Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Poop, friends, maturity...pretty much a Rant-fest!


If you didn’t know it, I’m here to tell you, your poop doesn’t smell like roses. No one’s does. And when you do “take care of business”, it’s kind of appropriate to flush and, hopefully, spray some air freshener or open a window. When you don’t flush or when you don’t spray air freshener then a whole bunch of other people get to deal with your crap. And that ain’t right. Just sayin’. When you’ve done stunk up a place, that’s when you need your friends. (And, case you don’t speak Tracy, while it applies literally, the “poop” I’m referring to is when you screw up.)

Now, let’s get something straight. A friend isn’t someone who tells you that your poop don’t stink. A real friend is someone who reminds you to flush and suggests that some Lysol would cover over a multitude of sins. (And a best friend goes and gets the Lysol for you!) There are way too many people who think that if someone holds you accountable for your slip-ups, that they aren’t a “real” friend. Honey, I’m here to tell you, we got enough people willing to blow smoke up your butt about your dumb decisions. A real friend? Tells you when you are about to do something stupid (or that you DID do something stupid), loves you just the same and then supports you as you dig yourself out of the hole you dug for yourself. Just sayin'. They DON’T tell you that what you did smells like roses. I see too many people standing around in stinkiness pretending it smells GREAT and talking about how everyone else is mean.

If you want someone who is only going to tell you how wonderful you are, how funny you are, how everyone else just doesn’t “understand you”, how everything you do and say is fine and everyone else should just “get over it”…well, that’s not a friend. That’s a fan. And you’ll be headed to hell in a handbasket with your fan club. And they’ll probably still be telling you what an awesome person you are. Just sayin.'

Good heavens. Do I like it when someone comes and tells me that I screwed up? Heck, no!  But I’d rather learn from my mistakes and actually, ya know, GROW so I don’t end up as a 45-50-60-70 year old woman with an 11-year old maturity level! Just sayin'.

Sure there are people who love nothing more than to tear you down just because it makes them feel good. But remember that there are also people who think that you are an actual adult and willing to take responsibility for your actions. So, maybe when you are hearing people talk negatively something you do or say, instead of gathering up your fans (remember, they AIN’T your friends!) and letting them smooth over your ruffled feathers, find some real friends, people that can stand up to your annoyance with them when they tell you that you’ve gotten off kilter. If THEY say there’s nothing there…let it go. But if they say, “yep, you screwed up” or “I’ve noticed you have a problem with this”, then it’s time for a little reflection, prayer, and time in the Word while you let God grow you up a bit.

Listen, if the only mistakes you own up to are the ones that YOU acknowledge, you are probably missing 90% of the crap you are throwing out at people. Just sayin'.

I’m not a teenager so surrounding myself with people who make my ego feel good is pretty stupid. (And seeing so many other adults who only surround themselves with fans...it's confirmed that it is VERY stupid.) I want friends who make me laugh, who I can talk to about the good, the bad, and the ugly, and who will keep me pointed to Him by letting me know when I’ve gotten off track. In other words, I need to know that when my poop stinks…someone who's gonna point it out AND expect me to do something about it. If you don’t have anyone in your life that holds you accountable for the stinky stuff you do and say, you need to get some. You need to take a good hard look at who you are surrounding yourself with and realize that you aren’t doing yourself any favors by keeping your fans entertained with your antics.

Just sayin’…

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Daniel Plan...Day 13

So glad that we started on the 1st. It makes it MUCH easier to remember what day I'm on!

It's one of those "blah" days, which followed a "blah-er" day. My get up and go is so far away, I'm not sure how it will ever come back.

As for Daniel Plan, we're off the detox part (no gluten, no caffeine, no sugars, no dairy). I'm still trying to be careful and only eat gluten in one meal and not going overboard on the dairy. Now, while I'm enjoying (surprisingly) trying new things, I gotta say that everything takes such a long time! Meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, clean up...they all require a heck of a lot more work than I usually put in and that just does not gel with my lifestyle. Anyhow, time to look back at the meals I've had:

Day 10's dinner was beef chunks in the balsamic vinaigrette we like to make now. Didn't turn out so good. I don't think I picked the right kind of beef as it was super tough. Guess I need to do some research on that. We also sliced the zucchini into coins instead of spears...and that didn't go over too good. I really think my oven is whackadoodle. I need to get that looked at now that we are cooking more.

Day 11 I made the regular blueberry/banana/flax smoothie for breakfast, had celery with peanut butter/apple/and something else but I can't remember for lunch. I grocery shopped after school and got my beloved wheat bread (hooray). Jo had her first home lacrosse game so after putting groceries up, I headed to the high school and for a treat since 1) it was her first home lacrosse game and 2) it got over at 7 and there was no time between getting home and leaving to make dinner, we went to Wendy's. I got my favorite apple, chicken, pecan salad. Meg did, too, but she didn't like it. Poor baby. She was so looking forward to getting off the detox. Jo went totally rogue and ate off Plan and relished it.

Day 12, again my regular smoothie for breakfast. For lunch I mixed Greek yogurt with tuna and stuffed it and romaine lettuce in a small oat/flax/wheat pita pocket. I had carrots and brought an apple which I didn't eat. Dinner was chicken that I'd put in the crockpot with salsa and left on low all day. I made the gluten-free corn tortilla crisps from the book (not bad) and had some corn with it. I put a dollop of Greek yogurt on it in place of my normal sour cream. We failed in that we didn't include a non-starchy vegetable. :(

Today I finally made Dr. Hyman's whole food smoothie, with one exception...I didn't have pumpkin seeds. It's a combo of blueberries, banana, a little almond milk and some water with chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, brazil nuts, almond butter and pumpkin seeds. It blended up okay but the recipe said that it served 3. It didn't make much more than the amount I normally drink for my breakfast smoothie. I should have listened. That drink is dense. It's also...earthy. The blueberries and banana don't do much to add any flavor, that's for sure. It's also, well, chewy. BUT, I drank about a third of the cup and couldn't handle anymore...I was full and satisfied. It's 9:30 and I'm still okay and not doing what I usually do, looking at the clock to see how long it will be until lunch! I'll make this again...but this time only take a third so I don't waste it. Lunch is natural peanut butter (9 g protein in 2 tbs of sugarless peanut butter) on one slice of whole wheat bread, carrots and a banana. Dinner tonight is supposed to be spaghtetti squash, turkey meatballs and the sauce I make from tomato paste that's so nummy, steamed fresh green beans and sliced apples. Tomorrow night we are making turkey burgers and Paula Deen's healthier macaroni and cheese from the recipe she put together for Dr. Oz. So excited about "real" comfort food!

Oh, and weight-wise, on day 11, it went down .2 lbs, day 12 stayed the same and this morning I was down .8 lbs. I also told my Bible study buddies that I was going to try to be more active this week and wanted them to hold me accountable. Monday I did 6 EMS laps (450 steps each) and a mile in the neighborhood, Tuesday nothing, yesterday I only got in 2 EMS laps but did a mile in the neighborhood in the blustering wind (seriously, I was being bounced around out there). I'm planning to get in a mile when I get home today, too. Go me! I'm definitely exceeding what I did last week...which was NOTHING!!!

Monday, March 10, 2014

Daniel Plan...Day 10


It’s day 10 of the Daniel Plan and I’m having a hard time. For 8 straight days the scale went down…sometimes no more than .2 lbs but .2 lbs down is still .2 lbs not on my body, right? Well, yesterday and today my weight is back up. I know I should base my self-worth on my weight and in my head, I’m mentally smacking myself for even giving into this feeling, but…I’m trying to be honest with myself and I honestly feel like a failure.

So, trying to be honest AND logical about the whole deal, I know I didn’t drink enough water this weekend and I know that yesterday’s meal at Don Tellos was a total bust. But to know that I would eat nasty, awful, bad/bad/bad/bad/bad stuff all the time and my weight would s-l-o-w-l-y creep up and then I have two days where I don’t drink water and have ONE bad meal and I pork on almost 2 pounds? The bad angel is screaming at me “give up.” I’m not going to because my good angel also has a chorus with the names of Kim and Barbie telling me to hang in there. All the same…

So during yesterday’s Bible study, we took on the Essential of Food. So timely because we were all feeling pretty badly about lunch. I also need to keep my eye on the Fitness Essential because I’m not doing well with that at all. And that frustrates me to no end. Yesterday, my brother-in-law posted a picture of my sisters and I from two summers ago on Facebook. That’s when I’d lost almost 30 lbs and was walking 2-3 miles a day and loving (well, putting up with) exercise. You would think it would spur me on to trying to be better, but it doesn’t. I’m sitting here trying not to cry because I’m so frustrated with myself.

So what’s the best thing to do when you are feeling down? Help someone else and find something to make you smile. I just came back from helping someone and that did nothing for me. (I’m such a putz.)  Laughter next: I’m trying to remember the Bible study yesterday and Kim’s little sweetie grunting out her BM. Jo was sitting next to her and suddenly blurted out, “It that smell all Gloria?!” So much for teaching my child manners and the fine art of subtlety. The room dissolved into laughter, we paused the Bible study DVD, Kim took the baby to change her and Jo went to find some Lysol. As Meg, Barbie and I are sitting around giggling about what took place, the next thing you know, Kim’s in the doorway. I don’t even listen to what she’s saying because she’s got Gloria with her feet in one hand and raised up and her other hand holding the baby up. We can see that she’s oozed out one of the legholes. Then she turns and walks in the other room. I’m dying laughing and remember other instances of baby blow-outs I’ve experienced when Barbie says, “I think she needs to some help.” (which is what Kim had said, but I was too busy laughing to process.) Off we go to the rescue. That child had it all over. We laughed until we cried. I still dissolve into giggles when I think about Kim coming to the door with Gloria hanging upside down (and Gloria with the biggest grin on her face).

And that reminds me why I’m doing this thing with my girls and with my friends. Because they can make me laugh and bring me out of the doldrums even when they aren’t around!

And, to top it all off, Kenny’s taking the dogs out for their morning walk for another week for me!!! Score!

So now that I’m back to my happier self, let me report in on Day 7’s dinner and Day 8 & Day 9 (if I can remember that far!)

Day 7’s Chicken Walnut Pesto dinner was fabulous! I mean, really nummy. I will make that again in a heartbeat. We had brown rice and roasted yellow squash for the sides.

Day 8 I made a blueberry/banana/flax seed smoothie for breakfast and had leftover Chicken Walnut Pesto and sides for lunch. For dinner we went to Applebees and I ordered the grilled Oriental Salad without the crunchy noodles. I asked for the oriental vinaigrette on the side and good thing because that thing wasn’t clear…it was opague and when I tasted it, lots of sugar there! I enjoyed the salad anyhow.

Day 9 I made another blueberry/banana smoothie (didn’t do the flax seed cuz I didn’t want to burp my way through church). Here’s where it fell apart. We went to Don Tellos for lunch and we convinced ourselves that the corn tortilla chips and salsa were okay to eat. And then I bulldozed my way through a couple baskets of it. I ordered Nachos Grande without the cheese or sour cream. Then we went to Bible study and we all agreed that the chips were probably not Daniel Plan okay. We were all feeling sluggish and guilty (except, perhaps, Johanna. I think she was okay with the slip.) So…oops! Anyhow, I was so full that I didn’t eat any dinner except munch on some nuts.

Day 10 started out with no ripe bananas so I made a tropical smoothie with some frozen pineapple, strawberry, mango fruit, coconut milk and protein powder. It was okay. It was kind of flavorless, to tell the truth. I think it suffered for not having the banana. Anyhow, since I need to stock up on groceries but waited since TODAY’S THE LAST DAY OF THE DETOX!!!, I have a weird lunch. I have leftover yellow squash and rice, some blackberries, and celery with natural peanut butter (9 g of protein in 2 tbs, no sugar). Tonight I’m going to marinate beef chunks in the balsamic vinaigrette and sauté them, and more brown rice and roast more zucchini. Gotta do it quick when I get home because I have a meeting at 5:30 and one following it at 6:30. Gack! Hoping to have enough leftovers for Meg, Jo and I for Tuesday lunch!!

Also, I’m down 5 lbs and my waist dropped a half inch over the past 10 days.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Photo-bombed!

Okay, so if you know me at all, you know that I love a good "fart" picture. What is a fart picture, you may ask? Well, it's a photo where at least one person is smiling away and the other(s) in the photo are making a face. So, someone (usually the smiler) has let one loose and the other(s) are reacting it. See? A fart picture! (Why, yes, I'm 8 years old mentally. Thank you for pointing that out.)

A recent photo funny that has gained popularity is photo-bombing, wherein while someone's getting their photo taken, someone else jumps in, or pops up in, the photo. A good one cracks me up. This is one from the other night. We were out to dinner with friends and I had gotten my hands on my friends' baby and asked Meg to take a picture of our preciousness. My other friend Barbie photo-bombed this photo spectacularly. I can't look at it without cracking up. Perfection!!!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Today is a day. Not a good day. Just a day. My sinuses are announcing the impending arrival of rain and no amount of sinus medication, Advil, Tylenol or caffeine seems to slow the pound. We are dealing with a lot of emotion in our house as the older three make plans for next year. And we are dealing with a lot of stress brought on by some changes at the church which add to Kenny's and my workload.

But it's not a bad day! I had to proctor in a 4th grade classroom for the last day of standardized testing which is boring, at best, but not taxing. Then shortly after I returned to my office, I logged out for a luncheon put on by the Rotary Club honoring the recipients of the Outstanding Student awards for the county. Lunch made by people who enjoy (and know how to) cooking and cleaned up by someone other than me? Yes, please! Lorie was honored as the Outstanding Student for Music (Ha!) We had to sit through 35 mostly unprepared 1-2 min biographies by each of the recipients...but that's okay. I got back to school before they locked up for dismissal. Then I got a surprise. Flowers, chocolates, and a card. One of my buddies knew our family was stressed out and stopped by with them to cheer me up. Can you believe that? My friend, Bonnie, really is one of the most giving people I know. I'm so honored to call her, 'friend.' (Plus, she knows how to force my hair into submission...she's my hairstyist. We like to call her the Hair Whisperer).

Fuzzy, but still appreciated!


So the good, the bad, and the ugly all get wrapped up together and become a "day."

Well, joy, I just got an email from Meg. She stayed home yesterday because had the yucky cough, was exhausted and, frankly, needed a day to sleep. She had to miss a retake on her test and rescheduled it for today...but she needs a pass to go take the test and the teacher won't email her back an email pass.

I just got super tired.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Hair issues

Okay, so yesterday at the Premier Designs Rally I'm feeling goooood. I'm feeling fiiiiiine. I'm feeling like I actually have it together! I'd spent extra time doing my makeup (even remembered to put the green concealer on to tone down my red areas) and doing my hair. I'd gotten lots and lots of complements on the jewelry I had on (no mean feat in the company I was keeping) and my outfit (again, no mean feat seeing that I am fashion-challenged in a mighty way). During our lunch break I used the ladies room and when I went to wash my hands I, naturally, checked myself out. Unfortunately, the vision in my head of what I looked like did not quite match up to what I saw in the mirror. I'd obviously been rubbing my eyes (a horrible habit I've picked up lately) and my eye make-up was smeary. My red areas on my face were shining through the foundation, leaving those areas looking mottled and my hair! My blasted hair looked like I'd cut it myself!

If you look at my family photo in the slideshow, you can see that my hair had some length to it. Right before school started I got it cut off to my chin in a bob. That was the hairstyle I was sporting. That morning, it looked good, but by lunchtime some of my curls had fallen out and the frizzies and the gray hairs were popping out to say, "how do you do?" (Now, I have nothing against gray hair...I just wish it wasn't a totally different texture!!) My head has curly, wavy, slightly wavy and straight hair. It's a pain in the patoot to deal with, but yesterday I thought I'd put enough product in it to make sure it lasted all day! Not so! So today I decided enough is enough, time to go a little more drastic.

My friend, Bonnie, is a hairstylist and puts up with all my whining about my hair and helps me try to tame it. My hair likes Bonnie and willingly does whatever she wants it to do. Then it comes home with me and give me "nanny, nanny, boo-boo" stuff and nonsense. I just got my 'do done. Hopefully the hair likes what Bonnie did and gives me a little cooperation. I had Bonnie cut it shorter in the back and stack it so that when I straighten my hair, it has a little oomph, then I had her go in and layer the heck out the rest of the hair to try to lighten the load for the curls. When I got home, Lorie came and kind of "hmmmed" but I'm going to overlook that non-comment (and the look on her face) and pretend I'm jim-dandy fine with it.

I just want to feel like I have a hairstyle and not just a mess of hair on my head! Most of the time what my hair looks like has nothing whatsoever to do with me or what I've done. How sad that a big part of my "look" is up to weather and how my hair feels that day. I really, REALLY hope my hair likes this style and backs off for just a little while!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Storms ahead

The last few days there have been storms in Atlanta. I have to admit, I slept through the ones on Friday night, but I hear they were pretty intense. Weather people were debating on whether there was a tornado or just intense winds that ravaged downtown. I think the National Weather Service weighed in that it really was a tornado. That was all the news on Saturday. Amazingly no fatalities...but a bunch of idiots were walking around downtown in all that glass and debris to check it out for themselves. Um, the TV crews are down there. You don't need to be adding to the chaos just so you can check it out for yourself. The storms Saturday touched a little closer. We have a friend who has had weird seizures for about a year. The doctors can't figure out what's going on, but they've gotten so intense and caused his body so much trauma that he was put in ICU at our local hospital on Thursday. A church member had her baby on Friday, so now that Kenny got back from Meg's field trip, we needed to go and do our hospital visits. So we leave the kids home with Ken and Sandra and drive off in what was just sprinkles. As we're heading down the road, the rain intensifies. At that point we realize that we'd both heard that he might be leaving ICU and with the rain, we didn't want to have to be roaming the hospital. So Kenny calls one of his friends, who is also a family member of the hospitalized guy. As he's talking to him the rain is really drumming down. He asks this guy where he's driving at because the background noise is the different than the noise the rains making and we are maybe a 1/2 mile from his house. The guys says he's at home but there's hail the size of golfballs coming down! Okay, so that's weird. We make it to the hospital, Kenny pulls up and drops me off at the overhang and goes to park the car. THAT's when the hail hits! Kenny dodges the hail coming down and we head up to ICU. Inside the ICU waiting area are the wife and mom of the hospitalized guy. There is a tornado WARNING that has just been posted. All ICU patients were taken out of their rooms and placed in interior halls of the ICU and all family members were booted to the waiting room! We get told this and then suddenly the door to the waiting room from ICU get thrown open and a nurse bustles in with sheets and blankets and instructions that if she yells, that we are all to go into a nearby ladies room and hunker down! Apparently the tornado is coming right for us!

Such excitement. It ended up going around the hospital and causing a whole bunch of damage in Covington. But all in all, I guess the safest place to be in an emergency is outside the ICU! I was actually glad we ended up there because the wife was fit to be tied. She ended up crying when she saw me (I thought they'd heard really bad news and were in the waiting room because her husband was having tests or something) and I braced for the news. Turned out she was just so stressed about her husband, that the tornado was the final blow. Kenny and I were someone new and she was so grateful she just let go. Awww. That was a good moment. We also were able to reassure her that her kids were in a basement with their cousins and several adults (the friend Kenny had called earlier) so that was icing.