A New All Time High

I hate to write this.

I really do.

But it is true.

I am at my all time high.

Four years ago, I was this heavy and here I am again.

I have so many thoughts going on in my mind.

Most of them negative.

I'm an emotional eater

and I'm emotional

and that makes me

a bigger girl than I want to be.

Plan Z
Smoothie and nuts for Breakfast and Lunch and a regular dinner.
For one day.
One day.
Tomorrow.

This is my morning walk.

Family Dinner Revolutionized

The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner has made a huge difference in my families life.

I have seen her cooking show, but never thought her style was for me.

All it took was checking it out from the library, trying a couple of recipies and I was convinced.

This is now my "go-to" book.

I've tried her spaghetti sauce, chicken tacos, white sauce, butter rolls, baguettes, french bread, garlic bread, beef tacos, homemade pizza, pot roast - all delicious.

I'm working on making her recipes even more healthy while maintaining my kids' affinity for the dish.

I've been reading lots of books about family dinner time.

This is a priority for me.

I want to make good food that the kids are excited about - excited to come home for.

I like cooking from scratch and knowing what's in the food.

But the best part is creating a positive atmosphere around the table - something much easier to have when everyone loves the meal.

Glenn is gone tonight so we are going to have lasagna and homemade garlic bread and greek salad.

YUM!

This cookbook is so worth it!
Making yummy meals that the kids look forward to is worth it!
Talking to your family over a meal is priceless!
There are so many statistics of the benefits of family dinner.
The Food Nanny makes it easy!
Let me know if you try out her recipes!

A day in the life of a homemaker

That's the lizard cage.

That's our cat.

And if you look very closely, that's Ironman -  one of the many Lego figures that seem to be perpetually scattered about.

Stafford came home from school and after almost peeing his pants on our doorstep, he made his usual mad dash to the bathroom.

This is normal.

Then the abnormal sneaking here and there started.

"Don't look in here!" he said as I passed his bedroom door.

Then he would creep past me, and dash somewhere else to gather supplies.

Then he presented me with a gift.

I had assumed it was from school and was one of the mother's day gifts that I love to recieve and asked if I should save it for Sunday.

"No, it's your birthday present since I forgot to get you anything."

Still thinking I would uncover the class craft, 

I found this.

A little white rock!

Then we had lunch.

This week I pre-packed salads with tons of toppings to make eating them a snap.

It worked.

I ate it.

And it was a snap.

Stafford then dug through the cabinet that I keep for rotating church toys, that I never rotate, and found a little magnet board.

He used pretend play and I finished up some of my "to do" list.

A couple of Porter's friends came over.

Just like the cat,

they gathered around the lizards.

That night we ordered Zubs subs (our favorite turkey and avocado), bread sticks and pizza.

We made it a family party night.

Glenn is off to Europe for 2.5 weeks and we wanted him to go out with a bang.

We had treats and a good old fashioned game of RISK.

There were no fights and that is a beautiful thing when it comes to this game.

The boys said their good-byes as Glenn tucked them all in bed.

This is the longest he's ever been gone.

I've got a good game plan.

We're going to be fine,

but I'm sure going to miss him.

When he leaves for these long trips,

I'm reminded of the little things in life.

I'm reminded of how much Glenn contributes to our family and how blessed I am.

A friend of mine's husband passed away suddenly at 44.

I'm reminded that nothing is for certain.

I'm reminded to not take for granted those in our lives.

I'm reminded that the "simple life" is beautiful.

Are Steroids the Right Choice?

For years I've had to modify my yoga poses to accommodate my wrists.

They hurt if I put pressure on them.

I've tried everything.

A Massage - aka heaven, but it didn't help

Essential Oils

A Deep tissue massage - aka Brazilian torture (the therapist is from Brazil)

Chiropractor who had a special procedure to help ganglion cysts - nothing.

And even a Chinese Mystery Paste.

So I finally went to an osteopathic doctor who specializes in wrists.

He was nice.

But before I knew it, I agreed to let him give me a shot of steroids to the wrist.

Going into a doctor's office and getting a procedure that I had not researched to death is not my style.

But I did it

and almost immediately felt a touch or regret.

I probably would have ended up researching and coming back and doing it,

but I like to know exactly what is happening and why before it happens.

As I drove home, pain began to spread from the wrist into my hand and forearm.

It was a dull heavy pain.

There is extra fluid in the joint so that can cause pain.

It should subside soon.

I hope this was the right decision.

I would love to have my wrist back and to be able to do some hand balance poses that I've been longing to do again.

I put on a wrist brace and it seemed to help.

I'm pretty sure this is the adult psychological equivalent of a band-aide.

Suddenly, it just felt better.

Escape Velocity

There was only one person in my yoga class this morning.  Monica.  This was only her second time coming to yoga.  I could tell she was stiff.  She even admitted that "self-care" was not one of her strong points.  My heart went out to her.  I see people come to class who are living in a world that hurts and they are looking for shelter.   They are hurt.  They don't know where to go.  Monica cried at the end of class.  This is not highly unusual.  Yoga speaks to the soul.  When it does, the person who has ignored their soul, feels it.  Emotion is released.  That's what I love about yoga.  I love that it can be healing.

The day got away with me.  My appetite got away with me.

I think I need to wake up at 5am even if I didn't sleep well like last night.  I can always take a nap.

I'm feeling really busy.  Verging on overwhelmed.

My husband is working on starting a new business.  It's going to be so cool.  The product is amazing.

We went to our church and cleaned tonight with two other families in our congregation.  The kids had fun.  It's important to look outside ourselves and help others.

I'm reading Open by Andre Agassi.  (I wouldn't recommend it since it has more swearing in it than in the halls of a  Junior High School.)  Andre had a pretty sad and unfulfilled life.  It was only when he gave and served others that he finally found a bit of peace and each time he was reminded that that was what living was about.  It's true.  There is no real meaning in life unless you're touching and enriching someone's life.  If you are just concerned with things, then you can be replaced and your mark isn't left on the world.  If you work with people then you change them.  When you change a person, you never die because you are in their heart and if you affect their heart so much that they can help another person, your impact and satisfaction become infinite.

"Our lives are made up of millions of small decisions.  So in the end, it's the small decisions that matter.  Whatever we consistently do, makes us who we are.  Physics states that an object in motion stays in motion.  This is how life is.  If we chose a path and want to be on the path, we need to make small decisions that keep us on the path.  Each decision you make (whatever direction you're going) makes the next one in that same direction easier.  The first of the path is the hardest.  Once you get past the escape velocity, things become easier.  The message is to just keep going.  Take small steps, but make sure they are forward and that you are on the path that you want to be." 

The World is Their Playground

 These boys have been bouncing off the walls lately.

Every time I look, they seem to have organized some kind of a sport out of household items.

I have banned baseball and golf as I don't allow swinging long poles in the house.

Believe me, it's a good rule.

This morning, they took a small ball and were trying to make a basket in the chandelier above our table.

They boys surrounded the table and if they missed, there was a mad dash, thumps and dives, to see who would get the ball next - no turn taking only the fastest/closest man wins the ball to try for the next shot.

Yesterday I bought an inflatable "donut" so sit on since I mysteriously hurt my tail bone. 

It has been heaven, but I kept finding it like this.

They created a ring toss game using the cat scratcher.  

It was complete with rules and a point scale.

Sunday was volleyball.

They went and got some ribbon and tied it on one end of the family room to the other.

This was the net.

They kept score,

started a tournament 

and became really competitive.

It was giggles,

sweat, and bonding.

After the championship game of the tournament, there were tears,

but the 2nd place finisher tried to be a good sport, despite his heartache and red eyes.

(I must add that there were actually several championship games.  Every time he lost, he called for a "do-over".  

The other brother obliged.

The games were all close.

But in the end,

age won.)

Hobby Lobby

Do you know who Steve Green is?  

I didn't either, but I do know Hobby Lobby. 

Steve is the CEO of the family company (Hobby Lobby) that is one of the largest privately owned.

Enter Obama.

Enter the Affordable Care Act

and the requirement to offer insurance coverage for "emergency birth control methods".

As you probably know, emergency birth control methods means that an egg has been fertilized. 

To many people, this means there is a person forming.

To many people, this means that killing that organism is killing a person.

To many people, including Dr. Seuss, "a person is a person no matter how small".

So to allow your company to pay for what you believe to be abortion,

is a moral dilemma - to say the least.

Ephesians 6:12

• New Testament

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

One of the definitions of principalities is rulers or government.

Steve Green is in a battle against the principalities of this world - the US government.
They have told him that through his family company, he needs to provide abortion funding for his employees.
Steve is not saying that his employees can't have abortions.
He realizes that that is not his choice to make and he doesn't expect them to believe how he believes,
but he does expect to be protected in his beliefs.
He does not want to be involved in their abortion.
According to his religion, killing a fertilized egg is murder and "contrary to the word of God".
He wants no part of this and asks that his religious views be respected.

I feel for Steve.
He is fighting a huge battle against a huge government.
The spotlight he is in is white-hot.
There is pressure.

The Supreme Court case will come down to one Justice's swing vote.

Just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would rather face a fiery furnace than bow to an idol at the command of King Nebuchadnezzar so is Steve being asked, in his mind, to forsake his God.
Steve is standing strong for his values and only wants the right to practice his religion, something this country was founded on.
He said, "Even if God does not deliver us, we still cannot do this."

Pray for him.