Hey everyone
Guess what I've been doing today! Even though we had some snow (yes, snow!) last weekend, the weather seems to be headed straight to summer now. I decided it was finally safe to buy my tomato plants! We chose 4 varieties, but the new ones we bought a single, larger plant. I love Roma tomatoes, but they carry a newer hybrid at our local nursery, and it worked very well for me last year. They make terrific salsa, plus I chop them up for omelettes and all sorts of other dishes. The others are an early girl, a heatwave and a cherry type tomato called a SuperSweet 100. The name alone made me giggle. Just in case the weather turns on us again, I only have them transplanted into larger pots at this time so they can come in for the night. I normally buy the really small plants, so the larger ones feel a bit like I'm cheating. I'll find a way to get over it. Probably will have something to do with eating those first tomatoes that are already growing on them.
I'm almost over the nasty leftovers of this cold or whatever it was. I woke up this morning feeling ready to get back to everything, especially my workout, but my lungs still weren't quite up to the job. After hacking for a while, my back was all knotted up, and it felt like I was going to pull a muscle if I moved too quickly. Blah! Still, I checked with Tony, and we both think it is ok for me to be back on my food plan. I'm also going to go on a good walk this afternoon as long as the wind stays down.
I tried really hard to get my measurements taken this morning, but the lady I like to do mine at Curves was out right then. I do have a starting weight, and I'll get with her tomorrow. No point in stressing over it or using that as an excuse to wait another day to start back on my food plan. I doubt my inches would change that much after one day.
Tricia, I was so sad to read your frustrated post about that lousy picture. My first impulse was to tell you to get all dolled up, makeup, hair, your favorite outfit, etc., and to get out a digital camera. Step in front of the largest mirror you have in the house and take a picture of yourself! Take several, in fact. I bet the other picture just caught you wrong. You've seen pictures on tabloid covers that catch gorgeous stars and models in rotten lighting or some odd pose that makes them look 20 years older and too thin or too fat. A camera might not lie, but it isn't always telling the truth either.
Anyway, that advice is probably far too late, because it sounds like you are rather on top of things again. Still, it might be fun to do, and you can look at the pics again when you are fitting those size 10 jeans comfortably. Right now I have a total love/hate relationship going on with older pictures of myself. I love to see how far I've come, but it makes me sad to know I was there in the first place. Oh, and the bad bf/bathroom scale analogy was so dead on! I still need to find a way to make a clean break with mine.
Gloria, ouch about the ribs! Are you sure you shouldn't be checked by a doctor? I hope it doesn't keep you off old blue, because I love those stories.
The story about you and Carl meeting and marrying just made me smile. You two were really meant for each other.
BarbG, good to see you! How is every little thing?
Lucky, I think I pretty much know just how you feel. I feel like all my spring got put on hold because of this dumb chest cold. Still, glad to hear you are doing better. I'm really embarrassed I missed your birthday. Happy Belated! Oh! Almost forgot to ask. What do you think of cowboys? I mean the real thing. I have to find a way to get you in this part of the country to meet this great man who runs our equine therapy at the school. I swear, he can do everything. He even bakes his own bread! You planning a trip to Vegas soon?
Kat, sounds like you've hit the post vacation busies bad! Hope it all settles down soon, because I miss reading your posts (yeah, like I can say anything here).
Chelsea, you feeling any better yet? You were writing really regularly, so the silence has me a bit worried.
Thought I'd close this by sharing the piece I wrote for the paper this month. It isn't my best technical writing, but it does come from the heart. Just sharing some of who I am with you.
Time ticks away, as time will. It is already the middle of April, and the year is a third of the way over. The year past seems a distant memory. So much has occurred, so many things have changed, and yet, so many have stayed the same.
I was looking through some pictures of my girls, the pictures just a few years old, and I was amazed at how much my children have changed in such a relatively short time. Time appears to have stolen my babies away and left a teenager and a soon to be tween instead. In another five years, my eldest will probably be off to college, and another five from that, I could reasonably be a grandmother. It all seems so distant and yet imminent.
Time passes, and with each waking hour, precious moments are gone beyond a point where they can be reached again. Although the temptation is to dwell in the past, we are forced to live in the present and to face a potential future with an open heart and hopefully open mind. There is nothing less inevitable than a new day dawning. The choice is left to us as to how we will greet that day.
These thoughts surface as I recall a recent image of coming home from work early in the morning and finding my two girls lying asleep in my bed. Their precious faces appeared soft and angelic in the morning light, and they looked so peaceful beneath my blankets. Watching their quiet slumber, it was hard to remember the previous week of runny noses and hacking coughs as they fought their way through a nasty chest cold. Those thoughts slid away as I realized sadly that moments like these would become few and far between in the years to come.
I fought the impulse to slip into the room and wake them, just to hold their blanket warm bodies close. It was a selfish impulse, and they needed their rest. They would wake soon enough on their own. No need to rush things. Time cannot be forced, she moves as she will.
As much as the reality of this strikes me, it also settles in that there are no guarantees. My hopes and dreams might just be that, and everything can change in an instant. Somehow, this doesn’t stop me from wanting to look forward, into a future pregnant with possibility. My heart grows warm and my step feels lighter. I can face the new day without fear and embrace my future as being another day closer.
Take care all, and have a great day!
Andria