Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Creating Beauty
Hi Everyone! I'm back. And it hasn't even been 3 months. ;-) I had a nice birthday. My husband and kids blessed me with some great gifts and a trip to the infamous Mall of America. Jim took me out to lunch at a new for us restaurant, where we had THE best guacamole, made tableside, that I've ever had in my entire life. And that's saying something now that I'm so old! I also got two other lunches out of the birthday deal the following week from friends. Speaking of friends, my dear friend, Tracy, got me a stove! Seriously, how awesome is that??!!! OK I know that's not the typical birthday present, but you probably are unaware of my stove challenges. LOL I don't seem to be limited to normal challenges. I have definitely had some unusual ones throughout my life. So, I had this really great stove (TWO ovens even) that I got a great deal on a little over a year ago. But it had a flat cook top where the burners are covered by whatever material it is that goes on top. Fiberglass? Anyway, I had some heavy pans on top of my fridge, which is literally right next to my stove cuz of how the outlets are set up in this crazy old house of mine, and they fell onto the stovetop and broke through the covering, which ended up destroying 3 of my burners, so I've been cooking with only one burner for about a year, which gets really annoying when you make most of your meals at home. And which would have been a real pain in the patoot for Thanksgiving. But, Tracy and her husband came to my rescue. Yay! Also, another really cool thing about my birthday was that my son, Cory, remembered (Hey he's a 22 year old guy!) and although he couldn't really call because he was on a training exercise (Marines) in Norway, he posted a nice birthday greeting on my facebook page.
I'm now on week 6 out of 8 in my ethics and law class. Still have an A so far.
OK so as far as the 55 by 55 is going.... I started out well the first week. I lost 2.4 lbs. But the second week, I gained back 1.4 of those lbs. In my defense, there were two birthday lunches, a church potluck, and Thanksgiving. So, that puts my grand total of lbs lost at a whopping 1 lb. Not exactly an impressive start, but I'm trying to do better with food choices this week. 54 lbs to go over the next 50 weeks.
So, I was thinking about what it is that I'd really like to learn how to do. While there are probably dozens of things I'd like to do, it's not lack of knowledge that's usually the issue but rather lack of resources, which is usually money. But one thing that I think is also, at least partly, due to lack of skill is creating beauty in my life. What do I mean by that? I'd like to surround myself with more beauty and less chaos in my environment, in particular my home. I'd like to be able to make pretty things, look as attractive as possible, wear beautiful clothing and accessories, etc. Things like cleaning, organizing, decorating, crafts, gardening, yardwork, repairs, makeup, skincare, beauty routines, creativity would all fall under this category, so would things that are non visual. I'd like to experience beautiful sounds, smells, taste, and touch by learning how to incorporate these things into my life and the atmosphere of my environment to a much greater degree than I do now. But, as with pretty much everything, I do better with a plan, and at the moment, I'm not sure how to put one together. It's something I will need to pray about, ponder, and maybe research. I guess I could start with some pics of beauty that speak to me. So in no particular order here are a few.
https://goo.gl/images/VgK14x https://goo.gl/images/RBjAN4 https://goo.gl/images/uyyqdn
https://goo.gl/images/ahSrAv https://goo.gl/images/EbPc5j https://goo.gl/images/5HBuQ8
https://goo.gl/images/pX5B5m https://goo.gl/images/sW1FCm https://goo.gl/images/igbRDN
https://goo.gl/images/8noLWt https://goo.gl/images/Ka2eHN https://goo.gl/images/4t2tta
So, what do you find beautiful? How do you create or bring beauty, physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, or in any other way into your life? I would love to hear your thoughts. Until next time, beautiful blessings, my friends!
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Another Year Older
Hi Peoples! Remember me? I'm dedicating this post (Can you dedicate posts? Is that a thing? If not, I'm starting it.) to my sister-in-law Debbie cuz she sent me a birthday card the other day and said she hadn't seen any posts from me in a while. So, Deb, here's my shout out to you! Ok I have never gone this long between posts. I think maybe I've set some kind of record here. My last one was over 3 months ago. Definitely has been a while. But in my defense, life has been way busier since September rolled around. School started for me and my kids. So, I also started back to homeschooling, doing Community Bible Study, teaching the kids' class at Community Bible Study, and participating in homeschool co-op.
My schooling is definitely a HUGE time eater! It's not that the work is outrageously difficult (at least not yet), it's just that there's a lot of reading along with the written assignments. The classes move quickly because they only last 8 weeks instead of the usual 16 in a semester. Thankfully, I'm liking the courses so far, though I feel like a ton of info is being thrown at me. I had no idea so much goes into being a counselor. I'm definitely feeling the intensity of the responsibility, and if I'm not careful, I sometimes start to get nervous that I might end up making some huge mistake and mess up somebody's life. I don't know. Maybe that's a normal fear for anyone starting their schooling in healthcare or human services. When I was an undergrad, I never experienced that. But my degree was in English. Not exactly going to cause anyone significant mental or physical damage by a poorly written piece or sloppy editing. Anyway, I finished my first class, Orientation to Professional Counseling Function and Identity. (That's a mouthful). And I got an A. Woo hoo! Guess all the academic ability didn't completely leak out over the 32 years I've been out of school. Now I'm working on my second class, Ethical and Legal Issues in Counseling. There are some tedious parts, but over all, it's a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I'm just about at the end of week 3 and so far am getting an A in this one too. I will need to take a heavier load starting in the spring since there are 20 classes in all, and I'd like to graduate before I die!
Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 54! Yikes! Seriously, that's kind of a little.... well, um, old. I don't feel this old. Ok maybe somewhat in my body, but not in my mind. Shouldn't I be more mature and wise and know more things and be all organized and have my act all together by this age? I'm only one year away from being in my late 50s. That's like practically a senior citizen. Well, I guess you either get older or you die. So, from that perspective, maybe getting older isn't so bad after all. While I'm not afraid to die, I'm not in any hurry either.
So speaking of getting older, since I will be 55 in one year, I've decided to set a 55 by 55 goal. My weight has been a challenge for most of my life, particularly so over the last several years. Overall, I now eat mostly low carb, though I've fallen off the wagon for the past few days and most likely will tomorrow. Hey, it IS my birthday! Last time I weighed myself, I had dropped 16 pounds. Not exactly the most impressive result after 3 months or so of changing my eating habits, but better than nothing, especially since I haven't been super consistent. However, it's been a while since I've checked my weight, but from the way my clothes fit, I doubt that I've gained much, if any back, or that I've lost any more. But I still have approximately 100 give or take a few pounds to lose. So, I've decided to lose 55 by the time I'm 55. Granted that's only about half of the total goal, but given my snail's pace with the whole weight loss thing, I think it's a more realistic goal. And truth be told, even if that's all I lose, it will still be a substantial improvement in both looks and health. Plus, that will allow me the freedom to indulge sometimes in those evil processed carbs that taste so amazing but are sooooo bad for those of us with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. So, I will face the dreaded scale on Monday morning in order to know my starting weight and set my goal for 55 lbs below that. I need this for a kick start to get back on better track with food, especially now that winter has decided to settle in early. Something about the cold and more dark hours and the holidays that just makes me want to devour truckloads of baked goods. But I think having this goal might help me reduce that truckload down to maybe say a backpack.
So, what are you planning to do a certain number of before your next birthday? This was a new concept for me. Now, I challenge you to set a goal. It doesn't have to be pounds. It could be anything really. I'd love to have you share.
Until next time (which hopefully won't be three months, but I make no promises, especially once spring semester starts), blessings to all!
My schooling is definitely a HUGE time eater! It's not that the work is outrageously difficult (at least not yet), it's just that there's a lot of reading along with the written assignments. The classes move quickly because they only last 8 weeks instead of the usual 16 in a semester. Thankfully, I'm liking the courses so far, though I feel like a ton of info is being thrown at me. I had no idea so much goes into being a counselor. I'm definitely feeling the intensity of the responsibility, and if I'm not careful, I sometimes start to get nervous that I might end up making some huge mistake and mess up somebody's life. I don't know. Maybe that's a normal fear for anyone starting their schooling in healthcare or human services. When I was an undergrad, I never experienced that. But my degree was in English. Not exactly going to cause anyone significant mental or physical damage by a poorly written piece or sloppy editing. Anyway, I finished my first class, Orientation to Professional Counseling Function and Identity. (That's a mouthful). And I got an A. Woo hoo! Guess all the academic ability didn't completely leak out over the 32 years I've been out of school. Now I'm working on my second class, Ethical and Legal Issues in Counseling. There are some tedious parts, but over all, it's a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. I'm just about at the end of week 3 and so far am getting an A in this one too. I will need to take a heavier load starting in the spring since there are 20 classes in all, and I'd like to graduate before I die!
Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 54! Yikes! Seriously, that's kind of a little.... well, um, old. I don't feel this old. Ok maybe somewhat in my body, but not in my mind. Shouldn't I be more mature and wise and know more things and be all organized and have my act all together by this age? I'm only one year away from being in my late 50s. That's like practically a senior citizen. Well, I guess you either get older or you die. So, from that perspective, maybe getting older isn't so bad after all. While I'm not afraid to die, I'm not in any hurry either.
So speaking of getting older, since I will be 55 in one year, I've decided to set a 55 by 55 goal. My weight has been a challenge for most of my life, particularly so over the last several years. Overall, I now eat mostly low carb, though I've fallen off the wagon for the past few days and most likely will tomorrow. Hey, it IS my birthday! Last time I weighed myself, I had dropped 16 pounds. Not exactly the most impressive result after 3 months or so of changing my eating habits, but better than nothing, especially since I haven't been super consistent. However, it's been a while since I've checked my weight, but from the way my clothes fit, I doubt that I've gained much, if any back, or that I've lost any more. But I still have approximately 100 give or take a few pounds to lose. So, I've decided to lose 55 by the time I'm 55. Granted that's only about half of the total goal, but given my snail's pace with the whole weight loss thing, I think it's a more realistic goal. And truth be told, even if that's all I lose, it will still be a substantial improvement in both looks and health. Plus, that will allow me the freedom to indulge sometimes in those evil processed carbs that taste so amazing but are sooooo bad for those of us with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. So, I will face the dreaded scale on Monday morning in order to know my starting weight and set my goal for 55 lbs below that. I need this for a kick start to get back on better track with food, especially now that winter has decided to settle in early. Something about the cold and more dark hours and the holidays that just makes me want to devour truckloads of baked goods. But I think having this goal might help me reduce that truckload down to maybe say a backpack.
So, what are you planning to do a certain number of before your next birthday? This was a new concept for me. Now, I challenge you to set a goal. It doesn't have to be pounds. It could be anything really. I'd love to have you share.
Until next time (which hopefully won't be three months, but I make no promises, especially once spring semester starts), blessings to all!
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