Learning to love oneself

Love begins at home with learning to love ourselves. This is not trite psychobabble. You Geminis are quite capable of saying the right thing at the right time. You can often get the love you need. But now it's time to stop and nurture your own self. Not only will it feel good, but it can also deepen the way you love others

This was my horoscope for yesterday.  But I think it speaks volumes to everyone of us.  Generally speaking, we give so much of ourselves and our time to others, leaving very little for our own needs.  I think there is something to be said that first we must fill ourselves and then we can give more freely and openly to others.

Waiting to hear

Paul flies the Apaches.  When I read these reports I wonder if he is one of the responding helicopters.  I know he is not stationed at the camp that was attacked.  But I also know he's flown out to hunt for the attackers in the past.   I also know that this means it will be a few days before I hear from him.  UGH!  the waiting and not knowing is so frustrating. 

I feel for the families of the soldiers involved. It is never easy.  Waiting to hear the news if your soldier was involved, waiting to hear from your soldier if he/she wasn't.  Communications are limited until the next of kin are contacted.  Now, I have another 2-3 day wait til I hear from him.

KABUL, Afghanistan (June 8) - Rebel rockets struck U.S. troops unloading supplies from a helicopter in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two and wounding eight in one of the bloodiest assaults on American forces since insurgent violence picked up in March.

The killings came a day after the Afghan government warned that Taliban and al-Qaida fighters are waging a campaign of violence in hopes of undermining legislative elections in September, although the rebels failed to disrupt last fall's presidential vote.

After the explosions at the base in Shkin, 4 miles from the border with Pakistan, U.S. warplanes and attack helicopters rushed to the scene to search for the attackers, but found no trace of them, Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara said.

The U.S. spokesman said four rockets hit the base.

''This was a serious attack against coalition forces,'' O'Hara said. ''Security is not as good as it should be. But when you look at it over the course of months, incidents are on the decline. But that doesn't appear to be the case today.''

O'Hara said the Shkin base is part of an operation along the border to prevent ''foreign fighters from entering into this country to derail the peace process.''

Weekly Weigh in

I don't know how.. lol.. but I am losing again.  My exercise has been sporadic at best, with so many changes happening on a daily basis.  And my eating has not been as on target as I would like it to be.. but in the last 7 days , I've managed to lose 2.2 lbs.. WOO HOO!   We are set to leave on Monday.  We're taking the train up to Frankfurt on Sunday, and staying overnight at a hotel near the airport.  I didn't want to leave the car in the parking lot for two months (can you imagine the fees!!).  Our plane takes off about 11:30 am and with the new rules about check-in.. I'd have to have us on the train Monday morning by 4:30 to get to Frankfurt in time.. decided it would be less hectic if we just spent the night up in Frankfurt.  This way.. I can leave my house pretty clean and with the beds all made and dishes all done.. a first I think for me when it comes to traveling.   I've been busy on E-bay this month.  Selling a lot of the homeschooling curriculum I used this past year.  So much of it was in such great shape, it seemed a shame for it not to get used again.  I made enough money to subsidize a good part of my "mini-vacation" with my sister.  She's meeting up with us mid-july, about the same time that Paul is due in.  I am leaving him with the kids and taking a 3-4 day breather with my sister.  As much as I hate to miss those days with Paul, I have to be honest and say that I'm looking forward to NOT being "mom" 24/7.    Paul's dad is scheduled for surgery on June 14 (the day after we get there).  The doctors are pretty confident at the moment that the tumor is inclusive and has not had the chance to spread.  I hope the surgery bears out what all the early tests are saying.   I'm sending my computer out in the mail tomorrow so I can have it at my mother's .. LOL.. how addicted is that?  It would probably make more sense to just buy a cheap one at Walmart once I am there, but I am so not interested in having to set it all up.  Rather just have mine arrive and plug it in. I have 24 hours to make a final decision about this.  The plus side of sending the computer (actually it's the kids) is that it is already loaded up with all their favorite games so they'd have a few things to do at Gram's.   The rest of this week, I'm trying to plan out menus for while we are at my mom's.  I think I mentioned before I intend to take over cooking duties while we are there.  So I want to go armed with some recipes and menu plans.  But I want to keep it a bit open as well... I have to admit that I have a lot of excitement, anticipating all the new products that have been out since we've arrived in Germany.   I've also decided that while I'm in Phoenix I will go to WW meetings in person. I figure I can get 8 weeks worth under my belt while I'm there.  I am hoping that the meetings will give me that extra boost of "gotta stick with it" that I've been sorely lacking lately.   Am also trying to help my son, Mac get his weight a bit more under control.  He's been mentioning he wants to lose weight.. I don't think he needs to lose much, but what I really think he needs is to get out and play more, as well as think about portion control.   Okay.. this got longwinded and I didn't mean for it to.. sorry :) 

I missed his call

Yesterday the kids and I went up to Wuerzburg PX to do some shopping.  One of the things I needed to do was buy ink for the printer but I forgot that.  I really need to make lists.

When we got home there was a message on the phone. Paul tried to call and we weren't here.  I actually played the message over a half dozen times just to hear his voice.  I can't believe I missed a chance to talk to him. I hope he tries again over the next few days.

My oven is broken.  Something happened Saturday night... I'm not sure what, but now only the upper coil will heat up.  I was going to make Chocolate Chip cookies to send to Paul, but now I'm concerned that the cookies will burn. I have to make a decision about that in the next hour or so though.  Post office closes by three here, so If I want him to have these before the weekend, they must go out today.

On the "good news" side of the house, My weigh in this morning was down.  Not as much as I hoped, but considering that I had a hard time staying on a good eating plan, YEA!   I weighed 14.4 lbs... down 1.3 lbs from last Wednesday.

This week is going to be a flurry of activity but I'm hoping to keep to the diet.  Monday next we take off for Phoenix.  My FIL is scheduled for surgery on the 14th. The kids are anxious to see him before he heads under the knife.

All for now.

 

Saturday

Mackenzie is having a few friends over tonight for a sleep-over.  I was in a very good mood when I agreed to this. This morning we got up and started cleaning.  The house gets a bit trashed between Monday morning and Friday evening.

Everything is finished now and I feel like I've been on a cleaning marathon.  I've done 7 loads of laundry (three still in the dryers) already today.  I think I'm done with laundry for the day.  All the public rooms look fantastic.  I still need to do my room, but for the moment I'm taking a breather. 

Today I'm also trying to focus more on a "liquid" diet.  I've been using the slim-fast shakes as my meals and eating fruit for snacks.

I have 5 window boxes of flowers outside.  Two of them are thriving and three are dying from neglect. 

My Back's Against the Wall

This is it. Time to "start it up"  My "official" weigh in this morning is 215.7.  I have 13 weeks for this first part of my plan.  My goal is to be down to 189 by August 30.

Generally speaking, I'm going to be following the WW flex point plan. Specifically, I'm trying to keep my calories between 1200 and 1500 a day. Water consumption needs to go up.

Exercise, it's going to be a 2 mile walk a day (WATP) and I'm using the beachbody.com program "Slim in Six" for my weight resistance training.  This program ramps up as you get more fit.  The starting program is about 34 minutes long, by the end of the 1st or 2nd week (going at your own rate), the program is about 57 minutes long.

As added "bonus" exercise, I'm going to encourage more "play time" with my kids.  Last year at this time we were playing tag in the playgrounds after school, and trying to make it to the gym once or twice a week.  I think it's time we start that back up again.  I may not pursue it too heavily here, since only two weeks remain, but once we are in Phoenix and school is out.. I'll convince them they need to help "me". :)    I have already found one laser tag gym in Phoenix, something we all enjoyed in CO. Springs.

Swimming lessons will be a "must" while we are in Phoenix.  Hopefully, there is a "Y" near my mother.

The Diet Minder and other ramblings

It's been some crazy days lately.  Mac's Science Fair Project came together very nicely.  The fair was last Thursday and Friday.  Guess I'll hear how he did overall by end of today.  Friday the 6th graders went to Geiselwind, an amusement park near us.  I went as a chaperone and had Mac and his friend Michael with me.  All my children take after their dad.  They do not care for rollercoasters, nor other rides that are fast, upside down, etc.  So, Michael and I rode a lot of the scarier rides together.  I think my new favorite are the drop rides.  The ones where they take you to the top of a tower and then drop you down.. sort of a controlled "bungee" jump.   But I sidetrack....

Today my oldest daughter, Kendra is going to Geiselwind with her "Renaissance" group.  This is the reward program for those kids that not only excel in schoolwork, but also manage to have few, if any excuses absences. I hope she has a good time.

Kimberly, my middle child, has a geography project due today.  She has to finish it up this morning before school (nail biting suspense on that one), so I'm waking her about 1/2 hour earlier than usual.  Here's hoping she did not grossly underestimate the amount of time she needed for this project.

Okay... so.. finally I'm ready to discuss the Diet Minder.  This is a neat journal. I heard about it somewhere, and after much debate (and finally filling my theme book) I decided to try this as my diet diary.  I like to track the good days, what I eat, etc. One of the reasons I wanted to try this food diary in particular is that it has space for listing your supplements.  I take a few and it would be nice to be able to see if they do make as much a difference in my overall plan as I think they do.

To learn more about the Diet Minder and the company's other products, you can go to their website at www.memoryminders.com .  I am going to begin using my new food diary tomorrow (june 1).  It allows me to track things for 91 days, which should work out just perfect for my trip to Phoenix.  I'm going to put my "before" pictures in there to help keep me motivated.  I have 14 days here before I leave for Phoenix and I have 4 weeks there before Paul joins us.  The heat is on!