Round Robin - Crazy Mind

I'm sure you've heard the game "Bringin' Home the Bacon"  Its a game where you name celebrities until you bring it back to Kevin Bacon.  At least that's how I think it works.

Well, something similar happened to me the other day.  Since its been SO cold, I dug out my red wool coat.  Its so warm!  

It amazes me how the mind works and here is how the Bringing Home the Bacon reference comes in...

Someone complimented my coat and how brightly colored it is.  Its a beautiful red!  So then my mind goes to other brightly colored clothing, like what my dad used to wear.  He always wore the fluorescent colors, especially orange.  He also had sweat jackets in every shade of the fluorescent family, green, yellow, orange and even PINK!

My mind took me to one day that I took Daddy for chemo and when he checked in with the nurses at his station, he made sure to show then the two different colored jackets he had on.  Throughout the day, a bunch of different nurses would come over to say "hi" and check out what colors he was wearing.

So while I was smiling, there were also tears as my mind took this round robin way far away from the compliment on my beautiful red warm coat.

The mind is an amazing thing, where it goes, no one knows.

Ticked Off Thursday

When I'm in my car, I don't usually listen to the radio.  I usually plug in my phone to listen to the singing music I have on there or plug in the iPod for an audiobook.  I go for so long without listening to the radio that I forget WHY I don't listen to the radio.

The other day, I had finished an audiobook and need to get another one on the iPod.  I didn't feel like plugging in the phone for the short trip I was taking.  But the silence in the car was deafening.  So I turned the radio on.  I have the buttons programmed for my favorite stations and each and EVERY station was playing COMMERCIALS at the same time.  SIX stations all on commercial AT THE SAME TIME.  Ridiculous!

Talk about being ticked off!

It reminded me why I don't listen to the radio regularly.  Guess its time to switch up the music on the phone and get an audiobook on the iPod.  No more radio.  Until I forget why I don't listen to the radio again.  And it will happen.

My Hero

I never told my Daddy he was my hero but I know I showed him.  And I know he knows now from heaven.

Don't hesitate to tell your loved ones that you love them.

Going to the Beach

The Army Corp of Engineers had an idea that there needed to be beach in front of my parents house.  See it looked like this all my life...

Beach and rocks at low tide, water up to the bulkhead during high tide.  We always made due and  played on the beach, fished, and put the crab pots out at low tide. All was good.

Then the Army Corp moved in during December.  And things started looking like this:

They pumped sand in from across the river and made a very nice beach for us to lounge on.  

I didn't waste any time putting my toes in the sand.

Did you notice the REALLY big mountain of sand in the background of the first picture?  It just BEGS to be climbed, right?

So I did!  

Queen of the Hill!

More fun pictures of the beach to come with warmer weather.

Happy Birthday

My Little Jaxon turned 5 this week.

We've had some fun adventures! Thanks for being such a good Doggie.

Taking Control and Making Goals

I have lost control of a lot of things in my life. And now that its a new year, its time to try and take back the control and get organized.  Mind you, these are not New Year Resolutions.  These are things I have to take care of in order to remain sane.  lol

The first is my bills.  I let them go and they are all behind.  So the first thing I am doing is facing them.  I have a list of which ones are behind and making sure I pay them each pay day.  Even if they only get $25, at least I'm making an effort.  As I work on what I owe, I'll work on a personal budget and will try my best to stick to it. Its possible I will find that I need to get a second job in order to get caught up, I will start looking around for something.  A Goal for me is that every other Tuesday evening will find me at my desk paying bills and balancing my checkbook. And my reward for this will be satisfaction that I am gaining control over my financial life.

Another thing I have lost control of is my waistline.  Yes, I know a lot of people have that same problem.  I am an emotional eater so I really have to work on containing my cravings.  With all that's happened this past year, I just didn't bother policing myself. A large portion of my comfort came from a full belly.  So I will be working on finding other ways to comfort myself.  I haven't figured this part out yet, but will be working on it.

And since I've let my waistline get out of control, clothing I own doesn't fit.  Since I am in debt with just my regular bills, I have no money left over to buy new ones right now.  So I have to work my way back into my old clothes.  My goal is to get out of yoga pants and elastic band khaki pants and into jeans and the dress pants I bought last year. To reach this goal, I will start slowly and take baby steps.

First is portion control.  Instead of using the big dinner plates that came with the set, I will be using the smaller lunch plates.  This will be a small step but one that will make a difference.  Not only to my waistline, but also to my budget because I will be having more than one meal from what I cooked.  As I get my bills caught up and am back to living inside my personal budget, I will be able to spend more time on menu planning and eating healthier.  

Second step is to start getting a little more active.  I hooked my Wii system to the TV in my living room, bought batteries for the Wii FitBoard and will start using it to at least monitor my weight and eventually use it to get moving. There is a "Plank Challenge" running around Facebook and I think I will try to follow it.  We'll see how it goes.  And once the weather breaks, Jaxon and I will start walking the neighborhood, eventually working up to walking to the park and back.

There are some easy to obtain goals here and some that are long term goals.  Having both are good.  There are some other areas of my life I want to take control of but let's start small.  These are things that are bothering me the most, so we'll get started on them first.