Thank you Lord

I am just so thankful to the Lord, not just for the big things, but for those little things that sometimes we just might miss if we aren't careful. My mother is getting older, and you know... sometimes you can become impatient with older adults. You can dread some things that you have to do. Such is what I was thinking within the last couple of weeks. My mother has made the decision to move to a beautiful apartment that is assisted living for senior adults. The facility is great and will be a wonderful place to live. But thinking about reducing contents from a 2500 square foot house to a 900 square foot apartment with no garage and no yard or large patio is enough to cause some stress. She will not be moving for a few months, and her house is not presently on the market, so I do have considerable amount of time to do this task. Well, as I was saying... thank you Lord for those times you give us when we don't expect them. The last two days have been cleaning out dresser drawers, and endtables, cabinets, and closets... not necessarily getting it all out yet, but making the decisions of what goes with her and what do we get rid of.. and who gets what. I was thinking this was going to be such a chore.. but yesterday... well yesterday... we made a memory. She recently hurt her back and was unable to assist me in bending, reaching, lifting, or carrying. She sat by my side in a chair for hours as we went through her personal wardrobe saying "Yes (which meant I am taking it), and no (which meant it wasn't going." There was very little waivering as she said these words. I am so proud of her tackling this and realizing that she can't take all these items. We even worked way past lunch. I went to a local restaurant and picked us up some lunch, and then we rested before I restored her home to its present neatness. I had to move all of this stuff somewhere before we decide where it all will go. My point is.... keep praying ahead of time... God is in the little stuff as well as the big stuff. He gave us this day to be together and work together and enjoy one another. Just because it is work does not mean it can't have immeasurable impact. How about you... start looking for those ways God wants to bless you... even when you think it is a chore.

My First Baby Boy

Seems like I have been too busy to catch up with the posts that I want to write. I wanted to write a post about my first baby boy. I have a special idenitification with him, because like him.. I am the middle child. I don't know what all the stats say about a middle child, but I have to say that a middle child has to be well-rounded. They are not the first-born which always gets the most attention not only from the parents, but also the grandparents. They are not the youngest, so they outgrow their "cuteness" before their time. All of a sudden when they are getting that attention, along comes another child and steals it away. They just seem to learn to get by with less attention. My mistake was probably what all parents do with middle children... since they don't demand that attention.. sometimes we just don't give them enough. Anyway... my first son ust turned 26 years old. He is not only good-looking, but he is very smart too. He had a great high school baseball career, and played some in college. His baseball accomplishments are over, but he is now moving on.... a master's degree in accounting and the title of C.P.A. This is my blog so I do get to brag... but I just wanted to say how I am so proud of him and love him very much! Happy 26th birthday!!!!

Stings

About three weeks ago I was having a great walk on a shady country road when one of those darn horseflies bit me. It hurt and itched. And.... it made a big bite on me. I scrubbed it and it ended up having about a 10 mm scab. It is still there. Then yesterday, my husband had mowed around the perimeter of our pine plantation, and I wanted to take a walk on it because it has been awhile since I walked it. I had not gone 25 feet when I felt something stick me. OUCH!!! I looked at my leg and saw that a wasp was on my leg. I think now it was probably a hornet, and I had stepped on its nest. I can see that it popped me about three times before I knocked it off. Now my calf has a big red area of about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. It is sore. I have never been allergic to stings, but this hornet sting has made me wonder. Needless to say, that I never made it any further after I got stung. It hurt too bad. Today I am relaxing and enjoying my Sunday afternoon waiting until I give ds a ride to catch his ride back to A&M. I had a great day at church getting so see my friend and neighbor's granddaughter be baptized. I am so happy that she is born into the family of God. Tomorrow I go with my mother to check out assisted living (for her not me). I hope to get to my FF class and maybe even be able to do my walk/jog again. Also, tomorrow is another weigh-in for me. Hope it is good news!!

New Bible Study

I went to the Christian Book Store to get the Beth Moore Study of Esther. They did not have it, but they did have one that I have never even heard of... "Stepping Up" a journey through the Psalms of Ascent. I called my church office while I was in the book store and they had some extra books there, and they had the DVD's that go along with the study. I was watching the introductory video yesterday, and Beth said, " It is no accident that you are doing this Bible study... but God wanted you to do this." So... it was really not meant for me to do the Esther study at this time, but I agree with Beth... this is what I need today. I get so undisciplined with my daily Bible reading. When I do a study, it seems I am more committed. I started out the year with my memory verses, but my problem is... I keep losing them!! I still have not given up on this. This new study is a six week study with 30 days of homework. I am not going to say that I will have it done in six weeks. But I love the Psalms, and I know I am going to love this study. I have found that when you are feeling sad or overwhelmed or disheartened or discouraged... go to the Psalms. What better way to be uplifted than by praising God!!!

My New Love

Had to add this photo of my new love. She is almost 4 months old. We are all loud people, and she is not going to be the exception. She recently found her voice and is hollering ... not crying or whining... just hollering. I got to see her from Wed to Sat two weeks in a row. I will see her again next week.

Today I got on the treadmill before my FF class, and I walk/ran for 3o minutes. I walked 2 minutes at 3.5 mph, then one minute at 3.8, 4.0, 4.2, 4.4, and 4.6, then back to 3.8 through 4.6 repeating this cycle for about 5 or 6 times and then finishing by walking about 4 minutes. And now this evening, my glutes and thighs are so sore. I actually had to take some advil. But the good news is my foot survived it. So... I am getting better.

Facebook and Old Friends

Dee with friends from high school

Seeing a friend after 35 years

Again, old college friends- one I had not seen in 35 years

I know that the young people do not like that older people like me are joining Facebook. They think it was only meant for them. However, they will truly understand how great this has been when they get our age because we are able to find people we lost contact with. I have posted some photos of old friends that I was able to locate via Facebook. Now some of them I have kept in contact with, but others I lost. I found out that one of my high school friends was a friend of one of my college friends. You know the saying, "It's a small world." I hope you will be as blessed as me by finding some old dear friends.... oh by the way, yes, the two women in the top photo with me are sisters.

Another Post on my Foot

Are you all tired of reading another post about my foot? I so hope that one day this will all be something that I never think about. Maybe even where I even forget that I once had foot pain. But right now... it is still with me. However, I did go through four sessions of physical therapy. This included ultrasound heat, taping, and stretching exercises. My PT showed me how to do all the taping and the exercises I should do daily. I am really trying to be very compliant with all of this. I have to get my kinesio tape ordered. I have one of those stretching exercise rubber looking strips that I use with my foot exercises. I form a loop, insert my foot, and then apply resistance as I move my foot inward, outward, toward me, away from me. I do clockwise circles with my toe leading the way, counter-clockwise circles, write the alphabet in the air with my toe. Then I get on a step and lean my heel downward where I get a big stretch. I also do a stretch where I put my hands against the wall and extend one foot back and really stretch out my hamstring. My PT says that his plantar fascitis only flares up sometimes. He is good 85% of the time. Oh for that day!!!

Yesterday before my FF class I walked/ran for 15 minutes on the treadmill. I would have gone longer, but I did not have time. I will be missing my FF class on Friday because I am babysitting my little granddaughter. But I brought my weighted bar with me, and I plan to do some lifting on my own. I am going to try to get back into my 5-6 day exercise week. Right now with the babysitting and responsibilities with my elderly mother, I have not been able to get back on track. Also, I got back to keeping my food diary with www.sparkpeople.com. I read this statement and I totally agree..." the best way to lose weight is keeping a food diary." I don't care what you do... weight watchers, First Place, Spark People, calorie counting. Keeping a food diary has made me successful with weight loss. It keeps you accountable, you HAVE to be honest and write down all your food, it identifies problem areas, it shows you how many calories you had that could have easily been avoided like a tsp of mayonaise or salad dressing, cheese, skim milk vs. 2% milk. You see that you could have had some blueberries or strawberries or apple which is so much more food than that fatty substance you did have. Trust me... if you are serious about losing weight, keep a food diary. But remember, if you are not committed to this, nothing will work. Yes, it is a chore to do this, but how bad do you want it? I must mention that that is my new mantra... "How bad do you want it?" I had a friend mention this to me. Her trainer had told her when she was tired and doing her workout, " Well, how bad do you want it?" Now I am saying that to myself when I want to quit my workout, or skip it, or eat that extra helping or drink that Dr. Pepper. I ask, " How bad do you want it?" Meaning.. how bad do you want to be that size that is your goal? I am saying that to myself.. " Dee, how bad do you want to lose this weight and go down a couple of sizes?" It makes me stop. Maybe this will work for you too. Write me and let me know how your weight loss success is going. Okay, I'm off to drink that water that I am keeping track of- at least eight 8 ounce glasses a day.