My Heroes... Jimmy Thomas...

Yes, my sister took several pictures, but this is my favorite.

Yes, I've mentioned him before, from time to time, especially this past week. I've even had him as one of my early heroes. Now, I've met him. If you don't like fan-girl type gushing, then I suggest skipping today's post. This is for me.

First impression: He is gorgeous.

I watched my friend Deena Remiel speak with him, so at ease, and wished I were someone else. Someone with fewer issues, about a lot of things. My sister had offered to take pictures. It's why he was there, to take pictures with anyone who wanted one.

My anxiety was already escalating being in such a crowded venue. Yes, I have difficulties in crowds and unfamiliar situations and surroundings, not to mention men. I hadn't eaten much for breakfast, crackers and a breakfast drink, early in the morning, with the hope of not embarrassing myself.

My sister found a fellow photo enthusiast, and they began chatting. I stood with them, only half listening, as I watched Deena and Jimmy chat.

The anxiety began to climb, and I knew if I wanted to meet him I'd have to do it soon, or I'd drag my sister away, and leave, without making any attempt to meet him.

Important note: I'm one of his "harem." The harem was started by Shannon, and bless her she posts pictures of Jimmy throughout the day. She also posts inspirational quotes. When the harem found out I would be at the Chocolate Affaire, they demanded I come back with pictures to share.

Would they kick me out of the harem, if I didn't at least try? Yes, I'm being facetious. I was trying to work up the courage, but I also knew they would be disappointed.

Then I hit on a plan I knew I could live with and dated me terribly: I walked up and asked Deena to introduce us. She did. Bless her. She wondered if she'd used the right name (real or pen), and I admitted he would only know me from the harem (real name), so to speak. He was kind. His hug was warm and gentle.

I felt safe.

Because I'd worked up the courage, my sister also came over, and he shook her hand. He was respectful and considerate.

Bless Deena, again, we were able to chat for a while. He took pictures with me, his arm around me, and with Deena and with both of us. It was fun. It was huge for someone with my past.

I felt safe.

It was interesting to watch him interact with people. He didn't push anyone to interact with him. He allowed them to approach him, and proceeded to charm them. He has a remarkable gift for putting others at ease, and the honor to not take advantage of such a powerful gift.

There is about him a quiet, gentle strength.

I felt safe.

He didn't mind giving me another hug when I left. He was kind.

He is gorgeous, from the inside out.

Game Changer...

Last weekend was a game changer: Life Changing.

In truth, this week has been one life change after another or building on the ones occurring.

On Saturday, I met Jimmy Thomas. Most people don't know what this means to me. I'll be writing about it, tomorrow, in more depth. Yes, I've had him as one of my heroes before, but it was before I met him.

On Sunday, I read this: Casa Blanca Authors had a post by Anne Elizabeth: http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/2012/02/happy-super-bowl-sunday-by-anne.html

The Navy SEALs have also made a huge difference in my life. No, I don't know any, but I've read Marcus Luttrell's Lone Survivor and Dick Couch's The Warrior Elite, and SEAL of Honor is next on the list.

Monday, one of my FaceBook friends, met because of Jimmy, posted an article about bodybuilding. No, I don't plan to pursue it, but it had some great suggestions I could modify to fit and help me. I'm tired of being overweight. She also gave me a lot of ideas of other things I could do to implement the changes I want.

Tuesday, I decided I'd had enough of secrets.

Wednesday, I signed up for my first writers' conference. A friend emailed inviting me to attend the Ren Faire this weekend, in costume, of course.

Thursday, I bought a Kindle as a reward for going through with my eye appointment. I was seriously stressing. No, nothing is wrong, but it doesn't keep me from imagining the worst. I also met with a couple of my writing friends for lunch. It was delightful! I gave two people business cards at Sam's Club. After looking at myself in the mirror to put in my new contacts, I knew I had to make more changes. I didn't like what I saw. My sister has taken pictures giving me a peek into what she sees. I like it. I want it. So I came home and emailed my niece, who is a Mary Kay consultant and has fun with fashion, and asked her to help me. She suggested meeting me at a salon, in a half hour. EEP! I confessed I wasn't quite THAT ready. We're meeting this weekend to chat. Four in the afternoon to midnight, I fought with my Kindle, but I did prevail. Whoohoo!! I read for five minutes, and let it go to sleep, so I could go to sleep.

It's Friday, and I have to do the work I didn't do yesterday and become more familiar with my Kindle.

Week Thirty-Three of REAL...

The 3rd: weigh in: 233.6 lb. Not bad considering what I ate last night. I'll do better, today.

The 4th: weigh in: 235.2 lb. No surprise there. Yesterday wasn't great either. I was stressing. Today, my sister and I attended the Chocolate Affaire. I enjoyed Deena Remiel's workshop, and meeting Jimmy Thomas. The man is truly gorgeous, from the inside out. We stood and walked around for over four hours. I don't think it actually qualifies for the walking I'm endeavoring to achieve, but the stress of being in a crowd had my heart rate through the roof, so I'm counting it. So there. Did I say that out loud?

The 5th: weigh in: 234.2 lb. Took myself for a one-mile walk, this morning. I miss being outside first thing in the morning. For five years, every morning, I went out and cared for my horse. I miss my horse, but I'm realizing I also miss that time I spent in talking with God. It's hard to put on airs when you're shoveling horse manure.

The 6th: weigh in: 234.6 lb. One SEAL puppy rep. In keeping with my plan to increase by 10%, my rep has been increased from 10 to 11. Hey! It's a start! Two-mile walk. Another SEAL puppy rep. I don't think I mentioned anywhere about being worried Jimmy was eating. He's a romance cover novel and a fitness model. I don't think I mentioned the last. Yes, he understands health, and taking care of himself. I caught myself wanting to mother him, and wanted to slap a hand over my mouth. I don't really want to mother him. I look at myself, and then I look at him, and I need to stop talking and listen to what he's telling me about taking care of myself. Yes, he's one of my health mentors, though he doesn't know it. Physical therapy, with weights, and up from 30 to 33 reps. I'm attending Desert Dreamin' in June. I'm setting myself a challenge, with the help of my friend Shannon, to lose 20 pounds between now and then. I'm going to start the count at 235. Go. Go! GO! Whatever.

The 7th: weigh in 234.2 lb. Following Shannon's advice, I dressed nice, did my hair in a more updated style, and spritzed on a little perfume. Wow.

The 8th: weigh in: 232.4 lb. SEAL puppy rep, to 11. Two-mile walk. Another SEAL puppy rep, to 11. Physical therapy with 1-lb weights to 33. I didn't sleep well, last night. I felt like I had ants under my skin. I finally drifted off around three in the morning. I still woke up and went for my walk. While I walked I was able to connect the feeling to the cause: adrenalin rush. Telling the parents I'm a writer was not easy. It turned out about as I expected, though not quite as I expected. I should have taken myself for a walk, but it was already eight o'clock at night. I could have done physical therapy, and it would have helped. I really need to learn to remember to use exercise more to my advantage. It's an old habit to try to be still. Sort of an, if I hold very still then no one will see me or notice me and maybe I'll be safe.

The 9th: weigh in: 233.6 lb. Waist circumference: 39.5". So, I've ended up where I started this week. Bah! Dressed nice for the day. A bit of perfume. Worth. I remember when my friend Jan gave it to me, to remind me I was of worth. I cried. It still warms my heart. I keep the bottle on my bookshelf beside my computer, where I see it every day.

More bits and bobs....

5 Random Things About Me:

1. I've owned a dog and a horse. I miss them both.
2. I'm incredibly reserved, and yet I can be a real chatterbox.
3. I've sewn a cathedral window quilt, for a king-size bed, which I don't own, and my sister started it.
4. Asking me not to write would be tantamount to asking me not to breathe.
5. I have met and have autographed pictures of cover model Jimmy Thomas, composer Howard Shore, and actors Elijah Wood and Sean Astin (Frodo and Sam).

I finally told my parents about my writing.




If you have to ask, you aren't. I'm not.

Wow... I've been given an award...

From Leigh Covington. She's a writer. Thanks, Leigh. This was a pleasant surprise.

The Liebster blog award is given to "little" bloggers, those with 200 followers or less, with the idea that the awardee share with other little bloggers.

The rules for the award are: 1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog. 2. Link back to the blogger who awarded/nominated you. 3. Copy and paste the blog award to your blog. 4. Reveal your top blog picks! I've seen it listed as 5 and 3. I chose 5. 5. Drop by your top picks and let them know you chose them by commenting on their blog!

My own rule: I gave myself a week to follow through. I realize a couple of my favorite bloggers are feeling swamped right now, but I wanted to share them anyway. Please don't feel obligated to do this. It's for fun. If it isn't fun, the point is being missed.

Passing along the award to more amazing bloggers:

We Are One My sister's site... she's DID and battling and winning over depression.

You Don't Have to Dance for Them Upsi has created a remarkable space for discussing ACoN.

The Craft Ladies of Romance is a blog written by a group of Christian Romance writers.

Nothing but Writing is written by a friend who is unpublished currently, but working along.

The Hardest Battles is another blog about surviving as an ACoN. I found Kiki because of Upsi. In fact, they both have links listed to a lot of great blogs.

Carpe diem... a bit of fun...

Working, working, working...

Whatever else is done is done.

Is this adorable or what? Jimmy Thomas at the Chocolate Affaire. Thanks, Ruth, for the pictures. Yes, I'll be posting about this, off and on, for the next week. I learned a lot from the experience.

Thank Goodness It's Sunday #89

~Worth remembering http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSrAJsWvEIc&feature=related If not now, when?

How funny that I chose this a while ago for today's post. It is so fitting. Right now. Thanks, God.

~Thanks, Ruth, for teaching me how stupid computers are. I was writing a post, and blogger was taking a really long time to save. So I copied the post and pasted it elsewhere, and then tried to save. Blogger, bless their pointed heads, required me to sign back in, and lost it!! Because I learned from a very smart woman, I opened the post and pasted in everything I'd written. So there. :-)

~Beautiful weather, especially for an outside event.

~My Desert Rose chapter. I am so honored to be a part of such an incredible group of people.

~Jimmy Thomas.

My Heroes... Soldier's Angels...

Well, actually, all the amazing wonderful groups that support our troops. God bless them and the work they do. Some of the groups include Wounded Warriors, USO, Packages From Home, GreenBeansCoffee, and so many more. I've wanted to do something, but I'm living on savings and don't have any particular skills. For example, Wounded Warriors is looking to staff. I read through what they need. I don't qualify. I've been discouraged. This week, I discovered that Soldier's Angels has a Wish List at Amazon! I can do that! And I did. :-)

I finished reading The Warrior Elite The Forging of SEAL Class 228 by Dick Couch, who was himself a BUD/S graduate of class 45. AMAZING!

God bless our troops.

The only constant in life is...

...change.

I've noticed Blogger has changed the comment section. One is now able to reply specifically to a comment. Cool.

Promotional video for the Desert Dreams Writer's Conference, compliments of Kris Tualla, on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flYALSZdmDk

Did you know that the groundhog tradition is less reliable than a coin toss?

I'm feeling scattered. Can you tell?

Ugh.

I'm on day 10 of my cold. The runny nose is over. Thank goodness. The stuffy head is not over. The voice is iffy. The brain is still mostly absent, and I have to keep functioning.

While I'm feeling completely inept and unproductive because some projects I need to work on aren't seeing any progress, I have to admit I've accomplished quite a bit. I'm still sleeping a lot more than I usually do.

Trying a different tact. Instead of beating myself up over not accomplishing anything, I'm going to anticipate only accomplishing the minimum. Work has to be done. No questions. It's half done now. What should have taken a couple of hours I spent a whole workday doing, and only finished half. Should have been a clue.

I did gather all my tax information and deliver it to my accountant. Done. Whoohoo!! Not that it's good news, but putting it off will not make it better. So shut up, buck up, and get it done. Done.

Epic fail in the eating healthy department. I love Cheese Fix Munchies. I divided part of the bag among six containers, but finished the rest of the bag, along with four more Dove Promises pieces. Success anywhere in sight? I didn't eat the whole bag of chips. I really did leave the six servings alone. And I didn't eat an entire bag of Dove Promises, only what was left in an already open bag that I have been very good about parceling out in single servings. So, it was good I wasn't as bad as I could have been, and have been in the past, but I'm going to feel this binge tomorrow.

Made a couple of decisions, but haven't found the wherewithal to carry them out. I'm not going to beat myself up over it, much. I don't know why I feel like I have to work up the courage to carry them through, but I do. Maybe because they're new. Doesn't really matter, I suppose. I'll get it done, eventually.

I did arrange for an eye appointment. It's time is all. Overdue, in fact.

Crawling into bed early because I'm having trouble stringing together more than two sentences at a time.

Week Thirty-Two of REAL...

The 27th: weigh in: 232.6 lb. Feeling a bit better, today. Thank you, God, for Gypsy Cold Care tea. I find it incredibly helpful.

The 28th: weigh in: 232.4 lb. One SEAL puppy rep. Two-mile walk or thereabouts, calling it an hour, total 60 minutes. Maybe less, but may be more. Two more SEAL puppy reps. Physical therapy, with weights. Okay, I finished reading about Hell Week, in The Warrior Elite by Dick Couch. The last week of First Phase in becoming a Navy SEAL. I am such a wimp. Having confessed the truth, I'm also headed toward a half decade of life. Then again, I would never have been able to do what they do. Ever. God bless 'em.

The 29th: weigh in: 232.6 lb.

The 30th: weigh in: 233.2 lb. Two SEAL puppy reps. Two-mile walk, 40 minutes, total 100 minutes. Two more SEAL puppy reps. Physical therapy, with weights.

The 31st: weigh in 232.2 lb. Mike, dad of the amazing Andrew, suggested only adding 10% each week to the reps. That's what his team does. I'm going to try. It doesn't feel nearly as daunting as trying to double my reps, as little as my reps are.

February

The 1st: weigh in: 233.2 lb. Two SEAL puppy reps. One-mile walk, 20 minutes, total of 120 minutes. Two more SEAL puppy reps. Physical therapy, with weights, adding 10%.

The 2nd: weigh in: 232.8 lb. Waist circumference: 39.5". Going back down. Did something somewhere causing some back pain. All it takes is favoring one side over the other. For example, I had stepped on something and hurt my foot. Nothing traumatic, but it was enough for me to favor, ever so slightly, one side over the other, and my back notices. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Whether or not the groundhog saw his shadow, in six weeks, it's going to be six weeks later. What will I accomplish in those six weeks?

German Chocolate Cake!!

Yes, I bought a single piece of German Chocolate Cake. It was so big, I divided it, and had it two days in a row. Whoohoo!! It was fun. Half on the last day in January, and half on the first day of February. Maybe I'll start a new tradition. It's a whole lot more fun to look forward to than pulling my tax stuff together.

Here are a couple of posts I enjoyed this past week: Diane Gaston's about Coaching Inns: http://dianegaston.com/blog/2012/01/coaching-inn/comment-page-1/

http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/what-to-look-for-in-2012-the-year-of-the-dragon/

Desert Rose meeting was fun. One of my dearest friends attended with me. I'm feeling much more a part, but then I've finally thrown myself in. Makes me think of the SEALs having to get wet and sandy. They have to throw themselves in 110%. I can't do what they do, but I can do what I can do, pushing myself a little more from week to week.