Monday Musings

It's really much closer to Tuesday than Monday, but this is the first moment I've had to finally get to this spot. It's been a productive day and it feels good. Besides the usual, ever-present laundry, I accomplished two things that have been sitting there undone for far too long.

If you haul around 4 little girls in a minivan for very many days, much stuff accumulates - I finally got the car washed of all the mud created from all this snow that is melting (and you can bet that now it'll snow again!) I also finally got it vacuumed - such a yucky job, but the end result is so pleasant. Yay for me! I ever took the car seats out and scrubbed them down. Emma is even messier than Katie in her seat.

Remember when I first retired that one of the first things on my "list of things to do" was to get my thousands of pictures in albums. Today, a year and a half later, I finally got a start to this monumental task. I was looking for a particular picture from this drawer full of hundreds. While I was at it, I sorted them into 10 piles, went to the Dollar Tree and purchased small plastic tubs, and put each pile in one. Another day I will begin to tackle the overflowing boxes in the closet - someday they'll actually get transferred into albums - I promise.

Thanks for all the wonderful birthday greetings, and for your reaction to Kristen's guest post. I wish she would blog again - I loved reading her thoughts. The littles continued to get cards after their birthday. They love cards --














Sometimes I have a bit of a pity party when I wish my "retirement" was more traditional, or at least what I thought was supposed to be traditional - such as being able to take off for a week or so without having to go through so many hoops to have everything covered at home. But then I look at those adorable little faces and feel those wonderful hugs and kisses and I realize how important this time is right now. They will be in school before we know it.

The girls are all here every Saturday night (and Wednesday night as well) because of Kristen's work schedule. So Sunday morning is always a bit hectic, getting all 4 of them ready for Sunday school by 8:30. But again, it's worth it. If you still wear hose, at least once a week, you'll appreciate this story. Katie has discovered that it is fun to watch Grandma put her hose on - she giggles as I wiggle my way in to them, and then she wiggles too. It is priceless!

We had such a great surprise this week-end. We have a nephew who is a senior at West Point - a wonderful young man full of enthusiasm and excitement for his career choice. He e-mailed me with the surprise message that he was going to be here in Colorado for the week-end, visiting a special young lady who lives in the town north of us, but goes to school in the state north of us. I was unbelievably surprised to learn this news, because he's kept this a really good secret. We were really excited when we realized we would be celebrating his birthday with them when they came down here for lunch. Those of us who live here in town (11 all together) gathered at my folks' for a late lunch and birthday cake. (Poor kid was suffering from dry contact lens eyes - Colorado doesn't have much moisture in the air!)




The big girls were extremely excited to see their big strong cousin. I had no idea Feisty was so emotionally attached to this young man she rarely sees, but she could hardly wait, and attached herself to him the minute he came in the door.

They love to give his biceps a really good work-out when he's here. He really IS strong!

She's really strong too!

The special young lady joined right in the fun, and the girls soon added her to their list of favorite people in the world. She wound them up on the swings and let them go -- nothing like playing in the back yard on a sunny winter day, in your Sunday best - with tennies, of course, to salvage the special red satiny dressy shoes!

Judging by Katie'e knees, it was quite muddy out there.

I'm not going to say "here we go again." I'm going to say that I have embarked on a life changing, health enhancing, weight loss plan called PRISM. It's a Biblically based program, and my sister and I are hosting it at our church. I'm excited about the fact that I am totally changing the way I eat and think. I have done this so many times, not with many different plans as many do, but with the same plan over and over. I have said for years that I wouldn't go back to group meetings, or would never eliminate whole groups of anything from my diet. But this time I'm enjoying the Saturday morning meetings with my sister, my SIL, and several friends as we do this journey together.

I had arrived at a weight once before that I never thought I'd see. That was when I lost 16 pounds, trying to win a cruise at my gym. I have known for many years that losing weight for an "event" is not a successful way to operate. I was unable to maintain that loss and this last week finally discovered that I had once again crept up to that awful number, minus one pound.

I have always subscribed to the theory that you need to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day (a gallon that is!). That isn't to say I've always succeeded in doing it - in fact, I've not been successful at all. But this time we have signed an"Agreement of Resolution" to follow the plan faithfully. Thus, 8 glasses of water and/or herbal tea each day - have you ever been up 8 times during the night? Once for each glass the first night. It's getting much better, but that was really something - I was mostly getting up in my sleep! I love the scriptures that we are given each day for our lesson. They don't specifically speak about eating, but there are so many verses in the Bible that are so apropos to our situation as many of us struggle with this addiction called food. Here are some of my favorites so far:

Isaiah 43:18-19 - "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

I Corinthians 10:31 - "Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

Proverbs 4:7 - "Determination to be wise is the first step toward becoming wise! And with your wisdom, develop common sense and good judgment."

Psalm 119:30 - "Lord, don't let me make a mess of things. If you will only help me to want your will, then I will follow your laws even more closely. Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I'll wholeheartedly obey. As long as I live I'll wholeheartedly obey. Make me walk along the right paths for I know how delightful they really are."


So - I will be sharing this journey with you, and this time I will be successful. I will be much more healthy.