Saturday, February 18, 2017

Love is all around us

Friday, February 10, 2017 we had to turn our puppy in.

When we received him, he was 8 weeks old. We knew this day would come. Otherwise, we would have never gotten a puppy. I don't really like things when they are young. 

Give them to me at 10 or above - that's my place.

Ambrose/Brodie arrived at our house October 2015. He lived with us until last Friday. He's now at "Olympic Training". Of course he is, one of my kids had to make it to the Olympics. 

Last Friday, the ceremony:

They start with the Breeders. The people whom are put in charge of the CCI puppies whom have the baby puppies.
They recognize the Puppy Raisers (us).
The trainers of the puppies in Olympic training then talk.
The stories of the people whom need the puppies.
The matches: the matching of the puppies whom have made it through Olympic Training to the people whom need them

The ceremony is a hour and a half. It all flows quickly.

At some point, you realize you are sitting in a room of at LEAST 300 people and over a hundred dogs.

Then at the next point, you realize (as Ed's wife pointed out to me), you are sitting in a room with nothing but love.

Every single person was there because of love.

Through all the happiness.

All the tears.

Love was all around us.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

February 12, 2017

February 12, 2007 we lost a friend. http://dnlsumeradventures.blogspot.com/2012/02/fasinating-person-1-2012.html

I wrote the story 5 years ago. But the murder happened ten.

As with life, it goes on. And it should. Vanessa wouldn't have wanted us around moping for her loss. She would have wanted us out their living.

Of course, February 13, 2017 - our friend whom is now married to Vanessa's former husband posted pictures on the day of her death of their family skiing. She still can't handle the fact that everyone misses someones. It's a weird, messed up kinda place. For her. The rest of us, we understand, "she's not our kind of crazy."

For me, I crawled into bed Sunday night, February 12, 2017.

We had just returned from California to turn in our puppy. A day we knew would come. A beautiful, horrible day - all at once.

People we had just met 10 years ago, yet had know for years. With people we had know for longer than 10 years, and we all knew we would be there on this day.

I'll write more about puppy turn in. Because as I said, it was beautiful and horrible all at once.

BUT, on Sunday night, February 12, 2017.......

I crawled into bed with:


  • DNL all under one roof
  • Silliness of summers past 
  • Heartaches of summers too
  • Peace
  • Wholeness
As I closed my eyes, and thought of the last ten years, I smiled.

Very, very thankful of every minute and every person whom has entered my life in the last 10 years.

So very lucky.

And I slept........




Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Digging deep

We live in a big world.

Miles. Oceans. Land.

Places. People. Experiences.

When you look back at all of those things in your life? You realize what/who has added to your life. 

Chances.

Moments.

What I've realized lately is life is very, VERY short. 

My lip still trembles for the boys we lost last summer. It could have as easily been me.. 

We are not guaranteed 65 and healthy.

Heck, we aren't even guaranteed tomorrow. Much less tomorrow and healthy. 

I'm going back to Kona in June. Or at least that is planned. 

I'm going to dig deep. 


Find the Good

Lots of turmoil in the world to the start of the Christian calendar 2017.

Agree with some. Disagree with some.

I've gone back and forth on what I do believe in. What I don't believe in. What I'm willing to fight for, what I'm not willing to fight for.

But,

What I do think? About all the turmoil in the world?

IT TAKES NOTHING TO BE KIND

Yes, there are people whom will take advantage of your kindness.

There are people whom will not have the same values as you.

BUT,

You can't change them. You can only be you.

Yes, there are people in our country illegally. There are also citizens in our country whom live off of social services or other people to pay for their way to survive.

We could go on and on.

All I do know??

Be kind to one another.

Go find the good.....

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Vision

The love/hate battle about eyes began as early as I can remember.
You're eyes are SO blueI 
You're eyes are so big
You have BUG eyes
Do your eyelashes hit your eyeball when you talk
Your eyes are bigger than your face

I never even knew what I had:

Bright.
Stunning Blue Eyes

Yes, the eyes that blink at you and you don't ask anymore questions, because, those eyes are looking into your soul.
'
My eyes have never been good for vision. I joke, my best accesory ever. Or the other thing I say: They are only good for decoration.

2000 I had the eye surgery that repared the degentrative eyes I was given. That's okay - many people I love have eye problems, I'm one of them.


They warned me about this

My close up vision would begin to slip. BUT, when it happens, your far away vision will become closer.

I'm not sure if it's the diet. The life. The vision to see thing better, BUT

At dusk, then later in the evening - I can now suddenly see things. Things I've had trouble seeing for years.

My vision has changed


Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Expenses

Eating non-processed food is EXPENSIVE.

This whole:


  • No processed foods
  • No fake stuff
  • No sugar (includes honey)
  • No alcohol
stuff is actually expensive!

I had a little bet/goal with myself. "Every night I don't buy any alcohol or go out to eat, I'll put that money into my 'travel' savings." A reward for my determination and sticking to my goals.

WELL, that's all fine and good, but I'm not saving any money! My normal "Wednesday night out" cost me $50. I don't go out every Wednesday, but that is the night I will go have dinner and cocktails. Then there is wine I have at home.

Surely, I can save TONS of money. Okay, granted it's only been two weeks - but my grocery bill has doubled.

My sweet potato chips - the kind with no sugar??? $4.00 (which isn't bad), but it's TEN ounces. You know how many ounces of Doritios I could buy for $4.00??????? More than TEN ounces!!!

Meat, fish, salad stuff - easy things to grab at the store and not have to look at labels.

What was I eating before???

I've always thought of myself as a "healthy eater", but watching my waistline has me watching my bank account.......

Wishing my waist would shrink as fast......

Sunday, January 15, 2017

15 days

In 15 days, I haven't had:

  • Sugar
  • Processed Foods (Pasta, chips, bread, etc)
  • Dairy
  • Soy
  • Grains
  • Legumes
  • Alcohol
Okay, it's really only been 13 days, but I was supposed to start my rendition of Whole 30 at the start of January - due to travel (or that is my excuse any way), I started on the 3rd of January. 

You are also not supposed to have any artificial sweetners. HOWEVER, I don't drink coffee. I could drink tea, but I really do like my morning "boost" of a sugar free energy drink. I figure I'm giving up everything else, I can only do so much. (Maybe next month).

The goal is to see how you feel (your joints, your muscles, your brain) at the end of the month. Then add one thing in for two days, and see how you feel.

The list above makes one think, "Well, what CAN I eat?"

  • Meat
  • Vegetables
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Eggs
And with those four things, there are a ton of meals to make! Omeletes, salads, steak and pretty much any vegetable you want. 

I haven't been hungry at all - it's the habits of eating/drinking things, not because I really want them, it's the habit. The habit of pouring a glass of wine while cooking dinner. The habit of having cheese toast for breakfast. Etc......

The not having wine or chips has been the hardest challenge. Although, there are some great sweet potato chips with no added sugar. The wine, well, sparkling water has helped me trick my mind.

So, far, I've lost 4.5 pounds. But more importantly, I have a ring that was tight, it now fits without a problem (a four pound weight loss wouldn't do that - it's the puffiness from processed food and sugar that does that). AND, I'm sleeping!! My middle of the night panic attacks (that I attributed to everything that went on with the kids we lost last summer) are all but gone.

I'm drinking sleepytime tea at night instead of my wine. It's amazing what 8 stratight hours of sleep does for a person! Something that I haven't done in years on a regular basis.

Pilates and Hot Yoga Sculpt don't seem as hard either. 3 days a week for the last two weeks.

I may add things back in, as I want them, but the goal at the moment is to make it another 15 days.