Nutrition

I am slowly but surely disciplining myself to cook for just me. There's really no other way to be sure that I'm getting the nutrition I need. This is a stew I'm fond of - hamburger, etc. The hamburger comes from Whole Foods and the recipe from Weight Watchers. Plus I can check off several of the little boxes on the form I got from my nutritionist. But the best part is that I actually like this stew and I made enough so that I can have it for lunch a couple of days.

Poetry Attack

Overheard

“My sister, Priscilla, was supposed to die on Saturday….”
And the rest was lost in the buzz of other voices in the restaurant.
Did she refuse to die even though she promised to?
Was the paid assassin late and didn’t get the job done until Sunday?
The death sentence was postponed?
Or was it just a bad prediction on the part of the medical team?

Maybe sis just was wishing her witchy sister would leave the earth
Sooner rather than later
And was devastated by the delay.
Strange lunch time conversation
Since “supposed to” is not a phrase
Usually associated with death.
Strange to think about endings while feeding our living bodies.

Serenity Experiment Update

Well, my sleeping problems are still an issue. I've consulted with mentors and given prayerful thought and for right now I've decided to accept the fact that my body wants to go to sleep at midnight and wake up at 8 or 9. I'm at war with my body and I'm not winning. So, I'm going to cool it and just stick with what I've developed so far - getting dressed, eating a decent breakfast, doing my prayer and meditation and making my bed. The whole list will not get done on my current awakening time. So....I'm going to take a shot at moving the rest of the list to other times during the day. Of course, it's going to vary from day to day according to the schedule for that day, and that wasn't what I had in mind. Whatever. The goal is serenity.

Since there are difficulties with which I must live, the only real answer is to seek the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to Change.

365 Project

I'm showing how hard it is for me to keep a commitment that requires discipline. This week's pictures were extremely sparse. I'm not feeling creative and although I was active this week I really didn't think any pictures would be meaningful. So... having confessed my sins, I'm going to embark on taking pictures whether they seem to be meaningful or not. The picture on the right is of one of my therapist's office. I see him once or twice a month and we work on keeping my body straight since my muscles try to torque so that I'm leaning to one side and on releasing negative energy that's stored in my body that causes me to "dissociate." I love the quiet beauty of his office. The picture on the left is of my kitchen table. People who know me well know that this is how it usually looks. All my projects, my wilted bouquet, my journal, cell phone, coffee cup and milk I'm not quite finished with usually sit there. Every once in awhile I clean it up and put stuff away and then I can't find it and wonder why my bills are paid late and I forget to go to parties I was invited to.

Dancing

I decided to stay home from 5th night at Utica Square tonight. The temp outside is 102. I'm just not motivated to go dancing on hot concrete with the temperature over 100.

It occurred to me that the fact that I danced last week is a milestone. One of the milestones the first year after the wreck was when I got the left foot accelerator on my car and was able to load my wheelchair in the car by myself. The next appointment I had with Dr. Dreamy I reported my progress. He asked me in all seriousness whether since I was so independent if I wanted to go on with the surgeries that were necessary for me to be able to walk. He said a lot of people would just stop and stay in the wheelchair. I indignantly replied that I not only wanted to walk; I wanted to be able to dance. Well..... I'm dancing!!!

This is the second or third generation of the bouqet given me by my friend. The funny part is that she put mint in it for greenery, and I've just been adding flowers from my flower bed to the mint as the flowers fade. The mint just keeps hanging in there. Finally I noticed that the mint has grown roots! No wonder it's still hanging in. Now it's growing taller so I will have to cut the flowers longer. This might be some sort of record for an "on-going" bouquet.

Birthday Weeks

What fun I've had. I went to Dallas for the first of our birthday celebrations - my birthday and my grandson's birthday who was born the day after my birthday. My oldest grandson was born on my birthday but he's in Virginia so we will have to celebrate with him when he and his girlfriend come in July. Then my grandson and I came back to Tulsa and celebrated some more by visiting the local sights and taking in a movie. Then, midweek, my oldest granddaughter and my daughter came. I had several ideas for fun, but we nixed a lot of them due to the heatwave, but we did have some other fun. I had my sobriety anniversary celebration and then we celebrated my youngest granddaughter's birthday. On Sunday I waved goodbye and lay down. Cisco the cat and I just vegged the rest of the day.

There go the babies - back to Dallas - after a terrific visit.

Still no potty for Rusty.

Rusty does not want to potty. He is afraid they are going to leave without him.

They are getting ready to go. Poor Bec has been ready since early (for her) this morning.

The rubbish left behind after Kristin opened the massive amount of loot at her birthday party.

Kristin opening her presents and her Daddy trying to get her to look at the camera instead. Didn't work, of course.

Here's Kristin at her birthday party

Beautful Rusty who came to visit for the second half of the week, posing in front of my wildflower daisies. Since Rusty is deaf, you will see Aaron's finger on the right side of this picture - he's telling Rusty to stay.

Candid picture of Liz and part of Lynn - both of them making faces at me at 5th Night.

Band and dancers at Utica Square's 5th Night. I love it that the kids and old people dance. You don't have to have a partner and no one cares that it's so hot you think you are going to die.

You have received so much from this program that you should have a vision that gives your life a direction and a purpose that gives meaning to each new day. Let us not slide along through life. Let us have a purpose for each day and let us make that purpose for something greater than just ourselves. ~Bill W

365 Project

5th night at Utica Square.

Serenity Experiment Update

I am a stubborn, hard-headed woman. That's either the good news or the bad news. In the context of the Serenity Experiment, it's good news. I have not reached serenity yet with my morning and evening routines but I'm still making progress. It is incredibly challenging to follow my routines when I'm visiting someone or when I have company. The barrier is my sleeping pattern. In the past I was an early riser - usually up - without an alarm - at between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. I haven't seen that time on the clock except when I've had to go to the bathroom. For whatever reason, I don't go to sleep right away - I may doze off and on until around midnight no matter what time I go to bed. Then I sleep until 8:00 or 9:00 - which is really not good for trying to do several things before starting the day. Especially when the rest of the household is up by 7:00 and ready to start the activities of the day about the time I stumble out of bed. Even when I'm by myself, I really want to be able to start my day at a reasonable time and that's completely impossible if I don't get up until 9:00. It's a good thing I'm stubborn and it's a good thing I'm a world-class problem solver. I will solve this problem. More later.