Life is Good…

Here I sit at the dining room table. It’s 5:40 am, I’ve been awake for 40 minutes and I mean awake, awake. Like clock work my mind just started moving on me. Probably helps that 4 minutes prior our oldest decided she had had enough of sleeping in her own bed and she wanted to come sleep in mom and dad’s room. Just as I tucked her snugly on between us, the clock went off. I hit snooze and cuddled up next to her trying to help her get back to sleep but my mind just wouldn’t do the same. Did I mention that a month ago there was no way to comfortably put all 3 of us into our queen size bed?? I think that speaks volumes for both Jeremiah and I! So, I gave in and went in search of a cup of coffee, took care of the dog, and now here I sit at the laptop trying to decide exactly what the blog should be about.

I will soon need to gather my 3 bags of stuff (my personal bag, kind of like my purse, my work bag, and of course my gym bag) and head off to the gym. Today is like any other Wednesday in the last several weeks, because of meetings scheduled long before a few weeks ago when I began working with Krista (trainer at AT& T Sports Complex), I will have to miss my session with her today. I will still go to the gym on my own before work, because I feel like I need to and want to. I have a monster day at work 5 meetings in all, but not all in one place. Part of my job is to meet my clients in their own settings or places they want to be, so I try to accommodate as much as I can. I will start the day at work, after the gym and then have a meeting at a local restaurant to celebrate a client’s birthday today – then it is back to office for the next meeting – then it is off to another local restaurant (not the same one) to meet another client who loves to have lunch out at just about any restaurant (after all means he doesn’t have to cook clean…), then off to a family’s home for a meeting and finally back to the office for the final meeting of the day. Sounds like a lot but since I enjoy my job I don’t mind doing a lot in one day. Besides even though it is a lot it is with a diverse group of people that in some way, even if it is small I am making a difference in their life, and that means the world to me.

Helping others helps me succeed. I work with people who experience physical and developmental disabilities, and this work inspires me. When I think I’ve got it bad all I have to do is look and see a wealth of others who could have it horrible based on the fact that they are legally disabled, and many of them have no control over that fact, many of them know nothing else, they were born with their disabilities. I might not feel like I have the best life, because I can’t make the electric bill this month or the gas bill just seems to get larger and larger from month to month, but I have to sit back and think, I really do have it good – I have a family that I can be proud of, parents and in-laws who care about me, I have a home to live in, a nice vehicle to drive, and last but not least a job that I truly love. I do not work for a big salary, I work for a non-profit – I work for people – I do not work for the money. Granted I could never deny I would like to make more, but that is not just because I want to – that would be more about returning to being able to meet the bills each month more than anything else. Cost of living can sometimes make people feel a little crippled in and of itself. Add to that the increased cost of trying to eat healthy, and what do you have?

Okay, so here is the meat and potatoes (a small portion) of this blog. Eating healthier, a lot of people have said they tend not to do it because it costs too much and takes up too much time. I have discovered that while that can be true, it doesn’t have to be. Since right before trim-2-win began I have been really watching the weekly sales ads and buying things like fruit and vegetables as much as possible when it goes on sale. Of course it is impossible to make this the only way I buy these items, as you can’t buy lettuce one week and then wait for the tomatoes to go on sale maybe next week, but it can be done in a manner that will give you the makings for an awesome salad. Meats I always buy in the value packs and either freeze or pre-cook the portions I won’t be immediately using. Bread, one of the many evils that most “diets” tell you not to have, but not the Weight Watchers points plan – it just tells you to be smarter about your carbs – Bread I buy when it is on sale and then freeze for later use, you just have to ensure that it has space in a freezer and is not going to get crushed because somehow crushed bread is not the same…

As for all the other things, again I watch for sales to stock up and if it is something we need that is not on sale, then I buy in a smaller quantity. It can be done to almost the same tune of the budget we were previously using, because that budget allotted for a lot of fast food trips, and if you want to talk costly then take a walk down that road.

For now, though I must get signed off and out the door to gym. Got a big day ahead and looking forward to having it be a great day! I hope all your journeys are going well – I know Jeremiah and I both feel like we are doing good, although I haven’t seen the weight loss he has seen – I feel better, I think, and people have mentioned that I look better – My clothes are starting to fit better, and best of all there is room for a kiddo to sleep between us in the bed, life is good!!

Take Care until next time,

Amber