frosty morning

and a cheaty little walk. Didn't set my alarm last night, so I woke up a half hour late. Well, after waking up several times to check and make sure I wasn't oversleeping. Anyway, it was late, so Rosie and I went out...she did her business, and we turned around and headed home. I jogged a little bit, then jogged past our mailbox, which confuses the poor dumb dog. A short sweet walk with some extra jogging thrown in to ease the conscience. I am finding that when I am losing weight at a good pace, I am not so hard on myself.

If you haven't had the chocolate covered raisins from BJ's yet, do not try them. You will eat way too many of them.

I also bought a 22 ounce bag of sugarless bubble gum for $1.99. It isn't too bad, and the kids really like it.

The turkey is thawing in the refrigerator. I think we have everything we need. Wait, did I get black olives? Pickles? rats. Cranberry sauce? I suppose I should check. We do have the turkey, and two bags of stuffing, and some potatoes and sweet potatoes and pumpkin and apples for pies and flour and sugar and shortening and heavy cream, oh deadly real whipped cream...

We are not having turkey on Thanksgiving because Emily will be working, we will have our dinner on Friday night with her. On Turkey Day we are having a big brunch with overnight French Toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, juice, coffee.

Sometimes my head just spins. Is it humanly possible to take care of several things at once? One of the reasons I like to sit here in my chair in the evenings is because I can talk to the kids about things, sign papers and check homework and answer questions, things that are hard to do when I am trying to do other things.

There are so many other things to take care of...Aaron is having his surgery in December, to take out the pectus bar he had "installed" three years ago. He had a severely depressed sternum, so he had some major surgery done...a bar with a "u" shaped dip in the middle was put in, then flipped, which pushed the sternum out. It was very painful, but fixed the problem, made it easier for Aaron to breathe, especially when running or exerted. Now, the bar has to come back out. I am still straightening out the bills for his last surgery for his broken nose, which happened at school, which school insurance should be covering after our insurance, but isn't....and so on. Just things to take care of.

Camille wants, "bekfreast".

The kids have a half day of school today, then a five day vacation. Yay!! Hopefully no homework to do, either. Except for the college kids. Joseph gets to drive Paul to work every morning so he can share the minivan, since his car died. Last night I volunteered to pick Paul up, oh nice me. Ha, got to drive there in quiet, then drive home with just him to talk to with no interruptions. Not that I MIND interruptions, I love them all so much. But still, sometimes silence is golden. My youngest interruption is snuggling with me right now, Kitty Kitten bit her on the forehead. He tries to tell her he wants to get down, but she doesn't listen until he puts his foot down.

The Fifty Pound Lost milestone is almost here. I subtract from how much I weighed that day at the dr. at the end of March. So it has to be an afternoon weight, fully clothed with shoes on. I think I may hit it today. If so, I shall celebrate with a huge bowl of ice cream. Not really. This has been an amazing journey, this weight loss thing. Suffering and hitting plateaus and wondering if I will ever succeed, then rejoicing when I see the lower numbers and when the clothes get baggy. Walking up those Dome stairs and not dying, having more energy and feeling better. I can totally and honestly say that the benefits have far outweighed the sufferings! Last night for dinner I served seasoned waffle-fries, the good ones, Alexia brand, I had a coupon. They were SO good, I had a few tastes. But that is all I do now, when it is something full of carbs, I just have it as a "taste". I had baked chicken breast, broccoli, and a bowl of hot cooked spinach with lemon pepper. I eat lots, get full, but eat the right things, most of the time anyway. I could be stricter, of course, but then I fear I would be more prone to binging. I don't want to feel deprived, and most of the time I don't.

There is frost on the grass and Camille wants to know if she can eat it. Suzanne stayed home today (she said they didn't do anything yesterday, and it is only a half day...), so Suze is taking her out to see it.

Perspective: I am going to die someday. We all are. The things we count as important and take such pains with shall all be nothing some day. Just think to live in such a way so that we can stand before God on that day and not tremble with fear. Every day we have choices! We can forgive and be kind and not get offended and bless and give more and forgive again and talk less and listen more and not argue and give more....or, we can blame everyone and complain and be stingy and offended. It is certainly in our nature to be like that, complain-y and blame-y. Ah, but we know better than to live like that! It brings division and unhappiness. Okay, maybe I have been treated meanly by someone. Do I have to be mean back? Will that fix things? Make me feel better? Never mind, I shall stop preaching. Sometimes I just get so thankful for the way that Jesus made, and I read the paper in the morning and see the sufferings people go through because of sin...blah. The bible is not just a book, no it is a way of happiness and peace.

So...now I shall take up my cross, fight my own battles, so that I can be a good example to my kids..ha, that is the hardest part. It is easy to tell them to be patient, but to be an example in patience when I am so filled with impatience...God is good!!!