Journey to a New Life. . . take 2

On January 3 of this year, I posted about a beginning a journey to a new life.  Things haven't changed much, and this morning, I went back and reread this post.  I had such high hopes.  But the motivation doesn't seem to have followed.  This past week, my life has revolved around food . . . not eating it, just looking at the GI Diet book, looking at recipes, and making shopping list after shopping list of what I needed to buy.  I've had a headache for about a week now, and I truly believe it's from stress.  I'm one of those people who stresses about everything - and if there isn't anything to stress about, I stress about that.  Saturday, I was so down, and cried every time I turned around.  I was feeling like I was giving up so much and Rod (who eats anything and doesn't gain much weight) was giving up nothing.  (Why I felt that he should give up things when I'm the one with the problem, I can't explain). All the diets I've looked at say you should clean all the food you can't eat out of your kitchen.  I don't have it in me to throw out good  food, and just can't toss it.  Before we went to bed Saturday night, Rod asked why I had to give up anything, and commented that there has to be a better solution than a DIET!!  Richard Simmons used to say that you should never use the word DIET because the word DIE is in it.  He suggested that you go on a LIVE-it.  I didn't sleep much Saturday night, couldn't turn off my brain.  Yet Sunday morning, I felt refreshed - like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders.

Sunday morning was grocery day.  I have decided to make some changes, changes I can live with.  He bought a lite, multi-grain bread with only 35 calories per slice.  And it taste's great.  He bought tiny red potatoes which I will boil.  These little buggers have less starch that big baking potatoes.  But the biggest change that I've decided to make is to move more and to begin to journal.  Daughter Mary suggested the journal - not necessarily a food journal, but a daily life journal.  I can document what I ate and how it made me feel.  I can include my numbers, but I can also make it a gratitude journal and a journal of what makes me happy.

Do you journal?  If so, what types of things do you put into your journal?

I'm Still Here. . .

Yep, I'm still here.  Although the clock says it's supposed to be daylight, we switched to Daylight Savings Time, and it's just now starting to get light.  And my body thinks I should still be hibernating - it's hard to wake up before 7:20.  I'll have to work on that.

I've been working on blocks for Saddle Up quilts.  I have the Steeler quilt cut, and the strips are pieced.  And I have started to put the rows together.  But it's not done.  I have a teddy bear on a John Deere pedal tractor that I started for Jake and pitched across the room because I didn't like the way the quilting looked.  I dug it out, and the quilting doesn't look that bad.  So, I have to finish the quilting and do the binding.  But it's not done.  I have the panels and the sashing fabrics for a Queen of the Ranch quilt.   But it's not done.  And I have 7 blocks for a western sampler quilt finished with only 5 more to go.  But it's not done.  Are you noticing a pattern here??  But since the Saddle Up isn't until May, I have plenty of time.

And speaking of the Saddle Up, meet my newest grand-horsey.  Daughter Pam's mare, Winter, gave birth to this little guy Sunday night at about 9:00.  Pam walked into the barn to check on her just after he arrived.  Mom hadn't broken the cord yet.  Pam stood quietly by, and before Mom had finished cleaning him off, he was on his feet and looking for the milk source.  Hard to believe he's a male, he had trouble finding it.  LOL.  She thinks they might name him Warrior, since he was such a strong little guy.  Right now he looks like he's all legs, but he will fill out quickly.  Both Mom and Dad are Appaloosas, so the dude should get his spots as he grows.

I'm off to sew.

Happy Birthday Kristin

Today is my daughter, Kristin's birthday.  I call her my "middle" daughter.  Mary is older and the twins are younger, which makes her the middle.  Kristin is quite a remarkable woman.  From the time she was in 4th grade, she wanted to be a veterinarian.  And she worked tirelessly to that end.  She graduated valedictorian of her high school class.  She graduated from college summa cum laude, and was accepted to veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania with her first application.  And she graduated from Penn magna cum laude.

I hated it when she went away to vet school.  All my girls had commuted to college while they lived at home.  And leaving her in Philadelphia, which was on the other side of the state, was very traumatic for me.  Had she just said, "Mom, I can't do this.  Please take me home." I would not have hesitated.  And although she didn't want to stay, she never let on.

She has been my sidekick at craft shows in the past.  We have sat together in the living room and talked for hours.  We talked on the phone every day when she was in Philadelphia.  And still, we talk nearly every day.  I love watching her children, it means I also get to see her nearly every day.  And she fell in love with a man who is everything she never wanted.  And it works for them.  They have a love that most people only hope for and dream of.  And when they married, she got a ready made family.  It wasn't easy, but Kris has made it work.  This photo is of George, Kris, Izzy and two of her four step kids.  And now she also has Jake.  I marvel at how she balances everything.  She works tons of hours each week.  Both Izzy and Jake are in swimming classes.  She works out on a regular basis.  And with George's help, she maintains a wonderful home for her family.  I admire her so.  Happy Birthday, Kris.  I love you so.

I've always felt that my kids were the greatest things that I had done in my life.  Who needs riches and jewels when you have the great kids that I have.

March Snow

Here I am again with my daily weekly  whenever post.  I wish I could say that I've been really busy in the sewing room, but that would be an untruth.
This photo was taken out of the living room window this morning - just about 10 minutes ago.  It's March 5, for Pete's sake.  We aren't supposed to get all this snow, especially when it's going into the upper fifties on Wednesday.  I'm one of the lucky ones that get to sit inside and watch it snow out of the window.  Those who did have to go to work this morning say the roads were horrendous.  I always like to have the bird feeder in the snow photos because you can see how much snow we've gotten by looking at the height of the "hat" the feeder is sporting.  I admit it's beautiful, but I must confess that I'm more than ready for spring.  I need to hear the birds sing, I need to see the flowers bloom, and I need to sit on my deck and watch the fish in the pond.  The only good thing about now is that in less than 3 weeks we can make our dining reservations for our September Disney trip.  And last week, we got free dining.

I feel like my whole life these days revolves around food.  It seems that it's all I think about, internet surf about, cry about, laugh about, and, oh yes, cuss about.  My numbers are still fairly high, and I'm about at my wit's end.  Making my breakfasts and lunches ahead was a great idea.  However, there was no switching it up and I found that I quickly tired of egg cups and pasta salads.  So again this weekend, I thought and thought until my thinker was sore (to loosely quote Dr. Seuss) about what to do next.  Breakfasts will alternate between oatmeal, Special K, and poached eggs on either toast or an English muffin half.  Lunches will be varied garden salads, lean ham and cheese sandwiches, and my favorite peanut butter and diet jelly on Arnold's sandwich thins.  Mary made me some homemade salsa over the weekend, and I can use it for snacks, along with some diet jello that I made on Sunday and put into single serving cups.

Tomorrow is Kristin's day off, and I don't have the kids; so I'm hoping to renew my friendship with the sewing room.  I'm sure it's feeling neglected.