Good intentions...

My mom used to say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  Although she has always been a very easy going lady, this has always been one of her "lessons" learned along the path of life.  I think it could be true, though.  Good intentions are great!  But the follow through is what matters.

I opened this post with the whole good intensions thing because that has been one of my struggles in keeping this blog.  I should have just given up a while back.  I haven't posted since 2011!!  Almost 4 years.  So much has happened in life and in the world.

I guess I'm no longer considered middle aged, although I don't feel a day over 45 or so.  I'm approaching 61 (2 1/2 weeks to go!) but I really feel much younger, even in spite of some health issues I've dealt with...nothing serious or life threatening.

My youngest son graduated from the U of A in 2013!  What a fabulous time that was...all our kids were here to celebrate, as well as a few other family members.  We had a great party for him and he has been living in a couple of hours away and working for the company he wanted to work for.  We are very proud of him.

My stepson was married in July 2014 to a wonderful young woman!  They live in Texas, but were married here.  What a blessed time it was...a beautiful wedding with many fond memories.

I had a cervical spine fusion surgery done in August 2014.  After years of suffering with radiating pain and issues with my neck it has been so good to have moved beyond that.

We adopted a sweet, lovable and loyal dog in August of 2012!  He is a Lhasa Apso mix (some poodle in there, I believe) and although he was a very sad looking mutt, I insisted on checking him out.  My husband didn't understand what I saw in him, but now he knows.  We named him Bentley.  Once the ink was dry on the adoption papers, we immediately had him groomed and a cute little guy was revealed!  He is THE BEST dog we could have hoped for.  Never chewed on anything.  Aside from a very few pee accidents during the first weeks of him living with us, he never goes potty anywhere but outside.  He even goes outside to throw up!

Then....................................Now

He does suffer from mild separation anxiety when I go out, but it is limited to whining and walking around with his favorite toy in his mouth.  And he also lays down by whatever door I left through, usually until I return.  At least that is what has been witnessed by my son and hubby.  He also isn't good with other dogs, and seems to think they are all out to get him.  I doubt he was socialized much as a puppy, and was likely low man on the totem pole at the very crowded foster home.  We love him so much and we are grateful to be able to give him the forever home he deserves.

Time to sign off.  Will be trying to post things here more often.  The world is changing so much, so fast these days...and I feel the need to record my observations, feelings and (horrors!) opinion.  Facebook is not a place where one can really do that without being attacked.  Everyone talks a good talk about being tolerant and allowing everyone to have their own opinions and disagreeing with respect...but I don't see much to back that up online.  Even many vegans are nasty and judgmental people who find fault with everyone who doesn't live up to their rules and expectations.  It is a sad, sad thing.  Hence, I am careful of sharing my thoughts and feelings.  Right or wrong, we all have the right to express ourselves without persecution.  This is my blog and therefore I am free to state whatever I want to...if readers (if there are any) don't care for my views and beliefs, then they can always not read it.  At the very least, it will provide a sort of diary for my children when I am gone. They will be able to see I am more than "Mom" or "Mama" or "Ma"...and I do think that is important.

Ta ta for now.

Change is Good

Here it is, October 24th. Time has just flown by and I've neglected my blog, yet again. But, here I am, ready to write!

Hmmm, let's see. I completed the Couch to 5K program successfully (Yay!!) and have been running regularly ever since. Which means I've been running for almost 5 months. Now I run outside, which was VERY hard at first. I got discouraged...felt like giving up and being a treadmill runner. I was great on the treadmill. Ran for 50 minutes and 4 miles...with maybe a couple of 1 or 2 minute walks for recovery purposes. I've gone through not being able to run for longer than 1 minute, to knees that ached...but finally am on track and doing well. Am running in my first official 5K on November 6, and after a month of thinking "What was I thinking??", I can now say I'm ready. I am doing interval running and have improved my time by shaving off approximately 3 minutes to run 5K (3.1 miles). Now I'm looking forward (with excited anticipation) to that 5K in Tempe on Nov. 6th!

The temps here have not cooled down a lot, although compared to 105 or higher during the summer, having most days in the mid-90's isn't so bad. Except when I wish it were cool outside...sweater weather...fire in the fire pit weather. Today some clouds have moved in, which is fine with me. By the end of the week things are expected to cool down in the 80's. That means nights will be cooler...hopefully.

New happenings here...Anthony & I have chosen to eliminate meat from our diets. He still is eating tuna fish in his lunch simply because I am at a loss for what to send him to work with. I've got a new cookbook that has a "Better Than Tuna Salad" recipe in it, which I will be trying by this weekend. If he likes it, then that will be his lunch. We also are avoiding dairy...although this isn't a strict rule, since it is very difficult to do so completely. So, we are not intentionally eating or drinking dairy...except for me when I use half and half in my morning coffee. Tried coconut creamer and it just isn't really creamy enough...but, I do plan to try again and hopefully I will stop using dairy half and half soon. More on these developments later...why, how, and what our food choices look like now that we are vegetarians/almost vegans. :) And I wonder...is there such a thing as an "almost vegan"??

It's Been Awhile...

Midsummer here in the desert. Hot, as you can imagine. Humid, as well, due to monsoons, which are a good thing here. The monsoons could be better, but they have been pretty good so far.

I'm about to begin Week 8 of the Couch to 5K plan...am now running/jogging 25 minutes at a time, but starting tomorrow (Day 1 of Week 8) I will be upping it to 28 minutes. Week 9 is the last week of the program, so I'm almost there!! More importantly, I have persevered, have become more fit and strong, and have grown in ways that can only be experienced when one challenges their physical abilities. I am very happy and, yes, pleased with myself!! I want to run. Crazy, huh?

Next up, committing to running a 5K. There is a local one in October, but I'm thinking of holding out for one in Tempe in early November. I've got friends doing that one, so it may be a better choice...something to share with friends, and experiencing the camaraderie of digging in and doing a real 5K. My husband will be there, as well, cheering me on and helping me to stay focused. He has been great, and is very proud of me...the wife he always referred to as being the most lacking in physical/athletic abilities. He has regularly been asking me "What have you done with my wife?" (joking, of course), as well as giving me kudos and lots of encouragement.

All this happened because I got on the treadmill one morning after hearing about this Couch to 5K thing, and figured it could be easy. After that first day, I was hooked. Me. The woman who grew tired when just hearing others talk about running. The woman who previously wanted to be as far from running as possible. The woman who was satisfied to just walk (rather slowly) on her treadmill and call it exercise. The woman who would choose reading over moving every time.

I AM A RUNNER.

Another day, another milepost

Week 3 Day 1 of the Couch to 5K training program was today. That means upping the jogging times per interval. Funny thing is, the whole workout only amounted to 25 minutes, as opposed to 30 minutes...so, I decided to throw in an extra 3 minute jog at the end before cooling down. I was feeling good, and had my stride...so I went for it. So glad I did! Although right now I'm feeling veerrryyy tired and my legs are aching a bit. I've hit the 3:00 p.m. slump in grand style...been cleaning all day, and doing this and that, and now I just want to lay down and rest. But, I only have a couple more things on my "to do" list...so unless I put them off until tomorrow morning, I guess I better get motivated.

I am very glad to be doing the jogging/walking program...am looking forward to being able to do longer jogs! Hoping to do a "virtual" 5K in July, which I will do on the treadmill, depending on how well I'm doing on the program. Eventually, I want to do a 5K in the fall. Heck, I've never even wanted to run so just doing what I'm doing now is a huge step for me, especially since I WANT to do it!!

It's hotter than hell here in Arizona today. 105 but in my backyard the digital thermometer reads 107. Walking out there from inside the nice, cool house is like walking into an oven that is ready for a pizza!

Gasping for Air

I recently began participating in a training program called Couch to 5K. It is meant to get people up off the couch and moving...presumably able to run/jog a 5K in 9 weeks. Keep in mind, I've never wanted to be a runner, or a jogger. I did try jogging a bit a few years ago but ended up in pain due to some bursitis on one of my hips. So, no jogging for me (I declared happily!). I had been walking fairly regularly on the treadmill, but nothing strenuous, mind you. Then, one day a niece (Amie) of mine mentioned on Facebook this Couch to 5K (C25K) and I went to investigate. Turns out, what I read sounded doable, so I got up from my chair and got on my treadmill and did Day 1! Hmmm, easy and yet made me feel like I did something. And so it began. Without even having a desire to do anything like this, I was hooked. C25K leads one into jogging/running very slowly, increasing jog/run time very gradually over 9 weeks. Now I'm well into Week 2 (W2), having accomplished Week 2, Day 2 (W2D2) on the treadmill. This morning I decided I would like to try doing this outside, so my hubby got up early with me and we were out there by 5:45 a.m. hitting the pavement. He was so encouraging and stayed with me instead of running ahead (I'm a slow jogger/walker). A few times he mentioned that a slight hill was coming up (You're going to be going uphill soon!), and also would tell me how much time I had left to my jog (20 seconds left!). These things distracted me and made me feel like I was dreading doing it...I don't want to know I'm heading up a hill no matter how slight it is! I don't want to know how much time I have left to this jog interval that is causing my thighs to hurt and my lungs to almost burst! Just listen for the ding sound on my phone app and THEN I'll know it's time to walk again. I ended up apologizing to him for telling him to stop saying those things...he was truly encouraging (for the most part) and a great guy for staying with the weak and asthmatic wife of his, even though he could have run circles around me even while I jogged. Literally. Guess I'll have to get outside at least once a week in order to get into shape for a 5K sometime in the future. Early morning will have to do since here in AZ the day heats up and the sun becomes brutal early.

So, I have no idea how or why I am now in the midst of training for a 5K...but I am and I'm gonna stick with it! Wanna join me?

I'm baaack

Here I sit on my patio, enjoying the gorgeous beginnings of what will turn out to be a very hot day. Spring in the desert is more like mid-summer in other places. My visit back east was great...my mom is slowly fading away into that place where very old people go, although she is still very much here and well into her 94th year. It is hard to see her struggling to walk and move...wish she had lost some significant weight 20 years ago so that her quality of life now would be better. At this point she is waiting for God to call her home...and in the meantime she doesn't do much, mostly because she physically is unable to and also she is very tired. Her mind is not at all what it was even 2 years ago. She can't remember much of anything recent...think of "50 First Dates" only instead of beginning each new day as if the previous ones didn't happen, it is every 10 minutes or so with Mom. :(

My grandson is growing and becoming quite a young man. Spending time with him is joyful for me, and I wish it could happen more often. We will be going back for Christmas this year, so I'll see him again in December!

Just want to weigh in on the Judgment Day fiasco...what was the guy thinking? Does he really believe all that crap he was spewing forth while pocketing millions of dollars in donations? Why did he need that much money with the end so near? And, most importantly...where is he NOW? He has built a cult following and unfortunately there are many people who are searching for something...anything...that will give them relief from their earthly misery. I wish they would try opening the Bible and just reading...let God instill His Word and intentions into their minds and hearts, rather than gripping some lunatic who wants to be in charge. False prophets are many...that is why holding onto to God's Word is so important.

Ah well...time to shower and get the day started.

Going East

Tomorrow morning I will get on a plane and fly to N.H. to visit some family members. Will see my oldest son, his wife and my little grandson. He and I will be able to play piano together, hopefully. He is much better at it than I am, but he has a head start of a few years of lessons. I just started mine in January. Then I'll stay with my mom, who is 94 years old. Hoping to take her to lunch and breakfast during my stay...and will also get to spend some time with my sistah, Robin! I will also go visit my good friend, Judy, who I try to see each time I visit the area, but sometimes I just don't have the time.

I just got an email from my daughter-in-law about an impending snow storm heading right for them. Sigh. It's supposed to hit tomorrow night, which is when I land in Manchester. Hoping it fades out and doesn't hit as badly as they are saying it will. Spring is not the time of year I'd like to experience snow in New England!