Happy Anniversary

So today is our 24th Anniversary...24 years ago was a bright sunny day, in the 30s - beautiful! We went to the court house, got married with an empty camera not recording the deed or the traffic accident chalked out on the board in the corner...had a lovely brunch, and returned to the apartment that is now the Master suite in my dream house. :-) The next day we shoveled out about 15 inches of snow, and watched basketball (March Madness don'tcha know) Quite the honeymoon, I must say. Today, not so sunny, but in the 30s, with no big snowfall in the forecast. I'm a lucky girl. 26 more years and he will have fulfilled his "contract." Won't those years be delightful!

My hair is still beautiful, my freezer is full of low-carb bread, my back is doing well, my daughter is on spring break, and all is well. Plus, the Red River crested below forecast heights/depths. It's all good.

A few morning readings on blogs have gotten me thinking about goal setting. Good/bad/indifferent? I think it depends on how you feel about it...about the actual goals, the goal setting process, the whole thing. If it makes you feel good, go for it. If it feels better just to be, do that. You decide. But one thing I do agree with...if you set a goal, don't worry about how it will become. The how is not up to you.

I feel so good this morning. How about you?

Beautiful!

You should see my hair- it is so beautiful! Lovely experience at the salon yesterday - foot bath and massage, head and neck massage, parafin dip for hands - oh, all while getting my hair colored - and it is beautiful! What fun!

Isn't it great when everything works out? I love my life!

:-)
It's good to feel good!

A little more snow

So all the rain and wind yesterday sent the last of the dirty snow piles packing. Lovely! And this morning, a dusting of new snow. Well it won't stick around long. That's the good part.

I am going for a gentle workout - careful of my back. Only one dose of ibuprofen yesterday, so I am doing great! It's great to have a body which heals itself quickly!

I read a quick little book called "Earthly Pleasures" that has me thinking about writing one of my own. Hmmm

It's so good to feel good! What feels good to you right now? Make something up if you have to! Think about this...since you are likely not a celebrity - you can go wherever you want today and nobody will hound you! Cool!

Good day to be inside

So, Monday morning, I woke to painful back - could barely move - yikes! A heating pad used intermittently and some ibuprofen took care of it, but it was a little surprising when I could barely make it to the bathroom and back to bed, having to crawl part of the way. I tried to think about which of the myriad activities I had done over the weekend was the culprit... hmmm. Today I am way better and will continue to be careful about how I move.

I did get to really enjoy the Reverie Harp that I had ordered the previous weekend (and which arrived on Sat) while I was abed. This harp is an amazing thing. It is designed to be played by anyone successfully, and often used for music therapy purposed for folks in hospitals and nursing homes. Hmmm. Interesting timing, don't you think? It is beautiful to look at and beautiful to listen to and fun to strum. I think it is a great meditation tool, too. Really shuts off the monkey mind.

I am appreciating that, as I recuperate, I get to do it as a lean slim healthy (overall) person. I also appreciate the love letter the IRS sent...well, actually, the letter part was missing, but the check was there...payback for a misfiled Alternative Minimum Tax problem I had late last year, due to my extended filing. Not this year. I will file on the regular date, and, in fact, had that on my list for yesterday. Maybe my back wanted me to put it off a little longer, eh? Interesting timing indeed.

I think I will have a nice soak in the hot tub this morning. It's not so cold today - but gray and windy and threatening thunderstorms later. A soak will help the back, right? I love my therapeutic hot tub!

It feels good to feel good, and it only takes a minor hassle to put my usual habit of feeling into stark relief! I so appreciate a slim trim fit healthy flexible body!

Daffodils

Hurray! Daffodils are in the stores, and a small bunch of 10 are opening up on my kitchen table as I type this. Even though it is pretty cold out there, with the sun shining and blue sky outside and the sunny yellow inside, Spring is more than imaginable. It is here! Don't you love Spring! I just got back from a brisk (both cold and fast) walk and am glad to be back in. Little remnants of snow are still around, but really not much. I can "see" the buds and flowers now!

There is a tall (40-50 feet or so) pine tree in my back yard that has a twin top. I love to see these twins towering over the yard and surrounded by blue sky. They are "my guys" and I appreciate them every day. This tree is about double the height it was when be bought the house almost exactly 20 years ago. Funny how it seems like it has always been so tall! I do have photographic evidence though.

I am feeling so well! You are too, right?
Great stuff

Absolutely fabulous

Did I talk about "priming" people with words? I don't remember, so it doesn't really matter. What I mean is that it has been shown in experiments that if you give folks a test (the mode of the test is not important) loaded with words that connote impatience and aggression, those folks will act impatiently and aggressive after the test. If you give other folks (at the same time) a test loaded with words connoting patience and meekness, can you guess how they will act after the test? And the test contained sets of seemingly random words in random order from which the test takers were to construct whole sentences.

So, I construe from the above that if I really study my daily newspaper each morning, that I will be primed for an unhappy day. Hmm. Well, since mostly I read the comics and do the sudoku puzzle, and then skim for good stuff, I don't think I am hurting myself any. But you see where I am going, right? And it doesn't have to be the newspaper. Moral of my story: Prime yourself each day with some good stuff. As you are waking, and before you hop out of bed, verbally appreciate your miraculous and beautiful, fit, trim body and all the things it allows you to do. Appreciate in your mind all the things you want to be living as if you are living them (and as you are living them) for a few minutes before you get out of that wonderfully comfortable bed you spent the night in. This little exercise will only take a couple of minutes and will pay wonderful dividends all day long. Think the good stuff! You get what you think about, so, choose the good stuff!

It's all good stuff! (Say, did you notice how I primed you for this post? Look at the title! :-)

It's Good to Feel Good

Does roaming through the newspaper make you feel like feeling good is counter-cultural? It does that to me...and I use the opportunity to appreciate all the reasons I have to feel good, and look for more reasons! Dwell on the good stuff, move your focus away from anything that doesn't make you feel better. It's kind of a "choice theory" thing, too. Is what I am thinking about making me feel better or worse? If the answer isn't "better", well, you know what to do. Think about something that makes you feel better. Here's the problem. Most of us try to not think about the other thing. But you can't not think about what you are thinking, unless you supplant it with something else. Go ahead, test it out and see if you can "not think about" a purple elephant right now! HA! See what I mean? So what feels better? It is likely to be different for you than for me.

So, the Omnivore's Dilemma...you may want to read this one. It will change the way you think about food. It will change the way you think about human nature. It will likely cause you to appreciate something else. Maybe you don't want to read it? Oh, I don't know. It is intriguing stuff. Eat whole foods whenever you can. :-)

I love Spring. I love that I could sit outside and read for a couple of hours yesterday, and walk without shivering for an hour and a half (in divided doses) and dodge puddles instead of snowdrifts. It's good to see grass! Even smushed not quite green stuff! At least it's grass. You gotta love Minnesota! ha ha ha

Have a great day. Think about stuff that makes you feel good, or at least find what's good in what you are thinking about!

60 degrees!

After 2 days in the 50s, we are not getting slapped with a storm today, we are getting a high in the 60s! Yahoo! My back yard is almost completely clear of snow, and a big brown bunny is out there right now munching on actual grass! Ha! It's about time! I know it's too early in the season to think that it won't snow again, but it is nice to think about Spring and experience a little of it!
It's also absurdly cheer-making to have 3 sunny days in a row! I am loving it!

I finished Choice Theory this weekend, wishing I could have taught in a "Quality School" where Choice Theory is the way of the world. Now I am reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma. Did you know that if you eat the SAD (Standard American Diet) you are mostly corn by now? Scary. Who's in charge here anyway? And you never have to pick up an ear of corn for this to be true.

I am tempted to uncover the deck furniture today. Maybe I will! Have a great day/week and imagine the sun on your face, whether or not it is out where you are.

Lots going on...

This weekend is jam-packed with stuff: dinner out, a concert, a play, bell choir practice, a gin-making event, a hockey game, and that's just the things that are at the top of my head! Good thing I can take Monday to relax. Or can I? My son's girlfriend is visiting from this afternoon til at least mid-week, when I drive her half-way home. I won't have the house to myself, but I am sure to have plenty of open time. Anyway...I hope you are looking forward to your weekend! I sure am looking forward to mine.

Been reading a bit about Sumo squats, since they are the culprit, I believe, for my sore legs. Even two sessions in the hot tub yesterday barely took the edge off. Whew. At least it's good to know that they are good for me, as long as I am careful to do them right. I think my mistake on Wednesday was an inadequate warm-up. I won't be making that mistake again anytime soon!
Nice to think about getting into better shape!

The more I read Glasser's Choice Theory, the more intrigued I am. I believe further study is in my future. It's fun to learn new stuff, ain't it? It sure is for me!

Hey, the temperature is getting above freezing today! Halleluiah! I am so ready! What's for fun today?

Ouch!

So, indeed my pal and I had an indoor workout yesterday...man oh man am I ever feeling it! Sore legs! Good sore, but sore. Try this: using the Tabata protocol, do 20 seconds of sumo squats (about 1 per sec) then take a 10 second rest and repeat 7 times. Only takes 4 minutes, and you will be glad when you are done! Then we did 5 repeats of 20 walking lunges followed by 10 pushups. The whole shebang was about 15 minutes, and I did a quick 30 seconds on the jump rope afterwards. The heart was really going. Much better than trying to run a couple of hills with 20 below wind chills happening outside! There's a YouTube video of regular squats using the Tabata protocol. They go much faster than we did! Yikes!

Today, my mission is to envision all of my friends and family feeling well and happy and enjoying the flood of resources that they want just pouring in on them. I will see each of them and send some great energy out to them. I will look forward to hearing from them soon, about how well things are going for them! And as always, I will enjoy being happy and healthy and enjoying the flood of resources coming at me all the time. Ain't life great?

It is below zero out there, calm though, and supposedly we are in for a warm up. I know it is early March still, and this kind of thing is to be expected, but I am really looking forward to the end of winter! Have a great day. Look for what is fun and have some.

Indoor workout day

I survived two 1/2 miles walks in the cold blasting wind and snow last night - I trekked to a friend's house to watch Biggest Loser, and didn't want to get my clean car dirty or cold - ha ha ha. I am pretty sure we decided that this is the last season for us to watch BL, unless they change the format to 1 hour, or at least get rid of Jillian. Anyway...to look outside now and see the crystal clear skies (with 20+ below zero wind chills), the 'blizzard' I was walking in seems far away. But I was quite comfortable in my many layers and an extra wrap around my head so just my eyes were exposed...I was laughing in my all black outfit thinking, what a clunky ninja I make! hee hee.

So, today is the day this week for running hills with my pal, but we have decided on an indoor workout. Some rope jumping, and walking lunges, and pushups in a circuit for 15 minutes or so should do the trick...all on about a 16 hour fast. I will really get that growth hormone pumped, and burn up those tricky little fat cells. It will be great. Then the reward, a nice cup of coffee - mmmmmmmm. Life is good.

What else can I do for fun today? I am sure I will think of something! Finish my library book (Choice Theory by William Glasser - good one!) and maybe start my taxes? Hmmm. We'll see.

It feels so good to be healthy and fit and have plenty of resources pouring in all the time. Ain't it great? What's great at your house/office/whatever today?

Long Weekend...

So, now the college tour with my youngest has been accomplished. Didn't have any of those almost expected tugging feelings about the looming empty nest - actually kind of looking forward to it. What it did make me think about was how different things were 38 years ago when I was looking forward to going to college, and doing my one and only college tour. Seems like a million years ago!

We are awaiting what I hope is the last winter storm of the season, and what I am actually hoping is a mis-forecast deal, where it actually passes us by for the most part. That happens a lot so, no reason why it shouldn't happen today. I am looking forward to the open day at home - getting back to usual. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to travel and do other stuff, but it seems I am happiest when I have lots of open time here at home.

Bought a sketch book this weekend in the college bookstore. It's been quite awhile since I spent much time sketching - it will be fun see what comes from this activity. I have really good hand-eye coordination and can copy things pretty accurately. I look forward to developing my creativity more than just making reasonable facsimiles of things. I will probably start out with the latter, however, and dust off my skills. I have a book to finish today or tomorrow as well. Nice to know I have the time.

It's also nice to get back from a little traveling, where the eating is not so much in my control, and I feel thinner, if anything, when I return! YES! That is a lovely feeling!

I appreciate it all. I have this urge to stimulate the economy - but the weather outside says, "not today, kiddo!" At least not unless it's online. Nice to know that is available!

So what will you do for fun today?

It's All Good

I follow quite a few low-carb and health related blogs and am finding a pattern of frustration amongst the writers and commenters that mainstream "health care" professionals just aren't getting it, even with the preponderance of the real evidence. So what? I say, if you know what's right for you, and you get that message out there, and everyone does that, eventually, there will be enough good news, health-wise, out there and folks can make their own decisions. I understand those in the health professions who are going against the grain being frustrated, but frustration doesn't do anyone any good. I say, don't give those others any bad press - don't they say any publicity is good publicity? So just keep on with your good messages and forget talking down anyone else. I bet they will eventually just go away anyway. How's that for countercultural?

I know for me, that low carb is the way to go, and I know that when more people forget what they read about it, good or bad, and do it for a few weeks to give it a real shot, they will feel better and better all the time. It's not up to me to shove it down anyone's throat! It's up to me to be a good example of excellent health and body composition, so when anyone asks, I can tell them why.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't want these bloggers to stop! Just keep it up with the good stuff!

It's gonna be 45 today!! Yahoo!!! (Can you say yahoo anymore without paying a commission to somebody? I sure hope so.

Do something fun!

What's good today?

Here's a question to ask yourself whenever you have a second..."What's good today?" or even, "what's good right now?" It's always a good idea to focus on what is good and appreciate it. Even little things, 'unimportant' things, really anything. What's good right now? The sun is shining, the weather man says high 30s today, my iced coffee was delicious this morning, and my daughter was in a pretty good mood. I feel great, my girlfriend is coming over in an hour for an outdoor hill workout and my kitchen wall looks great where I washed it last night. My sudoku puzzles were reasonable today and my day is pretty open. Lots of good stuff!

So start off your list - and see how many good things you can get onto it by this evening!
:-)

Over slept...

The very best way for me to deal with oversleeping is to appreciate the heck out of the fact that as long as I get my daughter up in time to get herself to school, there are no bad consequences, so I enjoy my extra sleep! It's amazing how fast the morning goes when you sleep through so much of it. Ain't it great!?!

I am working this week on feeling as good as I can as much as I can. I am picturing some really fun things, so the gray snowy outdoors doesn't enter into my thoughts much. I had a lovely soak in the hot tub last night as all the solar lights pulsed their beautiful colors under a smiling quarter moon. When I was getting into the house I saw that there were tons of stars out there too. Orion's belt was right there, even with that quarter moon shining so brightly. I can't see the stars while I am in the hot tub, in the green house - too much steam - but in the spring when we liberate the hot tub from its shelter, the stars will be mine again! Hooray!

I am doing a 24 hour fast now - from 5:50 pm yesterday til at least 5:50 pm this afternoon. Even longer if it's easy. I go 18 hours or so a lot, but it has been awhile since I did 24 hrs. It'll be great, and I will feel fantastic at the end! I am picturing myself at 5:45, getting dinner ready and trying to decide if I should try to go til morning, or to go ahead and eat dinner. Such a quandary, eh? Nice to have the choice. I appreciate that a TON! I am feeling so slim these days, that I will likely eat, but we'll see what the body tells me to do. You do listen to your body, right? You should, it is SO SMART!!

Have a wonderful day...
Oh, and why am I fasting for 24 hours? Google Eat Stop Eat to see why. :-)

Better and better

So we took a "Carribean Field Trip" on Saturday to a favorite Carribean restaurant (San Pedro Cafe in Hudson, WI - our very favorite) and had a wonderful perfect satisfying lunch, with enough leftover to have it again on Sunday. MMMMM! And as we perused the board with the dessert menu, my husband hatched at new field trip for the future, the "Dessert Safari." There are 6 terrific desserts on this menu - not a clunker among them. We shared the best one on Saturday, the flourless chili chocolate cake (respectful pause), but he thought - wouldn't it be great to come out here sometime with 6 people, and order one of each dessert and share them all! Wouldn't that be great indeed! I was tempted to buy one of each right then and there and bring them home and then call folks to join us, but we decided a little anticipation would be a good thing. Doesn't that sound like fun! I will let you know when we do our "Dessert Safari" and I will likely schedule and intense workout for about an hour before it! That way, all that sugar will go straight to my muscles!

It is another gorgeous sunny day, a little on the cool side at the moment (-8 wind chill) but is supposed to get up into the 40s this week. :-) I am really looking forward to that!

What have you done for fun today? What can you do for fun this week! It is good to feel good!