Link-up party coming! And some life changes…..

Hi y’all!  I realize it has been a while since I have blogged.  I have had so many things rolling around in my head with these things going on.  Let me recap the fitness first then I will go into all of that.  I think we walked around 4 days last week, with about 43 minutes and 1.80 some miles each time.  Friday and Saturday I didn’t count because I did some shopping and we did I know around 2-3 miles each day after I had already walked in the morning.  Due to some of my life changes I had to purchase some new pants and they were, get this, 2 sizes smaller than normal!  Holy cow!  I got these at a place where I have to normally buy bigger so they will fit.  So when I wore them they were still too big!  Holy smokes!  I am completely inspired to keep doing this and keep going.  I sometimes don’t feel like I am doing much but I guess I am.  My Mom even told me this morning that she can really tell I have lost the weight.  I am glad.  I am working hard to get it off.  I did have a milkshake yesterday and my sugar was high this morning so I am going to have to tighten the diet down and keep on walking.  Today when I get done walking with what I have already done while shopping I will have close to 3 miles total.  I will get this.  I have this thing.  Someday I will own “I lost a bunch of weight!”  I do know all the walking I am doing now and at my new job (more on that later) is saving me from putting on a bunch of weight.

Wednesday we will be having the #Alittlebitofeverything link-up party!  I am so happy that Iveth from fortheloveto.com lets me co-host the link-up with her!  I have such a great time meeting new people and reading all the wonderful blogs!  Please, please, PLEASE come link up your blogs!  We would love to hear from you!  More information will be posted Wednesday morning.  I can’t wait to hear from you and read your blog!

I have been away for a few days, although I have been promoting and talking about #Alittlebitofeverything.  I have a lot to say so here I go.  I made some decisions.  They weren’t easy decisions.  School starts back this week, so that is a huge part of my life.  I must proceed on and get my MS so I can eventually find a good job.  In the mean time, I did some soul-searching.  I have attacked this from every angle.  I tried to look at it as if it was my problem, an internal problem.  I have tried to analyze and figure out if it was my expectations, my attitude, or what part of me made my disgust for my job at the group home so evident.  I finally decided that it wasn’t me.  Without going into great detail what the deal was, I made the decision to leave on the premise that I cannot do this job any more.  This is all true.  Fact is, it was just not for me anymore. I had hoped that it was.  I thought I knew how to do it.  I did it for 5 years.  I am not sure what changed in those 5 years that I was gone, but I quickly figured out it wasn’t for me.  Part of it is, I will admit, since I am so different from everyone who works there.  I must say that the clients were not, NOT, the issue.  I still think the world of those girls.  But let me explain what I mean by different.

I am saved.  I go to church.  I will crow it out there to everyone.  Jesus is Lord of all and I am very humbled that He loves me as He does and thankful.  The Holy Spirit does a work inside of you once you are saved.  You change.  I have always heard everyone talk about that.  I kept going by how I feel inside.  I didn’t feel different.  There were many things that I didn’t change my opinion on.  I say what I think and every so often that may involve a not so nice word. God knows me and loves me as I am.  Running with these ideas, I thought that I could handle things.  I quickly found out that the more I was around people who drop the f-bomb every other word, who spouts out things that make no sense as far as things go, I was not like them any longer.  That may be the factor that really did me in.  Being around these things, I try to be as unlike this as possible.  I dropped a lot of the not so nice words I have said when I got mad, even after being saved.  Dirty language is not pretty, especially if you are a girl and especially a Christian.  I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be turned that way.  Boy did I underestimate myself.  I never doubt that God could change me, I just didn’t blatantly notice it.  Also since I spend most of my free time with my family, my kids, my church and church family, and a bunch of critters, I hadn’t had opportunity to notice that apparently, I am blatantly going as far the other way from how most people act. Wow.  This was an eye-opening experience.  And an FYI–no one bothered to text or ask what was up and why I left.  Nice to know you are missed, huh?  I know I can’t forever run from people who don’t believe what I believe.  But there were other factors that went into my decision but this was the one that I really noticed the most.

The rest of the story I will save for a later time, just know that I didn’t appreciate several things.  It was time for a change. So I got that change.  I have a new part-time job, at a location I will not mention.  It is legal.  Ha!  It is somewhere that I loved before I started working there.  And the people there are awesome!  I have figured that out from day one.  I have only worked there 2 days so far but I am quite happy and thankful for the change.  The only thing I will say is please be respectful of everyone you come in contact with in your daily life.  Every job–EMTS, store employees, fast food workers, group home employees, electricians. Doctors, truck drivers–it is all a struggle.  You have to know your role and your job on any of those listed as well as every other job out there in this world.  All jobs are tough. There are no jobs out there that anyone needs to look down their noses at because they all take practice and knowledge.  I don’t expect every day at my new job to be a cake walk but I do know that it is so far more enjoyable than the last one.  And honestly?  The mental stress isn’t there.  I work hard, I am tired, I spin circles and spend a lot of time on my feet.  But when I go home, I can proceed with the day and know what I did was the best that I can do in my learning the new job phase and not worry about it. Everyone has made me feel welcome and I don’t feel like I am the low person on the totem pole although I am.  If you can find a job like that, don’t get rid of it.  Keep it as long as you can.

This is random but I have been watching That Metal Show reruns.  I could really go for a whole episode of the top 5 or Stump the Trunk.  All the music I listened to growing up (and still do for that matter) is classified as metal.  That is something interesting.  Needless to say I love the show.  🙂

This is all I have for now.  I have many more thoughts but I think I will let them spin for now.  Have a great night!  Come link up on Wednesday!

–S

Nate Ruess!

Hi y’all!  I am back!  I have been so busy and worn out that I just took a few days to get things together and now I am back.  I am glad to be back although this week will still be extremely busy.  Saturday I did 2.3 miles at work and shopping then I came home and walked for 40 minutes which made the total for the day 3.82 miles.  When I got home from work, and got my Mom’s groceries put away and the church decorated for VBS, it was almost dark but we went anyway.  Those hills really got me!  I huffed and puffed up that one that gets me all the time.  Mercy it was rough!   I even had a few second pause.  But I moved on.  My daughter told me I was huffing an awful lot, and I responded with I did though didn’t I and didn’t give up!  The second hill on the go back Saturday was ok.  I dealt with it ok.  When we got back we were sweating up a storm.  Literally.  I haven’t been that hot for a long time walking.  It seems like when I walk I don’t sweat much, but when we stop I sweat and it literally pours.  I thought your body was supposed to sweat to cool you off but I don’t get extremely hot when I walk contrary to how I feel most of the time.  I am not going to argue that but you would think you would sweat a bit.  Well I do but I guess the real sweat session comes after you stop.  I have been out of the loop of the hills now for a while.  I still get my time in, at work or whatever, but I think there are more benefits to walking, for a consistent amount of time, at once.  This week I will be able to get on that.  Also every week when I tell say I am going to crank down my carbs I end up not being home to do so.  This week though, I will.  Yesterday I rather well and had a small piece of pie for dessert.  Today has been well so far and I intend to keep that way, at least in my range that I try to hit.  Yesterday was church and I didn’t walk but we finished the decorating and I ended up doing 1.18 miles doing that.  It is good to take what I can get as far as walking goes when I can’t hit it like I need to.  This morning though, we did 43 minutes and 1.37 miles which will go up after VBS tonight I am sure.  That hill that gets me?  I puffed up it this morning and it wasn’t so bad.  Didn’t take so long to get back in the loop.  And the second one wasn’t too bad either. I powered up it and kept on going.  It did drizzle on us a bit this morning.  We saw our rabbit in a different place and we think it was another one.  And no bullfrogs tried to get us.  🙂  I guess that walking all the time is like riding a bike.  Once you get out of it for a minute, and when you start back up, it is like you never stopped.  I can really tell a difference.  Remember I said I wouldn’t huff and puff in Cincinnati?  I didn’t!  I hit that goal!  Now I guess I need to set another one.  I am torn between fitting in smaller pants or not huffing and puffing doing certain things.  I think I better stick with the huffing and puffing thing since I think that I need to be able to walk more and in better health than my pants size, but that is important too in order to hopefully stop diabetes before it starts.  Whew!

It seems like I feel better if I get my walk in every day.  I just cannot seem to get myself to relax.  It is like my muscles tense up and I cannot get them to wind down.  I don’t know if it is just me, or I just can’t seem to let go because I expect the hammer to drop on something or what.  I hope to get un-tired this week.  I can keep on wishing.  And this ignorant cold I caught, it has gone except for snot stringing down my throat.  That is driving me mad.  I hope that goes on too.  I do say with not smoking for as long as I have, colds are not as severe as they used to be.  Annoying still but not as bad.

We decorated Saturday and yesterday for our VBS at church. The theme is Underdogs of the Bible.  It will be a really good VBS.  Today I think we start with Joseph.  Jeffrey will be doing crafts.  If you are close we would love to have you come out.  It will be a good time!

And now we come to Nate Ruess.  My daughter, as you know, loves to do stuff and I usually get to help pick these things or suggest things.  So now we are going to see Nate Ruess, from fun. in September.  Oh that will be good!   I like several of fun.’s songs and I like his solo stuff.  It ought to be good.  Will of course post pics.  I wonder if he will sign afterward?  Will find out I guess!

I have had several  cool things on Twitter.  Of course, Idiotest interacts with me all the time and that is cool.  Wish I knew who was running that account, if it was Ben Gleib or someone else.  I may have to ask someday.  I have met several mom bloggers on there that I connect with and I thank all of them for that, and several blog retweeters that I really enjoy and I thank for retweeting me, including The Blog Centre and a few others. The Blog Centre mentioned me in their newsletter they sent out today.  You can read it here: Blog Centre. Thank you again for featuring me!!!  And Daniel Goddard, who plays Cane on the Young and the Restless favorited a tweet I sent to him.  So all that is cool.

I also better catch up the 30 day blog challenge.

Day 14–Do you have siblings?  Talk about them or what it’s like to be an only child.  I have a brother, that I have talked about many times.  He is the most awesome brother in the world.  He has had my back from day one, vowing to always look out for me no matter what.  When my Dad wasn’t around he did a good job of doing those things that he was supposed to do.  He has always helped me out and then some.  And an update on him, he got to come home Saturday and is doing very well after his surgery.  I am so thankful to God for that!  I would do anything in this world for him, and him for me.

Day 15–Tell us your favorite junk food.  Well believe it or not, I can take junk food or leave it.  With this diet, I don’t get much obviously.  If I had to pick one, I like Reese’s anything, and  I love cake but I am not sure you count that as junk food or dessert.  There is no junk food out there that I can’t live without but I guess my favorite would be pop.

Day 16–Your favorite Disney Princess movie.  Hmm.  I guess Beauty and the Beast.   That is my favorite one, went to see it in the theater when I was a kid.

Day 17–My thoughts on Ugg boots.  Not for me.

Day 18–Do you drink soda more often than milk?  I suppose I used to but I drink more tea and water than anything.

Day 19–The initials of your crush.  I am married so that don’t count.

The 30 day challenge is caught up.  If there is anything you want to know about me, or want me to blog about, just comment it to me.  I would love to answer things!  I think I will close it for now.  I need to get lunch and get ready to head to VBS.  Have a great day y’all!

–S

Walking and Driving and Walking

Hi y’all!  Sorry I missed yesterday.  More on that later.  Yesterday I didn’t walk all at once but I did 2.45 miles yesterday and today with grocery shopping I did 2.83 miles total.  I think I feel so messed up again because I haven’t had my regular walk at once with my weights.  I had some stuff going on that I couldn’t but I will get back to normal tomorrow I think.  I also have to talk about eating.  Eating out on the go is a nightmare.  I finally ended up at a buffet today so I could meat it up and stop eating fries and excessive bread on sandwiches.  Next week I am going to tighten the carbs down and the portions. I knew that last week and this one I wouldn’t be able to because of being away from home with all the stuff going on.  But I will more than make up for it next week.  I don’t know why they dont’ have something in places specifically for low carb people.  Not everyone can eat the same.

I have notice this concept too.  No matter how much you try to dress and look good, you just cannot all the time no matter how hard you try.  There are always clothes that make you look like you haven’t lost a pound, or they look frumpy or something.  I have noticed that recently.  I can put on my black pants which are now leaning toward a dark gray and I look fabulous, and can tell I have lost weight.  I put on a regular blue pair and I look like a chub.  I can tell a difference obviously but my reflection sure can’t.  I hope to acquire some more black pants soon.  But if you remember, wearing black is my thing.  I just feel more confident in it regardless of my weight loss.

Yesterday and today both I was with a relative who had some major surgery.  More on that in the coming weeks.  I don’t want to talk about it yet until I know things are pretty well healed.  Anyway, I did much walking yesterday and today.  I had to.  I was tired of sitting.  I have sat so much last week driving to training and this week too waiting and driving that my legs and knees and things were all just locking up on me.  And I can feel the fat gathering on my rump so I have got to get back at it.  I know the circumstances yesterday and today prevented me from carrying on normally but the good thing is, unlike in the past, I am willing to hop back on my program the next day and proceed instead of giving up.  I am enjoying the feeling of walking and not breathing like a telephone breather, and my pants are smaller and the holes in my belt are getting further around it.  I am enjoying all that.  So anyway we walked yesterday and today several times through the hospital and I still didn’t find the morgue.  Found pathology, and a room by it that we thought was the morgue, but no.  Someday I will find it.  It was a good reason to walk like a mad woman through the hospital.  It is probably under my nose and I just didn’t see it.  Anyway, my relative that had the surgery is doing fabulously well and I thank all of you for the prayers.

This all brings me to this idea:  why as children do we have the notion that parents and siblings and other relatives are indestructible?  I have had a couple pass away in the last years, some of which I know were indestructible.  They were so indestructible that death should have never gotten ahold of them but it did.  They would take care of things for me, fight for me, fight icy roads for me, do anything in this world for me to help me.  And my relative that just had surgery, they were always thought of to be indestructible too.  But when someone had some issues and you see them in this way, it breaks your heart.  I guess even Superman had issues.  It is just amazing how things we think when we are a kid never leave us as an adult and then we wonder why.

Tomorrow I start back to my new/old job.  I have worked there before so this is nothing new as far as what the job entails and the clients who are there.  I do know I look forward to it.  I hate to admit that I missed the place or anything because admitting things like that shows a side of me that not too many people know I have.  But I did.  I am really glad to be back.  I know it is going to wear me out quite a bit but that will be ok.  I will get used to it.

So one thing again I always notice when I am out and about is how the highway always calls to my soul.  It seems that 37 doesn’t call to me as much as others do.  I guess it is because we are very familiar with each other.  I have a first name basis with 37, aka Indiana 37, aka I 37, etc.  I know it as 37.  It nods to me and speaks quietly, knowing it won’t be long before I grace its stripes with my presence.  I will see it Sunday when we go see The Fray and Train.  I will see it twice next week as I make two more trips to Indy and to Bloomington again.  It knows I am not gone long and therefore it saves me the indignity of being sought after and made miserable with its calling.  Yeah, I am a little weird.  But you gotta love me!  The same thing applies to the loop, 465.  It knows I will be back therefore it don’t try to entice me before I can make it back.  This is random but the last 2 days I have viewed several out-of-state cars.  I guess 37 called to them and they had to answer…..:)

I must catch up my 30 day challenge so here goes.

Day 4–Write about your closest friends.  I have a few close friends.  My bff is a guy.  Yes folks, my best friend in the whole world is a dude.  His name is Larry and we have been best friends for @#$Q$ years.  Ha!  I always like to say that but seriously for 25 years or so.  We have been through some stuff and some good times but we have always been there and will probably always will be.  Also there is Suzann.  I met her at VUJC.  She is like me, one of a kind and a character.  I love both of these guys to death and am very thankful they are in my life.   And there is Janet from Wisconsin.  I don’t get to see her too often but I would love it if she lived closer.  I think we would really be a big help to each other if she did.  And just hanging out more often too would rock.  Of course my husband, kids and brother and mom are my close friends too but you know I talk about them all the time.  🙂

Day 5–Tell us your three favorite colors.  Purple is my favorite color.  Hands down, fire engine purple is awesome.  I also love black.  Any and everything black can be found in my wardrobe, all the way down to black fingernails.  Yes, I love them.  I wore black nail polish when you could only find it at Halloween and stock up!  And the other one I would have to say is a fuschia type of color.  Yeah, I can deal with pink only if it is HOT pink.  Like WILD pink.

And now to the Twitter part of my blog.  Y’all know I love Twitter.  I have been able to meet and talk to people I otherwise would not be able to.  I do get invites to link up to blogs and I want to thank Iveth for that.  I will linking up as soon as I finish this blog.

@hi_mommie @poothead @samnthamdillrd @Twinmumanddad @jasmineacs #4Dlove2Linky is open for your links! Please RT! http://t.co/NmPZ0QH7l7

— For the love to (@Fortheloveto) July 8, 2015

Also y’all know about my obsession with Idiotest. I got a few favorites and a reply today! Whoo hooo! I love it! I just love knowing they will talk to you, you know?

@poothead @bengleib I can’t wait Stacey! Can you?!

— Idiotest (@IdiotestShow) July 9, 2015

I just think that is so awesome!  It means a lot that they take time out of their day to acknowledge me, and that goes for anyone on Twitter.  Thank you all!

I think this is about it for tonight.  I am about beat and I need to rest for work tomorrow.  Have a great night, y’all!

–S

Castles and Cats

Hi y’all!  Today we did 43 minutes with a total of 2.32 miles for the whole day.  It was a very hard day for me to walk.  I have been sitting in training classes all day, which is killing my back and knees.  The drive there is about an hour to an hour and a half.  I am all locked up and feel like I have been beat. I have a problem with my sciatic most days and in that joint but I have a new backache from sitting so much.  I hope this all goes away with weight loss too. But I got out and walked anyway!  It was raining on us but that didn’t stop me.  There were birds tweeting and animals all around.  For whatever reason today, we had a whole lot of cats that followed us.  They say you can’t herd cats, but they can apparently herd themselves and I have a pic to prove it!

It was very hot and muggy and I am sure you can see the wet road there in that picture.  And I can’t stress enough how miserable I was walking tonight but I did it anyway.  I am committed!  The music I had on was helping though.  I was listening to Pitbull’s “Fireball”and I don’t know about you but when I hear that word I think of the red fireball candy they make.  I am not sure if they still make it or not.  I couldn’t figure out how I made that connection fit in there.  I guess I did, but envisioning a fireball every time he said fireball was a bit disturbing.  Then I congoed it up the hill with Gloria Estefen if I spelled that right.  I am too tired to Google it up right now.  I huffed and puffed up that one.  My hip hurt, my knees were killing me, my back was hurting.  Meh.  If Rob Thomas would have been at the top of that hill he would have had to have waited.  I just could not get it going.  Heading back home though I got some oompf up and didn’t have to take a break so that was good.  Point is, I kept it going.  I didn’t take my weights because of the umbrella butt Jeffrey was so quick to point that out to me.  Ha!

I have been complaining all week of all the carbs I have had to deal with.  The positive thing there is that I am not gaining anything as my clothes are still fitting good.  I am glad!

The town I live in has a three-day celebration or so for the 4th of July.  We have a flea market, fishing contest, food, sports contests, things like that.   As I was coming home today I saw a castle in the street.  Yes folks, a castle.  There is something you don’t see every day.  I had to get a pic.

I was also invited to link my blog up with Iveth’s page over at http://fortheloveto.com/?p=627.  Please go check her site out and link up–it is awesome!  She is also on Twitter and tweeted about my link up.

@Fortheloveto I linked up https://t.co/DBUMrOyuE2!! #4Dlove2Linky Thank you for the invite!!

— Stacey Crowder (@poothead) July 3, 2015

It is awesome to link up and find other cool blogs to read. Thank you Iveth!

I am so tired that I think I am going to hush for now. Have a great night y’all!

–S

Life Ramblings and More…You guessed it…Twitter!

Hi y’all!  Today we didn’t walk since we usually take Sundays off.  I miss it when we don’t get to but it is church and it is just as important to nourish my soul as it is to get myself in shape physically.  Tomorrow though I will be walking at a different time of day.  I will unfortunately have to revert to what the Dr originally said to do and that is walk at least 30 minutes a day.  I will of course use my weights and stuff.  I don’t normally dread walking but I will have to get up super early after 5 years of not working and drive a long way to training all week, and I know I will be beat by the time that I get home.  And it will be hot!  But I must soldier on!  I am concerned about my eating this week as eating out will not give me a good choice of carb-less ideas.  This makes it twice as important to keep up the walking this week, even if only for my 30 recommended minutes.  I need to get my diet back under wraps too.  All last week I had a serious  case of the hungries and I must reel that in and get back with it.  I didn’t derail much.  I had taters maybe an extra day and I lived on the edge and drank some diet pop.  I also had been having some sugar-free cookies but they didn’t have that many carbs but I need to get it under control.  I haven’t added any weight since my clothes are still falling off of me but I don’t want to foul up.  In other words,  I don’t like to repeat work twice. You know you just mopped or swept and someone not more than 5 minutes later tracks is up and you have to do it again?  Nah, that irks me to no end.  Therefore I don’t want to re-lose this AGAIN.

Tomorrow is the big day where I go to train for my job.  I have went through this training for the last time I worked there so I don’t think this will be an issue.  I do this job well and the girls still remember me.  I look forward to doing this again but at the same time I don”t like the idea that I have to change everything around.  Looking on the positive side of this, Jeffrey is completely cured so I can go back to work with the assurance that he should be ok now.  That is a blessing!  I do worry that all the driving and sitting all week will wear me out to a place I haven’t been in a while.  I also worry my back issues will interfere again.  I do however think that all the diet and exercise that I have done so far will help ease a lot of this.  Next week starts week 10 of diet and 9 of exercise.  I look forward to how I will look a month, three months, even a year from now if I keep at it and on it!  The kids don’t seem to mind that I will be out and about now again.  I do know my critters will miss me.  After I actually get on the job it won’t be as continuous as this week of training.

I have been talking a lot about Twitter lately.  Just an FYI I am @poothead there.  Anyway, I had signed up and then didn’t use it for a long time then a few months ago about the time I started blogging I got into it again and I have made so many cool connections on there.  I had talked the other day about the Blog Centre and how they had really helped me out when I first started blogging.  They tweeted this to me earlier today.

It’s our pleasure – thanks for signing up https://t.co/PWRE835Jzy

— The Blog Centre (@theblogcentre) June 28, 2015

Thank you for the shout out – well done on the walking https://t.co/8Xc32xsKG9

— The Blog Centre (@theblogcentre) June 28, 2015

I always appreciate everyone out there who has helped  me out and reads my blog!  Now I have 43 followers I believe!  Thank you for following and reading!

I could ramble on all night but I do have an early morning.  Will let everyone know how tomorrow goes.  Have a great and Blessed Sunday!

–S

30 Day Catch-up and New Blog Layout

Hi y’all!  Today we did 43 minutes which was a total of 1.44 miles.  There were some serious storms up north in the area.  We could hear the thunder and thought we were going to get rained out because they were coming toward us.  We stopped part of the way through and checked the radar. It was pretty close but at that time it looked like hail was coming close and I know it looked like a tornadic cell was above us.  We made it though.  After we got back it clouded up to where it looked almost nighttime out and the wind blew and that was about it.  I am glad that we got it in and the storms settled.  We are supposed to have some storms that may be severe here later but I hope they go on.  It was cooler this morning with the rain moving in.  We could feel it in the air.  And the hills!  The hills were really easier especially in the cool.  On the return hill, I made it to the top until we stopped, unlike I normally do in the middle of that one, which is my Mom’s driveway.  We will go down it again soon after we make sure the snorting has stopped.  I figure we will do this way for about another week or so then we will add the driveway again with the hopes that the snorter has gone, or start going the other way on a trial run.  The hill on the other side here is huge.  I kind of dread it but once I get to where I can do the ones we are doing now without much huffing.  I got to thinking this morning that all of this huffing and puffing can’t be good for anyone!  But I guess the truth is if you don’t huff and puff through it, you will never develop a way to get up and down the hills and get used to it.  Don’t panic, I do take breaks in between these hills.  I want to get fit, not huff my way into a heart attack or something.  I am lighter than I have ever been at least since the birth of Annie but I am in no means tip-top no health concerns shape.  Getting there though!

We remembered the bug spray this morning.  Annie smeared it on her face but I didn’t and that stupid biting bug kept trying to light on my face.  It finally went on.  I just don’t get this bug.  Anyway I walked with the weights today again.  I hope they keep making me feel like they are really doing some good.  I know that 2 pound per arm isn’t much but anything helps considering I went from a sedentary lifestyle to where I am exercising good now.  In fact, for whatever reason, Derek got up early and the first thing he asked was whether we had walked yet or not.  I guess everyone is getting used to the new ways  I am doing things.  Or we, as in Annie and I rather.  Speaking of her, we talked about her job and about me going back to work today.  She declared that they will want me there more than 15 hours a week.  I suppose she could be right but I don’t want to give up that freedom so I can do my schooling and help others if I can.  We shall see.

I had been checking out other blog posts that are tweeted about on Twitter and one I had seen was one that asked why do we blog?  Well,  I may have talked about this before but humor me if I have.  First and foremost I love to write.  It is one of the biggest addictions I have.  I love to make things look pretty and explain them in ways that make sense. If I can’t do that then I like to put an entirely different spin on things and at least make it funny and interesting.  I love to spin a good story.  Oddly enough all the stories I am spinning are real.

The next thing is I am blogging about my quest to become healthy.  I hope it helps someone who is reading it.  If they see that I can, in my state of mind and body shape, then anyone can.  I am not that far gone but far enough that this isn’t going to be an immediate thing.  Also, one of the really important reasons I blog is it keeps me accountable.  I post on Facebook daily my mileage and time, and the standout things about our walk.  I then blog about it and talk about what we talk about and about the day in general without, I hope, boring anyone.  I feel like that is the basis of my blog.

The third thing is that I hope I get good enough to hone my skill to where I can professionally write someday.  I can keep on dreaming there but you never know.  I like writing about things that are real.  This gives me that outlet to do it.  I am thankful I can.

I added a new design to the blog today.  Let me know if it works or it if is a no go.

I have determined today that I have a backache in my back fat. . Only me.  I told him earlier that I was gong to have to have him massage it out later.  Go ahead and laugh but an ache in your back fat isn’t a pretty thing.

I have gotten behind on the 30 day writing challenge and I mean way behind. I stopped on day 5.  I am going to catch up a few here now or more than a few.  Here we go:

Day 6–List 5 ways to catch my heart.  Well, the husband and kids and the fur babies know how to make my heart melt so we will leave that at that.

Day 7–List 10 songs you are loving right now.

1. Trust You–Rob Thomas

2. Wind It Up–a new Rob Thomas song

3. One Shot–another new Rob Thomas song

4. Streetcorner Symphony–yes you guessed it, Rob Thomas

5. Smooth–again, yes, Rob Thomas

6. Sugar–Maroon 5

7. One More Night–Maroon 5

8. Little Grains of Sand–Troy Q–a local guy that plays at church and I love this song!

9. Heartbeat–The Fray

10. matchbox twenty–Unwell—Imagine that!  Ha!

Day 8–Share something I struggle with:  Ok.  I struggle with this frequently.  I know I am to depend on God for everything.  I sometimes think though that my self could prevent the issues that I get into so I could become more self-sufficient and when I can’t do this become totally disgusted with myself.  That isn’t God’s will at all I know so I should be happy to have things as they are.

Day 9–Words of wisdom that really speak to me:  Well the one that I can think of here is my brother encouraging me to do anything because I can.  My Mom always said that a stopped clock is right twice a day meaning that everyone is right every once in a while.  And Matthew 17:20–He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  My favorite piece of scripture because nothing is impossible with God.  

I think I will stop there and catch a few more up tomorrow.  I think I am supposed to be on day 18.   I will get caught up soon. Maybe next month I can find another one to do too but next month has so much stuff going on that who knows how much time I may or may not have!

Also FYI I have 39 followers on here!  That is awesome!  Thank you for reading!  Send your friends, I try not to be boring and just tell it like it is.  That may not seem like much but I am excited about it!

That is about all for tonight.  They have put us under a severe thunderstorm watch since I published this.  Yay.  Y’all have a great night!

–S

Past Ramblings

Hi y’all!  We didn’t do our walk today because this is our one day a week when we don’t walk.  I sure miss it though. Kind of glad today we didn’t walk much because it was 81 before noon but we would have been done walking way before that.

I had church this morning and this afternoon.  Two very good messages today.  There was something that just occurred to while at church today.  I was thinking about how wonderful the people are that I go to church with and how I didn’t know them before now.  The only places locally I would be would be the store or the laundry mat.  I am just glad I know these wonderful people now because they add so much to my life.  My Pastor and his wife are wonderful too.  I have never known anyone quite like them and I love and appreciate them very much and the messages they have for us every week.

The pot roast today was very good but for some reason today I have been starving!  I will need to get back together with my diet tomorrow.  I don’t think I did too bad today but I need to tighten the carb intake more.  And I will.  Some days this is a work in progress and other days it is like I have done thins perfectly forever. I can’t figure out though why the appetite fluctuates so much.  I do notice that I am slimming down so I don’t want to mess it up.  This will hopefully be the week when I add more exercise every day.  I will just make time.  I have to.

I think I have mentioned this before but I love to drive.  I love driving anywhere at anytime for almost anything.  You want to go to the city, call me.  You need something from town and I am not busy, call me.  There is something about driving along, with the music as loud as it can be, that it totally exhilarating and exciting to me.  I love exploring new places and I have to say the maps on the iPhone and iPad are so far the best map applications I have ever used.  Anyway, I had gone to the Dollar Store the other day while I was out and at this particular one, you pull up on the street and basically parallel park.  There was a space open and I had to parallel park.  Yeah, I had that.  I put that big old SUV of mine right in there, no issues!  I was pretty proud of myself because that was the first time I had parallel parked in years.

I haven’t had this blog for very long but I have over 400 views I believe.  I get several each day and some places on Twitter retweet when I blog.  I must give a shout out to @BloggerBees, @TheBlogCentre, @TheBloggersPost, @lovingblogs, @RTYourBlog and @TheBlogGuideRT for always retweeting my posts of my blogs!  Thank you so much!  I know some people may not think that 20 hits or so a day is good, but hey, I’m cool with that.  I really love writing and have since I was a teenager or so.  I have always thought I would love to write all the time and still do.  I can combine my love of writing with my love of computers and that works out really well.  I do think that blogging like this every day helps me stay on track and clear my head both of which are necessary evils now a days it seems.  I just hope y’all enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it!  A huge thank you to everyone that reads this too!  I hope my silliness can get a laugh or something may be in there that could help someone.

Going back to the writing thing, I decided when I was 12 that writing was the thing for me.  I remember spending the extra class time writing on novels or stories or whatever it was that I had concocted.  I remember showing my stuff to people and most of them really liked it.  Or they said they did.  It was such a passion then and it still is.  Back then I wrote things, like TV scripts and fictional stories.  At one point I had decided I could never do like the big time fiction writers of today do, but now that I reevaluate this, I think I may be able to handle it.  It is like I have all this inside me and I have to write it down.  Some people who know me know I get all giddy and excited when I get to design a web page, and it is just as bad when I get to write!  You will never find “normal” stuff in my purse, like bandaids (there are now but usually not) or wipes or stuff, but you will find a trillion pens and a note pad or two so I can write when I feel the need.  If I am writing something huge for school or even for myself I must have a written, literally written, copy first then I can type it up.  I have just gotten used to blogging in this form and I don’t mind it.  But I do keep notes on my phone of topics I wish to blog about.  Anyway, once I got to college, I was asked to edit the newspaper and was an assistant editor for a semester or two.  Then I got to take it over.  I think one of the funnest things I have ever taken part in was writing and editing that paper.  My professor had enough confidence in me to put me in charge of it and let me run the meetings, and that confidence has rubbed off on me with many things. I was the only one who could interview people, such as the Dean and President of the university.  That really made me understand I can do anything.  But it really convinced me I was a pretty good writer.  I contribute a lot of who I am today to him.  But I did that while I was there and I also had a couple of articles in local papers too.  I had decided at that point that I wanted to write real stuff.  One day that same professor asked me, or told me, if I realized that writing for a newspaper was not that great of a paying job.  Well I rethought all this out and decided at that time I didn’t know what I was good at but finally hit me it was computers.  I can combine my love of writing and computers together.

Well I suppose I have rambled enough for now.  I will ramble more tomorrow I am sure.  Have a great night!

–S

No Exercise Time–Why are the machines empty?

Hi y’all!  I didn’t blog yesterday.  We were at the hospital with my brother who had to have a procedure done.  I didn’t get much walking in all at once.  It was like there was no time for exercise, but later in the day we, Jeffrey and I, started going up and down the stairs until I was so tired I couldn’t go up them anymore. Jeffrey kept bugging me to start going back up them again but I did go up 3 flights(6 sections) of stairs several times and as I wore down I couldn’t do it more.  I was able to go down successfully the rest of the night but not up. We actually ended up spending a good part of the evening going up and down stairs and all over the place when we were really tired and punchy. Total for the day yesterday was between 3 and 4 miles but that was over a course of 17 hours.  We did walk for 17 minutes continuously and that was toward the evening, in the basement and as close as I could get to my daily walk time where we were at.  I wanted to find the morgue.  Why you ask?  Well when we were at one of these hospitals several years ago, we got off the elevator to go to lunch or supper and the first thing we saw as the doors opened was the door to the morgue.  I wasn’t for sure which hospital it was, but it wasn’t the one I was at yesterday.  We went back upstairs and told them (the others with us) that we went walking and looking for the morgue.  Didn’t phase them at all.  They know how bizarre I am.  Had I found it, I just would have thought that was interesting and it was that hospital that we found it in before.

On another note, not exercising in the morning like we always do really put my bones and joints in a bind.  I sat too much, I could hear fat coagulating on my butt and arms (not really but you get it), my knees were hurting, my legs were locking up, my butt was hurting, my arm and chest muscles were hurting from too much usage from hauling stuff in and out that we needed.  That was why Jeffrey and I decided that I needed to walk off the carbs I ate plus to get up and get moving to feel better.  I never once thought that missing exercise would ever be something that I would be all sorts of bent out of shape (literally) over but it was.  I am on the path to healthy and I will just have to always figure out how to work that in, or I will pay for it later.  I wouldn’t trade my time at the hospital with him yesterday for anything, but I do need to remember to continue to take care of me in every circumstance.  This is how we fall off the wagon.  A little this is ok here, won’t do this so much there, and before you know it, we have backslid and I can’t do that.  I left last night with a massive headache and still have it currently.  It is down to a dull roar which is manageable but still annoying.

Eating at a hospital is another story totally.  One thinks that when they go to the hospital that they should have options that would fit almost all diets, right?  Well let me tell you, that doesn’t work that way.  The only sugar-free thing they had was jello.  Ok….and diet pop.  That is another story in itself.  The only thing that they had was low-fat.  Umm, not necessarily at this point thanks.  There was all sorts of stuff just running over with carbs.  I had to just eat what I could and make do.  I did however have the foresight to bring my own water and water flavors.  I had no desire to spend a small fortune on water all day and that was a huge help.  I also included some sugar-free sugar wafers and I am glad I did.  I was just rather disappointed that there was nothing that would have really worked for me.  I was asked why couldn’t I buy one of the breaded sandwiches, take it off the bun, and pull the breading off?  My wallet says no.  That would be a total waste of money considering in order to fully make one whole sandwich, I would had to have bought about 4 of them to pull the breading off from.  And that just really sounds nasty anyway.  Unbreading a cooked breaded sandwich.  Ugh.  I do know I sure miss cooking on days like that.

So the soda story….I was looking on the room information where it talked about the cafeteria hours and I read where the hospital had made the decision to help make people healthier.  They were going to limit full sugar soft drinks that are available for purchase in the hospital.  Normally this would have really just set me afire.  After all my lifestyle changes, it didn’t bother me. I don’t drink diet soda (and obviously not full sugared soda) because the amount of sodium in it will cause you to retain water.  In the vending rooms there was a big sign that said the hospital was going to try to help stamp out the two things or conditions that were impacting us health wise here in Indiana and that is obesity (I am but not so much now) and diabetes (where I am heading if I don’t get this together).  Ok I get it.  But, there was this problem too.  At one time I decided that I wanted a cold water.  Water is healthy, right?  Well we had to walk all over the place to find one for Jeffrey after I lost the urge for one because we couldn’t find one.  We found it, oddly enough, in our quest for the morgue.  The ONLY ONE in the whole hospital I think was all the way in the basement, hidden from the majority.  For a snack, when we went to the cafeteria,  I had decided that I needed some tea.  No sweet for me of course, but the unsweetened they had was wrong.  It was just nasty.  The lack of caffeine could explain my headache.  They did have coffee but it was like drinking the nastiest bitter drink every.  Meh.  Been sucking the tea down today like I own the only box of tea bags in the world and I need to drink it before someone steals it.  It has been helping.

Back to the reason for our trip yesterday–I just don’t think I am going to go into all that now about his procedure.  I will soon but for now, just know that all will be well and God has this.  It is a very scary thing but it will be ok.

The weather here today has been pretty mild.  Again it is hard to believe that this is Indiana in June.  The a/c compressor hasn’t kicked on at all today and I have it set pretty low, because you know me, I smother no matter the temp.  With headache and all, we resumed our normal walking today.  56 minutes and 2.11 miles.  The honeysuckle sure smelled good today but under the smell of that was the smell of farmers, distributing smoldering, rotting poo all over the fields.  Like I have said before, we are used to smells but man the honeysuckle took on a whole new perspective by the end of the walk!

Boy did I need that walk!  It was good and cool and it felt good.  Annie thought it was a bit cold but I liked it.  By the way, she does a blog too and can be found at https://anniebanannieee.wordpress.com/.  As we walked today, I told her about yesterday since she couldn’t go because of work and we talked about many things.  One thing I relearned today is that Annie loves questions and the more I can conjure up the better she likes it.  So I would ask her something and she would reply.  And if I was slow on coming up with something she would ask me to ask her more!

One thing we noticed was that the road to my Mom’s house had been grated.  This created a problem.  Let me explain.  Annie thought that walking on it would be harder on our feet, but I found that the gravel was quite spongy which was nice to walk on.  That isn’t even the issue.  Let me tell you about Leaf.  As we walk. we of course are watching where we are walking.  Living in the country does that to you.  You look for holes, rocks, things to trip on, snakes, etc.  All of these you want to avoid.  If you don’t believe me, if you were raised in or live in the country, and you have a city friend, next time you get together, ask them to discreetly observe your behavior when you walk.  I have had several people ask me why I walk with my head down.  Obviously, number 1, I am so talented that I can trip on flat carpet but it is out of habit.  I want to make sure I don’t step on something that will kill me or bite back.  Ok, back to Leaf.  When we first started walking, as a way to keep the walk fresh and amusing we would look at the things on the ground and name them or whatever.  Y’all know how this is.  I know every single person does this but I am not afraid to admit it.  We all name things around us: places, objects, roads, turns in the road, animals, etc.  We had Leaf.  We would talk to Leaf or say hi every day, and Leaf was just there to encourage us to keep walking so we could see him.  She put him under some rocks, originally as an experiment, to see if any animals or cars or whatever would disrupt the rocks.  I will tell a story about that later too.  Leaf was doing so very good until one day he had been strung out from under the rocks and ripped up.  Oh my.  Well we said a few words for Leaf, and nominated a beautiful yellow Maple leaf to be the new one, named Leaf 2.0.  We put him a little further up the road under some rocks.  This time we kept forgetting to say hi but yesterday, the road was grated, and took every single piece of Leaf 2.0’s existence away.  We said a few words for Leaf 2.0 and tomorrow, we will nominate Leaf 3.0.  Are we nuts, or just creative?  I like to think we are nuttily creative.  Here is a pic, and you can see how spongy the road is and you can see my footprints in the fresh dirt.

The animals I am referring to that would have upset Leaf are just deer and the like.  Although recently, we have had some weirdness going on.  Down the lane to my Mom’s we had something that sounded like it was throwing rocks at us, and another time it sounded like something was whistling at us.  Another time Annie also heard someone talking and it wasn’t me or our headphones.  We tend the think we have a bigfoot.  And why not?  We are in the middle of no where with thick forests.  It could be!  Does it scare us?  Nah.  Just as long as he/she poses for a pic…..

One thing I have said many times is that Annie and I talk about feelings and about friendships a lot.  Odd we both would have these weird things happening at the same time.  One thing we discussed today was first impressions and how we categorize people and if those opinions change.  I think when we meet people that we like to categorize them, such as they look like a good friends, an enemy, a backstabber, someone who is awesome, a potential date, etc.  These first impressions can actually change, once we get to know someone.  I guess the point of the conversation was being wrong or having our opinion changed over time.  Anyone else ever do this?  And I guess too this goes beyond a first impression.  It is more like a first categorization.

On our walk we saw one of the local farmers go in and out with their truck so we just hop on over to the side of the road out of the way.  The second time we got off the road when we saw them we ran right smack into some pretty flowers on the side of the road.  We took some pics.  Not sure what they are but they look like daisies.

I really look forward to blogging every day.  On days when I can’t, I feel that too just as bad as not doing the exercise.  I hope to get more followers if for no other reason than to see what silliness I am up to today.  It really helps me though and keeps me going.  Also forgive my grammar and spelling mistakes.  Remember, these are my thoughts and since I know the grammar rules, I am apt to break them.  Ha!  And, too, I think that leaving a bit of a mess up in gives it character.  Makes it a bit rustic if you will.  Yeah, only me, describing a blog as rustic.  And rustic in terms of thoughts is I think priceless.  Some of the best thoughts are unsophisticated.

I better stop for today.  I have a missionary speaker at church tonight for my missionary presentation and that will be awesome.  Have a great night!

–S

Saturday Musings and Liebster Award!

HI y’all!  I am cranking out two blogs today because the first one was all about the Liebster Award. It is given to new bloggers out there to help get them going.  That was pretty awesome and I really appreciate it!

Started this morning off with our walk, 50 minutes and 1.63 miles I believe.  We did cut it a bit short because Annie’s bed was going to be here today.  We talked about more finding her a new truck and that ended up taking us on a trip this afternoon.  But it was hot this morning and seemed like I was huffing and puffing more due to that. Annie even said she was huffing and puffing too.  I know it is messed up if she is huffing and puffing.  We didn’t take our ropes due to our time today but we did the walking weights.  At one point, I couldn’t figure out why there was a breather in my music, and it was me! You know like the old-timey breathers that would call on the phone and then hang up after they breathed in your ear after you hollered hello at them 14 times?  Ha!  Then I had to run to the drug store and run a few other errands and I noticed it was 81, said the Ford, before 11 AM.  No wonder I was huffing and puffing!  If this is starting in May, what is August and September, which are the hottest, going to be like?  Mercy sakes I am not looking forward to this.  I always said that moving to Louisiana the heat would kill me but I am thinking I may end up getting used to it up here if it keeps this up and go on down someday…..On a positive note that honeysuckle smelled good and farther up and down the road it seemed because of the heat.  That was awesome!

I have talked about this several times and I hope that y’all don’t get tired of it but I have to say that my idea of what pretty is may be different from the world’s idea.  Let me explain.  I was having a conversation with a close relative (if you read this you know who you are) and we were talking about me losing weight.  He is super proud of me for staying with it.  I was talking about how much weight I wanted to lose.  He advised me not to lose down to where I am nothing but skin and bones because those people are too skinny (I am paraphrasing what he said.)  I said I was not going to do that.  Now mind you, I do have a lot more to lose, but I don’t want to push it.  My ideal weight and what most guidelines say are two different ideas.  I guess I need to lose enough to where I am healthy.  What if that is close to skin and bones?  Surely it wouldn’t be.  I don’t want to lose so much weight that I look sick, not sickly but just straight up sick.  I have an ideal pants size I want to fit in so I guess my goal is to get there and see what the DR advises me to do.  Also, I am a very large girl.  I am 5’9″ tall and with my bone structure I could never get “little” or skin and bones anyway.  I don’t plan to.

Got my nails done today.  It is the one luxury that I like to indulge in.  I don’t care about too many other silly things, but books and purses are a necessity and that is that.  So I had them done today.  I love them!  Here is a pic:

I had originally thought right before my school was out for this semester that Annie and I needed to do a podcast.  I thought our musings while we walked would be awesome to sit down and talk about.  Well I went this direction and we both started a blog.  I have to say I am really grooving on this.  I am getting people to read it, it is being recognized with things and I am loving it because not only do I feed my need to write and create (I blame that on my brother ha!), but I can keep myself accountable and motivated to lose weight and do all that I can do.  And I get to put my crazy thoughts out here so someone else may laugh.  That is worth its weight in gold.

Now to our other adventure–we went car shopping.  Annie found a couple on a lot that was closed, of course, but we are going to go back on her next day off next week.  She wants a huge Dodge Ram or something similar to that, that is 4×4..  Good girl.  This brings me to my kids.  You know, you hear people talking all the time about how much they love their kids and this and that and you hear those things all your life.  You never understand until you have a couple of your own.  I have to say I love those two kids of mine more every second of every day.  It is a feeling that I cannot describe, when you see what you have created and how well they turned out.  I can’t take all the credit, since my Mom and all my aunts and uncles and my brother helped too, and Derek’s Mom and Dad and brothers and sisters. I have been very lucky all my life to have all those help raise me, then help me raise my kids along with the help from Derek’s family.  It really takes a village to raise a baby, but they are more precious every day.

After we ate and my nails were done we ran to Wal-Mart.  At the checkout there were about 5 self check registers open that would take only cards.  I was waiting on the others that took cash.  The cashier there had to ask if  I paying with a card.  I really wanted to say nope, no literacy problems here so I am waiting, but I simply replied no.  On our way out, a guy carrying a kitten was coming in.  This cat looked like one of ours when they were babies.  I turned to my daughter only to see her and my son running in front of me and burst out laughing outside.  I thought she was running so she didn’t try to take the cat from him.  No, found out she was just laughing because she found it hilarious.  I was not aware it was bring-your-cat-to-Wal-Mart day today and had I know, we would have brought ours.  I have no issues taking your critters in anywhere with you. It ought to be allowed more often.  I am a critter person in case you didn’t know this.  🙂

So we finished up there and ran to Ruler and we got a serious case of the giggles in there.  Jeffrey was hearing me say words I didn’t say and the first thing that got us was the smell!  It smelled like straight up cow poo in there! Not sure where that was coming from but it was a hoot.  No folks, smells don’t bother us.  We are from the country, where cow poo and smelly things reign supreme.

On the way home and all the time we were out, it was clouding up and we knew it was raining a bit further south toward home.  We ran into a good one.  The wind started whipping, the rain started pelting, and the ride got rather bumpy.  I did what every normal person does when confronted with a storm:  I plowed on.  Never skipped a beat and didn’t have any trouble but I hammered on down the road.  I wasn’t scared.  Jesus was and is right there with me.  I had the faith He was and this wasn’t going to bother us.  It didn’t.  I need that faith in all I do, not just driving.  I do have it in lots of things and in everything really, I just need more of it in those things so I don’t spazz.  Anyway, we got back to town and found out the power had been off there, and there were some tree parts down on the way home, but it didn’t storm out here like it did there.  That is good.  I didn’t want to come home to no power.

On the way home we did the tell me what song for what game.  At one point. I thought she said Chris Brown and pickle but she said Pitbull.  Ha!!!  Not sure what that was about but my hearing was playing tricks on me.

This is all for today.  I know, two in one day! I may not blog tomorrow.  Church all day and I need to catch up on my Bible study.  Have a great weekend and a Blessed Sunday!

–S