I've had it! I will not be held hostage...

That's right...uh huh...you heard me!  I am sick and tired of being held hostage by the EXORBITANT and continually rising costs of laundry soap!  WHY does it keep going up?!?  So...what am I gonna do about it, you may ask?  Well, today, I DID it!  Inspired by my little neicey-in-law, I made my own.  Now hold on, before you start thinking I have gone off the deep end...I did my research thoroughly online before beginning.  Do you actually know what is in laundry soap (or what is supposed to be in laundry soap)?  Well, as it turns out, only FIVE ingredients for the purest, most economical, sweetest smelling laundry soap in the world!  And it only cost 2.5 CENTS PER LOAD!!!  My recipe made enough to last over a year for $16.08 with tax.  And the ingredients are available at your local grocery store (I went to Walmart for added savings).  It only took me about 1 hour to make it up and the hardest part was grating the Zote Soap.  Everything else was just mixing the ingredients together.  I was a little reticent that this could clean up to my standards (which are pretty high) even though all the blogs I read online said it would.  So...I did 3 loads and, OH MY WORD!  Did they ever get nice and clean and smelling fresh...with using only 1 tablespoon of the soap...you heard me...ONE TABLESPOON per extra large load!  I am in frugal heaven!  One thing I really liked was that during the wash cycle, I felt the water and it was nice and slippery, soapy although with very little suds.  Then the biggest surprise was during the rinse cycle - the water was clear!  I've always been one to use the "2nd rinse" cycle as I want to make sure the clothes are nice and free of soap residue.  No more 2nd rinses for me!  I know you're dying to know what the recipe is, aren't you?!  Here it is:

Homemade Laundry Soap

 

1, 4 lb 12 oz box Borax, (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the laundry aisle at Walmart

 

1, 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, (1.81 kg) found in the cooking aisle at Walmart

 

1  box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the laundry aisle at Walmart

 

1 -  Multi-purpose Oxygen Cleaner, 56 oz (3.5 lb) (Home Sense Kroger brand) found in the detergent isle at Kroger OR 2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean

Makes approximately 2.5 gallons (640 Tablespoons).  So mix in a container big enough to stir well.

**Use 1 Teaspoon-1 Tablespoons per load. I know that does not seem like enough but this recipe does not have fillers like the store bought detergent so you only need that small amount.  I have found the following does well:

 
1 Teaspoon for small, 2 Teaspoons for medium and 1 Tablespoon for large loads

This detergent is fairly mild smelling, it is not over powering. If you love a strong scent you may have to add  laundry crystals to each load. You can find laundry crystals in the detergent isle.  

 

$2.48 = Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

$3.24 = Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

$3.99 = Kroger Multi-purpose Oxygen Cleaner

$3.38 = Borax
$13.09
    1.05 tax
$14.14 = 640 Tablespoons = 2.5 cents per load!

 

I'M FREE! FREE AT LAST! 

Coronation of a Queen...

Last night we had a wonderful awards ceremony and officers installation at my TOPS group. We also crowned our first "queen" in a long time! (definition...TOPS Chapter Queen = the one who has lost the most weight while reaching her goal in the past year). Our theme for the evening was "A Mad Hatters Tea Party with Our Queen" and everyone made tea party hats. At the end the people voted with favorite hats won prizes. It was such a fun evening and I am so thankful for everyone in this group. A special thank you for all the officers and others who showed up early to help set up and all those who stayed after cleaning up. We were once again graced by the hilarious Bill Jackson as our MC. He can make any script so much fun! Thank you, Bill! Valeria went over the top making floral table decorations which were given as door prizes at the end. They added that special touch to the tables that just "made" the whole thing look so authentic. Pastel tablecloths, real china tea cups from my collection, a giant tea pot with which we served everyone in the chapter as a commitment toast to a good 2013...and a wonderfully regal Queen...here's to you Queen Nancy Chesna! You inspire us all! Thank you all for your support and major generosity. You mean the world to me!



 

Queen Nancy Chesna



New post...

Musings...

Fernbank Follies. Number 12. The last in our current building as the building will be razed next year to rebuild into a larger, more current, up-to-code version while we are re-housed at another school. How do I feel about that? Very co...nflicted...It will be wonderful having a new stage, a larger venue...but so many memories on those old "boards". How do I feel? Well, the children will ever be the wonderful children that have passed over those boards for all these many years. How do I feel? Just imagine about 12 third grade boys rockin' it "gangnum style" as the closing act and then one by one skipping back to me at the sound booth each handing me a pink tulip. How do I feel? WONDERFUL!!!

Just like you're 'sposed to...

Little Charlie comes up to me today, throws his little first grade arms around me, gives me a BIG hug and says, "You look so skinny...just like you're spose to." I say, "Thank you, Charlie, that's a real encouragement to me!". He replies, "Well you do, you really do!". Then a final squish and skips down the hall to the gym. That boy is going to make a really good husband one day!

Happy 2013!

I love starting a new year...this holiday, candles have just really made me happy, peaceful, cozy, warm...words that can't really express the feeling but will have to do. 

I spent this morning putting the decorations away and arranging my FIVE (yay!) new candle presents on my mantle. Then taking pictures of them and culling pictues from other sources for my desktop backgrounds (which I found if you put them all in a folder, you can have them shuffle!! double yay!). 

Here's my own from this morning...which is your favorite?

 

Lolly Belle Rose and her “necklace”

Lolly Belle Rose is an escape artist!  Since she was a tiny baby puppy, I have called her collar her “necklace”.  She, for the most part, enjoys wearing her necklace.  However, it must be removed for the dreaded bath day.  Lolly does not like baths but even more does not like to be dirty.  Getting a bath has always been a bit traumatic but she looks forward to putting her necklace on after her bath because it means she is totally dry and officially DONE with all the torment that it entails – getting wet, mama getting shampoo everywhere it should be and a few places it shouldn’t be, rinsing it all out, drying off, mama squeezing her paws in the towel to get the extra water out (an especial dislike of Queen Lolly’s!), clipping unsightly hair here, there and everywhere, and finally a blow dry.  After all of that, Lolly snatches her “good girl” cookie and jets away before I can catch her and do something else undignified to her personage!  So one day after we had finished a particularly arduous bath day ending with the putting on of the necklace, she disappeared for quite a while.  I wondered where she had gotten to but supposed she was either sulking somewhere or taking a nap after the ordeal.  To my surprise, she trots in after a good length of time, plops down in front of me to show me her “handiwork”.  She figured out how to unbuckle her necklace and came to show me what she had done!  She was very proud of herself!  I started chuckling and remembering back to when she was a tiny one and figured out how to unclip her leash from her collar by working it carefully between her paws and teeth.  She sat there proudly as if saying, “See, mama, I can do it MYself!”  At eleven and a half years old, she still plays and acts just like the puppy she was those many years ago.  My little minx that I adore!

"You have decided the length of our lives..." Job14:5

Lots of prayers, please?  My dearest friend who has been like a mother to me for the past 30 years has been in Hospice Atlanta for the past 6 weeks.  Every day she gets closer to the time when she will pass over.  I'm so glad that I am off school so I can spend these days with her.  Yesterday was a good day...she was able to get out of the bed and sit in her wheelchair in the doorway to the garden outside her room, smell the grass being cut, feel the gentle breeze on her face, hear the birds sing.  Today she was too tired to try it.  But I was able to coax her to eat some supper.  Her other friends and I occasionally catch glimpses of her feisty, spicy self and laugh with joy.  Yesterday, it was her in a barely audible voice warning  the six hospice workers who were putting her in the wheelchair, "My friend [me] knows how to pick good lawyers..."  Today, it was her giving "the eyebrow" warning to her best friend who is like a sister to her when Florence felt she had been a bit "cheeky". I look to those instances as gifts from the Lord. Last minute treasures to hold in my memory...last week watching a whole movie with her, getting her to eat a quarter of a peanut butter sandwich made on her favorite bread with her favorite DFM peanut butter...this week, a shared garden doorway communion, a raised eyebrow that I know so well. We do not know when our time nor anyone else's will be. All we know for sure is that we must not neglect to "seize the day" for this IS the day the Lord hath made...and I will be glad in it.

Hot diggity doggity!

"Bike Log" 2012:  I got my Exerpeutic Foldable Semi-Recumbant Bike set up and my first workout in!  This is a REALLY cool exercise bike as it puts the work on the quads intead of the side hip muscles and bursa - which is where I got inflammation because of not conditioning up for real bike riding last year.  I LOVE it! 

I went 12 minutes, 2.5 miles, on setting 1 as I am trying not to be stupid again and do too much too soon!  AND I did it in the comfort of my own living room watching TV this morning!  It kept my heart rate around 130 which is good for starting after 9 months off from riding!  YAY!  Btw, did I mention it takes up a tiny amount of space and collapses down to roll into a closet when guests come?  WooHOO!!!

P.S.  Here's the website for it...I must have gotten one of the last ones at Walmart online as they are now out of stock online.  You can get it elsewhere, however.  Don't be put off by Amazon's one review.  This is a GREAT bike...so far!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Exerpeutic-Space-Saver-Semi-Recumbent-Bike-with-Pulse/15657479

Ringing in 2012 RIGHT!

I wanted to start this year off  HEALTHY....so I invited friends over to an old-fashioned (but healthily cooked with turkey broth) vegetable supper of...


Mustard greens, green beans, black-eyed peas, carrots with nutmeg,
okra, corn with peppers and onions, sauteed squash and onions,
sliced 'maters, roasted chicken and roasted boneless pork...

and Healthy Cherry Crisp for dessert!

After supper,  we played Carcasonne (one of my new games I got for Christmas)...a GREAT time!

I don't believe in setting New Year's Resolutions.  However, I do believe that setting reasonable goals can be very helpful - regardless of the time of year.  After carefully and prayerfully considering potential goals, they should be reevaluated often for efficacy with subsequent readjustment if needed.  :>D  Can you guess that eating more veggies is one of my newest goals?
 
Healthy Cherry Crisp

Recipe By     :  Robin Ferguson
Serving Size  : 4    

NOTE: Be SURE to use "No Sugar Added" cherry pie filling
rather than "Lite" as the calories are twice as much in the "Lite"!  
I used Comstock brand bought at Kroger.
Amount     Measure              Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------        ------------             --------------------------------
  20           ounces                cherry pie filing, sugar free -- 1 can, Comstock  
  12           chunks                canned pineapple chunks in juice
  2             tablespoons        Brummel & Brown, diet margerine
  4             tablespoons        splenda

  2             tablespoons        old-fashioned rolled oats
  2 1/2       tablespoons        Baking Mix, Whole Wheat, Hodgson Mill
  1             tablespoon          splenda
  2             tablespoons        Brummel & Brown, diet margerine  

1. Divide cherry pie filling equally between 4 small, 2 cup baking dishes;
    Place 3 chunks pineapple into each serving;
    Put 1/2 T Brummel & Brown in center of each;
    Sprinkle 1 T Splenda over top.

2. Mix oats, baking mix, and splenda;
    Mash in B & B and knead into small roll (2 inches long);
    Divide into 4 equal pieces;
    Divide individual pieces into thumbnail sized dollops and place on top.

3. Bake at 350 for approx. 20-30 minutes until bubbly and slightly browned.
                                     - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 154 Calories; 6g Fat (33.2% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 152mg Sodium. 

Exchanges: 
1 Fruit, 
1 Fat, 
1/2 Starch or 40 opt. cal.  
(You can double the amount of topping to increase this to 1 starch.)

       
       

Lolly Belle Rose and the Candles

Last year, tired of all the mess and allergies, I decided to start burning candles in my fireplace instead of wood.  One evening while relaxing in my favorite chair, I noticed that Lolly was sitting in front of the fireplace gazing at the candles for a long time.  I wondered what was going through her sweet little mind but didn’t think too much more about it until the next evening. 

I was working on the computer and had not yet lit the candles when she came over, sat down beside me, looked up and started barking at me.  I asked her what she wanted.  She stared at me.  So, I went back to work at the computer.  Again, she started barking but this time in what I call her “bossy bark”.  You know the kind of bark I mean?  The kind of bark you just can’t ignore that seems to go straight through your brain like a lightning bolt!  As my ears were still ringing from the volume of her vocalization, I looked at her and impatiently inquired, “What do you want?”   She very pointedly looked back over her shoulder to the fireplace.  Perplexed, I questioned, “Lolly, do you want me to light the candles?”  She started grinning from ear to ear, jumped up and ran over to the fireplace to wait.  I retrieved the lighter and began to kindle the candles one by one.  When I had finished and closed the protective screen, she peacefully settled down for a stint of doggy contemplation!   Needless to say, when the weather gets cold or rainy, candle-gazing has become one of our favorite new traditions!

(sigh)

Certain things just make me happy...like my powder room...that's all...just wanted to share...

BBBB 2011

My adoptive family all have their birthdays during the summer with the exception of one who has his in April like me. So each summer I do the Quadruple B - otherwise known as the BBBB which stand for "The Bolen Beaudoin Birthday Bash". It is one of the most fun things I do every summer!

I LOVE (with a capital L, O, V, and E) setting a beautiful table and making up recipes for a special meal. I spend weeks designing the look I want and then adapting or creating recipes to meet the desires and needs of these loved ones. Each year we rotate who gets to choose the theme. This year's theme chosen by Margaret was Mexican/Pasta.

This year, I wanted a clean, crisp look to the table. So I found a blue and white pinstripe twin sheet at a thrift shop that looked just right with my dishes. Instead of layering colors as I have done in the past, I went with simple white accents, white roses, white napkins. It looked so pretty with my dishes and for a luncheon turned out nicely.

I then developed the menu keeping in mind my dietary needs as well as theirs. While it was not a low-calorie meal, it was definitely MUCH lower calorie than what the "full-leaded" versions of these dishes would be! For example, instead of the standard 586 calories in regular chocolate cheesecake, my version that used non-fat creme cheese had only about 300. Still a bit high but it IS a birthday dessert after all! The texture was more a nice thick, gooey mousse-yness rather than cakey and the flavor was EXCEEDINGLY intense chocolate! So rich. My secret was at the end of mixing it, I decided to throw another bit of DARK chocolate powder in...made all the difference!

Mexican Three Cheese Pasta Bake was our main dish entree accompanied by a Corn Pico de Gallo and a spinach salad with dragon fruit and a blackberry balsalmic dressing.

 

I am a contented homemaker. (SIGH) I sent all the leftovers home with the birthday crowd except for one serving of pasta which I already put in the freezer for another special day for me and one, ONLY one, serving of cheesecake which I may or may not save for later (grin). I saved a lot of the Corn Pico de Gallo as that is something I can have every day...a WONDERFUL summer accompaniment to almost any meal. If you would like any of the recipes, just pop me an email and I will send them to you.

Bike Log 2010, December...a most perfect day!

I awoke this morning feeling pretty yucky. I was cold, it looked dreary and every fiber within me wanted to just crawl back into bed and sleep it off. But I knew that if I did, I would feel even yuckier. So, I thought, "Hmmm...it's the last day of the Piedmont Park Green Market and I haven't ridden in weeks due to the cold and the strep. I wonder how cold it is outside?" So I stuck my head out and, lo and behold, it was in the mild 50's. I knew that a cold front was headed our way that is supposed to make the weather pretty miserable over the next few days but at that moment, it was ridin' weather. So I came in, got a shower, packed my bike and off to Piedmont Park I went! I remembered on the way that I needed to buy some soap at the Trader Joe's across the way from PP and I needed to check on an orchid for a friend for Christmas at the Atlanta Botanical Garden which is right beside the park. So I had a plan. I got my soap at TJ's, mounted up and went on down to the park. It felt so GOOD to ride!

I stopped in at the Green Market for a few more bags of Papperdelle's Pasta (check them out...absolutely AMAZING pasta and lower in calories and carbs than normal store bought stuff... http://www.pappardellesonline.com/servlet/StoreFront) a few bars of organic, good-smellin' soap and then pedaled up to the Botanical Garden gift shop. Sure enough, the had just the right orchid for my friend! I paid for it and asked them to hold it until I brought my car around. Then headed down to the dog park area to check on the status of the new path they will be opening, hopefully soon (not open yet, though), and then back to my car at Trader Joe's. 3.53 wonderful miles. I was absolutely zonkered and by that time, FROZEN. The cold weather really makes a difference to my endurance and half-way through the ride, the sky started clouding up and the temp started to drop. I knew I had gotten my ride in just in time!

After packing my bike into my trunk, I stumbled into the Starbuck's at the other end of the parking lot and managed to gasp, "coffee. now." She said, "What kind?" and I replied, "BIG!" ....ahhhhhhh..... After thawing a bit, I got in my car and drove down to the Botanical Garden and picked up the orchid. I then headed over to my friend's house for a surprise "Merry Christmas" to her.

There is so much JOY in giving! My friend, who is in her late 80's and not able to get out very much, was absolutely delighted! She always loved gardening and still loves to watch blooming things go through their transitions. I was overwhelmed with that warm, glowing feeling you only get from giving to someone, watching their reaction, knowing that you "hit the spot". I was so glad to be alive and to be a human being, caring, loving and living outside of self. Living only to please my Maker. Loving to see Him love through me.



I then ran the other errands I needed. Scored BIG time at the thrift shop...for a pittance, a whole box of used candles with which to make ice candles next week! Also, some old, unused Christmas cards for a project I'm planning for TOPS. After then going to Walmart for my items I needed from there, I was once again totally overwhelmed by God's goodness to us.



This time of year, it is so easy to lose sight of how much He loves us and wants the best for us. I have felt His love and blessing "pressed down and running over" the past few days. How it must hurt His heart when the children He created don't understand just how much He does love us. Right now Narnia is playing on tv and Aslan has just accepted the punishment that rightfully should have gone to Edmund. In real life, Jesus did that for us. Do I really, REALLY live worthy of that sacrifice each and every breath I take? I hope so. How He cried over Jerusalem. We are Jerusalem. He loves us so much and I know it breaks His heart when we don't let His love flow through us to those about us. He LOVES. Therefore, we can love. And the joy, the joy, the JOY that ensues! Let's DO it! Let's let His light shine to the whole world through us!

Biking, Carrots, and Waxing...

Waxing as in "waxing nostalgic". There are leaves falling. Now, I know they are not falling because it is becoming Fall. The poor little brown things just can't take the 'lanta heat anymore! BUT, as I rode today it was overcast (they say we'll have thunder storms this pm) and so humid that I was breathing in large particles (baby droplets) of water from the air. Then I noticed leaves were falling and so I decided to go to the place in my mind of F-A-L-L and just enjoy!

I wanted to ride down to Return to Eden Health Food store today to get RealSalt sea salt. It is about 2 miles there and then 2 miles back, passing Whole Foods at the halfway mark. So I did. What a LOVELY ride! Cool, wind in my face, sweating like a....hmm...what's the worst kind of sweatin' thing you can think of? That was me. BUT I've said it before and I'll repeat, why do I not mind sweating when I ride my bike? I HATE sweating at any other time. But biking? Man, I just don't CARE!

There are only two things I hate about starting back to teaching school:

1. I can't ride in the mornings and it is just too hot in the afternoons or even early evenings. But that will change as Fall comes and I will be able to ride after school...Lord willing.

2. I'm so tired when I get home that I find myself going to that emotional place of just wanting to eat everything in sight in order to comfort myself and "feel better" which it NEVER does. While I know it won't make me feel better with my logical brain, my emotional brain is screaming, "FEED ME!!!" I'm hoping that this will get better as I get more used to saying NO to my bratty, emotional self. If you would pray for me about that, I would really appreciate and benefit from it. :>D

Now, carrots. I have decided that "baby" carrots, be them organic or not, are evil. In order to keep my innards processing, I have to eat about a cup of raw carrots every day. No other vegetable I have found does the trick. But that handful, works pretty good. So...I decided for the sake of convenience to buy the "baby" ones. In BOTH bags (one organic and one not) that I bought at different times, there were rotten carrots. Spoils the taste of the whole bag, let me tell you. I know my carrots and they just don't taste as good once they have been snuggled up to a rotten one. And no it is NOT all in my mind. Like I said, I know my carrots! So today, I went back to organic WHOLE ones (no tops) that I will just have to "wash up" as I need. We pay such a high price for convenience, don't we? We pay our very health.

Back to waxing...I haven't said it much lately but I love my sister. She is the catalyst for so many good things in my life. The Lord uses her to "grow" me over and over again. Most of the time she's not even aware of how the Lord is using her...:

Just cut some fresh basil from my garden...the smell is still on my hands as I type. One of the most wonderful smells in the entire world!

Have a great weekend!

Complicated supper...

But OH so worth it! I made a recipe for chicken based on a recipe by Rachel Ray (Quick Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes). I just did the chicken part of the recipe and then served it with her Burst Tomato Sauce and soya noodles sauteed with mushrooms and bell peppers. The rosemary, basil, tomatoes, and bell peppers were all from my little garden! Yep, I eat like this and have lost 153 lbs doing so!

For Burst Tomato Sauce, go here:

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=616

Here's the chicken recipe I adapted:

Rosemary Chicken

Recipe By : Adapted from Rachel Ray's Quick Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes"
Serving Ideas : Serve with Burst Tomato Sauce and soy noodles or pasta.
Categories : Poultry

Serving Size : 4

Amount---Measure----Ingredient

2 whole chicken breast halves -- WITH skin and bone!
8 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper -- to taste

Cut the chicken into 4 as equal as possible pieces;Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat oil and rosemary in cast iron or heavy dutch oven on top of the stove.When hot, brown chicken on skin side, then bone side.When browned, put lid on and put into a 400 oven for 30 minutes.

To serve, remove skin and discard.

Description: "adapted from Rachel Ray's Quick Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes"

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 145 Calories (see note); 9g Fat (57.1%calories from fat); 15g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 46mgCholesterol; 46mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fat (see note)

NOTES : Because the skin will be discarded upon serving, the nutritional count is adjusted to having NO fat exchange and 125 calories.

This is my journey...

My neice, Kate and my niece-in-love, Alyssa inspire me. Through the thick and thin of their lives, the blogs they write are incredible, insightful, totally inspiring and always make me grow in some way. So, I'm taking a lesson from them and journalling what has been happening in my life this past year. Why? Because it's getting tough now and I need the reminder and the accountability in hard, cold black and white of who, what, when, where and most of all why I am. So I'm warning you, the following may not agree with your beliefs, ideas, or sensabilities and will quite probably ramble and quite possibly rant at times...but it's the path God has put me on. It may or may not have things in common with the journey God has for you. But this is MY journey with Him in my own words...

Many of you have heard me say over and again, "I love my Dr. Brown." He is my endocrinologist and God has used him over the past 10 years to give me hope while dealing with this horrible disease that took my mama at age 40 - diabetes. I've been diabetic for at least 16 years now diagnosed AT the age of 40. Mama didn't have those years. While that makes me sad for me and my siblings, I know that when God knit her in her mother's womb that she was only allotted that many years before she got to go be with Him. I can't be jealous of God. He has much more of a "right"' to her than I do. I do look forward to seeing her again some day and saying, "I'm SO sorry. I understand so much more now and I can't express how much I respect you." You know, those things you really don't have the wisdom to know, feel or think about saying when you're 16 years old and Y-O-U-N-G. :>)

For the first 6 years after the diabetic bomb shell, I had a dr. that wasn't right for me. (Wasn't that tactful?!) His attitude was, "take these pills and don't worry about it." NOT the right approach for someone with a STEEP genetic history going back at least 3 generations where every single female on the maternal side has died of diabetes or pancreatic cancer. So the day came when we parted ways. He had prescribed a medicine that in 4 months made me gain 40 lbs. When questioned about the efficacy of this medicine for me, his response was, "Well, the diabetes will kill you but the weight won't." Stunning, huh? Especially since with those 40 lbs I was now topping the scale at 440 lbs! I can't rememeber whether I said it or just thought it, but my response was, "Well, if I can't get through the door to go to work, then I have a BIG problem!" I probably only thought it...that's where I was then. (by the way, those of you who know me, you know I am NOT there now! I WILL speak up...sometimes not so tactfully as it is contrary to my bent. :>) Anyway, when I left his office, I knew I would not be back. I stopped that nasty medicine (by the way, it was Actos) and started praying about who the Lord wanted me to go to that would HELP me. He led me to Dr. Brown.

In the first year, my wonderful Dr. Brown (who treats his patients VERY aggressively and does NOT monkey around) put me on insulin and adjusted all meds. It was amazing! With the insulin, I had energy! I had not realized how lethargic I was and how fuzzy my thinking and just plain living had become due to the high blood sugars. Within the first 2 years I dropped about 60 lbs just naturally.

I have seen Dr. Brown every three months for the past 10 years and have ALWAYS come away from my appointment feeling hopeful and "I can do this for another 3 months." Until May 2009. [please insert the Law & Order theme song, "Chuh CHUNK" here]... My A1C was up, my blood pressure was startlingly high (about 160/100 in his office) and as I am allergic to almost ALL bp meds except the two I currently take, he said with the most dispirited demeanor I had ever seen him have, "You know, Ms. Ferguson, I just don't have anything else for you." Can you imagine my fear, pain, frustration, agony, ...? I came away totally...beat. I got before the Lord and cried...really cried... from my spirit, "Lord, I don't know what to do! Please, please show me." And then I cried some more. After drying my tears and constant prayer, I felt very strongly God was saying, “Get on it” and I said, “Yes, Sir.”

I spent a weekend researching online as to how I was to go about losing weight. I came across the following article that really spoke to my heart and challenged my unhealthy attitudes and behaviors that were keeping me from achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

http://healthy.hillbillyhousewife.com/introductiontoexpd.htm

Having been an insulin dependant diabetic for many years, I was doing quite a few things correctly and knew how to use the Exchange Program. however, there were some key components that I had been missing. The first was journaling. I really wasn’t aware until I started journaling that I was eating whole meals between meals! I would eat things that wouldn’t raise my blood sugar like a handful of nuts. After all, the news media says they are good for us, right? I discovered that handful of nuts was about 400 calories! You do that a few times a day and you have eaten a whole days worth of calories in snacks alone not even counting the calories expended on meals! By the way, an appropriate serving of nuts is ¼ of an ounce…about a tablespoonful.

The second component I was missing was a support system. The article specifically mentioned TOPS along with a few others. Having “done” most of the others, I researched TOPS online and was greatly surprised to find that not only was TOPS non-profit but that every spare cent goes to obesity research. I LOVED that! I believe there is a whole lot more to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight than what we currently know and the non-profit mindedness of TOPS was a perfect fit for me.

So, I clicked on the “find a meeting near you” button and discovered there was a meeting right down the road from me – TOPS Georgia 30. I said, “Well, Lord, I get the message!” I called a friend and told her about it and without even a pause she said, “I’ll go with you.” What a beautiful confirmation that I was on the path God wanted me. Since then, even though she must walk with the help of a walker and has many health challenges, to date, she has lost 75 lbs.!

Since that beginning, by God’s mercy, I have lost 153 lbs. I have about another 65 lbs to lose. The going is much slower now. There were 3 whole weeks where I ate and exercised totally correctly and gained weight each week; BUT, I lost a whole dress size during those 3 weeks! God is teaching me so many lessons. One of which is that sometimes a desire for a goodly "goal" can replace our desire for Him and His will.

Here and now, I want to make it really clear...HE has allowed the decrease in my size and body. It has been my experience that there are those who really do not want to hear that. They want a magic formula to insure the results they desire. But life is NOT about glorifying ourselves and/or our puny efforts to conquer, succeed, or attain goals. Life is about being companions, brides if you will, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Giving HIM the glory in ALL things. After all, HE is the one who created ALL things! Even our own "creativity" is there only at His behest as we are made in His image. He is the ultimate creator and made us in His image so we can be creative as well...but NOT on HIS level fer sure!


There are those who would say, "Well, yes, He has helped you lose weight, but YOU have to do the work!" Then they normally repeat the, "So what are you doing?" question with a hopeful look on their face. I understand that yearning for the hope that it will just be EASY with the right "formula". But it's the wrong focus. That's like saying, "Well, true, Jesus died to save you from your sins but YOU have to accept Him." ???? So the focus should be on my courageous ACCEPTING instead of His sacrifice??!! I don't think so. That is totally crazy, skewed thinking...aggrandisement of self! Self is not and never will be the source of Life. True life and the source of it is only found in HIM! Yes, He allows us to enjoy the wonderful life He has created, this miraculous creation of His; but only so we can enjoy HIM to the fullest extent of our abilities! Worship the CREATOR not the creation. Our society is so screwed up about true, real values.


So what exactly am I saying? If you want to lose weight - for whatever reason - take it to HIM and then do what He says! All other efforts will be wasted as they will not be anchored in Him. Being obese is SOOOOOO much more than just "eat less, move more". Catchy phrase and may very well work for a person who has never been obese...but I wouldn't know about that as I have fought obesity my entire life. Only the Lord's wisdom can sift through all the screwed up attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, etc. that have caused us to go "wrong". What I DO know is:


1. We are marvelously knit individuals with as many different needs amongst us as the different varieties of trees, animals, flowers, etc. Yes, there are a few generalizations you can make about the same genera BUT...for example, look at the following: elephants, aphids and koalas. What do they have in common? They're all vegetarians, for pity's sake! They all pretty much eat a similar diet but look at the disparity of their body shapes and sizes due in large part to their individual metabolisms! Or look at how different people react to different medicines! One person will greatly benefit from a medicine and another person will die from it! So let's knock off this "one size fits all" mentality! Only GOD knows what you need as He knit you in your mother's womb and therefore, HE is the only one with "the manual" for YOU! He knows your metabolism intimately since he created it.


2. Don't be stupid and ignore those few generalizations that we KNOW are true...i.e. anyone eating mainly processed, non-whole-grain stuff IS gonna reap the consequences of that kind of diet sooner or later.


3. God wants a relationship with you just as surely as you want a relationship with those you love...but MORE so! So much more so...


4. If you don't know what to do, ASK Him!


5. And, “I am sure of this very thing, that the One who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6


If you've made it this far...thank you for listening to my heart. "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it ALL for the glory of God." I Corinthians 10:31

Amen.

A Wonderful Start....

Today was one of the best new year starts of all time!

First, lunch with friends with three major victories...1. sat in the back seat 2. fastened the seat belt with room to spare 3. sat in a booth with about 6 inches in front. All things I haven't been able to do in quite some time.

Second, a LONG 20 minutes walk with Lolly in the beautiful, sunny coldness! Victory #4...haven't been able to walk that far in ages. Lolly got tired before me!

Third, dropped off Lolly and went back out for 30 more minutes taking pictures! Victory #5...was able to stay out walking about for another 30 minutes! Victory #6...found out what was wrong with my Fuji FinePix camera that I have loved for these many years (it had been taking very blurry pics)....ready? Wait for it....THE CAMERA LENSE WAS FILTHY DIRTY!!! After noticing that through some sunshine pics, I cleaned it and VOILA! My camera is fixed. (much hanging and shaking of the head in disbelief.) I had never since I bought the camera cleaned the lense. Ah, we learn by experience, right?

Now, an evening of knitting, reading, talking with friends on the phone and reveling in 2 1/2 more days of "nothingness" until going back to school on Monday.

(Side note...the pic above was inspired by my art teacher neice, Kate. She always takes amazing photos and I thought of all I had heard her talk about artistic composition...note the different type of line shadows!)

Life and the Lord are good...very, VERY good!

Lolly and the Dryer Ball

Lolly loves toys. She has a HUGE basket full of them and she checks every now and then to make sure they are all there. Sometimes, just for fun, I dump the whole basket out onto the floor and let her pick and choose which to play with. Her little face gets so excited when she rediscovers a toy that has been at the bottom of the basket for a while.

While she loves her old toys, there is nothing that makes her happier than a brand new toy. This year, I decided to make her and all her doggie pals "dryer balls". These are made by wrapping a skein of wool yarn into a ball about twice the size of the ball you want. Then you put it into a net lingerie bag and tie the end close enough near the ball so it is snug. Wash it in very hot water and soap with some other things like jeans. The banging against the other clothes, soap, and hot water makes it shrink up and join together into a solid ball that bounces after being dried in the dryer. She can bite it as hard as she wants and it won't hurt it or her teeth! Also, doggies love the smell of them as they retain a trace scent of lanolin from the sheep from which the wool was trimmed. Result? One very happy puppy!

What makes a totally BLESSED Sunday:

1. Going to Sunday School.

2. Taking Ms. Lolly on a LONG walk in the beautiful, sunny, nippy air after days of days of rain.

3. Getting a good afternoon nap.

4. Having the ability and cleaning my own house including vacuuming.(Those with Fibromyalgia/Chronic Fatigue totally understand this one!)

5. The smell of something yummy in the oven for supper. Tonight it is baked stuffed peppers. YUM!

6. Feeling the Lord's presence in all of the above, every breath I take!

THANK YOU, LORD for this perfectly blessed day!

Summer, Ete, Verano...

Summer by any other name is still...

WONDERFUL!