Fighting PCOS Naturally

Let's talk about 2014.  I'll be 26 this year. That feels weird. Mainly because I know I'm over halfway to being 30. And let's not discuss my lack of success with my 30 before 30 list yet. Hubs will be 27.  Our 5yr wedding anniversary is this year. I'm not sure why, but half decades seem to be more important than other anniversaries. Our 7th year of dating is this year, too.  We're going to walk in the Walk for Hope, hosted by RESOLVE. My cysters and their friends and family are going as well. The Walk for Hope raises awareness for infertility. It's pet-friendly, but I'd have to get Spike leash trained really soon. What are my hopes for 2014? - be a happier me - run a 5k  - lose some weight - get the house organized - have a garage sale - enjoy my life The biggest hurdle to overcome right now is my self-hatred. That's got to change. I'm going to be more focused on completing my Happify tasks, and actually attempt to follow through on old ideas. T

Holy crap, we're already at the end of this year? Where did the time go? Last year's resolution was to become a MILF. Or at least get my body prepared to start trying to get preggo with a donor in 2014. Yeah, that didn't happen. So I've made the next year's resolutions a little easier. I'm going to focus on becoming a happier me and organize/clean my house. Much less stressful than trying to put a numerical requirement or some awful restrictions on my life. I had hoped that we might be able to move out into a house this coming May, but I don't think that's going to happen, especially with the financial problems we've encountered this year. So I'm going to save that for 2015. It won't kill us to stay in the townhome for another year. In fact, it'll end up being the 2nd longest location that I've stayed in. It is kinda nice to not be moving every year or two. However, I might look into houses this year anyway, because I could get lucky.

I don't think I talk about my finances a lot - most of the time I keep it a secret so people won't ask me for money. But I need to complain about it this week. Last Thursday, the night it started icing in Texas, I discovered that a post-dated charity donation I made to a local symphony was pulled out of my account 2 weeks early. I keep a very strict watch on my money, especially since I only get paid once a month. We were getting down to the end of my paycheck, and had already forgotten to pay the rent until the 3rd. That got me a late fee. Then I found out about the early pull of the donation. I was quite frustrated because I knew that the rent check would bounce if I didn't get enough cash to cover my donation. Friday morning I have cash in hand. But it was the first full day of all the ice, and everything was closed. We've been using my mom's car since ours gave up, and she refused to let us drive to the bank. I understood her reasoning, and respected it. But

I had my bi-annual rheumatologist appt today. I have been waiting for it so I could inform the doc about how the meds I'm on were useless. Well, not completely useless. But the pain meds were just taking the edge off, making life barely tolerable. I didn't call and tell him about it a few months ago, because I really don't want to look like a drug addict. I know that I already look that way when the pills bounce around in my purse. The conclusion is to increase the dosage of the pain killers I'm on. If that doesn't work, I'm headed to a pain management specialist that will just make my life more difficult, with strict limits, monthly appts, etc. He also wants me to workout. I know I need to, but I haven't done it. In order to have a little more energy so I can work out, he wants me to take Synthroid. I'm a little hesitant to start it, because I've heard that once you start it, you can't really go off of it. But I've also heard from friends

This past holiday weekend was eventful, to say the least. We had Thanksgiving at Dad's. My sister, Elle, was there too. Midway through dinner, We got from my mom. It said 'Memaw n hospital. Emergency surgery'. Memaw just had back surgery a month or two ago, and had been having problems with an infection near her surgical incision. She had already been to the doc and received antibiotics, which apparently weren't working. Thanksgiving Day, Papaw takes Memaw to the emergency room due to the pain she was in. They did an MRI and discovered an epidural abscess, an infection along the spinal cord. We left Dad's and headed to the hospital. They didn't end up doing the surgery until early Friday morning. They found that the infection wasn't as bad as they originally believed. She's still in the hospital because her blood count was really low. She's supposed to be moving to a rehab center in the next day or two so she doesn't have to recuperate in the hos

So yesterday sucked. And I ranted and raved in my last post. Today I feel better. But I'm going to stop wishing that things would change. I'm the only one that can really make that happen, right? So here goes the new attitude. Eventually I'll have kids. At this point I don't know how, but I'm going to do my best to just wait until it happens. Maybe it'll be adoption in a decade or two. Yes, for awhile it will still hurt like hell, but I  can hurt or I can push through it. I don't know if this is related, but today is the first day that I took the full dose of ACE. I started Sunday with just one pill a day to ease into it. It might not be related at all, but at least I feel better than I did yesterday. I did get a great 90min massage last night. For anyone that gets massages, once you try a 90min session instead of a regular 60, you'll never go back. I mean it. I'm certainly not going back lol. I love my therapist, Chuck. He's very knowledgeable

This post started out of sheer frustration. I was mad, angry, and ready to let the world have it. Even told Hubs that I was ready to lock myself in a room and never come out. But that won't do me any good. It certainly won't help my checkbook or my mental health. So what is a girl like me supposed to do? I don't know. I haven't known for years. I started talking to potential donors this past week, in the hopes that maybe we could start trying to get pregnant soon. But when I got home and thought about it, I got sick to my stomach. It's the first time it's ever happened. I'm used to getting sick after hearing about other people getting preggo. But I've never been sick at the thought of having my own kids. That's the dream I've had for almost 20 years now. So what the hell is going on? Is my body sick of the heartbreak? Does the thought of not having a biological child by Hubs make me nauseous? Am I freaked out by how life will go as long as I&

Well prep weekend didn't go as planned (read: I went shopping on Saturday and wore myself out, so I didn't do crap on Sunday.) But the shopping was productive - we picked up most of what we needed to make our Salvation Army Angels happy. We were going to skip angels this year because of SA's stance on gay families, but I couldn't find another angel tree type thing, so we got Angels again. As much as I disapprove of the gay family belief held by SA, I can't take it out on the kids that need our help. We found two little munchkins - we always get the babies and toddlers so we can attempt to fulfill our desires of buying stuff for our own children. We always buy clothes, shoes, diapers and toys, along with what they need. This year one needs a car seat and one needs shoes. We've got the shoes covered, but I'm still on the hunt for a car seat - mainly because I have no idea what I'm doing. I figure that at 11 months she's probably too big for an infant c

This weekend will be a food prep weekend. I pick up my next fruit and veggie basket tonight, and will be using that as the inspirational ingredients for all my cooking. broccoli lettuce napa cabbage spaghetti squash bok choy parsley brassica greens collard greens apples It will also have beets, radishes, green onions and jalepenos, but I don't want any of that. Those are going straight to my grandmother's house so they don't go to waste! I've got some butternut squash and sweet potatoes that I need to use as well. So much produce! My hope is to have all of next week's food prepped this weekend so I don't have to stress about cooking. Napa cabbage: Cabbage rolls - (also adding a little apple) http://aggieskitchen.com/2013/02/25/asian-stuffed-napa-cabbage-rolls/ Roasted napa cabbage - http://www.thekitchn.com/easy-winter-recipe-roasted-cab-105338 Brassica greens: sauteed with garlic and ginger in a chicken stir fry. Bok choy: http://www.

Every time we go to the local farmer's market, Mom and I grab stuff off of the almost-bad shelf. It's usually full of over-ripe bananas and other fruits. This time there was a ton of carrots, so Mom asked if we could make some carrot juice. We ended up juicing carrots, apples, pears, grapes and blueberries. When we were done I had a gallon sized baggie packed overflowing of juice pulp. I really didn't want to throw it away, so I tried something new. Juice Pulp Crackers. I went based off of a recipe from Gena at Choosing Raw . I was so excited to try it out, along with my new VitaMix that Hubs won. I'm not excited about the VitaMix. It didn't blend well, had no cyclonic action to pull unblended stuff from the top to the bottom, and it just shut off after getting too warm. I wasn't using it for more than 45 sec at a time at half speed and it overheated. For a $500 blender, I am not happy. I'm just glad I didn't actually fork out the money for it myself.

I've decided to try a forced schedule again. I'm not going as strict as I tried last time. This time, if I'm not running late to work, everything must be done before I allow myself to leave the house. It means that I'll have to go to bed earlier so I can wake up earlier, but I need to do that anyway. AM: Oil-pulling Brush teeth Take meds and supplements Drink glass of warm lemon water and apple cider vinegar Make smoothie 15+ min of yoga or barre3 Shower PM: Make Dinner or eat leftovers pack lunch for next day 30+ minutes yoga or barre3 spend 10+ minutes outside with Spike Take meds by 9:30pm brush teeth In bed by 10:30pm I think it might be difficult in the beginning because I love my sleep, but I have to push through it and follow Nike's slogan - JUST DO IT. That's been my problem all along. I will tell myself I need to do something, but stay on the couch instead. I've got to start listening to myself and following through instead o

Things are going to be different for this 11th Challenge. It is decided that this next challenge is going to be for FREE. However, that means that there will be no cash prizes. However, Soul Cyster Creations is offering 50% OFF one item from their store. (If anyone else wants to donate something they can just PM Soul Cysters Weight Loss Challenge ) Since it is FREE, we are going to let those who were in the last challenge stay in and we are opening up 5 spots to old contestants and 10 spots to NEW contestants. This way you can see what we do and just get some good motivation going for your weight loss. Please answer the below questions to be considered. Please send them in a message via the SCWLC  page.  1) Why are you wanting to join the SCWLC? 2) When did you find out you had PCOS? 3) What is your current BMI (send height and weight as well so we can verify) This is because we do not want anyone joining that does not need to be losing weight. 4) What is your motivation for w

I've been working on my Christmas wish list, now that Halloween is over. I'm not a huge fan of Thanksgiving - just another day to stuff our fat asses full of food. I don't need any more fat, so a holiday dedicated to eating is obviously not too appealing. As I go through my wish list, I realized that I have gone from picking things I want to picking things I need. Practicality overwhelmed my personal desires. I guess that isn't bad, but it makes me feel boring. I have tons of wall shelving and storage baskets on my list. So boring! But I need to get my life organized, and more storage means more organization. (Well, maybe not so much, because I have tons of baskets and storage at home and haven't gotten around to using them properly.) What I really need to do at this moment is go through the house and gather every empty storage container I have purchased, then figure out where they can go on my shelves. I told Hubs that I wanted to go for a week without TV to se

I've been addicted to Kombucha tea for a couple of months now. When I shop at Sprouts, I always grab a few of the GT's Synergy organic kombucha with chia. By far my favorite flavor is Black Chia, which has black currant juice in it. The problem with buying it, though, is the price. $3.50 a bottle. Yeah, it's cheaper than Starbucks, but I don't go to Starbucks every day. There have been a lot of blogs recently about making your own kombucha. I thought that would be a lot of fun, but I need to be a little more normal so I can prepare it properly and remember to check on it. I was at my grandmother's this morning and we started talking about it. Wouldn't you know she wanted to make her own too! I'll be buying a starter SCOBY soon, and I'll be making my own kombucha ! I can't wait to decide all the different flavors I want to make! On another note, I'm very happy to announce that I'm having a garage sale in a few weeks! Along with my support gr

Happy Halloween! Have a Blessed Samhein! And happy anniversary to me and Hubs! It's my favorite day of the year. And my plan for Samhein? To burn negative thoughts and habits, to create healthy goals and resolutions, getting ready for a new year! For pagans, Samhein is the end of the year. The end of the harvest. The day to celebrate our ancestors. The beginning of winter. For our anniversary? I don't know. Usually I've got things all planned out, but I ended up having to work today, so I don't get to spend as much time at home. I am still taking tomorrow off so we can do whatever. The day hasn't started out well, though. Hubs' phone was stolen and turned off so it can't be tracked. His little sister is in he hospital, delivering her baby. Hubs is really taking the news hard, because it should have been us instead of her. I agree, but there's nothing I can do except ignore the situation. She doesn't talk to us anyway, so that's not too har

Next week is going to be eventful... Our 6 year dating anniversary is Tuesday. My grandmother goes in for her 3rd back surgery in 3 years on Wednesday (and she almost died last time, so I'm on edge). Our 4 year wedding anniversary and Halloween is Thursday. My 4-day anniversary workless weekend starts Thursday as well. We haven't really decided what we are doing for our anniversary, but I took time off anyways. We might just go see Carrie at the movies. Yesterday I started ACE, an appetite suppressant and energy booster. A friend of mine sells it and sent me samples. Work seemed to go faster yesterday, and I didn't eat a whole lot. Today I had my massage therapy appt (an hour and a half of bliss and healing, oh so necessary in my life), and instead of being tired afterwards, I'm awake and thinking about what I want to do with my time. I'm working a half day, then going home and maybe I'll go to the park and walk. The weather is beautiful today. I also starte

Several months ago I was given the opportunity to beta test a new program called Happify . It's designed to help you become happier with your life, and has plenty of studies to back up their science. I've been using it, although not as faithfully as I should. But I really have enjoyed testing out a lot of the different tracks to choose from. This week,   Happify  ent out of beta testing and is now open to the public. There are a lot of free tracks you can choose from, as well as some others you can get by upgrading to a paid membership. I recommend   Happify  o everyone I know that needs a little pick me up from day to day. It has been helping me find my way towards satisfaction with myself and my life the way it is. It has also helped me to expand my horizons and learn how to be even happier. It's a great program. Currently I'm working on the paid track 'Get Motivated to Get Fit'. Right now it's exactly what I need - a way to focus on my health without  w

This weekend was... eventful. I was sick and in bed til 6 pm on Sat. Got a call that my grandparents were selling my car - which meant that they cleaned it out. My grandfather has a tendency to just trash stuff without any regard to what it could be (just last week he recycled an entire box of important paperwork and MONEY of Mom's...) I had to scramble to get dressed and make sure that he wasn't selling my car for 20 bucks. Someone has been knocking on my grandparent's door every few days saying they want to buy it. I knew that if they kept coming back it was because no one would tell them what was wrong with it. Anyways, I get there Sat, wait for Mom to call the people, only to find out they wouldn't come til Sunday morning. So Sunday morning I drag myself out of bed, get to my grandparents house, and wait for the people. They get there, and after 30 min of looking at the car they decide it's not worth the money to fix. DUH. If it was, I would have fixed it!!! A n

Yesterday was payday. It was also the day I finally gave in and ordered a smartphone. I'm hoping that it'll provide me with tools I need to keep myself accountable. I got the Nokia Lumia 920, because it has a good camera and it's a Windows phone operating system. I figured that since the reviews were great and I never hear anyone say anything bad about them, I might as well try it out. If I don't like it, I can return it and try a different phone. I wanted the new 41 megapixel camera, but I didn't want to spend the money on it. I can just get it when the prices drop. I've tried the tracking of foods and exercise via a planner, but I just can't remember to do it all the time. So maybe apps can help. I started green coffee bean extract today. After doing research into weight loss like Plexus Slim and ACE, green coffee bean is what they all have in common. So I figured I could give it a try. I also ordered an mp3 player and a small exercise ball so I can star

I've learned some interesting things in the last few months. I wrote about my decision to join an organic produce program through Urban Acres. Every two weeks I get a bag of organic fruits and veggies. I've always loved fruits like nectarines, mangoes, apples and bananas. I didn't realize that I wasn't getting the true taste of these fruits until the program. I now know that organic produce tastes so much better. It has led me to the conclusion that I'm going to attempt to go as organic as possible with all of my shopping. I've hated the idea of bad pesticides, but I've let my wallet make the decisions. From now on, if buying organic means buying less, then so be it. After organic, I really don't think that I can truly enjoy my favorite fruits if they aren't organic. So this decision reinforces my previous desire to shop at farmer's markets for produce. I've wanted to adjust myself to eating produce in season, and that's the way to do it.

I friend of mine, ACE, spent the last two years changing her life. She lost ~80 pounds in doing it, and she looks fabulous. She did it by changing her diet and finding an exercise program that she loved. Something she became almost addicted to - barre3. A combination of ballet, yoga and Pilates. I believe that part of my problem is my lack of LOVE for exercise. I haven't found something I enjoy so much that I want to do it everyday, instead of need to do it. I like walking. The scenery is pretty and the walking is easy. Just put one foot in front of the other. But I don't get the joy out of it like I would hope. So I'm going to try something new, and I bet ACE is going to be happy to hear it :) barre3 has a program called 28 to Great. 6 online workouts a week for 4 weeks. The workouts range from 10 to 60 minutes. And access to it is only $15 a month. 50 cents a day to try something that I might fall in love with. So as soon as I get paid, I'm signing up. And in a li

I've decided that planning and I really don't get along. It ends up making me upset that I didn't stick to it 100%. So I'm going to live spontaneously. The weather is beautiful, and I'm really happy about it. I can get back to walking without roasting. We went for a walk last night. Although I had to make frequent pit stops to sit, We still got in at least half a mile, if not a full mile. I'm going to walk again tonight. Maybe I'll even attempt to walk Spike to the dog park so he can play. This idea of living spontaneously is not new to me, but I've never really followed through with it. That needs to change. But I'm not planning. Because planning to be spontaneous defeats the purpose. I'm not going to be dumb like some of the YOLO kids (you only live once), but I am going to enjoy life, day by day, and forget the big picture for a while. Once I get my life straightened out I'll go back to worrying about the big pic. Of course, I've a

Over the weekend, Hubs got into a confrontation with a neighbor. I've written about her before - she bitched at me for not working while my rheumatoid arthritis was at its worst. Her reasoning? "I worked full time as a waitress while doing chemo for breast cancer and I was all alone!" (prev post Understanding ) Since that incident, I have stayed away from her completely. I don't need someone that toxic in my circle of friends. This weekend, Hubs was hanging out with some neighbors when the aforementioned person joined. It was obvious that she had been drinking. She proceeded to grill Hubs with questions like 'You don't have a job, you stay at home all the time, what the hell does Lynne see in you? Why is she staying with you?' Since I've been back on my bipolar meds, I haven't been getting angry. But hearing this as Hubs told me, I was pissed. Mainly because my decisions and reasoning for staying with MY HUSBAND are MINE alone. It shouldn'

It's October :) My favorite month of the year. I love it more than March, when most of my family's birthdays are. why? 1) The weather has cooled off and we can hang out outside without baking. 2) I finally won Hubs' full attention - 6 years ago. 3) Our wedding anniversary of 4 years :) 4) I get to decorate the house for Halloween! 5) Our favorite holiday of the year! HALLOWEEN! 6) Our wedding anniversary - on Halloween! Did I mention that I love Halloween? I picked up a few more skeletons because Senor LazyBones, our first skeleton, was lonely. I added a glittery skeleton named Mr. Ritz. I have two more that have yet to be named. Last year we bought Skully, a skeleton flamingo. Sadly, there was only one, and Hubs was upset. When I found another one a few weeks ago, Mulder joined our family. Hubs was very happy, and surprised! Since this is such an important month, I've decided to make goals in 3 different categories. LIFE - Clear the dining room table - E

A few months ago I decided to pay for some other Cyster's entry fees for the Soul Cyster's Weight Loss Challenge. I think it's time to do it again! This time the giveaway will only be available for the weekend... I'm not giving you any time to second guess your decision about joining. Unless it makes you join! The participants of the challenge have access to a private facebook group to chat with other members, and we encourage everyone to use it to give and receive support. The challenge is open to anyone with PCOS whose BMI is within or above the normal range. To go along with the shorter length of time, the cost has been reduced to $6. All of the entry fees (minus paypal fees) are split between our winners. So for $6 dollars, we provide you with exercise suggestions, a group of women who want to succeed as much as you do, and cash prizes! Sounds fun, right? It is :) And to prove it, I'm going to pay 2 lucky people's entry fees. Have I enticed you enough ye

I almost cried over a kitchen appliance yesterday. I know that sounds funny, but I did cry tears of joy when I brought my Kitchenaid stand mixer home a few years ago. So when my Magic Bullet decided it hated me yesterday, I really did almost cry. The blade spinner in the base just snapped in half. It wasn't something little that I could potentially fix. It was ruined. I have gotten back in the routine of my morning smoothies, so my necessary smoothie tool breaking really messed that up. Yeah, I could buy a new one, but I'd have to wait a week or two until I get paid. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal - but my Magic Bullet is my second favorite appliance (My stand mixer being the first, obviously lol) Found via GoogleImages from SoulSeeds.com But last night my mom wanted to go buy a new magic bullet for my grandmother. Guess who else got one? Yep, me! I'm very thankful that it was gifted to me. Even better - the black edition, which we got, comes with two eve

I don't know why I've gone so long without doing this... I've always known that I write a lot more code much faster if I'm listening to music. The only problem had been that if everyone is in the office, streaming music from the internet slowed everyone else down. Although my laptop is out of commission, all of the music I had on it is on our backup external hard drive (If you have a ton of important data and don't have a backup hard drive, eventually much sadness will enter your life. Like mine when the dog ripped a cord out and crashed a massive hard drive.) I was going to put music on a flash drive, but Mom was already on her way to pick me up, so I wouldn't have time to pick and choose what I wanted to take with me. It finally hit me today to bring the whole dang hard drive with me to work, transfer all my music, and then I can listen to it all the time with absolutely no issues affecting my coworkers. Yep, I'm really good at making things hard for m

I love books. I can finish a novel in a single day, given enough free time to do it. Usually I can get through it in 2-4 days if I have less time on my hands, or I only read after I get in bed. I've always been a HUGE fan of Dean Koontz. I have a goal to read and own a copy of every book he's written. Yeah, I love his books that much. But while Koontz is amazing, sometimes I need a break. A change of pace. Even a change in species. Hubs likes the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. When I was buying the set for him for Christmas, I snagged a few of books from her Merry Gentry series. I'm a sucker for faeries, so the Merry Gentry series wasn't something I would turn down. I read the entire series in a couple of weeks. But what was I to do after finishing those novels? Well, a neighbor solved that problem for me and introduced me to Anne Bishop and the Black Jewels Trilogy . Oh Em Gee. Suspenseful, thrilling, intriguing, novels that I couldn

I've mastered the first step back to healthy. My morning smoothies are really easy to make, and I'm getting a lot of nutrients that I previously was going without. My next goal is to start drinking lots of water again. I went off soda and coffee completely a few years ago, and although I have the occasional soda and lots of coffee, I still choose water most often. With the coffee - I'm not putting any sugar in it, just half and half. I'm pretty happy with myself for that. But I need to start drinking a lot more water than I used to. The latest recommendations are 1/2 of your body weight in ounces. For me that's twice the previous recommendation of 8 glasses of 8oz water - 64oz. I need to drink around 120oz. I have a 32oz cup sitting on my desk, so I need to drink at least two glasses full while I'm at work. That'll get me through half of my goal. Then I just need two big glasses at home, too. I can do that. For now, until I can come up with something cuter,

This morning I couldn't remember what I had dreamed about last night, but it just hit me. And now that I remember, I wanted to write it down before I forgot. And maybe I want to analyze it, because it was a little weird. Not a nightmare, but weird. (And this was not the first time I had it...) Hubs and I went to a gym. It was beautiful, bright sunlight through the windows, tons of equipment, a second floor with classes and a lounge. It had rows and rows on equipment. Compared to a real-life building, I felt it was about the size of the main floor of the Fort Worth Convention Center (I spent many summers there as a kid, which is why I remember that reference.) I spent the time cycling. The guy assisting us with getting our membership set up was the same in this one as the last. I couldn't find any paperwork to tell me how much it cost to be there. He said that it only cost money if we came before 5pm. But it was after 5, so no charge. It wasn't until this point that my dre

Mom and I put together my smoothie packs last night. I have two weeks worth. It was pretty simple once we got organized. I bought freezer quart sized baggies - although freezer sandwich bags would have worked just as well. In each bag I put in: - a banana (I get the almost too ripe ones on clearance at the farmer's market and freeze them) - 1 cup of fruit, in this case, peaches and mangoes - hemp protein powder - probiotic powder - spinach ice cube - chia seed ice cube The ice cubes were really easy to make. I added some water and a big handful of spinach into a magic bullet cup. I blended it up really well, then added more spinach and more water until I had a thick spinach mush. I spooned it out into an ice cube tray and stuck them in the freezer. For the chia seed, I put water in a bowl, poured some chia seeds in, and let them soak for 20-30 minutes. Soaked chia seeds turn into jelly. Then I blended them up with a little more water and spooned it into an ice cube tray as

Lately I've really been fighting with the fatigue issues that come along with fibromyalgia. I slept almost the entire weekend, even missing a workday because I slept through all the alarms and Hubs trying to wake me up. Being exhausted is exhausting. I had planned on stopping at the library before work today, and gave up on that idea when I woke up. I decided that the extra 30min of sleep was more important than a book. And it is. But some days, when I'm staring at my computer, trying to concentrate on what I should be doing, I get teary-eyed. Some days I just can't focus, and all my body wants to do is sleep. As a way of fighting it, I load up on coffee (with no sugar!). Of course, then you could do some googling and find out that caffeine isn't all that great for people with fibro. I'm sure it's not that great for any of the other issues I fight with. But the coffee really doesn't help. It gives me a short burst of focus, then I have to have another cup to

I've mentioned it already, but I have no car. I think it'll do me some good, though. I'm going to start walking to the grocery store a few times a week, buying only what is needed to make meals for a few days. This will allow me to get exercise - about 1 mile at a time, and keep produce fresh so it doesn't get lost in the fridge. I'm still using the organic food service from urban Acres, and I'll use it to plan some of my weekend meals. I have to change my life. I have to get healthy. I need to focus on wellness. I WILL succeed. I keep saying that I'm going to change, but haven't done anything about it. But I can either say I want to do it, or actually do it. I need to shave my legs and hit the pool. I need to walk to the grocery store instead of asking my mom for a ride. I'm going to pull my yoga mat out of the closet (I'm a bit ashamed that it got put in there in the first place...) I know I sound like a broken record. "I'm going

Oh, the hardships of having no cable TV... We decided that we were paying way too much money for cable, when there were only a handful of channels we watched. Of course we couldn't get the basic cable, because it was missing half of the channels we wanted. So I cut it off completely. And I'm so glad I did. We upgraded our internet service, bought a year of Xbox Gold membership, and subscribed to Hulu Plus and Netflix. Although we have decided to cancel our Hulu subscription, we love Netflix. Hulu is great for current shows, but Netflix is awesome because we can watch an entire series. When it first came out, I LOVED Alias. It was a spy show starring Jennifer Garner. My mom and I used to watch it every week. But Hubs had never heard of it! Seriously, he lived under a mountain. At least when it came to TV. So we watched all 5 seasons of Alias. We decided that instead of watching various shows all at once, we would choose a series and watch it all before switching to a new show.

I did my final weigh in for SCWLC. It was 247 pounds. The first weigh in was 251.2, so I lost 4.2 pounds in 6 weeks. Oh Em Gee. And I didn't really do anything. Well, ok, I was eating better. very few donuts. And I've been eating lots of fruits - strawberries and cherries :) I've considerably cut back on Jack in the Box, because we found WhichWich. And because the car broke down, so I have to bring food from home. and I started eating the fruits and veggies I get from Urban Acres every two weeks. So that was a nice surprise. I know that I really need to start working out more. and I get mad at myself for choosing TV over exercise. I just end up exhausted by the time I get home, especially now that I'm working much longer hours. But I'm working towards getting better. It's a slow process, which frustrates me, but in the end things will change. I'm one of those people that wants to see results immediately. I think a lot of us are like that now. I feel I do

I've done the 101 in 1001, 30 before 30, and now it's time to focus on my lifetime bucket list. I think it's easier for me to look at a list without a due date attached. Eases the pressure and potential feelings of failure. Although at some point I need to get used to setting deadlines for myself and actually following through with them... visit another continent go zorbing climb to the top of a mountain visit Machu Picchu spend the night in an underwater hotel spend a night in an ice hotel see Aurora Borealis see a show on Broadway write and self publish a cookbook run a 5k go sailing go deep sea fishing learn another language fluently go scuba diving ride in a hot air balloon go skydiving become a beekeeper read all of Dean Koontz's books become as healthy as possible become a big sister own a farm in the country Adopt a child swim with dolphins go on a yoga retreat in another country go to a TEDTalk conference go geo-caching Drive the enti

Every once in a while I mention that I think Murphy's Law needs to be changed to  Lynne's Law. It strikes, yet again. Tuesday, the car died on Hubs when he was  coming to pick me up. He just barely made it into the parking lot before it  completely gave up. We had a tow truck come get it, and decided that we'd start looking for issues on  Wednesday. We were attempting to check the fuel filter when we noticed that the  hose that connects the air box into the intake manifold and mass air flow sensor  and a huge crack in it. We had to go to the dealership to get the part because no auto parts store sells them. You'd think that such an important (and fairly simple)  part would be available there, but no. So we replaced it. The car started!!! Yay! Then the knocking started. Damn. After  doing some online research and finding videos on YouTube of the same knocking  issue, we determined it was 1 of 3 things - a rod, piston or crankshaft problem.  All of which require takin

I found a new group on facebook today. It's for people with illnesses that want to swap goodies with others around the world. Awesome, right? I've participated in a couple around Christmas, but this group doesn't have a holiday requirement. I offered to make cards for anyone that wanted one, and I said that I didn't expect anything in return. I love making cards. I love scrapbooking. I love crafting in general. But I haven't been doing it lately. Maybe I thought I had to have the office organized. Or I wanted the dining room organized. Then when my niece came to visit from college, I had planned to get the office rearranged so we could make cards. We used the living room floor instead, because, of course, I hadn't touched the office. I can't really be upset about it because it was my choice. Anyways, I didn't do it. I realized that if I offered to make cards for other people, I would have to make them. And I need that push to do something more usefu

I feel like the only thing I have to blog about lately is my current mental and physical status. And that doesn't seem like something anyone else in interested in. I'm even annoying myself because I can't find any other topic to write about. I don't have kids to write about, my zoo doesn't do anything especially interesting, and I don't do anything at home that warrants discussion. Okay, except this - which I'm totally excited about. Hyperbolic geometry. Yep, I'm a nerd, and I'm proud of it. I've always loved math. Well, except for algebra 1 in 9th grade. Hated my teacher, and hated that I couldn't understand what the heck she was trying to teach. Algebra 2 went better. And college algebra was the best because I had an AWESOME teacher. If he ever reads this, I know he'll know I'm talking about him :) I ordered the book. A Field Guide to Hyperbolic Space: An Exploration of the Intersection of Higher Geometry and Feminine Handic