A Random Explosion of Groovy Thought

Ah, my friends, it has been much too long since I posted here. I've been busy, but not that busy. It's more that I've been in a writing funk. I've not even had any wandering thoughts that begged to be pinned down.

In other words, I've been more boring than groovy.

Fortunately, that's about to change! In fact, this post will probably be so chock full of flying thoughts that you'll need a butterfly net so you can catch and examine them. Maybe TWO butterfly nets!

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First of all, The BHE and I are trying raise money for the American Lung Association again. We're both planning to ride in the 180 mile Trek Across Maine - and this time I. AM. GOING. TO. FINSH. THE. RIDE!!!!!!!!

You can make your tax deductable (USA) donation with a credit card by clicking one of the donation links in my sidebar. You can also read more about our Trek preparations on my other blog: Groovy Trekkers: Suffering Pain for Others Gain

Training thus far has been limited to weight lifting, the treadmill, and snowshoing due to the copious layer of snow that is still on the ground here. But we'll get the bikes out soon. I promise you!

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I suppose, since I've started off by mentioning a hugely athletic event, this would be a good place to talk about dieting.

I hate dieting.

I love food. I hate limiting food and living by rules that say, "Don't eat this, Don't eat that, yadda, yadda, yadda..." I've eaten low fat, low carb, vegetarian, Mediterranean, "Flat Belly", no sugar, no processed, and all organic. I've counted carbs, counted calories, counted MUFAs, and counted fat. I'm "good" for about 3-6 days and then BAM, I'm back to me - eating what I want, when I want it (and too much of it). Twice I have lost 11 or 12 pounds (on low carb and Flat Belly) and been oh-so-proud, then....You guessed it. I got sick of eating by the "rules" and gained the weight back.

I know, I know, it's not about a "diet" it's about a "permanent lifestyle change". The problem is WHICH lifestyle? If the science keeps changing and the rules keep changing as to what's the healthiest way to eat, then how am I supposed to keep up?

They have told us that fat was evil. Now they tell us that fat is good, though there is some debate over which types of fat are beneficial. Some of them say, "Mono-unsaturated fats from nuts and olives ONLY". Others say animal fat is best. Now grains are evil (I've even recently read that corn is gonna kill us all) and sugar is worse. But I found this awesome ad in a 1968 edition of Woman's Day magazine:

I'm told that I should count calories -spend more than I take in and voila, I'll be lythe and lovely. Then moments later I'm told to NEVER count calories.

It's all starting to get to me!

I am working out quite regularly now, but the eating - OY! Truth is I'm only 15-20 pounds overweight. That's not bad, really. But those extra pounds DO weigh me down in long distance biking and in hiking with heavy gear for Search & Rescue. I'd really like to see them go. Permanently.

Sooooooo. I made donuts this morning. And they were yummy.

;-)

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And now, on to puberty. Not me, I've already been there. But both my very young girlies are there now. Silly-Head, at 9 and 1/2, seems unphased thus far - except that she has quit wetting the bed AND quit sucking her thumb. We are all doing the dance of joy on her behalf! (And fear not, she will not be embarassed if I write about this here. She does not read my blog.)

But Girly-Girl is 11 and she is in turmoil. She is asking questions of deep, emotional amd spiritual import pretty much every day. She struggles constantly with a HUGE sensitivity to sin - real or imagined. ie. She is constantly "confessing" to us. Little things, "I touched the kitchen counter, but I'm not sure if I washed my hands first." (???) and big things, "I was rude to so-and-so at my birthday party last August." or "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening to anything you or Dad just said."

I'm glad she has a tender heart, but she worries WAAAY too much. We've tried to reassure her and redirect her. We've looked up Scriptures on sin and confession and repentance. After all, when there IS sin, it needs to be dealt with. But most of her issues are with false guilt and mistakes and imperfections, not sin. We've prayed with her and remind her constantly that she's loved just the way she is and that we are proud of her. Nonetheless, she struggles.

She reads her Bible VERY faithfully and makes sure we all read ours as well. The BHE and I don't mind being reminded - we want to read the Word every day, but Silly-Head was starting to balk at her sister's well-meaning legalism and we had to tell Girly-Girl to back off.

Girly-Girl and I did go away for 24 hours or so. We stayed in a Bed & Breakfast and listened to Dr. Dobson's tape series Preparing for Adolescence. We also shopped and ate out and watched all 3 of the original Star Wars movies - though now she wants to know why we watched them when we believe young ladies should dress modestly and Leah was NOT dressed modestly in the scenes with Jabba.

I still have to deal with that one. But, the tapes and our ensuing discussions about thoughts and crushes and feeling insecure, etc. did help alleviate some of her thought tornadoes.

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Man, those donuts were GOOD!

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It's raining today. It rained most of yesterday and all night long as well. The trees and powerlines are covered with ice. I am praying we don't lose power. Without power we have no heat or water. We've looked at generators, but it seems like a lot of mony to spend for insurance against a possible power loss...

The ice is so beautiful and yet, so treacherous!

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OK, enough fluttering thoughts for one day. I need to work out and get the girls rolling with some schoolwork. I'm reviewing an educational site called Time4Learning. I need to plug the girls in so my review will be more thorough. I should be writing that quite soon, so stay tuned.

Oh, and before you leave, Have a donut. They're really yummy!

Snow and Romance and so on...

As I type this at 6:00 am on April 5, 2007, we have 12 inches of heavy snow on the ground and it's still coming down thickly. Predictions on NPR are for another lovely foot of snow. Mulletman had to run out to snow-blow a path for the car and now he's commuting 70 miles to work in the storm. (ugh!! I will not worry, God is watching over him……..I will NOT worry.)

Here's a peek at my back deck this morning:



Let's see, there must be a good point to this late snow. Yep. There must be.

Ah, I have it! All our other storms were made of cold, fine snow so we never got to make a snowman this past winter. This is heavy, wet snow. It's perfect for snowballs, snowmen, and sculptures. There, that'll take care of P.E. for today!

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I've actually been up for a while now, thinking (oh foolish me) that I'd get caught up with my blogging friends this morning before I deal with school, a writing project, housework and more snow-blowing. Unfortunately, the internet is down and with this vehement return of winter, I don't anticipate it coming back up anytime soon.

Oh well, my WP is working and we have power and heat, so I can at least get caught up on some of my writing; I'll post my anniversary updates just as soon as service is restored.

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Big News: Mulletman and I have decided to sign up for the American Lung Association's Trek Across Maine. Over three days in mid-June we will ride our bikes over 180 miles across Maine to raise money for the ALA. We've applied to be a part of the team from our bank, the "Lone Rangers". Last year there were 37 Lone Rangers. Sounds more like a pack of Rangers to me.

Actually, I think it'll be great to be able say "Open Up! Groovyoldlady, Maine Ranger here!" when I get to the port-o-let at the rest stops. Then I can kick in the door and storm the potty!

Speaking of storms, Guess we won't be training today…

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Other News: I received my prizes from Kathleen for my Blarney story. She gave me Beth Moore's book "Believing God" and a live CD of the Corrs in Dublin. I'd never heard of the Corrs before, so Mulletman and I will enjoy the musical adventure.

Thanks, Kathleen!

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WARNING, The Following Report is Immensely Romantic; A Box of Tissues is HIGHLY Recommended!
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Our actual anniversary was on April 3 - this past Tuesday. We'd already spent a zillion dollars and four days celebrating, so I wasn't expecting anything at all except one more meal out with the girlies and the folks (the folks were buying).

I hadn't had a chance to fill my Mom in on all the fun from our trip, so I gave her a call. Suddenly this very handsome, wonderful smelling man in a suit (a SUIT????) came striding into the kitchen. He grabbed the phone out of my hand.

"Shell call you back!" he shouted and hung up on my Mom.

I was a bit shocked. "Um...What's up?"

"It's 2:00pm!"

"Yeah…"

"It's our anniversary RIGHT NOW! We got married at 2:00pm, 25 years ago!"

Suddenly I started to realize that he was being ROMANTIC. Aaaaaaaw! How sweet! He had rushed through working-out, shaving, showering, and dressing so he'd be ready right at 2:00pm. I was smiling now, and getting a little bit misty.

But wait, it got even better.

He pulled out a small white bag and a nicely wrapped box in silver paper, "Happy Anniversary!"

I opened the bag first. It was FULL of premium, incredible tasting squares of dark chocolate. This was HUGE because he's always discouraging me from eating sweets, even though I hint for chocolate all the time. It was truly a gift born out of his love for
me.

I was starting to get teary now as I opened the box. Inside was this beautiful sterling silver necklace with three diamonds.




He said the sales-lady suggested that the diamonds stood for the past, present, and future. Aaaaaaaaw! But he thought they stood for April THIRD. Aaaaaaaaw again!

But wait, it got even better.

He took me by the hand and led me into the living room. He put on a Barbara Streisand CD and started "Evergreen" - a song from our wedding - and he DANCED with me. He HATES dancing! I was bawling the whole time. It was WONDERFUL!
A little later in the day came a phone call from our church secretary. She knew we were going to go out and the church wanted to pay for our dinner.

"Um, well, we were going to take the kids with us too." I objected.

"No problem!"

"And, um, the folks are also coming."

"Still no problem! Just order whatever you want. Go WILD, and then bring us the receipt. Not many marriages make it to 25 years and we want to celebrate with you!"

Wow.

And this was after both my Mom and the folks had already given us sizable chunks of celebratory money!

The girlies and their bears are decked out and ready for dinner festivities:



One groovy couple:



We ate at a seafood restaurant and, although we didn't go wild, had a lovely meal. Then we scooted back home for one last surprise. The folks had bought us an ice-cream cake from DQ. Whoo-hoo!



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This has been the most incredible anniversary celebration. I am married to an awesome dude and I'm truly looking forward to 25 more years with him.

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Next Installment: Longfellow's Wayside Inn





EPILOGUE:
-The computer is back and so am I.
-Mulletman made it safely to work.
-We got 18+" of very wet heavy snow.
-Every muscle in my body hurts from shoveling and blowing said snow.
-The girls and I made awesome snow people, but it was so warm that their heads have already fallen off.




Watch for me...I'm coming to your blog tonight or tomorrow to play catch-up!