Just Now Warmin' Up

Well, it has taken me a full year to start this blog. I tried right after I first left my job last December but I just don't think I was ready yet. So today, while my youngest granddaughter Leah sleeps peacefully in the other room, I will attempt it again- this time with more of a purpose maybe. My daughter Cherith is moving out of our city. Not very far away really only two hours but right now, to me it might as well be 2 days away. I have never been more then 20 minutes from her for more then 2 weeks when she did mission trips in highschool; or now-as she travels with her husband BJ. Cherith is more then my daughter, she in an extension of my own life. Another arm, another heart. When she gave birth to her daughter Sage, almost 2 yrs ago- it was the closest thing I have ever experienced to giving birth myself without actually doing the pushing. It was physical and emotional and exhilirating. And that is pretty much a description of our relationship is too. She is my only daughter. My sweet girl.
Unfortunately, of all the wonderful things I could have handed down to her- which in my defense, she did get a few... I gave her my snail-like metabolism, my thighs and my sweet tooth. Oh, she also got my love for cooking and being a wife. My love to decorate for the holidays (any holiday...) and entertain company as well. We both love to invite, plan, shop and cook a meal that you can just come in, sit down to and enjoy. We love to do it all from start to finish from polishing the glassware to scraping the plates.... I got this from my Great grandmother Oca Lee Fields, and thankfully- I was able to hand it on to Cherith. She shines at it and I am so proud of that.
 On the other side of my family; my mother is Sicilian/German. My grandpa and grandma Donofrio were both bigger people- in stature and girth. They both loved to cook and eat all kinds of German and Italian foods. My favorite memories of them are in their kitchen in New Castle PA. My grandmother was always at the stove. Everything centered around the family, cooking and eating together and I get my love of that from them. My favorite times with my kids are when they are all here eating and talking to their daddy while the grandgirls squeal and run through my house wearing princess garb. If I never leave the kitchen the entire time I am perfectly happy to just be surrounded by them. That to me is heaven on earth; there is just one problem (refer back 1 paragraph...) SNAIL LIKE METABOLISM. Loving to grocery shop, cook and eat with family is all well and good- if you are one of those girls that can eat an entire Meat-O-Grande Pizza and still zip your size 2 jeans, but that isnt me. (Don't you just hate that word- GRANDE?? Some of you little girls have never had the pleasure of having a tag in the back of your shirt that states: Large-slash-Grande. It is the worst feeling. Large is bad enough but somehow in Spanish it's even more painful... anyway, I digress....) I  on the other hand; can eat 2 pieces and my size 12's can be tight. UGH. 12. I vowed to never get there again. You see I have had some diet success over the years. I won't go into lots of detail because eventually you will know my entire sorted past as this blog labors on, but I lost about 27 pounds almost 3 yrs ago and I actually kept it off for 2 yrs, but this past year thanks to menopause and bad choices, I gained it all back. I was down to a size 8 and sometimes 10, which is almost miraculous for me. But here I am again. Overweight, my joints hurt, my back hurts and I am starting over at the gym again on the treadmill. And can I just say, I hate the treadmill. I really really do. There isn't enough MoJo in the treadmill for me. If you love the treadmill, I have so much admiration for you. Yes, I have read, listened to music, listened to TV. I just have a hard time walking my butt off to nowhere. I am a die-hard elliptical girl. Which seems funny for an anti-sport, never sweated in higschool outside of a backseat (did I say that??), forged excuses to skip gym class, ect ect ... but on the elliptical I can MOVE. And I like it- more on that later I am sure, but for now I am in the back of the room at the gym looking wistfully at the elliptical that not 2 yrs ago I was doing an hour on... and walk my boring, out of shape, butt off.
SO- I said all of that to come to this point... Cherith and I have decided that: A) I need to blog so I don't drive her crazy calling everyday when she moves. It is somewhere for Mama to vent a little so she can have time to adjust without me calling her everyday to lament how much I miss her being 20 min. across town. She hasn't said these words, nor would she ever because she is such a sweetheart (she really is) she would never hurt my feelings in a million years and she loves me in spite of the inherited thighs. She has been one of my strongest encouragers to write, so here it goes....

B) (This is the BIG ONE) We are going to try and get in better shape and stay healthier. We are reading a book called Made to Crave by christian author Lysa TerKeurst and in Feb I am going to start leading a sort of book club on this book on this blog. There is also a workbook that we are going to start that goes along with it. What this will consist of is one chapter a week, we will read, do the workbook and I will discuss some thoughts about what I encountered, felt, accomplished, ect... via this blog. SO- Cherith and I want to invite anyone who wants to join us on this journey, between now and Feb. 1 to get Lysa's book  and follow my blog. You can look it up on Amazon.com to find out details about the book or even order it but it is also available at bookstores.

It's hard to capsulize the book (we are both reading it one time through before we start in Feb...) and do it justice but let me just say that it isn't a diet book. It is really about making changes you can live with, whatever that means to you personally. If you are like me- at 48, I know ME pretty well. I have dieted for 34 years (literally) and I know what works and what doesn't, so it isn't about her laying out a eating plan. It is just the story about her personal journey and how it can change yours; because we were made to CRAVE. We were just made to crave things eternal not temporary fixes to fill a hole. I am already finding out that Lysa's journey isn't very similar to mine, but there is still MUCH that has spoken to me. Cherith feels differently, she is relating to more of the personal reflections. Everyone is different.

If you don't feel like this book or journey is for you, I still encourage you to follow my blog. Why?? because I think it will still mean something to you aside from the book. My little brother told me once that everyone has a book inside of them and story waiting to come out. I will tell you my story along the way. I promise every blog won't be this long so please forgive me. I am finding out that a year after leaving my job, I am just now warming up in so many ways. I hope you decide to come along for the ride.