Relaxed

I was out at the lake during lunch today and pressed my cell phone's camera into service. There is nothing quite so nice as mid-80's temperatures, no humidity, a good book, the sound of water running through the creek and feet up. Perfect catnap setting before heading back into work.

The Chocolate Triplets

Here we are, left to right -









White Chocolate , Dark Chocolate and Milk Chocolate

We are the chocolate ladies all decked out in our browns and creams and caramels.

Sadly, Darlene wasn't well and could not join us after all but Angela and Wanda (White and Milk respectively) were wonderful. We are already planning another get together and hopefully include Darlene the next time.


Wanda is full of life and warmth and generosity of heart. Angela is a bit quieter (well a lot quieter) with great depth and keen interest in what is being said around her. She raised four kids (3 boys and a girl) now all grown if you can believe that.

It is a never-ending fascination to me that we can meet on-line and make such genuine connections. Meeting Angela and Wanda face to face today simply became a natural extension of a friendship already formed. We already knew so much about each other and there is a lot to admire about these two ladies. If you have not visited these two yet, please be sure to do so soon. They started blogging just recently in January and February and judging from my visits to them, they already have developed a great fan base and deservedly so.

Reflecting on the day, I realized that I've gotten pretty good at meeting my blogging friends. It started last summer with Tammy, moved on to Vicci and then Vicci again this time with Lisa, Maryellen, and Biene (with quick drop in visits by my daughter and Maryellen's). Then in March I met Corey for a brief but exciting 90 minutes at the Starbucks in Willows as we were heading to Oregon for Erin's bridal shower. And now Angela, Wanda, and Darlene in spirit. But wait! It doesn't end there. We are headed for Oregon again in a couple of weeks for the wedding and then I'll have a chance to meet Jone and perhaps some others. What a rich and varied world these women bring to my doorstep. You have all helped me in difficult times and are following me through this evolution I'm going through as I lose weight (15.5 lbs gone as of this morning), let go of old heartaches, and regain my lost confidence. I'm blessed to know you all.

Light is shining

Wow! I am seriously doing a happy dance. I lost 2.5 lbs this week. This is fabulous. I'm thrilled. Ecstatic. Over the moon. There are not enough superlatives in the English language to express how good I feel at this moment. This is a total of 15.5 lbs since I started my weight loss program.

The weight is falling off me like a lot of the negativity in my life. I am feeling freer and happier and more in balance than ever before. I am making healthy choice in every aspect of my life, not just physical. I'm not hiding anymore.

I feel like I am on the downside of a roller coaster ride and wheeing all the way down. I know the climb up will happen again. I have too long a ways to go yet on this journey. But for today I am thrilled and rather than just post this at my private weight-loss blog, I really wanted to share it here as well.

Today I have a lot of excitement ahead of me. After getting some packages out in the mail, I am meeting Darlene, Wanda, and Angela Marie at Hamilton's Cafe in Hughson. We all discovered a few weeks ago that I live just about 10 minutes away from them. Amazing. Pictures to follow.

Wishing everyone a great Memorial Day weekend.

And the winner of . . .

. . . . the book drawing is - Chamara at Gypsy Purple. Thanks to all who entered. This was fun.

Endings

Heart heavy weighed down

Thirty years pass, thirty seconds end

Hole in my heart, is there room for another hole?

Is there enough heart left to have space for another hole?

Change comes stealthly

Sneaks up darkly

Flows around inevitably

A question of differences and a bridge too weak

to bear the weight and the wait.

Inner thoughts. Unexpected avenues.

Is there enough space left? Yes.

Welcome dark hole. Fill with something new.

Random Moi

I got tagged last week for seven random things about me. And of course I've let time go by and I can't find how it was who tagged me. If you read this and it was YOU, raise your hand and wave. Sorry this took so long. So without further time passing - Fait au hasard me

1. I love using Babel translator to translate English to French
2. I'm a Scorpio
3. Periwinkle blue is my favorite color
4. I love reading Jane Austen, Jane Eyre is my favorite novel, the mystery writings of J.D. Robb and James Patterson are not to be missed
5. Paying it forward is one of my life rules
6. My fantasy self plays the cello
7. I wish I had the courage to get a tattoo - just a small one

And there you have it, Seven Random things about me. Do you want to share randomness about yourself? Jump right in. The water's great.

REMINDER - I have a book give-away going. See here for info. I will send this book anywhere in the world so please don't be shy. If you are halfway around the world and are interested, go for it.

Words to Live By

Don't die with your music still in you.
Be attuned to your intuitive inner voice.

Listen to this invisible companion,
express the music that you hear,
and ignore what everyone else around you
thinks you should be doing.

from Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
with thanks to Carmen for posting this at her site.