Friday, August 09, 2013

Friday Free Fifteen - Post 1000!

Well-Adjusted Heart/Well-Watered Soul

It is well with my soul. I have been really peaceful lately. I had a little stress when Paul made us late getting out the door to our meeting last night only to discover that my gas tank was below 1/4 of a tank! Should I stop and be late to the meeting or should I not and risk running out of gas? I ended up not stopping, and we were early to the meeting and ended up paying more for the gas at Safeway instead of finding a Shell that would have given me a Fred Meyer discount, but I liked the peace of mind. All that to say is that stress has become somewhat foreign to me these days. It has been a low-stress summer, and I have liked that. I have gotten so much done but at a good pace. 

Since finishing my Messiah Meditations, I have mostly just prayed, and that has been nice. I went through Colossians with the BBC, and that was lovely. Now, I think I am ready to get back to my Bible Reading and still shocked at how nice and slow the pace is just reading along with the BBC rather than writing each post! It is doable for anyone, but I will go through this next cycle with everyone who joins up this coming year. 

Well-Educated Mind

I did not mean for it to happen, but I have gotten on a C.S. Lewis kick. I think this is my sixth one since I read "Weight of Glory" on one of my days of prayer (Or was that last year? I will have to check.). I am almost done with the Ransom-Space-Cosmic Trilogy. My head is still too small for C.S. Lewis, but I admire his writing so very much and will soldier on hoping it expands. That is what Well-Educated Mind reading is all about: expanding your horizons!

Reviewed a book for a friend, but I guess I wasn't supposed to and only the professionals are supposed to do early reviews. Still confused about why that was a "bad" thing to do. I have Early Reviewed 15 books since October, and most authors LOVE that I put in early reviews and ask me to put them on Amazon/GoodReads/Library Thing/this blog/Facebook, but she thinks that isn't "allowed" on those places, but I have never had a problem reviewing a book before it was published. It creates buzz. She didn't like the buzz I was creating and asked me to pull everything. I am still very confused by this, but I will just let it go. I was trying to help, and my review was 4 out of 5 stars (4 1/2 if I could give it one but sometimes sites only allow whole numbers). Maybe she wanted a 5, but I reserve 5 for the BEST of books like Les Miserables and Jane Eyre. So, I am still confused. Oh well.

Well-Tuned Body

I had water weight gain from my high altitude backpack and was concerned that I had overeaten, but all that weight has come off in less than a week, and I am down to the medium frame Devine Formula weight (100 lbs + [5 lb x every inch over 5 feet]). Again I would like to get down to below that for "wiggle room" on vacations and such. Plus my love handles disappear when I am five pounds below that number. So, I am going for 5-7 more pounds below what I am, but I am at my "ideal" and have maintained that with minor fluctuation since April 8!  Woohoo! Maintenance is my goal. 

My back did GREAT on the backpacking trip. It only got wonky when I came back home and sat more (backpacks make me stand up straight and put my shoulders back). Is there a device that makes you put your shoulders back as you type? I hate having to think about it! 

Anywho, I sat. Then I rode my bike to SNAP, walked in and lifted weights and did back exercises with oblique twists and TWEAKED my mid-back on the right side. Dr. Koen thinks I just didn't warm up enough. So, I am not doing those suckers without first doing my Pilates warm-up exercises. I can do the back exercises that Logan (PT) gave me but not the twists unless I am warmed up.

This set me back a couple of days in that I was quite uncomfortable until I could see Dr. Koen. I laugh that grueling and difficult backpacking did NOTHING to my BACK and silly obliques would do a number on it. Dr. Koen did say I need to realize that my workouts are harder than what I did backpacking. LOL! He is right!

I am back to normal again and have already done Pilates and weights for the week. I might do Pilates today. Thinking about a 3 1/2 day fast with a day of prayer in there somewhere. Just because I watched that British guy, Michael Mosely, who researched the medical benefits of fasting. I prefer to eat and lose weight. I would not do it for weight loss but for what it does to the GF1 (gives it a rest and lower the risk of cancer which is in my family). So, we will reevaluate.

The timer went off long ago. So, I will say adieu without proofreading for you!


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