Six Little Words

I've received emails like this before, but this is my first blog tag. Thank you, Happy Are We. :-)

6 Word Memoir

1. Write your own six word memoir.

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post.

4. Tag five more blogs with links.

5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I don't have a pic that fits my angst and I've tried for about an hour now to come up with 6 other words, but can't get these out of my head. All I can hear is Brian, the nerd from The Breakfast Club, saying it over and over again with a pen clipped to his lip. :-)

WHO AM I? WHO AM I?

So, Still Learning and Landlocked Shores, tag, you're it!

If anyone is curious as to what my 6 words mean to me, comment and I will reply back.

Should I be at work today??

Ever had one of those days where getting out of bed wasn't the wisest choice? I had another night of not being able to get to sleep until after 1am, so needless to say, 5:45 rolled around awful fast. As a side note, I was able to watch all 4 1/2 hours of Wives and Daughters!! I haven't watched it in a few months and I absolutely love it! So anyway, I hit the snooze until 6:30 and even though I didn't get out of the house until a few minutes after 7, was still able to get to work on time thanks to no school. So I pull into the parking garage, find my favorite parking spot, put it in park, finish listening to Roula & Ryan talk about who knows what, turn the car off and get my stuff together to go to my office. But wait, somethings missing. CONFOUND IT!! I've managed to leave my laptop at home. So I stand there for a second thinking about what I should do and decide to go up to my office and wait a bit for traffic to die down and then make a little quick trip home. So at about 9 I leave, make a non-routine stop at McD's for a little breakfast and make my way home to pick up my laptop. Mission accomplished, it's in the car and I'm on my way back to the office. Again, I pull into the garage, my favorite spot is still open (SCORE!!), nothing on the radio to finish listening to and make my way to the garage elevator. But wait, somethings missing!! I still didn't have my laptop; I had left it in the car. My writing this blog is testament that I was finally able to get my laptop to my office, get it turned on and now at least look like I'm working!! Lets hope the rest of the day is a bit more even-keeled.

Little green men in my storage unit

Since moving in with my friend, Arlene, I have been storing my furniture and personal belongings in a storage unit. While setting up the contract and payment methods, I decided to insure that no natural disasters or such would happen to my unit and bought the insurance they offered. And true enough, nothing has happened. I thoroughly believe that had I not bought this insurance, Highway 6 and Keith Harrow would have had a freak tornado set down right on top of my unit, staying only long enough to completely destroy my belongings, those of the other units without insurance and then, quickly lifting and disappearing.

A few weeks ago I received a letter informing me that they had changed insurance companies and sent along the paperwork letting me know what all this company's insurance covered. Standard normal legal mumbo-jumbo but something caught my eye. I was reading what they say are the "Perils Insured Against." It's a listing of what would mostly be considered natural disasters, but also includes such things as "Strikes, Riot or Civil Commotion," "Burglary" or "Collapse of [the] building...other than by earthquake." What caught my eye though was line (f) which reads, "Aircraft, Self-propelled Missiles or Spacecraft." That's right, my storage unit is insured against little green men trying to appropriate my belongings, taking them back to their Mother Ship and then on to parts unknown.

Truthfully, I am actually grateful that spacecraft are covered. You may choose to laugh at me and/or call me a lier, but I have, in my almost 35 years, seen two UFOs. Maybe they knew then that one day I would own what the "Earth" would deem completely useless, but on their planet would be priceless? But that, my friends, is another blog entry altogether.

Dreams or Reality?

Have you ever had a dream that stays with you? One that becomes a companion to you through the day as you chew on it's meaning? I dream a lot and sometimes they leave impressions on my mind long after the alarm clock has gone off. I remember a dream I had when I was in high school and to this day, when I think of this dream, I still feel the same emotions. It was an awesome dream! This morning I had a dental appointment at 9 so I decided that instead of going to work, being there for 30 minutes and then having to leave for the appointment, I would just sleep in a little and go directly from the house. So here I was this morning getting to sleep until my body wakes up, instead of having it jolted awake by the alarm clock. The dream is one that I've had before; not scene for scene, but the same ideas. In fact, as I get older and older the dream progresses. I dream that I'm pregnant and through the years I've progressed from dreams of finding out I'm pregnant, being "big with child" and to finally, this morning, giving birth. That's right, this morning I gave birth to a little boy named Jonathan. There's more to the dream but the birth itself is what my mind keeps going back to. I've read books about dreams and I've talked to people about them and one thing they all pretty much agree on is that pregnancy is the conception of an idea; there's something new in your life that's just beginning. Birth would be these ideas and beginnings coming to fruition. With that in mind, I've been trying to figure out how it all applies to me. Is my subconscience trying to tell me something? Are certain things in my life that I've been working on for years about to bring forth fruit? Or could it all be explained away by the fact that I've been reading friends blogs about their babies and that my new calling as a nursery leader has my subconscience working overtime?!? Maybe a combination of both. Of course, dreams can be literal and I could give birth soon, but from what I remember from sex ed, I would need a person of the male persuasion to help out and no one has jumped up to fill that vacancy (much to my mother's dismay). So I'm back to something in my life coming to fruition. I'm working on several personal items in my life so maybe I'll start seeing progress in those areas. Heck, maybe after a slow start, I'm on the way to actually losing weight and giving birth to a new thinner me. I'll let you know if anything notable happens or if it turns out to be nothing more than just that, a dream.

A Fat Rant

Love this video! I should have posted this before my previous blog.

How to get in shape, but not lose weight

For the past 3 months I have been hitting the gym 3 times a week with a trainer who's kicking my butt with exercises meant to kill. Were I 21 I would have lost like 20 lbs by now, but noooo, I'm 34 and have lost a mere 8 lbs. Granted Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all fell within these months and I was not about to miss out on all that food! I mean, it was just sitting there. What was I suppose to do, not eat it??? It was pecan pie for heaven sake. A girl can only have so much will power when it comes to homemade pecan pie.

So, here's the numbers and a chance for me to be completely honest with my adoring fans - all 3 of you! On November 20 I weighed in with my trainer; I was 264 lbs with a BMI of 43.1%. According to pieces of paper with lots of offical looking numbers on them, I'm a heart attack waiting to happen. None of those numbers take into account that I have below normal levels of cholesterol, good blood pressure and overall great health. But that's today. Who's to say in a couple of years that the wear and tear of my lifestyle wouldn't start taking it's toll and I start to develop sicknesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, bad cholesterol, etc. But even if I didn't, carrying around over 100 lbs of excess weight would eventually wear my heart out.

Now for the current numbers. As of Feb 14 (Singles Awareness Day) I weighed 256 lbs with a BMI of 39.6%. I've lost 8 lbs and 3.5% body fat. It doesn't sound like a lot but I'm beginning to see the effects. Mostly in places where I wasn't really concerned about losing weight - like my arms and lower legs. I think my boobs have shrunk, too. Hallelujah!! Maybe once the fat is gone from those areas my body with start to work on the fat around my stomach and butt. Fingers crossed!

Yes, both the pics are of me - kind of a before and after shot. The one on the left was taken back in '93 or '94 while I was still in the Navy. Stupid me thought I was fat even then! The one on the right is not the best shot and doesn't show all of me, but it's the most current pic I have. You may not be able to tell I've lost weight since then, but you can see how much my hair has grown!! :-)

The goal is to swap the pics in the before and after scenario and be back to my Navy weight.

Visiting a bit of history

Back in November I visited my friends Dan and Vickie Hoover. They had moved back to Wilmington, DE a few months prior and I was missing them lots. So, I bought myself a cheap ticket and spent 4 days touring Amish country and Philly. It is absolutely gorgeous there, despite 3 days of non-stop cold rain. What I loved the most was Philadelphia. The birth place of our Constitution and subsequently our nation, the United States of America. It's always amazed me that 13 colonies came together and in spite of each having their own local government, currencies, economies and concerns for the future, they ironed out their differences and forged what has become, in my opinion, the greatest country in the world. It's not perfect and we don't always have the wisest leaders, but it is a wonderful place to call home.



Independence Hall front, back and the Liberty Bell.

George Washington, Dan reading his brochure and standing in holy places!

Found this quite entertaining! Check out the name of the town!