Exercise Taking a Back Seat

It seems like lately my exercise has been taking a back seat. Last week I think I made it two to three times, and this week I made it to FF on Monday and today. Boy, this is a far cry from how I began at the first of the year. I know I was almost obsessive when I began, but I think that is the way you pretty much have to be in order to stay consistent. I got off work early today, and I wanted to go and swim, but I just kept thinking of all the Thanksgiving cooking that I needed to get started on. I was looking up some of these dishes that I made on the internet to determine the nutrition information. Oh my gosh.... if I had a serving of everything that we are preparing, then I would end up eating probably about 100 fat grams. And that is before even getting to the desserts. I am going to enjoy the food tomorrow, but I am also going to have a small serving of each dish. I do not want to have to work so hard to get it all off. My gym will be closed until Monday. I just am going to have to make myself either go for a walk, a bike ride, or do an exercise video. Four days is too long to go without physical activity. I am ready to get my exercise routine out of the back seat and back where it belongs- in the driver's seat!!

All of you have a great Thanksgiving and ponder on all the blessings you have to be thankful for.

Camp Street Cafe and Store

Gosh, it seems like recently I have been blessed to have the opportunity to listen to some good music. Last week it was Chicago. And then last night I went with a friend to Crockett, Texas to the Camp Street Cafe and Store and heard the Lost Bayou Ramblers. This is cajun music, also known as zydeco. I have heard this kind of music in movies, but I have not heard it in person. The setting is an old building in the small town of Crockett. It has an old country store sort of feeling. There is no dancing nor smoking. You are welcome to bring in your beer or wine, or you can purchase soft drinks or water. The only food sold is homemade cookies, candy bars, and popcorn. Of course you are not there long. The show was from 8:00 until 10:00.

The Lost Bayou Ramblers are a youthful group of musicians. There were four energetic guys with one singing and playing the fiddle, another playing the accordian or the lap steel, another the drums, and another the upright bass. It was a fun time listening to this cajun music. There were people of all ages- older, middle age, and children.

If you are near Crockett which is located in deep east Texas about 90 miles from College Station, check them out. They have entertainment every Saturday night, and then also some other nights of the week. We had a fun evening, and I hope to go again.

Death

Okay... I know the title of this post is not one that sounds good. But oh how indiscriminating. I have been away from my computer for about 22 hours. I spent the night last night at our hunting camp, and I arrived home and of course needed to check my email. I had several emails in my two email accounts. But out of all of the correspondence emails from friends and the many forwards, three were telling me of the death of someone. Now I did know about the condition of all of these people. One was an elderly woman who has cancer all over her body that was just found out last week; one was a middle-age woman with a brain tumor that was removed on Monday after finding out she had it the previous Wednesday; and one was a 28 year old young woman who was battling cancer. My heart goes out to each of these families. But.... all of these families say that their loved ones had a personal relationship with Jesus. Yes, there is much grief. But the Bible tells us that we are not like the world without hope. They have faith that their loved one was welcomed into Heaven by the Lord Himself. And... we know if we are right with God that we will see them again. Death comes unexpectedly. Cancer, heart attack, stroke, aneurysm, car wreck, drowning, electrocution, murder... I know someone who lost their life in each of these ways. We don't know the way or the time of our death, but we can know where we will be in that very moment that death occurs. What a great feeling to know to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. What about you? Do you have this eternal assurance?

Cell Phone vs. Bible

I was emailed this and thought it was pretty good. Think about this email when you pick up your cell phone. Try to do this all week long and see if it changes you any.

Cell phone vs. Bible

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat
our cell phone?
What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several times a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?
This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing.
Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities?
And no dropped calls! '

Trust in the Lord and ASAP (Always Say A Prayer)
Even though you can't see Him, GOD is there for you.

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What A Weekend

I am still reeling from the weekend. It was just a fantastic weekend. My daughter and I spent all day on Saturday together. We shopped for her baby bedding. "It" is due the end of February. She and her dh have decided to be surprised and not find out the sex of the baby. So... you remember those days... you don't do pink or blue, but instead do green. Actually the bedding has all different colors in it. We had a great day of shopping and we went to lunch together. And I must say that I was quite honored that she included me to be with her and her friend. I was asked if she enjoyed Chicago, and my response was that I thought she enjoyed watching me watch Chicago more than her watchingand listening to Chicago. I just had such a great time! I am still so thankful to my daughter, her friend, and the business contact her friend had. I did not mention the fantastic auction that preceded Chicago. They had some great items up for auction, and they all did well for this benefit.

So my exercise included FF on Friday, and nothing on Saturday or Sunday. On Monday, I did not make it to FF because I had an appointment. I did nothing yesterday, and today I did make it to my class. Whoa... it looks like I am slacking off. I gotta get back doing at least 5 days a week. My foot is continuing to bother me. And to top it off, my insurance did not pay well, and I owe the doctor a couple of hundred, and still have pain!!! I would not feel so bad about being out of money if I was healed. I had one injection, and as far as I am concerned, I think that is only a temporary fix. Well, I hope that I can say I am better in another month, but this has now been bothering me for two months. My cardio is definitely suffering because of it. I think I will go and ice my foot right now.

Chicago - Legends 2008

Here are the pictures from the night.

Mandy, me, and Casey at cocktail hour.

See how close I was! He's holding my hand!


I tried to get a photo of each member of the band. Here are some of my best!

Connie and Mandy with me (They're the ones that got me the ticket).

Chicago- Legends 2008

Oh my gosh... Last night was so fantastic. If I had ever gone to a Chicago concert before, I would have never been up close like I was last night. When they began playing last night, I asked my daughter to accompany me to the dance floor to take a photo or two..... or a hundred! Yes... she went with me as I shyly took a few photos. The music kept playing... Just You and Me, Simple and Free.... and I went from sophisticated middle-aged woman to an over-the-hill screaming groupie!! No not really... but it did not take long before this calm dressed-up group of men and women who were casually dancing stopped and began singing and clapping with Chicago. The band continued to sing nonstop for over an hour and a half. They were very audience-friendly. I am thinking there were four of the original members in the band- Robert Lamm (keyboard), James Pankow (trombone, and my favorite), Lee Loughnane (trumpet), and Walter Parazaider (saxophone, flute, and other woodwinds). I looked all of this up on the internet before you think I am so smart and remember so well. The other group members are Bill Champlin (guitar), Jason Scheff (bassist who replaced Peter Cetero), Tris Imboden (drummer), and Keith Houland (lead guitarist). After the we thought the group left the stage, and we thought they were finished, everyone "hollered" and clapped for "just one more." I thought to myself, " I don't remember them playing 25 -6-2-4. " And here they came, back on the stage, and completed the concert with this great oldie. Like I said, I was right up front on the dance floor three feet away from the guys the entire time. No... I was not alone, so I did not stand out too much. I have always loved the sound Chicago made with all the horns. This was just one of the most fun nights I have had watching them and listening to them. I had built it up in my mind, and I was not disappointed- it was everything and more that I thought it would be.

I did make a few mistakes though in my earlier post. To correct myself-this was a benefit for St. Paul Medical Foundation and UT Southwestern Heart, Lung, and Vascular Progams. It was called Legends 2008. And the hotel is now the Hilton Anatole Hotel. Alot of the patrons were in the medical community. Most everyone there was dressed in black. There was a cocktail reception at 7:00 with appetizers and open bar, and then you were seated for dinner at 7:40. There were 58 tables of 10. The menu was a portabella mushroom that was looked like a hamburger with the middle part being roasted peppers, buffalo mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and modena balsamic vinegar reduction. The main course was filet mignon of beef, crab stuffed mushroom, baby carrots and squash, fingerly potatoes, and port wine sauce with mushrooms that was served with your choice of pecorino rolls, house-made lahvosh, mini jalapeno corn muffins, and herb breadsticks, and sweet butter. The wines for the evening were Geyser Park Savignon Blanc, California, and Deloach Pinot Noir, California. The dessert was a trio of ice creams-cookies and cream, chocolate, and classic vanilla served with warm fudge sauce in a nougatine shell with caramel sauce. They fed 600 people, and they knew how to do it- it was all hot and delicious!! The dessert was fabulous. Now... do you feel like you have been there with me? I will be posting the photos later.

Exercise and Excitement

Okay, I gotta make this fast. Wednesday was FF, and today was FF. Yesterday I did not get myself together enough to get any exercise in. It just seems like when I am at home I have too many distractions. Earlier this week, my daughter told me about a friend extending her an invitation to attend a benefit. This is a dinner for Saturday night which is at the Dallas Anatole, and the entertainment will be the group Chicago. When my daughter told that she was going I exclaimed how excited I was for her. She, of course, does not really know their music. Well...Chicago happens to be one of my favorite groups. I don't even know how many original members are in the group. All I know is that recently when I got an ipod and put songs on it, I had several from Chicago put on it. Well.. today while I was grocery shopping my daughter calls me. She told me that she had told her friend how neat I thought that was about this event. Her friend said, "well let me see if I can get another ticket." And she did... oh yeah... alright... I am so excited.. and I just can't help it... I'm about to lose control and I think I like it! Seriously, I am really thrilled that I am going tomorrow to Dallas to see Chicago. (it doesn't take much for this country girl). So..... I will be gone until Sunday, and I will be sure and have some photos for when I return.

Things That Annoy Me

I know this sounds negative, but I was just thinking of some of the things that annoy me.
1. At the top of my list is smacking- smacking food yes, but especially smacking gum and popping it. Is there anything more annoying and showing no manners.
2. Hearing someone tap a pencil, click a pen ( you know it writes, it doesn't write), shuffling their feet, clipping their fingernails in public place
3. People who do not return their shopping buggies at the grocery store to the cart storage. Come on, don't be so lazy.
4. People who make an excuse for everything.
5. People who are habitually late. I know we can all be late for appointments, but not as a habit.
6. People who take your money and never make eye-contact ( you know cashiers)
7. People in front of you walking in a store that let the door hit you in the face.
8. People who think they can piggy-back through a four way stop sign when it is your turn.
9. People who use obscene language in public places.
10. People who cut in line.
11. Telemarketers
12. Litterers and people who dump garbage on country roads.
13. Drivers who weave in front of you when there was only a car length between you and the next car anyway.
14. Drivers not using a blinker.
15. Barking dogs.
16. People that throw gum out for you to step in.
Hmmm... I thought this list would be longer. Can you think of others?

My Son Said It Right

Here is a post my 20 year old son wrote on his blog. He is a junior at Texas A&M and he posts once a week on a student blog. I think he said it right. This is what he wrote:

America The Beautiful

November 10th, 2008

Many things have happen over the past week. The most significant was the election of our 44th President of the United States. The election was a pivotal one for America since so many things are up in the air. For the first time in my life, I was able to vote in the election, so that made me pay much closer attention to what was at stake by choosing a particular candidate. I’m not here to talk politics, but instead, I want to talk about the people I am friends with. The vast majority of them really showed me some things this week about themselves. Lots of these people are the people that I would do anything for.

Facebook may be one of the worst things ever invented. If you don’t know what Facebook is, then first get with society, and second be glad you have not been introduced to it. Facebook is a social network that allows people to connect all over the world and share information about themselves including education, photos, and messaging. If you took a poll of college students around America and asked what their number one distraction from school was, I would bet 95% said Facebook was their downfall.

Over the past week, there have been many derogatory comments about our newly elected president. Many of the things people say could even get them in trouble if it was seen by the right people. The people saying this are intelligent, well-educated people who would be better off not letting their political views show.

I may not agree with many of the policies that are presented, but I agree that the United States of America is the greatest country in the world, and we are blessed to live here. So many of my friends continued to update their public profile on Facebook bashing our new president that it got me thinking one thing. Writing stuff about what has happened is not going to change who takes office on January 20, 2009. God has a plan with everything and whatever is meant to happen will happen. Whether the right man for the job has been elected or not, God wanted him to win, and God will take care of his followers as we continue to have faith that He is in charge. More importanly, I hope this shows to think before you act and always remember that we live in a great place where freedom exists and we have the ability to be whatever we want. God Bless you and God Bless America.

A New Week

Gosh... A new week about to start, and I see that I have not posted since last Wednesday. I think on Thursday I had planned to post and my dh invited me to go to the deer camp with him. I went out there and he cooked for me. Isn't it nice when someone else does the cooking and the cleaning up? We had salad and a gigantic ground venison pattie. Yum... he put it on the grill, and I promise it was probably about 10 ounces. Errands had me side-tracked so I did not get in any exercise. But I made up for it on Friday. I swam 32 laps (again without touching the sides). I swam for 43 minutes, and then I went on to my FF class. So there you go- a two-a-day that I have not done in quite awhile. Friday I received some unexpected news. My family's beach condo in Galveston had originally been listed in "good" condition. The management company called and let me know that after the engineer had been in there, there was moisture and so they are going to have to demolish my kitchen. Since the condo had recently been upgraded and their insurance would not pay for the upgrade, it was necessary for me to go and remove my new kitchen cabinet doors. I was so thankful to a friend who went with me and helped me remove these. I was not prepared for the way our condo looked- the framing in the walls was showing, the beams in the ceiling were showing. All the furniture was in the middle of the room covered in plastic, and the carpet was all ripped up in the living room. Well... hmm.... can you spell S-T-R-E-S-S? Galveston looked much better than I thought. I saw walkers, bike riders and we were able to eat at one of my favorite restaurants- Casey's. There is still debris on the side of the road, and I did not drive around much and look because we had somewhere else we wanted to go.

Today was the first day of our revival at church and our hearts were blessed. Lots of great music and good preaching. Today my boss called and invited me for a bike ride. We went on some country backroads and went about 16 1/2 miles. It was a beautiful fall day to be on a bike. Tomorrow is FF. Maybe I can make it to swim too.

Mr. Mc

Here is a photo of my father-in-law from last Christmas with my three children. Until the last five years, he has been a very active man. When dh and I were at his house on Monday, I was walking around his yard, and I felt sad. The big garden he always had was grown up in weeds. The rose garden he prepared for his bride of 70 years was no more. The treasured pecan trees were ravaged by squirrels. The big oak tree with the swing was a victim of one of the hurricanes. Even though now he is in frail health, he still has his sense of humor. He is so proud of his children and grandchildren. He says he has been blessed beyond measure with a great family and a great life. I would have to agree. Here's to you Mr. Mc!!

Being Organized

You know I talk alot about being organized. When I first wake up in the morning before I get out of bed, I mentally go through the tasks of the morning. I am gonna take my thyroid medication, put my contacts in, get dressed, get my lunch packed, get my breakfast made, and load the car. I try to preplan as much as I can the night before. You know I will have the lunch all ready to be put in a Walmart sack, my clothes for the day will be in my bag and the ones for exercise will be right there by the bag, I won't have to look for my shoes, my purse and anything I need for errands will be right there (library books, cleaning, bank deposit slips, etc). So this morning, I thought I had it all together. I planned to go for my swim this morning before work. I have all my stuff together. I get up there, get my card punched, and go to the dressing room to take off my windpants, put my swim cap and earplugs in, and look and ......what? .....what? .....where's my goggles? ..... huh.... no goggles..... well I'll be!!! Forget this. No swimming for me today. So I go on to work, wash my hair in the sink, eat my breakfast, and do some Bible reading. So today was no exercise for me. I did make it to FF yesterday, and then I walked 3 miles yesterday afternoon. Tomorrow is FF and maybe I will make it to swim on Thursday. Hopefully I will have everything I need.

Opening Day

Opening Day of deer season was not what my deer hunters had in mind. The weather was not as cold as it had been earlier in the week. My dh and ds did not find the deer they wanted so they passed. There were two bucks killed over the weekend by other members of the club. Here is a photo of Roxie and me. I am not very good at uploading photos and then finding where they are in my computer to put them on this blog. I need my computer teacher, dd, to help me out.

Beth Says It Best

I have the link to Beth Moore's blog called Living Proof Ministries linked with mine. Her post today says it best. Please read it. I have fervently been praying this last month. I do plan to continue to pray that our nation turns back to God. I am about to view the very last video of the Daniel Bible Study. As I have mentioned before, the first part of the study is about how similar our culture is to the Babylonian culture that Daniel was captive in. Daniel resolved himself not to live like the Babylonians. Thankfully we have many, many Godly people seeking God's wisdom and guidance which is unlike the Babylonians. This similarity is a Babylonian mindset which has the motto of " I am, and there is none besides me." So... I continued to be challenged... to resolve that in this selfish culture... that I want to be a Daniel. And as for the next 30 days... and the next 30 days... and the next 30 days... and the next... and the next... and the next.... I am praying for this great nation-it is still the best in the world!!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Day 30 of our 30 days of prayer. I am going to go ahead and post tomorrow's prayer. We are praying for God's will to be done on earth-whre you live and throughout American society-even as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-13) We are praying for spiritual awakening across the nation, that the Gospel would be communicated across the full spectrum of American society and that Americans of all ages, races, and backgrounds would be drawn to Christ and receive His life and salvation.

Tomorrow is a special day. My sweet father-in-law will be 95 years old. Can you imagine the changes he has seen over these years? He was married for over 70 years before his dear wife went on to be with the Lord. He has been in good shape until the last couple of years. His life was changed dramatically when he was about 35 years old- this is when he came to know Jesus. And he has lived the last 60 years being the Lord's servant. I feel the Lord will be calling him home soon, but tomorrow we will be celebrating his 95 years here on earth.

Just Start It

I have a new mantra that is better than "Just Do It." It is "Just Start It". I could be speaking about alot of things, but I am talking about exercise. Are you like me? Is getting started the hardest part? Once I start my routine, be it swimming, fitness fusion class, weight lifting, running, biking, walking, whatever.... I do great. I have to push myself to "just start it". Friday before I went to the hunting camp, I considered going swimming. The place where I swim is only open for short periods during the day. On Friday afternoon, they were open from 2:00-4:00. I was trying to get my car all packed up and it was after 3:00. Even as I drove toward town, I was still debating whether or not I was going to swim. I gave myself every excuse... I had the dog with me who would have to wait in the car... I would have to rush to get my workout in.... I 'm tired... I already did my FF class....blah..blah...blah. Excuses...excuses...excuses... So what was the problem? The problem is GETTING STARTED!!!! So I made myself drive to the pool. I found some shade where I could park so the dog would be comfortable. I hurriedly ran in and changed into my swimsuit. I looked at the clock and it was 3:30. I had 30 minutes to swim and get out of there. So I plunged ahead. I even found myself swimming faster than I usually do. I swam until 3:58 and made 20 laps and was putting my clothes on (over my swimsuit) in the parking lot. I was so proud that I had made myself do this workout. So next time you are debating the "if" about exercise, well... think about me... and .....Just Start It!!!!

Getting Close

The election is getting close. My commitment of 30 days of prayer is nearing an end. Yesterday was Guam and Midway Islands and today was Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands- all U.S. Territories. Along with these countries we have prayed over the weekend for candidates in public office, that they would be moved by God to seek what is honorable, just and moral. And we prayed for new American citizens, that they will have the opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel and place their faith in Jesus Christ.