Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Today I am going to do stockings all day long until I get caught up. Then I'll think about other stuff. But I will do the holiday mission!

Flylady's Holiday Mission #8


*************************************

Word of the day:
Saint Simon and Saint Jude, apostles - Feast
Today the Church celebrates : Sts. Simon and Jude, apostles (Feast)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6:12-19.

In those days he departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

**************************************

Monday, October 26, 2009

I am a huge fan of Flylady. Each year in October she starts her Holiday missions
Today is day #6 and I am just now getting on board, but as Flylady says, "you are never behind. Just jump in where you're at!"

Monday's Holiday Mission

I have a batch of chocolate peanut butter fudge made, Maddie McDoogle has a full belly and is practicing her roll-overs, I have a load of laundry drying, and I am tackling my washer-dryer hotspot.

*********************************
Word of the day:
Monday of the Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time
Today the Church celebrates : St. Demetrius, St. Evaristus, Pope and Martyr (+ 112)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13:10-17.

He was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, "Woman, you are set free of your infirmity." He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, "There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day." The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?" When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.

************************************************

Monday, April 6, 2009

The choir did fabulously well yesterday. I am so proud of them. It is made up of people who are very busy in their personal lives but still make time to be a part of the choir. It's been my experience that as Palm Sunday goes, so goes Holy Week. I have lots to do before then, but I have declared Monday my official day off.

After the kids left yesterday, I spent the afternoon in my quilting room. I finished another pillow top and practiced my half square triangles some more. I think my problem may be in the cutting. I'm not sure I am hitting dead center of the square, but I will keep on practicing. I also started sorting my stash. I bought another 3 drawer cart and put it underneath the existing cart. I have 4 drawers: Neutrals (brown, black, undecideds), Red/Pink, Yellow/orange, and Blue/Green/Purple. I still have a few boxes of fabric that will never fit in there so I am slowly going to use that up (prayer quilts and practicing) until the whole stash is more manageable. I need to clean out the 2 closets and get my yarns organized. I want to make matching sweaters for the grandkids this year. Oh, and I will need to make 2 more Christmas stockings for the new baby - one to keep here and one for Kelli's folks to keep at their house. I also finished a present for Kelli's next baby shower. I would post a pic, but - like a good daughter-in-law- she reads the blog so it will have to wait. :)

I have been downloading episodes of Flylady and Prim Talk Radio to play on the laptop in my quilt room. I've decided that its permanent home is going to be in there. :) I was annoyed last night that my DVD of NCIS was unplayable, but Netflix is shipping out a replacement today. I also used my last Amazon certificate on some quilting books. I am reading my way through the Elm Creek quilt series. I have gotten the volumes out of order, but they pretty much stand on their own.
******************************************************

Word of the day:
Monday of Holy Week
Gospel
Jn 12:1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany,
where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served,
while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
"Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days' wages
and given to the poor?"
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
So Jesus said, "Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."
The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came,
not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.
And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too,
because many of the Jews were turning away
and believing in Jesus because of him.


God bless our troops!


***************************************

Monday, December 29, 2009 - Today I make soap!

Happy Birthday Clayton!! I chose the following picture because Clayton loves "creatures." He is 4 years old today, but he will tell you that his birthday was yesterday because that is when he had his cake. Oh, to be 4 years old and always right. LOL! (but his birthday is actually today.)



In our house - when the kids were growing up - we always celebrated Christmas until January 6th - The feast of the Epiphany - the day the Wisemen brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Our tree stayed up until then. The kids are grown and gone, but I still keep the tree up. This is when I write out my Christmas cards and family newsletter - when I have time to enjoy it instead of rushing to get it done.

It has always perplexed me that in the secular world, which begins Christmas the day after Halloween, Christmas stops cold on the day after. All of the Christmas stuff goes on sale. Yesterday, I stopped at Walmart and the Christmas goods have been picked clean and replaced by Valentine items. Even the Christian radio station stops playing Christmas music the day after Christmas.
************************************************************
Today I get back on track with my daily updates on the fitness front. This is not a New Year's resolution so there is no excuse for me to put it off until then. My New Year's resolution is to finally declutter this house. Yesterday I had to go downstairs into my workroom and move everything off of the floor because water was coming in. I moved a lot of stuff that I am not using. That will be decluttered. Before Christmas I bought myself a gift from the Flylady shop.


These things are the coolest! They fold up into their own little pouch. These is even a video tutorial on the Flylady site. I have one problem though. I took the purple "give away" bag over to Clayton's party because his gifts were in it. It's still there. So today I will have to declutter without it.
I am off to do my Monday workout with is a strength training video.

Daily stats:
Type: Firm Video- Total Body Sculpt
Route: Living room
Time: 41
Average heart rate: 112
Max heart rate: 140
Down 2.2 from last Monday (whoo hoo!)

Wow, it's been a long long time. I had to modify like crazy. I didn't do some parts of the video, but as time goes on, I will get better. The stretching at the end felt great.

***************************************************
Today I'm making soap. I haven't made soap in a long, long time - weeks. I have missed it so much. I am making my Lavender Meadows. It is a blend of lavender, sweet orange, and clary sage fragrance oils. My last bar went out the door a couple of months ago. I have the oils melted and the lye water mixed. I can't do anything else until the temps cool - usually about 2 hours from the time I melt the oils and mix the lye water. While I am waiting, I have spent some time decluttering the living room. Actually, I haven't really decluttered, I've just cleaned up the mess from our family Christmas on Christmas night.
*************************************************
Here I am, in my hazmat gear getting ready to mix up the soap.



Here is the mixed soap poured into the mold and ready to transform itself. This will go into the oven for 2 hours. The swirl isn't quite as pronounced as I would like, but it smells wonderful!!!!




Below is a picture of the soap as it came out of the oven. It is in full gel stage. After it cools I will post of pic of how the look changes dramatically.


**************************************************************

Word of the Day:
The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
Gospel
Lk 2:22-35

When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
(and you yourself a sword will pierce)
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Thoughts from the cornfield:
The other day I was talking about how I wondered if my faith was strong enough to declare it in the face of having a gun pointed at one of my loved ones. Mary experienced this. Imagine raising a child and then having to go through what Mary did.


God bless our troops!

******************************************************

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I took orders for 5 more stockings. The Ebay listing ended yesterday and I think that will be it for this year. We did a pretty good job of estimating our needs for this year and we took orders for well over 100 stockings.

I poured Carrot Cake candles last night. Can't seem to keep those in stock. I had to order more container wax and that is always an iffy thing. The companies won't be responsible for consistent quality so I am afraid to order in large lots. I am very picky about candle quality.

I also packaged some simmer scents last night. I am taking Country Cinnamon Bun with me to work today. I love that scent.

Last night's workout was a short one in front of the TV, but I had to do it in order to keep up the consistency. Getting called in to work early at the last minute really throws off my day. I didn't get the laundry done. I did get some stockings packaged, though.

Tonight I give a talk on prayer and I can't find any of my paperwork from last year so I had to re-do it last night. It's actually better than what I had, but it took time so I didn't get much else accomplished.

There is snow on the ground this morning. I love winter except for the icy roads. I take it upon myself to worry everyone safely to work. Oooops, I mean I "pray" everyone safely to work. And then there are Harold and Justin who are on the road all day.

Today is day 2 of carb depletion and so far so good except that I forgot about the water requirement. Today I have my water all set to go.

Tonight is Biggest Loser. Gotta set my VCR because I'll be home after it comes on.


Word of the day:
Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel
Lk 19:1-10

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house.”
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
“He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over.”
And Jesus said to him,
“Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost.”

Thoughts from the cornfield:
I am a primitive crafter. Often when browsing the booths of others, I come across little sayings on weathered wood. "Simplify" is a popular one. Simplify - easier said than done - and it does take doing. So often our faith is passive in nature. We expect to sit back and God will seek us out. Actually, God will seek us out, but if we are not proactive in clearing out the clutter in our lives, we may miss seeing him. In today's reading, Zacchaeus takes proactive steps to clear his view so that he can see Jesus. He is rewarded far beyond just seeing him. Jesus goes home with him. As Advent approaches, we are reminded that we need to simplify. As the secular world prepares for Christmas (the commercial one, not the actual birth of Christ), the pace picks up. Our lives are jam packed with shopping, cooking, planning, wrapping etc. Advent gets lost in the confusion. But Advent is important. As my friend Flylady says we need to clear out and declutter so that we have room to receive the gifts that God has for us. This advent, we need to make sure that when Jesus comes to us, there is room in the inn - and in our hearts.


God bless the troops!

Monday, September 29, 2008 - Week 1 Day 5

I can't believe I have made it to day 5. The number on the scale is dropping. Mary Ann has been making regular appearances, though. The tiredness hasn't hit yet, but I woke up cranky this morning. The house is getting on my nerves because it needs a good cleaning and I don't seem to be making any progress. I have discovered that as the house goes, so goes my mood.

I think another reason for my mood this morning is that my mother would have been 76 today. I often wonder what life would have been like if she had lived longer than her 32 years.

She talks about preserving muscle by consuming protein before working out. I am going to walk outside today but I am taking weights with me because Monday's are strength training day. I am going to see what happens when I drink a protein shake before going out. Update later.

Type: Walk with 5 lb weights
Route: Deadend and back
Time: 34
Average heart rate: 117
Maximum heart rate: 132
Down 2.8 from last Monday

This was a first for me - taking weights on my walk, but it seems to work great. This would be a good option for people who can't run but can walk as the weights help to keep your heart rate up. It is pretty out this morning but it is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. I hope it is all rained out by Saturday.

***********************************************************
Today and tomorrow the FlyZone is the living room. I am needing Flylady because I am letting my zone work slide. It seems like I work, work, work, and don't even have 15 minutes. But that's silly. Somewhere in my day I will find 15 minutes to declutter in my zone - yeah, I am still in the de-clutter stage.
**********************************************
Tonight I also have one more batch of fudge to make and I also have to package up the stuff I've already made. Of course this week is Staff Meeting week.

Word of the Day
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
Gospel
Jn 1:47-51
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
“Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him.”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Nathanael answered him,
“Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this.”
And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Thoughts from the cornfield
On this Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels, it's a good day to think about how much would be revealed to each of us if we lived in authenticity; if we lived without duplicity; if we lived as Jesus has asks us to live. We truly do entertain angels in our midst. Wouldn't it be nice to recognize them?

Interesting note:
Nathanael: "Gift of God"
Raphael: "God has healed"
Michael: "Who is like God?"
Gabriel: "God is my strength"
and my son's name,
Samuel: "his name is God"


God bless the troops!

Monday, August 18, 2008

On the home/business front:
I spent most of the evening in the basement again. As a result, I have a huge pile of boxes to break down and get rid of - again. I have been looking in vain for my primitive soap molds. I can't imagine what I did with them. However, in my quest to find them, I have gotten a lot of things organized downstairs. Make no mistake - it will never make the cover of Home and Garden, but at least it's a little more pleasant to work down there.

We had a meeting about our fall craft shows yesterday. It boils down to this - I am responsible for the "smelly" stuff and the fudge. The others do everything else. A lot will depend on what the weather will be like. Warm weather will definitely limit what we take - at least for the Applefest show.

My work is cut out for me today. I have to take care of those boxes - make some stockings, get the laundry done, do some cleaning, and generally get ready for Clay and Claire who will be spending the night tomorrow. So, I'd better get to it!
(Hi Kelli, Nina, and Barbara!)

Word of the day:
Matthew 19:16-22
Then someone came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "I have kept all these; what do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Thoughts from the cornfield:
Here's something to think about. Do you own possessions? Or do they own you? In another passage, Jesus simplifies the commandments further: "you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your heart, with all your mind; and the second is like it - you shall love your neighbor as yourself." He went on to say that the entire law and the prophets were based on those commandments. It's a fine line between wealth and bondage when it comes to possessions.

I know that for me, it is very hard to get rid of stuff; my kids old school papers, their old toys, their old clothes. It isn't the stuff that I'm attached to, it's the memories they hold. I think that our possessions become so much a part of us that when we try to get rid of them, it's like getting rid of pieces of ourselves.

A few years ago I found Flylady.net. Her basic tenet is "you can't organize clutter, you have to get rid of it." She has some criteria for deciding if something needs to go. "Do I love it and does it make me smile." If it does not meet that criteria, we are told to release it to bless someone else's life. Thinking of blessing someone makes it a little easier to part with our stuff. Flylady suggests that if the memory is our reason for holding on to something, then take a picture of the item and get rid of it.

But I digress - "stuff and things" clutter our lives and leave us unable to accept the good things that God has for us. There is freedom in letting go.


God bless the troops!

August 10, 2008

I am down 1.4 from last week's all time high.
It would help if I had company on the journey, but everyone needs to do what they need to do when they are ready. I am finding it very difficult to do stay the course. I get so scattered. I know it's because I am of a certain age, but it doesn't make things any easier - especially when people get upset with me. I get frustrated with myself and am much harder on myself than anyone else could ever be.

I've mentioned before that in many things, the big picture overwhelms me. I believe it is due to the way my brain processes information. It's why I have a problem with freeways, and it's why I have a problem in other types of big projects (like getting this house in shape). Flylady.net has been a huge help to me in that department. Marly Cilley and company teach us that it's okay to focus on the small things that lead us to completing the big picture. Some people do this naturally. I don't. I never have.

I can remember my mother telling me to go in and clean my room. I would go in - look around - and be totally overwhelmed. She would come back an hour later and I would be sitting on my bed still trying to figure out how to "clean my room." For people like me, a better approach would be to tell me to go in and pick up all of the dirty clothes. That I can manage. That's black and white - couldn't be clearer. People who are born organized - Marla calls them BOs - simply do not get this. We drive them nuts. But I am learning, at my ripe old age of 56, that I can't be anyone but myself. And I have to deal with the fact that there are people who aren't going to like me.

The older I get, the easier it is to tune out people who have nothing better to do than tear down others. I am learning lessons now that I wish I had learned long ago - but we learn the lessons we need when God decides we are ready - and not before. This has led me to accept and celebrate the idiosyncrasies of other people in a way that I never used to.

Anyway, I started over last Sunday and am going to concentrate only on my goal for that week. My goal for next week is to be down 1.5 pounds. That is ALL I am going to focus on. Small weekly goals that will help me to complete the bigger picture.

(Hi Barbara and Nina)


God bless the troops!

Monday, July 7, 2008

On the lowcarb front:
Route: Deadend/back/loop
Time: 30 minutes
Type: Walk/jog
Average heart rate: 126
Maximum heart rate: 140
Calories burned: 236
I’m up 3 pounds from last Monday
Got out on the road at 10:06 this morning. I headed down to the deadend. To the right were round hay bales. To the left was a soybean field. It was slightly overcast this morning, a little muggy. On my way back I saw something I never, ever see out on the road. Another walker. As I came over the small rise heading west, there was a lady ahead of me. I was jogging, she was walking - and she was making better time than me. LOL! But I’m out there doing it. For me, the hardest part of working out is the transition. It's the getting started. So, part of my morning routine now is to make the bed the minute my feet hit the floor (thanks, Flylady) and then immediately get into my exercise gear. Once I have that done, the workout is pretty much guaranteed.

On the home front:
We had a cookout at Melisa and Justin’s last night.
Today is Melisa’s 30th birthday. I can't believe how the years have flown.
I have set out a schedule for myself for today. On the agenda are bills, laundry, soap, stockings, inventory at the school, and a few other things I need to get done. I have to set a schedule for myself or I lose focus.

Word of the day:
Matthew 9:18-26
While Jesus was speaking, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well." Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, "Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Reflections from the cornfield:
The story of the hemorrhagic woman has always fascinated me. In the same account in Luke and Mark, Jesus remarks that he feels power going out of him. It is an intriguing thought that faith can summon power. We know from numerous accounts that all of Jesus' healing required faith from someone. It is mind-boggling to think about how faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. What could we accomplish with an increase in faith? Take a look at those who achieve monumental things in life. Somewhere along the line, faith had a part.

I often get a chuckle out of the people who ridicule Jesus. One wonders if their eyes are ever opened, and if they are - what are they thinking? How many times are we deterred in our efforts because of the laughter or ridicule of others? And what does the laughter and ridicule reveal about others? And what does our reaction to it reveal about us? The older I get, the less I am affected by that kind of thing. If anything, laughter and ridicule just makes me that much more determined to succeed.

Both of these healings were witnessed by others. Word spread. It's still spreading. Spread the Word.

God bless the troops!

Monday, June 30, 2008

On the lowcarb front:
Here are my stats for this morning:
Did treadmill intervals with weights
Time: 37 minutes
Average heart rate: 113 (hmmmmm, that's not very impressive)
Maximum heat rate: 161
Calories burned: 226
I am down .4 pounds from last Monday

During the slower intervals on the treadmill, I read DANDR. In the exercise section, I found something very interesting. Under the benefits of exercise listing I found the usual good stuff. But there was one thing listed there that I had missed in earlier readings of the book. Exercise decreases the output of insulin. And what does insulin do? It helps the body to store fat; not something I want to encourage my body to do. I think I am going to make a big sign and put it on the wall behind my treadmill. Regular exercise decreases the output of insulin.

On the home front:
Today is Monday, so that means I make soap, do laundry, and pay bills. The Fly zone this week is the living room. I think I am going to tackle weeding out videos and cds that no longer make me smile.

The UPS man dropped off some new fragrance oils so tomorrow I will be making some Hot Apple Pie jar candles. I mixed up some with the fixitive for simmering potpourri. I've been testing the spiced orange clove mixture. Simmering potpourri is a much gentler scent than candles or tarts. There are some days I just don't want a heavy scent.

I need labels . . . . and Anna is gone for the week with her cousins who have a Christian drama ministry. They also have three little punkins so Aunt Anna is Nanny Annie this week. (Oooooh, I hope she doesn't read this. LOL!)

The new soap dishes came today, also. I am really excited about these. Wednesday is photo day for the website so I will be doing the photography then.

Word of the Day
Matthew 8:18-22
Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Reflections from the cornfield:
It's easy to give lip service to following Jesus. Jesus doesn't let these two get away with it. He spells out exactly what is required to truly follow him.

This is from today's psalm: PS 50:16,17

“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”

Pretty apt, wouldn't you say?
You can't fool mother nature and you can't fool God . . . . . . but of the two, only God is merciful.


God bless the troops!

Tues. June 24, 2008

On the lowcarb front:
I got on the treadmill at 10:15 this morning - much later than I like to get my workout in. I have a hard time going to bed at a decent hour because I tend to be a night person - that's when my energy kicks in. I just did cardio while watching Biggest Loser. This should have been an outdoor day, but I was running late and I don't like to get out there once the sun is high in the sky.

Here are my stats for this morning:
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 117
Maximum heat rate: 132
Calories burned: 201
I am down 1 pound from last Tuesday.


I have been indulging in too many frankenfoods. The sugar free ice cream has to go - at least for now.


On the Flylady front:
I am finalizing my morning and evening routines. This week's zone is the Master bedroom. That's a bit of a challenge because I share the room with DH who has different standards for what constitutes neat. For this week I am just going to concentrate on my stuff and try to ignore the other.


Word of the day:

Luke 1:57-66
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, "No; he is to be called John." They said to her, "None of your relatives has this name." Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, "What then will this child become?" For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

Reflections from the Cornfield:
And of course the child of this passage is none other than John the Baptist. Today we celebrate the feast day of his birth. It is sometimes hard for us to remember that our children, though we give birth to them and raise them, do not really belong to us. They are only on loan so to speak. I think this passage makes that point very strongly. John, though born to Zechariah and Elizabeth, was sent by God for a greater mission than to simply be a descendant of his ancestors or a vehicle for carrying on the name of his father. God claimed him, and named him before his birth. Zechariah, upon recognizing this, was given back his speech. Immediately he began praising God. So too should we - because, yes, our children are a gift from God, but the gift is in the sharing of their lives, not in the ownership of their souls. They belong, not to us, but to the same God who claims us as his own. "What then will this child become?" That is what we should ask ourselves of the children put into our care.





God bless the troops!

Weigh-in - June 8, 2008

On the lowcarb front:
I am down 1.8 for the week. That is not a stellar loss, but - hey - a loss is a loss. Since I was supposed to be doing Induction, I had hoped for more. As I said yesterday, I found several errors in my implementation of Induction. I think for this week I am just going to limit carbs to under 30 and then begin Induction again next week when school is out. I will have more time to concentrate on what I am doing and more time to plan out Induction menus. I want to do things exactly as Dr. Atkins wrote them so that I will have a benchmark to work from. One thing that irks me to no end is when people take liberties with Atkins and then blame Atkins when they don't lose. I do not want to be one of those people.

One thing I will not do this week is throw the whole Atkins WOE out the window. I have felt way too good this week. And this is coming from someone who is in the throws of hot flashes and the weather has been hot and we do not have air conditioning in the house. I have been pretty even tempered even while phasing off of some of my meds. Some of the foods I will be using this week are not approved for induction and they need to be used up. DH dropped a package of Dixie Diner/Dobie muffins out of the freezer and I stuck them in the fridge because we were going out the door and we were late. I have to use those up this week. I also have some yogurt that needs to be used.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I use a program called Diet Power. I love it. It keeps track of all kinds of things that I don't have time to put into spreadsheets. It also gives a projected progress line which keeps me motivated. I have tried lots of other programs, but I keep coming back to this because it is so user-friendly.

Today's menu:

Breakfast:
Mocha latte
Dixie diner/flaxmeal muffin
1 T. Smucker's natural peanut butter

Dinner:
Romaine and spinach salad
Omelette with cheese, sour cream, and salsa

Supper:
Not sure yet -

On the Flylady front:
I absolutely am chomping at bit the for school to be out. Clutter has been building since I got behind at Easter. The house is driving me nuts. The laundry room is torn up in anticipation of a new window being put in. That hasn't happened yet because of the whole well pipe leakage problem. Remember the cubby I had to clean out? Well that stuff had to go somewhere so at the moment I am suspending Flylady's zones in favor of getting rid of some of the junk I have accumulated. I found a whole box of floppy disks. Does anyone even use these anymore?

On the home front:
Today we celebrate our son Sam's birthday. He is 26 and the youngest of our four kids. Where on earth did the time go? It seems like just yesterday that I was 26. We will be celebrating at Sam and Kelli's house tonight - our family and Kelli's family. I love it when both sides of the family get together. Kelli's family is great and they love Sam. Warms the heart, it does. It's been a long year for Sam. He has been trying to build his business (he owns a collision shop and does auto body work) and he had a lot of zoning and legal hoops to jump through. On the one hand, I am glad that those hoops are there. Sam's business is on his property which is out in the country.

Farm folks have a vested interest in keeping country looking like country. Sam is a farm boy so he is heartily in favor of keeping the ever-shrinking rural areas in the hands of the family farmer. All the same, when you are young and trying to get started, it can be frustrating. Kelli's folks and all of us were at every zoning meeting cheering Sam on. My sense was that the zoning board and the planning commission were very much on board with what Sam wanted. However, as the head of the zoning board said, "it's never about the guy sitting here at the table. It's about keeping the language clear so that other's can't come in and put up a Walmart." Well, he didn't say Walmart, but you get the drift.

Now let me make one thing clear, I have no issues with Walmart. I am a capitalist. It does make me sad to see acres and acres of farmland transitioning from agriculture to urban growth, but Walmart is not the one forcing the family farmer out of business. It is other farmers - huge corporate operations that are contributing to the decline of the family farm, but I won't get into that particular rant today.

Farming used to be more than a way to earn a living. It was a lifestyle. There were trade-offs. The average farmer was not rich in the way that CEO's of large companies are, but there are other sources of wealth. There is no price you can put on the view out your kitchen window on a snowy winter morning, or the wonderful life that country kids have. I grew up in the city - a suburb of Detroit. Having that vantage point, I am extremely grateful that our kids had the opportunity to experience life as part of a farm family. I work in a school and I will tell you that I can spot a farm kid a mile away. They are just different. The work ethic is unique. I remember when Sam was on his high school wrestling team. He quit his job on a dairy farm to give his all to the team. Unfortunately he had a coach who didn't appreciate the sacrifice that Sam made. That coach could have taken Sam's strong work ethic and team loyalty and really used it to the team's advantage. But he didn't. Too bad for Sam and too bad for the team. Well, enough of that for now. I have to get ready for church and another Sunday hangin' out with the family. Does life get any better than that?

Later . . .

Thur. June 5 - Day 4 Atkins Induction

On the lowcarb front:

Here I am at day 4. I went a bit over last night. I was at 27 carbs for the day. I also have to admit that I had an ounce of peanuts. I know that peanuts are not allowed on induction and I had a weak moment, but I left it at one ounce and moved on. This is actually a victory for me. I have this "all-or-nothing" mentality when it comes to some things.

I reported yesterday that I was up a little on the scale. At my age the weight loss is a fringe benefit. Yes, I want to lose a lot of weight, but this time I also want to enjoy the journey. I have fought this battle for so long and for much of that time I put my life on hold. Anyone who has been where I am knows how that goes. "When I lose weight, I'm going to do such and such" or "I can't do that until I lose the weight." You know what? It's that kind of stinkin' thinkin' that allowed me to get to where I am now. No more! My focus is on today and today only. There is a song that Flylady (see www.Flylady.net) plays on her radio show and one line in it says, "the past is behind me, tomorrow can't find me 'till I live today." I have spent a lot of time living in the past and dreaming about the future while today slid on by. I think having grandkids has finally taught me that valuable lesson. Yes, plan for the future, remember the past, but don't try to live there. It doesn't work. When the grandkids are here, or when the family is together, I now savor those moments. Living today means that the yesterdays are remembered more fondly because it is here, today, that those memories are made.

Enough of my philosophical ramblings for now. I have a few challenges today that I need to get through so I am making myself accountable here.

The water weight (yes, that's what it was) is going. And going. And going. I actually got up in the night. I have also been drinking my water - another thing that I tend to not be very good about. I am down to one large mug (20 ounces) of coffee in the morning instead of one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Eventually I want to make it one regular sized mug of decaf in the morning. We'll see how that goes.

Todays menu:

Breakfast:
Mocha latte
Lowcarb cheesecake (my cheese allotment for the day)



Lunch:
Spinach and romain lettuce salad with ranch dressing and bacon bits.
Chicken salad on revoloopsie rolls

Snack:
Atkins Advantage bar

Dinner:
Not sure yet, probably an omelette

On the home front:
Below is what greeted me as I made my nocturnal trip to the loo. Yeeessssssssssssssssssss!!! The new toilet has now been installed! Yeaaaaaaaaa. I need to fix the wall behind it since the wall paper had been cut to fit the old one, but all in all, I am a happy camper!!! (Thank you, Kelli, for helping the guys. You went above and beyond the call of duty for a good daughter-in-law)

3:29 pm

I met this morning's challenge and emerged victorious. I am not going into the details here about why this morning's funeral was such giving me problems. Let's just say that I am having quite a time adjusting to age issues. It seems like I was in my 30's and 40's forever, not young, but not old either. Now I am at the threshold of being an old lady - well, an older lady and life seems to have tipped itself upside down. Not that life isn't good - it is, in fact, great, but I am slow to adjust to change and the changes happened a little faster than I realized. For instance, my baby turns 26 on Sunday. How did that happen? When did that happen? Yesterday we were hunting asparagus while waiting for the school bus and today he's married and running his own business. There should be a law about stuff sneaking up on you like that. And it isn't as if I wasn't paying attention. I was. People older and wiser than me warned me that life goes by quickly. But knowing that doesn't make anything go any slower. So I guess it goes back to my earlier observation - enjoy the present because if you dwell in the past or try to hurry the future, you miss out on today - which is really all we have in terms of time. No, it doesn't slow anything down, but it makes for much fonder remembrances.

Now on a lighter note - my pastor sent me this video. If you are a classical musician and you haven't seen this, it is hilarious. The language gets a little strong at the end so you might want to click off early if that kind of thing offends you.

Oh, and as long as I'm posting videos:
On the Kimkins front:
For those of you still being scammed by Heidi Diaz? This is Heidi - who on Jimmy Moore's podcast told him she weighed, oh, around 118 pounds. I am no fan of making fun of the overweight so that is not my purpose in posting this. This woman is defrauding people and encouraging them to put their health at risk. She really needs to be stopped. There is civil litigation going on right now in California.

Wed. June 4 - Day 3 Atkins Induction

On the Lowcarb Front:
This is day 3. I have 2 days of Atkins induction behind me. Do you think the scale rewarded me? Nope. I am up a half pound. The sticks are stubbornly not purple. (Yes I know they don't turn purple for everyone, but they always have for me. I have a theory about this. At my age, the TOM days are behind me, but . . . I have a suspicion that certain hormonal cycles still continue. There was only one time when those the sticks didn't turn purple (assuming I wasn't off track) and that was during TOM. Even though the scale and the sticks are not co-operating, I am committed to this 2 week stint. Hopefully, some day soon, the "woooosh fairy" will visit me.

I had intended to work out this morning, but it didn't quite pan out. What I need to do is just get it over with first thing in the morning so that I have it. Hopefully, as the weight goes down and I have more energy, I will get myself moving sooner in the morning.

I have been doing pretty well on drinking water too!

Here is today's menu:

Breakfast:
1 piece lowcarb cheesecake
mocha latte (coffee with cream)

Snack:
Atkins Caramel Brownie bar

Lunch:
Romaine lettuce with bacon bits and ranch dressing
Chicken salad on revoloopsie rolls

Dinner:
Omelette with salsa and sour cream

On the home front:
The boxed toilet is still sitting in the dining room. Tonight is supposed to be the night.

On the Flylady front:
Worked on decluttering the laundryroom (entryway). The guys are going to be putting in a new window which happens to be in the cubby where I keep all of my music files for church. The cubby wouldn't need decluttering if that's all I kept there, but it seems to be a catchall for those things I just don't know what to do with. Like that brand new keyboard in a box that I might need some day. Actually, that is probably a legitimate keeper. The 10 year old planners could probably take a hike. Anyway, the bookcase that sits in the cubby is now empty and awaiting the putting in of a new window above it. Of course I still have to deal with the stuff I took out of it, but there are only so many 15 minute segments in a day until school is out for the summer.

I have another wake service tonight and a funeral tomorrow.

On the Kimkins front:
The Fascination thread is strangely quiet which makes me wonder if there is something going on behind the scenes that some of us are not privy to.

_______________________________________________

Monday, June 2, 2008

On the lowcarb front:
From my workout log:

Mon,06/02/2008
Easy/Medium Cardio
Treadmill
20 mins.
140 - maximum heartrate
120 - average heartrate
146 - calories burned

9:42 - Treadmill -72 degrees - A new month a new approach. Starting Atkins induction.

I watched Biggest Loser - this episode had the group walking backwards on treadmills. Mark won the competition. Darn! I was rooting for Ali.

Okay, so today I have a huge honkin' headache. Last night I had a sundae and a few other no no's. Could there be a connection? Duh - ya think?

This morning, in my fog of pain, I made a decision to do Atkins by the book at least through 2 weeks of induction. I don't know that I have ever done induction exactly as Dr. Atkins wrote it. Yeah, I aimed for 20 carbs (rarely achieving it) but I have never done it as written. Today I start 2 weeks. Here is my menu for the day:

Breakfast:
Coffee with 2 Tbsp. of cream
1/2 piece of lowcarb cheesecake (cheese is limited to 3-4 ounces on Induction)

Snack:
Atkins advantage bar

Lunch:
Ham and cheese sandwich on revoloopsie rolls
Romaine lettuce with 2 T. of ranch dressing

Dinner:
Omelette with 2 eggs, 1 slice cheese, 1 T. salsa, 1 T. sour cream and 6 sliced olives
1 T. coconut oil

That's it.

No sugar free coffemate creamer, no second huge mug of coffee at work. I am serious - at least for today. Can't look beyond that.

I am on my second 32 oz. bottle of water.

On the home front:
Last night we met at Anna's for those %^&**&^ sundaes. She is now officially living in St. Louis. sniff

We are getting ready to re-side the back of the house from the fire. That will be nice to have vinyl windows. The wooden ones are rotting out and are very hard to keep clean.

I have 2 parish funerals this week. They seem to come in bunches - usually 3's. The third funeral won't be at our church because the lady moved to Lansing, but she was a beloved parishioner for many years.

On the business front:
I ordered some new fragrance oils that I am anxious to try. One I will use to make a soap for hunters, and the rest just sound really yummy! I sorely need to get some soap made. Hopefully next week.

On the Flylady front:
This week is zone 1 - Front porch, entry way, dining room.
The Christmas garland really needs to find its way to the storage area. The kittens are long gone. I guess the entryway will be the back entryway since I have to clear stuff out so the guys can put in the windows. The shiny sink has not been happening lately so I need to work on that also.
_________________________________________________________

Thursday, May 29, 2008

On the home front:

The temps today are up a little from yesterday. The other night we had to put all of our plants in the garage because there were frost and freeze warnings out. Such is life in Michigan. Tonight, DH declares, we will plant our plants. It's probably a good time for me to take the Christmas garlands off of the front porch. (They have been home to a litter of baby kittens - honest) Also, the Christmas wreath should probably find its way to the burning barrel.

Speaking of burning, as some of you may know, our barn burned down on March 26th. I blogged about it in another blog and then switched hosts and lost the post.







The start











It gets scary here

















We are getting ready to re-build. We will be putting up a tool shed. It's sad that a century old piece of history had to burn. The red barn is the icon of the American farm and the farm family. These old barns and the farm family are quickly disappearing. It's sad to see. This country was built on the principles of hard work and strong families. Progress can sure be a two edged sword.




On the business front:
I am anxiously awaiting summer vacation so I can get my workroom/dungeon in some kind of order. We are going to be featuring the electric heart-shaped grubbies for the wedding season.












I love the electric grubbies. I am one of those people who has a habit of forgetting to blow out candles. It is something I am working on, this forgetting thing that seems to have crept up on me. I have a small blueberry grubby in the bedroom and a small cinnamon one in the living room. Mmmmmmm.












On the Flylady front:
I didn't get any zone work done last night, but I DID get a lot of junk cleaned out of the refrigerator. I hadn't intended to do that last night, but I needed room for some stuff I had prepared and nowhere to put it because precious room was being taken up by stuff that had outlived its right to be there. In typical fashion I thought I had to do the entire fridge if I was going to do any of it. It's that "all or nothing" thing that I am working to overcome. So instead of not cleaning any of the fridge, I now have a half-cleaned fridge. For me it's all about breaking things down into small chunks. I focus much better on small chunks than on the whole big picture. It's the same thing with decluttering the body - which leads me to my next section -

On the lowcarb front:
To continue the "small chunk" theory - I am focusing only on the next five pounds. I actually have yet to hit the first 5 pound segment. I'm trying to decide what my reward will be.