A delicate little thing from all appearances, I know a young woman eighteen years of age, who epitomizes Shakespeare’s words.  A slender, willowy girl with a twinkle in her eyes and fairest skin — she is full of spunk and feistiness and courage to be who she is without qualm.  I thank God that He gave her these qualities, as she is facing a challenging battle over the next few weeks and months.

Kaitlyn has been diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkins Lymphoma.  When I learned of her diagnosis, the first thing that ran through my mind was “Oh, my gosh — she is only one year older than Jami!”  As if cancer only strikes old people who’ve smoked boxes of cigarettes every day of their lives or tanned beach bunny blondes who refuse to use sunscreen.  But cancer is no discriminator of persons, and just as there are many, many forms of this horrible disease, it attacks many, many different people for reasons beyond our comprehension.

As I said, Kaitlyn is a tough little thing and I have faith that between her spunky determination and God’s grace, she will beat this thing.  A fund has been established to help her family with the medical expenses not covered by insurance.  I am asking if you would please consider clicking on the link to the left labeled “Kaitlyn Mageors Fundraiser” to make a donation (in whatever amount you feel led).  Share Kaitlyn’s story with your friends and family.

Kaitlyn, her family, and I thank you.

I ran across an interesting story this morning while I was checking my email.  Personal trainer Drew Manning wanted to better understand what his clients go through when trying to lose weight and build strength, so he forced himself to gain 75 pounds in six months and then turn around and lose it.  I don’t really know anything about him as a person, but I liked the fact that he said it was “humbling” when he returned to the gym as an overweight person.  Sometimes I think that people who have been fit and healthy all their lives don’t understand what a struggle it can be for people who have not been that way all their lives.

I’ve personally been struggling with my own efforts in this area.  I am in my fourth week of the Weight Watchers program, but if I’m honest – probably my fifth DAY of starting over tracking what I eat.  I have determined that one of my challenges in this “project” to become healthy is a lack of focus.  On the days that I’m not diligently documenting everything I eat, I will actually forget that I’ve eaten something earlier in the day.  For example, on a particularly busy day, I ate breakfast (usually a cup of coffee with stevia and non-fat creamer plus some Chobani non-fat Greek yogurt) and hit the ground running.  Appointments kept me tied up until late in the afternoon, at which point I thought “Man!  I’m hungry!  I haven’t eaten all day!”  So I ended up going through the drive-through and getting something totally NOT on plan, because I “hadn’t eaten all day” … and then I remembered that I HAD eaten.

One of the things that he mentioned in the article linked below was the need to plan, plan, plan your meals.  And this is where I am really struggling.  (I started to type “failing,” but failing indicates defeat and I refuse to be defeated YET.)

So I’ve begun, yet again – I had my coffee with my Chobani yogurt this morning.  I’m drinking a glass of LaCroix sparkling water right now (I like fizzy water better than still water – LaCroix has sparkling flavored waters that don’t have any artificial sweeteners).  I plan to have a Smart Ones frozen meal for lunch in a couple of hours.  I need to figure out what to do for dinner BEFORE dinner tonight.

I hope to start exercising soon, too.  I injured my knee in a fall a few months ago and it is not getting better.  So Thursday I have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor to find out what’s going on there and what I can do to get moving.  I don’t want to do any further damage since I can tell things just aren’t right “in there”.

I think I’d like to read Drew’s book, as well.  Let me know if you’ve read it or have any thoughts on what he says.

‘Fit2Fat2Fit’ Author Drew Manning’s Top 5 Weight Loss Mistakes to Avoid | ABC News Blogs – Yahoo!.

Gitz: Sara’s Story.

Sometimes I think the internet has made the world much too small.  And then I’m reminded of the all too brief time I knew a woman named Sara and wish I’d had more time to build a real friendship with her.  And I’m thankful the internet’s made the world a smaller place, where a homebound gal from Iowa can remind a Texas girl that life is full of joy, if only we choose to grab it and never let go.

There have been many times that I’ve tried to jump on the “healthy” bandwagon, only to fall off the tailgate into the dusty road, watching the rest of the healthy band continue on their merry way to long life.  Last night I had a really strange dream.  I dreamed that I was trying to get back in shape and had joined up with a group of people exercising at a public school that was undergoing reconstruction.  The school had raised board sidewalks, some of which had sections missing, creating gaps that had to be jumped in order to get to the other side.  I don’t remember any other details, other than the process of making my way around this intermittent board sidewalk, and that I weighed 207 pounds.  Then I woke up.  At 8:21 a.m.  Oh, 7:00 a.m., we hardly knew ye.

My husband and I had actually talked about going to the gym this morning.  Since he has the day off, it would be a good way to kickstart yet another effort towards weight loss and good health.  When we both saw the time, we wavered.  There are other things to do today and driving into town takes a good fifteen to twenty minutes before even walking through the gym door.   Fortunately, today is turning out to be a gorgeous day (the hellish heat of summer hasn’t hit quite yet), and so we decided to go for a walk together instead.  I am going to measure it out when I head into town later, but I think we walked about a mile in probably fifteen or twenty minutes.  

The plan is to do that on the mornings we don’t go to the gym.  Praying I can stick to it, since I was horrified to step on the scale this morning and discover I weigh 1.5 pounds MORE than what I dreamed last night.  (You do the math.)  Not good for a gal who is not quite 5′ 3″.  I’m also dragging out my Weight Watchers materials, since I know the program works IF YOU STICK TO IT.  I use the menu planning service, eMeals (www.emeals.com).  It has really helped with meal planning, since that is one of my LEAST favorite things to do.  And I think that the WW points value is listed on each of the portion control menus I receive each week, although it’s not absolutely clear that the number listed is a points value.  So I sent them an email asking if that is what the number symbolizes.  If it is the WW points value per serving, oh happy day!  I’ll be able to scratch “calculating points” off my list of things to do.

I have chicken thawing for Tuscan Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and fresh strawberries for dinner tonight.  Before then, I have to meet with a potential client regarding some window treatments for her home.  And I’m off!

So sorry for the lack of scribbles the last couple of weeks.  It’s been so very busy here, and not the satisfying “Oh, look at me, I get to check one more thing off my to-do list” busy.  I’ve had things on my calendar for weeks, and then at the last minute, they’ve been changed, postponed, rescheduled.  I hate that.  I like a plan.  Something that keeps me focused (because heaven knows focus seems to be in short supply these days).  It’s so annoying when I’m headed in one direction, objective in crystal clear focus, only to have something interrupt that.  Bleh.  

HOWEVER, occasionally there are good distractions.  The kind that come in the form of a text or a phone call from a friend you haven’t seen in eons.  The kind that say, “Hey, we’re going to drive down and fix your a/c unit that’s been broken since last fall and while we’re there, let’s go to the beach!”  Such was the distraction that arrived at midnight last night, and sadly had to leave shortly after noon today:

Of course, we parents are always behind the camera, so you’ll just have to be satisfied with a photo of our gorgeous kids.  Which are a heck of a good distraction, anytime.

Change.  (From my friend, Tim Hong.)

Happy birthday, Tim – I’d say that you are using the years God’s given you quite well.  Thanks for sharing this bit of thought provoking wisdom with us.  And may God bless you with many, many more years in which to serve Him!  🙂

And this infuriates me.  I used the “quick post” feature and wrote a WONDERFUL post about juggling several tasks at once.  Then I decided to add a photo.  And the danged thing covered up my post somehow … I am NOT a happy camper, because I cannot find my words.  And my words are more important to me at this moment than this stupid photo.

The last three weekends have not been weekends at all.  They’ve been the two non-workday workdays that connect Monday through Friday of one week to Monday through Friday of the next.  The house in Galveston needs a great deal of work and it falls to my husband, his older sister and I to get the job done, since their younger sister lives out of state.  One or more of us has arrived and spent anywhere between 8 and 12 hours each Saturday cleaning out drawers, cabinets, closets, etc. of the accumulation of forty years of life.  Yesterday we actually arrived around noon and worked until 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning.  A five hour “nap,” and we were back at it until heading home around 10:30 a.m.

I think it was around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning that the three of us collapsed in the front room to catch our breaths for a minute.  We started thinking about how much had been purged and my accountant sister-in-law calculated that each of the two city trashcans held approximately 10 trash bags.  We’d filled them to overflowing each weekend, putting them to the curb.  We’ve thrown away roughly 60 bags of trash and other sundry, non-sentimental items that have no value to any of us, or anyone who may come through the estate sale being planned to happen in a few weeks.

Then the REAL work begins.  Getting the financing to have the foundation repaired, flooring replaced, wallpaper stripped and walls textured and painted.  And that’s just what I can think of off the top of my head.  Of course, to minimize the amount to be borrowed, we’ll pitch in and do whatever labor we can – the foundation will be repaired professionally, but I have a feeling that we’ll be doing the floors, stripping the wallpaper, texturing and painting the walls.  Then the house will either be put on the market as a residential rental, or possibly a vacation rental.

I’m tired just thinking about it!

On the way home, we took the Bluewater Highway and at one point my husband pulled over to respond to a text message.  He’d pulled onto the beach from the access road and I couldn’t help but hop out and take a few photographs while he typed out his message.