Cove Palisades.....

The past few days have found me camping with the youth group at Cove Palisades. Doing things with the youth is always a fun time for me. I love their infectious energy and I also love knowing that the things we do together is helping to shape their lives for the good.

I am super tired now and just got up from 10 hours of sleeping (I think I could use even more) but the weekend was well worth it. I believe it is so important to be actively involved in the lives of our kids. Now that our girls are ages 14 and almost 17, I keep thinking that I only have a few precious years left before they are off doing their own grown up things.

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Our days were filled with romping in the swim waters and inner tubing behind the boat. As much as we tried to keep sunscreen on, the high desert conditions gave everyone a sunburn. Being crispy didn't stop them though from having all the fun humanly possible. I love everyone in our group. All of the youth and the leaders have such a fun loving outlook on things. Everyone is eager to help and though there are many differences in the people, compassion abounds. There was a constant supply of laughter, smiles, and practical jokes.

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I heard that the waters of the river were wonderfully cool but I never found out personally. I spent my time trying to keep under the shade. It was a good 100 or so degrees while we were there. Though I do believe that sunny days are beautiful, I am not a sun worshipper at all. Five minutes of standing out in the sun's rays finds my skin starting to sizzle. The heat is also hard for me to deal with. Any temperature over 85 (and that is pushing it) makes me really have to concentrate on a) not being grumpy and snappy b) thinking in a coherent manner and functioning in basic tasks.

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My tasks were to be nurse and cook for the 21 people in attendance. It was a lot of fun. Lunches and dinners were a "piece of cake" with making sandwiches and grilling burgers and hot dogs. Breakfasts is what really took planning and a bit more time. My hubby came this year and was a huge help to me. We did pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausages, and fruit one morning and Canadian bacon cheese and egg English muffins on another day. We had experimented before the trip and figured out that by taking the metal bands from wide mouth canning lids we could cook the eggs in them and have the perfect shape to fit on an English muffin.

Nursing on the other hand, I failed. One young man received a good gash on his hand as we were unpacking the first night. Though it wasn't deep, it was directly on his knuckle, making it very hard to treat. I was tired after driving 3 hours, grumpy, and feeling a bit overwhelmed because the first aid kit that I had grabbed for the trip had been pilfered through and most of my basic supplies were missing. All I could think of was driving back to town and sitting in an ER for stitches, while the other side of my mind knew that I had all these people that still needed me to make dinner for them. Yuck! Thank God for the park ranger. She found an impressive knuckle bandage in her supplies and jimmy rigged a splint out of broken plastic utensils to keep his finger immobile. I thought about being mad at myself for not thinking of that but then decided it wasn't worth the energy and I was just grateful for the help.

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Over the weekend I became even more a firm believer in knowing how much I love living west of the Cascade range. Oregon has so much diversity in climate and it is all amazing but I sure missed having green around me. I did enjoy my morning walks though...you know before it got hot. If we camp over that way again next year I will have to keep in mind that being out walking between 5am and 8am is a great time to explore and enjoy the world without the heat and sun fogging my mental processes.

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On one of my walks I stumbled across an area with a tourist plaque that said it had been re-created to resemble ancient Indian grounds. This rock with real petroglyphs had been placed in the area to accent the ancient history. I didn't see anything that talked about what the writings and pictures meant and I know it was placed there on purpose, but it still felt like a secret find for me.

I am grateful that it was a wonderful weekend. I am grateful for shade and cold water bottles. I
am grateful for happy memories.



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(David at Authorblog enjoyed reading about our trip and gave a mention in his recommendations for post of the day. Thank you David.)

Flowing Waters....

In my younger years, I was always restless around the water. I would hear people comment on how much they loved going to the beach, how they could sit for hours and listen to the waves. Others would comment on the joys of a river setting with the birds singing and brooks babbling. I never understood it. I never found that peace unless I was in a thicket of trees, engulfed in silence and woodland smells. I would challenge myself to sit and enjoy......because that is what I was supposed to do right? I never lasted long though. My youth always pulled me back into the world all too quickly. If I made it a half hour I was doing good. Then it was time to spring up and conquer life again.

These days the world holds a different view for me. I can go for hours walking on the beach, the only thing calling me back to reality would be the pangs of a growling empty stomach.
Any small little beaten down path finds me in search of its secret treasure. I find myself looking around every corner for that new "secret place" to cherish. I love how quickly the city sounds can fade away when a few trees and shrubs make a barrier for me.

Yesterday we went to a local city park for a sweet little guy's first year birthday. In the midst of swing sets, gleeful toddlers, and laughing adults enjoying a barbecue.....I found this little stream just 100 yards away. I walked out on a fallen tree that was draped across the stream and just sat. I watched dragonflies hover and bubbling water glide over the rocks. There was a slight breeze and everything was perfect.
Soon the scene changed and I had 2 little valiant preschool boys exploring next to me and sitting on "my" fallen tree. We talked about streams, bugs, wet sandals, and favorite butterflies.

The dream home in my mind has a stream just like this. It is a place to sit and enjoy, a place to breathe and recount, a place where children can walk around with their butterfly nets and splash in the ankle deep water as they explore and love God's creation all around them.

Checking In....

I miss writing.
I do miss being able to sit here at the computer.....creating and weaving my thoughts.
That time will come again.
Tomorrow is the big bake sale fundraiser for the youth. After that I will be preparing all that goes into being the cook for 20 people at youth camp next weekend.
Then things will slow down again. It is all fun and I enjoy it.


For now here are a couple of things that I wanted to be sure to put to paper (I know it is really a keyboard but putting something "to paper" sounds so much more romantic and mysterious.).


The 3 latest card projects I have been working on....because as usual for me...I worry about not having enough.

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And then I just have to ring my bell a tiny bit here because I feel so good today. My girlfriend and I stopped at the local big name "Mart" store this morning after a garage sale. My mission was to buy a new pair of pants. Victory was mine and I have been jumping up and down praising God all day long!
Normally I am not one to share numbers because everyone is different and what matters is feeling good and being healthy. But Good Golly Miss Molly.......when I started on track with eating healthy 3 months ago I was in a size 16 pants. Today I am the proud owner of a size 12 that I slid right into without wiggling or sucking in.

I am now totally and completely one third of the way to where my doctor says I need to be.
Yes that is chocolate birthday cake in my hands, courtesy of a sweet and adorable little guy's first birthday. It is all about choices. I allowed myself that little choice today and I don't feel one bit of guilt.

Wares To Sell....

I have a smirk on my face right now as I have an image from My Fair Lady with all of the street vendors selling their wares to the public.

Okay, so here are some pictures of the things I have been working on. I have been hard at work, even dreaming of designs in my sleep, but now that I am looking at the pictures I am thinking, "gosh is this all?" No, there is much more to do. This is just the beginning and hopefully a start at a good launch.

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You can't really tell in these photos but the flower and bumblebee above and the frog and girls below are raised for a pop up effect. There is also a touch of glitter here and there. I like glitter.

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I love this Paris set. The French Poodle is one of my favorites. She is so sophisticated that I felt compelled to give her a bit of snazzy glitter too.

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These coster sets were really fun and easy. Each is a set of four. I am thinknig that in the fall it might be a nice gift idea to have a cup, coaster, cocoa or tea packet with a biscotti in a basket.

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It has been stretching to try and keep in mind not only my personal tastes but also what others might like. Stretching is good.

(edited to link enlargement pictures. Quilly it is the only way I know how to do it right now. I hope this helps.)

Journal Log Entry #185....

Today has been hard. There is no single reason or even anything catastrophic happening to make it so. Simply, there are millions of things piling up. It is what I do. At times I think I have learned and mastered the balance scale and at other times.......sigh.......

I don't even know what the actual number is to answer the statement..."the Earth spins in revolution of ____mph." As much as I would like to scream, "Stop and let me jump off for a bit!", it doesn't work that way. Everything has purpose and reason, even the intelligence-lacking fellow that cut me off today.

In the midst of dragging my feet through the activities of the day, I was distracted. I was distracted because in today's mail there was a "card looking" envelope to my husband from my father. Gosh I wanted to know what was in that envelope. It called to my curiosity all day long. My name wasn't on the envelope though and something held me back from calling the "finders keepers rule".

Finally after tonight's meeting I was able to see the contents that my husband so willingly shared. Now I will share it here........


Today doesn't seem quite so heavy now.

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Strike Two.....

I have been hit again. I had to laugh. Thanks Quilly. This one was much easier.
Here we go.....

Two Names You Go By: Jules, Julie

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now: Blue Jeans, Green Sweater (yes a sweater in June)

Two Of Your Favorite Things: My Bible, my crafts

Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment: A good digital camera, A Blackberry

Two Favorite Pets You Have Or Had: Kimo - my childhood cockapoo dog, Samson - Our Golden Retriever

Two People You Hope Will Fill This Out: Anyone brave enough to do so. I can't bear to tag someone again.

Two Things You Did Last Night: Organized a bake sale fundraiser, made cards for the future store

Two Things You Ate Last Night: pbj toast, mango

Two People You Last Talked To: Hubby, Mom

Two Things You Are Doing Tomorrow: Making cards, Shuttling youth to worship practice

Two of Farthest Trips Taken In The Last 5 Years: North and South Dakota, San Antonio Texas

Two Favorite Holidays: Christmas, the birthday that I share with my mom

Two Favorite Beverages: Water, Cherry Vanilla soda

Inquiring Minds Want to Know....

Back when I was a freshman in high school, there was a super market tabloid called the National Inquirer. They had a commercial that ran on tv with a happy announcer guy telling people "Inquiring minds want to know!" That was followed by various women, each looking very in the now with hip "mom" style persona. They would each take turns looking into the camera while holding their National Inquirer open and a smile of intrigue on their faces and stating, "I want to know!"

Inquiring minds have now struck again but this time it is more fun.
I have been tagged by Kitem from A Garden in France. I stumbled upon Kitem's site one day last fall when I had first started taking a french class at the college. Right away her sweetness grabbed a hold of me and I have really been enjoying building a friendship with her ever since.


The Rules of the Tag Game:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

These are always so hard for me. Why? Well I think because I tend to live in the "now" thought pattern and it makes me broaden my frame of mind. It is stretching but it is a good thing.

So, here are 7 things that I can think of that are me.......





1) I have immigration and naturalization papers because I was born in Tatchikawa, Japan. They are kept in a safe place with all of our other documents. My husband used this fact at a couples get together once several years ago to win a "get to know you" game. The setting of the game was for everyone to write a little known fact down about their spouse and then we had to all go around and match facts to people. No one thought to ask the fair skinned red head if she was born in Japan.

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2) God makes everyone a unique and original piece of work. Some of my unique traits are that I have needed a couple of surgeries on my eye muscles so that they would line up correctly and not wander in different directions. My last surgery was about 6 years ago and it helped immensely in getting rid of the charlie horse feeling that was happening behind my eyes. I see out of both eyes but my brain doesn't register the images as a set. Instead I only pay attention to one image and ignore the other unless I close one eye.

Even more intriguing is the fact that I essentially have 2 left lungs. It always makes the doctors look at me very strange but it is true. See, the left lung has two lobes to leave room for the heart muscle and do the extra work needed on that side while the right lung has 3 lobe chambers. My right lung only has 2 chambers and my (I think left pulmonary artery) is in the wrong spot. Neither issue bugs me today. When I was a kid doing school P.E. class, I often felt the symptom pains of asthma but I never complained because I didn't know I wasn't supposed to feel that way.

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3) When I was between the ages of 7-13 years old, my bedroom on Jefferson Street in Texas had hot pink shag carpet that was wall to wall. No we didn't make it that way. That is just how we bought the house. And yes, living that long in Texas did cause me to develop a southern accent. It only took me two weeks to lose it here in the northwest though because my cousins would burst into fits of laughter every time I entered a room and said "Hey ya'll". Of course, all I have to do is 'think' of my accent and it comes right back.

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4) I am a poor swimmer. I can float around and look casual in a pool but I don't think I could swim in anything bigger than that to save my life. There were a good handful of summers that my little brother and I took swim lessons at the base pool but I never mastered anything. More often than not when I am in the water, I practice holding my breath and swimming under water. First it helps strengthen my lungs. Second it makes me feel pretty and graceful to glide through the waters imagining myself as some sort of mermaid. Yes I am a goof ball.

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5) When I was in high school I had numerous friends that owned their own cars. Because of that fact, I never earned my drivers permit until I was in college and about to turn 18 years old. My actual license did not appear in my wallet until I was 18 years old. It took me three tries before I passed. So embarrassing. Despite that, I have had only two speeding tickets and one accident in my whole driving career. This is a picture of the first kind of car I owned. I drove it twice. Once was home from the auto repair shop so that my dad could try and fix it. The second was the big voyage after being fixed. It made it the 5 miles into town and then died for good at the bottom of the hill from home. It stayed there for months until my parents used it on a double trade in for a newer vehicle.

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6) I am scared of heights. Even the simulator rides at Disneyland make my stomach jump and my head spin. Because of this, I push myself and make myself do things that make me uncomfortable. I refuse to let it best me. Of course, as I casually look over the edge of something and feel proud of myself, my protective husband usually grabs me and exclaims with fright, "What are you doing? You know you are scared of heights!"

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7)I want to travel. Even though being a military dependant afforded me the sights of Japan, Hawaii, Texas, Spain, and 3 hours behind razor wire and gun clad soldiers in Korea...there are so many places I want to see and explore. Those place include Israel, Alaska, France, Australia, and Canada. Someday I would also love to go on a cruise.

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How long did it take me to create this post? An hour and a half. I had to think for a bit, find pictures that I wanted to use, and then of course set everything up 'just so'.

Now I would like to hear from Trek, Mima, Kelly, Quilly, Joni, John Michael, Jeff, and Gene. Yes, that is 8 different people. It is just always fun to learn more about one another.

Blogging with Purpose....

Thank you Mima for this honoring reward. You are right that it is so hard to pick only 5 people to share it with. Here I go.....in no particular order................

Trek

Joni

Mary

Colleen

Kitem

Inherit the Wind...

Friday night was an interesting night here at the house. The other high school girl that I home educate came over with her family and we settled into the couch with a big spaghetti feast and an interesting topic movie to view. The movie, Inherit the Wind, is a 1960 classic. It is a historical/fiction piece of work that walks along the sequence of events pertaining to a significant court case in American history dubbed the "Scopes Monkey Trial" of 1925. Specifically what happened was that a teacher was prosecuted by the state of Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of Evolution in his class when state law mandated that only Creationism be taught.

I purposefully did not tell the girls any more than that. I did not tell them that watching this movie would cause just about every fiber of their anger and indignation to rise up and protest the ignorance, haughtiness, and arrogance in the details of the characters portrayed. I did not tell them that it would cause them to evaluate more closely how easy it is for man to fall and lose sight of morals. I did not tell them that it would be a perfect example of showing that when a person does not know why they believe what they believe......in anything, it would cause that person to fall hard and possibly not recover. Nor did I tell them that the movie would cause them to be even more aware of not putting people on high pedestals, high pedestals that are sure to topple over with the slightest breeze.

Instead I let the movie unfold itself to them. It did not take long before I started receiving the looks. You know those looks that flash, "Did they just say what I think they said?" That was soon followed by sighs, gasps, tisks, and then verbal expressions. About an hour into the movie they couldn't contain their thoughts anymore and we stopped for a bit of discussion.

It was such a great night. I was so proud of each of the girls as they broadened their comfort zones and delved into discussions of: what is moral, what is correct, is anyone immune to the character faults portrayed, how fast does ignorance feed, and is ignorance ever satisfied.
We talked about the fact that this trial essentially changed the face of the American education system. We brought up the truth that nothing good will ever happen by simply looking the other way.

I love this movie. I have watched it 3 times now and I think it needs to find a permanant home on my shelf. The truth and conflict of the movie really strike a chord in me. The dialog is deep and thought provoking, leaving my mind in motion long after the movie ends.
Here is a short clip with Gene Kelly as his movie character E.L. Hornbeck, portraying the newspaper reporter H.L. Mencken.

Doughnuts Anyone.....

I noticed on my news home page this morning that today is National Doughnut Day. Two things came to mind when I saw that. The first being the idea that we have a special day for everything here in the USA. Do we really need a labeled day for eating super fattening sugar dripping items? But my second thought was more along the lines of memories. I guess I have been thinking memories a lot lately. I am usually a "live in the now" person and don't think about the past so all of these little strolls have been nice.

Doughnuts:

All through my growing up years, my Portuguese grandma...my Nana, would make Malasadas. It is a yeast doughnut with a yellow inside and no hole. She would drop it by big spoonfuls into cooking oil. In a matter of maybe two short minutes, the goo would cook and become a brilliant deep golden brown. Then she would dip the finished blob, the size of 2 fists put together, into a pot of thin sugary glaze. Whenever she made these doughnuts, she would create huge batches of it to share with all of the family. Because of that it would be an all day job and the house would smell heavenly for days afterwards. Bags of Malasadas would be in the refrigerator and freezer for our convenient grabbing. As if that wasn't a treat enough, Nana would then take the doughnuts and cut them up into slices. She would then either toast them or fry them in a breakfast pan with a bit of butter.

With my new found thinking on eating more healthy, I have no desire to run out and grab doughnuts today. But with the memories floating around in my mind, I just might ask Nana if she would like some help in making some Malasadas so we can have them again.

(Here is a picture of me with Nana just a couple of months ago. She would flip out and crown me a good one if she knew I posted her picture here. It was one of the rare occasions when she actually allowed her picture to be taken.)

For now though, I need to run to the grocery store and get ingredients for a feast tonight. I am doing the spaghetti and bread thing for everyone. Students and parents are going to be in my living room tonight to watch Inherit the Wind. Have you ever seen it before? A dear friend introduced me to it a couple of years ago and it is now one of my favorites. I haven't told the students much of anything about it. Instead I want them to watch it, feel it, get justifiably angry, and then we will talk about how the pride and arrogance of people applies to us today.

It's Like the Twilight Zone...

Do you remember when you were a kid and you ran into your school teacher somewhere. Maybe buying ice cream with their family or maybe at the movies. It threw you for such a loop. Why was that? How was it that teachers carried so much control and power in the classroom that we couldn't fathom them being real people?

Well here is my funny because it happens evern with preschool children.

(Cue the mysterious background music and roll the fog in so that readers can see the scene)

While I was at the evening church service, I stepped into the restroom to freshen up. I was washing my hands when little 4 year old David walked in with his 6 year old brother and his mom. David stopped in his tracks righth there in the entrance and said with his mouth gapping in shock, "Mom!...It is my TEACHER....in the BATHROOM!"

His mom ushered him all the way in and absently said, "Yes David it is. Isn't it amazing that even teachers use the bathroom too?"

I smiled as I was leaving. I can just imagine the scene next Sunday. I will walk by David and his classmates and he will lean over with big knowing eyes to loudly whisper in their ears, "Teacher knows how to go to the bathroom!"

Floating on a Raft....

Here come those memories again. I was looking at some of Quilly's beach photo's last night and my mind floated back to a time when we lived in Hawaii.

Quilly's photo brought to my mind a memory of being at Bellows Beach with my parents. I had to have been between 3 and 4 years old. My dad had me in water that was waist high for him. I was sitting on a body raft and giggling in the moment. I can remember my dad smiling and saying, "Angel, can you find Mommy? She is an awful good swimmer and just might sneak up on you." At that point I leaned over for a look in the water and saw my beautiful mom swim under me. It sticks in my mind that she had on a yellow swim suit with red colors on it, maybe flowers, and she swam with her sunglasses on. I remember that the water was so very clear, so clear that it had no color. The ripple of the waves mixing with the sunlight made intricate patterns of shadow on the sandy floor. The water always tasted yucky but it was always so warm and inviting.

I was just a little girl when my dad was stationed at the Air Force base. I think I was maybe a year old and we lived there until I finished 1st grade (early memories are so fuzzy). Being so young, my memories are snippets of pictures and feelings. All of these snippets include the joys of family. My mom had done much of her own growing up in Hawaii and had many relatives there.

I remember being at Nana and Grandpa's house a lot. In my mind, their house was huge with big open rooms. There was a front concrete patio with a brick wall. Along the driveway there was a rock retaining wall that led to the road. I can remember someone holding my balance as I stood on that wall to watch the 4th of July fireworks. The smells were so strong and the loud noises muffled because my dad put his flight line headset over my ears.

I remember going for walks with Nana around the neighborhood and telling the barking dogs "no-no".
Here is a funny one.....I remember faking coughs so that I could sip Nana's homemade cough syrup that was always on the refrigerator door. It was a mild concoction of honey, lemon, and rum.

I remember our own 2 story home. My cousin would come over to visit on a regular basis and we would play our imaginative games. Always our role playing was about pretending to be grownups and it was always a race to be the first to proclaim that there was coffee in our pretend cups.
I remember a neighbor boy named Calvin and how we were always teased that we would grow up to be married to each other because we played so well together.

I remember my dad taking me to school one day. For some reason that I don't remember, school had already started and it was to be my first day in class. When we showed up, the class was getting ready for a field trip to the zoo and I was given the option of attending with them or going back home. I can remember thinking, "of course I am going back home. I am not going to spend the day at the zoo with people I don't know."

I remember in school that I had a friend named Susan. Once we did a presentation as a whole class in Polynesian dance. We spent weeks making grass skirts by rolling newspaper around pieces of straw and gluing them into place. On the day of performance, we had to go to school in our swim suits, preferably bikini style. With leis around our necks and flowers in our hair, we did dance arrangements with balls on string. I don't remember the name of them but it was a skilled art form and we had to do it a certain way. Each of us had two of these balls on string. We spun them in circles and made them bounce in pattern back and forth as we alternated hands. I remember a man there dressed in royal finery to resemble King Kamehameha. My mom still laughs at the scene as she remembers that I was the only fair skinned redhead on the group and I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Another big memory for me in Hawaii is going to the zoo. Though I didn't go on that day with my new classmates, it was always an experience I looked forward to. What sticks out in my most is a bridge that went over the giraffe habitat. I remember that I would run ahead up to that bridge, sit down on the side, and share my roasted peanuts with the giraffe. The bridge was just high enough that the giraffe had to stick its tongue out and up to enjoy my delights. I would always cringe and laugh at the same time as I felt the roughness of that tongue.

Now it is time for me to get back into the world of today. This has been fun though. Thank you for sitting and sharing a few minutes with me and my memories.

At Least It Isn't an Ink Blot Test...

I really should be in bed right now. But as I was shutting down all of the things in the house, I decided to do a quick run thru of a couple of blogger places to see how people are doing. I ended up at Quilly's and took her suggestion of doing a personality profile. It is a short and cute adventure. While I must admit that trying to draw with my old sticky mouse is a talent left to be desired, I think the final evaluation seems pretty fair to me. Here is what I came up with....



The results of your analysis say:

You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much.
You are a direct and forthright person. You like to get to the core of the issue right away, with few signs of hesitation.
You are creative, mentally active and industrious.
You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

Moments of Bits and Pieces.....

I haven't been around much lately. everything great has been happening. It is simply that I can't seem to organise myself into multi-tasking with blogging at the moment. So, what has gotten me so pre-occupied?

1) Pippin has officially graduated from CAL now. That leaves one more year of schooling for her and we are in sort of a holding pattern to decide our course of events for fall. I have submitted for an out of district transfer for both of our girls and that has been approved. Now we are waiting for the "other" district to give their approval. This other school offers much more opportunities and choices than our own district so we are anxious to hear the final verdict. Until then, we are stuck with wanting to make class choices and full or part time decisions until we know for sure.

2) My cousin is getting ready to open a craft store. Okay, it doesn't make everybody jump up and down with delight....but for me it is exciting. I have been going around town picking up my supplies so that I can create all sorts of simplistic finery that is my personal specialty. Eventually I suppose I might get back into quilting and teaching classes if things go well, but for now that seems a bit to overwhelming for me to swallow. The simplest things have me hooked up right now....namely how do I package my wares and what sort of signature "title" do I give them? I know big decisions. You can laugh, but it really has me stumped.

3) I have been telling myself that I would hold off and not announce this until I was completely finished...but I can't hold off tooting my horn of excitement just a tiny bit. The announcement is.....I HAVE BEEN LOSING WEIGHT. Is that really worthy of an announcement? Well for me it is. For the past 14 years or so, I have gone up and down on the scales. The outcome has made me miserable and loss of self esteem has always been a factor. For too many years I have had a relationship with food. It has been my comforter in times of stress, emotion, tension, and boredom.

A couple of months ago, actually if you remember it was the same time that I got mysteriously sick, I started watching my food intake. I am not sure what mental switch has been flipped inside my head, but now taking care of my body has become very important to me. Those carbs are not calling in magical song to me anymore and it is very easy for me to turn any foods down.

So I just have to say that I am feeling the beginnings of victory.

(Nominated for a mention on David's post of the day. Wow my fast paced craziness made someone smile.)