And guess what?

Only 12 more hours of wearing braces!!!!!!

Tomorrow, January 20, 2010, they are removed and I will have happy teeth. Oh joy! Oh rapture!

Maybe a picture soon of me and my new smile.

You all were right two years ago. You said it would go by fast. It really did.

Happy on Sunday

I love going to church. Really.

We spend at least three hours there and I am happy.

We learn and sing and pray and I teach and we visit and hug and laugh and thank God for blessings.

What's not to love?

Happy New Year Everyone!

So it's January 3 and I'm a little late, but the wishes are sincere.

This is what I've been doing:

Working. It's a good thing I like this job AND the people I work with or I would be going out of my mind.

Cooking and baking.

Gaining weight.

Putting decorations up.

Taking decorations down.

Visiting people, including, drumroll please....... my mother, thankfully things are going very well.

Worrying about loved ones.

Preparing lessons.

Not to mention all the stuff we as women do every day, and do so well.

I REALLY hope things will settle down a bit now. Christmas is all packed away. All we have to do is bring the tree down to the basement.

The cookies are GONE.

I need to fast again. My body is sad.

It is snowing like crazy out. The wind is whipping. It is 10 degrees. Larry is at the church shoveling. I have to take a shower and get ready. Dealing with snowstorms builds character. HA HA!!!

Dear Friends,

Sorry about the lack of posts. This is what I do lately:

work, sleep, work, sleep, work.

I used to be so good at this blog stuff. I used to be so good at being employed. I used to be so good at taking a picture every day. I guess it just takes getting used to.

My girlfriends are my salvation. You all know who you are. From those of you I haven't seen in years, and one I never even met, that's you Katrina! to those I am fortunate to see every week, I love you all. Hearing about your new babies! and the children! and your lives! it all makes my life rich.

Merry Christmas!

Christ the Savior is born.

Thank goodness.

The Second Dumbest Thing I Ever Did

Remember when I dumped the turkey soup down the drain because I forgot to put a bowl under the strainer?


This ranks right up there.


I have this cute little pocket knife, it's great. It has:

a toothpick
tweezers
a SHARP knife
little baby scissors
and a file





Well, when I was at work the other day, I wanted to use the file to smooth just a small catch on my thumb nail. So I pulled out my trusty knife and THEN,

I laid the blade against my skin to file and swiped it across.

IT WAS THE KNIFE INSTEAD OF THE FILE.

I sliced open my thumb a good one. Blood everywhere.

You can rate which one was the dumbest thing I ever did..............

No disaster dinner THIS year

If you look back to my blog post from last Thanksgiving, you will see that the dinner I made was not great and I was MOST unhappy.

Not this year!

I was a happy cook and a very happy eater.

The turkey was moist and tasty -

The stuffing was excellent -

The mashed potatoes were creamy -

The cranberry sauce was not too orangey -

The squash was not watery -

The pumpkin pie, amazingly enough, was one of the best I ever made (!!!) -

Now if we had just been able to SHARE it with someone, it would have been perfect. See Larry's mom is not too sociable, so if we invite friends to share our Thanksgiving dinner, she doesn't join us. Unless it someone she knows really well and is comfortable with, she stays in her apartment. Since she is 90 years old, we certainly can't leave her alone. But she ate very well and cleaned her plate which is good.

Larry and I took a nap and then we went for a walk, and now I have to gear up for work tomorrow. The Census office is open for business Friday. This full time work is hard on a body!

And the winners are....

The New York Yankees!!!

While I was hopping around the house at 11:58pm right after they won, my cousin Joe called and we laughed and celebrated together over the phone! What a great way to end a great season, celebrating with my cousin -

Here we are again!

Things are looking up!

Not necessarily with the mother but in general, things are better. I was in a bad place for a couple of weeks and now am feeling WAY better and am smiling again!

Yesterday I was an election inspector. What a great job to have for one day! I met lots of nice people and felt like a good citizen.

This is a short update. More to come....

The ups and the downs

Reconnecting with one's mother is not as easy it should be.

Tuesday she rehearsed every terrible thing I had supposedly done since I was born. Not a fun experience.

I envy all of you with good moms. Go give them a kiss. Or call them and tell them how much you appreciate them.

I'm not giving up hope though. There is always hope, right?

Right?

Working things out

There is good news.

My mother is speaking to me again. After 10 years, she has decided that I am not so bad and she actually apologized to me. We talk and laugh and are catching up on 10 years of our lives. I am cautiously optimistic.

Fasting and prayer works. Absolutely. No question.

On another topic -

The Red Cross held its annual fundraiser last month. During the event, they like to show the potential donors a video of a local family who had been helped by us during a fire.

So they interviewed the family and they interviewed me, too ('cause I was part of the team that helped.)

So I'm in this video and I actually like myself in it, kind of, even though now I realize I don't have much of a chin.

What an unfortunate discovery. Chinless. I was better off not knowing.

Love, love October!

This has always been my favorite month.

Ahhhhh, cool, crisp, cozy.

Pumpkins, apples, pretty leaves.

Cider, donuts, stew, soup, yummy warm food.

AND...

General Conference.

Oh my.

We were spiritually fed with wisdom and encouragement and testimony and TRUTH. I have a renewed determination to tell the world that:

THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE!

I have read it many times, have prayed for answers and have received them. If you never read it, give it a go. You will find peace in those beautiful words and your soul will be nourished.

www.mormon.org

Always busy -

I've been in training classes for the U.S. Census again. This new phase should take about a month. It's pretty interesting and you meet lots of people.

Some are really NICE.

Others are just KIND of NICE.

Some are STINKERS.

Others are CLUELESS.

Then there is me, struggling along to understand what I'm supposed to do. It's weird. There are some things that I just GET. Then there are some other things that sound absolutely ridiculous that I DON'T get. So I have to find a kind soul in our class who is training like me to explain it in terms that don't make me tear out my hair.

BUT.

I'm making some decent money and doing a service for the USA. In the meantime, Larry does the laundry, ('cause I'm gone all day!!)

And the camera sits here on my desk......

Sad news to report

Well folks, you know Harley the baby dog from next door? They gave him away. The vet supposedly said he was psycho puppy who could turn dangerous at any moment.

I'll give you three guesses how Larry feels about no Harley around:

1. awful

2. very awful

3. so awful he can't even talk about it.

So here's to our sweet little neighbor dog. I don't think he was psycho puppy. I think he needed to be trained. So I am mad and sad at the same time.

He was a nice little dog.

5 Day Water Fast - Day 6

What a good day! I learned how to appreciate food this morning in a new way. I baked apples for us for breakfast. When we sat down and thanked the Lord for our food, it had a whole new meaning for me. I was so grateful. My taste was enhanced. It SMELLED amazing. And oh, tasting that sweet delicious apple with cinnamon, coriander and nutmeg was like a taste of heaven.

From my studying, I learned that I would probably be more hungry after having food for the first time. That really is what has happened. But now I know that being hungry is not an emergency. I will live.

5 Day Water Fast - Day 5

I've lost 8lbs. (amazing, I think.)

Received answers to questions.

Did some soul searching.

Read a lot.

Thought about food a lot.

Got very discouraged.

Survived.

This has been a journey full of awakenings.

Last night was the worst. I almost quit, because of the thoughts that oh it's not worth it, oh my body needs food, oh who cares, oh I just want to eat. Larry encouraged me to continue until today. So I drank (MORE) water and watched the ballgame with his mother and then just went to bed, with a prayer in my heart of thanksgiving for the blessings of this fast.

I was very grateful that today was the last day.

The dumb part of me started this fast after eating most of a huge hamburger at the Red Wings game Saturday night and, get this, the last food that was in my stomach was FRIED DOUGH WITH POWDERED SUGAR. If I ever do this again, I will work up to it by eating good fresh food, lots of fruit and cooked veggies. It will also be the Master Cleanse, which is drinking a concoction of fresh lemon juice, Grade B maple syrup and cayenne pepper every day. Water alone got very old.

This afternoon, I began to drink an organic pomegranate juice blend, a diluted glass every two hours. What a difference!! I feel alive again. My eyes are still NOT puffy which is such a nice perk. I now realize, with a new awareness, that overeating and especially sugar and salt are really bad for me. Without those things, my blood pressure dropped from a high of 143/93 (yikes) to 114/76. Also, my body did not ache.

Thank you to all four! of you who followed me on this journey. I appreciated your good thoughts and well wishes.

More juice awaits....

5 Day Water Fast - Day 4

Before I forget - my photo blog is open to everyone. I didn't remember that it was still private.

Day 4 has been quite interesting. I've had to stay close to the "facilities!"

There still is not real hunger, but this darn wanting to eat is a pain. It is boring not to eat! Water is fine and lovely and I am VERY grateful to have clean, sparkling water, but it gets tiring and not very tasty after a while. I was planning for breaking my fast Friday morning and saw in the refrigerator, Juice! and Nectarines! and a Pear! and Zucchini! Slowly I will introduce food again. Good, fresh fruit and vegetables. I am ashamed to say that there were some days that a veggie did not cross my lips. I am looking at food differently.

Two things I love about this cleansing is that my eyes are no longer puffy. It never really occurred to me how puffy underneath they really were. The other thing is that my body doesn't have its usual stiffness upon awaking. I had learned in the past that white flour and sugar did a number on me, especially in the morning. Remember last year when I wasn't eating any sugar? I should have continued.

I am hoping beyond hope that I can keep my aging body happy and healthy after this experience.

My mind is another story. I like the way I am thinking this week! To be sure, this is one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, but the things I am discovering are worth it. I am....

DETERMINED.

COURAGEOUS.

SMART.

SPIRITUAL.

INSIGHTFUL.

Those things are really good to discover about yourself.

I also know that God loves me. He answers prayers in many wonderful ways. I know the Atonement is real.

I am also announcing to the world that my husband is a kind man. He loves me, too.

5 Day Water Fast - Day 3

Today is much better. I am not hungry and actually feel kind of energetic, although a little light-headed. Or spacey. Maybe it's just being tired. Every time I flopped on the couch or the bed today to take a snooze something would wake me up, like the phone or a noise outside or the cat.

I'm getting some answers to the "issues" on my list! The answers are coming through my reading, or just thoughts that occur to me or even in a couple of dreams I've had which are pertinent to why I'm doing this.

Water tastes pretty good again. What's weird though is I am already planning my menu for the weekend, meaning how I will wean myself back to eating. Food is on my mind, but the desire to eat is really not there.

OH! And my lower braces are off! The uppers will be on for another couple of months at least. My retainer is purple and looks ridiculous but it makes me smile so who cares!

I can't say I'm really enjoying this, but I'm not hating it and it is good for me. The benefits are real.

Thanks for the support!

5 Day Water Fast - Day 2

The headache nailed me yesterday. My head was very sad and angry at me. Usually a headache means I am a little dehydrated but since I was drinking a lot, that probably wasn't the case. So I just went to bed about 10:30 and slept REALLY well until about 4am when I woke up with the same unhappy head.

With some prayer and thought, I decided it would be just fine to take a couple of Advil on an empty stomach. I went back to bed, tossed and turned for just a little while, then LO! JOY! - woke up this morning at 8:30, feeling wonderful!!

No headache!

No aches anywhere!

The hollow feeling in my stomach was manageable!

I was still alive!

And now, the things I am learning while fasting are profound. I will share some.

This is hard. It is taking courage and determination to do this. Taking one day at a time helps.

I am really not craving food. It's almost like when we don't drink alcohol, it doesn't matter if there is any around. We just don't drink it so it isn't a temptation anymore. That's how I'm feeling right now about food. I'm just not eating it so it's not a temptation.

What IS hard is the feeling of emptiness banging around in there. This is definitely an emotional journey of trying to be filled with things other than food. I am VERY surprised at how much time (before) I spent considering food. Thinking about it. Planning for it. Preparing for it. Buying it. Cooking it. Eating it. Cleaning up after it. Wandering around looking for some more.

Now, it's just me and myself. Larry of course is here and supportive but this journey is mine. And whoa, it is emotional.

Physically, I am a little irritable and the headache is back, but not as bad as it was yesterday. My mouth has a funny taste in it.

We went for a short walk this afternoon which was nice. Temperatures in the 70's, sunny, lovely and pleasant. I am tired, so I need to take a nap. Part of this whole thing is for me to learn to listen to my body, something I don't usually do. I am sitting a lot in my little nook, reading, thinking, listening.

I AM learning.

5 Day Water Fast - Day 1

While driving home from church this afternoon, I saw a woman and her little boy coming out of a pizza place with the cardboard box that holds my favorite food. My first thought was that I don't have to WORRY about food for the next five days.

It was a good thought.

There are things that should be done today and I want to do them. My Gospel Doctrine lesson for next week, for instance. But I am trying like mad to not let this be just another Sunday. This is my time to look over my list of issues. (Actually, isn't that just the dumbest word? We used to call "issues" "troubles.") But I do have time. I do have time.

Yes I have a list which I will be mulling over and discussing with the Lord. I hope he doesn't get sick of me and my "issues." Nah, he never does.

Water tastes weird today.

Ya know what?

Thanks to all of you who responded about my photo a day. I just decided that it doesn't have to be all or nothing! Imagine that. So I will be on the lookout for cool pics day by day but if I miss a day I won't kill myself.

I just realized that since I stopped doing my Photo of the Day, my desire to blog has dropped off significantly. Soooo, how can I change that? My blog is like a journal, so I'm missing out on recording too many things.

So this is what is going to happen:

After going to the last Red Wings game of the season tomorrow night, I'm going to start a five day fast. I'll be drinking water. That's it.

I feel this need to take five days to myself to feel good again - mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually etc...

After a lot of study and research, a five day water fast with a lot of quiet time sounds just right to me. Larry is supportive, which is good 'cause I won't be doing any cooking! What I will be doing is reading, sleeping, meditating, taking short walks, praying, just trying to get myself together again. I am really looking forward to it.

I will keep you updated as the days go by.

Oh and please, if any of you think this is not good or it's weird or dangerous, don't tell me. I need the encouragement, plus the Lord says I'll be fine!