Money, Books, TV and Salad

Money. I cannot spend any more money. This Kindle is great, but I want to read books that cost money, not the freebies. sigh Cannot buy any more books! Or exercise DVDs! Oh, my biggest downfalls.

Last night I decided I needed a little inspiration and I bought Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir. I stayed up more than half the night reading. I had no idea it was written by The Pasta Queen. I remember finding her blog long ago and playing with her photos on her site. I'm enjoying the book very much.

While reading more than half the night, I turned the TV on and the only thing that looked remotely good was a show called Downsized. I think that's the name. Fascinating. I kept thinking of our own finances, and how we could improve. I'd watch a bit, then get engrossed in the book, then watch some more. There was one episode where the father bought the mother a fake Starbucks cup and the ingredients for her own coffee drink so she could save money. I wondered why she hadn't done that all along, but I think I'm a bit more frugal.

Anyway, we were discussing this show at lunch today and talking about my spending. We eat out about once a month now. Maybe twice, but usually just once. My son and I go to The Olive Garden after his orthodontist appointment and enjoy it immensely. One of the things I love about The OG, as I call it, is their salad. I love salad. It never tastes as good at home as it does there.

I did buy a bottle of their dressing when we were last there. It's not the best ingredients for me and my kidney diet. I'm going to have to work on my own version of their dressing. At any rate, I get the dressing on the side and a little goes a long way. Still, at home, it's not the same. I've decided the difference is that their salad is served on chilled plates. We talked about this, and DS suggested I buy salad plates and keep them in the fridge. Brilliant--will do that.

And that brings us back to money. Must not spend money. Curb my spending habits. There's just always something I want/have to have. The question is, will I buy salad plates???

I'm a compulsive eater. I didn't get to 282.5 pounds without having the compulsion issue. I am usually pretty good with money, but if I were to place a bet on this, my bet would be this: I'll buy the plates due to compulsion.

It's a vicious circle, isn't it?

Random Tidbits

My scale? It seems to like the same number. It's stuck there. That's okay, I just keep plugging away. It will get sick of that number soon enough.

Went to Wal-Mart last night and found Sean Anderson's favorite Joseph's Pitas. I can't wait to try one for lunch today! They look fluffy, soft and yummy. The ingredients list is good for a bread item and they're only 60 calories. I was so excited to find them. They were in the deli, not the bread aisle. I never go into the deli section but just happened to on a whim last night--lucky me!

It's snowing. It's March 23 and it's snowing. It's cold. It's 30 but feels like 20. Humidity is high from melting snow, all-day rain yesterday, and a touch of wind. Brrrr. Poor doggies, I'm a wimp, I don't want to go play with them. Funny how in January/February when it's 20 below, I can go outside with them and it is nasty cold but doable for a few minutes. Now? It feels much colder, only because we've had a touch of warmth. Spring is coming, and soon I'll be complaining that it's too hot and humid. lol

I bought a Kindle. The greatest thing ever. For years I have had difficulty reading books because my left eye goes completely blurry when reading. I can read a computer screen, but only a page or two at a time from a book--and I have to be sitting perfectly straight to do that. I've even been seen by a neurologist and had an MRI to figure the problem out, but they couldn't. I snuggled up in bed last night and read 1/3 of a book in an hour--I almost cried, I was in heaven. My eye did not go blurry, and I did enlarge the type on the screen. Why did I wait so long to get one? I've got many books to make up for! Plan on getting as many freebies as I can, but the very first book I bought was one of my favorites, Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. I have the book in paperback, but due to the above reasons, I can't read very long. It has been updated and I felt it was just the right book for my first purchase.

Before I started this journey in February of 2009, my husband, son and I did a massive declutter spree on this house. We filled a dumpster, we donated van loads of stuff to the library, to the animal shelter, and to Salvation Army. The Epilepsy Foundation is my choice for donations, but they don't have a local pick up and we needed to unload now. Every room was gone through, decluttered and organized. It was liberating. I honestly believe it gave me the energy to start this journey.

Well, that was two years ago, I am a little bit of a clutter bug, and we've done some projects around the house that created clutter and it's time to do it again. I had read that book before we started the last declutter, and it's time to get inspired to do it again. I feel a major spring clean coming on.

I look at it as getting unstuck. I have been stuck for quite awhile, stuck in pain, in attitude, in depression, in frustration--and it's a physical way of making something great happen. So, soon, very soon, I'll be kicking booty here and decluttering again, washing walls, spring cleaning, and bringing back some loving, clean, fresh energy into this house.

Spring just brings out the energy, the life, the rebirth, doesn't it?

When you clear your clutter, get organized and fresh, you have more energy to devote to the things you love and to your goals. I'm ready for a fresh infusion of that energy!

Believe!!!

Somewhere along the line I stopped believing. I think it happened when the pain from the then-undiagnosed kidney stone was so severe. My world just fell apart. Pain is a horrible thing to endure.

I stopped believing in myself. I got so frustrated. I had a diet thrown at me that I did not want to comply with. I was just simply overwhelmed. I stopped believing I could ever achieve my weight-loss goals.

I never stopped believing in my quest for fitness--I've had a couple of killer workouts this weekend.

I was thinking about those workouts and about the whole weight loss thing. If I don't believe I can do this, then I won't. It's that simple. I think I have proof of that.

So it's time to start believing again. It's time to dig out a few favorite photos from the past and stick them on the fridge. It's time to visualize what I want.

Like I used to say...I can do that! I can and I will.