Girl Scout Cookies - Little Taunts from the Underworld

About eight weeks ago I ordered Girl Scout cookies from my friend Traci at work.  I wanted to be generous and thought I had plans for what I ordered - all NINE boxes of them.  What?

She delivered them on Friday and I was like, "What, in the hell, was I thinking?" 

I seem to remember something about crust for a cheesecake and Thin Mints freezing well.  But beyond that, it was another food shopping blackout.  That happens more often than I would like to admit.  I'll walk through the store getting what I actually need, see something interesting (read: not good for me) and then when I get to the checkout, the naughty Luci in me (short for Lucifer), has put them in the cart. 

Now sometimes I am good and hand them to the clerk saying I have changed my mind.  Far too often though, I go ahead and get it anyway.  Then I try to bring it to work and pawn the bulk of the stuff off on co-workers, probably sabotaging their healthy life changes.

Anyway, I can't ask the clerk to put back the Girl Scout cookies.  So, so far, I have passed off four boxes to other people as 'gifts'.  The others are sitting in a giant box by my desk whispering sweet naughtiness in my ear.  Some of the Peanut Butter Patties have already won a place in my stomach. 

Though no worries to the little girls in green, I don't blame the Girl Scouts - I blame the cookies. ;)

Yours in health,
Kate

How Does Your Garden Grow?

My thoughts are steeped in ideas for two gardens right now - the one that I cannot touch until the snow abates and the one inside me. 

Yesterday, in utter desperation, I bought seed mats and a hanging strawberry mat from a friend's child for a fundraiser for my home's garden.  I will now have mat rings for my trees, mats for a butterfly sanctuary and the hope of strawberries all staring me in the face when they arrive in April.  Taunting me really.  Because, even though we have lost a lot of snow this last week, there is a couple of more weeks left in our Iowa winter and for all we know, it could snow in April.

Once the last of the white stuff does absorb into the ground, it will be a while before I can go into my yard without losing a shoe to the mud.  But once I can, I have glorious plans for a yard that is green, smart and will bloom all season long.  After this winter, I think I deserve it, we ALL deserve it.

It's also great physically and mentally.  I rip through weeds to workout stress and slowly my worldly concerns are washed away into the dirt and I am free.  When I actually have time I will spend 4, 6, even 8 hours in the yard reworking, maintaining and reinvigorating the yard.  Last year, mid-season, I had to have knee surgery which slowed me down.  My knee is better this year and I hope it will be even better by the time my first seeds are sown.

As for my inner garden, next week the new Intuition Magazine will be hitting stands all over Central Iowa.  There will 8,000 copies with my latest column inside.  I continue to share the truth about my life and I touch on tending my inner garden.  Suffice it to say journaling and meditation are more effective than I would have imagined. 

Perhaps, by the beginning of summer, both me and my yard will be in full bloom.

Yours in health,
Kate

P.S. - Here is a sneak at a piece of the cover for the March/April Intuition Magazine cover - it will give us all hope. :) 

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

When I get ready in the morning I look in the bathroom mirror to make sure my hair has not run amok.  When I get dressed in the morning, I glance at the full-length mirror in my room to be sure I am not horribly disheveled.  Yesterday I was clothes shopping and looked in the mirror and finally saw me - all of me.

I had caught a glance of myself on TV the other night after the Fight for Air Climb.  I instantly recognized my shapeless body with the blue shirt.  It made me a bit queasy.  But yesterday in nothing but bra and panties I looked again.  I was a bit shocked. 

You look a certain way in your mind's eye.  As you gain weight you let that picture gain weight too - just not nearly at the same rate as reality.  I had the same problem as I lost weight.  In my head I was bigger than the body in the mirror.  Even at my lowest weight, I was 'fat'.  I'd like to be that 'fat' again.

As I sat on the bench in the dressing room last night I stared in disbelief and sadness.  When did this happen?  When did I stop caring enough to do something?  When will I fully embrace change and do something again?  Or maybe I am doing something right now.

Yours in health,
Kate

Fight for Air Climb 2010

I coordinated media for the Fight for Air Climb (AKA 801 Grand Power Climb) on Sunday.  Two years ago I was able to do the climb.  I trained, I put my heart into it and I made it all 41 floors straight up the building in just under 10 minutes - my goal.

This year I was not only on the sideline due to my weight gain and knee injury - I put my back out before I even left work. LOL.  It was incredibly painful, but really funny in its own way.  The universe was trying to drive home a point - get it together.  I had to go to the doctor yesterday anyway, so I am now on muscle relaxers.  Sadly not the "say funny things" kind, just the loosen things up so I don't want to cry kind.

But I digress... (a really long way)

I actually wanted to talk about the inspiration I took from the people who DID do the Climb.  People came from all walks of life - triathletes, kids, lung disease sufferers, fire fighters and law enforcement and my fabulous sister-in-law Annette.  All of them climbing to raise money for the American Lung Association.  In all, over 1,000 climbers raised $113,000, though the end total will be closer to $170,000.

Just being near so many in shape and determined people was awesome.  It has me determined to be ready to do it again next year.

Yours in health,
Kate

Flowers Make Me Happy

Last Friday I got flowers from my job.  It was a thank you for my work on Hearts for Homes, which I will give a full update on next week. 

Every time I look at them I am happy.  Not just because it was a great way to show their appreciation, but they are a respite from this awful winter.  They really are a living example of positive mental health.  And really, any time anyone wants to give me flowers, they will give me a smile that will last so long.

When they were fresh I took a picture and turned it into a painting on Photo Shop to make them last forever.  Here it is, I hope it makes you smile too.

Yours in health,
Kate

My Swiss Cheese Memory

Play me in trivia and I will likely send you away in great defeat.  Ask me what I had for breakfast this morning and I will draw a blank.  Show me a mediocre film from the 80's and I will tell you who the guy halfway through the movie once played on TV in the 70's.  Ask me when I blogged last, you guessed it, I forget.

It's not that blogging isn't important.  Or that dropping off bags I had (forever) for a friend of my mom's isn't important.  I have been told that I am too busy and that is the problem.  I then wonder why on earth I know the artist and title to match an obscure 60's song a listener calls for - but I couldn't remember to give my boss a set of  checks for five months.  You would think my mind would have some sort of prioritization.

When this first started happening I thought I had early on-set Alzheimer's - and no, I am not joking - that's nothing to joke about, it's a terrible disease.  But truly there are times I can't find my cell phone, but I remember something from a meeting six months ago when somebody needs to write an e-mail.  I'm not whining, just a bit confused, which is what the lack of memory has lead to. 

But then I did remember something, exercise seemed to have helped when I was really going at it every day.  I think I need to buckle down and fill-in the holes in the Swiss cheese.

Yours in health,
Kate

Oatmeal is Whole Grain Happiness

O.k., if I could eat anything for breakfast everyday and get away with it - egg McMuffin or world's best chocolate donut.  Needless to say that isn't realistic AT ALL.  So, I have found my way to oatmeal.  Huh?

I know, there are not even in the same family.  But I find a big bowl of oatmeal with just a bit of brown sugar and nuts satisfying.  The whole grain has a whole list of happy side effects and the nuts are monounsaturated fat heaven.  The bit of brown sugar isn't great, but compared to my other options - at least it is real sugar.

The greatest part is I can usually make it to lunch without needing to snack.  Or if I am really famished, adding a banana mid-morning will get me through.  AND of course, it is substantially healthier than some of the options I would love to have.

So, thank you Mister Quaker - your oats rock!

Yours in health,
Kate