40. The Pilates Body by Brooke Siler

This is an excellent "first book" on Pilates. It is especially helpful if one cannot get to a certified Pilates instructor to teach them how to do the moves. 

It has very sound directions for doing all the basic Pilates moves. I am not quite sure why she mixes really advanced exercises in with the intermediate ones though. I would do these in order and not mix them together like she does. 

I like her little illustrations to give imagery to what a person is trying to achieve in the exercise. I will use them for my classes! 

39. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

It is hard to believe, but I have never read this. I had to go up to Hillsboro to pick up George and was able to listen to all but 43 minutes of it on the way up. George said he didn't mind if I finished it on the way back down, and he loved it too. Ian Holm (the older Bilbo in Lord of the Rings) is perfect as the narrator! 

It is a great book. It is a deep look at the good and evil that lies in all of us! 

I read this for my Book Dames book club!

Saturday Seventeen Freewrite

I woke up really early this morning. I think I was afraid that I would not be able to pack before the 7:30 am deadline of getting out the door for a morning kayak up near Scappoose. Yes, ladies and gentleman, we WILL be having a little bit of family time before everyone leaves the nest! We had to postpone our trip to California until December due to getting this job with OSU. I had First Aid Training, PAC (Physical Activity Course) Orientation, and a social on Wednesday; a "Teaching Tips for Instructors" class on Thursday; and a new instructors meeting and CPR training on Friday. I was also able to get another key that opened up the stereo cabinet for my class. 

In addition to this, I finally got all the paperwork for becoming an independent contractor with SNAP Fitness and that involved buying liability insurance for being a Pilates instructor and Personal Trainer (coming in December).

In addition, George's car needs a brand new transmission so I had to go up to Hillsboro to get George and bring him back here to get another car. We stopped at Salem to have Paul deal with my weird shoulder and neck pain, but all the driving and sitting in the car made my hips get twisted so I had to go up to Salem AGAIN on Friday night to see Paul for what he called "really twisted and bad" hips. This has not happened since last November! I thought my twisted hips were a thing of the past. 

Sometimes I wonder if it is related to stress and the rising humidity. I did so well in Colorado with NO pain whatsoever (other than the recovering sprained ankle). It is a dry climate there, and it was a relatively stress-free time. Our house is 54% humidity right now, and I tend to do better when it is in the 20's. 

Anyway, it was a busy and somewhat stressful week as I had to do a five minute "fake lesson" for the new instructors class. The good part is that we split up in two's for it, and I got a sweet fifth year senior who tried to teach me to do a cartwheel, but with this weird twisted thing going on, I told her I probably could not do it.  I did a "Pilates awareness" exercise incorporating the principles of breath, concentration, control, and core. I also incorporated proper shoulder, neck, and pelvic placement.  It was fun! She said it was relaxing. Her feedback was to make sure she was doing it right by looking at her. :) It is hard to demonstrate while lying supine and looking over at a room full of students, but I will do my best!

I am sitting at my old kitchen computer desk. I am going to get a LOT of exercise today during the kayaking trip, and I am tired today after such a busy week. 

I think once all the classes start (three of them between OSU and SNAP), life will be much more relaxed, as I have all day Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday free to do other things. One thing I am going to do is register to start studying for my Personal Trainer exam. I am ready for this. I am excited for this. I am already registered with SNAP as a Pilates instructor so will not have to go through all the paperwork again. That is good. 

With all this, I am going to evaluate whether it is really feasible for me to open some kind of fitness business overseas while George is working, and I am an empty-nester (sniff, sniff - I love being a mom and have already mourned the loss of being a homeschooler!). Renee proposed the possibility of me leading an all-women's Pilates class with the internationals at INTO. I wonder if Drew would entertain that possibility? I know we reserve four spots in each class for INTO students, but would a woman from a more conservative country come to a class that has men in it? Maybe there can be some kind of cooperative agreement made with INTO to have an ALL INTO class? I would certainly know how to be sensitive to the language barrier. :) 

We will see! I am hoping for good things in the future, but I am certainly having my world ROCKED by not having as much time in the morning for myself. I love my morning times alone! I will have from 1 - 6 pm alone on the days I teach though. I will go ahead and do weights and cardio after my classes. 

There is my time. I will have some prayer time and then pack! 

Here is the flier for my class. I did not write it so excuse the incorrect grammar:

Saturday Seventeen Freewrite + Thursday Thirteen

A friend who has been part of the Eduanon/Trapdoor community asked these questions:

What's on your mind?
How do you figure out what to focus on?
How do you make whatever you choose a reality?

Such great questions, Dali!!! I have the countdown timer rolling, and I am not going to pick up my fingers from the keyboard for seventeen minutes. Ready and GO! 

What's on my mind?(The first two were written August 29)

I have been contemplating yesterday's flurry of activity. It was originally a FLURRY FREE FRIDAY. (When will my love for alliterations come to an end?) I was tired from NON STOP people on my trip to a Colorado conference from Wednesday, August 19 - Saturday, August 22, and a trip to Colorado Springs from the 22nd to 26th. I had planned to just chill on the 28th because I knew the 27th would involve catching up on emails and getting back into the swing of starting writing my syllabi and outlines for the classes I will be teaching at the university. BUT, the 28th ended up being quite another thing, but I am glad it went the way it did, even though it has been "on my mind" since I woke up this morning.

I guess what is on my mind is spousal abuse. Serious subject, eh? I was invited to speak truth into my organization yesterday, and I had a phone meeting from 10:30 - 11:40 with one and 6 - 9:30 with the other (my husband and his wife were in on that meeting too).  The one in the morning turned out to be God displaying His brilliance as this leader in my organization totally heard me and my concerns. There was one point where his strong personality unnerved me a bit, but I did not cry (Even though I felt like it for a split second, but I love just listening to God in the midst of things, and He gave me the confidence to go ahead and live out my destiny name: BOLDLY BELOVED. YES, God's destiny name for me IS an alliteration! LOL!). So I was BOLD and gave it right back to him, and it was BEAUTIFUL. Really 99.5 percent of the phone call was awesome, but that pesky .5 percent could have derailed the whole darn thing in my FEELER soul! :) 

What was SO AWESOME was his very long email to the leadership of the organization saying this is a clarion call from Carol! YIPEE! I want to make a difference, and I think this was a start. 

Anywho, in between all of this, was a sweet four hours with my 90 year old mentor, and she just calms me so! She is closer to me than my mother ever was. It is pretty funny though because I finally tested her for Myers-Briggs after knowing her for 25 years, and we are the same personality type (ISFJ). She said, "Well, of course, I always knew that." LOL! She listened about my phone call, and I told her about the big meeting in the evening, and then George joined us and gave his two cents, and it was a glorious meeting of hearts and souls.

6 pm came, and I wasn't afraid. George started out introducing the subject, and there was definite resistance. I am trying to let people be aware that abuse DOES exist, and we cannot put it under a rock and pretend. INTO THE LIGHT. At one point he said, "I don't want to gossip," but that was a smokescreen. So I GENTLY, yet BOLDLY pressed forward, with George behind me 100% (and the other man's wife).  I guess it reminded me of the time I spoke truth to my mom saying, "I will continue to speak truth to the dysfunction in this family." It turned out great in that respect. So, BIG GIRL, BOLDLY BELOVED panties are so nice fitting on me. 

I drove home alone (since George and I met in the middle), and I CRANKED the song WINGS by Glee. I will put the words. It was perfect for the situation I just walked out of. I also cranked IT IS WELL from Bethel. SO BEAUTIFUL.

OK that is what is on my mind.

Next question:

How do you figure what to focus on?

That one has become crystal clear for me over the years. I have a "LO" Time every morning where I "listen and obey"! I drink my chai with pen and paper in hand, and I listen. Then I write down what I hear God telling me to do. 

I think overall, I know what my life mission is, and I focus on that. I know it is probably hard to believe, but I probably get four to five requests a day to DO things. I bring them all up to God, and say NO to everything I am not supposed to do. 

I heard about going to Colorado in June. So this whole trip to Colorado was an investigatory trip to see how another organization does things to care for their people, and I learned how my organization can improve, and that is why I talked to the guy yesterday morning. That was all a result of me hearing to pursue going to Colorado to learn from the people who are doing it well, and what is such a blow away is that I had a nervous breakdown with this organization 32 years ago, and they have grown and do it well when they did it TERRIBLY before. So, WE CAN ALL IMPROVE. Really great time. 

I have run out of time for the last question, and I am going to go for a walk with my sweetheart that I have only spent 13 hours with over the last 2 1/2 weeks!

How do you make whatever your choose a reality? (written the following Thursday)

I did not have enough time to answer this last week when Dali asked the question so I have thirteen minutes on my timer (because it is a THursday), and here I go.

My husband would say that I make everything I dream of a reality. LOL! I am very much a dreamer and visionary, BUT my dreams are usually rooted in reality. So I usually don't dream them unless I know that I can see it come through into a reality. So, the thing above about going and visiting the PRT headquarters was rooted in a time with God where He put this on my heart. I wrote it down, and I started acting upon what he told me. I emailed Rusty at PRT, but I also emailed John, our pastoral coach, and I asked him what he thought of me going to "shadow" the PRT in Colorado Springs (since I was already going to Denver for a conference that Rusty was going to). Both were game, and then my friend Anne, who lives in Colorado Springs, said she would like to intern with Rusty and bring back all the things she learns back to our agency. That was OUT OF THE BLUE! I did not even tell her what I was thinking about. So, I felt like that was confirmation. SO, last week (that I wrote about in the first question) became a reality! Dream realized. I feel like my job with all of that is done, except being a "bug on the wall" when Rusty goes to visit our agency. That will be fun, and I can just add "color" from a woman's perspective!

Because I am a strong "S" (I think that and feeler are my strongest letters on the Myers-Briggs), I don't think I know how to dream without it being rooted in me knowing that I have the capacity to follow through on it.

My third StengthsFinder strength is "Achiever" too. Consequently, I am a person who usually achieves my goals. I don't know why. Like when I set out to read all the books in The Well-Educated Mind. It took me eight years, but I chipped away at it and made that a reality. 

I have to say that I also have a very supportive husband who never hinders my goals, and he always supports them 100% and picks up the slack when I get into the "make my dreams a reality" mode. He likes to do things like that. 

I also like to break things down into manageable steps and not get freaked out. I have goals every day. That is just how I am wired. Yesterday, my goal was to get both Syllabi done for the classes that I am teaching at OSU, and I did it with plenty of time to spare. I also wanted to arrange CPR/First Aid training so I called the guy. I am not afraid to call people, ask questions, elicit help. Some people are afraid of that. 

Today, my goal is to learn Canvas. So, I am meeting with my boss this morning. I am also picking up the folder from my friend who used to teach the same classes I am teaching (WHY reinvent the wheel? I take her stuff and modify it for me.). I am also picking up the keys for my class and going out to lunch and a movie with a friend. I think making things into reality is not being afraid and also gathering as much information as you possibly can and learning from those who have gone before you. 

There is the bell! BYE BYE! 

38. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

This is the second time I was WAY down on the list at my library, but I scored in getting it ahead of most other people. The CD and the book hold lists were enormous, but I went on the Library2Go, and they had not even ordered it yet. So, I requested they ordered it and got it FIRST! YAY! Down to my iPhone. BOOM!

I listened to this on the plane to and from Denver (and a little when I had trouble falling asleep while there). I liked it. I do not think it is the MASTERPIECE of To Kill a Mockingbird (one of my Top 5 favorite books of all time), but I also don't think it is the MESS that some reviewers are calling it.

Reece Witherspoon's narration is PERFECT. That probably helped me in falling in love with the book. I also think some people do not like it because of how it portrays Attichus Finch. He was a product of his generation and geographical location. I wasn't as ruffled by it as some have been. 

It had some amazing quotes (the drawback of listening to the audiobook on a plane without pen and paper in hand). I recommend it, especially if you have read To Kill a Mockingbird!

Thursday Thirteen

I had someone ask me about these "freewrites" recently. I explained many year ago what they are, but for those of you who don't know, they are a concept I learned about while schooling my kids. They would take a pencil to paper and write whatever was on their mind for 15 minutes without any fear of correction by me. They have comical reflections on what that meant to them as kids.

It was a way to "warm up" their minds to writing on a daily basis. I learned it from Julie at bravewriter.com. She did not think of the concept, It was popularized by Peter Elbow but created by Dorothea Brande (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_writing).  

So, when I started this blog in 2004, I was immersed in anxiety about my kids being able to write. Now, they are in college and excellent writers (both being tagged by two separate instructors as the "best writers in the class"). 

So, here I am today after a full and fulfilling week in Colorado. I spent three and a half days in Aurora at a Transformational (formerly Theophostic) Prayer Ministry Conference with Ed Smith and his son, Joshua. It was great and held at a wonderful black church! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. They were so warm and loving. Rockin' time.

Then I spent  four days in Colorado Springs visiting Anne and the US Headquarters of the NAVS. What a highlight to go back to Glen Eyrie! It was great to see Rusty Rustenbach and his lovely daughter Elisa! I was her nanny 32 years ago when they first moved to Spain. Warm, warm love and memories! 

Well, I know there are many things I could say here, and I think I even had an agenda for this freewrite. Hmmm. I cannot remember what it was! Regardless, my fingers and mind have warmed up. 

I think I will go pray now. I need to process everything that You taught me, God!!!! 

BYE BYE! 

37. Core Mat I by Power Pilates

I am officially a Certified Power Pilates Teacher! What an intense course, but I learned a ton (and had a meltdown toward the end with a take home file and practical test where I had to teach without demonstrating the movement).

It has anatomy and an amusing history of Pilates drama! 

I love this for my back, and I will be teaching three classes in the fall, two at OSU and one at Snap Fitness!

Monday Morning Freewrite

Ok, I realize I have a great timer right in front of me in the form of this new and exciting LifeSpan Treadmill Desk! I did most of my Skype meeting this morning with Elizabeth on my treadmill. She thought it was great that I was doing this! I got very hot though with the door closed. That won't be a problem in the winter, but it gets very warm in this room with the door closed. 

I love this thing. I have already put 1 hour 50 minutes into walking, and I have not even gone outside yet. In the past, I would do all the things I do in the morning: devotional time, prayer, answering emails, Bible Book Club, etc. sitting down and not always getting my tail out the door for an outdoor walk. Now, if I am that "lazy," I will still get some cardio in while I am getting all those things done..  WOW! 

I finished my Core Mat I training with Power Pilates. It was INTENSE! I probably did all 18 moves at least 10 times over the course of the weekend. It was fun fitness-wise. I was not sore at all, and I felt strong and uncorked in my back at the end of the weekend; but I was overwhelmed in intensity. It was so much to absorb in one weekend, and I had to unlearn things that I had learned 12  years of doing Pilates through Timberhill Athletic Club, SNAP fitness, and DVD's. I still see that there are variations on style even within the classical Pilates community. Power Pilates distinguishes between "breathing exercises" and non-breathing. The book I have had BREATH patterns for ALL the 18 core exercises, and that is how I have learned in most of the classes that I have taken. So, I need to think that through.

Power is also a lot more staccato in how they lead in their classes. So, I need to think through that because it is not very relaxing for me, and by the middle of the third day, I had a most embarrassing meltdown. I was spent too. It was a lot of pressure and not very fun for me. I went for a little walk, and God said, "You are in your comfort zone on so many things that you do." True. I have discipled women for 35 years. I have led groups for that long. I have spoken in front of many people. For many, that would be outside their comfort zone, but it is like second nature to me. So, God reminded me that the last time I had a meltdown was when I was learning to surf in Sayulita, Mexico (I wore the shirt on Saturday and had the water bottle with me the whole weekend). I had my meltdown about the third day there too. So many PHYSICAL things to remember that were being directed to me VERBALLY. I could not absorb it all (plus my equipment was not correct for me which was their fault). I had one wipe out on the waves, and I melted down. I had also been around people non-stop for three days, and I was spent. I went to my room and traded with Shel for a massage. I just cannot always absorb things so quickly and everything was coming at me so fast that I just lost it. 

But I passed the class, and I realize that I have to make my instructing my own. I am just not a STACCATO type of gal. I am pretty "come alongside you" kind of gal. I had a FIRO-B assessment consultation today for a half hour, and he said that ISFJ's are "masters of the one-on-one" and no one does it better. I LOVE one-on-one. It is where I thrive, but I think that I need to teach these OSU classes. I think they will be really good for me. I think I will do just fine leading them. I just need to get all the VERBAL details down. I already went through a whole "mock" class by myself, and I got the order all right, and I only missed one time where I forgot to say, "head and chest" up.

I want to develop a "gentle Pilates" course for OSU. I think this will be really fun to do. 

Anyway, I have just gone two minutes over my time limit. :) I really want to work on photo album journaling today and just be ALONE for the rest of the day because things will be very relational from Wednesday on! YIKES!

Monday Morning Freewrite

Well, here I go. It is 7 am, and I wish you joy, reader of this blog. Blessing upon blessing.

Well, I am on Day 4 of my treadmill desk, and all my days have had consistently higher calorie burns according to my BodyBugg. I do think that the desk could we raised more. I thought I was at a 90 degree angle. In some ways I wish I had gotten the one that automatically rises and falls, but it was a gift. So I did not pick the auto rise and fall model. I think that would have been easier than taking everything off the desk and putting it up a couple more notches. But I think that might be why I am experiencing some pull on my neck on the left side. Maybe not.

Another thing that I noticed was a blemish on the belt. I had not noticed it until the light was shining on it. It is on a part of the belt I do not walk on (the edge). So, I am thinking it happened in shipping. For this big ticket item, that is not acceptable. 

Now, I always have to have another person with me to elevate the desk. Hmm. Maybe I will exchange this one for the better one. I just think this up and down thing is going to become a big bother in the long run. I will ask them when they come to look at the belt. I would raise it right now, but there is no one awake. On the other hand, once I raise it to the correct height, it will not matter that I have the auto because I will be the primary user of this thing. Yes, definitely need it raised. I will just stop typing until people get up because I think that is the definite thing that is pulling on my back. 

On a happy note, I got all my papers purged from the file drawers with a 65% reduction in paper. Now, I am working on the chest of drawers papers, and I am almost done with that (small stack on  my kitchen desk). Then, I will look at the Women Becoming Stuff, although I purged most of that last year, and it is in a nice and neat pile in the chest of drawers. Yet, I am more ruthless in my purging these days. SO, I should look at it. 

George and the boys will do the bathroom wall in the guest bathroom (George wants to do the whole thing rather than just touch ups. For some reason, he is not keen on getting a fleck of paint and matching it even though all I talk to tell me that is very simple to do, but he can be stubborn when it comes to things like that).  George will do the bedroom wall. That leaves me with the guest room closet and drawers along with the entire kitchen. George and the kids did under the stairs with the exception of some boxes I have in there that have very old papers and Bible studies that I plan on being ruthless with!

Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against PAPER!

Well, only 10 minutes for this unedited freewrite, but I must go for a REAL walk outside!

BYE!

Saturday Morning Fifteen Freewrite

I am been up since 5 am. My tummy hurt a bit. I think I was hungry. I was so busy yesterday that I forgot to eat very much.

I barely sat yesterday, and this meant I burned just shy of 3000 calories without even a cardio workout (just Pilates and MELT which does not burn many calories). You know why?

TREADMILL DESK! 

I answered all my emails and did all my communication while walking. I did it at least three hours all together. (I was gone for M - W and was busy most of Thursday so I had a lot of catching up to do!) The only thing that I am sad about is that I noticed a blemish on the belt. It looks like it is vulnerable to tear. So, I will most likely need to get a replacement. Other than that, I wish I had done this when I first started looking at them about five years ago. Soon, I will do a video with me walking on it (maybe after I lose the 10 pounds I put on over the last 10 months).  

Well, I also had something else happen. I was walking and thought, "I bet my friend who teaches PE classes at OSU would know people interested in getting certified in Pilates!"  So I texted her to see if she knew of anyone, and she said, "NO," but she forwarded my message on to the director of PAC (Physical Activity Class). I am so excited and so GREEN! I have done Pilates for 12 years, but I have never led a class, but everyone who hears I am going to do it says, "Oh you would be so good at that." I told the director he would be taking a huge risk, but he saw from my resume (that I did on my treadmill desk BTW) that I have lots of teaching, coaching, and health motivating in my background which is very true. Plus, I know OSU! So, I am a bit excited and going to start praying that I have students with great attitudes! (Not like the bad attitudes I had among three girls in my British Literature class in 2010!)

Well, I better get on with my prayer and PURGING (paper purging is my goal today, and I only have the kitchen two drawer file left).

BYE!

LifeSpan Treadmill Desk

Tuesday FACED Freewrite

I wrote a whole email for my FACED accountability group, and I thought I would cut and paste it here. It is fun to just review the summer and especially JULY! 

Here is the letter:

I am going to report my food daily for you starting today.  Here is a brief update on the other things in FACE. I realize that they are always really good, but the FOOD is the main thing I need accountability in so this is a general summary, and the rest of my reports will focus on the "F" only! 

I always seem to have ACED the bottom four (GET IT?), but I FALL FLAT on my FACE with FOOD!

A(cademic): Reading daily. On track for my 52 books in 52 weeks. I am reading lots of anatomy, pain management, and Pilates stuff. May go back to school for a Personal Training Diploma (more than just a certification with hands-on experience in a club setting with a personal trainer mentoring me) so I am trying to get ready for school Mon-Thurs 9:30 – 2:30 from October to March. Also going to a four day listening prayer conference in Colorado and then on to Glen Eyrie for another three days to have a refresher for my counseling practice. J

C(ommunion with God and people): Daily SLOW time (Stop, Listen, Obey, Worship). Trying to “Walk for the World” in August and forgot to Sunday and Monday. Also finishing a Revelation study I started maybe 10 years ago (four parts and very long so stopped at part three)? Meeting with girls every other week for prayer and crafts.

E(xercise): Lots of body work as I prepare for the Pilates certification on August 14-16. I am also doing MELT (please google – it is PHENOMENAL and left me with ZERO pain anywhere in my body). Also doing Foundation Training (great for your core – google). I have not done as much cardio because of a sprained ankle and all the body work I am doing, but I am trying to get to more this month as I gained a little in July.

D(aily care of family and self): LOTS of “Hearth and Home” for July – new carpet for living room and hallway, painted living room and hung new pictures, rearranged furniture, stripped wall paper and painted boys’ room (I have directed this for my kids rather than me doing the labor, and they have had a blast together doing it), painted bathroom ceilings and skylights because of mold, finished my 25 year Christmas album (just need to journal in it, but that will be very quick since I was only two Christmases behind), got all our European Grand Tour pictures into one album, but I still need to journal them in August, decluttered my closet so year round clothes all fit in there (rather than having to change in and out in Fall and Summer), decluttered most of my file drawers (one file drawer full left) and moved the file drawer to a perfectly fitting alcove that had a chest of drawers full of unusable cassette tapes and old videos. My son is transferring the videos to digital, and I am throwing away the cassette tapes with abandon! Rearranged the furniture in the office and installed a TREADMILL DESK (I had saved money for our 25^th anniversary, but we ended up having a very cheap four day vacation with free lodging for half of it so I used the extra to buy this that will help my back and my waistline!). I am going to move my counseling room down to the guest room and taking out the double bed futon there and installing a fold up single bed futon that can be neatly stored under desk. I need to think about comfortable counseling chairs down there (I think I do have one already that Michael is using for the summer. (Oh, I also have a little side table because I don’t have a place for the counselees to put their tea, and now I do. Oh joy!). I also am moving all the boys' albums into their bedroom to do with what they choose. This will free up one of the half book cases in the guest room. Oh, I also got a bedspread for our bedroom after FOUR YEARS of not having one (just threw a queen sized comforter down there). I also used a tapestry that would no longer go over the mantle and had been in the closet for three years over our bed, and it matched perfectly! Why did I not think of this before? I also did a photo wall collage next to the tapestry of our family. LOOKS BEAUTIFUL! I am so happy with all the decorative changes we made in July, but it was a BUSY month!

I still need to:

1) Journal in all albums (including the last of the kids’ albums that I am committed to doing until Paul is 21)

2) Declutter the chest of drawers

3) Go through all CD’s and DVD’s and toss

4) Direct going through all VHS tapes for Michael to transfer

5) Declutter kitchen stuff and get all kitchen stuff in the kitchen versus some in the garage and some upstairs

6) Declutter pantry

7) Go through chests of drawer in office and use that for space

8) Declutter papers in file drawer in kitchen and make that the “Current stuff” filing while making the one in the office for old tax stuff and the guest room for archival stuff. Still thinking through the paper stuff as that decluttering book says to toss EVERYTHING!

9) Go through the mementos drawer, action packers full of my grandparents and parents stuff and be ruthless about pictures and stuff that seems valuable but means nothing to me (That will be the hardest thing).

10) Go through bathrooms and toss old medicines and make up (I did this not too long ago so it should not be TOO hard).

11) Touch up wall paint in guest bathroom

12) Paint one wall in the master bedroom

13) Declutter papers in the remaining one drawer in the metal filing cabinet. I think I will have cut all the papers in HALF in the two we have done so far!!

Sunday Morning Fifteen Minute Freewrite

Perfect time to let my fingers do the walking across the computer keyboard. I love that it is 6:15 am. It is a nice even number to start typing until 6:30. 

I had a lovely time at the coast hearing stories of three other lovely women. Good time. I need time with like-hearted peers. Someday, I would love to have like-hearted peers who also have the same outward focus interest. These three have a heart for prayer and are ministering to people, and that is really good.  They are all relatively healthy too. This is something I realize I need. I am sad to say that some of my long-time friends just are not getting healthier, and I am going to just be "the friend who stands by," but a part of me realizes that I need to move on to friends who are also a bit healthier so that I have some measure of mutual support. That is healthy for me. So, this weekend was a good investment (and cheap as another friend donated her house, and we ate inside the whole time because I brought so much food for Friday dinner that we could have it for lunch the next day).  

We told our stories, and it is so good to review God's goodness in our lives. I see how much God has preserved me by His great goodness, and I give all glory to Him.

You know, I am feeling that I should get to know Bond a bit better so maybe I will see if she wants to get together some time in the next couple of weeks. That will be really good. 

Well, I had a SLOW time with God (Stop, Listen, Obey, Worship), and He has such a wonderful sense of humor because August is to be a month of "P" activities:

Prayer 
Physical Health (weight, strengthening)
Pilates (get training to be an instructor)
Personal Training (explore my options)
Pain Management (MELT)
Precept upon Precept Bible Study
Peacemaking (waiting on Him for this one)
Paper Purge (this should be further up the list)
Paul (launch him with prayer and love)
Precious Remedies books

My back is doing really well. I sat a lot this weekend, and I have to say that I just did some proper sitting and foot fascia release and MELT roller (when I got home), and I have no feeling of pain from sitting so much. There is something about this MELT and Foundation Training, and Gokhale Method sitting and Pilates. I am doing so well!

I woke up at 2:30 am and forced myself to go back to sleep but got up at about 3:50 am. It has been great to have the morning for praying and thinking through some things (in addition to answering the "connector questions" I get on a daily basis). 

Well, my time is nearly up, and there are many more things I would like to do today. I will walk for the world before church. 

Bye. 

36. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

This book was all the rage on Facebook, and many of my friends were buying it, but I chose to wait for it, and I was 60+ in line on the hold list. Two days after putting it on hold, I went to book club, and my friend had it in a pile to bring back to the library with a week still left on the check out! So, I quickly read this. It is a simple book. While I am convinced the person who wrote it is has some emotional issues (she does allude to this toward the end of the book) which made her compulsive and almost OCD in her "tidying" behavior, I think there are some valuable things to be gleaned from this book. I read half of it into the wee hours of my 56th birthday and put the principles to work on my clothes in a break between my lunch time birthday celebration with a friend and my dinner time celebration with my family. I was so "into" it that I totally forgot to go to a doctor's appointment! LOL! She recommended that all your clothes be in one place, and I had always had a summer clothes set and a winter clothes set, and it was always a pain to bring up the Rubbermaid Action Packer to change them out. After my purge, I was able to fit the whole year in one closet. So, I think her method works.

She has you ask yourself, "Does this thing bring me joy?" I realize that while things used to bring me joy, they no longer do. So it is OK to "let go" of that thing and know that its time of giving you joy has past, and you have that memory of it giving you joy. So, there were some good principles (although I won't be talking to my objects anytime soon - some of her stuff is just weird Shinto stuff that I have no desire to approach). 

Here is a link to a thorough analysis of the book along with pictures of how the author put it all into practice. That was helpful: 

http://www.jdroth.com/konmari-method-life-changing-magic-tidying/

Here is a book excerpt: 
https://www.scribd.com/doc/232194390/The-Life-Changing-Magic-of-Tidying-Up-by-Marie-Kondo-Excerpt

Here is the order (Sorry if the numbering is all wonky, Blogger has such an outdated word processor that sometimes it does the weirdest things. So I put it in Word, and it looked fine so now I am cutting it from Word and putting it back here and hoping it works.):

1. Clothes 

1.    Tops

2.    Bottoms 

3.    Hung Clothes [Hang from left to right: coats, dresses, jackets, pants, skirts, blouses], 

4.    Socks 

5.    Underwear

6.    Bags

7.    Accessories

8.    Clothes for special events [swimsuits, uniforms, costumes, triathlon, backpacking], shoes)

2. Books

3. Papers (discard everything that does not fall into these categories: currently in use, needed for a limited time, kept indefinitely. This includes credit card statements, old checkbook stubs, greeting cards (unless sentimental for joy), seminar notes [oh that would be hard for me as I feel like an archival person when it comes to that]. This does not include papers with sentimental value as they go in the mementos category)

4. Komono (miscellany)

1.    CDs, DVDs

2.    Skin care products

3.    Make up

4.    Accessories

5.    Valuables (passports, credit cards, etc)

6.    Electrical equipment (camera, electric cords, anything vaguely so)

7.    Household equipment (stationary and writing materials, sewing kits, etc.)

8.    Household supplied (medicine, detergent, tissues, etc.) 

9.    Kitchen goods/food supplies (spatulas, pots, blenders, etc.)

10.Other (spare change, figurines, etc.) 

5. Mementos

She says to do this over a six month period of time. I think that is reasonable. She recommends by category rather than room (I wonder what the Flylady thinks of that?).  She also recommends having all your things in that category in one place (unless they are for specific season clothes).

It is not as worthless a book as some have reviewed, but it is also not as earth shattering as others have purported (I mean really - the way she teaches you to fold your shirts is the way my mom taught me years ago, but I realized I have NOT taught my kids this method, and I will do so today!)

Wednesday Freewrite

I have not been doing this as I said I would. :) Yesterday was hard. I had something that disturbed me happen a couple of days ago, and it was not until I got up to have my time with God that it all came to a head. I needed a lot more time to process but had a meeting with many others at 8:30. Bad idea. Things came to a head with me, and I had to leave the meeting at 11 am to process the stuff. I had to grieve. I had to let go of my worry and anxiety over a dear friend. I feel like this friend is slipping, and I cannot do anything to help her. So, I had a good cry. I processed with George and Kim, and later on with Nancy. Nathan also called me during the lunch break in the meeting, and he was awesome. I came back without embarrassment. Sometimes having Empathy as your second signature theme has its drawbacks!

Well, my number one signature theme is Learner. I have spent so much on signature theme #3 this summer: Achiever. We have gotten so many home projects done that I am amazed! I am so happy about it too. BUT I miss my Learner theme! So, I will be . . . 

I have no idea what derailed me on this, but things got all messed up because Kellie used my computer and signed into her gmail account and did not log out afterward. So, it was a mess. I am hoping this posts. 

Sunday Freewrite

Fifteen minutes were going to start 20 minutes ago, but I did not get around to it as I was looking at other things. 

Operation "Hearth and Home" is still in progress. Yesterday, it was the bathroom ceilings which, because of improper ventilation have had some mold issues. George took apart the fans, and Michael cleaned them thoroughly. Then they painted both ceilings. It was a perfect day because we actually had rain. So it was cool and the windows and skylights were opened wide and the paint fumes escaped.

We also went to Fred Meyer to shop, and I found frames for 50 percent off (2 days sale). So, I got a nice one that said "Family" with room for 10 4x6 pictures. We also got one with similar metal work that held three 8 x 10's. I had the two pictures that I had printed from the boys' senior pictures:

I also put our latest studio family picture. It was back in 2011, and I think I would like to hire a photographer to do family portraits outdoors. Perhaps in the fall? I am not sure. We will see.

I also bought a wonderful frame with the saying, "Life is not measured by the breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away." The picture I really wanted was our kiss at our wedding ceremony, but it is bound in our wedding book, and I have not idea how to get a hold of Kevin DeWhitt in order to make another 8 x 10. I will work on that, but in the meantime, I put the picture of George and I from the retreat. That is perfect because the flowers in that picture match our "Mediterranean Summer" tapestry (that I let sit in our bedroom closet when I could have totally changed the look of our room). I also put our wedding verses and verses from James on the opposite side of the tapestry (a smaller space so I used only two things).

So, now I just have to find 10 4 x 6 pictures for that frame and one in the boys' room (repainted with bare walls). I also need to put our Europe trip in the albums I have had for a few weeks. That is a project I will work on this week. Then, "Hearth and Home" major projects will be pretty much done other than perhaps painting a wall in my bedroom a darker color of green (because George dried a shirt on that wall, and it streaked it - still wondering what kind of paint she used for those walls, because they do not wash well) and painting the guest bathroom walls a sand color (there is a bit of mold in the corners that will not wash off). YAY! Hearth and Home was what you told me to do.

So, August is going to more about health, intercession, listening, and learning. 

Health - 10 pounds of weight loss, working on my body strength as I prepare for Pilates leading.

Intercession - walk for the world, gather for world prayer times with others, Joshua walks.

Listening - Listen and obey, grow in listening prayer through Theophostic (Transformational) Prayer Ministry (TPM) conference and Colorado.

Learning - Pilates instruction, Personal training course, TPM conference, visiting Nav headquarters. 

August will be climbing a big H.I.L.L.! 

I have gone over the 15 minutes. Oh by the way, "Hearth and Home" will still continue, but the big projects will be done by the end of July!

Wednesday Freewrite

In keeping with my desire to freewrite more often, I am writing another day. Does this make it three in a row? Maybe more? I am not going to look because I am freewriting, by golly, and that means I write freely without having my fingers come away from the pen or keyboard (I really like writing both ways). 

I already wrote about what was an incredibly wonderful time on my 25th Anniversary at Inn of Spanish Head. After my writing, we just relaxed and read and watched news, and then we went up to the 10th floor to have our, oh so perfect, dinner at sunset. We had to wait, but they gave us a booth right at the window. It was spectacularly gorgeous (and after my fifteen minutes of fame freewriting, I will post a picture)! I splurged because George's mom gave us a hearty sum to have a lavish anniversary dinner. So, I had LOBSTER TAILS for the first time since probably Malaysia (when a "surf and turf" steak and lobster dinner was $10) back in 1998! It was heavenly as was the company. 

OUR 25TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY at the place where it all began! On top of the world overlooking the Pacific at sunset.
(I like this one because you can see the beach below)

We talked more about why it works for us so well: common passion and goals, always know how and what the other is doing because we always talk about what is happening in the other's lives (I guess I like that because we ARE, after all, two separate individuals even though we share common passions and goals. I have not lost my identity in who George is, and he has not his identity in me. Does that make sense, reader?), another thing George added is we have FUN! Perhaps that is because we are two youngest children, and that is very characteristic of youngest! WOOHOO!

I also would like to add that we know what the other is doing because we ask each other. I love being with an "other-centered" person. George has never been self-centered in any way, stretch, or form. He usually thinks about others before he thinks about himself, so naturally, he would ask and be interested in the other person, and the person he is most interested in is MOI! While I don't think I am as other-centered as George (he has such a servant's heart), I am more outwardly focused than inwardly-so (because I am a very strong SF personality type which is the Mother Teresa personality type). While he could lend himself to be inwardly-focused (NF), he is so healthy. I always say that healthy NF's are the bomb. It is just a matter of getting healthy! George is overwhelmingly healthy because even though he is other-centered, he knows how to care for his own soul! I love that about him.

We never drank the champagne the hotel gave us (forgot to). We came back, and I finished Greg's wonderful autobiography! It was lovely. So nice to know him. I always have such admiration for ENTP's! I could never be like them, but they amaze the socks off of me. He is such a maverick in so many ways. 

Oh, I have two more minutes. What shall I write now? George is across from me looking at the Chronicles of Higher Education for jobs out there. He has such a great job, but we are praying about our future during this get away too.

Oh, I also wanted to say that I am doing a FOOD FIFTY. I would like to lose the weight that has come on me without any kind of discipline eating since last JULY! I do not know what has happened to me. YES, I am still within my weight range, but I like to be at the LOWER END of it rather than the UPPER MIDDLE end! So, here we go again. Yesterday was a super big splurge, but for the next 50 days (minus my birthday on the 27th), I am going to GO FOR IT. 

Sadly, I do not think I will have consistent accountability with my FACED buddies. They have big families and busy lives, and I need DAILY encouragement that I just can no longer get from them. SO I am looking for two new FACED buddies who can DAILY report their eating to me, and I to them. 

Oh, now I am over my fifteen minutes, and I need to do some Pilates!

BYE! 

35. 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back by Esther Gokhale

I went to the free workshop a few months back and was intrigued to perfect the sitting and sleeping techniques. I promised a review last July and realized today that I never delivered on that promise so am updating this review today!

Now that I have become a personal trainer, I realize that many of her postural principles are so true. I love how she has pictures of proper posture and how to properly move correctly through the activities of everyday life. I have taught her principles of "glidewalking" to my Pilates classes (making them walk around the classroom using their Glutes rather than their psoas). Now that I know that muscle mechanics behind all of that, I see that she has some sound principles and techniques. 

I got caught up on how to do "stretchlying" and "tallstanding" though! She has a weekend workshop that you can attend for $450, and I am going to see if I can count that as continuing education for my personal training recertification. I was hoping not to have to pay that much to find out how to do those correctly though! Maybe I will search YouTube for some examples of how to do it. I can imagine having someone correct you would be very valuable though. 

I have applied many of these principles, and it has been a wonderful piece of the puzzle that is my back! 

Tuesday Twelve at Two

Twelve minute freewrite at 2:00 pm. GO!

It is my 25th anniversary today, and here I sit in a nice studio room on the Oregon Coast. The sun is shining, and it is warm. We walked for almost 7 miles in shorts and mostly bare feet all morning, and now we are back for an afternoon siesta (or at least George is taking one because I am not much of a napper). I thought I would record that we are so enjoying a no-agenda kind of getaway!

We got here, having skipped lunch, and went for the early bird special on the tenth floor of this amazing place. The weather was spectacular as we sat there watching the waves. Delightful.

After that, we walked for an hour and a half out to Siletz Bay and then up the Schooner Creek until we could not go up any further (we needed to have kayaks!).  Then we walked back up through town back to our hotel. 

We looked out our balcony and saw that the pool was totally empty (lots of little kids earlier in the day) so we JUMPED at the opportunity, and I did laps. Then, we went into the jacuzzi. I came back and did MELT. THEN, I got in the great jacuzzi tub. After that, I read Greg's great autobiography.

I woke up really early and had a great time with God remembering what a terrible night I had before our wedding, and how I was convinced that the enemy was messing with my head. What a blow to his head to have me persevere through the night and go for that long drive down Hwy 20 to that park before the bridge and do just give that devil a good swift KICK. Then, I drove back to the church and prayed through the whole place for our day, and how glad I am that I did not give into despair that day. I can see why the devil did not want it to happen. :) It has been bliss for us. Absolute bliss, and I am not afraid to say that. George is the easiest person in the world to live with, and he is my best friend. We talked about why it has worked, and he said, "Because he had never met anybody who loves the same kinds of things." We love the same kind of ministry, we love classical books and music, we love long walks and hikes and bike rides. We love to talk about deep (rather than trivial) things. We love to meet at the mind and the heart. 

Anywho, we spent an hour in prayer this morning over so many things, but much of it was intercession for all the wonderful people who have been in our life over these last 25 years of blessing and bliss.

Oh my, it is way over twelve minutes and closer to my normal 15. Would love to post pictures, but I want to get to some Foundation Training! 

Monday Madness

Well, tomorrow is my 25th wedding anniversary, and we are starting it off today by having a leisurely morning together (although the excitement of getting a call from the ortho office at 8 am telling us that our youngest had a 7:50 am appointment was not very leisurely - he obviously did not write it down and did not tell us about it). After we get EURO PILLOWS (When did these become popular in the US? There were two shams in our comforter set, and I have never even heard of them.) at Target, we are going to the place where it all began: The Inn at Spanish Head. I even found my receipt from 25 years ago. LOL! I am so excited to go away and just have no plans. I am bringing my hiking poles and boots because there are many nice trails to be had there. We will probably walk along the beach and sip tea (me) and coffee (he) and just have nowhere to go and no people to see. Celebrating US!

Well, I will go now to Target. I want closure on our bedroom. Well, I won't have closure until I paint the wall that got streaked many years ago when George had a wet shirt and hung it on the window sill to dry. I will have to paint it a contrasting color because I do not have the old paint color. I also want to fill an empty space with a family tree sort of picture wall. We did take down the rose pictures over our bed and put them in the bathroom because we took the Monet prints out of the bathroom and put them in our living room. We took the tapestry that used to hand over our old mantle piece (before John made our wood mantle that made it too small a space to hang the old tapestry) and put it over our bed. IT TOTALLY MATCHES EVERYTHING IN OUR ROOM! It is lovely over there and hides all marks left by the old rose pictures being there for 12 years! 

We also need to paint the master and guest bathroom ceilings. 

But the boys' dinosaur wall border and blue sponge paint is all gone! It was replaced by a neutral color, and now they can decide what goes on the walls. :) 

And the living room is totally DONE! YAY! I love how it all turned out!