Healthy and Strong

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Close To My Heart, family, Fitbit Charge, granddaughters, Painted Elephant Yoga Studio, The Success Principles, weight goals

Yesterday morning I visited my neighbor’s scale for the first time in a couple of months, and was bummed when it seemed to tell me I had gained nearly a pound, even though I felt considerably lighter.  Quickly my inner Pollyanna kicked in, however, and I reassured myself that “I’m gaining muscle with Yoga” and “I’m stronger and healthier than ever”.   My initial disappointment was short-lived.

Last night as I logged in my weight on my Fitbit chart, I realized that, far from gaining a pound, I had lost five since my last weigh-in.  Joy abounding!  I am only three pounds short of my goal (the one I set once I realized walking and working was making me lose weight with very little effort) of being back to my pre-baby-Georgia weight from over 30 years ago!

I cannot describe how good it feels to be comfortable in my body again, happy with who I am, and excited about where I’m going.  Sure, when I look in the mirror there are wrinkles I didn’t have a few years ago, but the stressed look is out of my eyes and I’m standing tall and relaxed.

Some of us in our Close To My Heart group are reading and studying Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles.  I have always been a bit leery about the practice of positive affirmations, feeling them to be very forced and stilted. With more study, though, I have begun to realize that they are pretty close to the things I have always said to myself as I chose to look at the world through my rose-colored glasses.  That positive outlook is part of our legacy from Mom and Grammy Buffington, who always chose to see the world as a sunny, friendly place.

May I continue to model that outlook to Lily and Olivia.

 

NaNoWriMo continued

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card making, NaNoWriMo, procrastination, progress, Second Saturday Scrapbooking

Yesterday I bemoaned my lack of writing progress for the NaNoWriMo challenge I accepted earlier this month.  The end goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November, and there is a lovely web page where participants can track their progress (if they are making any, that is).

I have really only worked on my novel four days this month (including this morning).  I am living Judith Viorst’s statement that “You can have it all, just not all at the same time.”  I wrote this morning because I was supposed to be working on cards for tonight’s Helping One Woman dinner.  And I think in order to write, I should be “supposed to be” doing something else, which I will put off by writing.

Anyhow, The NaNoWriMo webpage has a progress tracker for writing, based on  the word count I post each day.  And according to their figures, I am in a world of hurt!  My progress goes something like this:

Your average words per day:  270

Words written today:  1271

Target word count:  50,000

Target average words per day:  1667

Total words written:  4599

Words remaining:  45,401

Current day:  17

Days remaining:  14

At this rate you will finish on:  May 4, 2016

Words per day to finish on time:  3243

Lifetime Achievement:  Total NaNoWord Count:  4599

Two statistics on this list really jumped out at me:  “At this rate you will finish on May 4, 2016” and “Lifetime Achievement:   4599”

Not only do I have a ridiculously long way to go, still being 45,401 words short, but I have also written 4599 words more than I had on October 31, 2015.  I may not –no, probably will not — finish 50,000 words by November 30, 2015.  But I have started, and am gaining momentum.

Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go make some greeting cards for tonight.

Thanksgiving card created for Second Saturday Scrapping workshop last weekend.

Rain

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Olive Garden 1630, rain, South Carolina, sunset

It rained today.  Not just a little piddly sprinkle that disappeared as quickly as it came, but a really wet, puddle-causing shower that lasted off and on for several hours.  The girls were thrilled to watch the rivulets of drops progress down the side windows of my Subaru on the way to church, and equally excited when they realized there might be thundershowers.  Although the thunderstorm didn’t materialize, there were some lovely dark clouds overhead.

Today’s rain event won’t even begin to fill the gap between between our water requirements and our the content of our existing wells and groundwater.  And the irony of our thirsty land barely getting damp and the people of the South Carolina coast who are experiencing thousand-year-record-breaking rainfall amounts today thanks to Hurricane Joaquin, is not lost on me.

By evening the rain was gone, but this incredible sunset remained.

This amazing sunset greeted me outside Olive Garden tonight as I took my break.

Just a few more days

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autumn, celebrations, changing seasons, Close To My Heart, Sangria paper packet

Georgia used this wonderful chevron paper from Close To My Heart‘s Sangria paper packet as part of her autumn decor.

Autumn comes in three more days.  I wrote that so calmly.  But what I want to do is shout “AUTUMN COMES IN THREE MORE DAYS!!!”  Autumn is, by far, my favorite season of the year, even when Mother Nature seems to be holding onto the hot weather beyond the beginning of next week.

I love getting dressed in the morning and needing my long-sleeved shirt to go get the girls ready for school.  Of course, by the time my load of wash is ready to hang on the line, I will be peeling out of my long sleeves and looking for a short-sleeved tee.  The wash takes longer to dry than in mid-summer, too.

I’m adjusting my late-night walks, adding a jacket that starts out zipped up and can be unzipped as my body warms from walking.  All these small signs point to the same thing:  autumn comes in three days.  Happy autumn.

Creating “on demand”

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Close To My Heart, creativity, discipline, La Vie En Rose, Sangria

“Disciplined creativity” seems like somewhat of an oxymoron.  Yet anyone who needs to deliver a creative product of any sort is called upon to do just that — be creatively disciplined.

Prior to my weekend scrapbooking retreat I knew that I had a series of projects that needed completing by today.  I also knew that I would not have the necessary uninterrupted design/create opportunities here at home.  So I purposefully planned to create my projects this weekend.

Of course, when the time came my creative juices were running pretty low, and I struggled to come up with the proscribed pieces.  With the encouragement and input from friends and family, though, four projects made it from conception through fine-tuning and finishing, in time for mailing tomorrow.  (I will share pictures later this week.)

I am relieved that they are done, and pleased with the final products.  It will feel good to clear off the kitchen table again, too, and get all my Close To My Heart goodies reorganized and rearranged.

More projects await!

Adulthood, the next chapter

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adulthood, big purchases, Close To My Heart, Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon

Over the past several weeks since my wreck I have had to behave in an adult manner more often than not.  And it all culminated in finding a car that was interesting, test driving it, finalizing the finances (with help from dear ones), and — most adult of all — going to the dealer with a pile of cash to buy it.  I seriously felt like a minor drug lord counting out all that cash.

And here we have the end results of my search, goaded on encouraged by my children who wanted me driving something very safe:  my new (to me) 2005 Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon.  It is immaculate inside and so very roomy…Trina and I will be traveling in style to our scrapbook retreat this weekend with it packed to the brim with activities and Close To My Heart products.

My new Subaru, just waiting for her personalized plates.

You’re crafty!

Tags

Close To My Heart, Creative Memories, creativity, Olive Garden 1630

There comes that moment when your boss looks at you and says, “You’re crafty!” and you know you should probably run away, but that is not an option.  Then you are handed a to-go bucket for soup and asked to decorate it to hold the tickets in a contest.  Of course, being a good employee, and at least a moderately crafty person, you rise to the challenge and take said bucket home with you.

Then you sit and think.  You get out your scrapbooking supplies and tools, dragging them all over the  kitchen table.  Then you do anything BUT decorate the bucket for the next 36 hours or so.

Finally you are out of time.  You have two hours to deliver said bucket, pleasantly decorated, so you have to stop thinking and DO SOMETHING!

The initial plan was for the bucket to be covered with wine-colored card stock, which I would then embellish with stars and other bling.  As the bucket sides tapered towards the bottom, this plan proved unfeasible.
I stumbled upon the Shimmer Trim in my Medium Organizer.  I realized that my Shimmer Trim was in proper wine colors:  gold, red, purple, and bronze, and that the flexibility and “stickiness” was just what I needed to cover the sloping sides of the bucket.  (To buy any of these products, visit my Online Business Address.)  After developing a pleasing horizontal striped pattern, I decided to follow the same plan for the bucket lid (first cutting a slice out of the center to put the tickets through).
When the bucket and lid were covered, I punched a tag from a scrap of Whimsy Paper Fundamentals using my old Creative Memories tag punch.  I wrote “tickets” on one side of the tag, and “wine flights” on the other, then tied the tag to the bucket using the Thistle Diagonal Striped Twill, and it was done!

My completed ticket bucket, using Shimmer Trim compliments of Close To My Heart.

I am happy to report that my boss LOVED the completed basket, especially when I explained that I can remove the current tag and change it whenever her contest changes.

Fitbit

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Close To My Heart, electronic devices, Fitbit One, frustration

I have been intrigued with the Fitbit since the first one I noticed someone wearing a year or so ago.  I have been wanting one, but it seemed like a rather expensive electronic toy.  That hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm, just made me put my purchase off for a while.

At the Close To My Heart Convention earlier this month I was questioning one of my room mates about hers, and she offered to send me her old Fitbit One so that I could try it out.  Needless to say, I was thrilled by her generosity and so excited when it came in the mail.

I have been wearing it for the past three days, but hadn’t had time to download the software, etc., so that I could actually get all the benefits (like having the clock set to the right time so that my “day” didn’t end in the early evening and zero out any walking progress I had made, etc.).

So tonight I decided to do it right, and started the set up process.  Got my software downloaded and was moving right along, until my computer told me it could not communicate with my device…please try again.  Well, I tried again, to no avail.  And again.  And again.  And once again.

I am now frustrated, grumpy, and tired.  I will try again tomorrow when I’m rested.

Good night.

Goodbye

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Close To My Heart, good bye, Jeep

I walked away from my Jeep for the last time today.  Even though from the outside it just appears to have a little damage, they tell me the whole front end is crushed underneath.  The insurance company has declared it totaled, and all that is left is determining the payoff.

This is the first car I have ever had that I wasn’t sad to let go of…just relieved.  Relieved that it was totaled, that they weren’t going to patch it back together.  Relieved I wasn’t more seriously injured.  Relieved that I have good insurance coverage.

The body shop guy who helped me clear out my things asked if I was sure I was all right.  “You took a really hard hit, you know,” he said.  Yes, I know.  I know how scared I was, and how after my Jeep stopped moving I just sat and shook from the pain of whacking my head on the window…that and the adrenaline rush.  I know that I’m still sore, and that working was harder today than I expected.  I also know that I was incredibly lucky and it could have been so much worse.

Goodbye, my Jeep.  

Anything but routine

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Chelsey Vorosmarty, Close To My Heart, CTMH Convention 2015, Jeanette Lynton, Kate Walsh, Make It From Your Heart, Monica Wihongi, Operation Smile

My involuntary blogging hiatus has come to an end, but my ideas tonight are anything but routine.  On Saturday at the Close To My Heart Convention 2015, many of us (slightly crazy) met slightly after dawn for our 2nd annual 5K run/walk to benefit Operation Smile.  I thought completing the route would be the highlight of the day, but it didn’t even come close.

Earlier in the week CTMH Home Office had offered beautiful necklaces to anyone who donated at least $30 to Operation Smile.  A number of consultants had also created beautiful artwork for a benefit auction to be held at our closing session Saturday afternoon.  These one-of-a-kind art pieces had been showcased earlier in the day, and those of us who didn’t anticipate bidding were still looking forward to the fun of the auction.

Monica Wihongi, President of Sales and Marketing, had shared a video of a trip she took earlier this year to Chiapas, Mexico, along with actress Kate Walsh and a team of medical volunteers.  I think most of us knew about Operation Smile’s work “in theory”, but until watching that video we only had an inkling of its importance.  On that mission trip there were 200 children who applied for the surgery, but only enough resources to do 100 operations.  The screening is so rigorous and the children are in such need…no one should ever have to be turned away.

Anyhow, each “Smile” surgery (to repair cleft palate or lip) costs about $230, which doesn’t seem very expensive in our everyday world, but to parents in poverty it is a small fortune.  And that is where our “anything but routine” auction fits in.

“Follow Your Heart” mixed media piece donated to Operation Smile auction.

Thanks to the talented consultants who created and donated their special artwork to the auction, and the generous consultants who bid above and beyond to support Operation Smile, those who participated in the 5K, and purchased the special necklaces, Close To My Heart consultants and Home Office staff raised enough money for 144 more surgeries…$33,000 in the week of our convention.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house by the end of the auction; we were all thrilled to be part of such an amazing outpouring of love.

This lovely auction piece was created for and donated to the auction by CTMH Consultant Chelsey Vorosmarty.

I am so proud to be part of a group that puts its money where our hearts are…truly personifying our CEO and Founder Jeanette Lynton’s admonition to “Make it From Your Heart.”