I'm addicted to the winter games. I especially love the alpine skiing, snowboarding, snow cross, speed skating, nordic combined, figure skating, biathlon ... I love it all. I have watched almost all of the competitions except for curling. For some reason I just can't seem to get on board with that "sport" (is sweeping really a sport?) but everything else has me glued to the tv.
I get so impatient listening to all the commentators drone on and on about the same few athletes. I'm not crazy about NBC's coverage because they are too focused on just the American Olympians. I'm proud of my fellow countrymen but the Olympics are about all countries competing not just the USA and Canada. I have been recording the day's events and then watching them back the next day while trudging along on the dreadmill. It definitely takes some of the dread out of it.
I've been thinking of changing the focus of my workouts to training instead of merely exercising to lose weight. I think it's important to have something more than just weight loss to focus on whether it's beating your last time, increasing the amount of weight you can lift, or just getting more balanced and flexible. I need something beside the scale to measure my progress and keep me motivated.
I haven't been skiing or snowboarding in a couple of years but I'm going to dust off my gear and get out on the mountains to play before the season is over. Let's hope Mother Nature pulls through and dumps some snow here in the northeast.
What is your favorite Olympic sport to watch? It's time to get out and play!
I never realized how many facial expressions I use when talking until I smashed my face. It hurts a bit every time I raise my eyebrows and I can't seem to stop myself from doing it. Maybe this is a good excuse to look into botox. As much as I would love to get rid of the wrinkles I don't think I'd want to permanently give up my expressions.
Is there a support group out there for klutzes? I could really use one.
It's pretty comical that my mother worries about me when I'm out snowmobiling, ATVing, hiking, bungee jumping or playing other potentially dangerous sports because I generally only get injured doing every day things, you know, like when I broke my foot walking down my driveway or the klutzy move I made yesterday.
B and I were carrying a marble counter top into the camp yesterday morning when I slipped on the ice and snow and smashed my head on the marble. OWWWW! OMG! Pain! Blood! OOOOOUCH!!! It was awful. My sunglasses broke and there was blood everywhere. I have a cut above my eyebrow and my eyelid is swollen and looks like I have dark purple eye shadow on. I guess I'm lucky I didn't make contact with the marble an inch one way (eyeball) or the other (temple) because I expect that could have been much worse.
I gave myself a day off from the gym due to my injury. I've been keeping my eye on ice and feel ok but I didn't think it would be a good idea to go to the gym and get the blood pumping.
I called my primary doctor's office and the eye doctor to ask if they think it's necessary for me to have it checked out. I didn't black out, I'm not having any problems with my vision or any headaches so my doctor didn't think I needed to come in unless it gets worse. I spoke to the eye doctor too and she said I could come in the office if I wanted but she thinks it will be fine.
UGHHH! It seems like these things only happen to me. It's a miracle I can get through the day without injuring myself. It's a good thing I signed up for COBRA coverage so I still have health insurance. A person like me should never be without it.
I don't usually post photos of myself on here but thought you'd like to see my big puffy black/blue swollen eye. Please ignore the fact that I am long overdue to have my brows waxed. It doesn't look like I'll be getting them waxed anytime soon.
If anyone asks me what happened I'm just going to say "oh, this is nothing, you should see the other guy."
Not only did I mess up my face and look like I went a few rounds in the ring with Rocky but I broke my new funky sunglasses ;(
Last night was the first episode of the new season of Survivor - Heroes vs. Villains. There's no more Outwit, Outplay, Outlast - this season it is Return, Revenge, Redemption!
Even though I've watched every single season there were a couple of contestants I don't even remember (Candice? Danielle?). I've been watching Survivor ever since Richard Hatch bared his pasty white a$$ for the world to see (ewwww). It certainly wasn't pretty but it was good reality tv (is that an oxymoron?).
I definitely enjoyed some seasons more than others and cheered for some villains (hello Boston Rob) and couldn't stand others (Coach and Tyson) and was happy to see their torches snuffed out.
I think this season is going to be like no other. In the first challenge they had two pretty serious injuries. The competition was fierce. Stephanie had her shoulder dislocated and popped back into place and Rudy broke his toe in a couple of places. These people are out for blood and it should be exciting to watch.
One of my favorite castaways of all time is Stephanie who was the only member left after her entire tribe was wiped out and she was left all alone at her camp. Some people thought she was whiny and irritating but I didn't care, I was in awe of her smokin' body and amazing arms. She is tone and fit but not a skinny skeleton. Her arms don't look as defined as they were in her past seasons but she still looks fantastic.
Will the villains continue their evil ways? Will the heroes take off their capes and turn to the dark side? In a game all about outwitting, outlasting and outplaying people, would you rather be considered a hero or villain?
Snow emergencies were called, kids got out of going to school, businesses shut down and we ended up with a grand total of 1.5" of snow. Yes, that is INCHES not feet. I didn't even have to pick up a shovel. What's going on here? Mother Nature is apparently lost and needs to get a new map or a good GPS.
We desperately need snow up in the mountains of Vermont so I can go snowmobiling this weekend. I'm so jealous of everyone in NJ, PA, MD, DC, NY, CT and R.I.
The winter Olympics in Vancouver start next week and they are scrambling to get the mountains covered since they haven't had nearly enough snow. They shouldn't have to build ski slopes out of cardboard and hay bales.
I think Mother Nature is screwing with us. If you see her, please give her directions to the mountains up north.
Every time I hear "who dat?" I think of Janet Jackson's song Nasty.
"Hey! Who's that thinkin' nasty thoughts? Nasty boys! Who's that in that nasty car? Nasty boys! Who's that eatin' that nasty fruit? Nasty boys! Who's jammin' to my nasty groove? Nasty boys! Ladies? Nasty boys don't mean a thing Oh you nasty boys"
After this past weekend I started hearing "who dat eatin' that nasty food?" I hate to admit it but it was me.
Congrats to the Saints for winning the SuperBowl for the first time in franchise history. The Saints certainly had an amazing season and I can't think of any other city that is more deserving and in need of some extra attention and financial assistance than New Orleans.
My apologies to the Saints and the Colts but I didn't really care who won the SuperBowl this year. It was an exciting game and I'm glad the Saints won but my football season ended when the Patriots got knocked out. How did Drew Brees get all pumped up to play after having a beautiful baby boy and Tom Brady seemed anxious to end the season as early as possible? Oh well, spring training will be starting soon enough. Go Sox!
I also have to admit I spent more time playing poker and eating all sorts of salty sugary snacks all afternoon than I did watching the game or the lame commercials. I should have been fully satiated after eating a big bowl of beef stew with fresh hot wheat bread but I couldn't stop myself. I started snacking on chips and dip, crackers, carrot cake, garlic bread sticks and whatever else was on the table. UGGH! Does it ever get easier to resist? I've been on a roll working out hard at the gym and eating healthy reasonably sized portions but one weekend of mindless social eating sends me right back down the slippery slope of regaining any weight I so painstakingly lost. The scale says I'm up over 5 pounds but that doesn't seem possible. Apparently my body doesn't know about the mathematical equation that says I'd have to have eaten over 16,000 extra calories to have gained 5 pounds in two days. How can it take a month to lose 5 pounds and two days to gain it right back? It really isn't fair, is it?
I'm going to need to put in some serious extra hours at the gym this week just to get back to my pre-weekend weight. It shouldn't even be possible for me to gain 5 pounds in a weekend but the scale does not lie. Let's hope some of it is from all the salty snacks I inhaled and it won't take a month for me to lose it again.
Drew Brees and the Saints get to go to Disney World and I'm going to be spending even more time at Planet Fitness.
Who Dat gettin' right back on the healthy living bandwagon? ME!
Water is such a powerful element that has the ability to sustain us or destroy us. We need water to survive and at the same time we can be destroyed by droughts, floods and powerful rain, ice and snow storms. Our daily lives can be turned upside down because of ice.
My favorite form of water is obviously snow but considering the fact that I was kept off the snowmobile trails this past weekend because of all the rain that promptly turned the trails to ice I decided to enter this week's Thematic Photographic with an icy picture.
To participate in Written Inc.'s latest Thematic Photographic theme, "Water in any form," please click here.
Ahhhh...sinners have so much more fun, don't they? We covered at least three of the 7 deadly sins today - envy, greed and gluttony.
B and I decided to stay home this weekend instead of going up north since the snowmobile trails are either closed, barely covered or iced over from the warm temperatures and tons of rain. I hope we get some good snow soon so we can salvage the riding season. Too bad all that snow slamming the south couldn't make it's way up to the mountains of Vermont.
To cheer ourselves up we decided to pay some restitution to the Native Americans and make a deposit down at Foxwoods. It must have been the full moon messing with my mind for me to think it was a good idea to throw some money away. I'm still not even getting my unemployment checks but why should that stop me from donating some money to the Indians. We went down hard and fast at the blackjack table but we had a good time and didn't lose too much.
Our friend came down and met us at the casino and after trying a few pulls on the slot machines we headed to Mystic Pizza for a big greasy lunch. I got a turkey sandwich but had some very greasy onion rings, a small sliver of pizza, and french fries. I overdid it for sure.
We hadn't seen our friend since the end of November so we got to exchange Christmas presents which is always fun no matter what the date on the calendar. My friend makes us the most delicious homemade Christmas cookies every year and she had a big batch waiting in the deep freeze for us for over a month. It didn't matter that the cookies have been frozen though because they were just as good as if they were freshly baked. I'm so stuffed but keep breaking off a little piece of cookie here and a little piece there. It really is a sickness when you can't stop eating when you are bursting.
I feel pretty gross right now and almost wish I could make myself throw up. I think lots of people who have a binge eating disorder wish they could be bulimic, at least we'd be able to get rid of that full, bloated feeling and not have so much evidence of our binges hanging off our bodies. I had way too much junk today and feel absolutely disgusting. My stomach is ready to explode and I have a slight headache from all the sugar.
It's funny how quickly our bodies get used to eating healthy foods and when we slip up and go back to eating crap we feel disgusting but we still tend to crave the junk food no matter how gross it makes us feel. Why is that?
I'm going to have to do double time at the gym this week to make up for this one day of excess but it was worth it.
UGGHH! I had to go to the unemployment office first thing this morning to try and find out why I haven't gotten paid. Apparently my former torturers didn't respond to unemployment timely so my benefits were suspended. Those miserable b*st*rds are still screwing me and I haven't worked there in over 2 months. I was stressed out just thinking about those jerks and how they still have the power to piss me off and stress me out. Luckily there's little chance my in-laws will throw us out on the street for paying the rent late but I have bills to pay. Let's hope they show me the money soon.
Anyway, moving on to the point of my post. After wasting time at the unemployment office I went right to the gym and called B on my way in to tell him what happened. He said "knowing you, you're probably at the gym." I said "who are you talking to?" "since when am I the person that's probably at the gym?"
After I kicked my own a$$ sweating out 35 minutes on the elliptical, a 20 minute weight circuit, 40 minutes back on the elliptical and 40 minutes on the treadmill (a record amount of time at the gym today), I was walking out and the girl behind the counter said "see you tomorrow." I guess that means I'm a regular now that the gym staff expects to see me there every day.
Who would have thought I'd be hearing people say such things?
This week's Thematic Photographic theme is "I'm Hungry."
I took this picture over three years ago but I'm not sure if I even felt true hunger back then because I was constantly eating. I never gave my body time to get hungry because I was constantly stuffing fattening food down my throat. I was so disgusted just looking at the evidence in the trash so I took this picture to remind myself how awful I felt after eating that crap. That day I vowed to stop the out of control eating and get healthy, lose the weight and (FINALLY) keep it off.
Over the past 20 years I've been on almost every diet out there except for the really crazy no food diets because that's just not possible for me. The biggest lesson I've learned from all those diets is that you can lose weight with any diet but if you don't learn how to eat right you will have an endless ride on the weight loss roller coaster. I know women who go to WW but instead of learning how to eat right they starve themselves all day so they can drink beer at night. How crazy is that?
I'm learning to feel hunger again and know that I will not starve to death before my next meal. I'm hungry for a healthy life. What are you hungry for?
Carmi at Written Inc. is our Thematic Photographic leader. If you want to learn how to play along, click here for the details.
Everyone keeps asking me whether I have/want one of those electronic book readers like the Kindle or Sony reader because I'm always reading something and can spend hours in the bookstore but I have absolutely no desire for one of those electronic things. I love getting a new book, cracking the spine and turning the pages the old fashion way. Would you want an electronic book reader?
The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?
Instructions: Copy this list and bold or put an ‘X’ after those you have read and then leave a link in the comments.
1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen X 2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien X* 3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte X 4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling X 5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee 6 The Bible X 7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte X 8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell X 9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens X 11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott X 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller X 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare 15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien X 17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk 18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger X 19 The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger X 20 Middlemarch – George Eliot X* 21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell X 22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald X 23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck 29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll X 30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame 31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy 32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 34 Emma-Jane Austen 35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis 37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hossein X 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres 39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden X 40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne X 41 Animal Farm – George Orwell X 42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown X 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez X 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving X 45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins 46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy 48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood 49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding 50 Atonement – Ian McEwan 51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel X 52 Dune – Frank Herbert 53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons 54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen X 55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth 56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon 57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens X 58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night – Mark Haddon X 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov 63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt 64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold X 65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas 66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac X 67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding X 69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie 70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville 71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens X 72 Dracula – Bram Stoker 73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett 74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson 75 Ulysses – James Joyce 76 The Inferno – Dante 77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome 78 Germinal – Emile Zola 79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray 80 Possession – AS Byatt 81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens X 82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell 83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker X 84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro 85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert X* 86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry 87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White X 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom X 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton 91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad 92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery 93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks 94 Watership Down – Richard Adams 96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute 97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas 98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare X 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl X 100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo
*never finished
I am an avid reader so I thought I would do better than 39 out of the 100. It's more than the 6 average but not as good as I expected. Some of these books I have absolutely no interest in reading and others I'm going to make a special trip to the bookstore to find out what I've been missing. I'm always looking for a good book to sink my teeth into.
I'm surprised a couple of my favorites didn't make the list so I thought I would add a few more bonus books of my own:
101 Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand X 102 The Book Thief - Markus Zusak X 103 East of Eden - John Steinbeck X 104 Crimson Petal and the White - Michael Faber X
Just in case you haven't already read the most recent post over at *Bitch Cakes*about how exercising and being active changed her life, I wanted to tell you to get moving and go read it here.
Excellent post, huh? I especially love these words:
"...people may assume it's the weight loss that has changed my life, I give the activity far more credit for the new person I have become. My changes are less about "the number on the scale" or the size of my clothes, they are about how *I* changed - from the inside out. I finally feel GREAT. I finally realize that I'm pretty awesome. I am finally HAPPY. And that's all because of exercise...You'll see results when you see results...life is forever...being healthy should be your focus forever. So who cares how long it takes?"
Brilliant, right?
Of course I'd like to be thin and healthy right now (actually yesterday, no, twenty years ago) but I'm learning to just trust the process and not be so hung up on the numbers on the scale. One day it may be up and the next day it may be down but the trick is to be consistent with the exercise and healthy eating.
Could this be the missing link I've been looking for? I'm doing my best to keep my focus on being active and eating healthy. It's time I stop agonizing over how slow and how much weight I need to lose and trust the process. It WILL happen.
It's not a race, it's life. Live it to the fullest and get moving.
I am so upset with my local NBC station right now. I realize Ted Kennedy's replacement will have a big impact on the future of the nation but if I wanted to watch Ayla Brown sing and listen to political drivel I would tune in to CNN or some other all news all the time broadcast.
I missed a good 15 minutes of the Biggest Loser before they finally cut back to the show and then they cut in again with "Breaking News" before I got to see what the eliminated contestant looked like. What the !@#$%^? I hate when they do sh*t like that. They had the ticker running down at the bottom of the screen showing the results so why did they feel the need to interrupt the scheduled program with "Breaking News?"
I've never had much faith in the political leaders of our country and I don't like to talk politics or push my political views on anyone so I will only say that no matter what side of the political fence you are on, the voters have decided to continue the trend they started with Obama and voted for a change. It looks like Massachusetts will have a Republican in the Senate seat for the first time in nearly half a century. I have never seen anyone other than Ted Kennedy sit in that seat and push the Democrat agenda. Scott Brown may single-handedly be able to block the president's health care legislation and the rest of his agenda. Democrats pushed hard for Martha Coakley to win to be able to thwart Republican filibusters and now they must be scrambling to figure out how to push things through quickly before Brown is able to vote it down. I have a feeling things are going to get even uglier in Washington.
I wish there was a way to run a country without politicians. There has got to be a better way but we haven't found one yet. I'm happy I won't have to watch or listen to negative political campaign commercials every five seconds but I'm not sure how I feel about the health of our nation.
One thing is for sure, the times they are a changin' ...
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the historic "I Have a Dream" speech. I like to listen to it every year on this day to remind myself of how far we have come and have far we have to go. No matter what your skin color is we all have dreams. I hope all of your dreams come true.
I Have A Dream
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual,
"Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
A big THANK YOU to one of my favorite bloggers, Tammy From Fat to Fab, who bestowed the Beautiful Blogger Award upon me. With so many amazing bloggers out there it seems a bit crazy she would pick me. (Hey Tammy - have you lost your mind along with all those pounds?).
I'm flattered to receive this award especially since I'm constantly wondering if I should go back to just lurking around the blogsphere and commenting instead of having my own place to write. I spend so much time only to produce mediocre posts when others seem to do it so much better and with apparent ease. Whenever I think of shutting this blog down I think of all the support I get from all of you. I don't think I can give that up. It means too much to me. Thank you all.
I have to admit that these type of awards make me feel a little funny though. I'm happy that someone thought enough of me to give me props but I don't really know how to pass it on to "x" number of people without feeling bad for leaving someone out. How do you decide who makes the cut? Is it the new person I just discovered or those bloggers I've been following for years? Who's more deserving? I think everyone on my reading list deserves to be recognized as a Beautiful Blogger. You are all beautiful to me in one way or another.
As a recipient of this award I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself that you don't already know. Hmmmm... I feel I've spilled my soul over these pages over the past couple of years. I don't think I've left much out.
Let's see if I can come up with 7 new tidbits of information: **sing Jeopardy music here**
... two days pass ...
I'm having a hard time finding things you don't already know about me.... Please forgive me if I've mentioned any of these things before.
1. I grew up really poor and always felt ashamed about it. I almost feel guilty about collecting unemployment now for the first time in my life.
2. I babysat for my landlord's kid one time and the guy tried to stick his tongue down my throat on the drive home. Needless to say that was the last time I took that babysitting job.
3. I'm 42 years old and have never traveled outside of the USA except for a couple of trips to Canada. The furthest south I've been is Key West and the furthest west I've been is Missouri.
4. I had a twin that died at birth. I always think of how my life would have been different had she survived.
5. I don't think the guy I call "Dad" is my real father. Even though I've never gotten my mother to confirm it, I'd be happy to know he isn't really my father.
6. Both my brother and sister are gay. My brother got married and my sister is engaged and even though I don't have to jump through hoops for the right to be married, I have no desire to have that little piece of paper (even after 27 years).
7. I'm still with the guy I lost my virginity to and have no regrets about not playing the field. I know there is nothing in that field for me. I was one of the lucky ones who found true love and held on tight.
It wasn't easy to come up with 7 things I haven't told you already. If you are reading this I hope you take this Beautiful Blogger Award and tell us 7 things about you. Inquiring minds want to know.
Thanks again, Tammy. I still think you may be crazy. ;)
As you all know, I love snow so I just had to participate in this week's Thematic Photographic assignment "White." There is nothing better than flying through the fluffy powder on my sled but the thing I love even more than riding on the snow is the calming effect it has on my mind. The snow muffles the noise of the world and everything seems so quiet and serene. The blanket of white covering everything looks so clean and pure. I know snow is good for my soul. I agree that it's a pain to have to shovel it and commute to work in it but you should try to have fun with it too. Build a snowman, make a snow angel, have a snowball fight, take a walk in it ... just enjoy it before it melts.
If you want to join in the Thematic Photographic fun or see some amazing photos and creative thoughtful writing, go say hi to Carmi over at Written Inc.
Most people don't understand it but I absolutely love the winter - the more snow the better. I feel sorry for people who hibernate like bears in the winter and don't fully enjoy the snowy season. There is nothing better than gearing up and going out all day to play in the snow. Snowmobiling is so good for my head and it's even better now that I'm not trying to unwind from a horrific week at work, I can just enjoy the ride.
Last Saturday we went on our first snowmobile ride of 2010. We rode 145 miles from Groton, VT, through Danville, Lyndon and into East Burke. We stopped for lunch and a hot drink and then made our way back to Groton. We were out all day from 9 a.m. 'til 6:30 p.m. and I only got stuck once. The trail conditions were not the best but pretty decent considering we haven't gotten much snow in the area. It was extremely cold with temps in the single digits but that only means we take shorter breaks in the treeline out of the wind instead of in the open fields on the top of a mountain.
I was so much more comfortable and could muscle my sled around and stand up more easily while riding since I have more strength and less bulk slowing me down. I did a little happy dance when I put my snowmobile pants on for the first time and didn't feel like a stuffed sausage like I did last year. I was able to zip them up without any problem and even had room to spare. Last year I had to hold them closed, hold my breath, suck it all in and PULL HARD.
I'm going to break out my favorite jacket I haven't been able to wear the last few years to see if it fits. The last time I tried it on I could only get it zipped around my waist but couldn't pull it down over my hips. While everyone else is trying to fit into a bathing suit, I'm making it my winter goal to fit into that jacket before the end of the snowmobile season.
B's on call this long holiday weekend so we can't go up north but I'm already looking forward to the next ride and how much lighter I'll be by then. Ride on.
It's a new year and everyone is working on their resolutions to get fit and lose weight. I hardly make resolutions but have been working towards this goal for decades and feel like I'm finally making some progress.
I was surprised and honored to be mentioned in today's podcast of Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone. I've been a big fan of the Amazing Dietgirl, Shauna Reid and the internet fitness guru MizFit, Carla Birnberg for a long time. They have been guiding me, encouraging me and inspiring me for years. You should check out the podcast if you haven't heard it already. These woman know what they're talking about (and I love listening to Shauna's accent).
I'm ready to take all their good advice and make this final journey back down the scale for the last time. I've been on this road a very long time, I've gone through season after season, year after year, I've taken detours and gotten lost but I feel I'm finally able to put in the time and effort it takes to get healthy and fit and stay that way. I'm going to get it right this time. I am losing it AGAIN and will learn how to keep it off this time *fingers crossed* *knock wood* *spin around three times* *click your ruby slippers together* *PLEASE G-D*
I'm ready to get STARTed. Are you? How bad do you really want it? Don't wait another minute. Get STARTed NOW!
It's the first Monday of the new year and I have to admit I was surprised I didn't see too many new faces at the gym. I figured the gym would be packed with all those people who pay for a yearly membership in January only to go a few times and then waste the rest of their membership year once the flames of the New Year fire wears off. I got a good 60 minutes on the elliptical and then came home and played on the Wii for a while.
I've been trying to stay off the scale since I started going to the gym regularly because I didn't want to get discouraged if the pounds weren't coming off as quickly as I would like considering all the work I've been doing. I decided to hop on the evil scale today because I figured I should know where I'm starting off in the New Year. I'm hoping 2010 is the year I "finally figure it out" and get this weight off for good.
I'm happy to say I've lost 10 pounds since I joined the gym a little over a month ago. So, in just over a month I lost a total of 10 pounds which isn't too bad considering most people gain 7-10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year. I'm sure I would have lost more if I didn't go nuts eating all that crack and other holiday goodies. I think 10 pounds a month is a good goal to strive towards.
I'm going to try not to get hung up on the numbers and just continue to focus on going to the gym, getting a good workout and eating relatively healthy 90% of the time. I'm thinking I'll try to limit getting on the scale to once a month so I can track my progress but not get all crazy about the numbers. It should be about how I feel not what that evil piece of metal tells me, right?
How often do you weigh yourself? Does the number affect your mood?
Cammy of Tippy Toe Diet fame wrote an excellent post about not waiting until Monday to start a healthy eating/exercise/healthy life program. You should check out her insightful post here if you haven't seen it yet. I wanted share my comments here because I couldn't agree with her more.
I've waited long enough. I'm done waiting. There's always going to be an excuse to start next Monday after the holiday food fest trifecta. I've used every single excuse there is over the past 20+ years and I'm done making excuses.
Stop waiting for next Monday because you will only have Valentine's Day chocolate to eat, St. Patrick's Day alcohol to drink, tax time stress to endure, Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day BBQ's to attend, Halloween candy to devour, and then we're right back to the mother of all excuses, the food feasts of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years again.
If we wait until Monday to start a program we'll only find ourselves looking back on 2010 and bemoaning how we didn't lose weight and wonder why we get fatter and fatter each year. If those holiday excuses aren't enough you have office functions, business lunches, cocktail parties, birthday parties and anniversary parties. It looks like there may be a small window of opportunity to start a diet in June if you don't have a wedding to go to.
Don't wait until Monday. Don't wait until June. Every day, every meal, every morsel is a new time to start. No more excuses. NOW is the best time to start. RIGHT NOW!
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