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Post by cathygeha on Sept 30, 2020 6:48:57 GMT
Affirmation: Healthy Choices Are Easier Every Day Mind: Positive Body: Able Spirit: Open Gratitude: The ability to make positive choices based on facts - choices that are mine and not handed to me by others
Another quiet day at home. Not sure if we will run errands today or wait. We don't need anything so I say wait but we will see. It would be nice to have new produce or more variety BUT we have a huge pot of vegetable soup and I see hubby brought in apples and persimmons so we should be fine if we do not go out.
MICHELLE: My cousin lives in Petaluma (I think) and so far her home and business are okay but this is the second time in two years they have been threatened. Three of their customers (wineries) suffered losses to the fire. My sister, in Chico/CA, has had smoky skies for a LONG time. She used to live in Paradise but after a few years in Portland/OR they moved back to Chico instead of Paradise. All three of the places she lived in Paradise, the office her husband rented and other places they new well were destroyed in the Camp Fire. Fires are scary! Which fire is near you and how close is it? My brother recently moved from Leucadia to San Marcos/CA. I think he is closer to the possibility of fire than he was before. California has fires and earthquakes and mudslides and such. My son in Alabama has hurricanes and tornadoes. My daughter in Missouri has tornadoes and snow storms and floods (though not usually where she is). In Lebanon we have, in the past, had tsunamis after earthquakes (long ago), wars, pestilence, famine and other things but right now I think MOST places have the usual natural disasters plus political/economic upheaval and the pandemic with global warming increasing to add to the troubles. All that said...it is good that you have birds to feed and a yard to tend with yoga to look forward to as I read and review and create meals from the garden. Having something positive to focus on is a wonderful thing!
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Post by michelle on Oct 1, 2020 1:29:04 GMT
Affirmation: Life is good. Mind: Strategic and committed Body: Functional fitness, Yoga, OP Spirit: Guided Gratitude: Another OP month I spent the day doing miscellaneous chores and accomplished quite a bit. Today I celebrated another OP month. I have weighed daily (not perfectly, but nearly) for 1,178 days. I thought I needed to lose three or four pounds when I started this. However I ended up losing 13. This month I have been very active so I lost a pound for sure and now want to be sure I don't keep losing since I will again have to buy new pants. Cathy: I am used to wildfires. However, according to the experts and that would be the Incident Commanders on these fires we have a much more serious problem due to many factors which I will skip listing. I am taking this very seriously since I do have control over whether my home is lost to wildfire or not to the extent I do what is suggested. I am proud of what I have accomplished and continue to work on. I will not stop until I have done very thing suggested. I mean business on this. However I do not succumb to major drama about anything anymore. Life is short. I very rarely discuss what is going on since it is better to focus on what is right in life.This message board keeps me focused on many very positive things and is important to me. I think both of us try to and succeed at being positive and enjoying life!
Onward>>>>>
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Post by cathygeha on Oct 1, 2020 6:13:22 GMT
Affirmation: I see opportunities for delicious meals in every plant that comes through my door Mind: Creative Body: Thinking about moving more
Spirit: Open Gratitude: Refrigerator filled with delicious food options
We went shopping for a quick trip - or so hubby thought - it took the usual two hours. I think next time I will tell my husband we should go to only one or two places OR leave earlier. He was tired and cranky when we got home. I could go by myself but think he would worry due to the pandemic. It is what it is and done for at least a week or two.
MICHELLE: I agree with you that we do our best to focus on the positive rather than worrying and looking for the negative. I am glad you have goals and work toward making your home self sufficient and as fireproof as possible. Hooray for losing weight and finding a way not to have to buy new pants. I have dropped 24 pounds so far but have a way to go to get back to goal weight again. I know it will happen one pound at a time and am not angsting about getting there before my body is ready for it to happen.
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Post by michelle on Oct 2, 2020 2:15:54 GMT
Affirmation: Positive Mind! Positive Vibes!! Positive Life!!! Mind: Multidimensional Body: Functional Fitness, Yoga, OP Spirit: Ethereal Gratitude: Enthusiasm
Just a normal day for me doing some chores etc. Clair took Sam and Buttercup's bones tonight. She just got them together with hers and refused to share which I found about about because Buttercup came in the house and tattled. I had to go outside and take them from her to redistribute.All's well that ends well.
Cathy: Shopping is my biggest challenge. Congrats! on dropping the 24 pounds. Your choice of the word "dropped" reminded me that I finally started saying to myself that I "used" the excess weight. For me there was such a poor association with the word "loose" because I was used to gaining and losing endlessly. It was such a warm lovely night here.
Onward>>>>
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Post by cathygeha on Oct 2, 2020 7:57:34 GMT
Affirmation: Believe -> See Mind & Body: Tired Spirit: Steady Gratitude: Naps...maybe later today
Stayed up till 4am reading. I wasn't tired, the book was good, I wanted to stay up later BUT did head to bed and had three or four hours of sleep. Today hubby will barbecue eggplants and some of the excess I will pickle. Never have pickled eggplant before but there is a first time for everything. I have also cooked garbanzo beans so we might have hummus and baba ganoush or we might have something else. Time will tell. I am sure it will be a long day but I am also sure I will enjoy it.
MICHELLE: I love your dog stories...I can just see Buttercup hoarding the bones and Clair coming in to tattle. I am glad you did not lose a fingertip to buttercup as one of my friends did when she tried to remove a bone from her dog's mouth...a chicken bone she was worried the dog might choke on. Anyway... As for losing/gaining weight...don't like that so much when I think about it. Dropping could mean picking it up again. Used is a good one...it is gone..unless replenished. The one I kind of like that came to me this morning is "melt" ~ if I melt a candle I can't remake it, I don't think. At least not the dripless candles. Maybe I can melt the pounds. I thought about dissolve but not sure about that...I suppose even melt could indicate, like ice cubes, that they could be solidified again? I wonder if we can give the weight away to a needy cause...send it to the hungry via air waves once we are rid of it?
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Post by michelle on Oct 2, 2020 23:43:16 GMT
Affirmation: Prioritizing is the key. Mind: Strategic Body: Functional Fitness, Yoga, OP Spirit: Youthful Gratitude: Lovely fall day! I had a successful day working on the front deck. Got the railing repainted and the slats touched up. It looks so much better! Cathy: The dogs are trained from puppyhood to give me whatever they have. The trick is to either give it back or give them a higher value food item so they learn that there is a reward for doing as they are asked. Buttercup was the fastest dog ever to get trained. I told her to drop, starred at her until she dropped, and that was all the training needed. Now she will drop anything on command. Clair learned to work this trading for a higher value item to her advantage. She started a barter business where she would go out and find some old dead thing, bring it into the family room and then run in there and put it in her mouth when she saw me coming. I would go get the higher food item and trade. Luckily she outgrew this.
I enjoyed reading your different approaches to the mindset involved in the WW world. IMO these types of tactics do work. I used to envison a pound of fat to be just like the disgusting fat from cooking bacon and that was what was attached to my body. I also calculated the value of one pound lost and gained over and over and over. If I lost it 12 times and gained it back 12 times then the real weight of that one pound is 12 pounds. This made a lot of sense to me since now I just don't bother to gain it back and then....... BTW, it really does work to send excess weight to a too thin hungry person. I've done it.
Onward>>>>>
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Post by cathygeha on Oct 3, 2020 6:01:27 GMT
Affirmation: Moon baths are empowering Mind: Positive Body: Rested Spirit: Peaceful Gratitude: Turquoise thermos that keeps morning coffee hot
I was tired most of yesterday but in the evening my brother and sister-in-law called to say hi, update me on their lives and check in. It was great. My brother and his daughter are doing something called whole 30. His wife, vegetarian, is not doing the diet but is being more aware as she eats. They are excited. I let them talk then mentioned I had dropped 25 pounds since May...didn't want to say anything as it was their time to talk but eventually worked it in and they were happy for me. My brother was down 7 pounds in 4 days so figure some of that is water BUT this is a HUGE difference from how he usually eats so can see him feeling better and doing better if he sticks with it this month then makes some permanent changes in the future. Otherwise we made hummus, baba ganouj and I read, finished a book and wrote the review. I was definitely in bed by midnight last night!
MICHELLE: I find it so interesting that your dogs behaved so differently in the "drop the item" training. I think that my son would have been buttercup and my daughter clair. My son would cry if I looked at him and said I was unhappy he had done something. My daughter was defiant and talked back and even if finally swatted would just give me the eye. So...is it Jack that is your other dog? How did he handle this training? I get the feeling he is either an older dog or older in spirit and lets the girls do what they will. I May think of releasing the pounds to the hungry...love the image and I surely don't need them. Last night I went onto the balcony, looked up at the nearly full moon and soaked it in. As I did so I thought of health, peace, a lower weight, etc.
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Post by michelle on Oct 4, 2020 2:40:44 GMT
Affirmation: I am filled with enthusiasm! Mind: Goal oriented Body: Functional fitness, Yoga, OP Spirit: Tranquil Gratitude: Another lovely fall day
I worked on my painting extravaganza today. Lots of crawling around and through bushes to accomplish this. Clair's man objective is to crawl under the deck and get stuck so I had to erect a temporary fence to keep her out.
Cathy: Sam, the Collie has not been trained to drop or give anything. He was an active hunter when he was younger so he would always be praised for bringing his rabbits home into the yard to eat. This is for his safety to ensure he will always come when called. Fortunately he doesn't hunt anymore like he used to. Also he does not get sick like Clair does when she eats these types of things. The Vet said to just let him eat them but I had to get a special type of medicine for Clair because--well I'll skip that. LOL I looked at the full moon also. It was an incredible orange color because of the smoke higher up in the atmosphere.
Onward>>>>>
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Post by cathygeha on Oct 4, 2020 7:07:44 GMT
Affirmation: Feeling after good sleep is the perfect way to start the day Mind: open Body: mine Spirit: bright Gratitude: Sunday Skype calls with my granddaughters
Nothing exciting to share. I am enjoying my late morning coffee after sleeping in. Early in the morning I closed the window and drapes then slept through sunrise and beyond so feel rested this morning. I made whole wheat paast last night and the sauce was made of vegetables (green pepper, tomato, onion, garlic) sauteed in broth then added to a portion of leftover baba ganouj - it was delicious! Hubby is beginning to plant his winter vegetable garden and I believe we will have leftovers for lunch. It will be a good day.
MICHELLE: I read "painting" as "planting" and couldn't figure out what you were planting under the deck How long will the painting project take? I am thinking that in spring I should tackle some of the iron painting that needs to be done on the house...could be functional fitness and sprucing up the house at the same time. How old is Buttercup now? Is she still exhibiting puppy behaviors or mellowing a bit? I am glad that Sam was not made ill by eating raw rabbits but am not surprised that Clair and Sam had different reactions to the same protein. I looked and plague and tularemia can be carried on/in rabbits so...am glad that your dogs have never had to deal with THAT.
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Post by michelle on Oct 5, 2020 2:34:57 GMT
Affirmation: Willingness is the key that will unlock any door. Mind: Committed Body: Functional fitness, Yoga, OP Spirit: Optimistic Gratitude: Clean windows
I spent most of the day finishing up the windows and organizing, decluttering my office. Had to shelve the painting project due to the wildfire smoke that wifted in. Hopefully I will get back to it tomorrow, if not I will touch up paint in the house and use my new steam mop to clean the K floor. For decades I cleaned the K floor on my hands and knees but now for these decades I kind of ignore it. Actually it is practically impossible to tell that it is dirty since I made a very smart choice when I had the flooring replaced. I bought the steam mop and hope it is easy to use.
Cathy: I think I can finish up the section of painting I am working on in a few more hours. The white picket fence needs to be painted in places but it will have to wait until next year. I still have lots to do for EMP and now the leaves are starting to fall. Today I thought it would be nice if I could just glue them on permanently. Buttercup is 1 1/2 years old and never was a cute puppy--actually other than being kind of out of control wanting to play nonstop with Clair and Sam she skipped all the puppy stuff. However she does some very cute things play fighting with Sam. We all had fun today playing a keep away game where I was the leader.
Onward>>>>>
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Post by cathygeha on Oct 5, 2020 6:27:46 GMT
Affirmation: Healthy Food Choices -> Healthy Body Mind: Busy Body: Mind Spirit: Content Gratitude: Family to love that loves me back
Talked to our son and granddaughters yesterday. Their lives are back to "normal" after the hurricane with the girls back in school and most of the hurricane damage under control. The pandemic continues but my son says most where he lives are rather ho-hum about it, not wearing masks, and going on as if nothing is different than before covid-19. Case numbers continue to climb in Lebanon and around the world and I wonder what the ultimate outcome will be.
MICHELLE: I hope you get your painting project completed and that you like your steam mop. I think you and I have similar ideas on flooring...I intentionally chose marble and tiles that would be less likely to show dirt. I remembered from the past that splattered vinyl pattern I had in an old home in Redlands, California and opted for a design with swirls in the marble or variegated tiles without a consistent patterr AND took into consideration the color of the dirt outside the door I used to think a floor with a drain in the center of the floor or in a corner would be the best option...bring in the hose, hose the floor down and let it dry. The bathrooms are that way but then if the tiler doesn't know how to use the level whie tiling you can end up working harder to get the water into the drain I love your dogs and have never even met them! You are all so lucky to have found one another!
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Post by michelle on Oct 6, 2020 1:00:14 GMT
Affirmation: I am a strong powerful woman! Mind: Calm and Focused Body: Functional fitness, Yoga, OP Spirit: Connected Gratitude: Fire fighters, fire retardant planes, facebook I managed to get a little sidetracked today paying attention to the latest wildfire that is in our vicinity so that I would get ready to evacuate if need be. However I did manage to get the touch up painting done and a number of other chores. Cathy: You made me laugh! I seriously got a houseful of dirt colored carpet and then replaced it with speckled dirt color. The dirt is kind of a tan color so these carpets did look nice. I love the one I have now because practically nothing shows. DH vacs it once a week and I do spot vacing during the week. I forgot to tell you that when I was washing the windows a wolf spider had its web on one of them so I didn't do that part of the window--just about 1/4 of it. We always call them "wolf" but I don't think that's the right name. They are just fairly large spiders. When I looked out she had expanded her web to where I had washed--guess she didn't like my intrusion.
A 747 Fire retardant plane just flew very low overhead, that is one big plane. Time to play with Buttercup!
Onward>>>>>
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Post by cathygeha on Oct 6, 2020 9:28:43 GMT
Affirmation: Believe -> See Mind: Open Body: Moving Spirit: Content Gratitude: Health
We may run errands later today. Took the propane jar in and need to pick up a replacement, buy some produce and hubby wants to see if he can find tomato plants. Might pick up a few dairy products, too. Scale finally went down a pound and a half...it took its time, that's for sure!
MICHELLE: We have what I think are wolf spiders but the ones in our house do not weave webs...they are fast predators that lurk and snap up insets without a web. The daddy long legs have webs EVERYWHERE. I looked for spiders that weave webs in the house and found many sites...specific states also list indoor and outdoor spiders BUT am not sure which state exactly you live in I don't think we have brown recluse so just let the Wolf Spiders do their thing hoping they eat mosquitoes and other bugs!
This one that is about wolf spiders:
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Post by michelle on Oct 7, 2020 0:55:53 GMT
Affirmation: Let a smile be your umbrella! Mind: Constancy Body: Functional fitness, Yoga, OP Spirit: Steadfast Gratitude: The smoke has cleared substantially Spent the day doing this and that in the Spring Cleaning category. Also played with BC more since she is rather depressed, due I am sure to having to deal with the smoke which makes her sick. She perked right up and demanded that I play a bunch of different things with her. Now maybe I am sorry I got her to perk up LOL. Cathy, Congrats! on the scales descent. One affirmation I live by: Stay the same or lose! After I used it for awhile I no longer was so hyper focused on losing and all the WW drama. Buttercup is back from her walk and is now ready to play Cars.
Onward>>>>>
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Post by cathygeha on Oct 7, 2020 7:32:10 GMT
Affirmation: I am a work in progress making progress Mind: Busy Body: Moving
Spirit: Bright Gratitude: Health
We ran errands yesterday and bought produce. We are set for awhile and will harvest from the garden, too. I am busy reading and reviewing. Today I need to tidy the kitchen (again) then write a review and post it for an author THEN choose the next book in line to be read...hope it is a good one.
MICHELLE: I am glad you finished the painting project and were able to perk BC up...though a perky BC will keep you hopping! I like the idea of "stay the same or lose" though at this point in time still would rather lose
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