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It isn't a big secret but Tommy and I don't cook.   I can count on my fingers how many times we have cooked in the last 2.5 years.  This has been a source of frustration for me.   I love to cook!  I have really missed cooking.  Disclaimer:  I do cook for Spicer.  In fact, I cook for Spicer almost every night.   But Tommy and I have gotten in the habit of me cooking for Spicer, feeding him, then Tommy and I eating carryout after Spicer goes to bed.   I used to try to hide the fact that I wasn't cooking but I guess the cat's out of the bag now.   Since we are going on this trip to Europe we are trying to save money.   So Tommy asked me last week if I would mind if we started cooking at home more.  Mind???? Mind??? I have been trying to get him to let us cook at home for 2.5 years of course I didn't mind.   So Sunday we grilled, Monday we did order out, Tuesday we made lasagna, tonight we are grilling again, and Thursday we are making a pork roast in the crockpot.   I am so excited.  Last night it smelled so good in my house with the lasagna cooking, it occurred to me how much I have missed the smell of food cooking.   I can wait till Thursday.   I love the smell of a roast in the crock pot.  I plan to add a section to my blog and call it crock pot Thursdays to share what we cook in the crock pot Thursday nights.   What are you having for dinner?
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Guess who's going to Europe?  I am! I am!  Tommy and I are less than one month away from our European Vacation.   I am very excited.  So far the plan is London, Stonehenge and the English Countryside, Amsterdam, France, (train ride through the Swiss Alps to Rome) Rome, Dublin, then back to London!!!   We may have to cut some of that back since we are only going to be gone Friday to the following Sunday.  We plan to bike and walk a lot in the cities.  We want to visit the more out of the way places and then just snap the pictures of the Big Stuff (bike by Big Ben and Buckingham Palace not wait in the 8 hour line).   We are going to try to eat responsibly on our vacation but still splurge a bit too.  I realize I probably won't lose any weight on vacation but my goal is not to gain anything.   I think biking and walking will help and then we can also work out or swim if our hotels have either amenities.  I am looking forward to all of the countries.  I am very excited about the little place we are staying near Stonehenge.  I can't wait to have a little meal and coffee in a Paris outdoor cafe.   I am thrilled about biking all over the city of London.   The train ride through the Swiss Alps will be so pretty; there should be plenty of snow through the mountains.   Rome will be stunning and full of history.   Most of all am excited about Dublin and seeing my Irish roots.  I plan to get some soil from the homeland and bring it back to my dad and pour a little bit on my Papaw's grave.   It is going to be a splendid trip!  
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Friday I was driving to Bowling Green and listening to the radio.  There is kind of a drought of radio stations on the drive from Murray to Bowling Green  so I was excited when I turned to NPR and they were doing StoryCorps.   I love StoryCorps, it is a great little publication that lets people tell their story in their own words.  Sometimes they are famous people and other times they are just ordinary people but either way the stories are usually fantastic.  Friday they were doing a story about 9/11.  They told the story of Father Mychal Judge the NYFD chaplain.   Father Mike was the first person issued a death certificate from that horrific day.   The day after 9/11 Father Michael Duffy (a dear friend) had a call asking him speak at Father Mike's funeral.   Father Michael recalled Father Mike's life. 

 “He would say to me once and a while, ‘Michael Duffy’ — he always called me by my full name — ‘Michael Duffy, you know what I need?’ And I would get excited because it was hard to buy him a present or anything.   I said, ‘No, what?’ ‘You know what I really need?’ ‘No, what Mike?’ ‘Absolutely nothing. I don’t need a thing in the world. I am the happiest man on the face of the earth.   Why am I so blessed? I don’t deserve it.’ 


These words from Father Mike really struck me.   “Absolutely Nothing!”  It helped me reflect on my own life.  What do I need?  Nothing!  I don't need anything.  I have Spicer, I have Tommy, I have my family and friends, I have my job, I have a roof over my head, I have a car that runs, I have enough to eat, I have enough money in my bank account to pay my bills.  I don't need anything.   I think it is fitting on 9/11 to reflect on that.  We need to strive to be like Father Mike.  We need to realize that if we have the things I just listed we CAN be content.  We should strive to feel that way and to reach that point in our own lives and most importantly to identify the people who don't have these things and for goodness sakes to help them.   It can be just the smallest things. 

Almost every Saturday there is a little church who bakes goodies to sell for the Farmers Market in Murray.   Every Saturday for a few hours these people take a little fraction of time to make a difference.   I often give them a few dollars and one of the ladies is always moved by my gift because I never buy any of their food since I am watching my calories but I want to still help them.   I always try to dismiss her thank yous and let her know there are no thanks necessary.  Tommy said next time she says that we should tell her, “No you need the thanks, you are the one here giving up your Saturdays to help others.  You are the one who spent all the time baking the day before.  You are the one helping others with the money you get from the bake sale.  You deserve the thanks and the credit. “ 

 What are you doing to help you reach that feeling, the feeling of being content?  What are you doing to help others reach that goal? 

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Father Mike
 
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Down another pound this week to -57lbs!!!!!
 
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Ok, I am not going to lie.  I am stressed.  Work is crazy and Spicer is sick.  Can I change any of that?  Nope!!!  Stress is hard but people can take that stress and channel it.  We also need to realize there are some things we can't change.   I know, I know, I almost sound like a 12 step program or some cheesy self-help chick.  But.. it's true.   Why worry!?! or focus on something I can't change?!?  So I figured I would poke a little fun at stress and share a few funny comic strips, pictures, and quotes to lighten the mood.  

The time to relax is when you don't have time for it.  ~Attributed to both Jim Goodwin and Sydney J. Harris

For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.  ~Lily Tomlin

We live longer than our forefathers; but we suffer more from a thousand artificial anxieties and cares.  They fatigued only the muscles, we exhaust the finer strength of the nerves.  ~Edward George Bulwer-Lytton

Stress is an ignorant state.  It believes that everything is an emergency.  ~Natalie Goldberg, Wild Mind

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Well, the sun's not so hot in the sky today
And you know I can see summertime slipping on away
A few more geese are gone, a few more leaves turning red
But the grass is as soft as a feather in a featherbed
So I'll be king and you'll be queen
Our kingdom's gonna be this little patch of green

Won't you lie down here right now
In this september grass
Won't you lie down with me now
September grass

Oh, september grass is the sweetest kind
It goes down easy like apple wine
Hope you don't mind if I pour you some
Made that much sweeter by the winter to come

Do you see those ants dancing on a blade of grass?
Do you know what I know? that's you and me, baby
We're so small and the world's so vast
We found each other down in the grass

Won't you lie down with me right here
September grass
Won't you lie down with me now
In this september grass

Don't you just love James Taylor.   I couldn't help but post those lyrics today since it is such a perfect September day.   I love these Pre-Fall temps.   I also noticed the Tobacco Barns have started burning.   It smells so amazing to drive on a rural road in Calloway County.  You can't help but smell the Tobacco burning.   I love the smell.  

I also have something to confess.   I am very close to a big number!!!!  I am just a few weeks away from being UNDER 200lbs.  This is a very big deal for me.   Being under 200lbs means a lot of things.   I haven't been under 200lbs since just a few months after Spicer was born.  Right after I had Spicer I started trying to lose weight.   I was in the 190s but never made it to my goal weight.  I became frustrated when I didn't get down to my pre-baby weight and started gaining and slowly over time continued to gain.  A few years ago I got down to around 206 and hit a wall and stopped going and then of course gained everything back.   This time that is NOT going to happen.  Number one because I am already past 206 and am down to 202 and secondly the last time I hit a wall I was doing this by myself, not counting calories, not blogging, and not exercising.  I was only watching what I ate, portion size, and writing my weekly weigh-ins on the fridge.   This time I am better prepared, have more accountability, and more support.   I am very excited about reaching this milestone.   What are your milestones and how do you plan to reach them?
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I had a great Labor Day weekend.   We got our Passports for Europe!!!  We enjoyed music on Friday and Saturday, Leah Lous Bday on Sunday, and Grilling on Monday.   Here is the Weekend in Pictures.   Hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend!  The daily word today was great for Labor Day. 

"Work Blessing I bless myself and others through my work. Through my work, creative activity and successful achievement, I am a channel through which the tireless energy of the Infinite finds expression. Whether I work in an office, factory, shop, home or elsewhere, God's spirit works through me. With every task, I am providing an outlet for the creative ability of the indwelling Spirit.

Should I ever be distressed or overwhelmed by my occupation or activities, I stop and breathe into the spirit of God within me. I affirm: It is not I who does the work; it is God who works through me.

Whatever I do in life, I see it as a blessing. Through the spirit of God, my work engages me with life, connects me with others and reveals my divine nature."
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I am down one more pound !!!! -56!!!!
 
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Luca Spaghetti (Giuseppe Gandini): "Americans. You work too hard, you get burned out.  You come home and spend the whole weekend in your pajamas in front of the T.V."

Liz: "That's not far off, actually."

Luca Spaghetti: "But you don't know pleasure. You have to be told you've earned it. You see a commercial that says: 'It's Miller Time!' And you say, That's right, now I'm going to buy a six pack. And then drink the whole thing and wake up the next morning and you feel terrible. But an Italian doesn't need to be told. He walks by a sign that says: You deserve a break today. And he says, Yes, I know. That's why I'm planning on taking a break at noon..."

Giovanni(
Luca Argentero): "We call it "dolce far niente", the sweetness of doing nothing."

One thing I think people forget in today's world of busy busy busy and go go go is to stop and take care of themselves.   Whether it is the sweetness of doing nothing or taking pictures or getting your nails done we need to take the time to STOP and smell the roses.   Here are a few things I do to take care of myself:   hot stone massage, read, photography, spend time with Spicer, spend time with Tommy, go to the movies, exercise, yoga, meditation, Saturday farmer's market, pedicure, working in my garden, sitting on my back deck, star gazing, listening to live music, and blogging.    

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