NanNoWriMo

I think I may be nuts, I am going to attempt to write a novel, or 50,000 words, in a month.  Yes, I will be participating in NaNoWriMo this year.  I've heard about it every year but have never really thought about joining in until this year.  I have a friend who has started up a Christian Creative Writers Forum and for some reason that reminded me about my love of writing.

Up until now I have enjoyed posting occasional blogs here, and I will still continue to enjoy it.  But I don't feel like I am pushing myself in writing.  It isn't necessarily a life long dream to be a professional writer, but it is something that I always thought would be cool.  To get paid to write and to have people actually look forward to the stories I have to tell.

As with running, I needed a set way to challenge myself.  NaNoWriMo is the perfect opportunity and I actually have a story bouncing around in my head.  I will be using my sarcasm to its full extent for this story, but I will also be writing as if I was the main character achieving her goals.

Yarn Sale Fun

The Buffalo Wool Company is having a Trick or Treat Yarn Sale.  It sounds like fun and for $10 I get two skeins of yarn.  Can't beat that deal, check it out.  https://store-f3c65.mybigcommerce.com/trick-or-treat/

Couch25K Week 5

This is the week that I have been dreading, the week that it seemed like things got real.  I just finished Day 2 of this week and it felt easy, almost too easy.  I guess it turns out that all of that dreading was for naught and I may actually be able to complete this whole week no problem.  My stamina has gotten a lot better and while my legs are yelling at me they are carrying me through.

Part of my worry about this week of running has stemmed about reading others struggles with this week.  I guess I have learned that everyone has walls that they hit with a training program and they are all at different points in the program.  I think I hit mine in Week 3 of this program.  It was early on, but it was a struggle to get through the jogging for 5 minutes straight.  Hard to believe I did 8 minutes twice today, no problem. Then again I am getting my pacing down a lot better.

Here's to Day 3 on Friday.  Hoping I can get through the 20 minutes.

Jogging

When I had my left hip replaced in 2004 I was told I would never be able to jog or run again.  For 7 years I would actually have dreams that I was running.  It isn't like I was an avid runner before I had my hip replaced, but I did enjoy being able to push my body in that exercise form.  I tried running a few times in that 7 years, but every time I would end up with pain in my left hip. 

Then something changed this year.  Maybe it was the fact that I had been exercising with a coworker and I was able to jog in place.  Maybe doing that motion built up the correct muscles.  But somehow I was able to start jogging in little spurts at the beginning of this year. 

I decided to start the Couch 2 5K program the last week of August.  Amazingly enough my hip hasn't hurt during this whole past month of jogging.  Today I was able to jog for 5 minutes straight, and and additional 6 minutes broken up over two spurts.  I'm wondering if I'm crazy to have my ultimate goal be to run marathons.

Pennies and Choices

I started writing (yes, with a pen and paper) in a journal a little over a week ago. I had no idea that it would be this therapeutic. In the process of writing in this journal I have realized that I do great at making good eating decisions most of the time, but there are still a lot of times when I let myself slide in my eating decisions. Actually writing down my feelings about my weight and my weight loss journey has been inspiring for me. I have learned a lot about myself and it has actually helped me to make better decisions more often.

Because I am noticing a difference in my eating choices I got to thinking about ways I could really show myself how these choices add up. Each choice by itself seems so miniscule and really won't have a huge impact on the scale, but all of those choices combined will. The concept reminded me of collecting pennies to save toward something that you really want. Depending on what you are saving for it could take a long time to save up enough money to buy the item if you are only doing it a penny at a time. Really losing weight is the same way. If you don't have a lot to lose then you will have to make healthy choices, but maybe not as many and not as long as someone who has a significant amount of weight to lose.

Going on that theory I have started a penny challenge for myself. I went to the bank today and got $10 in pennies. For every healthy choice I make in a day I get to add a penny. For every unhealthy choice I have to take away 2 pennies. I am hoping that actually having a physical reminder about making healthy choices will help me to stay on track. I am also thinking of this as a bit of an experiment, because I really do wonder how many pennies it will take for me to lose a pound, 5 pounds, 10 pounds, and beyond.

Borders Closing

Borders has pretty much thrown in the towel as of today. I've known its been coming, my husband has known its been coming, but it is still hard. Yes, he will be without a second job once they close, and yes it could mean that we have to watch our budget a bit more, but it also means that if he doesn't take another second job he could substitute teach more. And then maybe just try for summer jobs. Oddly, it isn't the money that I'm worried about. I know that God will provide an opportunity that we never thought of.

What I'm going to miss are the memories. The first time I ever saw my husband was at that Borders store. I spent a good amount of our dating time sitting at that Borders while he worked. Our knitting group now meets at that Borders and we have created all new memories there. I am probably going to cry on the last day it is open. I may spend every day there between now and then. I'll miss Sis-in-Law's stories about all the drama there. I'll miss having my husband make me the perfect drinks.

At the same time that I will be sad about the closing, I'm excited about the new opportunities that God has for both Mr. Badango and his sister. This may be the push that they need to start their dream jobs. It may be the push that I need to get serious about publishing my designs and selling stitch markers on Etsy.

Pray for us as we start this new journey. It may get a little scary for us, but I trust that God knows what He is doing.

Light Bulb on Life

Every once in a while I have an epiphany about life and the direction mine is heading. Most of the time these epiphanies are about my weight loss journey. The last one that I had was that I need to think like a skinny person in my eating habits. The most recent one is that I seem to have stopped caring about my outward appearance.

I don't know when it happened, but sometime in the last couple of years I have gone from being obsessive about not showing my face without at least some mascara to not caring if I wear makeup for weeks on end. Its like I just stopped caring about making myself more presentable to the general public. Now don't get me wrong, I know that I am beautiful and don't need to use makeup or clothes to enhance my appearance. The thing is, I need them to enhance my mental health. When I choose to put on make up and find clothes that fit me right and make me look good and that I feel confident in, I am showing myself that I care about me.

If I care about me then I won't let myself continue to gain weight and I will work hard to lose the weight and be healthy.

If I care about me I will take the time every morning to put on some eyeliner and mascara and maybe even some eyeshadow.

If I care about me I will shop for clothes that make me feel confident and like I can take on the world.

I have made a decision this week to start showing myself that I care about me and how I appear to the outside world. I don't want to feel like I'm in frumpy clothes any more. I don't want to panic when I see the camera come out because I don't have a lick of makeup on. I don't want to keep living an unhealthy lifestyle where I keep giving into my cravings, whether it be for food or for not exercising.

This is my motivational post to myself, a post to hopefully keep me accountable, and finally a post that may motivate someone else.