Dancing on my cellphone

Well, doesn't everyone? Dance on their cell phone, I mean? No, not on it, silly! When you are talking on it! I do, especially in this house - the cell reception is horrible! With a capital "H"!! If I can, I just talk on Skype, because, we don't have a landline and I get tired of walking and dancing around the house, trying to find just the right spot - then finding it - then that spot going bad - then finding another spot...ad nauseum...

The only problem is not all of my people that I want to talk to are on Skype yet. I've been trying to talk everyone I know into downloading it, but, that is a slow process, I am finding. Cell phones just drive me crazy most of the time. I hope they get better in the next few years.

Getting out with friends

My girlfriend called me up on Friday morning and asked me if I wanted to go out and have coffee with her. I was so busy, but, I totally knew it would be good for me, so I said, "Sure!" And we had a really nice time together. The coffee shop that we go to is on the town square, so after we were done with our coffee, we visited a couple of the shops on the square. One of them I have been wanting to go into for a long time. They had the absolute cutest things! They had handmade purses, beautiful jewelry, and gorgeous little makeup mirrors. Oh! They even had a purse made out of a football! It was really neat, even though I don't like football! I've been telling Sammie for a long time that we need to go in that store and look around, and I was so right! Only - if I had had Sammie with me, I'm afraid I never would have gotten out of there! Haha! She does want to go, though - even more now, after hearing me talk about it. It was really good to get out with my friend and hang out for a little while, even if all we did was window shop!

Daily prayer makes all the difference

I have to say that I am still amazed what a difference daily prayer makes in my life. When I remember to hit my knees in the morning, and at night when I go to bed, my life runs a lot smoother and a lot happier. Maybe I don't even want to say 'happier'. It's more like - fulfilled. That is it - I walk through my life feeling more fulfilled when I am 'plugging into the source' twice a day. I love the way this one older gentleman I used to know would talk about it. He talked about it like plugging a power cord into an electrical outlet. I love that analogy, and I can really wrap my brain around it.


I do think it's funny that after several years of sobriety, I am still amazed at the power of those two tiny little bits of action on my part. Amazed I am, though.

I realized this morning that I hadn't been praying for several days - this is what has it on my mind. I don't know when I stopped or why I stopped. One might think with all the rush of Thanksgiving, I would forget to pray. That wasn't it, though. I specifically remember praying while my mom and dad were here. It was such a special time we had and I remember talking to God about it. I talk to God a lot during the day, but, those times on my knees are much more 'in touch', if you will. And I remember being 'in touch' with God when Momma and Daddy were here.

You know what I bet it was? And this is so super silly. Sometimes when I go to bed at night, Lucky is in my way, and it is very hard to kneel down beside the bed. Put 120 pounds of dog in my two feet 'hallway' between my dresser and my bed, and things are a little cramped. Ha! You should see me trying to get up in the middle of the night to pee! That's a funny sight!

I don't really know if that is what it was that caused me to stop, but, I do know that, just in case it was, I shall pray at the end of the bed at night if I need to do so. It's weird, because, in the morning, I just hit my knees wherever, sometimes even in the dining room next to a chair. At night, though, I'm so picky about how my bedtime routine goes. I guess I better nip that in the bud!

Ok, so ya'll remember to 'plug in' tonight - I know I will! (And thanks, Lloyd - for the cool analogy!)

I'm still eating the cheese, Momma!

Am I gonna get sick? Am I gonna die? I hope not! I cannot stop eating the cheese ring that my mother made for us at Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving? Yes, thanksgiving. I just cannot help, but, eat it - it is so good! I have had to eat it rather slowly, because, I've had horrible indigestion these last few months. And since I didn't have a food processor, those onions are killing me. Or maybe they would kill me, even severely processed. Or maybe the itty bitty bit of Tabasco sauce is killing me. I have no idea, but, I just know that my precious cheese ring makes my life worse. Wah.It's not all that pretty anymore, either - is it? And it sure doesn't look like a ring - ha! We had to shove it into a Tupperware so it would stay fresh. Yeah - fresh. See, here's the thing, cheese is milk that's gone bad, right? So if it's already bad, I'm okay, right? Haha! Seriously, it tastes just fine. And it is oooooh, so good!! I just can't stop eating it!

Isn't it funny how the TV's are all stuck to the walls?

I've just been noticing that more and more lately - that people just aren't using tv shelves anymore. We went out to eat last night, and it was a deli sandwich/bar type of restaurant and they had a big flat screen TV up on the wall. And another place we like to go is a Mexican restaurant that has two big flat screen TV's on the walls. They have one on each side so no matter which way you are sitting, you can see one of them.

And then earlier this afternoon, a friend was showing us some pictures of her newly-redone living room and I noticed that her TV was stuck to the wall and she had a tiny little table in front of it to hold the DVD player. And I just thought it was so funny, how everywhere you go - the TV's are all stuck to the walls!

Ours will be once we bring it upstairs from the basement. There is no place to hang it on the wall down there, so we had to use the little stand thing that came with it and Mark put it on one of his chests. No, not his chest - one of his chests! Silly!

Lucky! You're supposed to do that at home!

My sweet dog, Lucky, who I usually refer to as 'Puppy', has developed an icky habit lately. You know I've been making an effort to take more walks. And half of the time, I take Puppy with me. And the little monster ('little' meaning: dear, sweet, honeybaby - we all know he's not little!) is defecating in neighbor's yards!! What?! That is not how we do it! He has been an at-home-pooper all his life! I mean - all his life! What on earth happened? If this keeps up, I'm going to have to go shopping for some pet supplies. The plastic bag over the hand thing is just YUCK! I'd like to find a pooper scooper like my dad had once - it was this really cool contraption, that would keep your hands totally clean! Clean is definitely good when it comes to my hands. But that's a whole 'nother issue we'll discuss another day!

Don't stay up so late!

I'm completely worthless today. I was semi-functional for most of the day, but, since around 1pm, I've been a lump in front of this screen. I stupidly stayed up last night until 12:30am! What was I thinking? I know full well that lately I've been very tired - even falling asleep for the night one night at 7:30pm! And yet, I go and stay up that late!

I've got lots of work that I could be doing right now, but, I am so uber sleepy, I am half considering going to bed! You know what time it is here? It's only 4:30! Isn't that crazy? I wish I had an in-house movie theater - that would be just perfect right now. I mean, really - I'd hate to go to bed at 4 in the afternoon! But if I could get cozy in some home theater furniture, relax, and watch a movie - that would be perfect!

One thing is for sure - you won't catch me staying up that late again any time soon! Sheesh!

Indigestion! Indigestion!

I've got some dumb song stuck in my head and I'm not even sure what song it is! I have the worst indigestion - it seems like just about anything can give me indigestion lately. And the song that is stuck in my head is a made up one!

You know the guys that did the 'Conjunction, Junction - What's Your Function?' song... It's that educational cartoon that used to come on Saturday mornings between our 'real' cartoons. And one of those songs is repeating endlessly in my head with its words changed to .... you guessed it!

"In - di - ges - tion! In- di - ges - tion!"

So silly!

I pinked my shag again!

Well, ok, it might not exactly still qualify as a 'shag', but, it is definitely layered! And I have once again added pink to it! And I have a young friend up in Canada (Hi Alyssa!) who recently had some pink highlights put in, as well! And so I tried to do a 'dedication chunk' to her, but, I discovered that it was really tricky to get a 'chunk' of hair colored when your hair is so layered. I did it as much as I could, though. Here's my 'Dedicated to Alyssa' chunk:

Ain't it pretty? I just love that shot! I only wish the chunk had been from the top of my head down, but, that was two separate sections of hair, because of the layering, and so I couldn't figure out how to do it without making a big mess!

And here I am, being a total weirdo, stretching up so you can see the pink chunk:

That wasn't working so well, so that's when I decided the closeup would be better.

And here's just me:

Hopefully, you can see in that shot, there's a good bit of it in my bangs, too. And then I did the highlights very softly all around and a bunch on the tips. I like the way it came out.

It's so much fun to do, and it gives me such an uplift to my spirit. I really enjoy doing stuff like that to my hair - it just perks me up a bit! And it's so easy on the checking account, because, since I'm only doing highlights, and my hair is now short - I got to use that same box of color around four times! So that is definitely cool! If I had to go spend $65 every time I wanted this done, it would be such a bummer! It's fun to have it done professionally sometimes, but, I sure wouldn't want to pay that all the time!

I conquered 'The Beast'!

The other day I was telling you about my 'Little San Fransisco' neighborhood that I live in and how I was going to 'Conquer the Beast' - the big hill up the street from me. Well, I did it! I conquered The Beast! It was hard, and I had to stop once in the middle to catch my breath and make sure my legs hadn't fallen off, but, I made it!

This was last Wednesday, and I haven't been back out since - so I've done a horrible job with my LiTaWaMo. I have done wonderful, in that I keep getting 'back on that horse'!

We've had a lot of chaos in our lives lately, though. My middle son just got sick with asthmatic bronchitis and missed a whole week of school. My daughter just celebrated her eleventh birthday and had some activities at school, and my parents are coming into town in a couple of days.

So I'm still plugging along, but, I'm not getting out there every day. The cool thing, was that my husband had just bought some new batteries for my camera - so I took some wonderful pictures of the fall colors around here on my walk. I don't think I'll take my camera every time, as it was kind of obnoxious carrying it. And I wound up taking about one hundred pictures that day. If I kept that up, I'd have way too many pictures to deal with!

I really want to get out there and walk tomorrow and Tuesday, so that when my mom is here she and I can walk - she loves taking walks and it is so beautiful out here, that it will be nice to be able to to do that with her. And I figure taking walks the next two days will loosen me up a bit for it.

LiTaWaMo setback

Well, I had another bad migraine yesterday, so my walk didn't get taken. And I didn't have any extra walks from prior days to bank on this time!

So I'll just have to take two walks today. I might walk the dog first, because, I have to be gentle with him and not take him too far or on too steep of hills, because, he is handicapped. We have had three different diagnoses from three different docs - hip dysplasia, spinal deformity, leg deformity. The last vet (curse him!) went so far as to call my sweet Puppy 'lame'. Lame? Way to break a mother's heart, dude! And shoot! This dog could outrun that doc any day! Just not for long distances. He is good at short spurts, you know?

So I'll take him on his semi-easy walk, and then I think I'll attempt 'the hill'. Does that sound ominous? Haha! I call my neighborhood "Little San Francisco" and the hill that is on my street is ...WOW! It's a monster!

I'll see if I can take a camera with me and snap a picture of it for you!

So I'm getting back on the horse! I also didn't blog on LisaMarieMary.com for NaBloPoMo yesterday, and I'm really bummed about that. But I'm just going to get back on that horse, too!

A fresh new day - a fresh new perspective!

Our Daily Bread - Thanks, Bro!

I just got this in an email from my brother. He said that his company sends one out every day, and that this one really resonated with him. He sent it to the family, thinking it might resonate with us, too. And it did. And it does. I believe this with all my heart.

So often in life, we don't do things, because, we are waiting until we can do them 'right'. That is just plain silly. I'm quite certain God is not wholly concerned with whether or not you are in a church, kneeling, folding your hands in the proper way, etc.

Did you forget to hit your knees this morning? Then talk to him in the car on the freeway. Have a little chat with him at your desk. Heck, talk to him all day long - he is your friend! He wants to hear from you!

So yeah, my brother hit the nail on the head - I needed to be reminded of this today! Thanks, bro!

LiTaWaMo - Kickoff time!

Ok, folks - it's time to get serious. Or, at least, a little bit serious. As I'm doing NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) over on LisaMarieMary.com, I thought I would borrow from that and do a 'walking one' for myself! I started out with 'National', but, soon realized I'd need to change it to 'Lisa's' ....as, it's just me. And the only thing 'National' about me is the spread of my....

Yeah, well, you get the point. I'm going to make every effort possible to walk every single day this month. Even if it is just a little, short walk (because I'm busy, tired, sick...) I would like to walk every day.

And should I succeed (I will succeed, I will succeed) - by the end of the month, I should have a nice habit established, as it only takes twenty-one times of doing something to make it a habit. Sounds like a plan, eh? Yep, I thought so, too.

And, I'll get back on track with my Healthy Habits while I'm at it, too. I'm gonna need a couple of days to get going on that list, though.

And we're pretty low on water bottles right now - eeks! I'm gonna have to make sure the old man gets us some more this weekend, as there is no way I am drinking this tap water out here. Yuck! When we lived in Texas, and we ran out of water bottles before grocery day, I could put tap water in the bottles, refrigerate them, and when they were nice and cold, they were totally drink-able. This water out here is seriously yuck-o, though! So that's kind of a bummer, because, I feel trapped, or stuck to ...well, you know - dependent, on those damn bottles. And that just sucks.

That's okay, though - it'll work out. And today - I actually took TWO walks! (No, I won't cheat and count that for two days!) My silly Puppy decided to poop in a neighbor's yard, and as he never used to do that - I didn't have a bag with me! So I took Puppy home, and went back to retrieve his fecal matter. Ewww! For five whole years, Puppy spoiled me by only pooping at home! And now, the last two walks, he has pooped out and about! Gah! It's back to carrying bags for me, just like I did when he was a puppy and I didn't know of his 'only poop at home' rule - the one that is no more....

Wow - I ended the last two paragraphs on a sour note. That last one - literally and figuratively! I'll have to remedy that. Here's some happiness and sunshine:

Thirty days of walking is going to be so good for me! I'm going to feel so good and it's going to become a habit! I'll be able to keep up better with the kids and zip my pants up easier. Life will be absolutely, terrifically perfect.

Was that better?

Ok, so I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box....

You know that ouchy arm of mine? Ok, yeah - so well, my arm has been hurting up by my shoulder, so after I got out of the shower....I put some Freeze It on it. And it helped, but, now my elbow is hurting. But, that's neither here nor there...

Back to that dull crayon business...I was in the kitchen doing dishes, and I got hot in the corner there with all that hot water running. So I was sweating a bit.

Here's where I get dumb. I take off my glasses to oh-so-daintily wipe the sweat from each side of the brow with each shoulder....in my most feminine way, of course.

However, if you will step back a line or two ....to where I said I put Freeze It on my shoulder?

Yeah - I rubbed it all across my eye! Smooth!

I felt my face getting tingly warm, and I thought, 'What the heck?'

Yeah, so - I wiped my eye again - with a clean section of my shirt. A non-Freeze It'd section, that is.

My vision was blurry for about half an hour, but, I think we're okay now. Yeah.

Just remember, folks - Freeze It + eyeballs - not the best combination! Like I needed to tell you that! It's only us Lucy Ricardo-types that need that information actually shared with us!

Oh yeah - and that ouchy arm? It looks worse today - you know how bruises go through their loverly array of colors....

I'll try to snap a pic if the camera will cooperate - it keeps eating the batteries!

Mean old blood-drawin' lady!!

Let me tell you what my captions say, as I'm just getting the hang of my JengoFett! Ok, it's not really called that - but, that's just how I remember it! It's really called Jing - you can find it at JingProject.com. It's really pretty cool, I'm just not that great with it yet. Anyhoo - counter-clockwise from the top.....(1) Those are birthmarks! Not ouchy! (2) Ouchy #1. Regular blood-draw bruising. Site of needle prick. :( (3) Even made the crook of my arm red. Wah! (4) Ouchy #2. Site of pure evil. In 22 years of psych. treatment, never had one of these. WTH is it, anyway? A blood blister? A blood somethin?

Ok, and then I just had to include an 'un-touched' photo for pure documentation purposes. Either that, or I'm just a weirdo.

Yes, it is true. I am a wimp. And I'm also a nerd who likes to show off her 'injuries'! HA!

Anyhoo - had some blood drawn today to test the level of Tegretol in my system and to make sure it's not completely killing my liver - yet.

And I was horribly injured! Horribly! It was awful!!

Ok, I might just be exaggerating....just a tad. But, I did find it interesting that I got some type of blood blister thingy this time. That's never happened before. And even the crook of my arm was reddened.

I think my body just would like to keep all of it's blood. Thank you very much.

Pregnant mare up there?

I was just looking closer at the sweet horses in my header, and I'm thinking the one on the right is a precious and pregnant mare! Anyone else agree with that? :)

Grandmamom's old red traincase

I have my grandmother's old red traincase on my dresser and I just love it and love having it there, out in the open like that! I miss the old luggage sets, the way they looked when I was a kid and when my grandmother was a young woman. But also, having it in here, in plain view, makes me feel like I have a piece of my grandmother in my room with me. And that just fills my spirit with warmth.

I also think of the days when my grandmother and her sisters and brother would ride the train to go somewhere. Traveling was a big deal then, a big affair. Everyone would get dressed up and it was a real treat. The journey itself was actually part of the trip.

I know the one time that I took the train, I absolutely loved it! I cannot wait until I can take my own kids for a train ride. Even if we only go a short way like I did (from Dallas to Austin) we will have so much fun!

I know we have a lot of totally cool modern conveniences in this day and time (the internet! could NOT live without it!) but, there are just some things about the past that seem so special and so magical. And I see a little bit of that 'magic' in my mind's eye every time I glance over at my dresser!

Too many clothes!

I have absolutely got to get my clothing nightmare cleaned out! I have way too many clothes, and they are just not getting put away. But I have noticed recently that the few clothes that I do wear are the only ones that really get ‘touched’ by me. And I had a light bulb moment that I should totally get rid of some.

I have been hanging onto way too many clothes. I had some lovely, sweet people give me hand-me-downs, around the same time. And it just overwhelmed me, because, there were so many clothes all at once. So I need to just buckle down and get to going through them.

The other issue is that I am hanging onto clothes that just don’t fit me anymore. I keep thinking that ‘overweight’ is a temporary condition (which I really do hope and pray it is) but, it’s been six years now. And hanging onto some of those clothes is just plain silly.

I’m going to use the tactic I learned from either FlyLady or Marilu Henner – I can’t remember which one of them it was, they both just totally rock, in my book! Anyway, the tactic is you have to either totally love the item – or wear it frequently – or it’s gone! Some of the items I know that I will keep are my wedding dress, my high school dance dresses (there are only four of them) and stuff like that. But other stuff, that I don’t completely love, and I’m just thinking, ‘I may be able to wear that as soon as I lose weight…’ – forget it! It’s gone! It’s going to be hard, but, I am really working hard to simplify my life and make things easier and more manageable, and this is one thing that has definitely gotten out of control!

One thing that I am afraid of is not having very many clothes left when I am done. This really would be a good thing, though, as it would simplify things so much, and as I do lose weight, I can go and buy new and pretty things. (My clothes really are pretty scrappy, anyway.) I could just buy one thing here and there, and eventually wind up with a nice wardrobe. It would be so cool if I had a friend with a plus-size store, so I could get wholesale clothing prices. Then I could really build up my wardrobe nicely. But then, of course, maybe I’d wind up in the same pickle I’m in now – too many clothes! LOL!

Halloween cuteness

Sammie really wanted to embrace nature this Halloween and be a tiger. She is completely obsessed with tigers right now. I'm not sure how she got off course of that, but, now she is going to be a vampire lady. Her costume is really pretty, but, I think kids in animal masks are just so cute. Of course, I imagine that had she gone ahead with that costume, we wouldn't have used a mask. The one time that I was a cat, I wore a headband with ears attached to it and painted my face to look like a cat. And that is more along the lines of what Sammie had been talking about. And I bet she would've made the cutest tiger ever! Well, maybe we'll have to try that out next year. This year - vampire queen it is!

Cooling pads for my migraines

The other day, I think it was Tuesday, I started getting a migraine. This was not surprising at all, as I get them pretty frequently. My migraines can be a nuisance to the whole family - plans get canceled, children have to play quietly, friends can't come over (or have to go home) and all of the lighting in the house gets turned down. They all get so sick of mom going around turning all of the lights off!

But then I remembered what my mom had put in my Christmas stocking! Cooling pads to go on my head when my head starts hurting! Awesome!

These things feel so good, but, they only really help if I use them early on in the headache. I didn't get it on quite early enough that day, but, I did get it on soon enough to offer some relief.

Anyway, being the geeky blogger that I am, I thought I should photo-document the occasion. But then I discovered that my camera was out of batteries. So I went into my daughter's room and swiped hers. It's just a cheapy little thing, but, it does the job. So the pics aren't the best quality, but, that's ok. You get to see what the pads look like and how adorable I look with one on.

You can see how red my face gets with the migraines, too, though. *sigh*

Anyway, I'm a dork and here's my migraine-y pics:

I ordered 'You On a Diet' and it got here!

Do you remember the other day - my telling you about how badly that I wanted the book, You On a Diet? Well, I gave in and ordered it for myself! And it came in the mail yesterday! I am so excited! I really want to go lock myself up in my bedroom for a few days and just read, read, read it! But, we all know that is nothing more than a silly pipe dream. I just really love the way Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen explain things - all the time when I hear them talking, light bulbs are going off. "Oh! I get it!" "Now I see!" They just make everything make sense. I really just cannot wait to dig in!

I'm needing to update my look

I was thinking last night and today that I might trim my hair and color it again. And then I came across the coolest new online tool to help me decide what I want to do to make myself over. It's called MakeoverSolutions.com and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! I could do that just about every day! What a fun way to try out new looks!

I had a little trouble, because, my hair wasn't pulled out of the way completely - so I had to pick a hairstyle that had hair on my face. Ok, here, let me show you what I mean:
See how I left hair on my forehead on the right side, and how you can see the length of my hair - so that limited my choices of what I could pick. But it mostly limited me to choices I would have picked anyway.

Don't I look cute!!! I have wanted to do purple highlights for a long time! And now I've finally gotten to see what it would look like. I've done pink highlights plenty of times, in fact that is what I have in my bathroom right now that I was considering doing tonight. But I haven't done purple ones yet, and I think they would look so pretty!

It was so much fun putting on the makeup and so amazing that it landed in the right spots, with so many obstacles in the way. The biggest of those I think would be the way that my left eyelid sags, but, the makeup still looks pretty good! That was just so much fun! (Did I already say that?)

This software was so detailed, down to shape of your lips! It was so cool, and there were so many things to add and do. I mean, just for lips, there was lipliner, lipstick, and lipgloss! I only used lipgloss, because, that is all I do in real life. And there was celebrity hair and just plain hairstyles. And then, of course, all of the color and highlights and lowlights. Oh, and you can make the hair wider and higher, if need be.

The details are just awesome - this was just a ton of fun!

You On a Diet

I'm sure pretty much everyone has heard of this book - it was written by Mehmet C. Oz and Michael F. Roizen. I've been wanting it for a while now. I saw them on Oprah and I was immediately taken with them. I don't know if I saw them before or after buying their other book, You: The Owner's Manual. I love that one, too, although I haven't finished it. There is a lot to take in there!

But I would really love to dive into You: On a Diet, as that is one of the primary focuses of my life right now - getting healthy by losing this weight! I know I don't need their book to lose weight, or to start losing weight, but, knowing more about what exactly you're doing to your body with the foods you ingest and the activity/non-activity you involve yourself in, has got to be helpful. And they have an online community that corresponds with this book, and it looks like it might even be free - I'm going to check it out and I'll let you know!

And I just love the way they talk/write. Just listening to them is inspiring to me. So if anyone is in need of some christmas gift ideas - that book would be a good place to start!

Lunch with Sammie is a good workout

Yes, it's true - going to lunch with my sweet daughter is a good workout. I no longer have access to a car in the daytime, so I ask my sweet friend, Belinda, to take me up to the school at Sammie's lunchtime. And then I walk home. I don't want Belinda to have to wait on me or sit through that raucous lunch with us. And I don't want to ask her to come back in thirty minutes. And I desperately need to get my butt moving, anyway. So I walk home.

It is only a mile. But a long and hard mile it can be, that's for sure. Well, this last time wasn't so bad. I took another route, on which I think the incline was easier - we live at the top of a hill. And also - the last time I took that walk - the temperatures were in the 100's!! So it definitely helped for it not to be so swelteringly hot. But I still definitely got a good workout from it. And it was a nice, peaceful time to just mentally relax.

So I'm definitely going to have to continue doing that. Sammie gets to see me at school, I get to be a little more involved at school, and I get a workout out of it! You see, because, ever since I started my home based business, I just don't get as much time at school. So it's a win-win-win!

Swarming ticks

The other day we went to Mark's cousin's house for dinner. They live out in the woods, right up to a lake. It really is beautiful out there! But, it is very woodsy! And they have two outdoor, free-roaming dogs. The dogs are very sweet, and very loving to humans - but, they are definitely outdoor dogs.

We had some really good food for dinner - too good, in fact. It was so good that I ate way too much and I was feeling really super stuffed! So Sammie and I went outside to go for a walk. Now I know that Mark and the kids have gotten really bad chigger bites out there and he has told them to stay out of the woods when they are there.

But as we are a very 'off-trail' family, I thought that he meant to stay out of woods in that way, like no going off the trail. See, there is a dirt road out in the back of the house that goes through the woods a little bit. So Sammie and I went walking on that road a little bit.

We came in after a little while and everyone decided to watch a movie. As we were sitting there, Sammie and I were getting so itchy. And then I kept feeling things crawling on me, so I would look and see this little, tiny black bug and pick it off. It kept happening again and again. I thought, "Gosh, their dogs really were covered in a lot of fleas!"

But then when we got home, I noticed that I still had a few more, and they were not fleas! They were ticks! OH MY GAWD! I have never had more than one tick on me at once, much less, a whole swarm of the little buggers and I'd never seen ticks so small! I immediately stripped down and checked every inch of me. And the thing that freaked me OUT was that they were so tiny! I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to find them all, especially in my dark hair. It was nuts, absolutely nuts!

(That's a tick compared to the head of a match.)

And with so many people getting Lyme disease lately, it just really freaked me out! I had one on my ankle so small that I almost couldn't get him off - I had to get tweazers. I put all my clothes in a trash bag to sit outside for a few days, and then I jumped in the shower. Because I was so afraid that I would miss some in my hair - I washed, rather - soaked, my hair in Dr. Bronner's soap. That stuff does a horrible job on my hair, but, it is so potent, I figured it would help. I didn't have any tea tree oil on hand, so I figured it was the next best thing. Then after that I soaked my head in Neutrogena T-Gel. That stuff is pretty potent, too. I was quite hopeful that between those two, no remaining survivors would be left. They would definitely deserve little, tiny tick trophies if they survived those fumes!

But I haven't seen any since. Whew!

[Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.]

I really have no idea how fat I am.

Honestly - no idea. I live in a silly, unrealistic, sheltered world inside my own head.

Sadly, it's the same silly, unrealistic, sheltered world I lived in when I weighted 120 pounds.

I thought I was "Miss Obesity" - seriously, I did. My friends were all so skinny and cute, so I thought, and I was this big cow.

I'm telling you - if Michael J. Fox stops by with that cool, time-traveling car - I will seriously go back to, say, around 1988 ...or 1989 ...or anywhere near that time - and KICK MY OWN ASS!!!!

But anyway, getting back to today, I look down...and I see a cute pair of jeans, and cute white shoes....and I 'see' an adorable, 125 lb. girl. Seriously. I know I'm saying 'seriously' a lot here, but, I really am serious. It's just so unbelievable how powerful the human mind is.

There are moments ...quick, fleeting (thank God!) moments ...when the reality of it hits me. And in those moments, the panic attack is so severe, it feels like I'll suffocate to death.

Now - this is quite the predicament, really, because, I suppose it would be good to stay in reality about the situation, so that I would stay aware and know to rectify it. Because oftentimes, my 'lala land' lets me eat and 'not move' as much as I want. A lot of times I'm not feeling well - like yesterday's whopper of a migraine (whoa!) and so I will take certain freedoms. But a lot of the time, it is just this warped reality that my head is in that is allowing me to act like I'm 19 and can eat as many bags of darn popcorn and drink as many darn Sprite's as I want to. But, on the other hand, if I did stay aware - how could I live in that horrible state of panic?! Would it go away after a while? Who knows...

If only there was some kind of collaboration software to bring the reality of the 'knowing' and the safety of the 'not knowing' together peacefully and productively, that would be awesome!

It's funny how simplistically people who have never been heavy look at all of this. "Just eat less and exercise." And it is actually that simple, it's just not easy. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

And that is really the part that they don't get. Simple, but, not easy. Hell - if it were easy, why would I be sitting here looking like this, typing this post? What - because I enjoy being fat?

Hardly.

Damn head.

Working at home is great

I really do love working at home, but, sometimes even I long for a job out in the world. Most of the jobs that I had previously involved, in one way or another, working reception desks. And this blogging friend I have, LatteGirl, just took a job at the reception desk of a hotel. And I must say that I was rather surprised to find myself jealous and longing for a new reception job. It was really weird. But there were definitely some parts about working outside the home that were fulfilling. And sometimes even fun. For now, though - I think I'll just stay right here!

Clay Nelson Life Balance

I just listened to the most wonderful motivational CD's! They were by Clay Nelson, who is an awesome life coach and is so inspiring! There were three of the CD's, and I just listened to them practically straight through, so that I could come and tell you about them. But I intend to listen to them again, more slowly this time, stopping in between to actually do the exercises he recommends. And then I will come back and update you as I go through each one. The set I listened to is the Getting Started Series - Having a Say in How Your Life Turns Out. I totally loved everything that he had to say, and he really opened my eyes to some of my skewed perceptions of life around me. One of my biggest issues right now, probably my biggest issue (no pun intended) ;) is my weight. And the funny thing is that I didn't subconsciously set out to, or decide to, make any changes after listening. I just felt emotionally and spiritually rejuvenated, and I haven't been eating as much, as a result. So - before I actually, intentionally, put into practice, any of his advice - things are already better for me. Can you imagine how amazing it will be when I intentionally follow his guidelines? Totally awesome! I can't wait to go back through the audio program and then get my life and my spirit back on track!

Child stardom often leads to such sadness

I was watching one of Lindsay Lohan's old movies with Sammie last night, and it just made me so sad for her. She was so cute and so sweet and such a delightful little actress. I say delightful, because, she wasn't all that great - but, she was fun to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her 'come of age' through her movies. It was fun to see her grow. And then, where did she wind up? In and out of drug rehabilitation units - it's so sad. And I was thinking, as we watched the movie, the percentage of these child stars that wind up like this is so great, that it is a wonder that any parent ever advocates for their child to land a big role. I do hope that she can pull her act together and live a happy life - it would be a shame to see her go down the tubes just because she wanted to be a movie star!

Give me light or just forget it!

It is so true - when I get depressed, a dark and dreary room just makes it worse! When we have day after day of cloudiness, I start to get a little crazy - especially in my kitchen! It is so dim, and I just cannot brighten it up in there! I keep thinking that there is some light that I haven't turned on because it is so gloomy in there, and I look around for one more light to turn on - that 'magic, let's all feel better now', light! And it's just not there. I think whoever bought the main light fixture for the kitchen just picked the wrong kind for the way that room is set up. I would love to buy something else for in there, like maybe a pretty lamp. I actually thought we had the problem solved the other day, because I accidentally knocked a piece off of the cooktop. And it was the piece that covered up the fluorescent light on the cooktop. When I turned on that light without the cover on, it so brightly illuminated the room - almost exactly like I've been wanting! It was just too glaring without the cover on. And I was sure that the light hadn't been working, and that somehow, by knocking the top of it off, I had made it work. And that if Mark could just get the piece that fell behind the stove, and put it back on, all would be well.

But, yet again, I'm so silly. The cover was metal, not the opaque covers you generally find on fluorescent lights. And when we put it back on, it did work. The only thing is, I remembered that it had been working all along. But, with that darn metal cover on it, it only illuminated the cooktop. That was a bummer!

The really tricky part of all of this is that I need light to curb my depression, but, with all of these migraines, I need darkness. Now that is quite a pickle to be in!

RC Cars and Trucks

I love RC Cars and Trucks! They are so much fun, and now they are getting so fancy - and so fast! Some of them even run on real gasoline! I posted over on Hippie Spelunker - H2 the other day about how much I love trucks, and how it all began, and why my 'Hippie' blog is nicknamed for a gas-guzzling monster!

And at 37 years old, I still have a very healthy love of toys - and you put trucks and toys together, and the FUN is on!!

There was this one RC pickup truck once, that was for sale one Christmas at our local grocery store, and I wanted it so badly!! There was one small hangup Mark had with buying it for me! (Men- gah!) What was the hangup? The bugger cost $400!! Oh my gawd!

That one was really big, but, about that same time, they came out with some that weren't that big, but, were totally awesome! They were definitely larger than your average RC car, but, they were so freaking fast, it was unbelievable!

We were at my mom's house on Christmas day, and we kept hearing this VERY loud noise outside! My first thought was, 'Who on earth is doing yardwork on Christmas?!'

And then my next thought was, 'And why in the heck is their power tool so loud?!'

But then we looked outside and couldn't believe what we saw! Setting up the scene in your head, my mom lives across the street from my elementary school. So every Christmas, everyone is out there in the driveway with their new bikes, rollerskates, skateboards, RC cars, etc! It is lots of fun watching the parade of neighbors and seeing what everybody got from Santa!

And that is what we saw - a guy running his new RC car down the length of the school driveway (about eight houses long) in just seconds! It was so awesome!

I unashamedly nurture my love for toys. Some people think it is silly, but, I think it is good for mental health! But the weird thing is, I never looked these speed-demon RC cars up - not even once! What was I thinking?! I'm heading to the Hobby Warehouse right now to go look them up - I hope they're not as much as that giant $400 one, because the college parking lot across the street would be perfect for them!

Should weight loss be motivated by gifts?

I don't know, I often think that just being thin and healthy again would be, and should be, enough of a prize. I think that maybe it would be enough motivation. But, as I'm still stuck in the same old place, maybe 'dangling the carrot' is not such a bad idea.

A couple of Decembers ago, I bought myself the most gorgeous purple suede dress, thinking it could serve this purpose. I actually found it at the Goodwill, but, it was in such amazingly good condition - for only $6 - that I had to snatch it up! I knew it was way too many sizes too small, but, with it being in such good condition, and being just the kind of dress that I love - I bought it, thinking I would motivate myself to get moving, knowing that it was in my closet waiting for me.

It is still waiting, though. Maybe the prize needs to get bigger - I like the thought of that. I would love to reward myself with a trip! It would be really great, and inspiring, to know that if I met my weight loss goals, I could go on a nice getaway! I'd love to go to New York City - one of my very favorite cities! My mom took me a few years back, and we are both itching to go again. Or I could go to Branson, Missouri - ever since I read about it in Reader's Digest years ago, I have wanted to go there! It's cool, because it is billed as "Family Friendly Las Vegas", and seeing as I no longer drink or party, that would fit me perfectly! (Well, except for my 'sailor's mouth' - we'll have to work on that, too, I guess!)

So - what do you think? Do you think offering up gifts or trips as the proverbial carrot is a good way to approach getting healthier?

I've finally started walking again.

And I have really been enjoying myself. The other day, I went walking when the college classes were switching, and I just happened to walk over by the college. And it was so neat to feel the 'vibes' of a college environment again. So that was pretty cool.

And one of the things that I've been doing while I'm walking is scoping out all the neighbor's mail boxes. No, not to steal their mail! Don't be silly! I'm shopping. Yes - shopping, checking out all the different kinds of mailboxes available right now. Our 'mailbox', and I use that term very loosely, is in such a pitiful state that it is not even funny! I'm so serious. For starters, it has a deceased man's name on the side of it. Ok, then. And what's really odd, is that we sometimes still get mail for him! He went to Heaven in the year 2000!! Alrighty, then!

He and his wife had this house built in the early 60's, and I'm quite positive that the mailbox we are using is the original one! I've been meaning to take a picture of it to blog, and now that I'm telling you all about it, I definitely have to!

I will, but, getting back to walking - it is so cool, because, I never have to spend another cent at a health club again! Really! See, our little neighborhood has been lovingly nicknamed, by yours truly, 'Little San Francisco'. And that it is.

There are hills this way, and there are hills that way. There are steep hills, and hills you don't even realize you're actually on until you become completely out of breath, and your calves want to reach up and choke you!

The multitude of variables I can apply to my workouts, just by taking a different route, are innumerable.

In fact, during one of my recent walks, I was thinking about how much weight I could have already lost, having been here since July of 2006, had I been a little more disciplined about getting my butt out there!

We've got another bathroom!

We just got another bathroom! Just went online, ordered it, and it arrived last week! I'm so excited!

Ok, and I'm a total dork, too! That's not exactly how it happened! See, we moved into this 'three bathroom' house, only to discover it really was a 'one and two halves' bathroom house! Ugh! That's right - two of the shower faucets were totally un-useable! So, for the first time since the kids were toddlers, we are having to share a shower with them! Lame!

Well, last week, with my father coming into town, Mark got to working on the bathroom downstairs. It now has a working light in it, whereas before you had to turn on the light in the shower to see in there! And the shower is useable!

Now, true - this is in the basement, and doesn't help me all that much, but, it is a step in the right direction - and that just gets me to !!!

The Headache NewsBlog

Now here is a blog that I need to keep up with, for sure - The Headache NewsBlog! I think I'll be adding them in my blogroll here! These people know a lot about headaches, migraines in particular, and seem to be up on what's current in the treatment of such. I don't know that I've blogged about it here as much as I have at Hippie Spelunker, but, I am a chronic migraine sufferer, or migraineur, as we are sometimes called. They talk a lot on this headache site about Botox for headaches. I've heard little bits and pieces through the years about this, but, I don't know much about it and certainly have never tried it. A lot of what I have tried is either over-the-counter remedies or meds that I'm already on. I don't have health insurance, so that severely limits my treatment options. One thing that really freaked me out on The Headache NewsBlog was discussion of surgery for migraines. Some doctors actually propose cutting some muscles in the forehead - yeowtch! I would venture to say that, along with myself, many other migraineurs would not even begin to consider this. I can imagine the plan totally backfiring and a lifetime of extreme pain - no thank you. Besides that, look at it this way - something inside my skull is killing me - and I'm going to let you near it with something sharp and the intent to do some cutting?! I don't think so! Luckily, the doctors at this site, do not speak very highly of this procedure. It would be so awesome if someone would come up with a plan of treatment that wasn't unbelievably expensive, though, like some of the few that I have tried. I never went back to using any of them because they just cost too much. I'm going to definitely keep my eyes on this blog, though, and see if I can learn anything helpful to get rid of these buggers!

Drinking healthy - The Switch

I so need to make the switch over to 'The Switch' - a wonderfully delicious fruit juice SODA! Yep - it's carbonated fruit juice, but, it's 100% juice - and let me tell you, it is SO good! When I was in Dallas, my sister-in-law found it at Target and brought some home and we all just loved it! And do I ever need to get off soda! So it was good for me, because, I need to get off of soda, and it was good for my little nephew, because, now he feels like he's getting soda! It's perfect! We all liked the drinks so much that I promptly got on the internet and looked for a website and a contact email. I found it right away and sent them a quick note, telling them how much myself and my family loved their new product. And they promptly replied - and they were so nice and friendly! And guess what? They sent me a shirt and sent some promo goodies for my nephew, too! He got some tattoos and a Frisbee and he was so excited! I have been telling everyone I know about these drinks. I bet if I had a pack of advertising pens for The Switch, too, I could just tell that many more people! This is a yummy drink, though, ya'll! And it's so much better for you than soda!

Kiss my grits, Mel!

I just love the show "Alice"! I recently saw an episode and was totally taken down memory lane! I even recently noticed that you can watch episodes online for free at an AOL site. That is really cool! I don't know what it was about that show, but, when I was a kid I loved watching it so much! It might have been Linda Lavin, or her character, rather. Alice just seemed like such a great person, and she seemed to be doing such a great job as a single mother.
But I think it was more than just that, because, I can feel myself wanting to go on and on about Vera and Flo, too - and maybe even Mel! I just loved everything about it, and when I watched it, I felt like I was a very quiet customer sitting in a corner booth just watching everything going on! I remember actually wishing that I could move to Phoenix! I'm not kidding! Since we have been talking about moving lately, I guess I could check up on Phoenix real estate, but, I doubt we'd want to deal with the heat! It definitely would be cool to see the diner that the show was based on which is still there and in business!

I see 'Skinny Lisa' - don't you?

I see her, she's right there - right over there! Don't you see her? If you don't - then you're just not looking hard enough. See, I talked to a psychic recently, and I really liked her! She was so nice, and even though she refused to give me the winning lottery numbers, she did help me feel a lot better!

And the most important thing that I came away with, was to 'see myself thin'. My instructions were to look in the mirror several times a day and envision myself skinny again. There really is something to that. All kinds of life coaches will tell you the same thing. I think that is the main premise behind 'The Secret', too. I haven't watched the whole thing, yet, so I'm not sure. But I'm pretty sure it is.

So now you might be wanting to ask me, 'Well, Lisa, is it working? Huh, is it?' Well, I could answer that if I'd been good about doing it. I haven't. I think I did it for a few days after talking with her, and then life got busy and life got crazy, and the best laid plans...

You know how the story goes. Maybe I should add it to The Healthy Habits List.

Hmm...

An awesome site for pet supplies

You have to go see this rockin' cool site for pet supplies! It's called Internet Pet Emporium and it has some of the coolest stuff I've ever seen for pets!

I wish I still had a cat, because their cat houses are really neat! I have always loved those things, anyway, but, they have some amazing ones! Geez, back when I bought my first cat a 'cat condo' about seventeen years ago - it was the most basic and simple thing. I wonder how Elvira would've liked it if I had bought her one from Internet Pet Emporium - I bet she would have loved it!

Knowing Elvira, I think she would have liked this one the best:

She was very independent (I know, she was a cat, but, I mean - even for a cat!) and she really liked being up high away from people who might possibly mess with her! And she never really liked the 'inside' part of the cat condo that I bought her. I think she felt safer 'seeing' what was going on around her, so that she could be 'on top of things', you know? Well, I was very young at the time I had her (sounds like I'm talking about my child! well, she was my first baby!) and I was going and going all the time, and when I was home, I brought lots of friends, usually. So there was often a lot of chaos in the place! Poor girl! She was such a cool cat - I miss her so much!

Because I was young and single and going all of the time, I would've loved to have had one of the pet watering systems from Internet Pet Emporium! That would've been so handy! But I guess we did alright with just putting out multiple bowls. Not the most ideal situation, but, it worked for us.

She was just such a cool cat, ya'll - and she and I were tight! Seriously! She always came to me when I called her - my brother got the biggest kick out of that whenever he would come over.

He would say, "How's Elvira?" And I'd say, "I don't know. Let's find out - Elviiiiiira!"

And into the room she'd come running! I've never had a cat, before or since, that would do that! I wish I had a picture to show you of her - she was completely gorgeous - solid black. My pretty girl.

Well, there are definitely a lot of cool things for dogs on Internet Pet Emporium, so I guess I'm just going to have to turn my attention in that direction! I sure miss my sweet girl, though!

We've had a Dell delay!

That darn deliveryman! Haha! Just kidding, totally kidding! Actually, my poor dad has been quite ill. He had a fever that just didn't want to leave him alone! So he is going to come visit next Friday and deliver said Dell.

I was getting a little worried about him, since he lives alone. And so I asked him if he had a thermometer. I just don't think of a single man living alone as a person who would have a thermometer. Heck - I didn't even have one until I had kids.

When I asked him, though, he asked me why. I told him that if his fever were too high, he'd need to go to the hospital.

His reply?

"Nah, I'll just go to the crematorium."

Just like that. Just flat. Just a fact.


I swear! That man cracks me up!!!

Anyhoo - he'll be hear next weekend cracking my ass up and giving me the finest machine I've ever owned!

DUDE! I'm gettin' a Dell!

Don't you just miss those commercials? I loved that guy - he was so funny! And I'd love to hear him say 'his thing' to me right now! You know why? Because....

DUDE! I'm gettin' a Dell!

Ok, yes, it's true - I already have a Dell. That, my friends, is beside the point. You see, on Friday of this week, my sweet Daddy is driving 800 miles to bring me a brand-spanking new Dell laptop that he has purchased for me!

Spoiled much? Yeah, ok, my dad totally freaking ROCKS!!

It's kind of a long, drawn-out story of how this all came about, but, suffice it to say I was supposed to be getting a Dell laptop hand-me-down. And the winds of change blew into town, as they are often known to do, and here I sit - the spoiled brat I've always been. Hey! I may be a spoiled brat - but, I'm one grateful spoiled brat, that's for sure!

Daddy!!

Now, I have no idea how much Dell Memory this new bad boy has, I really don't quite 'get' all the in's and out's of memory. All of that jargon cornfuses me. It funny, it frustrates Mark to no end, because, he has explained all of that memory crap to me over and over again and I just DO NOT GET IT! It drives him crazy because I LIVE on my computer, I make my living on the computer, all of my little friends are in that 'little box on my desk'! Haha - that last remark is in reference to a very telling graphic a friend (in Canada!) left on my myspace once! I need to post that here one day! It made me laugh and laugh and laugh!

Who knows? Maybe when I post it, I'll be posting it from my new notebook! Woohoo!

My Nissan Frontier dream...

...has been rekindled. I had to drive my mother-in-law's truck around for the last two weeks to take care of her horses. It's a Toyota Tacoma. Granted, that's not a Nissan, and it is not a stick shift - but, it made me start longing for a four-door Frontier again! I had kind of put that desire on the back burner, so that I could drive a minivan, and carry extra kids around. But two weeks in that truck has lit my Frontier fire again! I used to drive the kids crazy with it - every time we saw a Frontier, I would start singing that old western TV show song. Heck - I can't even think of it right now! I've just always assumed that once the kids were a lot older, then I could switch from the mom-mobile - to the hott mama sexy truck! But now with our car situation being all goofy - me stuck at home - my contractor hubby in my minivan on remodeling jobs - I'm thinking, "Oh - it's ok, I can get a Frontier now.....yeah, sure I can, it'll work...." I even put a Frontier module on my LisaMarieMary Squidoo lens today. And ...oooh! It came with all these truck accessories, I was just dying to shop! Now if only I could win a lottery!! The funny part is that I want one from the first year that they were made - they changed the body style in the second year and I don't really like it. But ever since getting behind the wheel of my mother-in-law's truck, I just keep remembering test-driving that Frontier quite a few years ago - and how much fun it was!

I've been taking care of horses and dogs

See these two handsome boys?
They have been taking up a good chunk of my time. My mother-in-law has been ill, so I've had to take over care for these two sweet boys and her very demanding Yorkie-poo! And let me just tell you, taking care of these two huge beasts is way easier than the demands placed upon me by this shrimpy monster:Yes, he's cute. Yes, I love him. And yes, he's a MAJOR PITA!!!!! His name is Baxter, and he is now, THANK THE HOLY HEAVENS, back in his mother's care. He and Lucky do seem to enjoy each other's company, but, he is just too much work for me right now. I am still in charge of the sweet, darling horses, though - at least for a couple more days.

I love taking care of the horses, and I love bonding with them, but, I am exhausted, my house is a wreck, and my poor blogs are neglected. Well, most of them, anyway - I've been able to do quite a bit of posting at Hippie Spelunker. That's the only blog that's really gotten any love lately, though. I've just been too busy and tired to be able to fit in much more. I've been so tired, especially with all of this heat and humidity, that I've felt like maybe I needed a humidifier! Maybe I could get one like the one my mother-in-law borrowed from my nieces - it's in the shape of a duck! It's so cute!!

It is definitely filling my spirit up to be spending so much time with Doc and Leo (the horses), but, right now my focus is my online work and I just really don't have time for extra animals. It's kind of heartbreaking, because, for the first time in my life I have constant access to horses - something I've dreamed about for a very long time! But I have such incredible drive and passion for my work online right now, that it is overshadowing that long-standing dream of being with horses.

It is a strange place to be, really. I guess the things we want so badly in our lives 'right now' really do change. You know those things we long for so dearly, that we never think will change. And it's not really that it's changed, even. It's just that building my brand online comes first right now. And I feel a calm peace about the horses - like my time for that will come. And so I'm going to trust that it shall.

And now - I've got to go feed two hungry horses their dinner!

I love animals and jewelry, too

I would love to have a collection of animal jewelry. It is so hard to pick from, though. I do have my favorites - dogs, horse, elephants - but, I really love all kinds of animals. Whenever I am on, say, The Animal Rescue Site, where I like to remember to click the 'feed the animals' button, I get so overwhelmed. There are so many different pieces that I like. I just recently got a locket with a picture of my sweet dog in it. It is the prettiest locket! I just love it! My kids love to bring me elephant stuff and point out elephant stuff to me, because, they know how much I love elephants. Sometimes they even bring me home their school magazines, when they've had a story in them about elephants. But I do love lots of different animals.

My sweet kidlets

So much of my jewelry now is either from them or is about them nowadays. I've got several pieces here on my desk right now that are from them. I have two necklaces - one from Sammie, one from Shawn, that are out on my desk, because, on our way back home from Texas - I wanted them in my purse so that I could keep them with me and keep them safe. And I keep my purse in the office here, so they never made it back to my room. And I kind of like it that way, because, that makes me think of wearing them more often. The necklace from Sammie says #1 Mom, and the necklace from Shawn is a peace angel. I also have a bracelet and a ring that Patrick made me on my desk. He was so creative in making them. The bracelet is pink and yellow paper folded up and rolled up and it came out really hard and sturdy - it's really cool. The ring - I just love the creativeness of this - is a piece of gold nugget he had, put on top of an empty key ring. And that is just the start of it - I have tons of jewelry about them!

I like working at home on the internet

I thoroughly enjoy working at home on the internet. I am usually always involved in several projects at one time, sometimes even too many. But I just love it. And I am contributing to our household, doing what I love. And I am available to my children, should they need me.

There are people in my life, however, who just don't get it. They think I need to do more - or different, even. Mark wants me to sign up to be a notary public and put a sign up in the front yard. (That one - I may actually do.) Granny wanted me to be a school bus driver. My mother-in-law wanted me to clean houses. Maybe somebody even wants me to be a real estate broker! My sister-in-law wanted me to get a J.O.B. just somewhere - 'you just need to go get one'. My brother called and asked why I hadn't gotten a job outside the house yet.

Well, like I explained to my wonderful sis-in-law, going out and getting a J.O.B. is not going to take me anywhere, except to a bi-weekly paycheck. That's it. Sure, you could make advances in the company, even get some good experience and knowledge to put on your resume. But you are basically at the company's whim. Doing what I'm doing now - I'm at my whim. And that's just where I like it. I am learning so much, and gaining in momentum every day. Earning momentum, that is. I feel extremely passionate about what I am doing, and I fully believe this is the right path for me.

My back is killing me

I am quite certain the evil culprit would be our eleven year old, special clearance sale bed! I've been trying to do a little stretching here and there, but, I am nervous to do too much, because sometimes that actually makes it worse. I should probably get started on some daily sit-ups, because, I know that would be a great help. I should add it to my Healthy Habits List.

But we definitely need a new bed, that's for sure! I keep begging Mark to take me to the Century furniture store here in town so that we can at least check on the prices. I want to have a ballpark figure in my brain to know what to shoot for, you know?

That old thing in our bedroom is so bad that sometimes I'm even sleeping in my massage chair. Yes, having a massage chair is a lovely luxury. It is not, however, a really good place for sleeping. Some of the nights, though, I am just so desperate for some back support, that I do sleep in it.

Yesterday Mark wanted me to help him move our new swing that he just bought. He had just stained it, and it was so sweet of him to actually do the staining way at the end of the driveway so the smell wouldn't mess with any migraine-sensitive people - but, that did, however, mean that once it was done, I had to help him move it back up towards the house. I was moaning and groaning, and he was amused because he thought I was being a wimp and just moving the swing was hurting me. I told him that, no, my back had already been hurting and moving that thing sure didn't help! Not to mention it got my hands all sticky! But that's another issue entirely! (Me and my hand-cleaning OCD! *sigh*) The swing is pretty nice, though. It is made of cedar and will seat 2-3 people and we put it under the pecan tree and Mark is going to bring the firepit out there. I'm sure we will have some lovely evenings out there.

Am I a good post-wanderer, or what? We went from my back hurting to our new swing under the pecan tree...pretty good, eh?

Healthy habits list and stretching

Guess what I did? Finally! I earned this:

And - I earned it fair and square! I completed the whole list! I did it on Tuesday, Aug. 7th. I almost did it again on Wednesday, but, I was missing one bottle of water. Total bummer to miss it for a stupid bottle of water! Ah well, I am getting better about getting back in the swing of things. The swing of healthy things.

You know one thing that really helps me? Stretching. Yep, stretching. It's really that simple. It is one form of exercise that I really like and I am really good at it - I am super limber. And when I am staying stretched out, I feel good and well, sort of ....athletic. It's kind of embarassing to say, but, it's true. It makes me feel athletic. And that, in and of itself, is inspiring. It encourages me to embrace a healthy attitude - in all things, you know? Stretching can be beneficial in a number of ways:

1. Increased Range of Movement
As one constantly stretches, the length of the muscles and the tendons are also increased. This will help in increasing the range of your movement. Thus, the limbs and joints will be able to move, way before an injury can take place.

2. Increased Ability to Perform Skills
When you have a wide range of movement, you will be able to do more things. Stretching helps you to have a more active lifestyle.

3. Injury Prevention
One can prevent injury to joints, tendons and muscles with stretching. When the muscles and tendons are well-flexed, they are considered in good working order. This will help in a faster recovery and decreased soreness. The muscles of the body will be able to take more exhausting and rigorous movements with less probability of being injured.

4. Reduce Muscle Tension
If the muscles are given their regular exercises and stretching, it is less likely that they will contract. This will definitely relieve you of any muscle pain or problems.

5. Enhance Energy
Being able to move more will also give you more energy. Stretching will also help enhance your awareness of your own body. As such, you are going to be more driven to move rather than sit at your desk all day. (Of which I'm often guilty. Eeks!)

6. Reduces Cholesterol
Research also shows that doing prolonged stretching exercises, like yoga, will help reduce the cholesterol in the body. This of course must be accompanied by a healthy diet. This could prevent and even reverse the hardening of the arteries, allowing you to avoid coronary diseases.

Yep, stretching is definitely cool. Hey, if it's something physical that I'm good at - I should just go for it, right? I think so!

List complete and Google Pedometer

Boy, oh boy, do I ever deserve this, yet again:

Yesterday the kids and I walked to McDonald's to eat lunch and then we went to the yogurt place for dessert. That sure doesn't make it sound like I completed my Healthy Habits list, now, does it? Hahaha! And I actually didn't complete the list, but, I had such a workout, that I am giving it to myself honorarily again!

I am so sore today! I heard on the radio that the heat index was 110 degrees! And that time of day, the hottest, is when I chose to take my kids on a 2+ mile walk! I never said I was the prettiest crayon in the box! And we do live on a hill, so coming home almost killed me. I wound up with a migraine, and went to bed at 6pm. But you know what - I had a workout - and that rocks! I'm so excited about that.

I found out how far we went on this great new Google tool my friend, Amy, just told me about recently. It is so awesome - it's the Google pedometer and you can measure the distance of where you walked/ran. And it's better than going back and tracking in the car, because you can track where you walked that you wouldn't be able to in the car. For instance, the kids and I cut through the college parking lot and field at one point, and I was able to tell the Google pedometer that and get a measurement of our distance covered. Totally cool.

Dreamy Branson

How's that for just plain dreamy? That is a four-bedroom lodge in Branson, Missouri. I, personally, would like to call it home - not vacation spot. I would kill for a home like that! And I've heard so much cool stuff about Branson. I've just had fun this morning checking into some Branson real estate - I've found out all kinds of cool information, including how great their schools sound! Now, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but, I'm thinking of Branson, as the place where an asian guy who is a FABULOUS country singer or something, went and turned this place into the next Las Vegas. And now it has all these casinos and stuff. I think I might be way off base here, folks. Someone correct me.... But I did read some wonderful things about the place. Along with a great, hip and happenin' night life, they've got amazing geographical beauty and wonderful outdoorsy stuff to do! You know I dig that! And like I said, it also sounds like they've got really great schools! Anyway, my family and I stayed in a lodge like that in Colorado, and I just loved it - I think it would so cool to actually get to live in it!

A vacation from summer vacation

I could sure use one - I'm completely exhausted. I was meandering around on the web and I found some really nice sites in Pennsylvania that I would like to see. It would be really cool if I could take a little vacation there. It would be so relaxing to stay in a Pennsylvania bed and breakfast. And then each day, head out and see some cool sites. There is a really neat building built by Frank Lloyd Wright there. It's called 'The Falls' as it was built right on top of a waterfall. I've always been interested in architecture by him. There was a theatre in Dallas that we used to go to that I was told was built by him, too. The house embodies a very powerful ideal - that people can learn to live in harmony with nature. I love the sound of that! And speaking of nature, I'd love to see some of the beautiful foliage that surrounds the falls in the Poconos, that are known as the 'Niagara of Pennsylvania'. It really does sound like a beautiful place - a really good place for me to get some rest. ;)