More Adventures & A Giveaway!

Flat K reading Flat Stanley at the
Columbus Metropolitan Library Main Branch

Flat K had quite the outing last weekend.  While she is sad we didn't get out this weekend, she perked up a little when I said she could do a giveaway on my blog.  Before we get to that, though, she also wanted to show you some of the places she visited in the city with our friend CT and me:

Columbus' Capital Building

Visiting COSI (Center of  Science & Industry)
Can you see Flat K?



Nationwide Arena - where the Columbus Blue Jackets play...
Among other events...



After running around the city for a while, we decided we'd head up to eat lunch and then attend a book signing by Ree Drummond, also know as The Pioneer Woman.  Have you heard of her?  If not, I highly recommend visiting her site... if you like cooking, photography, homeschooling, home & garden or general humor about ranch life and Charlie, her dog.  Oh... and definitely visit if you love a good love story.

When we arrived to the plaza where the book signing would be, we were a little too early to get into the restaurant so I suggested we stop in to the book store so I could pick up an extra book (or maybe more).  We were so glad we did!  Once we arrived we were informed we needed a "ticket" to get in on the book signing.  We grabbed one up (along with the books) and, feeling charged up, went to lunch. 




K enjoying some loaded potato chips at Champps.

Then the fun began.  We went back to the bookstore a little after noon, ready to wait.  The book signing didn't start until 2pm and we were in the "middle" of the ticket group.  Or so we thought.  When we arrived before lunch, they were handing out colored index cards telling us that we would be lining up in rainbow color order.  ROY G BV - and we were "G" (although I kept spacing it out and kept thinking we were blue - good thing CT was always quick to correct me).  When we returned after lunch we discovered they were in a new color scheme, having run out of the original cards already.  The next color group were flourescents.  As time went on, we realized that they ran out of those as well and were handing out numbered slips of white paper (or white index cards). 

I'm thinking that this book store wasn't quite prepared for the fan base Ree Drummond has. 

After waiting several hours, and enjoying some quite entertaining people watching (boy, were some women angry that they had a white card!), our color was called to line up on the carpet.  Off we went.




The "green card" line.

I have to admit, their color coding system worked pretty well.  But again, I don't think they quite expected the crowd that was milling about the rather small Barnes and Noble.  Seriously, there are bigger B&N stores in the area that could have probably handled the crowd a little better.
At this point in time, CT and  I were getting pretty excited.  Flat K?  Well, she was hanging on to the books I'd gotten to be signed.  Faster than I thought would happen, we reached The Tile.

My footsies on The Tile!

The tile is where SHE was.  Once you hit the tile you were Almost There!  At this point in time, one of the assistants was taking the books, opening them to the page she was going to sign, placing the post-it note we'd already used to let her know what we wanted her to sign (our name, etc.), and stacking them, open, back in our arms.  It was quite the juggling act.

And then... we were next!



The very excited gals in front of me...

Another assistant was there to take the books and ferry them over to Ree.  Then you would hand your camera off to ANOTHER assistant who would take the official photo:

Ree, Flat K & Me!

My goodness, she was down-to-earth, sweet and funny.  She seemed a tad overwhelmed... and mentioned during our brief conversation that Ohio wasn't quite what she expected.  I asked her what she had thought it would be like and she replied that it was very "midwestern" and she hadn't expected that, but she was loving it.  I, of course, said something that came out all garbled and NOT funny; she probably thought I was such a clod.  But she was sweet and smiled and then helped Flat K stand upright for the photo.  She even knew who Flat K was!  Well, she didn't know her name, but knew of the Flat Stanley project.  A few more tidbits exchanged and then I was shuffled off... CT next in line behind me.




CT & Ree

Oh my.  What a great day this was... such fun adventures with Flat K, and then to meet Ree and get her to sign my cookbook.  I had a blast!

Flat K made sure I didn't forget all of you.  She assured me that some of you out there would LOVE to have a book signed by The Pioneer Woman and thus... she is extending this opportunity to WIN a signed copy of Ree's cookbook:

OR Ree's newly released, true-life love story about she and her husband, nicknamed "Marlboro Man".

What do you have to do to enter this great giveaway?  Well, leave me a comment and answer this question:  If you only had 3 minutes to say something to a "famous" person you liked who would you pick to meet and what would you quickly say?  Famous is in quotes because it is a bit subjective, so I'll take anyone who has some sort of popularity outside of your hometown.  How's that? 

This giveaway is open until Thursday, March 3rd at midnight Eastern time. 

After that, I will be on a scrappin' retreat (YAY) so I will pick and post winners upon my return.  That's right, winners... one winner will receive the cook book and the other will receive the novel.

Shhhh... here's a sneaky peek about something goin' on while I'm on the retreat: a blog hop and another pretty cool giveaway (in my opinion) on the horizion.  Stay tuned!

Little by Little...

image source

Sometimes you just have to yell "STOP THE  MADNESS!"

I think that's from a commercial or something.  But you know what?  It helps to do it in crazy life events.  I did this recently.  No, not out loud, but I did scream a little inside my own head.  It echoed  a little.  That's kinda scary.  

But it did make me stop.  Stop and think.  And remember. 

My one little word is Movement.  And one of the biggest thing I have to rememver is that movement doesn't necessarily mean "marathon".  It can very certainly mean baby steps.  Movement means "a natural event that involves a change in the position or location of something".  Let's break this down...

• "natural event" - it has to feel "right" and "good" and it is "functioning in a normal way"... therefore forced movement really isn't movement at all.  If you try to force something, it will resist, it will break, or it will simply be immoveable. 
• "change in the position or location of something" - this doesn't mean it has to be three miles away from it's starting point to be movement.  It just merely needs to shift a little.  Like an opinion can shift... there is movement in that.  Little shifts equal movement.

And that's where I am.  Little by little, changes are being made; fitness is being achieved; creativity is being explored.  Bit by bit, my blog is going through its own metamorphosis, and my house is getting less cluttered.  Check it out!  And soon, I'll be working back toward finishing my Soul Restoration class... and I will share some bits and pieces with you over the next week or two.

The best part of all of that?  I feel fabulous!

Awards, Giveaways and Cards – Oh, My!

This weekend was packed full of friends, festivities and fabulousness, and thus, I wasn’t around much to share with you. But, my dear friends, I will totally make it up to you. Keep reading…

But first, I must thank a dear friend, Bernice, for awarding me this lovely blog award.

You have been TAGGED and want to participate? Then create a post where you post the 'LOVE BLOG' image. You should also blog the person’s link that gave you the award and inform her/him that you accept the award. You then choose 3 - 5 favourite blogs which you also link in your post, then inform each blogger that they have been tagged.

Dear bloggers: The aim of this action is that we bring unknown, good blogs to light, so I would ask you not to blog fellow bloggers that already have 3,000 followers.

Bernice is such a sweetheart and has been such a support for me as I have travelled ever so sloooowly through the Soul Restoration class. This past weekend she also had the most fortunate experience of taking a class taught by Tim Holtz. And we all know what a Tim Holtz fan I am, and thus, extremely green with envy. Despite my greenness, I love visiting Bernice’s blog especially lately, because she has been sharing the most fabulous art journal backgrounds. They are gorgeous and when I get a little time to read up more on the How’d She Do That, I will be trying my own hand at them. Go see! In the meantime, thanks Bernice for sharing the award with me!

And, of course, I will now be sending this award on… oooh, so hard to pick… hmmm… uhmmmm… well… here goes… please visit:

Christina over at Say Anything Creations

Cheri over at Scrap Dreams

Mel over at I Speak Melsh

Felecia over at 15 Minutes

Diana over at Scrap Your Life


Now, I have to also mention that if you run right over to Christina’s blog, she’s got a giveaway going on for the next few days. If you’ve never heard of Ree Drummond from The Pioneer Woman, then you must simply go there and visit her as well. She’s an amazing woman who lives on a ranch in the middle of Oklahoma who loves to cook, take pictures, home school, and otherwise share her everyday life (which is rather funny most days). Christina and I had the great opportunity to attend a book-signing of Ree’s this past weekend at a local Barnes & Noble. Christina bought an extra copy of her newest book, got it signed and is now giving it away on her blog… go read up on how to enter.

And despair not! Because if you don’t win over at Christina’s, I’ve been told that Flat K is also planning a similar giveaway here later this week! So be sure to come back and visit us for that.

In closing, I leave you with some new cards I made, but hadn’t posted. I realize that they are straggling in at the end of winter, and most likely won’t get used until next year. However, winter did give us another show last night, and so, I thought these were fitting for today’s post.

Travelin'...

Flat K reading Flat Stanley in the

Columbus Metropolitan Library

She has arrived!  It was going to be Flat Stanley coming to visit, but instead, it turns out my niece created a flat replica of herself!  So, Flat K has been hanging about the house waiting for me to take her sight-seeing.  We were finally able to get out a bit this weekend and do some travelin'.

I promise to show more of her travels, but I wanted to share some yum-o lunch she shared with us... check it out! 

There will be more.  This weekend has been So FULL, it's just exhausting.  I have so much to share, including some other Flat K adventures.  Stay tuned!

OMG!

Tomorrow I will have a not so little shadow with me all day.

It's job shadowing day for The Girl's business class and she is accompanying me to work for the day.  We had a sit-down talk tonight about appropriateness, clothing, time to get up in the morning and other important information including that she will be quietly attending a very important meeting I will be in.  She was a little worried about being bored because I said it was a telephone meeting, so no one would know she was there.  Until I explained to her speaker phones and teleconferences and how she'd be able to hear everything and probably would NOT be that bored.

But the biggest Oh-Em-Gee moment for her was when I said, "Oh, and your phone will be in my purse until lunch... and after lunch until the day is over."

Her face was truly a pained expression when she said, "OMG!  Really?!  But Whyyyyyyyyyyy?"

I said, "Because it's not appropriate for you to be texting constantly while you are at work, you're there to be at work."

But I'll Diiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee," she wailed.

To which I thought (and kept to myself),

OH.

EM.

GEE!

:)

One of THOSE Days...

When people say that... I've had one of THOSE days... it creates a vision of bad days, Murphy's Law, and crawling in to bed.  But there is another kind of "those" days... and I had one today.

Today was one of those days when I just connected with the people I talked with.  I spent a good deal of my day talking with my boss/co-worker/friend (all the same person) - sharing some good stories (about work and not about work), laughs and frustrations, and after all was said and done, felt light-in-heart when we parted for the day.

Today was one of those days when I DIDN'T eat the cookie in the office break room.

Today was one of those days when I really felt proud of the accomplishments I've made at the Sadist's.

Today was one of those days when a dreaded phone call turned into a quick and HAPPY conversation with someone who I thought would be reluctant and dismissive, but instead wanted to be involved and was somewhat excited about it.

Today was one of those days when your IT guy actually fixes your problem instead of makes it worse.  :)

Today was one of those days when you realize the weepy, bad moods you've had for the past 72 hours was hormonal and really nothing more.  That's a nice realization.

Today was one of those days when a friend who came in from out of town (coworker/friend) who rarely has time to sit and chat had NO plans for dinner, so we went out and spent over 3 hours chatting, catching up, laughing, sharing our same sarcastic humor and enjoying each others company.

Today was one of those days when, after a really long cold winter, you get a whiff of spring in the air.  A little more time before it's here, but it's coming.  It's really coming. 

Today was one of those days when a really "new" friend reached out to talk to me... check up on me... make sure I was okay. 

Today was just one of those days.  And it was good.

Slacker

I've been struggling.  My  journey with my trainer and my fitness has been stalled.  Well, that's partially untrue.  I visit my trainer faithfully, now to be known as The Sadist.  And before anyone gets upset about my nickname for her, I call her this to her face, so it's nothing truly nasty.  And before you decide to object still, consider this:

a)  When I text her the next day after a work-out and whine about hurting (and we're talking hurting as in difficulty moving my legs enough to walk), her typical response is something like, "good!" or "Hahaha" or "Yay!" or "Good job!".  Sadist.

b)  When I am working out and I say, "I can't do anymore" she says, "do three more".  And I do.  She counts. Slowly.  Sadist.

c)  Some of her first words upon arrival to her house typically are, "where does it hurt the most?" with a smile on her face.  Sadist.

So, while I have been visiting The Sadist faithfully, my eating has been... less than stellar.  Habits are so hard to grow, and so hard to break.  I have been at a sort of "plateau" for months now... since The Hubs got sick back in November.  Then came Hunter's cancer... then the holidays and a scrapbook retreat... you know, LIFE.

I think I have a lot of stuff going on inside my own head that needs to be meshed out... and I think all of that black gobbeldy-gook (yes, a technical term here) needs to be cleaned up before I can focus my energy on the outside of me.  Anyone out there experience this ever?

And now I have the Dr. Pepper song running through my head:  I'm a slacker, you're a slacker, he's a slacker, she's a slacker, wouldn't you like to be a slacker too?

Sorry about that.  However, in the meantime, I do just feel like a slacker.  A failure.  Even though I'm NOT failing.  I'm just stalled.  I KNOW I'm not failing.  But that old black sludge just keeps bubbling up and trying to tell me I am.  So... like Tinkerbell needing claps and "I do believe in fairies" to stay alive... help the Slacker out a little here.  Just remind me that progress takes time and as long as I keep looking forward and not back, I'll eventually reach my intended destination.

Sorry for the blatant cry for pats on the back, but trust me, they're needed.  Or else I might become a permanent slacker. 

No, The Sadist wouldn't allow that. 

Nice Surprises...

The Hubs loved the book, or the card as he called it. I left it for him after he went to work, so when he got home this evening he found it waiting for him.  He was afraid of breaking it, so he didn't open it all the way, instead he just bent it slightly this way and that to read the little notes I'd included.  When I got home and opened it, he thought I broke it.  We had a good laugh. 

I had my own surprise arrived at work today from him.

My whole office smells yummy because of them.  Mmmmmm!

The delivery guy was quite busy making trips to our office.  A few other co-workers got flowers... and then one co-worker's husband  personally delivered a "bouquet" of heart-shaped mylar balloons.  It was cute.  The co-worker said, "I love it because they're so in [insert name of another coworker's] face!"  To which the other co-worker said, "You know, Valentine's Day isn't a real holiday!". 

We all laughed at his feigned bitterness. 

I think Valentine's Day should always be on a Monday.  It sure makes the beginning of the week much more bright and happy than the typical Monday.

I hope you had a good one!

Happiness...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since The  Hubs never reads my blog, I can safely post this, even though he hasn't received it yet.  I made it for him tonight (yes, I'm a last-minute Lucy) while he was sitting less than 10 feet away from me watching TV.  I love doing things like that, when he has no idea what I'm doing!  :)

It's a little explosion book, that I've seen done but have never attempted until now.  While I was browsing around my newly cleaned-out Google Reader, I was enticed over to Paper Turtle where, at the time, Deb was showing a mini-book she'd made for her husband.   I browsed down a few posts and saw her tutorial for this explosion book, and decided it was perfect for a little mini-book Valentine for my Hubs this year.  Thanks Deb, for the inspiration and the push to make this.

I'd show you the insides, but by the time I was done, I had already written all my little love notes inside and, well, I guess they're just for his eyes only.  I'll let you just imagine...

I hope you share some love with someone special in your world today!

Party Time!

To say that I have been overwhelmed lately would probably be an understatement.  I don't appear outwardly to be overwhelmed, but that's just my stoic personality - or my college minor in Acting.  But before I begin debating my skills in affected personality versus my actual personality, let's talk about clutter again.

A long, long, looong time ago, seemingly in a land far, far away, I began a little project called Kai's Clean Sweep Project.  It was supposed to motivate me to clear out the clutter in my house, so that my surroundings would be more simple and peaceful. While it may appear that I have been failing, or at the very least ignoring, this project, it is actually quite the opposite.  I just haven't been doing any physical object de-cluttering.

However, I have focused on some electronic de-cluttering.  For example, I spent three hours (THREE hours) last night moving photos from my camera's memory card to my laptop for future further sorting and eventual printing.  First of all, let me digress by saying my DSLR memory card ROCKS!  The amount of photos I have on there are hundreds and hundreds... in fact, I got that camera back in May 2010 and have NEVER deleted or moved a photo off of it until last night.  I have copied some and saved some to CD but the original was always on this card!  I have gone through two birthdays; two trips to see my parents, including a trip to Niagara Falls; several trips to the park, including one extended photo shoot with my friend CT; Thanksgiving; my husband's illness; Christmas; and a plethora of various pet, kid, layout, card and yard snapshots.

And after THREE hours of moving photos from the memory card to my laptop, I had only hit the second storage folder on the memory card, meaning I still have tons of photos to move.  I would have gone longer than three hours, but sadly, my battery on the camera died. 

Okay, so what the heck is my point?  Every time that I accomplish something like this, I realise how much disorder messes with my mind.  I have known these photos have needed moving, organizing and eventually printing, but I kept putting it off and off and off.  And it becomes one more "worry" (for lack of a better word) that clutters up the closets in my head.

Reading blogs was another daunting task.  Many of you may have noticed a distinct lack of participation in reading and commenting on your blogs over the past several months.  It was because I was overwhelmed by the sheer mass of blogs I felt I had to and want to visit!  Google Reader was NOT my friend during this time.  Why?  Because I had over one thousand posts to read.  ONE THOUSAND. 

Now how did I get THERE you ask?  Well, because I joined up on the class Blogging for Scrapbookers over a year ago, there was a subscription list created from all of the people who joined the class and wanted to be on the list.  I have/had that loaded into Google Reader.  In addition, through some of my other classes or from people who have commented on my blog, I have chosen to "follow" certain blogs, and those show up on my Google Reader as well.  And, because I am who I am, I didn't want to delete anyone from the Blogging for Scrapbookers subscription until I actually visited them at least once.

But a few days ago?  Enough was enough!  I was struggling in many areas (as I shared here) and when I went to my Google Reader I was just thoroughly done with being overwhelmed.  I hit a button I thought I would never hit:  Mark All As Read.  "Over 1,000" went down immediately to ZERO. 

I'm not sure I could explain to you the feeling I had... it was like... well, it was like the sun broke through the clouds and a magical rainbow appeared and the bluebirds sang and swooped down and dressed me, along with the help of some little mice, in the most gorgeous ball gown possible complete with sparkly glass slippers that fit perfectly upon my feet.  Fairy dust sprinkled all around me....

.... oh, wait, that was a movie I once saw.  Sorry. 

Ahem.

Okay, well, let's just say that I felt very FREE and LIGHT and like I should dance a little jig or something.  The next day when I went to Google Reader, I inwardly cringed because I wondered if there would be 500 or more messages there waiting for me.

A sigh of relief escaped me when I saw:  26

How much more manageable that was for me.  And I felt lighthearted as I browsed quickly through those 26 messages (some of you are so ambitious to be posting several times in a single day!) and was able to comment on so many blogs without feeling the weight of "over 1000" calling me back to Reader.

And now?

No Unread Items!  It's PARTY TIME!

Tangling with Zen

Whew... the last two posts have been pretty heavy.  Let's lighten it up here at Enjoy the Ride Today! 

As we all know, I've been focusing on my health and my mind, but in all honestly, 2011 has brought me all kinds of creative moments as well.  This is very different for me, but in the spirit of my One Little Word: Movement... I have been really working toward spending a little time (or a lot of time) each week doing something creative... something not focused on food, or lifting weights, or activity, or cleaning out the cobwebs in my head.

One of those things is Zentangle.

My very first Zentangle

I have mentioned previously that I wanted to try it ever since Marit mentioned it on the SFTIO boards (thank you Marit), and I have asked Santa for the Zentangle kit two years in a row now for Christmas.  When I didn't get it this year, I used a gift card to purchase it for myself.  That's what gift cards are for, right?

So, what exactly is Zentangle, you ask?  Well, how about that... here I am to tell you! 

Zentangle is a piece of abstract art contained to a 3 1/2 inch square piece of art paper (although I don't doubt that they can be bigger or smaller).  It is a frame broken up into pieces by a string, and then you use the tangles to fill the pieces of the string.  Their motto is "anything is possible, one stroke at a time."

My second Zentangle

I will leave it up to them to explain the theory, but here are some pieces that call to me:

At first glance, a Zentangle can seem intricate and complicated. But, when you see how it is done, you realize how simple it is. When you create a Zentangle, you realize how fun and engrossing it is.

Doodling is hard for me!  So, I thought if they are telling me it's simple, I've got to try it, because I want to feel more free to doodle and add sketches to my cards, layouts and journals.

Just as you make a deliberate pen stroke on your Zentangle, that very act of putting your pen to paper focuses your attention in a way similar to meditation or being "in the zone." As your eye follows your pen strokes your attention shifts to a state that allows fresh thoughts, new perspectives, and creative insights to flow unhindered by anxiety or effort.

It really does put you in a focused state, and that's really very relaxing!

You always succeed when you do a Zentangle because you always create a pattern. A Zentangle has no up or down and is not a picture of something, so you have no worries about whether you can draw a hand, or a duck. You always succeed in creating a Zentangle.

I'll tell you what... the more things I can find success in, the better I am able to handle those setbacks, as I've been talking about.   I highly recommend this little art outlet.  Check out the gallery on the Zentangle site to see some amazing little pieces of art, including some from a seven-year old. 

My fourth Zentangle
No, you didn't miss it, I failed to photograph the 3rd.

Hey, if a seven year old can do it, I can, right?  In fact, I think I'll go start a new one now! 

Another Direction...

Oh my goodness... thank you, thank you, EVERYONE who shared thoughts, feelings and encouragement on my previous post.  Cheri was right, I should have shared earlier... and I am so glad I decided to share now.  I will certainly be coming back to post updates and really hope you will continue to cheer me on.  Everyone needs their own cheerleading team.

Because of all of this support, I wanted to share with you another aspect of my journey.  Anyone who has followed my blog for long knows I'm a loyal member, participant and cheerleader for Scrapbooking from the Inside Out. 

I love, love, love the concept of this group.  Scrapbooking shouldn't just be telling the stories of the people you love in your life, or the places you go, but you should also be able to tell the story of YOU.  I believe, too, that scrapbooks shouldn't just document the world through rose colored glasses.  Real life is what a scrapbook should portray.  Real life  includes the downs as well as the ups.  And that's where SFTIO comes in... they pick an emotion/concept each month and then explore it.  This month's emotion, actually, is vulnerability.  And man, oh man, did I feel vulnerable in posting yesterday's post.  Again, thank you all for your caring thoughts.  I appreciate your gentleness (is that a word?) as well as your support.

In addition to SFTIO, I follow the happenings on The Brave Girls Club to the extent that I receive their "daily truths".

Not every daily truth applies to me, and to be honest, because they come daily, there are many that even go unopened.  But I am amazed at how many that I do open are so very applicable to me in that moment.  It's a little freaky... but also very timely when they are applicable.

I am also fascinated by their Brave Girl Camps and how life-changing they seem to be for the women who attend.  I will never be able to afford a Brave Girl Camp so I was even more intrigued when I started to see advertisements for "Soul Restoration", a six-week online course for women seeking to find and be the "real you".  Well, we all know I've been on that journey for some time.  So I pondered, and thought and saved.  Around the time registration occurred, my husband got sick, and I was really worried about money.  I held off for a while but in a "low" moment when I was feeling particularly selfish, I registered and paid in full.  The class began in January, and we are currently on week five of the six week course.

It was here where I found the "Will I Be Pretty" video below, and the forums are just filled with all kinds of interesting sharing.  While I'm not yet comfortable with sharing any specific details or art from this journey, I will say it has been enlightening, and yes, somewhat life changing.  It certainly  has changed some of my "insides"... my mind, the way I think and feel about certain things and it has changed the way I approach scrapbooking and "creativity" in general.  And it has taken time and energy, so that is my excuse reason for not being around as often.  Forgive?

I will share some more, I promise, but for now, I just wanted to share that while I'm on this journey to make my "outsides" healthy, I'm also really working at making my "insides" healthy too. 

Yay 2011!

Fall Down 9 Times, Get Up 10...

source

It's time.  I have been walking a journey in my own quiet way for over seven months now.  I'm ready to start sharing some parts of it.  For this piece, I had wanted to wait until I hit a certain personal goal before I shared, but after some months of set-backs, I thought perhaps I should post and perhaps that would bring me some more... I don't know... accountability?  Support?  Both?  Something else?

Back in June of last year, I wrote a pretty obscure post entitled Just One Thing.  Sometimes All of the time... just doing one thing to move you forward in life can be the biggest ripple-effect in your world.  Back in June, I made a decision to help myself move forward in an area where I have been wallowing in for decades.  Literally, decades.

I hired a personal fitness trainer and nutritionist (same person).

Back in June I thought that perhaps one or two "packages" (a packages is 10 one-hour sessions) would get me on the right path.  Since June, I have never stopped going.  The Trainer is my new (well-paid) babysitter.  My  new "best friend".  In fact, when I started talking about her, The Girl said to me, "Who's she?"  I said, "my new friend."  The Girl said, "How come I haven't met her?"  I replied, tongue in cheek (sort-of), "Because I don't pay her enough to come over here."

Okay, honesty time... I'm feeling extremely vulnerable in sharing this with you.  Why?  Because losing weight... the massive amount of weight I have to lose... is daunting, long-term and, well, because I have failed so, so many times before.  In fact, I'm in a place Right Now that has some lying voice in my head screaming FAILURE!

So, I'm here to try and quiet that voice.  Get rid of it completely I hope.  Because that little voice has had big power over me.  That little voice keeps me wallowing, stuck.  That little voice causes me to give up so very often.

This time, I'm not ready to let it win. 

I lost almost 25 pounds before The Hubs got sick.  I was two measly pounds away from that first "milestone".  It is an important milestone to me because I've never been able to break that mark in all of my journeys.  But life threw me that curveball with The Hubs' illness, and then a scrapbooking food fest retreat, and then the holidays.  As some curveballs do, I ended up striking out.  At first, for a few days.  Then for a few weeks.  That few weeks has turned into a few months.  I have gained six pounds back.

While dejected and feeling insecure and full of doubt, I have to still focus on the inches I have lost.  16 inches and counting.  No gain-backs... although there have been some "stay the same" times.  I have improved in my fitness assessments steadily and I have noticed so many differences in my daily life.  But I'm having such a hard time getting re-focused.  That little voice is taunting me.  I'm tired, I'm whiny and I'm coming up with too many excuses. 

But I know I'm still on the right path for me.  Because of that, I will do this anyway.  I will not give up.  I will work hard to afford The Trainer, and I will work hard when I'm at her house.   I must break this glass barrier... and the next one, and the next.  With her help (and now yours too) no matter how many times I fall down, I will get right back up and continue on...

Will I Be Pretty?

This slam poetry video was shared in a forum I frequent for this class that I am taking and I just was completely wow'd by it.  I wanted to share. 

Ice, Wind & Snow, Oh My!



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 On Monday, I kept hearing about this "monster storm" crossing the nation.  I didn't think much of it, because in all honesty, I feel the meteorologists tend to lean toward the melodramatic.  And, at least 50% of the time, they're wrong.

Then I saw the satellite image on Yahoo! weather.  Okay, NOW I started to feel like I might be an extra in the sequel for the movie "The Day After Tomorrow".  But still... no tension here.

Then I woke up yesterday morning to a sheet of ice covering everything.  If it wasn't so annoying, we would all have been laughing while The Boy, The Hubs and I tried to de-ice cars while slip-sliding down the driveway.  There was literally no way to get any leverage to give ice-scraping any power!  After assessing the situation, and caving to my wimpy-side, I asked my boss if I could work from home, to which she said yes.  I was so relieved.  I'm not the type of person who runs away from wintery weather, but ice is just not my cup of tea, especially since the huge ice storm we had here several years back when I woke to the "pop" and "crack" sounds of branches breaking off trees and the blue "lightning" of eletrical boxes blowing up.  Oh, that was awful and every time we have ice, my stress level zooms because that "trauma" comes back to haunt me.  If I recall, we were without power in my house for over 12 days, over Christmas.  It just wasn't good.

Before I fall in to that dark cavern, I just have to say... despite the dire predictions and despite the awful dumping of snow and ice elsewhere in the nation, including my sister's house in Chicago and potentially other sisters living in NY, we have been comparatively unscathed (knock on wood).  We have quite a few people without power all over central-Ohio, but not nearly the amount of ice and snow they were forecasting.  The ice we did have caused most of the power outages, and the scary gusty winds that blew through today have added to that damage, but really?  It wasn't The Day After Tomorrow kind of weather. 

For which, I'm utterly grateful.

I would have photos to share with you except I couldn't stand upright on the ice long enough to take any good shots and now it's all melted from the rain and wind.  Besides, when I wasn't spreading pet-friendly ice melt and chipping up ice, I was helping the dogs go up and down the ice covered steps to do their own business.  It's not easy watching your 11-year old dog wipe out as he runs up the steps.  Poor ol' guy... although I think he was more hurt in his pride than any physical bruising he suffered. 

Now, thanks to Punxsatawney Phil, spring is coming "early".  Hang on a little longer and get excited... only six more weeks of winter, people. 

(Uh... isn't that NORMALLY when spring comes?)