I have decided I don't like ads.
One that is really bothering me today - partly because I've seen it too often and partly because it is stupid - is the Burger King commercial that pretends to be an America You've Got Talent show. You could say I should just turn off the TV, but I should be able to watch what I want without being assaulted by bad ads.
Then there is the Pizza Hut pasta ad. Pretend news report. Dumb.
Another one that is bugging me today is the one for the new brownie pan. Have you seen it? Brownie magic or something like that. It is a pan that has dividers so you end up baking a pan of individual brownies.
Now ordinarily that would thrill me. I would want that pan, and the brownies in it. That would be the problem.
I am eating pretty healthy right now. Trying to fit in an airplane seat better. So no sugar. Few carbs.
Enter the brownie pan ad that shows people making pan after pan of brownies with all kinds of stuff on top. Hot fudge sundaes with brownies from the pan, iced, decorated. It really is tempting.
Why can't we have brownies that taste like brownies should, but have no carbs, no calories, no sugar?
Guess that is too much to ask. At any rate today it is irritating. Probably sugar deprivation.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Beating the odds
I beat the odds today.
I made a list of stuff I needed to do, with only one being negotiable. As of this moment I have crossed off all but the negotiable one.
I did laundry, dishes, finished arranging the living room, and wrote for two hours. Got in over 3,000 words. I also wrote down all I have eaten, drank a boatload of water (trying to sink the boat, ha, ha) and wrote my early morning three pages.
That morning stuff is hard. It is three pages, handwritten of whatever comes to mind. Sometimes it takes no time at all, others I just write the same word over and over again. When I die they will find the dumb thing and wonder where my brain was!
I have already made a list of stuff to do tomorrow, adding two new things, actually three if you count going for a walk and that does count, to what I usually do on a Sunday.
I am going to try to go the Defenders of the Wall prayer group before the morning service starts. I think it will be good.
I have a pretty decent week planned if I beat the odds and stick with the plan. I will be interviewing the woman responsible for the Women of Worship in Cheyenne. Linda Dillow will be the keynote speaker and Shannon Wexelburg will be leading worship. Love them both so I am looking forward to covering the conference.
Part of beating the odds for me right now is in goal-setting and goal-tending. I have a few set - get the house in order before I leave for Ohio, lose enough weight before the trip so I am not so uncomfortable in the seat and can fasten the seat belt (wow, brave throwing that up on a blog), write in the morning journal each morning, keep my food journal, walk 30 minutes every day, write two hours every day, read my Bible every day.
Tending those goals will be hard for me. I was good at it when I first moved to Wyoming, then got very free with my tainted version of freedom - you know, I can do what I want when I want and no one can stop me. That is so wrong! Freedom includes responsibility to not overeat, over indulge in television, move about the planet for exercise. They say freedom comes at a price, usually a high one. My warped version cost me the use of my body, my lungs, my knees, my attitude, my mental health.
So, on this path I must now put up road blocks, whereby I can beat the odds. I need to get healthy in all manner of ways and show that old free will who's the boss!
I just thought of a good verse that goes well with this 1 John 4:4 "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." Certainly God is greater in me than satan is in my world. God wants me healthy and productive, satan wants me dead and that is certainly not productive.
What say? You willing to try beating the odds in your life? What struggles are you dealing with? Set your goals and start tending them. God is on your side and He is greater than anything that stands in our way!
I made a list of stuff I needed to do, with only one being negotiable. As of this moment I have crossed off all but the negotiable one.
I did laundry, dishes, finished arranging the living room, and wrote for two hours. Got in over 3,000 words. I also wrote down all I have eaten, drank a boatload of water (trying to sink the boat, ha, ha) and wrote my early morning three pages.
That morning stuff is hard. It is three pages, handwritten of whatever comes to mind. Sometimes it takes no time at all, others I just write the same word over and over again. When I die they will find the dumb thing and wonder where my brain was!
I have already made a list of stuff to do tomorrow, adding two new things, actually three if you count going for a walk and that does count, to what I usually do on a Sunday.
I am going to try to go the Defenders of the Wall prayer group before the morning service starts. I think it will be good.
I have a pretty decent week planned if I beat the odds and stick with the plan. I will be interviewing the woman responsible for the Women of Worship in Cheyenne. Linda Dillow will be the keynote speaker and Shannon Wexelburg will be leading worship. Love them both so I am looking forward to covering the conference.
Part of beating the odds for me right now is in goal-setting and goal-tending. I have a few set - get the house in order before I leave for Ohio, lose enough weight before the trip so I am not so uncomfortable in the seat and can fasten the seat belt (wow, brave throwing that up on a blog), write in the morning journal each morning, keep my food journal, walk 30 minutes every day, write two hours every day, read my Bible every day.
Tending those goals will be hard for me. I was good at it when I first moved to Wyoming, then got very free with my tainted version of freedom - you know, I can do what I want when I want and no one can stop me. That is so wrong! Freedom includes responsibility to not overeat, over indulge in television, move about the planet for exercise. They say freedom comes at a price, usually a high one. My warped version cost me the use of my body, my lungs, my knees, my attitude, my mental health.
So, on this path I must now put up road blocks, whereby I can beat the odds. I need to get healthy in all manner of ways and show that old free will who's the boss!
I just thought of a good verse that goes well with this 1 John 4:4 "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." Certainly God is greater in me than satan is in my world. God wants me healthy and productive, satan wants me dead and that is certainly not productive.
What say? You willing to try beating the odds in your life? What struggles are you dealing with? Set your goals and start tending them. God is on your side and He is greater than anything that stands in our way!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Just thinkin'
Not much going on today. Allergies are making me miserable, but the fall-like temps are a wonderful comfort.
Heard from a semi-family member who credited my prayers with her spouse getting a job. Not sure it was my prayers, but God is certainly looking out for them. And I need to make a concerted effort to do better on contact and prayers for them.
She is hanging out there alone. I know how that feels, so I should be empathizing with her and doing what I can, even if it is on a small scale, to make things better for her.
Didn't spill anything in the kitchen today. Small miracle.
Was awakened at 12:03 a.m. by a buzzing sound. Sounded like an alarm. I live a block away from two banks so my immediate not-really-awake thought was that someone had tried to get into one of them and they have a weird-sounding alarm.
Figured since I was awake I might as well take advantage so I traversed the semi-darkness to the bathroom and discovered the buzz was coming from my desk. Hmmm.
Turns out when I moved some books I pushed the clock over and it turned on the alarm.
How like God to teach me something in the middle of the night!
How often do we hear an alarm, either literally or figuratively, and KNOW we should respond and don't? If you are doing something wrong, you get that heart-pounding alert that tells you 'just say no." Or you just did something and immediately your body gives you feedback in the form of guilt indicating you done wrong.
Most of the time, if not really all the time (if we would only stop lying to ourselves), we know before we act or speak that what we are doing or saying is right or wrong, hurtful or edifying.
And sometimes, for some of us a lot, we do it anyway. We figure we can always ask forgiveness later. But sometimes forgiveness does not come. What we have done very may well have been the last straw for the person we wronged. They may forgive, but they choose to remove us as a person who can hurt them anymore.
I don't want to be like that. It is time to listen to the alarm.
Heard from a semi-family member who credited my prayers with her spouse getting a job. Not sure it was my prayers, but God is certainly looking out for them. And I need to make a concerted effort to do better on contact and prayers for them.
She is hanging out there alone. I know how that feels, so I should be empathizing with her and doing what I can, even if it is on a small scale, to make things better for her.
Didn't spill anything in the kitchen today. Small miracle.
Was awakened at 12:03 a.m. by a buzzing sound. Sounded like an alarm. I live a block away from two banks so my immediate not-really-awake thought was that someone had tried to get into one of them and they have a weird-sounding alarm.
Figured since I was awake I might as well take advantage so I traversed the semi-darkness to the bathroom and discovered the buzz was coming from my desk. Hmmm.
Turns out when I moved some books I pushed the clock over and it turned on the alarm.
How like God to teach me something in the middle of the night!
How often do we hear an alarm, either literally or figuratively, and KNOW we should respond and don't? If you are doing something wrong, you get that heart-pounding alert that tells you 'just say no." Or you just did something and immediately your body gives you feedback in the form of guilt indicating you done wrong.
Most of the time, if not really all the time (if we would only stop lying to ourselves), we know before we act or speak that what we are doing or saying is right or wrong, hurtful or edifying.
And sometimes, for some of us a lot, we do it anyway. We figure we can always ask forgiveness later. But sometimes forgiveness does not come. What we have done very may well have been the last straw for the person we wronged. They may forgive, but they choose to remove us as a person who can hurt them anymore.
I don't want to be like that. It is time to listen to the alarm.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Cooking 101
So I went to see two movies yesterday. Had to go to Cheyenne and thought I would treat myself. The movies weren't expensive (in modern terms) as it was afternoon, and if you forgo popcorn (which is in keeping with my quest to fit an airport seatbelt on in just over a month) you can hit two movies affordably.
First off was "The Time Traveler's Wife." Man, was that good! Good story, good acting. Touching. It was nice seeing something with a science fiction background become an endearing love story. I highly recommend it!
Second, I went to see "Julie and Julia" and I laughed sooooo much! Wonderful story, very real. Julia Child was an amazing woman!
The premise is that a woman named Julie Powell sets off on a year-long project of cooking through Julia Child's first cookbook - something like 575 recipes in 365 days. She blogs the experience. This is a true story. The blog really existed. Now you have to know the parts about Child had to come from somewhere, and a quick trip to Barnes and Noble explained it to me. Those portions are taken from a biography written by Child's great-niece.
Well, it made me want to cook! From Child's book! My daughter, Meg, would love it as it is a book making French cooking easy for us Americans. Of course, then I would have to learn how to properly say the names of the dishes. I would need help with that, and Meg fits the bill loving all things French!!
Well, I got home, read some, went to bed, knowing I had to be sure to get up this morning to cover a story at the library (where I am hoping they have Child's biography, I am very intrigued about her now). I am moving a little slow. Just really tired. I get some mail ready to go out, get dressed and remember I have not eaten yet. Quick smoothie should do the trick.
I put in the ingredients up to the protein powder. Turning to the big container of the stuff (can they make that sucker any bigger!!) I realize I have put the wrong container there. I have a matching one that I am tossing all my change in. So I turn to get the right one from its wrong place and knock over the smoothie fixings. Not so bad until you see yogert, soy milk and bananas flowing off your counter, down the cupboards and making a puddle on your great-grandmother's throw rug.
I do not get mad (lovely new response) I just say "Nuts" and pick up the container, push all the stuff that is left into a hand and put it back in the cup. Wet a dishcloth, clean the counter and cupboard, snag the rug and toss it in the laundry room and go back and finish fixing the smoothie.
Now, I have had other kitchen disasters before. Overcooked, spilt, undercooked food. Stuff that tastes so bad you have to throw the whole meal away.
I am well-known for being clumsy, so this mornings near-disaster is not really a surprise. But it did make me wonder if I could get through any of Julia's recipes - without burning the house down. I would imagine the first rule of thumb is to keep the food in their containers! Though I do remember from the movie and stories I have read, that Julia tossed food where it didn't belong as well.
Maybe there is hope for me to be a cook after all.
Bon Appetit!
First off was "The Time Traveler's Wife." Man, was that good! Good story, good acting. Touching. It was nice seeing something with a science fiction background become an endearing love story. I highly recommend it!
Second, I went to see "Julie and Julia" and I laughed sooooo much! Wonderful story, very real. Julia Child was an amazing woman!
The premise is that a woman named Julie Powell sets off on a year-long project of cooking through Julia Child's first cookbook - something like 575 recipes in 365 days. She blogs the experience. This is a true story. The blog really existed. Now you have to know the parts about Child had to come from somewhere, and a quick trip to Barnes and Noble explained it to me. Those portions are taken from a biography written by Child's great-niece.
Well, it made me want to cook! From Child's book! My daughter, Meg, would love it as it is a book making French cooking easy for us Americans. Of course, then I would have to learn how to properly say the names of the dishes. I would need help with that, and Meg fits the bill loving all things French!!
Well, I got home, read some, went to bed, knowing I had to be sure to get up this morning to cover a story at the library (where I am hoping they have Child's biography, I am very intrigued about her now). I am moving a little slow. Just really tired. I get some mail ready to go out, get dressed and remember I have not eaten yet. Quick smoothie should do the trick.
I put in the ingredients up to the protein powder. Turning to the big container of the stuff (can they make that sucker any bigger!!) I realize I have put the wrong container there. I have a matching one that I am tossing all my change in. So I turn to get the right one from its wrong place and knock over the smoothie fixings. Not so bad until you see yogert, soy milk and bananas flowing off your counter, down the cupboards and making a puddle on your great-grandmother's throw rug.
I do not get mad (lovely new response) I just say "Nuts" and pick up the container, push all the stuff that is left into a hand and put it back in the cup. Wet a dishcloth, clean the counter and cupboard, snag the rug and toss it in the laundry room and go back and finish fixing the smoothie.
Now, I have had other kitchen disasters before. Overcooked, spilt, undercooked food. Stuff that tastes so bad you have to throw the whole meal away.
I am well-known for being clumsy, so this mornings near-disaster is not really a surprise. But it did make me wonder if I could get through any of Julia's recipes - without burning the house down. I would imagine the first rule of thumb is to keep the food in their containers! Though I do remember from the movie and stories I have read, that Julia tossed food where it didn't belong as well.
Maybe there is hope for me to be a cook after all.
Bon Appetit!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
What to do?
So today I had a thought. (Before anyone gets funny, let's be clear - this is not my first thought, nor I assume my last. It was just one bearing additional thought)
Actually, I had two ideas. Both pertian to writing. Both somehow, hopefully, will add to my "wealth" of human resources for being a writer.
First, I remembered writing for NaNoWriMo last year. For anyone who does not know, this is a month-long writing session during which a writer attempts to put 50,000 words on paper in 30 days. It is a huge thing. Cool Web site (www.nanowrimo.com) and features opportunity for youth to get involved.
Last year I attempted it. If I remember correctly I got a bit over 15,000 words. This was with working full-time, short-staffed (read 70 hours a week). I did take a week-long vacation house sitting for friends at a wonderful lakefront house. I did write some. I mostly tried to remember I was human and how to breath and function.
At the time I was the editor of a paper and one of my reporters brought the NaNoWriMo to my attention. She suggested enlisting readers of the paper to a group of folks who would participate in the November event. She kept track of everyone and asked for updates on their progress for weekly stories.
It was fun. Most wrote under pen names, as most of us are really closet writers and afraid of someone telling us what we are writing is not worthy of the ink we used to create it.
Most made decent progress, one succeeded in completing the task.
Anyway, today I thought it might be fun to try this with the Pine Bluffs Post. There have to be some closet writers who are looking for a way to start out and get something written, even if they don't meet the overall goal.
I also had another thought. I am seriously considering starting a writers group here for eastern Laramie County. I need to ask around and organize. (Maybe this is another way of procrastinating? Hope not)
Anyway, I know I am writing what God wants me to. The boss told me he can read the difference and knows my passion when comparing my church page columns and the other stories I write for the paper.
That didn't offend me. I know it is true. I can string sentences together, make the story tell itself and not have any feeling in it at all. It is a good story. It does the job. But those who know me know I did not invest any of my self in it.
I am good with a well-crafted story void of my heart. As long as it is not on the church page. There I want to see not only my heart, but God's. I keep promising myself that I will write the weekly offering on Friday or over the weekend, trying to beat what has become a normal 'deadline' of Wednesday morning (publication day). Can't be done. God is in this and He moves in my heart when He moves in my heart. Not a word is written until He deems it is time. That is fine with me. Then I know it is not about me, it is about Him.
That is the way I want all my writing to be. Whether I ever finish a novel or not. Whether I ever have something published outside a newspaper or not. Whether or not I start a writing group, or even attend one. Whether or not I ever reach 50,000 words in the month of November.
It's not about me. It's about Him.
Actually, I had two ideas. Both pertian to writing. Both somehow, hopefully, will add to my "wealth" of human resources for being a writer.
First, I remembered writing for NaNoWriMo last year. For anyone who does not know, this is a month-long writing session during which a writer attempts to put 50,000 words on paper in 30 days. It is a huge thing. Cool Web site (www.nanowrimo.com) and features opportunity for youth to get involved.
Last year I attempted it. If I remember correctly I got a bit over 15,000 words. This was with working full-time, short-staffed (read 70 hours a week). I did take a week-long vacation house sitting for friends at a wonderful lakefront house. I did write some. I mostly tried to remember I was human and how to breath and function.
At the time I was the editor of a paper and one of my reporters brought the NaNoWriMo to my attention. She suggested enlisting readers of the paper to a group of folks who would participate in the November event. She kept track of everyone and asked for updates on their progress for weekly stories.
It was fun. Most wrote under pen names, as most of us are really closet writers and afraid of someone telling us what we are writing is not worthy of the ink we used to create it.
Most made decent progress, one succeeded in completing the task.
Anyway, today I thought it might be fun to try this with the Pine Bluffs Post. There have to be some closet writers who are looking for a way to start out and get something written, even if they don't meet the overall goal.
I also had another thought. I am seriously considering starting a writers group here for eastern Laramie County. I need to ask around and organize. (Maybe this is another way of procrastinating? Hope not)
Anyway, I know I am writing what God wants me to. The boss told me he can read the difference and knows my passion when comparing my church page columns and the other stories I write for the paper.
That didn't offend me. I know it is true. I can string sentences together, make the story tell itself and not have any feeling in it at all. It is a good story. It does the job. But those who know me know I did not invest any of my self in it.
I am good with a well-crafted story void of my heart. As long as it is not on the church page. There I want to see not only my heart, but God's. I keep promising myself that I will write the weekly offering on Friday or over the weekend, trying to beat what has become a normal 'deadline' of Wednesday morning (publication day). Can't be done. God is in this and He moves in my heart when He moves in my heart. Not a word is written until He deems it is time. That is fine with me. Then I know it is not about me, it is about Him.
That is the way I want all my writing to be. Whether I ever finish a novel or not. Whether I ever have something published outside a newspaper or not. Whether or not I start a writing group, or even attend one. Whether or not I ever reach 50,000 words in the month of November.
It's not about me. It's about Him.
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