BAD GIRL X3

I am a bad bad bad girl (bad girl times 3)!

I missed 3 days in my promise to write something everyday for 30 days.  Dang.  It feels like missing exercise and weight training for 3 days.....Never regret when I do it. Always regret when I don't.

Went to the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo this weekend....wow it's been years since I went to a rodeo.  Not much has changed in the Livestock Show part....but so much has changed on the grounds.  They've turned the Joe Freeman Colisseum into a 2 floor shopping center....booth after booth after booth of outrageously priced baubles and bangles, clothes, hats, belts, trinkets, souveniers.  You name it they had it and tons of new eating places in the food court....of food definitely not on my list of "you can eat these"!!! :)

I'm still shaking my head at the battering the bronco and bull riders take...OMG!  I can't imagine how they do that over and over again.  There's not enough money in the world to ever get me to even think about doing that...even if I was 20.  And did you ever notice that there are never any (or at least not that I've seen) girls doing those events....hmmmmm...let's think about that!

Then Keith Urben was the entertainer....now I like Keith, but really seriously the music was so loud you couldn't understand a word he was singing...and my head was splitting...needless to say we did not stay for the whole show.  (Maybe I'm just getting old because the 3 young girls sitting next to us sang along with every song, could not sit still and literally I think were about to pee their pants everytime the stage turned around and put him in front of us....their squeals were as loud as the music) (Oh to be that young!)  :)

Well this is going to be short, I've been to the gym and have chicken baking in the oven....so time to get cleaned up and finish preparing dinner......and then let's see is tonight "The Voice"???  If not then it's a Farkle tournament with John....let the games begin! :)

Take care and I'll see you back here tomorrow......PROMISE!!!

Here's my new found thought for the day:
  I've decided to be happy because it's good for my health!

Retirement Pleasures --- Life is good!

It's true, it's true, it's true....what they say about retirement.  You wonder how you ever had time to work.

Today our day just flew by.  We had someone come over from the computer club here in our community from 9:00 - 11:30 to work with John on his sick PC, I went to my Lighten Up for Life Program from 9:30 - 11:30, John went to the gym and I had two fitness classes this afternoon....then we rushed home and got ready to go to our country swing dance lessons this evening.

We could stay that busy and busier every single day because there is so much to do in this retirement community.....but we've tried to limit ourselves or else we'd meet ourselves coming and going.

I'm trying to find some balance...so that I'm not exercising 2-3 times a day....or every single day for that matter.  The speaker today at our meeting told us that "being fit is not just about eating the proper food and exercising....you have to be balanced in mind, body and spirit. 

This writing in my blog is part of my trying to find that balance. Writing brings me joy and quiets my soul, it makes my mind work and gives me hope.  I used to say that writing was the best diet I could ever be on because when I write I lose all track of time and never even think about food.  Somehow though I got so wrapped up in this losing weight program and exercise, that I lost track of time and never thought about writing.

So now I'm going to try to combine the two....the excitement of losing weight and the joy of writing  and see if I can't wrap them together.  Perhaps the new person I've become (or the old person that was hiding inside and is now out) can create some new characters, some new thoughts, some new stories and double my pleasure in this new era of my life.........

Being retired is good. Being fit is good.  Giving myself time to write is good...... LIFE IS GOOD!

Sometimes good intentions need a push......

OK.  Day 1 of my commitment to write something in my blog for at least 30 days.  I've been thinking about it all day and for some reason putting it off.  But it's getting close to my bed time so it's time for the putting off to end and the pushing to begin.  Isn't that what it's like for most things that are important.  Right now I can relate it to weight loss and getting fit.  I finally reached the point in my life when it was time to end the putting off and the time to change my mind set, see the reality of how dangerous it was to be overweight and unfit and to start the push to change my life once and for all. 

I've worked really hard....started counting calories, eating healthier, making a commitment to make this a lifelong change and exercising.....lots of exercising.  I've been at it about 7 months and I am truly addicted.  I even had a T-shirt made that says "NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS FIT AND HEALTHY FEEL!"

I truly believe that. It's taken time, but I no longer crave twizzlers (sorry Stacey).  I just can't get over the fact that one (1)....as in uno, as in not two or three...but one twizzler is 53 calories....and beleive me friends I could eat 10 or 12 at a sitting (AND that was just a snack during the day while I was working)...can you do the math!!!???  530 - 636 calories!!! That's almost 1/2 of what I should be eating to lose and keep the weight off to be healthy.  I don't even like to think about how many calories I was eating in a day.  But then I don't have to think about it because I know what I looked like and I know what I weighed.

But "Fitness is a life-long journey....not a 12 week sprint".  I truly believe you have to be determined, dedicated and committed.  No one can do it for you.  You're the only one who can make yourself healthy and fit.  Getting a trainer helps (a lot), eating the right food and the right portions helps (a lot), exercising and burning calories helps (a lot)....but it all begins and has to continue to be a mind set change.  You have to "See the YOU you want to be".  You have to believe.  You have to start with the face in the mirror and know that "You can't cross the ocean until you are ready to lose sight of the shore".  You have to make a decision to change your life and believe you can acheive your goals.

I know you've heard this before....but I'm here to tell you..."If I can do it anyone can do it".  I am "Far from what I once was--But not yet what I'm going to be".

My goal is to die of old age not from being unhealthy and unfit.  I want to be able to be exercising and going to the gym in my 90's!

Like our old friend Nike says "JUST DO IT"

I'm big into slogan T-shirts and I'm getting the words in red (that I've found on other websites) on T-shirt to inspire myself and others. 

OK....time to get off my weightloss soap box.........time to quit putting off taking my nightly shower and time to be pushing myself toward the bed..........got a weigh-in tomorrow and plenty of sleep is important.

DON'T PAY THE RANSOM I'VE ESCAPED!

My beloved mentioned last week that he'd pulled up this blog and I hadn't written anything since last August.....and that's sad but true.

I've been a tad busy trying to get settled into our new home in Texas, but mostly trying to get back in shape, fit and healthy!  It's been a fun and, at the same time, grueling adventure--that knock on wood so far is going extremely well.  I'll talk more about that a little later.

This is just a short note to get in the blog groove again and to let anyone who still follows my blog know that I'm alive and well.

I'm going to try what a blogger friend of mine did last year and that is to make a commitment to write something in my blog for at least the next 30 days.  I've had this dream for a long time to write a novel and I've gotten away from that too....so I need to bring that back into my picture.

Retirement is in one word "FABULOUS".   We love it and we're glad we moved to Texas.  More often than not with the beautiful temperature we look at each other and say  "Another day in paradise"...

See you back here tomorrow....Hold me to it! :)

Like I've been iron'n with ma high heels on.......and it's a sin!

Today I decided I would tackle some much needed ironing.  You see we've moved, lock, stock and barrel...a long long way from Maine.  And when the movers came to pack us, they told us....you can fill the chest of drawers and dressers with clothes if you like.  That would save us the rather hefty cost of "wardrobe" boxes....so pack those dressers and chests of drawers, I did...pack those babies to the gills. I'm sure the movers wished they'd never told me that when they tried to lift those pieces of furniture.

Well when you pack (oh come on let's be brutally honest)...when you cram clothes into drawers so tightly you can barely shut the draw, guess what happens to those clothes.....yes, you in the third row madly waving your hand, that's right....they get unbelievably wrinkled...and moving van trucks are not always  the most pristine places in the world.  So of course being the clean freak that I am, they all had to be washed and yes....ironed-- before I put them in my new closets.  I've had them stacked in my spare bedroom like a clothing store exploded.  Slowly I've been shuffling them, put them in laundry baskets, then to this side of the bed, to that side of the bed...sorted, folded, resorted....gathering the courage to fill the steam iron with water, plug it in and wait for the steam to pour out of those tiny little holes.

Today I worked up the courage to do a basket full (32 pieces to be precise)....and I realized IT IS A SIN that we should have so many clothes......most of which we rarely wear........especially now when we've come to a place where the "dress de jour" is shorts, tank tops and flip flops....It's just a sin!  How does a person acquire so many pieces of clothing and so many shoes (OK OK....those of you who know me well know "you can never have too many shoes").  But seriously you can....especially  spiked heels that you haven't worn in almost 6 years.  I ironed 32 pieces today, and I'm ashamed to say there are more piles! I'll try to gather the courage to do those another day.

That ironing made me think of an old friend of mine from the time I worked for Sun Oil in Dallas.  His name is Ken Horn and he is a great guy with a wonderful family.  He lived through several major heart attacks and bypasses, a heart transplant, a kidney transplant and other hospital stays.  I've just learned that he now has leukemia and isn't doing well.  I am saddened by this news....but he made me smile today....because years ago (in the late 1980's) when he was really really tired at work he used to say (in his East Texas drawl)...."I'm so tired, I feel like I've been iron'n with ma high heels on. "

That's how I felt today.

 
Ken, thanks for making me smile....and making me realize that a few piles of clothes that need to be ironed, a few more boxes that still need to be unpacked, and workers hammering on my roof, are very very small nuisances.

Ken......where ever you are I hope you are resting and hanging in there. 

Time has flown - my world is new - where are you?

Time has really flown since my last posting....shame on me!
My world is new and I have so much to tell you....and that WILL come in time!
Where are you?...is probably what you're wondering about me!   :)

Well I'm here and busier than a spider trying to get out of a plate of molasses....think about it....all those little legs stuck in that gooey sweet syrup, trying to pull one leg out as the others sink farther in, taking one step forward and seven steps back, going around in circles.....yep that's me.  But we'll get there.  We'll get all the boxes unpacked and the furniture arranged and we'll find a place for everything....but for right now I'm busy..and loving my new adventure called "retirement".....I'll be thrilled when the actual "retirement" part starts!  Although I must admit we've spent more afternoons at the pool in the last two weeks then we have in the past 10 years!

I really do have a tale to write, but for now I thought I would write a short post so that those of you that follow me will know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

And speaking of following me...I've added a new "gadget" to my blog that you can click on if you'd like so that I know you are following me....I'd love it if you'd do that.

I guess you might say that tomorrow is my official 'retirement' day because tomorrow would be when I would report back to my job at the school but the commute would be a tad bit long...give or take 2100 miles!  So I guess tomorrow, it's official.

No matter where you are today, I hope have a good day.

I'll be back here soon and I hope you will be too....or as we like to say down here.....

Y'all come back now ya' hear...........Cute shoes....tell your momma Hi!

Preparing for the echo sound--FOR SALE!

Well it's official!  John and I have decided to retire.  We've come to this point through many many many nights of talking, calculating, and getting all of our ducks in a row.....


We finished out the business things (that needed to be finished and sold) and now we have come to the task of selling our home.  It's one of those things that takes forever to finally sink in and make you realize that this is really happening.  But this weekend John took down all the pictures and things on the wall in the kitchen,dining room, pantry and hall closet to wash and put a fresh coat of paint on all those walls. He did a fantastic job...he truly paints like a professional....the house looks fresh and new.  (Thanks Honey for such a great job!)


It wasn't until this evening when I walked past the hall closet and shut the door that I heard it....the "echo sound" of moving.  You know the sound when there's nothing on the walls, nothing in the closet to muffle the vacuum of air that happens as a door closes in an empty room....the sound your heart and mind will make when you walk out the door of the place you've called home for many years.....(even if you want to move).  There will be that sense of loss for what was a part of your life that will no longer be.  We'll miss the friends we've made here  (some John has known for over 30 years).  We'll miss the family we are leaving behind (but they will visit and so will we).  We'll miss the people we've worked with, the familiarity of going to the grocery store right down the road or the route we always chose to drive to Portland.  We'll miss watching the birds and occasionally the deer out the window of our beautiful 4-season sun room.  We will miss all of that and it will all start with the echo of an empty closet or room.

But tomorrow we will fill the pantry again.  We'll put the pictures back on the walls and the coats back in the hall closet and snuggle into the coziness and comfort of our home....and wait........... for someone to come along who will leave the echos of their old home and who will want to fill this house with laughter, love, family and no echos of emptiness....and make it their new home......

We are ready to start this new chapter in our lives.......if you need a new home...we're waiting for you ....bring on the "echo sound" of moving....we're ready.