Huzzah to all Royals! Still script error free but typin' fast lol.
Wsw that is so neat though hath an iPhone also. I am still learnin' 'bout all the things it can do for me, by far the most complex phone I have had, love it. Know the move will go smoothly for ye. I am also making some changes in my environment, although not moving.
Kaylets, loved the post on mindfulness! Woot! I also love where your sig says: "Today is the day!"
It IS!
Anyhow, yesterday was my birthday and for some reason I posted that on FB because the system didn't and for some reason I proclaimed it was my birthday to all (except here, I guess) and had a really nice uplifting feeling of being supported and that helped me a great deal. Did eat a piece of birthday cake that I bought myself and threw the rest away, but still overdid the calories.
To clarify, I am not doing a marathon, just Pat's Run for the second time in my life. It is only 4.2 miles but I find that challenging as I am going to try to run it all the way but registered as a walker 'cause KNOW I will run/walk.
I've done some 5Ks but not lately. I am a SLOWWWWWW (really, really slow runner/walker/jogger, but have these running dreams lol).
I would like to do longer races as my career is essentially over (s'ok, I know it lol) and I do want to work but not so much. My running dreams are fueled presently by the inspiration of the 101-year-old gent who ran the marathon in Toronto last year. He started running at age 77 to deal with some tragedy in his life and IS an experienced runner but still, well, a marathon at 101 is quite inspiring to me. I think that is awesome!
Queenies! This month is madness, altogether -- and I say this in full awareness that last month was madness. Next month may be sane, still, I must believe.
I'm up at 4 Monday morning for a trip to Boston, landing home around midnight Wednesday. It'll be all meetings and travel, although I hope to be able to sneak out of the hotel for long enough to go for a walk every day. I'll be glad to get back home, I will.
I've been holding my own pretty well with exercise and food. Just picked up Paul McKenna's "I can make you thin" and I know full well it's the way for me to do it. Same thing I've done from time to time over the years -- eat when hungry, not otherwise, stop when you're full, eat what you want (I do find that 99.9% of the time, when I'm hungry what I want is healthy food. Anyway, have started on it and feeling better.
We're going to dinner at the home of our best friend couple tonight. I'd almost rather a quiet night at home but it'll be nice to see them.
Amarantha, Very happy belated birthday to you -- may this be your best year ever.
Congrats on the running, too! I bet if we raced you'd look very fast, though. What an interesting idea, the man who started running to cope with personal tragedy. Marathon at 101 is just amazing.
Kaylets, that's really true, isn't it, that we're changed forever by the death of a loved one. It's like we have to reconfigure ourselves, fill in some spots and change the shape of other ones.
Your TODs and other shared additions are always so helpful, funny, thought-provoking. Thanks for sharing with us!
Anagram
K, just about time to get ready to go. Love to all!
WSW, I'm so glad to hear about your new home. Very wise, I think, to get something that suits you for now instead of staying in the condo until you found "the place." And I'm vicariously delerious about the salon on premises. Jealous! I've got the prettiest shade of pale green polish that's been waiting and waiting for me to summon the will to pedicure.
Just a howdy to all and a royal wave as am out the door to work a meeting tonight.
Still doing C25K training for the race and exercising daily all 'round, countin' calories, but the scale's not budgin' ... have also become verra interested in such topics as intermittent fasting and lower calorie dieting (lower than I usually use). Been playin' around with the fasting at least, not really getting anywhere with very low calorie diets, no mojo for that.
Still, goin' pretty well, but I do have to get to work so huzzah~!
Has anyone noticed we are still on the 2011 thread and t'is 2012!
Woot, the glorious year! I think it is shaping up to be a good one! Bye, royals!
Woosh - I'm glad it's still the 2011 thread as I might not have found y'all otherwise.
Inspirations is what y'all are. Arabella, wish I had been so good over the holidays - though I am back to it pretty well. wsw, glad to hear of your plans. I had been thinking a lot of you and wondering recently as I too have been working on what I should/must do (or should have done earlier )
I found that 101 yr old inspiring too. and amazing. Kaylets, it will get better (somewhat) - it just seems to take such a long time.
finally came to realization of what's been wrong with me. Well, at least partially. I've been having a lot of physical discomfort, new medications, physical therapy, yada, yada, yada. And also more than my share of DRAMA. I'm not much of a person for DRAMA, dislike those who are, etc. And it's all been getting me down.
So now that the light bulb finally went on......I'm hoping I'll be in a better frame of mind and more "me,me, me". that is "taking care of me" kind of me, me, me.
I'm at 198 still but GLAD to be there considering the holiday disasters. Eating healthy again, etc. but need to rein in my reactionary emotions and be my appreciative self again.
Snowed this a.m. (few inches) and neighbors had me cleared out before I really even noticed (appreciate).
Saw 50 year (almost) friend who's in a hospice situation and appreciated that we've had so much time (and we had a few tears).
And, as always, appreciate the Palace residents for always inspiring me to be better.
OKAY, WARNIN' ... LONG AND SELF FOCUSED ME ME POSTIE! Lol!
Moi (just me, one o' my personalities is called Moi, lol, have a lot o' personalities, probably ye royals have noticed!)
Currently Moi hath decided she is once again QUEEN O' THE UNIVERSE! This is a good thing, royals, bear with me. Have lost a lotta mojo since 2010, a lotta friends, a lotta career, a lotta mobility (sadly not a lotta weight lol). Been in a funk! Now startin' to feel royal once again, some mojo be comin' back. After March 25 comes and goes and I reach my first goal for that weight wise (see ticker, which sadly not only hasn't moved much but slid backwards 'cause I gained despite a lotta effort), I am going to be embarking on a short challenge to reach my IDEAL WEIGHT and THEN will be the Queen o' the Universe ... or somethin' ... workin' on the concept lol.
This is Day 55 (counting backwards to March 25, which I have been doing on Facebook for months). Although I have some busy weeks on the one contract job I have left these days, I have no other employment (for now, we're gonna change that or learn to love it, not sure which) and have decided as previously mentioned to RUN a short race (Pat's Run) in April and then proceed to RUN some more. Knees are a problem, though, and getting off every pound I can of the basic 20 I have to lose to go back to my IDEAL WEIGHT (drumroll, spiritual concept, holy grail for Moi) will advance the running cause.
Been spendin' a lot o' this free time doin' that training, just bought a new iPhone app to replace C25K as am gettin' tired o' the run/walk thingie. Rejoined gym as my runnin' pard can't do it for a month.
Learning to be my own best friend and that really, I am all I need.
Hmmm, drama, yea. Often Moi goes on a NO DRAMA kick, posts signs on Facebook that say "NO DRAMA!"
I guess I like drama when it is positive, but have had a bellyful of negative drama in my life in the last two years and so I tell all negative people, places 'n things that I'm not home. I lock the door against them and give the dog a milkbone so she doesn't bark ('fraid SHE's a drama queen).
So, for me, high drama is fine if it is the kind where I am QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE racin' mine aged legs down a country road in the glorious Arizona sunshine and makin' all the young folk envious and finishin' with a nice time (or even a rotten time, don't really care, only care about finishing in races) or the high drama of me gettin' a great retirement career going in a year's time (my bro says never say "retirement" but in my language it means I have a new career I like better than the old one and I do it until I'm 120 and show the world NOT to discriminate or judge people of a certain age).
Okay, done now.
Lol!
Wsw, feel better soon, Angram, glad that drama clarity lightbulb came on for ye and yea, ye gotta take care o' the ME person you are.
I think t'is fantastic that you've maintained so steadily, speakin' as a person who as had a bit o' a rebound.
Wonderin' if ye do yoga, the gentle, restorative kind. It sure helps with the pain and stress. I am so bad about not doing it as consistently as I should, almost as if I am resisting what helps me and what will let me continue to learn to run!
Let's get this palace filled with candles, soft music, fellowship and joy once again, folkettes.
COULD SOMEBODY PLEASE PUT UP A 2012 THREAD LOL!
It is going to be a great year.
It has to be because it is the year we've got and up to us to make it so.
QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE - it sounds like thee are at many a crossroads in your life but I know with your versatility and drive, you will make the right choices.
Nay, so far, to the yoga. Tai chi, pool walking, PT are about all I can manage at the moment. But it was so nice here yesterday I did venture out w/my walking stix for a bit.
wsw - so good to know you are safely ensconced in your new digs. I admire you for the bravery and hope all goes well w/sales of old place and continued search for new.
I too have taken a big step and have a realtor looking into another place for moi. I've been doing homework for years and have a good idea of what I want, need, will accept. Was at bank this a.m. looking into ways to manage to buy w/o first selling so I can be sort of "leisurely" (if there is such a thing) about the transition. Pretty sure I can work all out. Sort of energized by it all as I will need to be to get all accomplished. Have picked up pace of sorting/donating/throwing, etc.
Otherwise, daytime pain under control again. Nighttime discomfort persists at the expense of my sleep. Not good. Went to a nice presentation this a.m. on healthy lifestyle by my female tai chi teacher. Good hints - some, of course, not new but we can always stand to be reminded. I noted (and not for the first time) that I readily drink lots of water when I am eating out and it's such a chore to remember at home. So I have taken a chrystal (or lookalike) water goblet and filled it w/icewater and am going to see if that helps. funny critter I am
Anyway, Royal Greetings to Arabella and Kaylets and all who might wander in to the royal Grounds. Come and stay a while.
Anagram, yea, many crossroads but things are more clear today!
Congratulations on the possibililty of getting new digs. I hear ye on wanting to buy first and have the leisure to transition from the old place more gradually. That actually is something I am looking into for a time in the future.
Glad your day pain is better. Night is hard. I do not have pain, just terminal insomnia lol. I don't mind it, though, as it gives me time to think.
Love thy water tip. My strategy is to buy half of my bottled water in the form of the kind with zero calorie fruit essences already in there. It is delicious but not overly sweet and is not carbonated. I really like it and it gets me into craving the plain water as well.
I had a lot of electrolyte issues when I first moved to AZ and water alone does not help that. Nowadays I also like coconut water a lot, although it does have calories (plain is 60 cals, and the flavored ones are also good and they have more, but they are still a low cal beverage loaded with potassium and other electrolytes). Haven't had any for awhile but when we are back in the heat, I for sure will be turning to that to clear my head.
Greetings likewise to Arabella, Kaylets, Wsw and all other sometimes denizens o' the palace.
Lol, I shall drop the request that we move to 2012, perhaps it is good to have one place to come to where t'is still 2011!
Just a fly-by to all! I'm tied down with deadlines but will manage to get in soon for a real post and also to put up a new thread for 2012 (unless someone else is inspired before I manage.
So cold here today! -32 windchill (about -27 fahrenheit). I'm set up by the big cast iron radiator in the dining room. In my flannel PJs.
I've been holding about the same but had a downer day on V. Day because I found out dear friend has moved to a hospice residence. Didn't sleep much that night either - same reason, I figured out. Had finally been sleeping better. And did again last night. Pain more in control lately.
Tomorrow I'm changing servers (long overdue) and likely will be in cyber **** again unbtil I get more familiar, etc. Since last summer, my techie (non-existent) have been challenged. And I'm sure this will be no different
Rainy, cold here but really, as far as winter goes this year, we've been fortunate so I'm not complaining about that. Complaining about my realtor though. No action. almost unheard of. I do know I was quite specific but I've found one or two on the multi=-list - am trying to decide whether to move on or call her about them. I met her about 4-5 years ago and decided long ago, I'd go with her. Now I'm wondering......Certainly not being pushy, I'd say.
\
Have a good day, all. I'll be back once I've figured enough stuff out that I can do that.
Coming thru a long tunnel again. Still probably in the middle but I sense thngs ares beginning to get lighter. It's been a difficult week. Tueday, the 14th was my 21st wedding anniversary and then yesterday, the 16th marked 14 mos since my husband died.
I had naively thought this Valentine's Day would be easier than last. Very different but definitely not easier.
And, have realized some truths about myself that I never understood.
I am a stress eater. A very much so stress eater. With the white carb, super sugar cravings.
Is it better than drinking? I think so. Better than meds? I don't know.
Naively ( again, I know ....but I have also realized I am a very naive queen) I thought the more people I met who were grieving a spouse, the more I would feel at home. Well, its pretty much saying that the more people we meet who are on fitness plan, the more at home we feel. No, people remain people. Some you connect and some not. And some a very large NOT.
kaylets-sorry to hear you have been going through such a rough time. the recent anniversaries must have been very difficult. know that we are all sending you lots of hugs and good thoughts. your revelations about yourself always inspire me to dig deeper with issues i am dealing with. sure is good to see you in the palace!
anagram-glad to hear pain is under more control now, at least. hope that will be a continuing trend for both day and night time pain. sorry that your good friend is so gravely ill. sure understandable why you had so much trouble sleeping night you heard about friend's worsening situation. sending you hugs and soothing thoughts.
realtor situation must be very annoying, no doubt. hope that situation is improving.
i think i may have found a realtor for my condo, or at very least hopefully will be able to
get a decent referral from her. have appt. to go over to condo to get idea of what i may need to have done to put it in best light for selling at the end of the week.
arabella-hearing cold temps you experienced recently makes me realize i can't complain about winter weather here. it was gorgeous a couple of days ago. today, rained all day and supposed to snow tonight, but otherwise this has been a wonderfully mild winter, for which i am truly grateful.
amarantha-i too have a lot of trouble sleeping. sometimes i can look at it (almost, anyway) as positively as you do, but other times it frustrates me a lot. i want to try and put more of a positive spin on it, though, as you do. actually, when i was getting ready to move, i did use some of that insomnia time for packing and organizing for moving, so maybe i am going in that direction more than i realize. when you had mentioned in one of your posts that you were learning to be your own best friend, i thought that sounded so cool. i am definitely not too great at that, but am working on it, at least.
have to say that i am glad i moved to this transitional apartment before trying to sell condo. granted, don't like the idea of having to move again even in near future, but it so much better living in area where i will be looking for more permanent digs. the apartment is very nice, and the view is just incredible. i like this layout too--very little wasted space, and it flows nicely from one room to the other. view of the woods from den, living room, and bedroom is so calming and peaceful. i definitely made a good choice by getting out of my condo and coming here for my transition in to the area. i had a bad chest cold the past few weeks which did not want to go away, but i am starting to feel better now. i unpacked my last box yesterday, and that felt marvelous! i was pleased to see that i did weed out unecessary stuff well, and my furniture fits well in here and looks nice.
food plan getting more and more on a good track, and it is feeling good. i am writing down what i am eating again, which is helpful for me, but something that i drop by the roadside all too often. here's to more consistency with what works. well, dearest royals, i am thinking of you one and all.
Huzzah, Royals! So great to find all the posties here!
Since last I posted things have settled down and I am doin' verra well and am on the march to my goal weight of 127 pounds. I have started just sayin' the number but for a number o' years I never posted my exact weight, having lost over 17 years a total o' more than 100. In 2010 I did go through a bad time and lost down to way less than 127 but then fluctuated and regained and now really have settled on that number as my IDEAL WEIGHT! Woot! I am going to try to put up a ticker here.
Sorry for the lack o' personal replies. Brain is a little fried.
Can't wait to see the new thread when ye put it up Arabella or if someone gets inspired, as ye say.
amarantha-glad to hear things have settled down and that you are doing very well, and on your way to your ideal weight! wow! you are such an inspiration.
this past year i went in the absolute opposite direction of mine, but am feeling more and more like i am back on solid footing once again. it sure took a while to get back on track with a sensible food plan but i learned some valuable lessons from having gone astray, and hopefully will use this knowledge to move forward and not get stuck in the "if only i had kept going on down, i would be at goal by now." that kind of thinking can get me stuck and keep me stuck, and i do not want to treat myself badly by going there. been there, done that, all too often in past. i want to treat myself well, and in light of that, i decided i would plan a birthday party. (ugh! i will be 59 in a couple of weeks.) i even checked out a restaurant that has really good, healthy and yummy food which does catering, and i may even treat myself to getting the food from there. it will be a small gathering, i think, and i thought it might be fun to not have to cook or to not ask folks to bring things for a a pot luck, which i often do for gatherings since i don't really like to cook. i tried out a couple of possible dates with a couple friends, and i am getting closer to firming things up. it can't be on my actual birthday because it is on a weekend, and most folks i know usually go away on weekends, but i think it will work out so that it will fall within my birthday week, anyway. it sounds so dorky, but for me, this is an accomplishment to plan a party that really is about my birthday. i think unpacking my final box the other day has made me a little delirious and now i want to show off all my hard work of putting my apartment together.
i had put music on my iphone recently, and never had an ipod before, so this is all new to me. now i can see what all the fuss was about! lol! i was listening to a lot of my music the other day on my iphone and thinking, wow someone has good and varied taste in music and then i realized that i had picked out this music. ah, modern technology! i am continuing to try to brave it on in to the 21st century one baby step at a time.
well, greetings to all our dear royals. thinking of you all.
Kaylets, I think stress eating or any eating disorder is WAY better than drinking, not that I'm opposed to alcohol use, but stress drinking IMO would be far more harmful to the bod. Stress eating is also harmful, or, I guess, my favorite thing of binge eating on work days sometimes, but think it is easier to recover from. Sorry you are having a rough time. I love seeing thy avatar when I come on here.
Same goeth for all the royals here, love seeing you!
Wsw, glad you are in a place that serves as a good transition for you right now. Woot!
Re the iPhone, I never had one either until a few months ago. I had an look-alike MP3 player and actually a lot of MP3 players, but longed for an iPod Touch and am SO glad I didn't get it because when I got the iPhone I realized that IS the iPod Touch fitness machine of my dreams, plus Siri plus, incidentally, a phone for work and talking to people. Since I now only work part-time at a slightly different career (similar) that doesn't require much talking to people, I find I have lost a lot of interest in phones and use the iPhone mostly for diet and fitness, goddess oracle cards, and, yes, work when I need it. I LOVE that thing. I did have a lot of trouble with having iTunes on the computer as I work with a lot of digital recordings (for work lol) and it messed everything up but I eventually figured it all out.
I use the MyNetDiary app on the phone and also paid a premium to get the best version of the web site to back it up. Not sure the premium version is any different than the free version but I really like the app and want the site as backup. I LOVE that app lol. I have the phone with me all the time and don't forget to log anything.
But they have a zillion diet apps and I pretty much tried them all before I got this one. I used to have a BlackBerry (loved it, it sits there unworking on my shelf) but it had nowhere the sophistication of the iPhone.
So, as you can tell, I'm a newish iPhone person myself and we have that in common, dear wsw! Woot!
Gotta go, royal ones, have a little flu bug today, hasn't stopped it from being a GLORIOUS day!
Queenies! This month is madness, altogether -- and I say this in full awareness that last month was madness. Next month may be sane, still, I must believe. 
Very happy belated birthday to you -- may this be your best year ever. 
)
