A Thankful Group

Have you ever had a gathering at your home? Have you ever had a crisis or two 20 minutes before they arrive? Ahhh, welcome to my world.

Some of the children from church came over Saturday to play some backyard games and to learn about being thankful. About 20 minutes before they arrived, I was warming 1/2 a gallon of hot chocolate on the stove. I was warming it in my favorite glass carafe. The carafe that I use day and night. The carafe that I hadn't noticed was worn out. While scurrying about the kitchen trying to wrap everything up before the guests arrive I hear a sizzle. I think to myself, "Why is that sizzling? I'm pretty sure it's not overflowing." I ignore it continuing to tidy up. A couple more sizzles later I decide I'd better go see what's up on the stove. I grasp the handle to check underneath and all that comes with the handle is the top part of the carafe. One half gallon of hot chocolate pours out everywhere. The carafe has broken clean in two. Hot chocolate covers the stove. It covers the counters on both sides of the stove and it covers the floor. I stand still for about 5 seconds and then yell for help.

My good and kind husband helps me clean up the mess and in less than 10 minutes we have cleaned all the visible surfaces. I grab a metal pan and fill it with 1/2 gallon of milk and turn on the burner. From the pantry I retrieve the Nesquik and start walking to the stove. My momma always told me never to carry things by their lids. She was right. Almost to the stove the bottom part of the Nesquik container drops from its' lid and chocolate powder flies everywhere. My good and kind husband who has psychically lingered near me starts to laugh. Right after I throw the yellow Nesquik lid at him we frantically clean up the powder which has stuck to the freshly mopped floor. Miraculously, we manage to clean everything up before our first guest arrives.

Everyone really had a good time. The kids played. The adults visited and everyone roasted miniature marshmallows on pretzel sticks. (note to self: buy large marshmallows) We learned about being thankful and everyone loved the hot chocolate. It was truly a great day.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Psalm 136:1

Another day...another crazy hat

You might be wondering where Miss G gets all her hats. I sometimes wonder that myself. Miss G loves hats and it seems that others have noticed. People have started giving her hats for no apparent reason other than when she wears them she makes people smile. It's hard to resist a smile when you encounter a four year old wearing pink cowboy boots and a dalmatian fur hat. (I neglected to capture a picture of her boots. My apologies.)

Are you a person that makes people smile? This question was posed to a ladies' group this past weekend. It stuck with me and caused me some serious self analysis. The speaker specifically asked us, "What would people hear if our thoughts were broadcast over a loud speaker?" Ouch. "Would people hear your judgemental labels? Would people hear your negative self talk? Would they hear you blaming others for your issues? What would they hear?"

These questions actually made me lean back in my chair like I had just smelled a foul odor that I couldn't get away from fast enough. They struck a nerve and made me squirm. Are we actually in control of that rolling monologue in our heads? You know the one that's always making excuses for everything. The one that's rationalizing our every decision. That voice that beats up our self esteem because we think we don't measure up to the standard. Just what is going on up there in our big ol' brain?

Maybe we should disconnect that monologue from our brain and ask God to take control of it. How different our life would be if we were constantly fed by love instead of self doubt, anger and judgement. What if we heard...

"I made you in my image."

"I made you just the way I want you."

"You can do all things through me."

"Ask, seek and knock."

"All who come to me and keep my commandments are saved....for ever and ever and ever and ever."

"I love you."

Now that seems like a better way to live. Plug this into your life. Ask God to take control. You may not have a dalmatian hat, but I bet you can make someone smile. You are a precious gift. Pass it on.

Diet Update

Weigh-In:

Mrs. Dabbler has lost 13 lbs.
Mr. Reserved has lost a little (I'm actually not sure of the #) and
Miss G is down from 390 lbs to 380 lbs.

Her and her daddy weighed a couple of days ago. She ran up front yelling,

"Mommy, mommy guess what? I weigh three hundreds and ninety pounds!"

"Oh really? Do you mean three hundred ninety or 39?"

"It's three hundreds and ninety. Really. I'm serious."

"Wow. That's great, Miss G."

Yesterday they weighed again.

"Mommy, mommy, I now weigh three hundreds and eighty pounds."

"Wow, that's great. You're amazing."

"Yeah, I know."

We really didn't intend for Miss G to lose weight on our new way of eating. I am encouraging her to make healthy choices and so far she is doing great. If you only weight 39 pounds and you lose one pound, that's a pretty big percentage of your weight. I'll have to up her quantity of the good stuff.

Miss G has always loved broccoli. The other night I roasted cauliflower for dinner and she just glared at it until I told her it was like white broccoli. That was all it took. She gobbled it up like there was no tomorrow and then she begged me to buy it again the next time I went to the store. Kids really will eat vegetables. You just have to keep giving them opportunities to eat them. It seems like I've come to this crucial piece of information the hard way but at least I've finally got it.

My dear mother tried for years to cook healthy for us. It's only taken me 40 years to realize the wisdom of her ways. I guess that makes me pretty stubborn and a lot of other adjectives I'd rather not say.

I hope that you've decided to make some healthy choices. You'll feel so much better and who knows, you might go from 390 to 380 too.

It's Autumn

Today was a blustery, leaves blowing, wind howling, Winnie-the-Pooh kind of day. It wouldn't have taken much for a person to lose their balance and end up in a Poohesque head-over-heels roll. Fall has officially arrived.

While out in this world today, Miss G found "the most humongous leaf in the whole wide world!" I think I'm in agreement with her because it was quite a bit bigger than her head.



Fall is my favorite season. I love to feel the first chill in the air and to see the gray clouds roll across the sky. Sipping hot drinks becomes my pastime. Miss G also seems energized by this change in our world or maybe it's just her new shoes (thank you, Ryann).

Recently my favorite fall drink, coffee, has been replaced by peppermint tea. I am a new convert to peppermint tea and I don't think I can stress to you enough how wonderful it is. Besides opening up your stuffy head, it tingles your mouth and makes your tummy sing. It's truly lovely.

Miss G enjoys the always reliable and ever so yummy hot chocolate. Today she especially enjoyed her cup because it contained colored marshmallows. Miss G and Mr. Reserved are marshmallow officiados. They KNOW their marshmallows. Miss G would eat them straight out of the bag if I'd let her. Their favorite dessert contains these babies and is a Christmas treat made for them by Grandma, but we'll get to that at Christmas.

Today's chill made our drinks extra yummy which I now invite all to witness in the following picture.

I hope you all enjoy your drinks so much that you have a chocolate-like beard after you've had them. Cocoa is an experience, not just a drink.

Go ahead! Try a chocolate smooch ever once in a while. The calories are next to nothing.

Changing

Please excuse my absence. I've been changing my life.

Our family has been changing our eating habits. I'll be the first to admit that I have not fostered a healthy diet for the three of us. We were always stopping for fast food or at restaurants. At home I would cook a couple of times a week but the rest of our meals, I'm sad to say, were full of junk.

All this junk was making me sick. I hurt all the time and felt like I had arthritis. I think the big "eye opening" moment came several weeks ago on the tennis court when I felt a tweak in my knee. I DON'T want to blow out my knee. Some of my teammates have issues with their knees and they hurt with every step. It's time to lose weight and get healthy while my knees are still strong.

For two weeks and one day I have radically changed my diet. My husband and daughter are not quite on board yet. We'll just say their change is more gradual. Until we are at our goal weights we will try not to eat/drink any dairy, red meat, flour or any gluten product, caffeine, soda, white rice, white potatoes and salt. We are eating all that we want of fruit, vegetables, brown rice and other grains, and beans. We are also drinking lots of herbal tea and water. It is a radical departure from the items we had been eating and it's working.

My new lifestyle is healing my body. My aches and pains are gone. I have more energy and I've lost 10.5 pounds in 15 days. My mood has lifted and life just seems brighter. My skin looks better too. Everything is a positive.

To eat this new way I have had to radically change my routine. Once again, I'm learning to structure and plan a part of my life which is a big departure from my norm. It's been a slow process but I'm starting to get the hang of it. I go to the grocery store a lot more often now but buy less so that we can have fresh produce. I'm starting to crave fruit and vegetables and think that fast food restaurants stink...literally. My body was so depleted of essential vitamins and nutrients it is now rejoicing at the over abundance that it's fed every day. It's a wonderful way to eat and live.

Now it's time for you to try it. Go make yourself a mango, apple and banana smoothie. Your body will thank you.