CAN I JUST SAY??

Can I just say that people are driving !Crazazy! today??!!

So I HAD to have some coffee this morning. I usually don't have that NEED, but today, I did. And I had won a Starbuck's gift card yesterday at work. Perfect! So I headed out and go to an intersection by my work that is notoriously crazy. I had my eye on a semi that was going to turn left. I was going to go straight, but I was watching him right beside me in the left turn lane because 9 of his 18 wheels were in my "straight only" lane. So I'm really eyballing him. Traffic in front of me seems to be moving. I clear his wheels and proceed forward. I gunned it in order to make SURE I cleared his wheels. Well, by the time I actually LOOKED forward, I saw that I was running a full-on RED LIGHT! I am so lucky that I didn't get schmucked (or pulled over)!

I was trying to calm down from that incident so I was glad that right after that light is a school zone where the speed limit is 20 mph during school hours. Trust me, when it's before or after school hours, I barrel through the school zones. But I'm very concientious about going 20 between the hours of 7 & 5. So I'm breathing in. Breathing out. Breathing in. Breathing out. Getting my barings. Calming down. I look in my rear-view mirror (because I want to prove to myself that I am a safe driver) and what do I see?? No, not a cop, thank goodness. The driver behind me is flapping her arms like she's suffering a seizure. She's yelling at me, glowering, riding my tail. So I smile and point to the SCHOOL DIRECTLY TO OUR RIGHT! The gestures don't stop. She doesn't get it. So she keeps convulsing and contorting and I continued to point and say (outloud, mind you, because you know - other drivers can HEAR you when you're both in your own, closed, moving cars): "It's a SCHOO-OOOOOL ZOOOOOO-OOOOONE." Well, by then, the blessed "35 mph" sign had appeared and I just gunned it. I mean, really gunned it. I think I was up to 50 mph in about 0.2 seconds. I showed her! (aside: I realize I didn't really show her anything and that I still chose to break the law - just not in the school zone - and that I was not being a safe driver when I ran the red or when I gunned it after the school zone!)

Ok. So I collected myself, got to Safeway, and ordered my coffee. I got back to the office without incident, thank God!

I went home for my lunch hour and almost got hit while I was going 40 on a main road (this time, I was following the speed limit!) when a car pulls out right in front of me!!!! I laid on the horn, not so much out of being annoyed, although I clearly was annoyed, but more because I wanted her to see me and TRY not to hit me at that point. She did hear my horn and she quickly high-tailed it into the bike lane. Thankfully, there wasn't a biker there!! So that was a near miss.

At that point, I was literally 2 blocks away from my house. I thought, "Ok, smooth sailing. Nothing more to contend with. The stress is over." Well, the Lord must have thought I needed to REALLY slow down because as I went to turn left into my block, I spotted a neighbor of mine at the intersection. This neighbor is confined to a wheel chair but gets around pretty frequently with the help of her motorized chair and her trusty black lab, Alkaline. Being the safe, courteous driver (& neighbor) that I was, I thought, I'll wait for her to cross the street. It would not be good for me to rip out in front of her just so I can literally go a 1/2 block. That's not good for neighbor relations; nor is it good for karma! (not that I believe in that). Anyway, so I let her and her dog cross onto our street. Well, she didn't know I was there. And she took up the whole width of the road with her chair and her dog. Ok, right about now you're probably thinking I'm heartless and how dare I care to hurry the handicapped? Don't worry - I didn't hurry her. And after all, I only considered LIGHTLY honking. After what seemed like an eternity, she maneuvered her chair off the road toward her aparmtent & I was able to get on with my day. Very carefully, slowly, and courteously.

JUST SAYING HELLO

I'm so enriched by loved ones in my life who email, call, stop me at church, etc just to say hey. These people fill my life with joy and wonder and restore my faith that God DOES love us. It's true that we reflect God's love to one another.

Friday, Greg wisked me away to the beach! We went to Tillamook and Seaside. Of course, in keeping with tradition, we never actually set foot on the beach! But we took some cool pictures and had fun with our "no business talk" rule. What a great day!

Saturday, TJ, Moelfre, and I went shopping at Bridgeport Village (FINALLY got my MAC products), out to lunch, and shopping at Clackamas Town Center. That place is really nice now since the remodel.

Yesterday, I sang in church while Greg did PowerPoint. I feel a real symbiotic relationship when I'm singing and he's doing PowerPoint. I feel a connection with him that is ALMOST musical! Cool! After church, Kelly and I surprised Tae-Ja with an "un-birthday" celebration. Her birthday is in 6 months, so why not celebrate NOW?! We took her to the movie of her choice. Beings it was Oscar night, she chose Juno. Good movie. After the movie, we went to my house where we watched the Oscars. It was fun. I missed Hez. Last year, she and I put on an Oscar party where we dressed up, had ballots & prizes, admission tickets, a red carpet, and a concession stand. I miss her zest!

NUMBERS

One line
Zero babies
5 days, no meds
28 day cycle
One line
Zero babies
99% accuracy
100% chance to try again

MARGARET BECKER - MY HERO

As many of you know, Margaret Becker is my FAVORITE SINGER EVER! I was introduced to her when I was 15 and fell in love with her immediately. I recently signed up for her blog and I just love it. She has created a section called "Wanna Talk", which is for having discussions about current events or "hot topics." She sets up some guidelines (basically, be civil) and away we go! Her first topic is about the 2008 elections. She asks her bloggers to discuss who they are voting for, why, and whatever else they want to add to the discussion. Margaret endorses Hillary Clinton.

I decided to leave my own blog entry as part of the discussion. Here it is.....

• Your "Wanna Talk" section makes me appreciate all the more the lyrics to "Honesty." The picture that song paints has done more for my relationship with Jesus than any other element of the faith. How refreshing to see a Christian woman NOT fitting the mold and just blindly voting for a Republican. When I first registered to vote at 18 years old (15 years ago), I registered as a Republican. Since that time, I have always voted on party lines, where candidates are concerned (not always where ISSUES are concerned.)
  But during the last 4 years, I've done a lot of thinking. Maggie, there WERE no WMDs. Osama is NOT in Iraq. What in the heck are we doing there?? NCLB is not working. And this has all been under Republican leadership. So what do I do with these new insights, especially in light of the fact that I love Jesus? Is it as simple as the now-trite "WWJD?" It CAN'T be that simple. However, it doesn't have to be complex, either. I no longer want to vote Republican because "that's what every good Christian does", nor do I want to vote Democrat just to be contrary to the Christian masses (like you said, a dissenting voice).
  But I get overwhelmed with thinking that there is a right or wrong choice and that if I vote for the president who, it will be revealed later, is arm-in-arm with the antichrist, will I be smitten? Smote? Smited? Whatever the word is, I don't want to endure God's wrath if I choose the wrong person. But then, by espousing that fear, I am saying that the salvation of the U.S., and subsequently the world, lies in my hands, which it doesn't. See, right about now, my brain feels like it's got a beanie propeller on it and it's whirling and whirling and whirling and POP! It just burst out of my skull! ha ha! It's just so much to think about.
  Breathe. Jesus is with you. HE is omnipotent. HE is omniscient. HE is in control. Breathe. Be at peace. His peace He gives to me. His peace He leaves with me. His peace will carry me through this decision and other decisions. And the beanie rests nicely on my brain again. THUD. I only hope I don't hear its whirring again until AFTER the election. Or at least until tomorrow.

GOOD NEWS

Greg has decided to try out Daily Plate! Wahooooo! I'm happy for him. He's going to become aware of his caloric intake. I'm also happy that we'll be on the same, well, plate as far as goals go. He freaked out the other day when he opened the fridge and saw that I had purchased (dun dun dun...) V-8 Juice and SOY milk!!! So yeah. Healthy choices are always easier when someone else is making them too.

UPDATE

I just weighed myself and it's 296.8 so that's a loss of 0.8 pounds. Not the best, but not bad either. I will now be weighing on Thursdays, starting this week, because I joined a group through our nurse's clinic at work and she weighs us on Thursdays. It's called T.P.A.Q. which stands for Ten Pounds A Quarter. They've been doing it since the first of the year, but you can join at any time. Delores, the main nurse, is awesome. She has her own weight struggles so she GETS IT, ya know? She goes, "When the bag of chips says 13 servings, you and me only see one serving, huh?" I'm like, "Ohhh yeah." So portion control is still a big struggle for me. So is keeping up with the Daily Plate. But I just keep doing what I can do. I mean, after having weighed in at over 300 pounds at the start of this venture, it's nice to know I've lost 3.2 pounds. Hello! It's the little victories we NEED to celebrate. And any time I haven't GAINED weight, I'm happy.

One thing I did this last week that really worked, is I programmed my iPod Shuffle according to my workout. So I have some slower songs for warm up, 80's rock for weight lifting, fast songs for cardio (thank you, Fergie!), and back to slower songs for floor work. That definitely helped, especially where the cardio was concerned.

So, goals for this week:
work out 3x
Read the intro to the book Delores gave me
Maintain the Daily Plate for one full day
Weigh in with Delores on Thursday

EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!

ANOTHER GREAT SATURDAY!

Moelfre & Greg listen intently to the ranger at Tryon Creek State Park.
Is it moss or lichen? Do YOU know the difference?
Local artist, Baba Wague Diakite, originally from Mali, Africa.
Greg MIGHT not be able to tell you everything that happened in the 1st movie.
CHEESE!!!

Me? Out in the fresh air? Walking? Identifying different kinds of moss and lichen??

Who IS this girl???

This is the new me. The one who not only GOES outside, but actually enjoys it. Well, I'm not gonna go that far YET, but I'll get there.

Moelfre, Greg, and I went on a nature walk today at Tryon Creek State Park, which is this beautiful, lush forested park only 8 miles from our house. Unbelievable! The walk started at 10 and we were done by 11 so it was NOT strenuous. But it was more than I usually do on a Saturday. The ranger, Christal Florion (sounds ranger-ish, eh?), was VERY informative, which was cool. But I did have to laugh at what she said at the end: "I'm reading a really exciting book right now. It's available in the visitor's center, if you're interested. It's called "A Natural History of Moss."

Um. Yeah. THAT sounds exciting.

After the walk and lunch, we went to the 18th Annual African Film Festival at the Kennedy School. Kennedy School theater is really cool because it has big couches, overstuffed chairs, etc. It's kind of set up like a huge living room. Anyway, we had the privelege of listening to an artist/arthur tell us a traditional Mali story. After the storytelling, we saw 2 films: In Search of the Sky King, which was animated, and The Red Glasses. I really enjoyed seeing things from another culture's perspective. The stories today were big on lessons about right and wrong. It was interesting.

This evening, I went to the gym and did 15 minutes on the eliptical (as well at 15 minutes on the treadmill)!!!! Do you realize that when I got on that thing 2.5 weeks ago, I could only do 5 minutes!

So all in all, it was a great day!

WELL, SHOOT.

Now what? I'm so bored. I've surfed all the web sites I want to surf, checked all the blogs I know of, emailed all the clients I can think of, flossed my teeth twice, clipped my nails, done all the faxing I can think of, researched colleges for a friend's little brother, tried to get a hold of Chrissy, emailed back and forth with my mom a bit. I just have nothing else to do. And I still have an hour left to be here. Sitting. At my desk. Doing what now? Ho hum. Well, shoot.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

UPDATE

Weight: 297.6
Gained: 2.2 pounds
Worked out: 1 and a half times this week
Daily plate: no days

Ya take the good, ya take the bad, ya take 'em both and there ya have.....

MY WEIGHT LOSS SAGA!

I did not have a whole lot of good days this week so I am actually not surprised by the weight gain. This is a learning process.......

Goals for this week:
Keep the Daily Plate for one full day
Work out 3x this week

A Wooooo-ooooow OF A GOOD DAY.

A good day. No, a GREAT day. Greg, Noah, and I went to the site of Greg's and my first date: the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. We took lots of pictures, chased each other, and just enjoyed doing the simple things. We had a "Benture" (adventure), as Noah kept saying. Ha ha! He was thrilled with his new sunglasses and actually preferred to wear them upside down! What a character.

Another thing that I thought was great was the "Egg Incubation Building." Seeings how today is the day I'm ovulating, that seemed only fitting. Greg and I considered going in that building and getting bizi! Not really, people!

And the weather was fabulous! There was no rain. Noah kept saying, "Look at the snow. Wooooo-oooow. Look at the waterfall. Wooooo-oooow." Everything was wooooo-ooooow.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!

Well, technically, it's been 3 days since my "CREATE" entry. Here's what's happened since then. I went to the doctor last night. He was able to SEE, yes SEE . . . .

ONE EGG!

Ahhhh! He says Greg and I need to get b-i-z-i this weekend and that chances are good! :-)

I'm so happy. Of course, there is no guarantee, but I'm happy to have a reprieve from the sadness. This, my friends, is good news!

DON'T BLIND ME WITH SCIENCE!

A coworker just turned me onto this AWESOME WEB SITE that anyone will get a kick out of, especially those who are, or ever have been, in some kind of customer service. Here's the funniest one I read today:

Customer: “What time does the film start?”
Me: “The film starts fifteen minutes after the time on your ticket. There are fifteen minutes of ads and trailers.”
Customer: “No, I said what time does the F-I-L-M start?!”
Me: “The film starts after fifteen minutes of trailers, so fifteen minutes after whatever it says on the ticket. Your ticket says 3:30 pm, so the film would start at 3:45, okay?”
Customer: “Don’t blind me with science!”

CREATE

Can't create life in my womb
Cry sometimes when it hits me, like now.
What can I create?
Art in the form of Valentine cards
Laughter
A loving marriage
Rich friendships
Damn good chocolate chip cookies
Funny faces
Music
Memories
I will cling to these things.
And hope.

GRAVITY

I love John Mayer's song "Gravity." It's bluesy and funky, laid back. It's someone who is trying to fight the sadness that tugs at him. I can identify. I will not be taken by the sadness.

Oh Gravity is working against me
And gravity wants to bring me down
Oh twice as much ain't twice as good
And can't sustain like a one half could
It's wanting more
That's gonna send me to my knees
Just keep me where the light is
Just keep me where the light is
Keep you all where the light is
Just keep us where the light is

Contentment. That's my prayer today.

PROGRESS

Update:
weight: 295.4
total lost: 4.7 pounds
Worked out 3 times last week

YAY!! I'm feeling pretty good about the whole getting in shape thing. I can feel myself getting stronger, more active at home, and feeling like this is possible. Right now, it's due mostly to the exercise. I don't have the food thing down yet, but it's better than it was. I always remember what Mimi says, "Set small goals so that they are achievable." With that in mind, I have the following goals for this week:

Work out 3 times
Track caloric intake for 2 full days on www.thedailyplate.com

THIS IS POSSIBLE!