Getting Back on Track

Have you noticed that I spend a lot more time off the track than on it? Seems like every post is of me getting "back on track" lol.

To that end....I got an hour and a half of writing in this morning - yay! I'm working on the rough draft of the paranormal historical. Having trouble getting the heroine down right. It's really hard for me not to write them uber confident and *so* together. I want Jacena to be sweet and child-like but with an uncanny wisdom that pops out every now and then. Every new scene I have to go back and take out all the too grown-womanish parts. My hero, Greylond, is reserved and brooding. In his world, the imperative is to gain honor and avoid shame, even if that means making dangerous choices. He rushes into defense of his lands and subjects no matter what the odds. And, of course, he always wins .

I'm really loving this book.

Did I mention I finally got my friend Christy to do the dogfood promise? What's the dogfood promise, you ask? She has to revise 5 chapters by the end of the year or she has to eat a can of dogfood of my choosing. Yeah. Let that soak in for a minute.

People think that's really crazy, but trust me, a person will do *anything* not to eat that dogfood, including find time to write. It is the ultimate motivator.

On the health front, I'm clinging to a recent 2 lb weight loss (making a total of 4 so far). I've lost and regained these same lbs about 50 times over the last 6 months. No more. Went to Zio's the other night and guess what I had - iced tea. That's it. I had a protein bar before I left which saved my butt. Otherwise the smell of fabulous Italian would have been my undoing.

Arg! Time to go work out. Today I'm working toward 45 minutes of Wii DDR (I was up to an hour before my last surgery) and 20 minutes of bendy yogilates (yoga and pilates mixed). Did I mention that I'm not at all bendy? About like a dry stick. *sigh*

Wish me luck!
~pinkie

In the Summertime, dee-dee-dee-deet-dee

What a great weekend and Monday I've had. I'm tired but very happy. It's been a week with no insomnia (I say that cautiously, hehehe). I guess the good part actually began on Thursday when I got the results of my used to be quarterly CT scan. Still no growth in any of the cancer spots - yay! In August, it will be three years since I got the recurrence diagnosis. I get to wait 4 months for my next scan which is about as good as it gets in my situation. Still on the Zometa every 4 weeks.

Thursday night my buds and I went shopping and had a great time. I got a yummy black cocktail dress for one of my functions at national conference in July.

Friday evening and Saturday I went to Lay Speaking Training which is a church thing. I really enjoyed it and learned about some fabulous resources for my church committee. Can't wait to share them. Saturday evening I finally found a long gown for my national conference in July. Had to get it since there's virtually no hope of losing enough weight to get into any of my old ones. *sigh*

Saturday night and Sunday until early afternoon, I was pretty nauseated. A little hiccup in the UC I think but it went away. I lazed around most of Sunday until the two youngest grandkids came over. They are sooooo much fun. We all went to bed around 10 and they went right to sleep. Brady woke up wanting his mamma and cried for a little while around 3:30 but I got him settled and back to bed not long after. Earlier today, I sneezed in the car, and 2-year-old Brady said, "Bless you." It was the cutest thing!

We all went to eat with Lane who was headed to the airport after lunch. He'll be in DC for a couple of days. After that we headed to my house and the swim instructor met us here at three to teach the grandkids, Alec's little brother Ashton, and the next door neighbor boys. 6 kids in all. She's a brave soul. The two youngest will be dropping out of lessons this year because they're just too small yet. They made a good effort, tho. The rest did really well. My neighbors are super nice and Karsen and Jake are fun to have around. Alec and Karsen are close in age, so they really have a great time. Jake and Brooklynn are the same age but he's way too boy and she's way too girl for them to buddy up. :-)

My friend Di called and we'll be going to lunch tomorrow. Sheila might come over tonight to soak in the hot tub if she can get her parents squared away. Alec's stepmom might come back after the game if they're not too tired. We've become really good friends and I'm really grateful. She truly loves Alec, and that eases my mind. He seems to be getting along with his stepdad better, and I'm glad for that too. He's such an easy going boy. It's hard not to love him. Yeah, that's a Nana speaking. :-)

I need to go clean up my nasty kitchen and put away all the toys the kids dragged out. Then I'm going to kick back with some popcorn and watch TV until someone shows up. Gotta love summer!

~pinkie

Week of Good Times

Just got back from my mom & dad's in Texas, and I miss them already. We had a great week. She made my favorite meals (tacos and fried chicken) and we went to Taco Villa and Rosa's. Mmmm. We also made Hello Dolly cookies and went to Red Lobster, so I probably have my 3 pounds back to lose again. Hopefully no more than that!

My four girls and Sean will be glad to know I worked hard on the recipe/scrapbooks and got a lot done. I'm about 2/3 of the way done and have all the photos sorted. I'm going to print pics of Lucas for Melanie's book.

We got Mom's new TV all set up, and it's working great.

Watching fights tonight (joy, joy) with my hubby. It was soooo good to see him and my doggies. Hope all my loved ones are doing well tonight. Get well soon, Lucas!!

~pinkie

Factoid Friday

Found some interesting things this week in the mags I thought you guys might enjoy/benefit from.

For those of you taking Ginkgo for memory - you can stop now. According to an eight-year study done by Steven T. DeKosky, M.D. of the Univ. of Virginia School of Medicine, of 3,000 older patients, those who took ginkgo biloba were just as likely to develop Alzheimer's as those who didn't. *sigh* You're better off working puzzles or learning a new language or an instrument. So far I think the studies are looking good on the efficacy of keeping your mind sharp through activity.

For my worry wart friends (and you know who you are, Sheila and Betty), Susan Crandell wrote a very interesting article in this month's Good Housekeeping magazine called The Worry Cure. I didn't read all the way to the cure (as I wouldn't know a worry if it came up and bit me on the...but I digress), but I found a couple of nuggets to pass on to you guys. Number one:

"Toxic worry" is what Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., author of Worry has dubbed chronic worry which leaves your mind revisiting the same issues over and over, with no solution in sight and no exit ramp, the infinite web of 'what if'. [As I love to say...you can't live your life on 'what if' LOL!]

Number two: "...the sneaky thing about chronic worry, says Alan D. Keck, Psy. D., director of the Center for Positivey Psychology in Altamonte Springs, FL, is that it can masquerade as constructive action "When you worry, you think you're doing something productive," says Keck, "but you're not; you're just spinning your wheels." [and using up energy that could be better used otherwise.]

I liked the sidebar comment: "It's not the cause of your worry but your confidence that you'll handle it that counts." So the next time chronic worry crops up, think of solutions. If there are no solutions, pray for acceptance.

Looking forward to a busy weekend with a wedding, a birthday party, PPV fight party, and church. Oy! Hope you all have a great weekend.

Love ya,
~pinkie