come sit fer a spell =) January 9, 2008

happy hump day!! hehe!!

well gosh, its been since friday since i checked in here!  i’ve been writing in my health journal, tho.  if you havent checked that out, click on over and have a cuppa tea with me!   i’ve been posting my food log every day, too (cept the weekend).  so if you’re weerd like me and you like to know what other people eat, the secret has now been revealed! haha!

*gets out the raw milk cheddar cheese with gluten-free almond crackers, and serves up some cranberry spice hot tea*  hehehe  

let’s chat!!  

things have been a little busy here, which is a tad strange for me   since i work at home, i dont have a whole lot of excitement going on, especially during the wintertime.  and now that the holidays are over, you’d think things would be winding down!

you may (or may not) remember me talking about volunteering with a local agricultural institute all last summer.  in the fall, i ended up helping them with some outdoor education things as well.  this was right up my alley, as my college degree is in outdoor recreation management!  unfortunately i have never held a paying position using my degree. (long story!)

until NOW!! =)

the ag institute wants me to fulfill the role as their youth educator   the BEST thing about it is that its on a project-to-project basis (sub-contracting), so i’m not committed to an office job or even a part-time job.  their programs are sporadic and when a request comes in, they’ll okay it thru me, and then i’ll do all the planning.  i am SO EXCITED!  

this will be THE FIRST time i’ve made MONEY from my college degree!!  YAYY!!!!  (it’s been 10 years since i graduated…and yes, i’m still paying for the loans…ROTFL…)     

my first project is in february.  a dozen teenagers from a school in chicago are coming for a 4-day outing.  just this week i’ve been in touch with the school, and this afternoon i’m meeting with my boss at the ag institute to go over budget, lodging and program activities!  YAY, feels good to use my creativity again!  plus i love workin with the kids =) 

they also have asked me to do some other volunteer work this month, so a few days a week i’ll be there helping them out! *watches as my dusty dayplanner fills up…!*

THEN, on top of that…there’s a pet supply/pet gift shop i go to every week to get dog and cat food.  its kinda cool, cause the owner of it grew up in the house we are renting! (yep, small towns. hehe.)

she asked me if i’d be interested in managing their website! :-O  so, i’m meeting with her this week or next to get started on that.  woohoo!  this may be considered a part-time job, but i think i’ll be able to do most of it from home

on the health front, if you’ve been checkin out my health journal at all you’ll have a little peek inside my crazy mind as far as my obsession with healing my endo and losing weight goes   these last few days in particular have been very challenging for me, tho, and i didnt mention it i the health journal.

in the last week or so, i’ve had some light-headedness that in the last several days have turned into full-blown dizzy spells.  spinning room, shivering, ringing in the ears and nausea—the works.  it’s freaked me out!  i’ve never felt that way, and was very concerned.

monday night i barely slept at all.  i had to sleep with the light on because i kept waking up every single hour feeling REALLY dizzy…and with the light OFF, it made me feel dizzier when i opened my eyes!  ACK!  poor hubby moved to the couch   of course by then my anxiety was high and my heart pounded every time i woke up. :(

i contacted my naturopath yesterday and she said it means my body is “shifting.”  meaning partly that i am starting to get enough (really, too much) of the supplements i have been taking.  in addition, since i have been detoxing my liver, it could also mean i’m finally ridding myself of some pretty toxic heavy metals.  YAY.  

plus on top of that, i’ve changed my diet somewhat drastically—no wheat or gluten.  this has forced me to eat pretty durned healthily—tons more fruits, veggies, and higher quality carbs than before.  if you’ve ever gone off caffiene or sugar (or even cigarettes) cold turkey, you’ll understand what i mean when i say i’ve been having withdrawal symptoms! LOL! 

so, yesterday and today i am not taking any supplements at all.  tomorrow morning i’m going in for a nutritional balance, even tho i just went a few weeks ago for a follow-up.  since its impossible to predict when my body has had enough of a certain supplement and is ready for the next step, its really important for me to pay attention to the cues my body gives off.  i guess this one was pretty hard to ignore! hehe!

oh and by the way, i slept WELL last nite, and have been feeling better since i stopped taking the supplements.  i am feeling much more normal today!! (as you can tell by my superdooper gabby fingers. teehee!) 

so anyhoo…that’s SOME of what’s goin on with me…how about you?  how’s your new year goin? =) 

i also wanted to let you know about a new “search” feature i’ve added to my site.  if you look in the navigation bar, at the bottom of the 7th yellow cube (yep, WAY down there. hehe.) there’s a white search box   so, if you ever wanna see if i’ve yapped about something you’re interested in without sifting thru my archives, give that search box a whirl!  it’s pretty spiffy  

and lastly…remember my (WI)nter wonderland about a week and a half ago?  well, it is no more!  mr. heat miser dropped by! LOLOL!

our front yard, just this mornin  
our back yard…lonely with no snow!

 

 

 

 

 

over the weekend and early this week, we had 3-4 nearly 60 degree days!  we also had thunderstorms (lightning and all!) and even tornadoes!  crazy huh??  and its january—in WISCONSIN! it’s back down to the 30’s now, tho, but i dont mind

in the first pix, if you click on it, look in the lower right hand corner of the big window.  do you happen to see a certain puppy dog there? hehe!!  btw, that’s the big picture window featured here.

and yes, there’s one lonely chunk of snow in the back yard.  i think it’s remnants of a HUGE snow ball hubby and i made—it was almost as tall as me. hahah! 

so anyhoo, that’s whats happenin so far in my new year!!  things are looking up, for sure.  i’ve had some rocky times already with my anxiety issues, but i’m determined 2008 will be the year i get much healthier   AND accomplish many of my other goals!

have a wonderful rest of the week!!!  

~josey~
 

ramblin time! June 4, 2007

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!! =)

yes, yes im still here!! i know its been a couple weeks. but im sure you can guess what i’ve been doing after reading my last post…yup, hangin out at the fast food joints! ACK!!! okay well not quite that bad, but not very good, either. i definitely didnt get under 200 during the month of may. and im DEFINITELY never going to make another promise in this blog, because i think im hard-wired to break them!! LOL!! esp when it comes to food.

welllp lets start with the good stuff im still hovering around 206-208. so i havent gained! even better is that i’ve been consistently active. YAY!

i’ve been going to yoga 2-3 times a week, and absosmurfly LOVELOVELOVE it. it makes me feel so strong! (and sore all the time…haha…but that will eventually go away!) and now that i’ve finally got most of the poses down, i have been more able to concentrate on the breathing. that has worked miracles on my anxiety!! and it just gives me energy and focus. i love it.

im not trying to be all new-agey-nerdy, but im serious, i wish i’d have started yoga years ago. its just an all-around good-for-you thing to do. and dont EVEN think i dont sweat my butt off doing it!! LOL! its not like little wimpy stretches for an hour. the poses take tons of balance and strength, and surprisingly ive noticed a difference in especially my upper body strength even in the last few weeks.

my teacher is awesome, and really encourages everyone in the class to modify the poses to their own comfort level and ability. she is in her 50s, and she looks GOOD. i want to look good when im in my 50s, too! heck i wanna look good NOW! haha!!

i also ended up getting a summer membership to the athletic club where the yoga class is. im doing weight training once a week, and will work up to twice a week soon. it also gives me access to any of the other classes they have—one i want to try is called Zumba. its some sort of latin dance aerobics or something. all i know is i peeked in the door and it looked fun!

im getting an okay amount of cardio just doing yoga (all that breathing is good for your heart and lungs, believe me!), and i also ride my bike occasionally, but an aerobics class once in a while might be fun!

OH and this weekend, me and the hubby got a portable basketball hoop for the driveway!! he loves shootin hoops, and even tho i totally suck at it, i have fun doing it with him *hehe* and its awesome aerobic exercise—and all i have to do is walk outside to do it. this summer i have NO EXCUSES to be sitting on my butt!! that’s for sure!!!

another thing i’ve started doing is volunteering at a local agricultural institute. its an awesome organization that promotes organic/sustainable farming and students pretty much run the gardens as part of internships or practicums. they also get volunteers to help keep things running smoothly.

that’s what i love about the little town i live in! there are tons of local farms that are organic and free-range. the ag institute also has a little market where they sell a lot of the produce and local dairy/meat. i love shopping there!

anyhoo, last week was my first week of helping out, and they had me working with a 15-year-old kid from Germany! he’s here for the summer on a practicum. he was really interesting! and somehow, i kept up with him while we hacked down plants, hauled compost and did some harvesting. i was so glad it was fairly cool out or im sure i would have wimped out! LOL! we worked from 8-noon. i’ll be doing that every week now—and i also get a huge bag of fresh produce every time for doing it! WOOHOO!

in other news, my 15-year high school class reunion is next month. LOL…yes, now you know how YOUNG i am i guess i’ve never really planned on going, mostly just because i really dont feel like i’ve done much with my life.

now now, im not being a sad-sack! its just that all my old buddies have kids, which to me, really gives you so much to talk about. who wants to hear about me, one of the honor students who got a college degree and doesnt use it, and now gets to work from home a few hours a week and pretty much do whatever else i want to do with my time?? LOL!!!

and all i have to brag about is my 4 cats and dog…i do NOT want to be labeled as the freaky pet person! HAHA!! even tho i love my life, im somewhat embarassed!! i know, its that old high school mentality taking over, comparing myself to others. DUMB. im sure they dont care. i just dont want it to be a bad experience, ya know? ive had enough of that lately! hehe!!

i suppose another reason i dont feel like going is that it might be super awkward for me if certain other people are there and i dont want to make them feel weerd, either. its just not been long enough i guess for me to be desperate to see a lot of my classmates. several of them have actually emailed me lately, and i love it!!! they all sound so happy and i am sooo happy for them. hopefully i’ll keep in contact with them even after the reunion time is over.

and of course i dont want people to come up to me and say, “i dont remember you…?” since i weigh about 80lb more than i did 15 years ago! LOL! im sure im not the only one, but sometimes i just dont feel like “the old me.” is that just what happens when you get older? the “old you” just fades away and you get slapped with a new, funky body and image? ROTFL!

ahhh anyhoo, enough rambling about that. i’m pretty sure i wont be going, but i guess there’s always a chance i may change my mind. i’ll let you know!

whew! welp, i guess i’ll go for now! oh and FYI, my goal for this month is once again, to attempt to find ONE-derland! (that’s under 200.) im not going to force myself into totally giving up ANYTHING, either. its all about moderation this month and continuing to be active. AND most of all, being kind to myself, inside AND out. i deserve it, dangit!!!

have an awesome day!!!!! im off to make a cup of green tea…

~jos~