Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

August 18, 2009

Ramblings of the Day

Filed under: Life — gardener @ 8:23 am

The last two nights I’ve gone to bed LONG past what is my normal bed time. Aside from being totally caught up in last seasons Surivor, I also have some projects in the works, and if everything plays out the way that I’m praying it will, I’m going to be one busy girl, which I’m not only looking forward to, but I’m excited about.

Call me superstitious, but I don’t want to say too much at this point, until I know more, but aside from being a little nervous, I think it’s an awesome opportunity for me. I’m defintely grateful no matter what, because I know that this didn’t just ‘happen’- I had a thought, and within two days of that thought- this literally fell into my lap, and from there I’ve been scrambling, in hopes to make this happen. More on that at a later date.

Remember me writing about the OPI nail polish the other day? Well, it is now day four on my nails and they haven’t chipped yet. That is a record for my nails, and a sure sign that I’m going to be buying some new colors of OPI in the near future. I’m definitely impressed- considering the amount of dishes I wash, the amount of pounding I do on these keys, and they are holding strong.

As much as I’d love to stay and chat- looks like I’d better get dinner on the table, so we can eat and I can get in the bath before heading off to Marcel’s uncles for the evening. Ooh, and I don’t need to forget to DVR my favorite shows- one of which starts the new season tonight. That has always been one of my favorite things about this time of the year- all the new television programming.

August 17, 2009

Switching Gears

Filed under: Health/ Fitness,Life — gardener @ 1:57 pm

As I mentioned earlier in the month- I recommitted myself to my program of making healthy choices, exercising and getting the rest of this weight off. For the most part, I’ve been doing exactly what I need to be doing, with the exception of the work-outs. I’ve started strength training again, something I hadn’t been doing consistently this year, so I’m happy about that, but my time on the elliptical has dwindled. I knew that had to change, but I also knew it has been too warm to do a full work out at my regular time frame and resistance levels, so I decided to change things up a bit. I know the body likes that anyway- so today I started really pushing myself to do shorter, but more intense work outs, and let me tell you- after the first one, I was ‘pooped’. It also goes to show that I can do much more than I have been doing, so hopefully it will get me on the right track to getting the rest of this weight off.

I’ve also decided NO FOOD at ALL after 9 and no carbs after dinner. That may be difficult to keep together, but I’m determined to do it and see where it takes me. Weight loss and fitness is not a straight line process. As we grow and change, and as our bodies change so do our needs, which mean we have to be ready and willing to make changes, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.

I’ll let you know how it works for me.

August 16, 2009

Paint Without Numbers

Filed under: Life — gardener @ 4:55 am

Last night I did something I haven’t done in a long time- I painted my fingernails (OPI Cajun Shrimp-Thanks Samantha). I keep my toes painted, but I rarely paint my nails because I have problem keeping the polish on for more than a day without chipping or peeling. I love OPI, but haven’t used any in years, so I thought I’d try it on my nails and if it stays on a few days without chipping or peeling, I’m going to pick up a few other colors and start painting my nails again.

I love the look of freshly painting nails, but one of my little quirks is that I can’t stand it once they start chipping or peeling, so I either have to repaint them right away, or remove the polish, which it usually ends up being the latter. Oh, and not that you asked, but it also bugs me to see other people with chipped or peeling polish. If you aren’t going to keep it looking nice, you shouldn’t be wearing it- at least that’s how “I” look at it.

What about you? Do you paint your nails, and how do you feel about chipped and peeling polish? Do you even care?

August 15, 2009

Watching

Filed under: photography — gardener @ 11:44 am

Did you ever get the feeling that someone was watching your every move? As you can see, I had that feeling and I caught the culprit red-handed!

Pay attention to what you say and what you do- you never know who is watching and whose life you are influencing.

August 14, 2009

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Filed under: Life — gardener @ 12:10 pm

I’m so excited! I just got the best news via email from one of my friends back home. I really can’t discuss it because it’s personal to her situation, but I am SO proud of her. She was able to do something that I’d been praying she’d do for a long, long time, and I know this is one of the best decisions that she could have made for her life and for herself!

When my friends are happy, I celebrate their joys and am their biggest cheerleader. When they hurt, I cry along with them, even when they don’t know it.

I’m so excited that I didn’t even mind having to spend time on hold with call center services when I had questions regarding a new account I recently opened.

I think every friday should be “Good News Friday”- ahh forget that- there’s something GOOD about EVERY day!

What’s your good news for today?

Lost and Found

Filed under: Life — gardener @ 6:30 am

Earlier today I decided that I would flip the cushions on the sofa and vacuum under them. I do that from time-to-time when I think about it, but today ended up being a little different.

Before flipping the cushions, I took them off the sofa and tossed them onto the floor, and could see that it had been quite some time since I thought about vacuuming under the seat cushions based on the dust and kitty hair that was accumulated in the crack. As I was making a mental note to myself, something caught my eye in the far left corner that wasn’t dust or kitty hair.

I stuck my finger in the little corner only to find a ring that I’d lost many months ago. As I have lost weight, my rings have become too large for me. I wear my engagment ring on my middle finger now, and most of my rings I’ve either stopped wearing, or replaced them with old rings that I couldn’t wear in the past. This ring, a simple gold filigree heart ring that I wore on my pinky, slipped off my finger one day, and I noticed it when I was in the bath. I had no idea when it had happened, or when I’d lost it, and figured it was gone forever.

I remember looking around the bed, under the bed, plus on and under the sofa, but when I didn’t find it, I figured I’d probably lost it while out shopping or something. There it was- where it had been all that time, just waiting for me to discover it.

Just goes to show, that I haven’t been vaccuming under the seat cushions on my sofa nearly often enough. Try it, you never know what lost treasures you may find, and remember- “Finders Keepers”.

August 12, 2009

Southern ‘Wiz’dom

Filed under: Life,Quotes- Soul Food,Things I Love — gardener @ 8:05 am

When Marcel came home from work today, he came in with a package from home. It was a belated birthday gift from my friend Amy that I’ve been reconnected with recently on Facebook. When I opened it, I literally squealed. Not only did she send me the most beautiful card, but she also sent me a “Southern Belle” T-shirt in one of my favorite colors, RED!!!

If you know anything about me at all, then you know I love quotations- The back of my new shirt reads the following:

“Life is a grindstone…
Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you’re made of.”

How very true- Thank you Amy for making my day and for sending me a little piece of the south. I love you!

Every Pound Counts

Filed under: Health/ Fitness — gardener @ 7:41 am

I always celebrate when I step on the scales and see that they are going  down, down, down. This year, I can’t say that I haven’t been serious about my commitment to a healthy life, because I have lost weight, but I’ve cut myself a lot more slack this year, which has resulted in smaller numbers. I’ve only lost about 12 pounds this year so far, but I still celebrate each and every pound.

In August, I recommited myself to my plan and program, and I have lost a pound since Monday. I have started strength training again, something that I had really been slacking on this entire year, even though my regular cardio work outs have been consistent. Oddly, a day after I recommited myself, someone offered me what they are calling the best fat burners to, as they put it, ‘help me reach my goal a little faster’. As you probably know, I declined. They may be great, but they aren’t for me. It is something that I feel that I ‘have’ to do on my own and I will do just that.

So today I celebrate yet another low on the scales- two more pounds and I’m at a milestone in this journey- one that will definitely be worth a treat to celebrate, and one that won’t break the calorie bank. I’ll be having that hot air balloon ride before I know it, which is one of the gifts I plan to give myself when I reach my goal.

August 10, 2009

Attitude of Gratitude

Filed under: Gratitude,Life — gardener @ 10:23 am

I’ve been thinking alot lately (what else is new?) about being grateful. For the most part, I feel as though I’m very grateful for EVERYTHING in my life, but I realize that there are sometimes when I’m not grateful at all, and I realize that is something that I really need to take a hard look at.

Point and case- Yesterday Marcel was doing something in the house, and I asked him before he began, to make sure that he read the instructions, since men tend to not always want to read the instructions and things don’t always go the way they ‘think’ they should go. He said he would, but at some point he made a mistake that could have been huge in relation to what it was that he was assembling.

I got irritated and told him to let me do it, because I’d specifically asked him to read the directions and he hadn’t.

So I did it- I corrected his error, without problem, and finished assembling and moving the entire project- while he sat on the couch and sulked.

Later- he said: “See you were upset over nothing, and you made me feel as though I do nothing right.”

I felt bad about it- I really did. Not only because he was right, but also because I should have been grateful that I have a husband who actually wants to do those type of home projects instead of leaving them for me to do, or grateful because I have a husband who doesn’t complain everytime I get the urge to buy something new for the house. He may protest from time to time, but he generally says if I really want it, to go for it. I know there are many men who aren’t like that.

This is just one example. I’m sure if I think back, there could be many involving many other situations and circumstances.

Do you have a TRUE attitude of gratitude in your life?

My Gratitude List for August 10, 2009.

Today I’m Grateful For:

  • New Life.
  • Awareness.
  • A day spent walking in the sunshine and shopping with Marcel.
  • Those who choose to make a difference in the lives of others.
  • Downward movement on the scales.

Since Then….

Filed under: Techy — gardener @ 10:13 am

Last time I was here, I was off to put on my nerd cap and see if I could manage to fix a laptop issue on a computer that Marcel’s neices own. Unfortunately, there is a file either missing, damaged or infected and a crucial file to allow Windows to start.

In the beginning, they didn’t want to lose everything and I definitely don’t blame them, but then they decided they’d deal with it (there wasn’ THAT much on there), and that I could wipe it, but after thinking about it, I refused to do it.

I know they weren’t thrilled about it, because that’s going to mean either finding someone who can do it that they know, or paying someone, but not long after they received the laptop from their grandma (my mom-in-law), I had gone over and set up the printer. Some way or another, other installations of the printer got added, and the default printer setting was changed, causing it not to print. There was something-or-other going on at the time, and I wasn’t able to make it over there when they wanted me to, so they had some friend of a friend look at it (and you know how those things go sometime), and rather than going in, deleting the excess installs and changing the default, he decided that rather than Vista, that the computer needed XP, so he installed XP on the brand new computer, voiding the warranty and everything.

In my eyes, that was about the dumbest thing ever- especially since the problem wasn’t Vista related, but to each his own. I am not going to attempt to repair it now that there has been a conflict or problem when I have NO idea what else this guy did to the computer.

Tomorrow, Marcel will call someone we know who owns a computer shop, and see what he’ll charge to repair it. It isn’t going to be cheap, but I’m not doing it. Maybe they can call the guy who changed the operating system in the first place and let him do it. Lord help them though if they do.

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