An Entire Week

What is with me? An entire week I have gone without posting. I mean... I usually don't have too much to say, but has that kept me from posting before? I don't think so. January is just one of those months when you are getting yourself sorted out. I mean... you are making new commitments, fresh starts, new ideas are abounding in your brain. You are excited about the new year, yet you are still reeling from the busyness of Christmas. So how are all of you doing? Are you like me and you need an accountability check? I mean... I made these new goals..and... not only have I not accomplished many, I even forgot what they were. How committed and dedicated is that? I have been reading some great books about self-improvement. I am continually trying to improve myself..... physically, in marriage, in other relationships... which means with friends, family, and most especially God. Being godly, having a contented and thankful attitude, being kind to others, etc. does not come naturally. It is certainly a quest... a pursuit.... a choice we make not only daily, but hourly. To continue to seek God's leadership, to keep that most powerful weapon in its scabbard, namely our tongue, to deny ourselves and become last instead of first. All of this is not easy. At least not on our own power. But wait.... God has sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in us. Oh thank you God that I have that same power available to me because I decided long ago to die to myself and let Christ live in me. Now if I can just keep reminding myself of that so that I don't try to run things my way. I'll have some more posts later about exercise, mature living, healthy eating, etc later, but today... I just wanted to reflect on what I have been thinking on lately.

My Foot Splint

Well, last night marked the fourth night wearing my foot splint. You know, it is not uncomfortable. So far I have had no ill effects from wearing it... you know where it makes something else sore or tender. I do seem to wake up more in the night because when I turn or move my leg, I am aware of it. Is it doing what it is supposed to do? Hmmm... I can't say for sure. But I can say it is doing something. When I wake up in the morning, I am able to walk to the bathroom without bigtime pain. It is not totally pain-free... I mean I can still tell that I have this tenderness in my foot, but I am thinking that it is working, and it is going to take time to get me to that place. Therefore; I am going to continue to wear this splint; I am going to continue to wear my orthotics all the time; I am not going barefoot at all. I am so ready to be able to jump up and do what I want to do. So... I will end by saying how thankful I am that this seems to be doing its job. I am thankful that I can walk even though I have some pain. I am trying to turn any complaint into thankfulness. Try it... you will be more aware of your complaining, and you will be more thankful!

What About Exercise?

Well, yeah....what about exercise? Since that is what this blog was originally about, it is time I blogged about it. Presently, I am still doing my fitness fusion class every MWF. You remember this is core training, lifting weights with dumbbells, a weighted bar or a medicine ball. We do pushups and planks. We do some light cardio. Yes, this is a far cry from what I was doing a year ago. But... due to the continual problem I have had with my plantar faciitis, this is all I can do right now. I probably could swim, and I probably could bike, but the weather has kept me from that. I know... I am sounding like those whiney people that give all the excuses for not exercising. I do need to get back on track. But the best part is that I have not given up or given in... whichever way you want to say it. I still do exercise at least 3 days per week. And this past week I have walked two times for over 3 miles. My foot does bother me when I walk, but I am just pushing through the pain. And... I did finally get my orthotic splint to wear at night to stretch the fascia tendon. I wore it last night and this morning I seemed to be better. I am going to tighten the straps tonight and see how I feel tomorrow. So... get out there and get moving. No excuses!!

Second Memory Verse

Okay, I mentioned this already at the beginning of the new year. Now, come join in with the rest of us on the living proof ministry blog. We are learning two scriptures per month. I did so well my first scripture. And it has come in handy so much for me to quote it to myself. So today is the second scripture memory verse. And here it is from the NIV. "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:3-5

Another quilt

Okay... I have no idea what I am doing wrong. When I browse my computer to post this photo I have it rotated. It originally was like this, and then I changed it so the pumpkins were in the lower right corner (one clockwise rotation). But now... when I post it, it is back the the way it was originally. I have no idea what is wrong. But this is a wall hanging or a table centerpiece that I use during the fall. I like quick and simple projects. I quilted it by hand.

More Quilts

This is a baby quilt I made a few years ago, and I did not give it away.

This quilt is from the Hancock Block of the Month club from 2004. I just finished it this year. Alot of the members that did this quilt did not like the colors, but I liked them. I ended up making it more like a throw than a bedquilt. I also quilted this by hand. It did not turn out so great.

Quilt Show

Here are a couple of items I will enter in the quilt show. I am not entering them to be judged. I am entering them because they want more quilts to be in the show. The first one is a block of the month quilt from Hancock Fabrics. It is called the Lewis and Clark quilt. Hence, you will see the appliqued bears and buffaloes, and the raccoon footprints on the fabric. This is a photo before it was quilted. I am waiting to get it back because I had a lady machine quilt it for me. I think it was from 2006. The next one is a table runner that I did using a special template. I machine quilted this one myself. I have three others I am entering but I don't have the photos downloaded from my camera yet. I will post them later.

Baby Pillow and Burp Pads

Here are the baby burp pads and baby pillow that I made. My daughter's last name starts out Weg_ _ _ _ _. So since we don't know if it is a boy or a girl, I thought it would be cute to name him/her Baby Weg. We will know in 6 weeks what we are getting. I will post the quilt, dust ruffle and bumper pads later.

Zac Cook

This post is dedicated to the memory of Zac Cook. Zac lost his life yesterday in the tragic helicopter crash in College Station. I knew this young man growing up and observed him as a kid and a high school baseball player. I can say that he always had a smile on his face. He was so respectful to adults. And I only knew him before he began his career as an Aggie. His hometown of Lufkin and the A&M community are so saddened at Zac's passing. Please pray for his mother, father, and brother as they prepare for life without Zac. I have posted a photo of Zac with his older brother David.

Another Plus for Facebook

Like I have said, my 21 year old son has made fun of me being on facebook. And I told you all how I responded," Facebook is not just for young people!" Maybe that is how it started out, but I have to give another plus for facebook. I added as a friend a gal that I knew from my college days. She was not in dental hygiene, but she was good friends with my suite mates. So I would still consider us friends. After going back and forth with her with messaging, she told me that she was meeting up with those former suite mates of mine this weekend. Well.... they called me last night! Oh my gosh... what a great phone reunion we had! We talked about some of the things that we did when we lived together, the stories I would tell them, and how we would laugh and laugh when we were together. We were again laughing and laughing. One of my them told me about how she always looked forward to coming back to the dorm on Sunday night so we could get together and talk. We have not planned an in-person get-together yet, but we hope to have lunch and meet at a later date. Like I said.... another plus for facebook. And... I have to go up in the attic and see if I can find a photo of those days to post.

Baby Shower

What a fun day we had!! My daughter is having a baby next month, and I was thrilled to be a part of her baby shower. There were eight close friends that gave her the shower, and 33 people including the hostesses that attended. They came from Austin, Burnet, Houston, Lufkin, San Antonio, Temple, and all over the Dallas area. My daughter certainly has some wonderful friends... she received lots and lots of very nice and useful gifts. Since she and her dh have chosen not to find out the sex of the baby, she received some pink and blue and then lots of unisex items. I will post some photos of the nursery later. I made her the dust ruffle because the one that came with the quilt was too feminine to be used in case she has a boy. My daughter's last name begins W-e-g - - - - - ; therefore, I made her a pillow that says "Baby Weg". I will post that later. So here is my beautiful daughter.

Here is a photo of the pregant mom with grandmothers and great-grandmothers.

Here is the photo of the hostesses.

The Magnificent Seven

Okay, I just had to put this on my blog because it has been a year since I discovered the"Magnificent Seven". There was an old movie made in the early 60's with Yul Brynner entitled the Magnificent Seven. The movie was adapted from another movie called the Seven Samari. This series is about 7 men who are hired to keep the law in one of the western territories. Anyway... I love the television show that was made in 1998-2000. It ran for one season and was shutting down, and the fan response was so great that they ran it another season. So... there are two seasons. Now I originally started watching it because I like the actor Dale Midkiff who is the one above with the moustache. You will recognize Eric Close on the left from Without a Trace and Ron Perlman next to him from Hellboy. These seven actors play off of each other so well and have been so much fun to watch. I think there are about 22 episodes. I didn't even know I liked westerns. I got the photo off of Brigetta's Magnificent Seven page so I wanted to give her credit. You can sometimes find this series along with others of the past on http://www.half.com/. Check them out and tell me what you think.

Unome Friends

Here are a few of my unome friends. We all live in the same town (two others were missing), and we were able to get together for dinner. We are a group of 12 women who all went to high school together, and we began getting together five years ago when we celebrated our 50th birthday. We have members who live in Longview, Midland, Brenham, and Houston besides this east Texas town. We named ourselves the "unomes", hence... you know me. We chose this name because we wanted to identify ourselves with a name that was fitting.

One Year Anniversary

I am approaching my one year anniversary of blogging. I started this blog on January 12, 2008. It started out as a blog that was to encourage middle-agers to get up off their rears and get in motion. I posted about my exercise program and have tried to encourage others to get moving. Throughout the year this blog has changed somewhat. One of my dear friends told me that maybe the foot injury has kept me from writing about exercise and instead, writing about other things. Yes, I have done that and for some they have liked it, and maybe others have not. I have used this blog as a means to journal not only my exercise, but just some random thoughts. Through this new hobby of blogging, I have met some interesting people and read some insightful posts.

As of late, my exercise has consisted of fitness fusion class three days a week. I have walked in the woods one day. I have not been bike riding or walking. When the weather gets warmer, I plan to be back on the bike and back in the pool. As for walking or jogging, that will depend on whether or not I can get rid of this foot pain.

So for those of you who have kept up with my writing this past year... thank you for your support and for listening to my crazy ramblings. Right now I plan to continue to blog, but I also have begun to limit myself to computer time. I have found that blogging and facebook can be quite addicting. Keep working to achieve your goals for 2009... that's what I plan to do!!!

Relationships

It seems like the past few days I have talked to friends who tell me about relationships where there is so much turmoil, stress, trouble, anger, etc. And I think about what I hear... I, of course, only hear what I am told, and I don't know all details, but as I am listening, I am realizing so much that is just all boils down to the big bad "S" word.....SELF!!!!!!!!!! Yes, everyone wants their own way. Do it like I do... be like me....please me....give me....make me happy....cater to me....think about me... what about my feelings..... what do you do for me.... how will that benefit me....blah..blah...blah..me...me...me....I..I...I...my...my...my....mine...mine....mine...self..self..SELF!!
So how do we conquer this business of self? Well.... The first step would be to recognize our own selfishness, not just other people's. I certainly recognize mine. And the only way we can do battle with this is to enlist the help of God. I gotta add this to my list of goals for 2009....think less of self, and more of others. I already said to spend more time in God's Word, and to pray more. So I will keep this at the top of my prayer list... for God to keep me focused on Him and off of self. How about you? Do you have a problem with a relationship? Do you have a problem with self? Maybe look at the problem in light of this, and see if changes could be made. It's a big job, but not too big for our God.

Scripture Committment

Okay, I said that one of my goals of 2009 was to memorize scripture. Beth Moore in her Living Proof Ministries blog has issued a challenge to all the "siestas" to memorize scripture two times per month for the next 12 months. At the end of the year we will have memorized.....24 scriptures. Each month on the 1st and the 15th we are to go on her blog and register our name and city and the scripture we plan to memorize. We are doing this so we will be accountable.

So here is my scripture: The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know what to say to all those weary ones. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. Isaiah 50:4.

Hey, you are just a day behind. Come join us right now.

Starting the New Year

I just finished typing out an email to my good friends the unomes. They were wishing each other happy new year, and I decided to randomly just list a few thoughts about what I want to happen in 2009. Now.... I did not ponder on this list, so I am sure that I could detail it more or come up with completely different items to add to the list. But here is what I came up with so far:

1. Spend more time in God's Word.
2. Memorize scripture all through the year.
3. Really and truly take prayer more seriously, and when I tell someone I will pray, to do it more than once. Keep my prayer journal close and open!
4. Vow to eat healthy- limit sugar, flour, Dr. Peppers, fried food, and eat more fruits and vegetables
5. Make a list of what I want to accomplish, set my goals and then proceed to go after them.
6. Keep negative thoughts and negative words to a minimum and try to totally eliminate them.
7. When an opportunity presents itself to help someone, don't even think about it, just respond.
8. Send a card or note to someone each week to encourage.
9. Send my kids a card or note or small gift card once a month.
10. Work on learning Spanish.
11. Look nicer, more accessorized.
12. Make a menu each week.
13. Learn more ways to simplify.
14. Clean out garage and attic.
15. Tell someone each day that I love them.
16. Tell someone each day how I appreciate them.
17. Laugh when someone cuts me off in traffic.
18. Do more stretching exercises.
19. Grow a garden.
20. Stop speaking totally if I am not saying something that is kind, good, and beneficial!!

Okay it sounds like I have a tremendous task ahead of me if I plan to accomplish all of this in 2009. It is sure something to aim for. What about you? You want to add to my list? I hope you all have a great 2009!