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Evidence of More Energy

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Day 92 in my run to rendezvous with Mickey

Wow!  I can hardly believe I’ve been at this for 92 days now.  What an interesting and rewarding quest this has been so far.

My plan for today was to go to church and worship the God who loves me.  I am so-o-o grateful for Jesus.  And for a Father who would sacrifice his Son for me (for us!)  And for the Spirit who dwells here among us in this world that can be so difficult to live in.  So, I went to church this morning, sought forgiveness for my daily sins, sang praises and experienced the peace that passes understanding.  Thank you, Lord!

Mike and I have played/sung in church for the last six weeks.  Here’s the rundown:

  1. October 5–we played with Damascus Road at our home church St. James
  2. October 12–we played with our bestest besties, the Carlson family, at their home church in Ishpeming, MI.
  3. October 19–Damascus Road again
  4. October 26–we were asked to provide special music at the early service at St. James on Reformation Sunday (We did Paul Baloche’s Mighty Fortress–fantastic song!)
  5. November 2–Damascus Road again
  6. November 9 (today)–Damascus Road again

Whew!  I’m tired just thinking about it.  92 days ago, I would never have agreed to play 6 weeks in a row.  92 days ago I wouldn’t have had the energy to get through it.  I am so grateful to be 92 days in!

After church today we went out to breakfast with Jake (our son), Eliza (our daughter-in-law) and some of her family.  It was such a lovely time together!  Feeling blessed!

Then we went to Sam’s Club to shop and I spent 2 hours walking and shopping and in motion.  I am whipped, but 92 days ago I wouldn’t have had the energy to do it.  So I am going to snooze in front of the TV for a while now.

Meet you at the Kingdom, dear readers!

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My Crush on Bill Curtis

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Day 91 in my waltz toward the land of Walt and my favorite mouse Mickey My plan for today is to take a walk.  We are going to the local high school for a 4:00 pm event put on as a fundraiser for the local historical society.  The event will feature a Q & A with Bill Curtis and his lovely wife Donna La Pietra.  Now those of you who have lived in Chicagoland for long enough will remember that Bill was the anchor of the channel 2 news for a while.  My personal favorite anchor ever.  And Donna was the producer of their broadcast.  They have worked together ever since and have produced some amazing in-depth programming. I kind of hope to redeem myself by remaining cool, calm and collected.  When Mike (my main man) had some of his pieces featured in an art show at Navy Pier, Mike’s boss threw a lovely dinner event in his honor.  Bill Curtis was one of the attendees.  He came over to our table to chat with Mike.  He said, “Hello, I’m Bill Curtis.”  I could have been so cool and acted above this situation.  But being me,  I blurted out, “Yeah, you are!”  Then I promptly turned 50 shades of…red! So today I will remain a safe distance away from Bill and Donna.  And I will reign in my “groupie” tendencies.  🙂 Then when we get back to the farm, I will walk home…in the dark…in the cold…just because I can. Meet you at the Kingdom! BTW: I’ve decided to walk outside until it gets too icy to manage.  Then Lake Bluff Health and Fitness, here I come.

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My Alternative Lifestyle

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Day 90 in my disco-dance to Disney and my buddy Mickey

Today my plan was to get stuff done, and not to just sit in my chair all day watching Hallmark Christmas movies and napping off and on.  So, here’s what I did.

  1. I called a loan officer and straightened out an auto-payment that was messed up.
  2. I straightened out the two slacks drawers in my dresser.  I put away my summer shorts and trousers.  I rehung and reorganized some of my tops.  By the time I was finished, I had a huge sack of clothes to give away to Good Will.
  3. I reorganized my bazoo drawer.  (If you can’t figure out what that is, you’ll have to ask Jean Carlson or Laura Elliot.  🙂
  4. I reworked a song for Damascus Road (the contemporary band that I play in at church).  I changed the key and simplified the arrangement on “Let Justice Flow Like a River”, a song we’ll do at worship this Sunday.
  5. I finally cleared the clutter off of my refrigerator.  Some of that stuff had been there for as long as I can remember….Yeesh!
  6. I prepared a nutritious dinner for my man, Mike.  (Note to Maria-I know he’s really God’s man…but I kinda love the guy!)  We’re having “Souper Chicken” from the cookbook  “Recipes to Lower Your Fat Thermostat.”

I figure, any activity is better than no activity, right?  And hopefully I’m building back some stamina and even some muscle.  It’s been a great day and I look forward to spending the evening with my honey…probably watching Christmas movies on Hallmark.  🙂  Or maybe we’ll watch “Maleficent.”

Meet you at the Kingdom!

Recipe: In a nonstick pan stir 2 cups of uncooked brown rice, 1 cup of chopped mushrooms and 4 cups of vegetable/chicken broth/ bouillon.  (It depends on if you prefer veggie or chicken flavor & if you prefer broth or bouillon.)  Lay 6 pieces of skinless, boneless chicken breasts in the pan on top of the mixture.  Sprinkle one envelope of onion soup mix on top.  Cover with foil.  Cook at 350 degrees for one and a half hours.  It smells go-o-o-o-od in here!

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Tooth Matters

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Day 89 in my moves to be healthier when I meet up with Mickey

My plan for today is to go to the dentist and have them work on making my smile healthier.  I leave work today at 2:30 for a dentist appointment.  Ironic, right?  2:30 & tooth hurty?  As a pre-diabetic, oral hygiene becomes rather critical, because any type of  infection takes much longer to heal.  So I will go to be poked and prodded and scolded and cleaned and humbled.  But my teeth will feel better (with a little time) when I’m done.

How is your smile, gentle readers?  I’m convinced that the world needs more smiles and less suspicious glances.  Let’s just do it.  Let’s just be so grateful for all God is and does that we smile more.  🙂

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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To Walk or To Walk and Do Weights…That Is the Question

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Day 88 on my walk toward Walt Disney World and Mickey

Confession time again: My moving more plan has become somewhat sluggish.  Here are the reasons that I have been blaming it on:

  1. Due to my morbid obesity, even walking takes a toll on my joints.  I end up with aching hips, knees, ankles, and somehow even a shoulder.  Go figure, right?  Walking on hard surfaces is just plain painful.  (Remember: when I take a walk I am doing major “weight bearing” exercise.)  🙂
  2. The temperature change brings on a general sluggishness.
  3. The longer nights bring on a general sluggishness.

But I think I have just plain run out of steam for a moment.

So my plan for today was to investigate the cost of joining our local fitness center.  If I just join to walk on their wonderful track which is a suspended three-lane track, indoors and carpeted, then it is only $150 a year.  Not bad, right?

But if I want to use their workout machines, then it is $380 a year.  Now that’s just over one dollar a day.  And it would be a good idea to do some strength training a couple days a week, too.  Right?

I’m looking for opinions on this one.  I will talk it over with Mike (my wonderful hubby) tonight.  If I could get him to join, too, I’d go with his preference.  (BTW: So far he hasn’t shown any interest in a gym-type membership.)  What do you think?  Please weigh in; it would be very helpful.  Thanks!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Warming Up Inside and Out

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Day 87 in my migration to the Magic Kingdom and Mickey

My plan for today is to cook.  I have a simple dinner planned for Mike and I tonight.  Nibbles and bits and plenty of fresh veggies.

Then after dinner I plan to make a lovely Wild Rice and Veggie Chowder for tomorrow night’s dinner.  The Spice Merchant, a new shop in downtown Lake Bluff, has soup packets ready to go.  Here are the ingredients for the soup: wild rice, parboiled brown rice, potato flakes, peas, carrots, tomatoes, red and green bell peppers, onions, celery, Savoy cabbage, garlic, chives, tarragon, parsley and chervil.  Sounds good, right?  And soups are just so much better when they’ve had a day to sit, don’t you think?

Mike has friends who are pheasant hunters, but they don’t like to eat the meat.  Luckily, we do like to eat the meat.  Mike cooked up several birds last night in the oven.  I will take what I need to supplement the soup, then we will use the rest of the meat for pot pies.

In the pot pies, we use little salt and just some chicken or vegetable broth for moisture rather than gravy.  Onions, potatoes, peas and carrots in a whole wheat crust.  Mmmm, mmmm, good.

Comfort food (soup and pot pie) just sounds so good as the weather turns cooler and the nights get longer.

Meet you at the Kingdom!

 

 

 

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Busy Days

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Day 86 as I dine to be healthier to meet up with Mickey

Today is just plain busy.  I have work all day at the church and then I have  a meeting tonight back at the church.  So my plan for today is to keep my nose to the grindstone, move around as much as possible today at work, then go home and cook a delicious, nutritious meal for my hard-working man and me.  I think baked salmon and baked sweet potato with plenty of fresh veggies with ranch and/or hummus dip.  It makes me salivate to think about it.  Tonight we dine in style!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Day of Rest and Remembrance

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Day 85 in my trip toward meeting up with Mickey

God created the whole world in six days, and then he rested on the seventh day.  So, me too.  My plan for today is…me, too.  So I thoroughly enjoyed my extra hour of sleep last night, got up this morning for church and went and rested my spirit in the House of the Lord.

We had a Damascus Road service this morning.  (Our contemporary band) During the Hymn of the Day, congregants were invited to walk up front and light a candle for those that they love who have passed away.  So as we sang “For All the Saints,” that is exactly what happened.  Each family lit a taper off of the Paschal Candle, then placed it in a sand tray.  The tray is a beautiful, wooden octagonal tray handcrafted with loving care by…Mike Jarvi, my darling husband.  As this procession happened I couldn’t help but think about Mike’s dad Eino.  He handcrafted 2 crosses and 2 sets of loaves and fishes which hang on the walls at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Champion, MI.  (One set for inside the church and one set for outside the church.)  I thought about the circle of life, and I thought about the saints who have come and gone in our lives.

Then during communion I sang the first verse of “Shall We Gather at the River” a cappella as a solo.  As the other members of the band came back from communion, they joined in.  First an alto, then a tenor, finally a bass.  By the end of the song there was beautiful four part harmony, and it was glorious!  It’s like heaven, right?  There are voices there now singing God’s praises.  And every day, every minute, another voice joins the choir up there.  And the choir just keeps getting bigger and bigger and louder and louder.  Holy wah!  My mom and dad are up there singing.  I can hear their voices now.  Dad–loud and proud on melody.  Mom–harmonizing in her sweet soprano.  It makes me weep tears of joy!  I look forward to singing with them again someday.  God is good, all the time!

Meet you at the Kingdom!

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Errand Girl…Errant Girl?

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Day 84 in my mission to mingle with Mickey

Errant Girl: My Pumpkin Spice Latte and my Pina Colada cupcake yesterday were yummy!  So tasty.   BUT I definitely experienced the inevitable post sugar-ingesting crash.  The sugar from the latte contributed to an early afternoon sugar coma/nap.  The sugar, from the cupcake at dinner, helped keep me up until 1:00 am.  I felt sluggish and and listless this morning.

So today’s plan was to get a bunch of errands done…Errand Girl.  And I did!  Here’s the list:

  1. shower and wash my hair
  2. clip my nails
  3. pluck my chin hairs (I hate this part of aging!)
  4. do some laundry
  5. pick up a few groceries
  6. input the music for a new Lamb of God on “Sybelius” for the congregation and for Damascus Road to use during Advent through Lent
  7. write bills for this pay period
  8. go to the post office, buy stamps and mail said bills
  9. figure out our tithe for 2015 and prepare our pledge card for Commitment Sunday (November 9)
  10. plan our menu for the week
  11. write a store list for grocery shopping tomorrow
  12. help prepare dinner
  13. do the dishes.

Whew!  Sure beats sitting in my chair all day, eating junk food and slipping in and out of simple-carb comas/naps.  Winning!!

So, gentle readers, there is progress being made.  And by the grace of God,  I have left sugar behind me again until Thanksgiving Day.  I will most likely have another sugary latte and a piece of pumpkin pie.  But I will follow it with a 5K walk on the following Saturday.  (Well, as far as I can make it anyway…)  🙂

Meet you at the Kingdom!

 

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Ode to the Pumpkin Spice Latte on Halloween

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Day 83 in my destiny to dance with Mickey

“O Pumpkin Spice Latte, I love you.  I do.  When October winds blow, my mind turns to you.  When I’m freezing my patootie off, you warm me right through.  O Pumpkin Spice Latte, I love you.  I do.

O Pumpkin Spice Latte, I love you.  I do.  You’re a cinnamony, gingery pumpkin delight, with just enough sugar to give me a fright.  Today I savor you without any fear, then leave you behind until Thanksgiving is here.

O Pumpkin Spice Latte, I love you I do.  And to your sweet taste I will always be true.  I can’t drink too many, my blood sugar is the cue, but Pumpkin Spice Latte, I love you.  I do.”

Ahhh…I am enjoying my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the year.  (I ordered a venti decaf skim Pumpkin Spice Latte with no whip.  Yum!   Starbucks could make a fortune if they would just create a “Skinny Pumpkin Spice Latte.”  Their “Skinny” drinks are made with skim milk and sugar-free syrups.  I have tried Skinny Vanilla Lattes, Skinny Hazelnut Lattes, Skinny Caramel Lattes and my personal favorite Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Lattes.  They are delicious!  Come on, geniuses, invent!!!  How hard can it be to take the sugar out???

Anyway my plan for today is to savor my drink and pick up a cupcake for Mike and I for our Halloween treat tonight.  And I really do want to get out there and take that walk on the wild side.  It is freezing here in Lake Bluff with gale force winds, but no snow accumulation yet.  PTL!  Pray I don’t blow away, or become the victim of a “Widow Maker.”

Happy Halloween, dear readers!  Meet you at the Kingdom!

BTW: Mike worked at a sawmill for a bit when he was working his way through college.  They called very windy days Widow Makers, because in the woods limbs could snap off at any time and come crashing down on the workers, thus making their wives widows.  How’s that for a macabre Halloweeny thought?  🙂