Surrender, part deux...

A new post about surrendering my home has been posted.

Just a reminder... this blog has now moved to http://www.dutchbeingme.com/.

Make sure to change your bookmarks/favorites/following lists!

Thanks.

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Surrender...

A new post about Surrendering my thoughts has been posted.

Just a reminder... this blog has now moved to www.dutchbeingme.com. Make sure to change your bookmarks/favorites/following lists!

Thanks.

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Moved...

I am happy to make an announcement...

I have moved!!!!

Ok, me personally physically still have not moved - my condo is still for sale and I am waiting to find out what my options are... which more than likely mean staying in the condo for at least another couple of years (which is sad because I saw a house the other day that was soooo cute & close to a friend's house downtown!)

Anyway... time to update your links, following lists, bookmarks... really anything that brings you to this blog on a regular basis.

My new address is: www.dutchbeingme.com.

I'll be keeping this one up for a bit - but just know that the time has come to move away from this blogger deal if I am going to get a little more serious about my writing. Maybe someday it will be a full on website - but for now it's my blog, with a few new features and pages that are all in progress.

I hope you enjoy the new look, feel and life that is now "Dutchbeingme".

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Broken...

I did it. I broke my Hamilton Beach - George Foreman - type grill. I started the thing up without the plates in it. Melted the plastic down and now the plates won't snap back in. Oops.

This is going to cause serious food crisis issues as I tend not to bake things in the summer months (house just gets too warm) and like the taste of grilled food with my (mostly) Mrs Dash seasonings on the meat.

So... now I'm off to find a new one -- hopefully before the weekend, or maybe at a weekend sale? -- so that I can start grilling my chicken up right.

I got a recommendation for a Cuisinart Griller (I think that's the name) but wondering if anyone has anything they REALLY like or have had terrible luck with???

Suggestions welcome! Comment away!!!

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New Pants...

I wore new pants to work today... and it felt good. Even though these were a size larger than what I would have liked to have bought - a size 10 - I loved how I felt in them today. I didn't necessarily get any compliments from my coworkers about them (and I wasn't expecting that either!) but I knew that I looked good.

I knew that the weight loss that I have accomplished in the past 3 years is AMAZING and not many people can say that they've done it. And kept it off. But I want to be one of those people that 5, 10, 20, even 50 years from now that says "you know, back when I was in my 20's I wasn't healthy at all, but look at what I did and the fact that I kept it off!"

Since getting home, I've changed and everything... so I can't even get a pic of me in the new "duds". But I will someday. I am planning on wearing them again on Sunday - and hopefully I'll be able to find someone that will want to take a picture for me... or with me even! :)


After last nights blog post about being OFF PLAN and gaining 12 pounds in 2 months... my dear friend Shannon pointed out that I had disappeared from my regular weight watchers thread and that might have been a part of why I had the gain. Not checking in regularly enough with people. I still did go to my weekly Weight Watcher's meeting (and paid for it EVERY TIME...) but for some reason, even the "regular-ness" of that must have not been enough.

And if you all didn't notice... I kinda disappearred from blogging regularly as well. Not good. Writing really helps me get my feelings in order... my thoughts out... and hopefully keeps me on track with everything I'm doing.

As a side note, I'm taking a writing class at the local arts council tomorrow! YAY!!!

So my mojo has been found. Day 1 and back on plan. So far 21 points consumed for the day (out of my "22"... althought that last point may not get consumed anymore - since it's after 9pm and it could become a "trigger" for me). I didn't go workout after work as I had planned, but I went home and had some time for myself that I had been wanting. Time to relax and put my feet up, time to ponder what is in store for my life. Time for me to reflect on what I have to do in the next few months that will make me a better me.

And I like what I see coming. Just so you know.

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Need to find my mojo...

My weight loss mojo went away sometime during the month of May. I'm not quite sure when I lost it, but I know that I did. Since the beginning of May, as of tonight's weigh in, I have officially gained 12 pounds.

12

Seriously. I have been completely and utterly off plan so far that I don't know how I'm going to find the plan back. I am going to read my materials and get back to the fundamentals. I'm going to work to get my milks and oils in (as well as my proteins!) and try my hardest to limit my carbs (because that just seems to trigger more and more desire to eat!)

Ultimately I know that I will find my way back to goal and that all will be good, but right now, I'm worried. I'm worried that I won't make it back to the "goal range" in July & thus losing my chance for another Weight Watcher's lifeI'm worried that I will be destined to be at this weight (or around this weight) forever. And while this is a "comfortable" weight for me... I want to weigh less.

There really is more to this though. Much more. Lately I've been stuffing my face with whatever I find. Not that it's all bad... grapes, pretzels, and nuts. (Granted, there has been a run-in or two with chocolate & potato chips as well.) I want to be the girl that can have a small serving of that and be satified. I want to be the girl that remembers that IT WILL be on the store shelves tomorrow and that I WILL have this particular food again.

I also want to get back into a routine of working out. The month of June has been very dismal in that respect... but I'm getting it back on in July. Not only am I motivated because I've hired a trainer for 10 weeks - but on the weight watcher's message board I'm a part of, we are doing a contest. And while I am not a great trash talker (and y'all can help me with this!) I AM going to be winning in the weight loss part of that contest. I am determined.

So there... now it's been written. I'm "starting over" in the morning with my banana and maybe a slice of toast with some peanut butter... mmmm, sounds good already.

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Happy Big Papa Day!

Ok... I know this is a day late... but I just had to post it.

So in honor of my Big Papa, I asked him to write (aka VENT) about anything he wanted to. When he sent it to me a few weeks ago, he didn't think I'd want to post it. So here it is... I hope you all enjoy!

This blog is about our fine feathered friends. Our little buddies with the feathers. Now I have nothing against birds but I think it’s time they start fending for themselves.

We have these things by our house that most people call bird feeders. Not me, I call them weed seeders. Have you ever looked under a weed seeder (bird feeder)? Weeds, weeds, weeds, lots of weeds. Why do the birds have to be so fussy in the first place? In-between all those weeds are seeds that have not germinated yet. If the birds would just pick at the seeds they want to eat there would not be a problem. But no, they have to throw all the other seeds they don’t like on the ground. Yup, you guessed it... they grow into weeds.

Right now as I look out the window, there is a robin pulling a worm out of the ground and fertilizing my grass at the same time. That’s the way it is suppose to be. We have created a society of birds looking for hand outs. It’s like they're sitting & waiting for food stamps. What's next, Social Security and Medicare?? What about Crop Insurance or will they want assistance with their migration?? Who knows there may be government grants in place for that also.

I don’t have a problem with all birds. Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, Ospreys, Buzzards, Vultures, Owls... even Bats have many good qualities... you don’t see these birds looking for hand outs. They're out there working for their own food. If Sparrows and Chickadees started cleaning up road kill, robins would swoop down to snatch up a field mouse or a small bunny rabbit for a noon time snack, or maybe even if Blue Jay’s or Cardinal’s would fly around picking bugs out of the air they too could be a productive part of the bird world.

Another bad part about the bird feeders is that they are always close to the house. After all, you want to be able to see the birds right? That’s all well and good... but when they leave the feeder and fly over the deck they make a deposit. Yea that's right... that nice clean deck I just spent 6 hours power washing, the deck furniture all clean and in place because we’re waiting for my mother-in-law and the kids to come over for hamburgers, potato salad and baked beans. When four of our fine feathered friends leave the feeder fly over the deck area, they poop over everything. Ya gotta love it.

My dear wife wanted a new bird feeder recently. Not just any bird feeder but a squirrel proof feeder. Did you know when a squirrel wants bird seed, it’s faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look up in the tree... it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s "SuperSquirrel". My wife got a very nice feeder. It's one with the springs on it, so when a squirrel is on it, it closes off the seed areas. This works very well since all our squirrels are fat from eating all our bird seed.

So much for fun, squirrels can be a real pain in the gluteus maximus. We have this one feeder that squirrels would jump to from the near by tree and promptly empty, I keep moving the feeder farther away from the tree but our squirrels hold the world record in the long jump. Our neighbor has one of these merry go round for squirrels. One day I was watching this squirrel he climbed the tree and jumped onto the merry go round. I thought hey this is fun, first he was hanging on with his two front paws then just one front paw he looked a me held up the back of his other paw and stuck his little middle finger up at me. Nasty little guy. I would like to get one of these merry go rounds but instead of powering it with 2 D-cell batteries I’d like to hook up 2 - 12 volt car batteries. Have that baby spin at about 500 RPM’s watch those squirrels fly into the next township. That would be nasty... but a lot of fun to watch.

Thanks Big Papa for your contribution... I think I know where I got my love ranting about random things from.

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My Lifelist

Climb a mountain. Paint a picture. Sleep under the stars. Sail a boat. Build a campfire. Take a dance class. Become bilingual. Buy a house in a warm climate (at least for winter months). Create a coffee table book of my favorite photographs. Learn to play a musical instrument. Visit all 50 states & see/do something meaningful in each. Attend an Olympic Opening Ceremony. Ride a horse. See the Aurora Borealis. Run a 5k+. Color in an entire coloring book. Buy a car w/cash. Be a tourist in my hometown. Fall in love. Create a library of my favorite books. Experience Europe. Get published. Meet a President of the USA (while they hold office). Build my dream home. Learn to cook. Fly in a hot air balloon. Travel to the 7 continents. Read the Bible in a year.

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Quotes

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The purpose of life is to matter, to be productive, to have it make a difference that you lived at all -- using the talents that God has given you for the betterment of others."
~Leo Rosten

“Whatever she was going through it was beyond anything in my experience and beyond my ability to fix. I had no right to judge her, if I chose to stay with her - knowing the risks - all I could do was give her love and respect, and see how the story would end.”
~ Charlie Bellow, “My Sassy Girl”

"It is not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves."
~ Sir Edmond Hillary

"It's not the power of the curse, it's the power you give the curse."
~ Child #4, "Penelope"

"Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live."
~ Henry David Thoreau

"I like myself the way I am!"
~Penelope, "Penelope"

"Life is not the amount of breaths you take, it's the moments that take your breath away."
~ Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, "Hitch"

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"Destiny is the bridge you build to the one you love."
~ Old Man, "My Sassy Girl"

"Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is progress, Working together is Success."
~ Henry Ford

"Anger and resentment can stop you in your tracks. That's what I know now. It needs nothing to burn but the air and the life that it swallows and smothers. It's real, though - the fury, even when it isn't. It can change you... turn you... mold you and shape you into something you're not. The only upside to anger, then... is the person you become. Hopefully someone that wakes up one day and realizes they're not afraid to take the journey, someone that knows that the truth is, at best, a partially told story. That anger, like growth, comes in spurts and fits, and in its wake, leaves a new chance at acceptance, and the promise of calm. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child."
~ Lavender "Popeye" Wolfmeyer, "Upside of Anger"

"Here's to the incredible voyage ahead...and the fulfillment of a lifelong quest."
~ Anonymous

"You know, an art teacher of mine once said, 'Never buy a piece of art that you don't have to have.' You know, don't worry about who the artist is or how much it's worth. I mean, you have to live with it everyday. You have to walk by it everyday. You have to really love it; you have to really appreciate it. It's kind of like picking a mate."
~ Brooke, "The Break-Up"

"My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?"
~ Bob Hope

“In my 3 years at Harvard, I have come to find that passion is a key ingredient to the study and practice of law… and of life. It is with passion, courage of conviction and strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world. Remembering that first impressions are not always correct, you must always have faith in people and most importantly… you must always have faith in yourself.”
~Elle Woods, “Legally Blonde”

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Music

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