Gratitude...finding peace in the moment

November. Step outside and take a good look around. Do it now, before you get all caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Clear your mind and for a few moments, just forget about your worries, anxieties, and fears. Look past all the "stuff" obscuring your vision. Can you see it?  I mean, REALLY see it?  Look more closely. It could be quite small, something you would never have noticed at any other time. I know it's there. Just exactly what "it" is depends on you. But when you find it you will know. Something inside will whisper peace to your soul and for that moment at least, all will be well. That's what gratitude does. It brings peace and a sense of true contentment. So look around, and find peace in the moment. 

A palace of recycled materials

We spent the day working on what our family has fondly begun calling the chicken palace. My job was awesome! I got to use the jigsaw and some handy pry-bar (is that even a word?) tools to dismantle used pallets. Well, it turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be. First of all, i had to keep track of all...and I do mean ALL nails. Because, we don't want to spend money saved by using repurposed wood on a new tire. And there seemed to be a crazy amount of nails.  Also, although some wood (pine) saws through fairly easily, other types of wood (oak) are a lot harder. It turns out that some pallets are made from whatever wood is available, so one pallet may have several types of wood.  I learned that those harder woods are also heavier. So, I cut and I pried and I lifted and I pulled. Eventually I ended up with a nice little pile of what we call "siding". I am quite proud of the results of yesterday's labors. 

Our chicken adventures begin

"Chicken Math" happened at our house this year. No longer content to keep a few chickens to get a few eggs, I hatched a marvelous plan. Get. More. Chickens. That's it.  Cool plan, right?  Brilliant in its simplicity, really.

A lovely egg on a list of some of the things I appreciate about my good husband. 

As with any spectacular plan, problems are bound to crop up. My gals (and Elvis) were already crowded in their housing. But my dear, sweet, understanding, generous, hardworking, awesome, super studly, amazing (did I mention he's very understanding?) husband already planned to build a more suitable chicken coop this summer, so I simply (very simply, in fact) proposed he just make it bigger. MUCH bigger. DH wasn't overly amused with my idea for some reason.

           Needing a little elbow room!

Well, if they come, he will build it. Didn't I hear that famous line in a movie once? (You know, the one where Kevin Costner builds a baseball diamond in his corn field?) We went to our local feed store for a great variety of egg layers. Marans for chocolate brown eggs. Jersey Giants and dark Brahamas just because they are cool. Rhode Island reds for lots of eggs and some Golden Sex Links to insure we really truly got enough hens. This year, we let the littlest red-head choose two hens all for herself. Welcome to the roost, Chelsea (the Easter-egger) and Lavender (the Buff Orpington). How many chicks did we bring home? It might possibly have been about 30, but who's counting?  (It's called "Chicken Math. Google it.)

           Soooo cute at this stage!!

Then two of our little banties went broody and seemed to really want to just sit on their eggs. Sooo, I thought, why not? There will be plenty of room!! Twenty one days later the first of 15 eggs hatched. Our first home made chicken!!! It was soo exciting. The girls and I even danced a little jig (which probably resembaled The Chicken Dance a bit). Over the course of be next three weeks the rest of the little eggs hatched. We even got to save one who had fallen out of the nest and nearly froze to death. 

In any event, our little flock has grown substantially...both in numbers and size.  My (very understanding) DH has been a super good egg (sorry, it had to happen eventually) about building a safe place to keep all our fluffy friends.  But that's a story for another blog post. 

Time to keep track

Well, I have decided to really start blogging about my journey. Not because I think anyone will actually read this, but because I simply need to keep track. I do occasionally write in my journal. But there are times when my thoughts need a little visual aid. Like today, for example. I took a walk. Not from an actual desire to get exercise. Unfortunately, that is not currently part of my nature (yet). It is this diabetes stuff. It is kicking my butt, and I am sick and tired of getting my butt kicked. So, I visited a diabetes counselor and dietitian this past Monday. As a result, I am keeping track...mostly of the numbers and what I am eating. It has been a little alarming. My bgl (blood glucose level) was 123 first thing this morning. I ate a healthy balanced breakfast of oatmeal with peanutbutter, and scrambled eggs. Two hours later my bgl was over 350!! Instead of allowing this to impact my mood in a very negative way (high blood sugars make me soooo grumpy 😖), I decided to drink water and walk our hill. I went down and up the hill 3X in 20 minutes and feel better already. The kids are glad I chose this method if dealing with high blood sugars!! 

Up the hill really gets my heart pumping.

Tasty treasures hanging from some trees along the road at the bottom of the hill. I refrained from eating any, though. 

I have quite a long journey ahead of me. I weigh about 225 lbs, have type II diabetes which requires injections of insulin to control...and it looks like that control will take some serious effort to reach. My goal weight has been set at 145 lbs. I need an A1c of 7 or lower which will reflect giod control of my blood sugars. Insulin does indeed make it difficult to lose weight, but I need it to keep my sugars at a healthy level. 

Today's walk was a step in the right direction. 

My water jar holds about 80 ounces of water!! 

Sometimes it is hard to be a Mom

Not that I would ever REALLY complain. I mean, when all is said and done, I am so thankful that I am a mother. I truly love each and every one of my children with a fierceness that I sometimes find surprising.  I had no idea how intensely a mother just feels. Love. Pride. Hope. Happy moments. Silly moments. Joyful moments. Of course, not every emotion is fun to experience. There has been sorrow. Disappointment. Frustration. And worry. Always plenty of worry.  I suppose the fact that I have so many children has ensured that I get to enjoy such a kaleidoscope of emotion. It just goes with the territory. I get that. But sometimes being a mom is just hard. That's right. It isn't always easy to watch those we love so intensely struggle to overcome trials and hardships. And frankly, I am not a big fan of all that teenager vs parent stuff. We have had a few weeks of that over here, so it was rather pleasant to discover the teenager taking time out to pursue some non-dramatic entertainment...all by herself yesterday. Yeah, it can be hard--but oh so worth it!

The heart felt genuine laughter is definitely worth a little hard every now and then. 

Trying out new technology blogger on my phone

Yeah, always a scary thing where I am involved. But what if it works? What if I am able to just blog all my random thoughts whenever they POP into my brain? Wherever I may be?  Oh, the possibilities!! Scary, but really cool at the same time...

Just added a picture...am I becoming a techie or what?? Now to figure out how to post all this awesomeness. 

The numbers are in!

I weigh 217 lbs.
At 5' 4.2", that puts my BMI at 37.
My A1c came in at 8.3. I have type 2 diabetes.
My cholesterol was a bit high at 244 as were my triglycerides at 167.  My LDL needs some work as it is 160.17. 

These are my numbers, but they are NOT me. They are just a point of reference.  My starting gate.  And nothing more. 

Who am I?

I am... a Daughter of God.  The wife of a wonderful man.  Mother of 8 incredible human beings.  Grandmother of 3 (soon to be more) of the most intelligent children EVER.  Raised by terrific parents with great siblings.  Friend to the best sort of people. Lover of sunrises and sunsets, birds, cats, dogs, and oddly enough--chickens, moss covered trees, berry covered bushes, and sweet fragrant flowers, the ocean, the river, the stream by my house, 80's music, classical music, and relaxing smooth jazz, winter storms, thunder storms, and warm summer breezes,  sunny days, cloudy days, rainy days, and occasionally even snowy days, the sound of the ocean crashing to the beach, the cry of seagulls overhead, a heavy rain pounding on the rooftops, and birds singing their songs in the early morning light. .  I am the lover of many things.  I am a lover of life. 

And lately, I am a runner.  My running numbers suggest that I run fairly slowly, but that I am improving my times steadily.  Since January 6, 2014, I have actually run 15.52 miles.  My greatest distance this year has been 2 miles.  My slowest average pace has been 19.57 minutes per mile, while my fastest pace has been 17.08 minutes per mile.  I have been running 4 times a week and my goal is to add two upper body weight training days to my schedule. 

Why do I run?  Well, mostly, I run to reclaim my health.  I want to be happy and full of energy. . . full of life!  I run because I want to set a good example for my daughters.  I want them to know that we can do hard things.  I run because it inspires my husband.  And, some days, I just run because I can. 

A Pleasant Discovery

We have discovered a delightful little park in our sweet Kalama town.  I have no idea what it is called, but we intend to play there as often as possible before the warm weather crowds fill it up. 

This is what we see from the freeway.  Four totem poles erected in the 70's to memorialize a few influential Kalama citizens.  At 140 feet, the main totem is the tallest in the world carved from a single tree. 

We originally found the park as we were cruising around the area looking for someplace for this poor "chunchy" Mudder to safely start running again.  I was immensely delighted with the black-top type path that winds around the park along the breath taking Columbia River. 

 The driftwood along the shore of river is super pretty.  Since the community is trying to restore the beach and bank, there are signs all around asking that we leave the wood right where Nature placed it.

 There was some sort of Lune or huge black duck on top of that pole out there.  I just couldn't get a good picture of it with my phone. 

 A bird house standing near a picnic pavilion.  When the girls ran to explore it, a dark robin sized bird actually flew out of it!

 Although I would love to see more sunshine, I absolutely love cloudy days in the Pacific Northwest.

There is just something about water that speaks to my soul.  It fills me up with peace and serenity. 

My little reds even discovered opportunities for learning.

And just when we came around a little bend and found cause for GREAT rejoicing.  A playground!

 Jamie just jumped right in.  She has to take advantage of any play time she can get with her busy schedule these days!

 It was a chilly day, but that NEVER stops the Reds.  They play so hard, they warm up in no time at all.

The swings are probably everyone's favorites.

Even I was prevailed upon to try them out!

Out of shape. . . back into the fire!

Once upon a time, I was a runner.  Not a fast runner or even a good runner.  I just ran around my little neighborhood at my little snail's pace and I started to get into pretty good shape. . . for me, anyway.  Then the autumn rains turned into winter rains and the Holidays arrived.  I kept telling myself, "AFTER" I would get right back on it.  Well, after the Holidays came the spring rains, then the summer heat.  (Yes, we actually got a little summer heat in 2013.)  Then there were those beautiful autumn days, but by that time we had moved into the tooley hills where only a crazy lady would trust her life to those windy shoulderless roads. . . Suddenly, we were back into the winter rains which brought a week of winter FREEZE which was followed by the Holidays.  Now I have a whole new shape, and I have decided I liked the old shape WAY better.  So, today I decided to give my dotter's suggestion a try.  Yep, I shredded it all up this morning!  Right now, my arms are shaky and I feel like barfing. Yeah, that's right!  I am back!!

I didn't do the most impressive jumping jacks and my butt kicks were atrocious, but I finished the first day of my 30 Day Shred.  Whew!!!