ADBC Fitness Studio

In my last post, I complained (so sorry) about how I'd been fighting one of those skull-cracker headaches that just hangs on for days and days and days. That kind of headache makes writing almost impossible. And writing, for me, is a definite stress reliever. And cumulative stress aggravates the headaches. Which makes it difficult to think clearly and to focus and to write. Which...

You get the idea. It's a lousy cycle to get stuck in!

Today is day two of no pain meds. My stomach feels much happier. And the ache in my head now is like random raindrops in a puddle after a long storm, an occasional drip!/twinge, tapering away to nothing.

And the sky is BLUE today, and the sun is shining.

And best of all, I started today with yoga at the little fitness studio on the square in Troy.

What? Haven't heard about it?

I think ADBC Fitness Studio is the best kept secret in our rural little corner of the world.

ADBC Fitness Studio, located on the town square in Troy, TN

The narrow store front really doesn't give passers-by a fair indication of the big things that go on inside this exercise studio. Owner Caroline Duncan offers fitness classes for younger people and seniors, and personal training for individuals. She even has an extremely fit and aggressive team of folks training for the Tough Mudder run that will be held in Nashville in a couple of weeks.

I participate in the morning fitness class which begins at 7:30. Three days a week we do a cardio workout. One day a week, we target particular muscle groups with a weight workout. And Thursdays we have yoga.

I enjoy all the classes - the exercise, the people, the conversation. But my very favorite class is yoga on Thursdays. It's like the chocolate cake you treat yourself to after eating your cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. (Hmm, maybe that's not such a great analogy for a fitness class!)

So, anyway, I've been fighting this nagging headache. And I haven't been writing. Blegh. I commented to Helen yesterday, "I just want to have a day when I feel great!, when I can get excited about working on the book again."

After yoga with Erica this morning, I believe that today is that day.

I love my hometown!

BOOK EVENT - YOU'RE INVITED!

If you are in Obion County, Tennessee, this week, I would love for you to join me at a couple of book events!

On Thursday evening, July 16th, I will be greeting visitors and signing copies of my newest book - Wish You Were Here:  Letters From the Foot of the Cross - at the Obion County Public Library. I will be in the Tennessee Room from 5:00-7:00 p.m., and will read an excerpt from Wish You Were Here at 5:30.

The Obion County Public Library is located at 1221 East Reelfoot Avenue in Union City, Tennessee, across the street from Baptist Memorial Hospital.

On Saturday, July 18th, I am joining the festivities at Troy Community Involvement Days. I will have a book table at ADBC Fitness Studio, located on the north side of the town square in my hometown of Troy, Tennessee, from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

The address for ADBC Fitness Studio is 115 W. Westbrook, Troy, Tennessee.

Copies of Wish You Were Here:  Letters from the Foot of the Cross will be available at both events, and can be purchased for $12 each. I will also have copies of my first two books, Bethel Road and Slow Sun Rising. If you have already purchased a book and would like for me to sign your copy, feel free to drop by - I would love to meet you!

GOOD DAY TODAY

Because Helen had an alternate ride to piano camp this morning, I was able to exercise with the awesome ladies at ADBC Fitness Studio in Troy this morning.

Mr. Easterwood was mowing the hay field around the house when I headed out to Martin to retrieve my young piano virtuoso - smells yummy, and makes the field look so tidy and well-groomed.

My new glasses came in - still adjusting to a new prescription, but, man, these are cool-looking frames!

Now, I'm sitting at The Looking Glass coffee shop in Martin, Tennessee, halfway through a super-productive week of writing. (I love piano camp!)

Two articles written and submitted for the Homeschool View column. Coffee and cannoli.

Book #2 - Bethel Road - has finished going through the editing/revision process, and it should be available in both print and Kindle formats next week. Finally! If anything, I've enjoyed writing this book even better than writing the first - and I really like the story.

Worship this evening with my family at Grace Presbyterian Church.

It's been a good day today!

ONE EGG

"I would like one egg."

"How would you like that cooked?"

"Fried, over easy."

"What else?"

"Nothing else. Just one egg."

"Toast?"

"No, thank you."

"We have really good raisin toast."

"Just one egg, please."

"Just one egg?"

"Yes, thank you."

"One egg." The waitress cocked her head to the side and smiled. "Alrighty, then, just one egg!"

I admit it. I'm at it again. Once again, trying to whittle away a little bit of my middle. (That sounds like something Dr. Seuss would say, no?)

Very early this morning before exercise class, I ate a toasted bagel, topped with crunchy peanut butter. I LOVE crunchy peanut butter...can eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon. Yum.

When I met my friend for coffee at the Huddle House later this morning, I really intended to just order coffee. But, after a vigorous step workout, my toasted bagel was ancient history and I was feeling quite hungry. So, I ordered an egg.

Just one egg.

Initially, the waitress looked at me like she was confused. I don't think she'd ever had an order for just one egg. When she headed toward the grill behind the serving counter, she laughed and called out to the cook, "I have an order here for just one egg!"

We Americans eat so much food. Absolutely, I could have put down two eggs, bacon, and a stack of pancakes. I've done it before.

That's why my boobs sit right on top of my belly roll.

Which sits right on top of my thighs.

Just like one of those colorful ring-stacking toys for babies.

Red - my head. Orange - boobs. Yellow - belly. Green - thighs.
Well, you get the idea....

All of this to say, I have some power tools in my toolbox this go 'round:

Power tool Number 1 - I now know for a fact that it is possible to eat smaller portions, even in a breakfast diner where the air is thick with the intoxicating incense of waffles and pancake syrup. If I get hungry again later, I can eat another small portion. Makes much more sense than "tanking up" ahead of time, on the off-chance that I might get hungry later. Which I will. So my strategy is eat a little now of whatever I want, and then eat a little bit more later when I get hungry - instead of eat a lot now, and then a little more later when I get hungry. I'll let you know how it goes...

Power tool Number 2:  The awesome support of the ladies at ADBC Fitness, particularly Caroline and Melissa, who challenge me to work harder and to make healthy choices, one small change at a time.

Power tool Number 3:  A cool free on-line program called MyFitnessPal. I know from personal experience that I will not keep a food journal, or count calories, or eliminate carbs, or give up Helen's amazing brownies, or drink aloe-avocado-green tea smoothies. It's just not going to happen. MyFitnessPal lets me set goals, and then helps me see how my food choices and daily exercise contribute to reaching those goals. (MyFitnessPal even helps folks who want to gain weight, which I think is totally awesome.)

So, here's to not giving up, to failing and then trying again, to eternal-springing hope...

Anyone else up for a game of ring toss?!

SCHOOL DAYS

I always feel a bit intimidated by the beginning of a new school year. This morning, I woke up feeling like one of those wired, jumpy horses in the starting gate at the racetrack. My Monday To-Do list was impossibly long.

Deep breath.

Helen and I headed out before anyone else was out of bed to exercise at ADBC Fitness Studio in Troy. Working out with Mom several times each week is going to be part of Helen's P.E. this school year. It was a great way to start the day and the school year, and the exercise and conversation helped relieve some of the nervous tension I was feeling.

Back home, Reuben was making biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Love. That. Man.

I fed and watered the chickens, ate breakfast, showered, and started the first load of laundry. Then, on to math.

Helen is in the Saxon math green book this year, the last math book she'll have under Mom's tutelage. Where have the years gone? We worked through Lesson 1, and then, while Helen tackled her "homework" problem set, I tackled more laundry, answered email, and worked on a writing assignment.

More school. More laundry. Lunch.

Deep breath.

More school. More laundry. More writing/work.

We are almost finished with Day 1 of the new school year.

And everyone in the house is still alive and well.

I feel a little less panicked now, as Day 1 begins to wind down.

Only 179 days to go.

ISN'T 5:00 SUPPOSED TO BE QUITTING TIME?

I have spent almost an entire day trudging through paperwork.

Grade and attendance reports for the spring semester, application and educational plan for the 2015-2016 school year, dual-enrollment worksheets, forms for 4-H events...and I am still not done.

I needed to take a break from shuffling paper, so I cleaned out a base cabinet in the kitchen. The kitchen cabinets are my current clean-one-thing-a-day project. Helen cleaned a cabinet, too. At this rate, we'll be able to check cleaning cabinets off the To Do list in record time. (I wish there was a way we could double-team the paperwork!)

Helen needed a break from school and from cleaning kitchen cabinets, so she is now outside practicing casting with a fishing rod.

I would like to take a longer break and spend a couple of hours here at the blog - but the day is almost over and I still have a sizable stack of paperwork to chug through. Sigh. The blog will have to wait.

But, just so I'm not tempted to feel sorry for myself, I want to list 10 things I am thankful for right now:

1. A new poem today at Apples&Pears!
2. A sweet girl on the front porch, playing with fishing tackle and listening to country music.
3. Sheets dried on the clothesline.
4. A new coffee maker - thank you, Ben!
5. Homeschooling - even if it involves lots of paperwork.
6. Friends who unfailingly point me to Christ.
7. Grandbabies!!!
8. A cup of hot black tea in the afternoon.
9. Dark chocolate.
10. My exercise buddies at ADBC Fitness.

Also, proof copies for Confessions of a Homeschool Mom arrived today - I am SUPER excited about that!!!

They're here!!!

Now, if I want more time to play here at the blog, or time to begin reading the Confessions proof, I guess I'd better get back to work on that stack of paper...

10 THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR TODAY (08/27/14)

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. I am thankful that my kids are usually very healthy. Me, too, for that matter. Sturdy stock!

2. I am thankful the sun was out long enough today for me to dry a couple loads of laundry on the line. (That last load I just put on the line? Mmmm, might not dry so well - I felt a few raindrops.)

3. I am thankful for a wonderful, soon-to-be new daughter-in-law, and for her entire family. They have been such great blessings to me and mine.

4. I am thankful that my kids are pretty much financially independent, paying for their own college, books, clothes, vehicles, gas, insurance, rent, etc., and that they still help out so much around the house when they are home. I don't know anyone else whose kids take so little and give so much.

5. I am thankful it is still so beautifully green outside! This late in August, the hay field is usually brown and burned to a crisp.

6. I am thankful for friends who check on me when I've been off the grid for a couple of days. :)

7. I am thankful that tomorrow is pilates day at ADBC Fitness in Troy - I need to straighten out a few kinks after helping the newlyweds move.

8. I am thankful that today is Wednesday, which means that tonight I get to worship with my family at Grace Pres!

9. I am thankful for my grandbabies!

10. I am thankful for the promise of Glory!

Your turn now - what are YOU thankful for today?

KINDLE COUNTDOWN DEAL

To celebrate the arrival of spring - FINALLY! - Slow Sun Rising (Kindle edition) is available right now at Amazon for only 99 cents. The price bumps up a dollar each day until it is back at the original price, so get your copy today while it's really cheap!

On another note...

Speaking of spring, the sweet-breath-of-spring is in full bloom in the backyard right now. This is my favorite landscape plant in our yard - smells AMAZING, and the blossoms and scent are always so welcome after the cold and gray of winter. Thank you, Donna, for sharing a cutting!

The chickens are loving the sunshine and warmer weather, too - 8 eggs yesterday, up from the 3 or 4 we had been getting. The hens are roaming far and wide in the hay field this morning, looking for green shoots and chasing bugs. (By the way, does anyone want a gorgeously handsome, really-and-truly docile Welsummer rooster? I have three, but only need one. I hate to kill the extras, because they are so pretty and have such pleasant dispositions. If you're in the Obion County area and would like a free rooster, message me and we'll see if we can work something out!)

Thursday mornings at ADBC, Inc. Fitness Studio on the square in Troy, we have yoga led by a beautiful young woman named Erica. I am not a true yogini, in the strictest sense of the word - when exhorted to meditate on "the divine within," I thank God for the presence of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus, and for His sovereignty and providence. During practice this morning, I thought how wonderful it would be if all those who were searching for their "center" found their center in Jesus. I guess you could say I was praying for a yogi revelation/revival - would that make me a yogavangelist?

Blue skies, sunshine, and warmer temperatures. Bible (in Joshua now), yoga, breakfast, and laundry. School today, and writing. Then grocery shopping and piano lessons. Looks like today will be a wonderful start to spring!