Friday Morning Giggles

Friday mornings are earlier than other school days for us.  Jake has trombone practice very early in the morning.

Today, while it was still dark out, we got up early only to discover that there was no practice. 

So we spent some time creating zombies,  building burgers and balancing various planks, squares and balls.  (games on the iPod)

We also did some lip syncing.

And laughing.

Unexpected opportunities to make sweet memories ~ Priceless.

A Shift In Attitude

A couple of Saturdays ago, I had an early morning meeting with some ladies from church.

Note the 'early morning'.

Some showed up in sweat pants or workout clothes.  Some wearing little or no makeup.  One wore a ball cap with her hair in a ponytail.  A couple were even wearing 'clothes from yesterday'.  (I was included in one or more of these categories {grin})

Each has something in common.

Beauty.

But why don't we believe it?  A common response to the compliments flying around the room was to discredit them.  Why do we (women) do that to ourselves?  Why is it so difficult to accept that we ARE beautiful, no matter what?

I struggle, almost daily, with believing that I am beautiful.  When I see a photograph of myself, I cringe.  Ack!

Too bad I (we) base worth on physical appearance.

I started this Bible study 2 weeks ago, and I intend on working to believe that I AM a beautiful offering.  Even if I wear workout pants, no makeup and a ball cap.

Shalom.

On Living Healthy. And Keeping My Sanity.

It's age, I guess.  Maturity.

The older (more mature) I get, the more focused I have become on living healthier.  There are an infinite number of ways I can improve the way I treat my body...the foods I eat, the environment I expose it to, the exercise I get, etc.

And by infinite I mean an OVERWHELMING number of ways I should be living healthier.

Big.  Fat.  Sigh.

The list of things to not do or eat is long.  And the more research I do, the longer the list gets.   And it makes my brain hurt.  It is my responsibility to take care of my body the best I can.  But where do I draw the line on obsessive behavior regarding being healthy?

That sort of sounds absurd.  Like, "Can a person be too concerned about health?"

I believe the answer is yes. 


Back in October I attended the True Woman Conference.  One of the speakers was Bob Lepine.  His subject was 'Food, Beauty and Control' and I learned so many things from his wisdom.  Here's one thing I took away:

• Wise, healthy eating and living is good stewardship.  But there can come a point when the obsession with health can become 'unhealthy'.  An idol even.

Yikes!  I had never really considered that.  But looking back on some of my obsessive behaviors (about health), I can totally see it.  When I get focused on a certain subject, I spend lots of time researching (too much sometimes).  I get overwhelmed with the informatation overload and my PP (procrastination/perfectionism) brain shuts down.
The feeling that if I'm going to do it, I must do it completely and perfectly takes over.  And the misconception that if I don't, I'm a failure.

It is not possible to do everything the healthy way.  There are too many variables.  Too many conflicting opinions about what is healthy and what isn't.  If we look hard enough, we can find discouraging information about every 'healthy' subject out there.  Too much of this, too little of that and we're screwed basically.  I appreciate the information available, but it can be too much of a good thing.

Here's my point:
I will continue to aim for healthier living, because it IS my responsibility to take care of my body.  And I will strive to not become obsessive about health. 

Because the fact of the matter is this...
God is always in control.  Even if I screw everything up, he can turn it all around.  (This is NOT a free pass to behave irresponsibly!)

Groundhog Week

Thursday before last, Jake woke up for school with a fever.  Yikes!  Despite our best efforts to stay away from the flu, it made it's way to Jake.  There were 5 days of fever/no fever.  Fever/no fever.  Shivers.  Headaches.  And some sniffles.

Luckily there was no stomach yuckiness with this flu.

So he was out of school Thursday, Friday (student holiday) and the following Monday.  Each day was the same...Pushing the fluids, eating oranges, upping the vitamin D, using thieves blend of essential oil on his chest and feet, tea tree oil in the diffusers, sitting outside in the sunshine.  He was a trooper, doing everything I asked of him to beat that darn flu.  And we did it.

Just in time for the Ice Age to hit.

School was out from Tuesday to Friday due to ice and snow.  It was awesome!  Because Texans are totally NOT prepared for such weather, the state basically shuts down.  People panic like it's the end of the world...rushing to clear the stores' shelves of milk and bread.   We rebelled against 'the sky is falling' thinking and enjoyed our time at home watching tv, playing video games and playing in the snow.  Thank goodness for electric blankets!

We did venture out a few times (for my own sanity) to Target (twice) and to eat a couple of times.  The roads were sort of slick so it made it an adventure!

By the time Jake went back to school today, he'd been out 11 days.  Nice little mini vacation...Well, except for the flu.