Wednesday, July 28, 2004

SOMETHING WONDERFUL IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO YOU!

I HAVE RECD SO MANY BEAUTIFUL ROSES THESE PAST FEW DAYS THAT I HAD TO WRITE ABOUT THEM IN MY JOURNAL. THE FIRST WAS AN EMAIL OF 10 ROSES FROM MY J-LAND FRIEND, TRACY:


You are receiving these roses because you are a special person! Each rose symbolizes a special wish from me to you.

One Rose for Long Friendship


One Rose for Unconditional Love


One Rose For Financial Wealth


One for Everlasting Happiness



One for Success


One for Knowledge



One for Beauty, inner and outer


One for Family


One for Honesty



And the last one for a long and healthily life

THESE ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. THANKS SO MUCH, TRACY. YOU ARE A TREASURE AND YOU ARE MUCH LOVED. =.)

ON MONDAY, I RECD A RED ROSES AND BALLOONS BOUQUET AT WORK. I COULDNT FIND A PICTURE ON THE NET TO COMPARE. THIS IS THE CLOSEST I COULD GET... IMAGINE 6 RED ROSES IN A RED VASE WITH A BIG SHINY RED RIBBON IN FRONT. THE BOUQUET IS HUGE BECAUSE EVEN THO THERE ARE ONLY 6 ROSES, IT IS FILLED WITH SO MUCH GREENERY, YELLOW SPRAYS AND TINY WHITE FLOWERS (NOT BABY'S BREATH).  FLYING FROM THE BOUQUET ARE WHITE AND RED BALLOONS THAT SAY BE-LATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY (NOT I LOVE YOU. LOL). THEY CAME FROM AN EMPLOYER THAT I MET THROUGH MY WORK...                      

  ON TUESDAY (YESTERDAY), A SINGLE SALMON ROSE WAS HAND-DELIVERED BY A CLIENT WHO IS  20 YEARS MY JUNIOR. YES, HE IS THE SAME CLIENT WHO USED TO BRING ME CHOCOLATES AT THE OTHER OFFICE, AND YES, HE WANTS MORE. HE IS SO SWEET, BUT HE IS TOO YOUNG. UNFORTUNATELY, THE BIG BOUQUET WAS ON MY DESK WHEN HE SHOWED UP WITH THIS BEAUTIFUL ROSE. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A SALMON ROSE WITH JUST A TOUCH OF GREEN IN THE PETALS?! BREATHTAKING!

IN THE CATHOLIC FAITH, WHEN YOU TELL YOUR PRAYER WISH TO THE LITTLE FLOWER (ST THERESA),                             Saint Theresa the Little Flower

SHE SENDS YOU A ROSE FROM HEAVEN IF YOUR PRAYER WISH WILL COME TRUE BUT INSTEAD OF ONE ROSE, I HAVE RECD A SHOWER OF ROSES!

I DONT USUALLY PRAY TO ST THERESA, BUT I DO BELIEVE IN HER PROMISES AND I DO KEEP A CLOSE WATCH FOR ROSES IN ANYTHING, PRINTED OR REAL, BECAUSE TO ME, THAT IS A SIGN FROM GOD THAT SOMETHING WONDERFUL IS COMING.

SOMETIMES I NEED MONEY TO MEET MY BILLS AND WHEN I PRAY FOR THAT, I USUALLY FIND A PENNY 

                             

WHICH TELLS ME NOT TO WORRY, BECAUSE MY FINANCIAL NEEDS WILL BE MET. I CALL THEM PENNIES FROM HEAVEN. I NO LONGER SPEND THOSE PENNIES I FIND. NOW, I KEEP THEM IN A SPECIAL PLACE BECAUSE THEY ARE ANSWERED PRAYER. GOD KNOWS THAT I HAVE NO ONE TO DEPEND ON EXCEPT FOR HIM. HE KNOWS THAT I HAVE NO FATHER, I HAVE NO GRANDFATHER, AND I HAVE NO BOYFRIEND OR HUSBAND. I ONLY HAVE GOD AND THE WORK OF MY HANDS AND THAT IS ENOUGH, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT GOD WILL ALWAYS TAKE CARE OF ME THE WAY HE TAKES CARES OF THE BIRDS AND THE LILIES OF THE FIELD. FINDING A PENNY IS A BLESSING, BUT GETTING ROSES FAR EXCEEDS ANYTHING MONEY CAN BUY! I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO SEE WHAT'S COMING. I'M LIKE A LITTLE CHILD WAITING FOR XMAS!

I LOVE THE WAY GOD SPEAKS TO ME IN LITTLE THINGS IN EVERYDAY LIFE. YOU CAN HEAR HIM, TOO, IF YOU PAY CLOSE ATTENTION.

IN LESS THAN A WEEK, I HAVE RECD SEVENTEEN ROSES.  I DO NOT KNOW IF THAT NUMBER HAS ANY SIGNIFICANCE, BUT I AM NOTING IT IN MY JOURNAL BECAUSE IT MIGHT! SOMETHING WONDERFUL IS COMING AND I HAVENT EVEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE DREAM I HAD YET...

Monday, July 26, 2004

(((VIV))): QUEEN OF ANIMATION

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(((VIV)))... Didnt I tell you good things were coming to you? Be prepared. There will be more to come!

Your greatest fan, Win =.)

Sunday, July 25, 2004

The Power of the Mind

I can deal with a lot of things, but when my health fails me, I get discouraged. When I get discouraged, I dont pay attention to what I am eating or how much I am eating.

It has been said that goals are 90% mental and 10% physical, and I believe that. That is why my journal also focuses on my feelings and my thoughts. Concentration is the final conditioning to win. Without it, the best diet in the world and all the modern training techniques and high-tech equipment in the world wont mean sh**.  

When I was at my worst health, when I died and came back to life, when I broke all those bones in my body, I never gave my mind the opportunity to feel discouraged. The power of my mind helped me to focus on bettering myself and my situation so that I could return to being a single parent and a productive person in my community. Even Job didnt give up in the face of adversity.

I know how to eat. What's my problem?! How can overeating help my cause?! Me.. the superhero... she who fights for the underdog, she who fights for good causes... surely, I, too, am a good cause to fight for!

Take off your sackcloth and put on the full armor of God! Dare to believe that impossible things are happening everyday and that this quest was mine even before I asked for it. God is waiting with open hands. All I have to do is to be willing to receive it.

No need to be afraid of being beautiful and fit. If you dont deal with this right now, you never will! No need to worry about how others will react to your weightloss. No need to fear the many "friends" you will lose. No need to fear intimacy. No need to fear being hurt again. No need to fear being a failure. No need to fear being a success, either! You owe this to yourself: to be fit instead of fat. You have come such a long way already.

DONT YOU GIVE UP! Observe your strengths and your weaknesses. Knowing them can mean the difference between victory and defeat, for to save a life in defeat is to earn victory and honor within...

Center yourself. Thought and action must be one. There can be no hesitation. Put your mind somewhere else. Let the pain go. Let the pain go. There is no pain...There is no pain...

Surveys of thin people show that thin people do not diet. They usually gain weight during special events, but all they dont go on a diet. They continue eating what they love, but they cut back and dont eat as much until they get back down to what they used to weigh.

The difference between thin people and overweight people is that thin people overeat on special occasions but overweight people overeat every day.

Did you know that yo-yo dieting is actually good for you? The thing is this:

Extra weight adds stress to your heart. Every pound of fat requires your heart to pump a mile of blood a day, so if you lose 30 lbs, that's 30 miles of blood that your heart doesnt have to pump. When you are overweight, that blood is also denser and denser blood has more cholesterol and fatty acids which also puts stress on your heart. So even if you regain all 30 lbs, your heart has had a chance to rest and your body is healthier for it than if you never lost it at all. Today, focus on NOT OVEREATING.

Winning is not a some time thing. Winning is an all time thing. We dont win once in awhile. We dont do the right thing once in awhile. We do the right thing all of the time. Winning is a habit; unfortunately, so is losing.    ~ Vince Lombardi

Monday, July 19, 2004

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY

  Subj: I have a feeling something is going on with you....  Date: 7/19/2004 7:13:42 PM Central Daylight Time From: VivianSulliNwank To: WINivere2002

bird.gif (20510 bytes)A little bird told me it'syour birthday today! So I thought I'd leave you a special birthday message. Please click below to see it!

Happy Birthday My Friend.
 

 

 

Awww... thanks so much for remembering, Vivian. You truly are a superstar fairy godmother. =.)

I was disappointed when I was getting dressed to go in to work because my favorite shoes fell apart. Sighhh... 

I was pretty upset, because I had to go in to work on my birthday, but I was surprised that after four years with the company, the people at work baked me a mandarin cake and sang happy birthday. Not unusual that I had to transfer to another town to get a cake. ha ha... An ex-coworker called me at work to sing happy birthday. My younger daughter called. A friend I hadnt heard from in awhile called me and invited me out to supper at his favorite restaurant. It would have been nice if he had asked me where I wanted to eat, because I dont care for pasta, but it was nice of him to invite me out to eat. Then to top it all off, my mother remembered my birthday for the first time in her life. The Ultimate Shocker! Unbelievable!

I was surprised that so many people remembered mybirthday this year. That is very unusual. Thank you for remembering.

 :::Spirit Sprinkles::: 

Saturday, July 17, 2004

TO BE ABLE TO REMAIN STANDING

Boxing has 15 rounds. When facing a boxing match with Apollo Creed, heavy boxing championship of the world, an unknown, million-to-one shot Rocky Balboa told his girlfriend, Adrian:

I cant beat him, Adrian, but if I can only go the distance...

                          eminem music poster

Rocky's goal was to be able to remain standing the full 15 rounds. In order to do that, he had to remain strong and he had to remain focused. That strategy also meant no sex during training. The inspiration behind Rocky Balboa is that he never gave up. He was a small little unknown who wasnt very bright, but he had heart.

I noticed on some films that athletes put their opponent's picture on their mirror so that they can look at it everyday. I was surprised to see this, because I had been doing that for years. When struggling with my weight, I have always had a specialized corner of the room set up just for the full-length mirror. I keep my free weights there and my measuring tape and on my mirror are pictures of women whom I admire physically, such as Rachel McLish, who's body I achieved after the birth of my two children. I realize that now I am twice that age and that gravity is not my friend, but being fit is what the game is all about.

Having children does not make you fat; ex-husbands do!

Looking back, I have always tried to keep my body in form. When my friends would see me, they would always see me in jogging clothes or they would call me the Dancing Queen when they'd see me on the dance floor with my dancing partner. My closet doesnt hold any of those kinds of clothes anymore. Now all I see are clothes for work... no clothes to play in, no clothes to have fun in. How boring! Need to change that! The problem is that I dont care for the clothes they have in the stores. Need to start sewing again, but first, I need to clean out that closet.

Keeping in shape is a lifetime challenge, not just a few days or a few months. If you want your body to look fit and you want it to stay looking fit, you have to commit to changing your lifestyle for the rest of your life. I look back at all the different strategies I have used in the past and I think: oh, I need to try that again or that again!

Losing weight is not a problem. Losing weight is something that anybody can do. Changing your lifestyle... ah, now there is the challenge... My goal, like Rocky's, is to be able to remain standing.

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Summer Cold?

I havent had a chance to write in my journal, because I havent been feeling well enough to write, but yesterday, I had to write about the nice gesture that Sammy did for me. I am truly blessed.

I took a sick day yesterday as a vacation day. So sad that I have to dive into my vacation days when I am sick, but I have had this summer cold for over a week already and I am also experiencing hot and cold flashes and night sweats. I had to go see the doctor, no going around it. He says it might not be menopause, that it might be because of this respiratory infection or it could be because of my thyroid problems. It is such an awful feeling, feeling extremely cold one minute and then extremely hot the next. I get night sweats and I notice that I also get day sweats. I dont know if you get day sweats when you are on menopause. I dont know if I will be going through menopause, because I dont have a uterus.

I am still feeling pretty bad, but I have to go to work. Only two days til the weekend. Then I can rest again...

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

My New Diet Buddy

                  Build-A-Bear Workshop: Teddy Bears

Samantha Esperanza McLish was born on June 29, 2004. She was named after some lady truck driver, hummm... wonder whom that could be? =.) Esperanza means HOPE in Spanish and her last name is after the first Ms Olympia, Rachel McLish.

Samantha wears a red lucky 7 camisole over a white T-shirt and nylon navy scrunch pants. In her hand is a note that reads:

THIS IS HOPE WHO WILL BE YOUR NEW DIET BUDDY AND WILL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU EVEN WHEN THE REST OF YOUR DIET BUDDIES ARE BUSY OR ASLEEP. HOPE WILL REMIND YOU TO STICK WITH THE PLAN BECAUSE YOU CAN DO IT!

Sammie, thank you so much for thinking about me and for sending me such a thoughtful new friend to love. The first thing I noticed is that Samantha has the same body as my first grand-daughter who will be one year old on the last day of this month. Samantha came in a little house with a birth certificate and a little cardboard hanger.

I put a red headband around her head. So 80s. She looks like she's ready to go workout! =.) Now all she needs is to get her ears pierced.

Fonzi's eyes lit up when he saw Samantha. He is a furry friend, too. He wears a brown leather jacket and khaki pants. He came over and gave Samantha a hug and now they spend countless hours talking about porridge and some girl named Goldilocks. LOL... I think they mean me.

       2 pc. Lucky Seven Outfit  (12941)

 

Friday, July 9, 2004

TRACY'S QUESTION

LMAO, Tracy... you would be the one to ask if the doctor is single.

I dont know if Dr Owen is single. He said he got a divorce. I dont know why he would tell me that. I heard he left his practice at the other location because he didnt like the way the other doctor was running things. Dr Owen is a good doctor, but he doesnt laugh.

My regular doctor is a good doctor, but he is bankrupt. He is a karate champion and knows Chuck Norris. He has too many girlfriends.

I think the one you are referring to is probably Fortino, because I mentioned that he is a great guy. Fortino is not a doctor. He is a physical therapist. Yep, I could see myself with someone like him, because he is nice and because he makes me laugh, but I am not romantically attracted to him. He is engaged and is probably eloping as we speak. =.) I am very grateful to him, because he teaches the McKenzie method of pain control, and he helped me a lot last year.

I am in physical therapy 3x week. The pain is still centered in my lower back, which is good. If the pain goes down my leg, then I am in trouble. Fortino says it could be the beginning of something really bad, so I have to take extra care. I have herniated discs in my lower back, and like Forrest Gump, my spine is curved like a question mark.  

I was surprised that Fortino and Joey remembered my light-up tennis shoes. They are white with pink hearts and the hearts and the bottom of the shoes light up. They are not good for walking, but they are fun to wear.

FYI: I am one of those lucky people who pays less for sneakers, because I can buy mine in the children's department. =.)

DONT LOOK BACK...

.....................................

Seems that I have gotten lost in the shuffle and few people have noticed that I havent been journaling. LOL...Not surprised.  

In spite of God's words of comfort, I have been a bad girl. This back problem makes me feel discouraged. It is the hardest challenge I have had to face in my weightloss journey. I can ignore all my other illnesses, but this one takes me completely...not a good thing. And so, I get discouraged, and I go back to my old habits. Ughhh... if I do that, I will be right back where I started. Cant let that happen!

I was accepted by Workman's Comp and went to see Dr Owen who has referred me back to Fortino. Fortino teaches the McKenzie method of pain control which is a series of exercises. (Well it makes me keep exercising! That's a good thing!) Fortino is such a sweet guy. Makes me see that there are still some good guys left in the world.

 

                                  Viv and Tracy,

        thanks so much for checking up on me. I treasure you both.