 years and to say that I am nervous is a massive understatement. I need to get myself ready for a new relationship and that includes preparing my mind as well as my body.

I realised that my underwear is really terribly boring and that it is time to invest in some nice lingerie.

Ladies any ideas where I should look. I tried looking on a couple of websites but tbh i haven’t been very impressed. I want pretty, feminine and seductive not cheap tart/dominatrix. H E L P. !!!! :rotfl:

Also it occurred to me that it’s been 37 years since I “dated” and the rules of engagement seem to have changed considerably over that time. I feel quite panic stricken at the mere thought if it all.

What seemed easy and carefree on the cruise now seems rather more daunting. Flirting and having a bit of a fling was a breeze but now, back on terra firma, it actually seems quite terrifying. If I feel like this then I wouldn’t be at all surprised if J2 chickens out and decides not to bother. I wouldn’t blame him a bit.

Maman......cherish those love letters.

I bet not many people send or receive actual proper hand written love letters these days. Letter writing seems to be a dying art. I have heard of people being dumped by text or even worse by twitter or Facebook.

Gawd help us all if romantic liaisons have come to that.

Anyway, I am going to put it all out of my mind for now and simply wait and see. I shall adopt Martin Lewis’s mantra. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Lol.

Or perhaps I should prepare for the best........;) - ie get ready for romance. Invest in some pretty lingerie, lose some weight and get in shape so hopefully I will a feel bit less self conscious about my body and a little less terrified about dating again.

Sayschezza

Been lurking on here for a while now but had to comment on this as it's exactly how I plan to go

Flo61 wrote: »

Chanie . Look i am leaning towards now is bit more quirky than classic. Trouble with latter is it can make you look older if you're not careful?

Worked out that instead of wearing a straight skirt with tights and court shoes I will try with opaque tights and ankle boots to give myself a bit of an edge. Lots of clothes but sometimes I get stuck in a rut on how to wear them and horror that I start looking too much like an old lady, my DD and DGD would never forgive me. I am only 73 after all.��