I’m an addict.  I’ve never really thought that I was.  Here’s why…there are so many addictive behaviors that I’ve “NEVER” exhibited.  Isn’t it crazy how we only see the things that we want to see…and blinded to other things.  I’ve never driven through multiple restaurants looking for food.  But I have driven through looking for comfort/stress-relief through a jamocha shake.  I’ve never had week long binges stuffing myself.  But I have looked specifically to food to celebrate.   The fact is…I’m an addict.  My addiction has kept me overweight my entire life.   Not to minimize other addictions; however, there are times when I wish that I could just quit – cold turkey so to speak.  Unfortunately, I have to eat.   

This is a powerful dance from this season’s So You Think You Can Dance.  It makes me cry…because I feel like this is the fight that is going on inside me.  Like Kayla, I just can’t quite break free.   Since I absolutely cannot simply “quit” food…somehow…I have to learn how to dance with my addiction without being controlled by it. 

Hope your week is a beautiful dance…blessings my friends. 

Life.  Life has been crazy.  Life has been good.  Here’s a quick recap of what’s been happening with me over the last couple of months. 

Midway Games / Prizes

 

 

In the middle of June, we had a big VBS at church that my Mom was organizing.  It is amazing how much time it takes to do something well.    Our theme…Under the Big Top!  It was fun and the kids loved it. 

 

 

Jen and Grand-angel #1

 

We made a trip out to TX for Ron’s family’s 4th of July bash.  We hadn’t been out since we moved to GA (6 yrs ago).  It was fun and we were able to spend some more time with our precious grand-angel. 

Our business took on an incredible project that had an extreme amount of work crammed into a 4 week period.  We worked 6-7 days a week approx 12 hrs a day.  Whew…exhausting.  We beat our deadline of 7/27.  

 

Papaw with both grandbaby girls.

 

Our 2nd grand-angel was born on Thursday, July 7/23.  Ron flew back out to TX to be there for the birth.  I’m glad he was able to go — but I was pouting because I had to stay here and keep the business going to meet our big deadline. 

So…our business is still busy but back to a more normal pace.  Perhaps now I will be able to focus more on my healthy pursuits.  When you are working the kinds of hours we have been working, fast food becomes the most convenient, easy, and fast way to feed yourself.  It’s tough when you aren’t spending time shopping or cooking to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  I guess it just goes to prove that I haven’t made it a priority. 

Oh yeah…one more thing to complicate my life lately…I battled bronchitis/pneumonia for approx 6 weeks.  It’s a real bummer when you can’t breathe.   Energy levels low and trying to push through all that work.  Whew — couldn’t have done it without the support of some great people.  We are blessed.  Incredibly blessed. 

So…there you have it.   A quick look at the last 2 months.  I think that my weight is up about 10 lbs.  Now…I need to focus on getting back on track towards a healthier lifestyle that won’t be blown the first time life doesn’t go the way I expect/want it to go. 

Blessings to you my friends.

Ok…so I haven’t fallen off of the face of the earth.  But God has blessed us with tons of work.  Staying soooo busy.  I don’t know when I’ll be back on any kind of normal routine.  Hope everyone is doing well…keep on keeping on.  Blessings my friends.

Just one more day with my sweet grandbaby.  She is so precious and and loving.  I just wish that we all lived closer so that we could have her often for shorter visits.   Tomorrow, we are taking the day off from work to spend our last day playing.    It is going to be fun. 

On a different note, we are continuing to get more work.  It is exciting but a little scary too.  We are going to be staying extremely busy.  The challenge will just be making time to work out.  It will be better for me and I will have more energy to finish all the work if I’m taking care of myself.

Anyway…that’s it for tonight.  Blessings to you my friends.

Mamaw's Girl!

 

 

So…I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth.  I’ve just been very busy.  God has blessed us with tons of work recently.  Plus our precious, adorable, beautiful, awesome, grandbaby is keeping us running.  My energy level is in the tank and lots of stress from trying to meet deadlines AND keep our sweet girl entertained.  Anyway, I’ll be back at it in after Memorial Day.  Thanks to everyone for checking in.  Hope everyone is doing well.  Blessings…Jen aka Mamaw. 

I’m not doing anything on the health front.  I’ve not been diligent about counting/logging calories.  Excuse…we’re so busy with work…and I’m just not prioritizing my health.  We all have distractions and challenges.  I haven’t officially weighed in this week; however, I’m pretty sure that I’m just holding steady — I’ve been sneaking peeks at the bathroom scale.  I’m at about the point where I stopped losing last time around.  Here’s the thing though.  I’m not going to give in.  I’m discouraged because I’ve messed around and pretty much wasted 2 months when I could have posted some positive results. 

It’s interesting that I’ve held pretty much steady within 3-4 lbs for the last 2 months and yet people are suddingly noticing.  I think it has been the clothes.  Lighter, better fitting clothes give the illusion that I’m continuing to lose.   I bought a few things before the cruise (when I was pretty much at this same weight) and now it is warm enough to start wearing them here.  It’s very nice to hear that I’m “looking great” but I know the truth.  I’m not doing anything. 

This is a bit of a down in the dumps sort of post…but it is my reality right now.  I’m not throwing everything to the wind though.  That’s the difference this time.   Disappointed…but not in the “depths of despair.” (Any Anne of Green Gables fans out there?) 

Still smiling and still looking forward to reaching those goals.  The timeframes just keep moving.  Blessings to you my friends.

So…Ron and I are on the road this week…working.  Sigh.  Unfortunately, we are spending LOTS of hours in the car and eating crap.  Occasionally, eating less than great stuff isn’t so bad occasionally.  But I really don’t need it this week.  My Wednesday weigh in was a nightmare.  I’m up.  Care to guess how much?  Before you guess…you should also know it’s “girl time” of the month.  YUCK!  I hate girl stuff.  So yeah…I’m up.  3.5 pounds.  Grrrrrrr…hate it when I cancel out 3 weeks of movement in the right direction by one bad week.  Well…we’ll be back home tomorrow.  Saturday, there’s a luncheon at church…but then I should be back to being able to count my calories.  I MUST make time for exercise.  It MUST be a priority.  Sigh. 

Hope everyone is doing well.  Keep on keeping on.  Blessings…I’m still counting them…even with a crappy weigh-in.

I started this blog on Thursday.  I was feeling like I needed to take a few minutes to pause in my frantic schedule and take some time to count my blessings.  Well…guess what…something came up and all I got written was the title.   

We really didn’t know what this year was going to bring for our company.  But God continues to bless us so tremendously.  So even though I got too busy to finish my thoughts and “count my blessings” on Thursday morning — later God rained down even more.  We received word that our major client is in the process of issuing a really large purchase order to our company.  Incredible.   He just keeps on blessing.

So…I’m staying extremely busy trying to meet deadlines for work we were given recently and trying to get as many loose ends wrapped up so that we’ll be ready when that big purchase order is issued.  Whew…right now I’m working about 12 hrs a day — well I didn’t yesterday.  I worked some — but not too much.   

The bad news is that I’m not getting any workouts in.  I’ve just simply been exhausted.  Not expecting good things out of the scale tomorrow…but it’s just one little step in the journey. 

Easter 2008

Here’s another blessing…we are going to have our grandbaby with us for a couple of weeks beginning around May 8th.  Woohooo…she’s a cutie.  She is close to 18 months and I hear that she is “helping” with everything right now.  I’ll need a few days to baby proof our house.  We have too many interesting things within reach currently.  I’ve inserted a couple of pictures…one from last year when she and her mom were visiting and one from a couple of weeks ago while visiting her other grandparents. 

Easter 2009

 

 

 

 

 

My mom has been hitting the garage sales lately looking for a few toys to have here for her to play with.  Should be fun.  I was REALLY hoping that the pool would be warm enough to play with her in there too.  We’ll see.  I’m not sure what the temp is currently.  We can’t find our thermometer.  Anyway, I wanted to share a couple of pictures so you could see how adorable she is.    Proud grandma.

Just a quick update…I’m down 2 this week.  The next few days are going to be crazy.  I’ve got lots of work to do – plus I’m currently making homemade spaghetti sauce for Wednesday Night Dinner at church.   Anyway…still moving in the right direction…but dismal on the exercise front.

Is that a waist?

Here’s a fun, short little story for your Sunday enjoyment.  I got a couple of nice comments today at church.  People are starting to notice the weight loss more now that I’ve lost a little over 25 lbs.  I was wearing a red jacket and it fit well.  25 lbs ago it was a bit stretched in areas that it shouldn’t.  Today, it hung nicely.  Anyway…I was having a conversation after church with a very sweet and good friend.  She asked if I had on a new outfit.  “No…but it fits better.” was my reply.  She said, “Well, you look great.  You have a waist!”  LOL!!!  The mortification on her face was classic!  She stumbled around for a couple of seconds saying something like “You can really see your waist…you know what I mean…It fits really nice.”  I quickly reassured her laughing and saying, “Thanks, I’m really glad you can see the difference!!  You should see me without the jacket.”  LOL  It was fun.   By the way, this picture was taken after I had already changed out of my black pants – which by the way are too loose now too. 

 

Where's my thumb?

I probably wore that jacket for the last time today.  It is on the verge of being too BIG — actually I guess it already is.  Plus with warmer weather coming, the micro-suede jacket isn’t exactly the right thing to wear.  Today it was a bit rainy and cool — so I got one last wear out of it.  Have you ever noticed that when things start hanging better that the sleeves get longer and the pants legs get longer?  When you don’t have as much flesh holding things OUT, things hang longer.    Ron took this picture but the camera auto-focused on the plant behind me.  Funny.  But you get the idea.  Anyway, I’m looking forward to finding “new” old stuff in my closet to wear and then LOSE out of!!!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend and a restful Lord’s day!    Blessings my friends.