Losing It - Week 36

This week I read about Kathy hitting the treadmill in her hotel. For 45 minutes per day. She inspired me to "up my game" this week and I hit my tready for 45 minutes for 3 days. (I looked a bit purply-sweaty at the end but I think I worked off some of my Halloween "candy taste-testing" this week.)

I lost .5 lb. this week. You don't need to stop the presses...yet I am happy with the scale going down a bit.

I also went to the dentist on Thursday...no cavities! (I love sharing good news.)

This week's goals are:
45 minutes on tready for 5 days.
More water. 64 oz./day.
More healthy eating (hurry up trick-or-treaters....have all my candy!)

I'm linking this post to Kathy's blog (House of Hills) and am hoping you'll stop by to join in and/or encourage the group! See you next week!

I've Been Thinking...

I've been thinking about what my blog represents. The only theme I see is that it's my online journal about whatever I'm experiencing in life.

A few months ago, I was talking to Terri about the Relevant 2010 conference. I wished I could attend to hear Ann Voskamp (one of the keynote speakers) and this year it was close by in Hershey, PA. But I'm glad I didn't go since I'm not a professional blogger, just an amateur and I'm comfortable with that definition. Monica (The Homespun Heart) put a link to MomTV where at certain times they have live video-stream of the speakers. Ann is scheduled for today (Saturday) at 6:00 p.m. I'll be watching! (Update at 6:52 p.m.: The internet connection at the hotel is not good tonight. They are having trouble pulling bandwith for streaming. I didn't get to see Ann's presentation.)

The wind was blowing hard yesterday morning and since I had my window cracked-open I kept putting on and taking off a sweat jacket. Today is supposed to be sunny and 66 degrees. I'm planning on laying out on the patio and getting some Vitamin D. I am kooky.

Both my kids have been sick this week. It is strange to know about their illnesses and not be around to "doctor them back to health."

Readings from The One Year Chronological Bible yesterday had me praying for God to allow me to see, understand, and serve. (I highly recommend Wendy Pope's blog. She vlogs Monday-Fridays and I visit her site after my daily reading. I love her southern accent and her Christian wisdom is awesome!)

I've been sending out encouraging cards lately. It makes my soul feel good, yet my main purpose is let others know that I care for them.

I met Sue at Starbucks on Thursday. I haven't had my latte in a couple weeks. It was a tasty experience (the latte) and wonderful to sit and chat for a couple hours.

Since we've purchased my new washer and dryer...I love doing laundry. How strange is that?

My house is easier to keep clean with two people in residence instead of four (and there is less laundry).

The Phillies won Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. So the series score is Phillies 2 Giants 3. Tonight is game 6 and I'm hoping for a Phillies win. (The Texas Rangers are the American League Champions and will be playing in the World Series.) Could it be a Texas vs. Philadelphia World Series? If so, I might not be taking any phone calls from my side of the family during the World Series!

Lastly, I've been doing some early Christmas shopping (online). For the past couple years (at least) I assigned Wonderful Husband the job, so this year I think he'll be happy with my being a more active shopping contributor. The only problem is figuring out what to get him. Any suggestions?

My brain cell is exhausted....

Losing It - Week 35

Dag nab it! This week's update is not one I wanted to "talk" about. It was a week of eating stupid and not moving enough obviously.

The scale moved up 1.5 lbs. and I need to get my head back in the game (again)!

I must say that I've already read Kathy's update and her wonderful success this past week. She has inspired me to get focused again and so I ask for your prayers this week because I need them!

I've linked up to Kathy at House of Hills this week and ask that you stop by and check out the other ladies and their progress. Thank you and see you next week!

Ants

A couple weeks ago, ants invaded our kitchen. We had a lot of rain on consecutive days and my theory was they were trying to move to drier ground. It was a battle that waged on for about three days. I think they left when the weather (read dried up) improved.

This morning I asked Wonderful Husband why God invented ants. Without missing a beat he said, "To humble you."

Wow. Great response. How do I come back from that answer?

(I thought He invented ants so that anteaters had something to eat.)

And Wonderful Husband is correct. In the fight between me and nature, nature wins.

Humbling.

Have you struggled with/against nature recently?

Losing It - Week 34

This past week my usually focused and organized world was changed up a bit. Wonderful Husband and I started sanding and prepping the front porch. We worked on the porch on Saturday and Sunday.

Monday morning I went out and wiped it all down with a 1 part bleach/3 part water mixture and then (lucky for me) our daughter, Young Sweetie was home for "Fall Break." She wiped off all the sponge remnants and then assisted me with painting the exposed wood with primer. (I thanked her profusely since I knew it wasn't much of a break for her on that day.)

On Wednesday, I finished the bleach/water wipe down on the lowest part of the porch and painted it with primer. Finished it in 3.5 hours and thought I'd never be able to stand up straight again. Yet I could!

Here is a picture update so far.

We are waiting for Thursday and Friday rains to blow through and Wonderful Husband and I will (hopefully) finish painting on Saturday and Sunday.

Then our next step is to seal the floor of the porch. We're under a time constraint between weather, visiting our son in VA at the end of the month, and of course the bazillion trick-or-treaters that will coming with hopes of treats (not tricks).

Here is my Losing It! update for last week:

Eating - Not so great since I was too beat to cook I had unusual unhealthy meals including: a cheese steak hoagie, a slice of chicken-bacon-ranch-pizza.

Tready - didn't step on her for 3 of my porch work days. My body was one big ache from bending/hunching over. So 4 days of tready this week.

Did sit-ups and worked on my arms with 7 lb. weights.

Increased my water intake but didn't hit the 64 oz. per day goal. Going to try and get back into this habit this upcoming week!

Lost .5 lb. this week.

I do want to say that while working on the front porch I was continually thanking God for giving me a body that could move, bend, hunch over, and scrape along the bushes that sometimes were a little mean to me! (It  helps me to focus on blessings while doing work I don't like very much.)

I've linked this post to Kathy at House of Hills. Please stop by and see how the other ladies are doing. Join in if you have your own weight challenge. The accountability factor is great and we encourage each other toward success one week at a time.

Books

Happiness in a box....

Some are for Christmas gifts and some are "gifts" for me! I love Amazon.com!

Myrtle Beach, SC

The last pictures of our vacation were taken in Myrtle Beach. We left Calabash at 3:30 and arrived at Barefoot Landing at 4:00 and took our time walking around.

A lot of shops to wander by or through. Some I'd never heard of before and some were familiar back home in PA.

I loved this picture because of the blooming flowers. It was unusually warm during our vacation (15 degrees warmer than normal for the area) and I knew that it was cooler back in PA with leaves beginning to turn and fall off the trees.

So these flowers just made me happy.

I got a kick out of this shop called PURPLEologist. A shop with all things purple (apparel, jewelry, housewares, journals, and gifts). In the first picture I was trying to focus on the purple golf clubs inside the left side of the store. While that didn't work out so well, I do like the reflection of the woman captured in the right door.

We had dinner at T-Bonz Gill and Grill. The burgers were ok. The dessert was magnificient! Chocolate Mousse Cake. A three layered chocolate cake with Bavarian cream separating one layer and raspberry cream separating the other layer. I did share with Wonderful Husband but I didn't want to! lol

At 7:30 we had reservations to see "One The Show" at the Alabama Theatre. It reminded me of the type of variety shows I've seen on a cruise and when looking at the performers' bios, a lot of them had cruise ship experience listed. It was a fun evening and they did say that they begin their Christmas performances on November 2. (Just thought I'd let you know.)

That concludes the posts for our September vacation. It was wonderful to get away from reality for ten days and I must admit it was wonderful to get back home too.