Sink or Swim

Man, oh man, how things change and change quickly sometimes. Forth of July this year was another turning point in our family. If some of you remember 4 years ago, we had a family falling out that resulted in part of the extended family going their own way and us being portrayed as terrible influences. Well, we've dealt with it to the best of our abilities and at some point you just have to look at the situation and realize the things you did wrong. And you have to realize that some people will never grow a set to deal with the things they did wrong. I still wish things had gone down differently, but I can't make anyone change. So this year, we had a visitor from the "other camp" and she made a pretty difficult decision to come down for the celebrations. Unfortunately, her home turf didn't exactly look at the situation in the same light she did and she found herself faced with becoming an adult very fast.

The good news is that even in the midst of all this change and turmoil, she has started seeing things more clearly. While we're all adjusting to the change, life goes on and goes forward. Forward movement is the catch phrase we're using around here. After all, that's what it's all about...moving forward in a happy and healthy way. Looking at challenges as challenges we can overcome and not as obstacles too big to hurdle.

Aaron is working very hard on starting his new company, Truth Investigations. We've been toying with the idea for years and it is so exciting, nerve racking and scary at the same time. I have always compared the decision to work for yourself to jumping off a cliff. Maybe your parachute will open, maybe it won't. This is more like jumping off the back of a boat in the middle of the ocean. Maybe you'll float, maybe you won't. Maybe the sharks will bite, maybe you'll be close enough to land that you can swim to it. Either way, I guess the good thing is that we'll be doing it together- sink or swim.

I've been on Weight Watchers since the end on January and I've lost quite a bit of weight. 28.2 pounds, to be exact. Here's my weight tracker chart to prove it.

Some days though, it's damn hard to stay on track. Like today, I started the day off with a sausage biscuit and hash brown from McDonald's...that was 13 points. Then for lunch I had Five Guys...yeah that's depressing how many points that is. The good news? I was able to get some exercise points because I worked damn hard at the rental house today. Why people think leaves are appropriate mulch, I do not know. I have taken 5 loads of leaves to the dump from the front yard and I've started working on the back. I thought I might be able to burn some leaves, but one of the neighbors decided to call the fire department on me. Yeah, I left her a note. You would think the neighbors would want me to do everything I could to clean up that mess. But whatever...

As I think about dinner, I'm starting to think that I should just call it a "fat girl" day and stop counting points. Those are good to have every so often and I haven't had one since I started my diet. There's another side of me that says, "No, eat a suitable dinner, don't screw it up too bad." Eh, I don't know...I could use a beer. Maybe I'll eat some fruit. I did get some really nice looking blackberries at Kroger yesterday.

Step 1: Read the directions.

A couple nights ago I could not get to sleep. I was up early that morning and ran all day. All I wanted to do when I got home was to have a nice hot cup of tea and relax. I had bought some Yogi tea earlier and thought that would be the perfect thing to wind down after a long hectic day. So, I brewed up some tea, held it in my hands and breathed in the aroma.

That's really my favorite part of tea. Breathing in the steam. I think there's something therapeutic in the steam.

An hour passed and I was feeling a little more relaxed, but I wasn't tired. So, I brewed another cup. And I sat, breathed in the steam and watched another show on TV. And then I had my third cup, and a forth and before I know it I had drank 7 cups of this lovely, relaxing Yogi tea. When 5am rolled around and I had done my 5th load of laundry, made a 4th wire-wrapped necklace, 2nd bracelet, 3rd pair of earrings and cleaned the downstairs bathroom top to bottom, I wondered why the hell I was still up. I decided to go back and read the box of tea.

Yeah, it was Green Tea with extra anti-oxidants to aid in energy and digestion. Uh, yeah so I just didn't go to sleep that night. I think I may have taken a nap around 3pm...for an hour, maybe two because the phone started ringing with bond calls. The story of my life.