The First Day

The First Day
 Today is the "First day for the rest of your life." Everyone has heard that saying and today August 1, 2017 was to be my first day of my 14 day BrightLines Eating Challenge. I signed up but cannot start today, I must get prepared for this experience that has changed lives.

 So before I can start, I must: 

1.Look at video $(this is my check mark
2.Get food scale $
3.Get food journal $
4 .Download documents 
5.challenge friends 
6.before pics 
7. clean out kitchen 
8.Time Zone 
9.START THE CHALLENGE
So, I have completed 3 items on the list and and starting on the fourth right now.

Can't start the 14 Day Food Challenge yet, but I will start the food diary that I will have to keep anyway as part of the challenge. No sugar, flour, eating between 12pm and 8pm.

 8-2-17 Daily Food Log 

 breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs w butter; baby cucumber; grape tomatoes; and olive tapenade
 lunch: hot dog with bun
dunner: hamburger no bun; 4 lettuce wraps w/baked chicken, avocado and cucumbers
snack: 3 cups watermelon

Back in the Blog

Lots of changes since I last blogged. In no particular order; I retired from my job after 29 years; my Mom passed and my best friend died. I miss her every single day. I miss my Mom too but not as much. I guess that sounds wrong or weird but my friend was often, my mother, my sister, my confidante, my partner in crime, and my teacher.

 In all our history of 44 years, we had one true fight. I can't remember the fight itself, but I remember the circumstance. We were going to the movies but couldn't decide what to see and somewhere in the middle we argued and separated, deciding not to continue together. I went my way and she went her way. 20 minutes later we ended up at the same movie! We agreed it was meant to be and entirely dismissed our earlier disagreement. We thoroughly enjoyed "Heaven Can Wait."

 She was my very best friend, I think I was hers too. Hard to verify because she was so well loved, admired and honored for her work. She was articulate, imaginative, caring and insightful. She was way out of my league but I loved from the day I opened a sketch book and saw the adorable babies that she had created. I didn't know her name at that point, but I knew I had to meet her. She was as skinny as I was fat! She had two sons and an ex-Husband. She was a native of Baltimore, living in NY, just like me! She was not a classic beauty but she was beautiful. She had the most gorgeous big brown eyes. Huge and hypnotic and her beautiful brown skin carried red/gold undertones. She was an artist through and through but she was also an educator, life coach and mentor to countless young and old people alike. If there is a heaven, that's the only place she could be.

x

About Bullying

A young woman committed suicide by stepping in front of a bus. Her family says that she was harassed and bullied by her school peers until she took her own life. They want to find the perpetrators and prosecute them. While I have every sympathy for the family and the pain that they must be suffering, placing blame on anyone will not bring her back. If she was suffering to the point of taking her life, then shouldn't her family have seen her distress and intervened prior to such a drastic act?

Bullying may be tougher than I remember, and certainly everyone has a different level of tolerance. But my feeling is, if you can be bullied to death--you have more issues than just the abuse of your contemporaries. And, the family searching for responsible parties should look closely at themselves when placing blame. If this abuse was so intolerable why didn't they seek out these culprits before? Why wait until some disaster falls before confrontation of, or mediation with, these kids? Responsibility for her act surely cannot fall on the bullies alone. but it won't help the family to be overwhelmed with guilt..

Perhaps the family would be better served looking for forums and arenas to discuss the warning signs of suicide. To look for measures to prevent this kind of incident by focusing on the ones that commit the act and how to help them, not the bullies. Bullies are a menace, no doubt, but families need to learn to build trust with their children, coupled with an awareness of who their children are, to prevent this type of tragedy. Instead of looking for bullies, look for organizations that build kids up, help them to find what makes them worthwhile, unique, lovable. An organization like that might even weed out some bullies.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Jealous

My friend has a blog and she is (compared to me) prolific!  Even not compared to me she is a terrific writer and she made me believe that I too was capable of just insight and creativity.  Alas, I fear she is wrong for I have yet to complete more than a few pitiful entries.  But I will blog on - I think it could be catching.  Love you Carmen! 

Images

Watching a TV commercial, I was struck by my expectations of  Santa Claus.  The commercial showed a man crouched  with his back to the camera in a Santa suit.  Right away I got a warm feeling inside; there was a slight smile on my lips; my eyes felt brighter and bigger waiting for the pay off.  The guy stands and turns around; it is just a man in a Santa suit.  He is so not what I was looking - hoping for.  His face did not have a rosy glow, it was not beautiful, angelic or cherub like.  He did not have pinchable cheeks or a sparkle in his eye.  He was not warm, round and cuddly and his hair and beard were not snow white.  I cannot tell you how thoroughly disappointed I felt. Really could would have thought such a simple image would matter but I really wanted to see him!

The preservation of historic iconic characters (even or especially fictional icons) should be sacrosanct (ridunkulous!!!)  But that one figure for me, conjured up a happy place, a happy time, great and fond memories.  It evoked the past in a way that is undeniably good.   Nuts, fruits, horrible Christmas candies, visiting cousins and long days out of school and playing in the snow. No matter that this iconic figure never existed (and really who can prove that?) he carries an entire non-existent history.  A history where snow lies soft and beautiful on the ground, the night skies are full of stars, jingle bells ring somewhere in the distance and houses are filled with light.  It’s a big job for a little man in a suit but someone should always do it - but someone should always do it right, too!.

 

I'm reminded of Dan Akroyd in "Trading Places" another bad, bad Santa.  Image is so important. 

A Beginning

Never did this before (blogging) and it is just a bit intimidating!  The freedom to write whatever occurs to me is both challenging and spooky.  What to write and who will read it?  Big questions but I've decided to take the plunge.

Sterling Street represents my beginning, my mom and dad met and fell in love on Sterling Street and that is where I was conceived - so this is where I want to start.