Dreams+Plans=Goal 1/1/11

I believe I do my best thinking either walking or in the tub. My favorite alone time. Today while walking ( in the rain) I realised that I need a goal and a plan to get there. My dream is to complete my course and be a fitness and nutriton expert, with my certification as Personal Trainer. I would like to be able to quit working full time at the furniture store and work at the Y, a gym, or out on my own as Personal Trainer.
The time frame to complete the course was 15 months, however, they had informed me that I could get an extension and they felt that with me working full time I would probably need that.
My goal is to complete my course, receive my ceriifcation and be ready to use it by 1/1/11. This entails me actually taking more time to study. I can do that.
I would also need to be financially able to quit working at my current income level so to that end I need to curtail spending on "frivolous items" I can do that.
I am sure I will come up with some other ideas and plans eventually but these are the two biggest obstacles to my reaching my goal by 1/1/11. So those are the two things to work on now. Wish me luck

Doctors Appt

At my yearly exam today I had some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I am 7 pounds lighter than last year. I thought that was great considering the scale has gone up a bit lately due to my kids being here, no exercise and sitting and eating to much. I was not expecting that at all. I must have been really heavy last year! LOL, I was complaining about my weight when the nurse started laughing and said I was 7 pounds lighter! YEAH ME! Bad news is that I have to go again for an ultrasound. He sends me every so often due to a fibroid that he is keeping an eye on. guess I prefer him to be cautious.

Tomorrow is our Relay for Life, we have earned over 10% of the amount collected this year. I think that is doing pretty darn good. I am leaving work early tomorrow and going over. They changed the times this year and its from noon on Friday till noon on Saturday. Makes it rough with me scheduled to work both days. I am going over about 4 or 5 tomorrow and not staying the night this year. I'll miss that.

Thanks everyone for all your donations!

Changes

Why is it that we are resistant to change? WE are afraid of the unknown, we dread doing something different and its easier to just keep things the way they are. Why is it that instead of trying a different hair cut we'll keep the same one we had 10 years ago? Instead of trying to quit smoking we will sit and talk about how we want to but its to hard. Instead of trying to lose weight we will put down someone who has? Why is it that we will stay at home or go to the same place on vacation year after year instead of trying something new? I realise I am speaking very generally here and not everyone is like this but it seems to me that the majority of the human race is.
These are all thoughts on my walk late this morning after running errands in town. First off let me say I have been trying to grow my hair longer for the past year. My hair stylist doesn't like it but I am going to try it anyways. She prefers it short like I have it worn it for at least the past ten years. I want something new and up to date. Next stop I ran into an old neighbor I hadn't seen in years, almost didn't recognise her, she has a new hair style. Its in style, fitting the times and looks nice on her. Not afraid there, however, she made the comment that she had quit smoking for 3 months, felt great but started smoking again because she was always hungry. I mentioned I had quit 4 years ago, her comment was that I hadn't gained weight, she didn't listen long enough for me to tell her of my ongoing battle. She started smoking again because she was afraid of gaining weight. 3 months isn't much time to adjust to changes. Let me say here that her son just moved back home after living out west for one month. One month. Not much time to adjust to changes either.

My turtles come to mind here also and they point out one of my faults, my new red earred sliders are in a 3000 gallon pond. These two turtles are staying in a small area probably no bigger than maybe 4 feet across by about 2 feet wide. Not much space at all going by what they could have available. They are afraid of the unknown. Kind of like me I guess. They have free rein in the pond, nothing to stop them or hold them back but yet something does, could it be fear or resistance to change?

What do you resist changing? What would you like to do that you have never done? What would you like to change most about yourself?
I am working on the new hairstyle, finishing my class to be cerrtified personal trainer, and learning yoga. Still thinking on some other changes too. I think we need to learn that not all change is bad, alot of it can be for the good.

Singing in the Rain

So much for a fun day at Cooks Forest. It rained, then it rained again, then it rained some more only harder. No animals were out. They don't open the petting zoo in the rain. We had fun and bought a new turtle. Her name is Tina, We now have Tyke and Tina, next one is going to be Turner. LOL

Cooks Forest

It figures that I am off today, it is a gray, gloomy, rainy day and we have plans to go over to Cooks Forest. Yesterday was nice and tomorrow is supposed to be too, but I am off today.

Howie suggested Cooks Forest, we think Anton will really enjoy it if we are not in a downpour. She sure does love the animals we have around here.

I haven't been to Cooks Forest in years but do have a lot of really good memories from there when the kids were littler. A few years ago John and I went over and had lunch there and it was wonderful. Hope the resteraunt is still as good.
We went for a ride last night and did get to see a few elk, no bulls and we didn't have a camera. But at least she got to see a few of them.

Wouldn't you think the weather could cooperate some of the time?

Changes

My son and his girlfriend are due to arrive home tomorrow night around 5. We are picking them up at Pitts airport. Today while cleaning house and doing laundry I am reminded of other times with other people coming to visit. Times change, life goes on. My son and daughter were young at the time and now they are the ones who come to visit. How strange is that.

I remember times with friends and ex in laws would come to stay a while, I always looked forward to it and always wanted the house cleaned and ready for company. I remember times when it was rough coming up with the money to even get groceries. I remember times when we even borrowed the money to get the groceries for people coming.

My next thought was that some of those people I will never see again. At least its more than likely I will not see them again. I have lost touch with so many of them and some of them have gotten married, divorced, or possibly even passed away.

People come and go in our lives and its sad really that people who once meant so much to us are now not even known to us. There is a friend I haven' t heard from since 1980. I don't even know her last name anymore and she doesn't know mine. She doesn't know we lost Mike this past year and I never met her son. He would be a year younger than Michelle I believe.

I don't do well with staying in touch with people and I think I have gotten worse with it the past years. Thats sad but I'm not sure I know how to change it. Or even if I can.

The Little People

OMG, Look what we found in our yard today. It had been well hidden, behind a tree by the gazebo. I wonder how long its been there, looks well used but we haven't seen "the Little People" yet. John says they like to stay hidden.

The door is on the back side of the tree so its not somewhere we would normally have noticed it. A very out of the way location.

A good thing

Its a good thing I don't eat like this every day. I am studying to be a fitness and nutrition expert and certified personal trainer for heaven's sake. Yet today I had McDonalds for breakfast, a half a cream filled donut for snack at my mom's and then a frozen yogurt cone on the way home. Its a wonder I haven't gained 10 lbs today, only good thing is that I did get in a lot of exercise too. Also a good thing that I don't do this often.

Usually I am very careful and eat very well. I spent part of the day out in the gazebo today studying, I have learned that iron makes it difficult for your body to absorb calcium, so don't eat spinach with a glass of milk. You should wait a few hours between your foods with iron and your foods for calcium. Caffeine also negates calcium. So the iced and green tea I drink so often helps to destroy the calcium stores I work so hard to build up. I am really enjoying this part of the class on healthy eating.

Yoga

LOL, left hip, thigh, calve and buttocks had been sore the past two days. I couldn't figure out why? what had I done? Then I realised the only thing I have done differently is yoga. I thought it wasn't real exercise, but I have been doing one new pose a day for this month and then carrying over the other poses, day three for example, I learned the third pose, then did the two previously learned. I think maybe it is real exercise, just different! LOL

Sunshine today and I am on my way to work noon to 8. Won't get to enjoy it, and tomorrow they are calling for rain again. They changed the forecast just this morning. I am so sick and tired of our weather.

98%

A quick update on my course. I just took the test for Fitness Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2 and passed with 98%. Only missed one, darn it. And it was one I should have known considering it was talking about adrenalin and epinephrine, hormones from my hospital stay 4 years ago. Anyways, so far I am carrying a 97% on the entire course.

I am on to Nutrition Basics now and hope to get more into what I want to learn. The next few books are Nutrition Basics, Developing Healthy Eating Habits, Muscles in Motion and Posture, Balance and Proper Alignment. Bet my chiropractor will be glad to hear about the last one.

Thoughts from the track

Had some strange and true thoughts while at the track this morning. While walking and jogging around there it hit me, how many times I had driven past this track and elementary school in the past 40 years or so. How many times had I driven past the house where I now live? I never gave a thought that some day I would live here in this house with a new husband.

We moved here about 4 years ago, used to live 20 miles to the north. How many times had I been to memorial day celebrations at this school and never realised that some day I would be living here, walking that track? I remember standing at the school and watching my daughter march in the parade this little town has. I never once thought someday I will live here, or someday I will walk around that track almost daily.

Isn't this life? How strange it is when something you do years ago can come back to haunt you years later. My daughter is now married and living in Vegas, she was just a little girl when we came down to this little town for a parade. I am nt sure if that was when she was a girl scout or when she was a cheerleader in highschool. Maybe both. I know my ex husband was alive and now he is gone. We lost him to cancer last year. Never once while standing there watching that parade did I think someday I will live here. Someday Mike will be gone, someday my kids will live across the country. I am not sure what I wish to accomplish with this blog, but I think I just want people to think about how our lives are intertwined with every day things that we never give a second thought to.

While walking the track this morning in the rain, I passed a man walking. It was my last trip around when he showed up. He looked to be in his 70"s and carrying an umbrella, we spoke for a just a minute, he kept walking and I came on home. My thought was that I hope to still be walking this track when I am 70, but will I? I want to finish my course and hope to be able to help people but especially the elderly, but will I?

WE never know what the future holds, all we can do is the best we are capable of today. We never know where we will be tomorrow.

hopeful

We are hoping that the rain holds off tomorrow. We have plans to add more rocks to the pond and to work out in the yard. My day will start with a jog around the track if it isn't raining while John runs to town for rocks and a few things at the store. I am so lucky that he does the grocery shopping.

It has been such a cool, wet spring and next week my son will be home. The weather is never nice when he is here. I don't think it has been nice ever when he comes home. Although last summer may not have been to bad. The way the weather has been this year it could snow with him here next week.

I'm off to study a bit, right now I am learning about the endocrine system. this one is very interesting to me considering my sickness 4 years ago was due to a tumor on the adrenal gland. Some of this stuff is rough. I wish I would have done this years ago when maybe my brain remembered better. Next is the circulatory system. Still I am enjoying the learning process and do think its very helpful for me. I have found that reading before bed helps it stick with me and also talking to John about what I have read the next day helps to keep it real for me. I doubt that I will have it done in 15 months though, it is taking me longer than I thought to get through any of the classes. I seem to read and reread each book. This would be so much quicker if I didn't work full time. However, at this point I am just glad to have a job.

I've talked to some old friends lately, Karen, Rosalie, Mary, etc. Avon friends and boy, it makes me realise how much I miss Avon, and all of those wonderful women. I really enjoyed the years where I sold Avon and that was my job and I was the boss! Oh well, life changes, time goes on.

Finally

After 4 years here, I finally certified our yard as a National Wildlife Habitat. I have been going to do this for the past 4 years and just hadn't taken the time. I finally did it and am now anxiously waiting for the certificate and yard sign to get here. It looks pretty neat. I am sure alot of people wouldn't think so, but I love it here and I love our animals. This was something I really wanted to do. So here is our sign.

It will be going in the side flower bed and will be listed in the National REgistry of wildlife habitats. How neat is that!