Found the sovereignty story :)

Excerpt from Inner Peace for Busy Women: Balancing Work, Family, and Your Inner Life by Joan Z. Borysenko
"The parable was written in the mid-1400s, and it’s called The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell. Allow me to paraphrase it for you:

One day King Arthur was out hunting. He’d just killed a stag with his mighty bow, when a menacing knight emerged from the bushes. The knight, Sir Gomer Somer, accused King Arthur of taking his lands and giving them to Sir Gawain, one of the Knights of the Round Table. Sir Gomer Somer was in full armor and outfitted for the kill, but the rules of knightly conduct prevented him from slaying the unarmored king. Instead, he offered Arthur a deal: “Come back here just as you are, 12 months exactly from this day, and if you give me the correct answer to this question—‘What does a woman want?’—I’ll spare your life. Otherwise, I’ll cut off your head.”

By knightly rules of chivalry, King Arthur had no recourse but to accept the challenge. He rode back to the castle perplexed and sorrowful, but his good friend, Sir Gawain, pledged his help. They decided to ride out in different directions and ask every man and woman they met the answer to the question. All the answers were recorded in books each man kept, which quickly grew very large. Some people thought that women wanted beautiful clothes. Others talked of marriage, courtship, or lusty affairs. By this time, 11 months had passed. King Arthur was getting desperate, for he knew in his heart that he and Gawain had not found the correct answer.

He decided to seek wisdom in the heart of Inglewood Forest, where he had a strange and distressing encounter with the ugliest woman he’d ever seen. She was truly a hideous marvel—with a nose running streams of snot, a mouth full of snaggleteeth as big as a boar’s, filmy eyes that bulged like balls, a hunchback, shoulders as large as boulders, a body like a giant barrel, hair like a bird’s nest, and breasts that the author describes as being a load for a horse. There were simply no words sufficient to describe how repellent she appeared. Yet this ugly woman sat upon a horse fitted out with gold and jewels, a mount suitable for a queen.

With utmost confidence, she introduced herself as Dame Ragnell. She knew every detail of Arthur’s quest, and of his sure death if he failed to answer the question of what women truly wanted. She offered the king a difficult bargain. She was willing to tell him the answer to the question and stop his head from rolling. But in return, she wanted the handsome, courtly, chivalrous, morally upright, and absolutely sterling-in-every-way Sir Gawain as a husband. King Arthur was horrified for his friend, but agreed to put the bargain to him and return with an answer.

Arthur described the strange encounter to Gawain, thinking that he’d be better off killing himself than consigning his friend to such a terrible fate as marrying the hideous Dame Ragnell. But Gawain was the soul of knightly virtue. He knew that almost a year of asking the question, “What does a woman want?” hadn’t yielded the correct answer. The chivalrous knight insisted that he would marry the hag to get the answer and save the king’s life.

In just a few days, King Arthur was due to meet Sir Gomer Somer. He’d either have an answer to the vexing question, or he’d surely lose his head. On the way to the fateful meeting with his destiny, Dame Ragnell was waiting for him in the woods as promised. When she’d been assured that Sir Gawain would take her for his bride, she answered the question. It isn’t beauty, pleasure, sex, or many husbands that women desire, she explained. We want to be seen as fresh and young, as innocent. But more than that, what women really want is sovereignty—we want the same mastery over ourselves, and in our relationships with men, as a knight has in all his affairs.

King Arthur rode on to his appointed meeting with Sir Gomer Somer, who was eagerly waiting to hear the wrong answer and cut off his head. The king pulled out the two books that he and Gawain had compiled. Gomer laughed, and pronounced the king a dead man. But then Arthur revealed that he had the one, true answer: A woman wants sovereignty.

Sir Gomer Somer was incensed. “You’ve been talking to my sister, that hideous hag Ragnell! She’s told you the truth,” he sputtered. And on that disappointed and angry note, he let King Arthur go.

The king rode off, and soon met Dame Ragnell along the way. She was ready to claim the handsome Gawain as her prize. Arthur and the hag rode back to Camelot, and into court side by side. He was ashamed and humiliated to be seen with such a hideous creature, but she was ashamed before no one. Everyone in the court craned their necks to see the awful hag with rheumy eyeballs and teeth pointing in different directions, with lips that lay like lumps upon her chin, and moles with sturdy hairs protruding. Gawain came straight out to meet them, and true to his word, pledged his troth to the ugliest woman on earth. Queen Guinevere and all the ladies of the court took one look at her and wept for the good Gawain. The other knights were horrified to hear that he would be married to the unspeakably foul creature.

The ladies of the court suggested a quiet, private wedding to Dame Ragnell, to spare her the embarrassment of making a public spectacle of herself. But she wouldn’t hear of it. She wanted to be married at a High Mass with the full court in attendance. Dressed in finery that would have put Guinevere to shame, she became a bride. After the wedding, there was a big feast, and Dame Ragnell sat at the head of the table, rudely devouring everything in sight like a pig at a feeding trough. She ate like an entire army of men, using her three-inch long fingernails to carve her meat. The sight was so disgusting that no one would sit near her.

After the feast, the bride and groom retired to their chambers—horror of horrors—to consummate the union. “Will you kiss me, husband?” Ragnell asked Gawain, brushing bits of meat out of her hair and off her bulbous lips.

“I will do more than that, my wife,” Gawain promised. But when he turned around to reach out for her . . . there was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

“What are you?” he asked, in whispered bewilderment.

Dame Ragnell told the story of how her wicked stepmother had cast a spell on her. She was her beautiful self by night and an ugly hag by day. She gave Gawain a choice. If he wished, she could be ugly at night and beautiful by day when other people could see her. Or she could be ugly for others by day, and beautiful for her husband between the sheets at night. “Choose what’s most important for your honor,” she told him.

Gawain thought for a while, and finally replied that he couldn’t choose. It was her body, her life, her own choice, and none other’s. This he swore before God.

Dame Ragnell replied that he was the best and most blessed of all knights. By giving her sovereignty, Gawain had broken the spell that her wicked stepmother had cursed her with years before. Now she could be beautiful all the time.

But that’s not the end of the story. Gawain loved, honored, and cherished his wife; and together they had a son who grew up to become a Knight of the Round Table. But after five years, Dame Ragnell, the most beautiful woman in all of Britain, left her husband. Where she went and what she did is a story that’s never been told. But when we have sovereignty over ourselves, we’re free to follow the guidance from within, and to create a life that breaks the mold—even if that means that we don’t live out what other people may think of as a fairy-tale ending."

Not sure how to follow that Meadow. Two posts with great wisdom in the lines. Thank you for posting them. I have been to the place in the bottom of the well, it is not something I ever wish to go back to.

So it's Friday again here and that means running at the gym. I decided to take some of DS1 advice and raise the heart rate only to the point where I knew it was doubled or near enough - a bit more, a bit less maybe and the sweat began. For the last 5 minutes I bounced the speed up and down and got up to 9.8 speed for a very short while. This means I ran for 35 minutes - wow to think that near enough 8 months ago I could run only 1 minute before I felt I was about to die. :faint: :faint: So thats the 4th hour for this week and tomorrow will be the last with the Body Balance class. Sunday is a day of rest!!!

The sodium from the Thai dinner has shown up on the scales and in the wrists and ankles. Bah humbug. However I'll not get scratchy about it and just keep glugging the water and eating well. Cyan in the journals said that she goes for the red and green curries and they don't have the dark sauce over them, but they do have coconut cream in them. Six of one, half dozen of the other I think. One has more calories, one has more salt.

Went to bed last night with a sore throat. Again bah humbug. I think it is due to the sinus' tho and not the flu which I am told is laying half of Brisbane low. So today will be be kind to throat day and lots of sinus medication to to to stave off any bug lurking in my direction.

Good photos there Teel. Love those horses - the blokes didn't look too bad either - hee hee. That should get Mel going. You were going to post the photo of me at Colman's and in fact you did, but the old computer would not open them. So if you want to send them again - try sending them as a jpeg, I'll have another go. If it is a bit out of focus, who cares - I might look better out of focus. Japan Chris is still swanning around Germany and France as far as I know. I haven't heard from her, but I think she is away for about 3 weeks.

Time to face the day ladies. That list doesn't seem to be getting any shorter.

Okay, when progress comes here it comes fast and furious. Yesterday DS2 came home early. I had been to the local hardware store and got the timber required for the engineering feat around the bath and it got done, sealed, screwed and ready for tiles which I will do today or tomorrow depending on whether I get to feel better or not. Then last night the vanity went in. DS and friend and I got it in and drilled holes for pipes etc and there it is all secure. Here's a couple of photos.

Sore throat still there and getting worse and the nose and head hurt as well so some medication is needed today. Which is probably why the tiling will not get done until tomorrow as the smell will probably kill me off. Silicone has a sharp acidic vinegary smell. Not unpleasant but not good for the sinus either.

Not much else to report. We've been shopping for a new vanity for the new house today. Just a cheapie but it looks okay and will stand out like a sore toe in the old bathroom, but was necessary. New mixer tap for the vanity as well. I'm not going to Body Balance as little brother arrived around the time I should have been making tracks. Such is life.

Hope everyone is having as good a day as possible, I'll catch up again later.

I have not read anyone but Shad's post. It's already near 8PM and I am not near ready for bed! I'll read and post tomorrow.

I wanted to share here as well as the journal that I FINALLY GOT MY NEW WHEELCHAIR!!! It feels like a recliner on wheels and the seat cushion is just right! Carlos did a great job picking this one and the dimensions are perfect!!! There were a few mistakes that will be rectified on Monday and I won't bore all of you with the details! LOL I could not be happier. The office threw a pizza party. so I did not have an On Plan day needless to say but a joyful one. Wish I could have shared it with all of you!!! I thought of each of you when riding around the block with a Maintenance man in tow! :lol: They were afraid to let me go alone on my solo run!!! :rofl:

Hope you all had a great day. Mine was a perfect ending for a very exhausting week and 1/2:faint: The stress has seemed to just disappear and for that I am thankful. Lessons for me are coming harder and faster and I'm not sure why but I feel the need to be prepared! :rofl: I feel like I am finishing up my BA degree in
Life 101.:rofl:

Have a wonderful weekend and take care. Be back when I am more rested! LOL Sweet dreams chicks and good Morning Miss Sunshine!!!!!

Interesting posts you make there Meadow. There is a lead in to the opening of the Dr. Phil show in which he says to a guest "I want you to get excited about your life". So often I have thought of that and that the idea of being excited about my life is a totally foreign concept. Lately I find myself in quite the dark mood and then I chastise myself because I don't deserve to feel in a black mood. Others have it much harder than I do or have more reason to feel depressed. Perhaps my "well" is dry, there is both uncertainty in the future and an imbalance in life. Too be expected as I am at a cross roads - age wise, career wise, financially. Probably the biggest change I have ever faced as all things come together at once.

Honestly, I do worry about taking a regular job again. One that involves 2 to 3 hours of commuting a day. Getting up even groggier than ever at 5am with perhaps only 4 hours of sleep a night if you can call it that. Leaving the house at 7 or 7:30am, fighting traffic, getting pounded on the job, turning around and coming home exhausted at 6:30 or 7pm. Trying to fit in planning the meals, cooking them, exercise, dieting, housework, schoolwork, and a bit of time for myself to relax and unwind. Now this is no different than most of the population does every day so it is not a burden particular to me (hence the feeling guilty about whining about it). I just know that the less time I have for myself, the more resentful I am of those things I have to do that rob time from me. The important thing I suppose is to remain on a positive mindset and as Meadow's story suggests, make sure your "well" is full and healthy. Be creative, find ways to get the right things in that make you feel good.

Thank you Mel for your good thoughts - must have helped as I had a very good interview yesterday. I think I'm a good fit for what they are looking for - personality wise and with my past experience. It will be a killer management job again - adult day care coordinator as DH would describe it. But I could do the job. It's a longer drive than I'd care to do but now a days you can't be picky. I hope that I will be considered as a candidate for the second round of interviewees in 2 weeks. I also have an out of town interview on the 23rd. Spent all last night trying to find a good bargain in airfare, hotels and a car as DH will travel with me for the weekend so we can scope out the area. I am reserving judgement on the possibility of having to pull up stakes, sell the house and move away from the only area I ever knew. But then I listen to Nae describe her part of the country and I wonder what exactly I am missing by sticking it out right here. Biggest lure here tho to be honest is my mom. While I don't see her in person alot we do talk all the time on the phone - DH said we can do that no matter where. But being 25 miles away and being 2,500 miles away is a big difference when it's in your face...

Anyway, last night was tied up and it was almost 2am before I got to bed. All trip plans are finalized, just didn't get to check in with you ladies.

Shad, the bath is coming along quite nicely. I love the dark blue color of the accent tile. Will you have a nice shelf along the tub area for candles, a nice glass of wine, relaxing music and a nice, destressing tub soak once done? What will you do with all your free time once all the home remodeling is done? Start on DS1's new home? Hope you are feeling better - make a nice cup of honey lemon tea to sooth the throat. Isn't it odd, you are not travelling, exposed to perhaps fewer germs yet you still seem to have caught the traditional winter cold?

Mel, I am so excited for you and your new chair - all comfy, cozy, working properly and just what you should have gotten the first time around? Yay!!!!!!!! Wish I could be near you, I would ride beside you on the bike and we could both have brightly colored streamers. I'd buy you a cool bell for the chair although I think we'd have more fun if we installed one of those truck air horns instead for those intending to get in the way of a woman on a mission like yourself :yikes: As for lessons in life lately, sometimes we are more receptive than resistant or in denial. You are in a position to analyze, absorb and move forward. Grow little flower...

Linus, hope you are feeling better. Describe the bolt you need, I will search in the basement - DH has great piles of all sorts of things I have no idea what to do with, maybe he has just what you need and I'll be happy to get a little more junk out of the house.

Had pizza with friends tonight. It was nice to get out. It's August 6th already, summer is just about over and that makes me sad. I don't mind fall and all it's colorful beauty but none of us want to see the snow and winter come along. 7 months out of the year have passed already - where does the time fly to?

At least tomorrow is the start of a fresh new weekend with glorious weather. Enjoy yours and I will too.

:coffee: Hello! 'Tis me on a beautiful English summers day and yes it is Saturday which means week 2 of the challenge has just begun with the weigh-in! I am so stupid that I had forgotten what my forst weight was and have just ploughed throiugh to last weeks post to find what I wrote. :o I had written 79.4kg today I am about to write...(drum roll insert here!) 77.9kg !! :D :D :D Yee haa!! :spin: :strong: :smug: :dancer: :dance: :twirly: :cheers: (with diet coke please!) :lol3: So at least something is going right this week. In this respect anyway!

Anyway this is a mega short post to let you know the news and I will return later with a proper post. Bye bye... :wave: :wave:

Hooray Teel, that is so wonderful on your weight loss for the week! :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:

Having just read back two pages! :faint: I am ready to comment! :rofl:
Teel~ How can I tell you how happy I am for you and the scale reading!!!! Congratulations Friend!!! Wonderful job!!! :cb: :cb:
Very nicely done in a short period of time!!! Wonderful news!!
Hope you and the meds are doing OK too! HUgs for you!!

Shad~~ Great bathroom pics as I said in the journal!!! Hope the vanity is accessible too! :rofl: Never know where this wheelchair will be found now!!! LOL I come complete with reclining si it's have bed will travel for me now!! :rofl: Hope the throat is much improved and rest!! I like you're plant a tree idea for Nae and may try that myself. But I think I will keep the secret to myself if I do. Not in the mood for "their" platitudes now he is gone. Thanks for the idea!:) Let the ex find you a JOB!!! Never mind what he wants! :rofl: Tell him to make himself useful!!! Better yet, give him my phone # and I'll straighten him out!! :rofl:
Good luck with the vanity and cv's!!

Linus~ I'm with Connor and the jammies!!! Jammies forever!!! I live in my flannel nighties all year round! :rofl: We must be kindred spirits!! Loved the 12 girls at the door story! :faint: :lol3:
Hope you are much better too. Thanks for bewing so sweet too.

Happy~ Thanks for the good thoughts too. They worked for me as well. Glad the interview was a good one. wish you could come and manage this lot over here! 100 of them!! Pay is poor $000000000!
But there are benefits in smiles and happy faces I guess! :lol:
I liked the Court Jester and think I may apply!! I seem to be part Jester over here!! I even think this lot may be the COURT!!! :lol3: :rofl: :lol: good luck and good thoughts to you for the other "views"!!!! Fingers are crossed!! Toes too!!!
I also like Dr Phil's comment and I do get excited about my life from time to time but then I am just an excitable person! :lol:
Why pray tell, were you tied up till 2 in the morning??? Did the ropes leave marks on your poor body or were they velvet lined????
Hmmmmm.....wonder if the DH was involved and if not.....where the **** was he! :rofl:

Meadow~~ Loved the stories etc. I am in the course of one day from a 10 to a 1 and back to a 10!!! me thinks I may be manic depressive!!!! I know the "mommy" syndrome very well. Many years I did not even know who MELODY was?!?!?!? Still on the quest to find the real me!!

last but not by far least....Miss Nae~ Thanks for the good thoughts also. I love how your way of life enters into your thoughts. I hope they are as relaxing to you at times as they are to me. I can almost feel the woods and see the creatures and smell the fresh air! Your skies must be wonderful too! all that blue and fluffy cloud look. That's what my dreams are made of! As well as everyone else's gardens!! Peace and Joy be with you while all this is going on.

Well Chicks.....I woke at 5am and found the lovely chair here still so it wasn't a dream!! The new cjhair is really here and I don't have to pinch myself any more today! :rofl: It feels great, my back is great and I may sleep in it!!! :rofl: I have lost half a day already but I needed a slower start. I allowed myself to get frazzled this week and needed some TLC from my friends and MYSELF!!! LOL Getting back into the NOPE challenge and cooking are my main objectives this weekend. Maybe some flylady whizzing about the house too!!! Have a wonderful weekend everyone and be well!

And about bloomin' time to that Miss Pink Sandal Mel has her new chair!!
:D :spin: :cp: :dance: :dance: :dancer: :cb:
Thank goodness for that, you have waited long enough,my friend. Glad it is up to your wildest expectations and I hope you get many happy wheelspins out of it!! Flannel pj's? In the summer? :flame: :hot: :hot: Good Heavens, Mel, I would expire...I turf everything off as the nights heat up, hee hee!Blow any peeping toms that suffer with a heart attack, they shouldn't have ever been peeping in the first place :lol3:
Today I have spent from lunchtime till about 18:45hrs with my friend in Mildenhall. She is doing ok at the moment, not so overtly depressed but I know it is early days. She had organised lunch...rolls, barbeque chicken (oh polish my halo I gave 90% of the skin to my hound, just had a tiny taster!), waldorf salad, coleslaw, cucumber and the biggest on the vine tomatoes I had ever set eyes upon. Desert was fruit salad and yoghurt and a Shapers "mint inside covered with chocolate...44 cals each" biscuit.
We also drank one glass each of Pimms & Lemonade....were just about to have an afternoon doze when Holly barked and woke us both up with pounding hearts...hopnestly sometimes I wonder whether Holly is a little dangerous for my heart condition!
Dinner tonight was a microwaveable Chicken Pad Thai; 540 cals, 18g fat and 65.7 carbs. I don't think I would bother buying it again as it was a bit too sloppy and bland for my taste. Perhaps I should have put some sweet chilli sauce in it to liven it up a bit :devil: :lol:
Here's to week 2 of the 4 week challenge. Happy, how are you doing? ;)

Geez, the thread is sounding great at the moment. Theres lots of congratulations all round.
First, Miss Teel. Wow!!!! what a great loss. Just goes to show what you can do when you put your mind to it. I'm pleased for you my friend. That Pad Thai doesn't sound like much tho. And watch the salt in those meals. I had a tv dinner last night that was low in cals, fat (and taste) but the sodium content was terrible considering what the meal was supposed to be. And even worse it didn't taste salty. It didn't taste like anything actually.
Happy, I am so pleased your interview went well. It's so good to get one under your belt. It not only gives you the good vibes but it also makes you realise you can do this thing. Good luck for the next one as well - are you flying out west or east for that one?
Throat feels much better today and so does the nose for that matter, which is all good. My friend Chris from down the road and round the corner has won a couple of tickets to the AFL football game today. Priviledge seats no less. Since her husband and son are away in Sydney playing hockey she has invited me. I'm not great in the crowds but once in a while is okay. We have no clues about what goes on and I don't know the rules of the game, but hey, no doubt we will have some fun. DS2 has explained some of the game to me from time to time as he follows it and has a season ticket for the home games - but as far as I can make out, the main rule for the players is to get to the designated playing ground on time. Anyway, that's where I will be from around midday on. Cheering and groaning and yelling at the referee along with 30000 others. Lemme think now - how about 'want me to lend you the guide dog - ref????'
Time for 'Nae to check in again with tales of the cheek critturs I think - come on Nae. Inquiring minds need to know.
Morning to Linus and Meadow as well. Hope all is okay Linus. You are not up the ladder wallpapering again are you???? Get off it now - y'hear.
:coffee: :coffee: :coffee: is finished, time to move on to the day.

Teel~ You brightened the day!!! Thanks for the sign!!! LOLOLOL
I have been so happy, as you must know, that it's hard for me to get out of it at night for bed!!! :rofl: I shudder to think what people used to do before motorized chairs came into existance! :yikes: :faint: You sound like a grand time was had by all!! Good for you! We all need more fun in our lives! :lol: I am still so happy for your LOSS!!!

Shad~ Hope the refs are still alive and not all banged up and bruised from you and Chris!! A day away from the "LOO" is a good thing!!! Let's you know there is still life outside that small box!!! Actually it looked rather large! :lol: And lovely!

Happy Sunday Worldly Chicklettes. Sweet dreams Miss Shad!

Hearty congratulations Teel, losing is what we are all trying to get to and you are doing it with fabulous success, well done. :goodvibes

Wonderful news that Mel is enjoying her luxury coach and is travelling in comfort and ease. About time this came to be for you, glad you can savour it finally :flow2:

Hey Shad your renovations look very professional, you really have a talent. Maybe you could use a mask while you are doing some of the dustier, toxic fumes stuff so that you don't aggravate your throat. Breathing in dust is terrible for your sinuses and the rest. Take care of yourself during all this.

Happy you certainly have a lot going on. Flying off to an interview that could change your entire life, location, very exciting. I hope that it is a positive experience for you. Remember to smile and just stay open. You never know what their hidden agenda is in finding an employee (there always is one) you might be the first one to show so enthusiasm about the growth of the company or know a fact that will impress. If you can do some research about the company's background by doing some googling, it all helps in the interview. :D You asked what kippers are, they are a smoked fish, herring. I usually have half the can, which is about 125 calories for a snack, sometimes I give the rest to the dog or put it in the fridge for later. The protien is a great pick me up and you don't feel hungry for hours. I have always been a sucker for herring, it was a jar of pickled herring that turned me into a lapsed vegetarian after two years. :smug:

I have joined an online walking club, I walked once around the block with my kids and the dog two days ago and haven't been out for a walk since. I will in the future though only take one companion with me either the dog or the kids both was just incredibly frantic, between picking up after the dog and watching that the kids didn't frolic into the roadway... once was enough in that combination of walking buddies. I am just trying to get something going to make me move. Walking is an easy one and I can do it anywhere...

Morning all, and it is a holiday morning in our area. I forgot all about it and rushed off down to the gym as per normal day only to hear the radio dj talk about some of us having a holiday. Duh oh!!! That's right the gym doesn't open till 8.00am Just call me Barbie.
Yesterday's footy, well lets say that it looks a great deal more exciting on tv. Except of course that you don't have idiots spilling beer down the stadium steps and waving flags in your ear. Amazingly enough the crowd was very well behaved, better than some other football codes I've been to over the years although it's been such a long time since I've been to a match that crowd control has probably become more sophisticated and given the fact that one has to go down 50 odd steps and out to the crush at the beer stand, get served and out of the crush with beer intact before tackling the steps again, maybe it is no wonder there is less trouble. Besides which, your typical Aussie male will whinge flat out at the fact that his beer is not 2 degrees above freezing and not cheap (the first is most important). So they don't drink much at the footy anymore.

Last week was the first where I didn't eat bread (except for Saturday) and I find the results in favour of carrying the practice on. Much as I love bread I am obviously eating too much of it. So I will have to find ways and means around it. The first three days of the week, the weight went down (dramatically for me) then I had baked potatoes on the Thursday (admittedly too much) and up it went again, just as dramatically. Saturday was holding steady, and today it is down again even though I had spuds last night for dinner. So it appears only a couple of slices of bread per week, and potatoes or carrots a couple of times per week but not the same time as bread and I may show some loss over the month. Worth having a go and lets hope it is some sort of breakthrough for me. Bah humbug - now I have to let go of some of my favourite and filling foods.
Still no Linus - I hope she is okay. She has enough health problems to deal with, without getting virus' etc.

Think it is time I was out of here and off to the gym again. Then I had better talk to some temporary agencies about getting data entry work or something.

LINUS!! Suffolk calling LINUS! Where are youuuu? :genie: :genie: :mag: :mag: I hope you are ok and perhaps just lurking at the moment or is that computer down for some reason...please call in...
We have just had a thunderstorm this morning so hopefully the air will feel a little cooler now. I have been sitting drinking my morning coffee :coffee: watching a blackbird taking shelter underneath a parked car!! :lol: Clever old thing.
Holly is asleep underneath the open window...trying to make up for last night I guess...she started barking at the front garden and I thought !uh oh I 'spect it's a heggie" and I shone the torch and this big hedgehog scuttled away across the stones as fast as it's little legs could carry him, Quite noisy in the dead of the night running across the stones.. :lol:
MEADOW nice to see you here again. Thanks for the good wishes! But don't be too congratulatory...I haven't lost a single pound for months. :( My fault I know. I have not been concentrating on the task in hand lately. :sorry:
SHAD I wonder whether the bread fast will make a difference? I was told once that different makees of bread are either fine to eat or not so fine! Apparently French Bread (as in French sticks or petit pain) have something in the mixture that makes them ultra high in carbohydrates.. :chin: :rolleyes: :lol3: :lol3: at your story about beer at the footie! So funny! Were you supporting one particular team? Or just there to enjoy the drama unfolding before your eyes!!!
HAPPY how is the cycling coming along? I have just re-read your post and I can imagine you installing a truck air horn on your handlebars!!! :fr: :fr: That would make sure for safe travel! There wouldn't be a single vehicle left on the road...or pedestrian, for that matter!!:yikes: :rofl: :rofl: :lol3: :lol3: Thinking about you as the second round of interview draws ever nearer. You are possible having to decided on a life changing direction, my friend and I wish you all the courage and good cheer that you may need. It will be worrying about being so far from your mother after being so near...but, dare I say it, there is always an aeroplane for those long weekend breaks and emergencies that may arise..and iot is true...there is this new invention ...it is called a "telephone!"..hee hee! :devil: :devil: Anyway, I am not making light of your need or anxieties....just want to make you smile...loads of angels to your side over these coming weeks... :angel: :angel: :angel:
MEL come in Mel, you will wear those new wheels of yours out!! :D Now don't get too overtired zooming here, there and everywhere. See, I know what you are lkely to do!!!So, DON'T!!! :drill: :drill: :coach: :coach: :drill: :drill:
Well that's enough from me for this morning., just time to put out a call for Roseblush... :mag: :mag: :coach: :coach: :genie: :genie: She is probable stalking a racoon or something!

Good morning ladies,

Quick check in for me, a busy week ahead.

Yesterday we took advantage of the glorious weather and took a drive up north into Wisconsin state. We heard they had a live butterfly garden at one of the museums. They did and not to be boastful, but the one by us was much better. This one was narrow and crowded with too many people. The thing I most didn't care for was that everyone was touching the butterflies, trying to get them to perch on their fingers. These are delicate butterflies, not cockatiels or birdies for heaven's sake. :mad: The colors of a butterflies wings are made of thousands of tiny scales, like fairy dust. Each time you touch the wings, a bit of the scales falls off -- lose enough scales and the butterfly will no longer be able to fly. Can't fly, can't eat. Can't eat, dies prematurely. Not that they live very long anyway. So I thought that was somewhat cruel to the poor butterflies. Most of them were flying overhead trying to avoid the small humans below or they were perched high, high up on the walls where you couldn't really see them. It reminded me of large fish in a too tiny fishbowl. We did look at some of the other exhibits in the nature museum - quite fascinating they were. As as treat, we went to a nearby casino in the afternoon and spent a few hours amusing ourselves. All in all it was a nice day out. DH is talking about how summer is waning and we should make more of an effort to get out. He was :rollpin: as his buddies the squirrels that he feeds have been just like squirrels and went and dug up the newly installed planter he worked so hard on for the last 2 weeks. He had to rake all the soil flat again. I told him not to be feeding them nuts but he didn't listen. :dunno: Did I mention he is in his glory as the new hybiscus plant we put in this year finally bloomed on Saturday? They must experience their growth spurt late season as it really shot up new branches over the last 2 weeks and all of a sudden buds appeared.

As we were walking along this weekend, we were discussing how it could be that some people have no money but are able to do all these things that require money. People who have been out of work for a long time or have taken big cuts in their pay are buying homes and cars and travelling on vacation and putting out huge sums of money to renovate their houses. With what? :dunno: Even if they were dipping into their savings, you can only have so much saved up. And I can't believe that people are just saying what the heck and going into massive debt. I just don't understand it.

Well Teel, I am considering today, Monday my start of your challenge. Foods haven't been that bad but I need to focus on portion control. I seem to be having a problem with the edema in the foot on a regular basis. I hope that does not mean that once it starts it's easy to keep coming back over and over. I will plan my foods for the week, measure and stick to portion control, drink my water and exercise of some sort every single day.

Time to get back to routines and good habits again. Enough drifting for this old tugboat here... Must run off now and seize the day. Have a good one all.