Really, I mean it this time!

I swear that on Monday I am going to get serious about getting back on my weight loss plan. Really.  I mean it this time.

How often do you tell yourself that?  I seem to be constantly saying that and not doing it lately.  I KNOW what I need to do to lose weight.  Didn't I lose 65 pounds just a couple of years ago?   I KNOW I can do it.  But, the motivation just isn't there right now.

What am I going to have to do to get motivated?  Does anyone have any suggestions, because I am all out.

What do you say?  (insert heavy sigh here)

I know that it is a matter of just doing it, maybe when it warms up...

The Blessing of Pets

I have 2 year old 4 lb Chihuahua male named Chico and 4 year old Siberian female cat named Maxine that weighs in at about 10 lb.   I sometimes believe that Maxine thinks Chico is her kitten. She will spend hours cleaning him.  They really love each other and will chase each other around the house.    If I put out dog food, the cat eats it and if I put out cat food the dog eats it.  So, in order for to get them to eat even a little of what they should, I buy a bag of dog food and a bag of cat food and mix them together.  At least they both eat that way.    Lately, Maxine has taken to sleeping in Chico's crate, which makes it kind of hard to put him to bed at night.  I would let both of them sleep in it, except that it isn't big enough for both of them.     The absolutely funniest thing is when Chico calls Maxine to come in.   Last night I went to call Maxine in and she didn't come, when I let Chico out to potty before going to bed, he barked and barked and here Maxine came a runnin'.  That isn't the first time that has happened, either.    It is so funny.

I love my furbabies and I am happy that God has blessed me with them.

Memories

I was visiting with my cousin on facebook earlier and we got to talking about our Granny and Grandad. What wonderful memories that brought to mind.

When I was growing up my sisters and I would spend one or two weeks every summer in Amarillo with Granny and Grandad. They had a small house, really not much more than a shack, but it was warm and filled with love.

There was a wonderful rock under a tree by their driveway. It was huge chunk of pink granite. I was told that it came from the same quarry as the pink granite used for the Texas State Capitol in Austin. I loved to go sit on that rock. I called it my 'thinking rock'.

At one point in their lives, my grandparents bought cemetery plots. The cemetery where they were to be buried had a pond. There were ducks on the pond, and during our stay with them, we would take old bread out and feed the ducks. Grandad would tell us that this would be his home some day. I was 16 when he died. As hard as it was, the grave side service was comforting. Grandad had simply gone home, and we would visit him when we went to feed the ducks.

I miss them so much. I hope that when I am gone, I will leave behind a legacy of love and sweet memories for my grandchildren.

What have you done, what do you still want to do?

Since the movie Bucket List came out, lots of folks re talking about their bucket lists.  It is a wonderful idea, one which has been around longer than the movie.   I do think that the movie inspired people to pursue their dreams before they are diagnosed with a life threatening disease.  I was thinking today about the things I have done, and the things I still want to do.

Things I've done:
Been to New York to a Broadway play
Sat on a beach  (hey, I live in landlocked mid America)
Swam in the ocean
Written a novel and had it published  (Secrets)
Been an artist and even sold some of my paintings
Married the man of my dreams (40 years and counting)
Traveled to 15 of 50 States
Played in a band
Went para-sailing
Been on stage, 3 times actually.
Saw the President of the USA, twice!  (not the current one)
Visited the Library of Congress

Things I still want to do:
Go on a mission trip (I've done small local trips, but nothing 'big')
Visit a foreign country that isn't Mexico
Travel to the other 45 States
Go on a cruise

Wow. My 'done' list seems longer than my 'to do' list.  Until I put it down on paper, I never realized how rich and fulfilling my life has been.  Well, I knew it had been rich and fulfilling, just not exactly what all I had done.  God has certainly blessed me.  

It is an exercise in counting your blessings.  What things has God blessed with being able to do?  What is still on your 'bucket list" that, God willing, you will get to do?

One caution.  When considering the things you want to do, be sure to read, remember and pray about James 4:13-15.
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.

NoS....No S

I posted a few days ago that I was going on the NoS diet.  It is a VERY simple eating plan, and what I like best is you DO NOT COUNT ANYTHING!!

The diet simply has 3 rules and 1 exception.

No SECONDS
No SNACKS
No SWEETS


EXCEPT (sometimes) for days that start with S


How incredibly simple is THAT?    Of course YOU have to be in charge of what you eat.  No SECONDS, that is a no brainer.   No SNACKS, I'd think that was a no brainer, too.  No SWEETS?  Same thing.
On his NoS diet page, and I have a link at the bottom of this blog,  he does point out that you also need to (here comes the dreaded 'e' word) exercise.  But 30 minutes a day walking is not so bad and an hour a day is great!  Not only does it burn calories, but it is a wonderful boost to one's spirits.

There is just ONE thing.  It is a slow weight loss process.  You won't drop 10 - 15 pounds a week, which is unhealthy anyway, but you will lose, and you will be healthier for it.  So far I've lost about 5 pounds, and a pair of jeans I couldn't get zipped last month, I'm wearing today.  And I haven't really been trying.

No snacks, sweets or seconds, no counting, no problem!

(For the 'official' NoS Diet page click here.)


I invite you to visit my author's webpage.    Beth Richardson, author   Thanks,

I've got to get out of this hole...

Today is a sad, blue day. Not the weather, it is actually beautiful outside. The sadness is inside.  I am depressed.  It isn't bad enough that I need to go back on antidepressants, I don't think. I am not having suicidal thoughts or anything like that.  I am just sad.  I feel like a failure, and have no reason, except that I cannot find a job.  I apply and send my resume and never hear from the people I've applied to. I know, there are jobs out there. I could go to work for minimum wage at a fast food place, or a grocery store, but, after having been an Office Manager/Administrative Assistant for 10 years, I really don't want to go back to a minimum wage job.  Can you blame me?     I have skills but lack education.   The jobs I would want require a degree, the jobs that don't require a degree find me to be 'over qualified' and while it is't legal to discriminate based on age, companies prefer to hire a younger person.  I can't blame them.  One of the main reasons I lost my job was because they could hire someone half my age for half the money.  When I was looking to hire someone, I didn't want to hire someone that was too young or too old.  With unemployment being as high as it is, I am assuming that for each job I apply to there are many more people also applying; younger people who are equally qualified.  So, I am passed over for someone younger, who will possibly stay with the company longer than 2 - 5 years.  Again, I don't blame them.  But it is SOOOO discouraging and makes me feel like a failure.
Do I need to start taking antidepressants again? That is a question I ask myself occasionally.  Then I ask, why did I want to get off them in the first place?  #1 reason?  Because I didn't FEEL.  What I mean is  I had no emotions, or so it seemed.  I didn't cry over dumb, sappy commercials, or sad songs, or sad movies.  I watched "Steel Magnolias", a movie that I used to couldn't watch without a box of Kleenex (or two), without shedding one tear.  No tears, no anger, no......nothing.  I hated that.  Now I have my emotions back, and I emote all over the place.   But I'm okay with that.
What I need is a PURPOSE.  Something to get out of bed for every morning.    Even blogging and facebook and the whole Internet thing has lost it's appeal.   Writing, but my brain only permits so much of that.  So, here I sit in my jammies at noon.
Someone very wise once told me that if you find yourself in a hole, best stop digging.  So I need to get up, get dressed, get out and DO something.  Unfortunately, I live in a small town of 3500.  It is a minimum of 35 miles to any town that is bigger than this one.  It is 5 hours to a city where there is any sort of opportunity.  So, if I do get up and get dressed and go....what is there to DO??   NOTHING!!!  Work at fast food for minimum if I could even GET a job there!!
SIGH
I am depressed and need to get out of this hole.

All I can think of to say is, please pray for me.

What I've Been Up To

I know that my posting the past year or so has been sporadic.  Since August 2010, when I lost my job of 10 years, and especially since April of 2011 when I lost the job I took after losing my job in 2010, I have been through several periods of depression.  HOWEVER, I was not sitting idly by, well I was, but not all the time.
I wrote a book. It is a murder mystery about a triple murder in a small town in Texas.

 

The book has been published by PublishAmerica.  If you would like to purchase a copy you can go to:
http://www.publishamerica.net/product46540.html     The book in hard cover sells for $19.95 plus $4.99 shipping

I am very pleased to now be a published author.  I am also working on my next book.

I have also started the NoS diet.  Which is more a style of eating rather than a diet, per se.  I will try to write more on this later.