A New Attitude

Perhaps it's the warmer temperatures, the sunshine, and the snow piles finally melting away. Whatever it is, I seem to have a new outlook or a "new attitude" which I hope lasts!

I read about a website called sparkpeople.com in "Prevention" magazine last night in a brief article about a woman's weight loss journey and how this site helped. I signed up last night and began using the site today to track my food intake and my workouts. The site is helpful by suggesting how to balance carido and strength training workouts. Earlier today, I read in "Prevention" again about how I could download free walking workouts to my iPod. Little did I realize the number of free fitness podcasts available legally on the Internet and my iTunes software is chugging away in the background downloading more stuff! I did a 30 minute walking workout today and I can feel a little soreness. I told Jon that I probably looked silly when it was time for a speed interval but that it was a fun workout. Don't ask me why but I've since decided that I want to try and find some walking or walk/run events. I found an event in Salem the same weekend as the annual Santini Italian Fest. I emailed the coordinator (who happens to be a former neighor of the family) asking him if walkers were allowed to participate in their 5K event. I figure this gives me a goal to work toward and it certainly won't hurt to get moving after overeating on Italian food earlier in the day. I'll skip the wine this year so that I can walk rather than stagger!

It's been a relaxing weekend so far. In fact, I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something. I've had quite a bit of time to read "Masks of God" which is a book from Sarah's reading list. After reading about elaborate ceremonial circumscions, I'm quite grateful for modern medicine and tradition! Jon is sleeping right now because he has to leave for work around 1 AM to go in and make sure the servers accept the time change updates okay on the key card system. He believes all will be well and we'll go to mass like normal. We have on the calendar the monthly Marriage Encounter Dialogue Group meeting in Delaware. The meeting lands right in the middle of the NASCAR Cup race but this is one of the first times we don't have another event going on that keeps us from attending. We'll see how things work out with Jon going into work and go from there. I told Jon maybe Jimmie and Dale might do better if we're not home watching them.

I was suprised and honored on Friday by an email I received from the wife of our parish Deacon. I have been asked to attend the Cum Christo conference for women April 19-22 in downtown Columbus. Elaine has offered to be my sponsor for the weekend. Jon and I filled out our portions of the application today and I hope to see Elaine tomorrow to talk more about it. She has to fill out a page and then we need to ask our Parish priest Father Pat to fill out a page, too. Once the application is filled out, I need to send it in with a non-refundable deposit and wait to be approved. I am not sure how long the approval process takes so I think I might go ahead and request the time off work. If I am not approved for some reason, I can always cancel my vacation request. The scary yet refreshing thing about this conference is that no cell phones, iPods, or radios are allowed. Your family must understand that you will have no contact with the outside world during this time. I guess it's sad that part of this scares me because it shows how dependent our society has become on things such as cell phones to keep in constant contact with our families and our offices. It takes a lot to stand up and say "If I am accepted for this conference, you cannot contact me" in this day and age.

I cannot believe that Jonnie has been asleep for so long. On the weekends, it's a miracle if he even takes a nap. He woke up around 7:15 AM this morning so maybe he's tired or preparing for the time change. Who knows. Today is our cat Midnight's "honorary" birthday so I gave a special treat of "wet" cat food today. Mid turned 14 in human years which is 70-something in cat years. We don't know when Mid actually was born because he was already about a year old by the time we met him. Jon and I moved into an apartment in West Columbus and we think the previous tenants left Mid behind. After several nights of hearing a scratch on the door, opening, and having Mid come in a "honey, I'm home" kind of manner, we decided to keep him.

As usual, I strayed from topic. I was really excited about making my weight loss and fitness goals public. My goal is to weigh 140 pounds by our 11th wedding anniversary on June 8th. I realize that 140 pounds sounds enormous by today's standards but if I reach that goal I can evaluate if I want to lose more weight along with becoming more phyiscally fit. I'm also hoping that my habits will indirectly help Jon lose a few pounds along the weight to better control his blood pressure.

Blessings to all for a wonderful rest of the weekend!