We’re having nice weather here in Arkansas today. I’m planning to spend some time in the yard again today, pulling out spent plants, trimming, pruning, etc. I’m concentrating on not overdoing it, since the people on TV keep insisting on calling me ‘the elderly’ when they’re talking about Covid and vaccinations. GRRRR!
I would like to remind them –
So we will run an errand or two and then I’ll spend several sessions in the yard today – resting in-between – and see how much good I can do out there. :0)
Have a wonderful day!
With all the pain and suffering going on in our world today, I’m conscious of trying to stay emotionally afloat. I thought you might be having some trouble from time to time, too, and thought it might be good for us to share ways that we try to cope. These are some of the things that help me – in no particular order. I hope you’ll share what helps YOU.
Filed under Attitude, Beautiful Boxes, Challenges, coping mechanisms, Encouragement
Most of the time I don’t think about “age.” Happily, I feel good enough to do most of the things I want to do, and I’m trying to move and exercise daily so that I continue that.
My world is expanding. I love to learn new things. YouTube is a wonderful resource for that. I’m also discovering other sites like this, and I feel a whole new world is waiting. We heard about Rumble and Substack, and our son told us about Bitchute and Odysee. I’ve bookmarked them, but haven’t made time yet to explore and decide what I think.
Art techniques demonstrated on YouTube make my mouth water. I saw one a couple of days ago called, “Dutch Pour,” a delicious injection technique a lady used to create a fabulous design with acrylic paint.
I feel old when –
I’ll declare victory each morning I wake up!
Filed under Attitude, DIET!, Encouragement
When I’m feeling down, something I see brings me right out of it. I’ve told you that I think attitude is all. Here is an example –
Filed under Attitude, Awe-Inspiring Photography
I believe, more than ever, attitude is all.
You can choose to be mired down, despairing over the state of the world, Covid and its aftermath, personal problems, etc., or you can CHOOSE to concentrate on what is inspiring, hopeful, and uplifting. You can live in fear or you can CHOOSE to slug on, doing the best you can at any given time, and deal with what happens.
This doesn’t mean you live with your head in the sand, ignoring the important things happening around you. It means you work to change what you can and handle what you can’t change in the best way you can.
I choose to concentrate on what is RIGHT in the world – what is BEAUTIFUL – what is hopeful, and what fills my heart.
Filed under Attitude
I FINALLY got back to the 30-pounds-off-since-my-heaviest mark this morning! HOORAY!! Thanks again to Maria, who suggested in her blog – FlowingWatersArt.wordpress.com that big goals should be broken down into more doable chunks. I haven’t met my “doable chunk” goals for the three weeks I’ve been trying, but my motivation is high, and that’s the more important thing right now.
I’m building good habits – watching my portions, eating healthy snacks, drinking THREE to FOUR 17.9 oz bottles of water each day (my eyeballs are floating as I run to the bathroom), exercising, etc.
I’m doing yoga stretches and abdominal exercises every day.
This week I started exercising with 5-pound weights- Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I do a pretty short session – enough so my arms are definitely feeling it, but I’m not incapacitated on doing my normal activities. Monday and Wednesday I did two short sessions with the weights during the day plus my yoga.
Yesterday I found a 3-minute video on the net. The lady was using 3-pound weights, so I switched to those and exercised along with her. She was doing different things than I was doing with the 5-pound weights. My arms felt pretty ‘used’ when I finished, but this is a good addition to what I’ve started to do. I plan to do a session with the 5-pound weights and another with the 3-pound weights with the nice lady MWF next week.
I feel good that I’m taking one day at a time, making short-term goals that seem more achievable, am moving and exercising more.
Short term goals are –
Filed under Attitude, Cause for Celebration, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise
I gained 1.5 lbs after eating the delicious Hashbrown Bowl with Sausage, Egg, and Cheese at the new Waffle House in Greenwood. Lesson: NEXT time order ONE bowl and TWO plates, and give most of the hashbrowns to my husband.
That said, it’s the first of July (basically) so I decided to measure and see where I am on my efforts to lose the lard.
From my heaviest, I am down a bit over 27 pounds and 26.2 inches. I am on DAY 7 of my new regimen of doing a session of yoga daily, drinking a bottle of water, and eating a snack (if I need one) of raw veggies and a bit of dip.
PLANS-
Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Attitude, DIET!, exercise
This was a classic book when I was a child. It’s all about striving – trying to reach a goal. The little engine kept striving, all the while saying, “I THINK I can, I THINK I can…” finally reaching the top of the hill due to never giving up and his fierce determination.
I’m ‘thinking I can’ now, on DAY 5 of my new regimen of eating right, raw veggies and a bit of dip for an afternoon snack, a bottle of water, and yoga each afternoon in an effort to lose my lard. I lost a bit yesterday, so that’s encouraging.
I also FEEL a bit better due to the yoga. Some of the positions are getting a bit easier. I’m able to slowly stretch a bit more. Some things will take some time. WHEN I make it to Monday of next week – with my daily yoga practice – I’m planning to add some work with dumbbells to my yoga practice Mon, Wed, and Fri.
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, empowerment, Encouragement, exercise
Today is DAY 4 of my new motivation to lose my lard and increase my flexibility and stamina.
I’m feeling good about things, even though I didn’t shed any weight yesterday. I will ‘keep on keepin’ on,’ one day at a time, looking at each one as a day to maybe lose a bit and work on getting stronger.
I’m doing my yoga-snack-water thing each afternoon. I have some sore stomach muscles in particular, a sign that my body recognizes a change. That’s GOOD. I’m finding it easier to get out of my chair, get my yoga mat and get started. Once I finish, I get my husband his bagel with cream cheese, chives, and onion, and I get MY snack of some raw veggies and a bit of dip, plus a bottle of water.
My husband, of course, isn’t even trying to lose weight at this point, or exercise, but is ahead of me on weight loss. I’m trying to be adult enough to realize that each person is different, that men seem to lose weight more easily than woman, and hitting him in the mouth won’t solve my problems. :0)
I have my desk calendar set up to get my stars for doing what I should today, and it makes me smile when I earn them.
I am feeling more in control of my habits and I’m pleased I’m doing some good things for my health.
Filed under Attitude, DIET!, exercise, getting the lard off, taking care of yourself
We’re all still going through a very stressful time. It’s hard to try to get to whatever the ‘new normal’ is without at least a twinge or two about risk.
I’ve chosen to read as much as I can about what is going on in the world around me – reading as many different sources as I can find – decide what I want to do, and just do it.
Life is too short to live in fear of everything. I’m going to die of ‘something’ at whatever time I do. I can only take whatever precautions I think are reasonable and get on with it. I don’t want to miss the rest of my life because of fear.
Filed under Attitude, Challenges, Changes, Encouragement
I lost half a pound yesterday. Hooray?
My husband, who paid no attention whatsoever to what he ate – including a bagel slathered with French Onion and Chives Cream Cheese – lost a full pound. Arrgh!
My trying to lose the lard is sometimes like trying to swim though peanut butter – excruciatingly slow and a LOT of work.
I was really good yesterday, eating only HALF of the chicken ‘thingers’ is ordered at Lunch Bunch. I brought the other half home for another meal. I drank lots of water, kept moving a lot of the day, ate some raw veggies with a small amount of dip as a snack to tide me over until dinner.
The end result is .2 lb down. hooray. It’s definitely better than when the scale shows I’m hanging onto weight or even gaining, but no confetti is being tossed.
I’m going to just keep on keepin’ on, keeping all appendages crossed.
Today is a pretty day, though the humidity is still high. Thanks to a neighbor’s super-kind compliments about our mailbox decorations, we will change our decoration when we leave to go to Lunch Bunch. This is what we’ll put up –
We will enjoy catching up with our long time friends as we have every Friday for over 17 years now. It’s impossible to explain how close we feel, having shared highs and lows, laughs and tears all this time. The number of people at lunch changes from time to time, depending on who is being visited, which other friends took time to be with us, but the core remains the same – Kay, Linda, and me, plus my husband who was ‘graciously’ taken in as an honorary member of Lunch Bunch. Kay’s husband also joins us from time to time when he isn’t working. He is in high demand because he can run many huge machines like an artist – a vanishing skill.
When we come home, I’m planning to get out and weed whack the yard. My husband got the recalcitrant riding mower running and got the main part of the yard done. I need to do the parts he can’t get with the mower, of which there are many, followed by leaf blowing to clean things up, and then spraying with KillzAll weed killer to discourage new growth. I don’t know how long I’ll last in the heat, but it’s good knowing I can come in, jump into the shower, dress in clean clothes, and maybe even have a nap this afternoon.
Tomorrow is the official start of “Lewis Refurb 2021” where I wash, scrape and thoroughly clean one of our yard metal critters, then repair or replace parts, repaint, and finally spray with polyurethane for protection so it can go back outside. The sun and rain and temperature ranges are very hard on them. I’ll do the best I can to give them some more years as members of the Lewis family. I’ll start with our “Box Turtle.” –
This is what he used to look like. I’ll take a picture when I get started so you can see what Mother Nature does to our ‘creations.’ The poor thing is NOT a happy camper right now.
The other thing I’m hoping for this weekend is that my husband will be in the mood to cook out. I have some kielbasa and some lovely veggies that would make a delicious meal. I’m hoping we can have a late dinner, sit and talk on the deck, with our rope LED lights on, making things festive, while we enjoy the evening and our animals.
I hope that you’re having a nice day today and that you’re looking forward to an enjoyable weekend.
The weather forecast says, “Check on the elderly.” I have no problem with this idea, except they are talking about ME!
I choose to age with sass.
Here are some quotes I love about aging –
Wisdom is the reward for surviving our own stupidity.” — Brian Rathbone
“I’ve enjoyed every age I’ve been and each has had its own individual merit. Every laugh line, every scar, is a badge I wear to show I’ve been present, the inner rings of my personal tree trunk that I display proudly for all to see. Nowadays, I don’t want a “perfect” face and body; I want to wear the life I’ve lived.” — Pat Benatar
It is lovely to meet an old person whose face is deeply lined, a face that has been deeply inhabited, to look in the eyes and find light there.” — John O-Donohue
There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.~ Sophia Loren
“As long as I am breathing, in my eyes, I am just beginning.” — Criss Jami
“When I grow up I want to be an old woman.” — Michelle Shocked
Filed under aging, Attitude, Favorite Quotes
We stopped the orgy of strawberries and ice cream, but wanted to celebrate our 52nd anniversary by sharing a seafood platter at one of our favorite local restaurants, The Dari, last night. Today I’m up a pound. UGH.
I can TELL myself that I’ll only celebrate a 52nd wedding anniversary once, but THEN I find myself celebrating the end of Daylight Savings Time, and Belly Laugh Day and, and……
Weight loss comes from your mind. Your conscious decision to control what goes into your mouth EACH time, EVERY time. That doesn’t mean I’ve decided not to celebrate important milestones anymore, but it DOES mean I’m going to TRY not to use holidays and special occasions as an excuse to start another binge.
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