Don't Listen To The Candy

Candy candy everywhere!

Candy isn't typically my Achilles heel (although I am a sucker for all things chocolate) but with the sugary aroma that wafts through the air this time of year, I feel like there's one of those cartoon fingers motioning me to the candy bowl.  I'm trying my darndest to resist those 'oh look, I'm so small and oh so cute.. I wont do you any harm' sinfully sweet snacks.  "But I'm just a 'mini' candy it's ok." But my butt wont be so mini if I eat those! (mind you, there's nothing 'mini' about my butt anyhow..)

Here's one treat that's been satisfying my craving for sweet without going nutso and downing a 'fun size' bag in a minute flat.  They are Special K Chocolate Pretzel bars.  Only 90 calories per bar and they have a delightfully salty sweet flavor!  Yummmmm!

Hope you're finding a way to indulge, but not too much also.

Have fun!

Wishing a happy and safe Halloween to those who partake in these festivities!
And for those who do not, have a wonderful last day of October tomorrow!!

So much more than week 44

I have tried to write this post a few times and either I get pulled away (sometimes kicking and screaming) or appointment number 36 beckons me to keep moving.

Now for a wellness update.  It doesn’t seem so important this week. I have the proverbial 'bigger fish to fry' at the moment. I will say that I've exercised (not nearly enough), slept about 6-7 hours a night (feels like 3 or 4) and ate. Yes, ate. Sometimes very well, and sometimes not so well. But boy I've eaten alright!

Now on to the pressing news of the week. My oldest son, all of 8 need oral surgery. Here's the story..

He does not have his top front adult teeth in yet. They should have been in 1.25 - 2 years ago. Via very expensive pan x-rays, it seems that my boy has an extra set of teeth up in his gums that are preventing the proper adult teeth from coming in. They will never come in with said superfluous teeth.

Best case scenario:
Oral surgeon will go in and remove the baby teeth, then go into the gum and remove the extra teeth. He may also need to 'remove' bone that is obstructing the teeth.

Alternate scenarios:
Once up in the gum, he may discover that the adult teeth need root canals due to damage from the extra teeth.

They may be flat out no good at all.

They may be ok, but if they do not drop on their own, he'll have to go back in and attach gold chains to the teeth and then we'd have to go to an orthodontist to 'pull' the teeth down and into place.


The cost of just scenario one would pay for our family of 4 to go on a nice trip to Disney for a week!!! Dental insurance is barely covering anything and health insurance won’t even cover the anesthesia because the procedure will not be done in a hospital.

More than anything though, I'm concerned for my son.  Praying all goes well and he heals quickly.  I hate the thought of him needing to go under and just thinking of him being in pain it terrible!!!

God tells us that He will provide for us, and I'm going to keep trusting.
I could cry at the drop of a hat.
I'm usually a very upbeat person, but there's no way around it, we've been in a cave for weeks now between deaths and trial after trial and I'm feeling flat out worn out! I'm even getting sick. Yuck!
I'm trying to keep the joy of the Lord and trying to hold tight to the wisdom in James where we are told to consider it all joy when we encounter trials of many kinds as it's the testing of our faith that will bring about spiritual maturity. I'm feeling 'mature enough' for the moment, thank you. But clearly our Heavenly Father thinks otherwise.

To all my praying readers, your prayers would be very welcome!!

Feeling a little weird about posting such personal stuff. Trusting that those who personally know me will read this, pray about it and not ever make this a topic of conversation with others that know us. I needed to vent and that's what my blog is for.

I hope you all have a great week.

As for me, I will keep trusting in our Savior knowing that He can do 'exceeding abundant beyond what we can imagine'.  And praying my son's surgery goes perfectly, that he will be in as little discomfort as possible!!!! and the 'best case scenario' comes to pass.

Week 43

I'm sorry I'm so late posting. 
Just busy, what's new, right?

We had a half good and half bad weekend.

We had a great (albeit cold) time at the boys soccer games and then again when we went to a local farm to get pumpkins.

 Jack

 Billy

 My 8 year old took this picture.

A kind Girl Scout leader took this picture for us.

Not a great shot (as the boys aren't really looking).

For some reason when I look at this I want to belt out..

"OOOOOOOOOOOklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains..."

I also had a great time when my niece came down from Maine to do a Pampered Chef show for me.  Lots of friends came by and we had a great time chatting and catching up.

But the not so great... My sister-in-laws Dad died last Tuesday.  We had the wake on Saturday and then a get-together at her mom's house on Sunday.  So very sad!  I lost my mum 2 1/2 years ago.  I know what this time is like.  I know the feelings.  I know it's harder after all the services are over.  I know the pain does not go away.  Acceptance comes with time.  But you always feel the loss.

Can I just interject a note here?.. Why yes, of course I can it's my blog.  I'd just like to suggest and remind myself to not feel like we always have to say something.  Sometimes situations come about that we ourselves have never experienced and therefore we should be careful not to speak as if 'we know'.  It's ok to offer words of love and sympathy, but be careful.  I recall very clearly a woman telling me a few months after my mum passed that if I just think on happy memories everything will be just fine.  In other words, 'get over it'.  I'm so sad to share that she is in a season where her mother may not be with her for much longer.  She now, 'gets it'.  It makes me sad to think that she now 'gets it', because again, I know this pain.  Let's just all be careful to never try to negate someone's pain. The Bible tells us that there is a time to grieve - so allow that person (and yourself) time to grieve; however long that time needs to be for the individual.  Ok, getting off my soap box now.

Health - in a nut shell 'so-so'.  Exercising, but not enough.  Eating... pretty well.  Not getting all my water in and sleep hasn't been great.  Didn't even weigh in on Monday to be honest.  Sleep and water will be my biggest focus' this next week as I feel they are my weakest points right now.

I hope to share my new 'it's time' I hinted at a few weeks back.  Hopefully within a week - just need the time to sit and write it out.

I hope you all have a great week!!
Remember, there's a season for everything in our lives.  Allow yourself to feel them, live them.  God wouldn't have told us about them if we were to just sluff them off.  What season are you in?

Week 42

As I predicted, last week was a hard week.
What else could I have expected really.
But God is good and even during dark times He saw fit to bless me with some bright spots.  To read about one such bright spot, please visit my other blog, ladyofthehousespeaking.blogspot.com/

Although I did eat my emotions 'a bit' this week, I didn't go completely haywire.  And although I did not get in as much exercise as I'd like, I did at least get in 5 miles.  I'm happy that I didn't just totally give in to my feelings and revert back to my old ways.  There's definitely some progress here.  But a few morning when I woke up I could feel the difference as a result of an emotional week.  I've been loving over the last couple of months and really since January, the feeling of waking up and feeling.. well, thinner.  Have a comfortable 'empty' feeling.  Don't know how to explain it really, except to say that after a few days of stress eating I was waking up with a more.. full feeling.  Kind of how I used to wake up every single day; still a little full from all that I ate the day previous.  I now hate this feeling!!  Hate it!!  I'm happy to say that this morning I woke up once again with a more 'emtpy' feeling. Much better!!

I weighed myself on both the new and old scale this morning.  I am eventually going to have to update my weight as I think my old scale has been off a few pounds.  At least having both scales now I am at least able to correctly determine how much I have lost/gained (don't need to blindfold myself and throw a dart).  I have lost 1 pound this week.  I'm very happy with one pound considering all that went on this week.

Thanks so much to all of you lovely folks who have offered your condolences on the passing of my uncle!!  Your kindness is so greatly appreciated!!

My goals this week:
Get at least 8 miles of exercise in.
Drink plenty of water.
Eat healthy.
Get 7 hours of sleep a night.

It's Time to go watch Diary of a Wimpy Kid with the family.
Have a great week everyone!!

Tomorrow's a new day

I am determined to make tomorrow a better day!
It's going to be a tough day (with my uncle's wake and all); but it will be better!!

I WILL exercise.
I WILL pay attention to what I am eating and portion sizes.
I WILL NOT let my emotions rule my stomach.

Phillipians tells us the I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Lord, please give me the strength to keep my food intake in check.  Let the joy of the Lord be my strength so I will not look to bury my emotions in food.  amen

UPDATE:  I sweated for 3 miles with LS this morning and I enjoyed a healthy breakfast of 'Impossible Pie'.  Great start!  Off to my uncles funeral today.  Please pray for my sweet Aunt Helen, they were married for 54 years!!  Thanks :)

Stress Eating

Stress eating!!!

Between my uncle's death and now a very sweet beautiful lady from our church passing I am just not feeling with the program!
I've been stress eating and then as a result of feeling guilty about it I then... yes, eat some more.

I know I need to just give myself a break right now and not worry about it.  But I also do not want to throw in the towel either.  This is a slippery walk.

I will try to make conscious choices and not mindlessly eat.  There's lots to keep me busy and with a sore foot (not sure what I did to it) exercise isn't in the plan right now.  But still, lots and lots to do.
I will try to keep busy so as not to turn to food.

Week 41 ~ This is a tough one

Short & sweet this week folks.  Not so sweet actually.

Surrounded by sadness at the moment.
We have a wonderful lady from our church family who is very ill with cancer.  What a blessing she has been and although we will celebrate her homegoing for her sake, we will miss her!!  Just a matter of time...

My sister-in-law's dad who had a lung removed due to cancer less than a year ago now has cancer in the other lung and it has come back to the cavity where the removed lung had been. Again, a matter of time.

Today, my extreamly funny and very tender hearted uncle has died leaving his wife of 54 years, my aunt behind.  My aunt is not well either.

Life is short folks.  Tell those you love that you love them and tell them often.  If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior don't be shy in sharing the gift of salvation as you never know who needs to hear the good news and if you'll get a chance to share again.

My heart is very heavy for all of those hurting at this hour.  I am filled with sadness, but also filled with the love of God.  I am so blessed to know him.

All of these situations bring back the feelings of losing my mother 2.5 years ago so fresh to the surface.  It hurts.

Health....

I did great last week. Ate well, did 14 miles of exercise.  The scale is barely budging though.  I am discouraged.  This virtual stand still has been going on for quite some time now.  I know what I'm doing - I know how to live healthy.  I'm eating plenty and eating a balanced healthy diet.  I'm exercising to the point of having sweat drip down me and being out of breath.  There's nothing more I can do.
Maybe this is it.  Size 18 weighing in at... nope, still not brave enough to list the number on the scale.  Maybe this is as good as it's gonna get.  I guess I have to settle for this.  I will keep being healthy but no longer look to and consequently be disappointed week after week at the lack of movement on the scale.  What a bugger!!!

No way to sugar coat it people.  I'm feeling seriously down.  I know it's just for a season though and that I wouldn't appreciate being on the moutain tops if I'm never in the valley.
So I will keep plugging along in this valley knowing that my God is with me and that what's important is that His will be done. Not mine.
Despite the aggrivation, frustration, disappointment and sadness, I will not lose my joy.  For the joy of the Lord will be my strength!!!!

4th is not so bad

I think I came in 4th... could have been 5th.

Last night was the end of "Choose to Loose"; at least for this cycle.  The ladies will have another cycle starting next week but although I will continue to be included in the email support, I will not be weighing-in with them.  I'm so very appreciative of the opportunity to meet with those special ladies over a 6 week period and again thankful for all of the work that was put into the program!!

3rd, 4th and 5th place were super close.  My understanding is that we were not even a whole percentage off from eachother.  The 1st place winner lost of 6% of her body weight in just 6 weeks!  Amazing!!  Congrats to not only the ladies in the top 3 spots, but to all of the ladies who are continuing to make healthy changes!!

Now I'll give just a hint of a future post.  Folks, "It's Time" has taken on a whole new meaning in my life.  God is calling on me telling me, "It's Time" to take the next step that He has for me.  As I said, this will be a future post.

It's Time!