Progress Report #1

There you have it…. eight months of hard work paying off!  I’m down 65 pounds since April 2011.  It took me a LONG time to come to terms with my before picture, but I have.  I’m ready to share with the world.  I still have 35 pounds to go, but I’m not heading back to the neglected state of health on the left, thankyouverymuch.

I got a facebook message from my jr. high choir director from church (talk about a blast from the past!) who told me that she is a health coach and asked me to spread the word for her.  I said no.  I only spread the word for programs/products/people that I’ve tried and had great success with.  She asked if I wanted to try her program.  Just look at that BEFORE picture!  Does it look like I want to lose weight? (Well, I do look happy, but that’s beside the point.)  Yes!  I’ll try another weight loss program…. why not?  I’ve tried ALL the other ones.

My journey began with aching knees, a sore back and general lethargy due to carrying around 100 pounds that I didn’t need.  (I can’t even lift 100 lbs!)  I began eating five of the meals from the company each day and one meal I prepared (or ate out.)  This is the easiest plan I’ve ever seen.  And the meals are a variety of types of food, all nutritionally equal, so I could eat five of their brownies a day if I wanted to.  Some days I wanted to. But I don’t think I ever ate five brownies in one day.  But I was allowed to and that made me happy.

As with any self discipline issue, it was HARD!  And I didn’t want to follow the program when everyone around me was eating movie popcorn.  I WANTED pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.  But I realized that eating what I wanted got me into the horrific shape I was in.  (That shape would be a round ball.)  I changed the input to change the outlook.

I’m still on this journey of feeling empowered with the knowledge I’ve gained.  I can go to a potluck and not freak out and fall off the wagon.  I don’t feel deprived, I feel empowered.  It’s a great feeling.  So great that I decided to be a health coach myself and guide others to optimal health and a feeling of empowerment!  Now if I had only taught jr. high choir, I could send them all a message on facebook!  Paying it forward!

Yet Another Tribute to Mr. Thrifty

It’s Tuesday night.  $2 night at the cheap theater Silver Saver Cinema here in Phoenix.  Our youngest son doesn’t really have a tough task talking his father into accompanying him to the movies on Tuesday nights.  It’s becoming more regular that date night.  (I just realized that….. and that’s no good!)  Tonight was nothing out of the ordinary… Jack Black playing in Gulliver’s Travels.  They did invite me, but I simply could not bear to see a brilliant Jonathan Swift story blown to bits by Jack Black. That’s a big NO, THANK YOU!

So as Pop and his son are getting ready to leave, some thrift-mocking occurred, primarily showered on my dear husband by myself and my 17-year-old protégé  daughter.  I inquired if he was saving us money by taking the “IT’S SHOW TIME” large, refillable KFC-style popcorn buckets that he saves and stores in our closet. Seriously, I think some have been there for years.  Imagine the dust and bugs in them….. gross me out.  He laughed and said, “Not any more.”  WHAT?  Yes, he brought one the last time he and our youngest son did the $2 Tuesday deal.  He placed it up on the counter for his refill and the manager exclaimed, “So, you haven’t been here in over a year!”  Oh my word!  I’m so glad I wasn’t there.  I didn’t bother asking if they refilled it or not.  I thought those were refillable only on the same visit.  More-than-a-year later is stretching the same visit clause.  But even after the manager’s comment…… they are still in our closet.  Here, look:

Rick, if you read this blog, can you please answer a few questions for my readers?

1.  Did the manager refill the more-than-a-year-old bucket with popcorn?

2.  If he did not, why are they still in the closet?

3.  Were all the funny parts in Gulliver’s Travels in the preview?

Thanks, Hon. XOXOXO

The Life of a Pilot’s Wife

Fort Vermilion Air Strip c. 1991

The life of a pilot’s wife seems to invoke visions of grandeur in the minds of those who have never been a pilot’s wife.  I’m here today to disprove inaccurate information and lay the truth out for all to witness.  First of all, just have a looksie at the harsh weather conditions we were faced with for three years!  I’m a California girl and that’s a parka with fox fur trim, moose hide mitts (made by Rick’s grandma, Googum) and Sorels!  I’d never tried on boots that came in two parts until we moved to Fort Vermilion, Alberta.  Luckily they came in hot pink!  I guess that the weather was not due to being a pilot’s wife… it was due to a newbie pilot putting in his ‘time’ in the North before heading to bluer skies in warmer climates. 

Just a few glimpses into the strange happenings of a pilot’s family are indeed overdue. 

Glimpse #1.  We were driving our 1971 Toyota Corona Deluxe late at night when the dash lights cut out.  Rick yelled, “The instrument panel is offline!”  I yelled back, “Luckily we’re safe on the ground!”  Made me wonder if he thought he was flying a plane…. they don’t have to pay quite as close attention when they’re up in the air… hmmmmm.

Glimpse #2.  It was the middle of the night and I was stirred from blissful sleep as Rick sat up in bed and yelled, “More left power!”  I replied, “Roger that,” and he laid back down having never woken up at all.  :o)  I wonder what would have happened if I yelled, “Man overboard?”

Glimpse #3.  Anytime you call a pilot for an address or a name they always spell it in the phonetic alphabet.  Over the years I’ve gotten used to it, but it was a surprise for others when Rick said we lived on Yankee Uniform Charlie Charlie Alpha Street.  I’ve still not figured out the numbers… niner, niner… whatever.  I just add er to the end of all of them.   Oner, Twoer, Threeer.  (mockful, I realize.)

Glimpse #4.  We needed a new washing machine and were sitting together, husband and wife, reading washer reviews online.  I would suggest a model.  He would say, “18 cycles!  How many did our old washer have?”  “12”  “Why do we need 6 more?  Our clothes were clean with 12.”  I explained that the new and improved cycles were for specific washing cycles that would be useful.  He didn’t get it.  This went on and on for about an hour.  Finally I lovingly explained, “When you buy an airplane, do you want me sitting there saying, ‘Ailerons?  How many ailerons did your last plane have?  Did you use both of them?’ ”  And he let me pick out my washing machine all by myself.  You gotta talk to a pilot in pilot smack.

Glimpse #5.  I asked Rick to put in a load of laundry.  We have a new fangled LG frontloader that lights up like a cockpit when you hit the magic button.  I heard the laundry basket hit the floor.  The door opened.  Loading.  Door closed.  And then there was silence for about four minutes.  He eventually hollered, “I’m not checked out on this machine.”  WHAT?  There’s only 5 buttons on the washer.  How many are in the cockpit?  Laundry Flight Training followed.

Glimpse #6.  Important Terms to Know:  Gas is for cars.  Fuel is for planes.  We saw a bumper sticker that said, “I love the smell of Jet A early in the morning.”  Rick chuckled.  I didn’t get it.  Jet fuel stinks.  My pilot tried to explain that it is such a familiar smell that means good times are coming.  I guess it’s like the smell of the glue gun??  The sunscreen???  The movie popcorn????

And no, I don’t get to fly with him in his current job, something to do with insurance.  No frequent flyer miles here.  No jump seat privileges.  It’s a glamorous life, for sure!