Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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tuesday catch up for motivation monday

Yesterday I was on the rusty, jagged edge of cranky and was rude to our microwave.

 

tweet 1 C

Thank you friends for your silly and encouraging notes on Facebook after this little outburst, haha! xo
Thank you friends for your silly and encouraging notes on Facebook after this little outburst, haha! xo

Today I feel light years better. I woke up early, fully rested, happy to see our Christmas lights twinkling on the shiny clean wood floor. In a couple of hours after finishing chores and running again (FINALLY) I expect to feel like myself again. Here is a super quick health/fitness update that I would have posted for Motivation Monday had I the motivation to do so, haha:

The first week of December was okay. Not spectacular, but not a disaster either. I only did a 30 Day Shred video once and ran 12 of the 30 miles I’d set as my goal, but really, what was I thinking for such a busy week? On the plus side I did eat mostly healthy food and learned or was reminded of a few important lessons:

  • When you eat to fuel your running you had better run, haha! Otherwise you feel fluffy and cranky. I can only speak for my own mind and body, but too many bowls of cereal/pasta without the attendant miles just makes for a weird chemistry. No bueno.
  • Vitamins are great but an iron supplement (for me! Check with your doctor!) is crucial. I cannot believe how flimsy I feel after a week without it. I came very close to fainting three times last week, which surely had something to do with not mustering the oomph to run or hang out with Jillian Michaels.
  • Choosing a focus sets our perspective. I have to remind myself of this a lot! It is so real. What we perceive we believe. Thoughts manifest themselves, etcetera. (Just don’t bother telling this to Mitt Romney.*)
  • Five days off feels like an eternity, especially when unplanned, but it is not quite the fitness Armageddon you think it is. Just shake it off and start again. Stop making such a big deal of it. (I honestly expected to have gained a thousand pounds, or at least four or five, over this super weird weekend, but I gained zero and actually feel pretty normal as I type this.) Remember that not exercising can let your appetite relax, too, so you know, relax.
Unrelated to this post but still cute: A few days ago I was brushing Chanta and Handsome snuck up and plopped Geoffrey the barn cat atop Chanta's ample back. The End. xoxo
Unrelated to this post but still cute: A few days ago I was brushing Chanta and Handsome snuck up and plopped Geoffrey the barn cat atop Chanta’s ample back. The End. xoxo

What do you have on tap for December wellness? I really would love to hear. Do you feel that paying attention to your body helps your mind, and also vice-versa? Do you notice that negative thoughts about yourself can trigger a dip in activity or a downward spiral in productivity at work?

I mentioned last Monday that Monica might be offering a December challenge, and she is! I am a week behind of course, but it’s simple and fun and totally worth diving in. Check it out here.

Happy Tuesday!

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
~Benjamin Franklin
XOXOXOXO

* Oh hey! If you don’t get this Mott Romney reference, check in later this week for the story. Especially if you know Handsome in real life you will get a laugh.

manic monday

It’s Monday again and I have not blogged since last Monday. Honestly I am not sure I can continue this miscellaneous writing project. It feels so much more like an obligation than an outlet these days, and I have lost sight of the benefits. Week after week I have more to do in my real life than ever before, and increasingly less time to do it all. Ironically this means there are more life and farm stories to tell than ever, but when? When do I sit down to type, and with what surplus energy and focus? A voice in my head (this voice always comes from behind my left ear, not far from that soft spot above my jawbone) keeps whispering that if I can afford time to blog I can afford time to actually write. You know, like a book or something.

Anyway, no matter how tightly I plan my hours week to week and day to day, they seem to get slashed by one unexpected demand after another. (haha, I guess that is a fairly universal problem.) Lately I barely even have time to run the minimum amount of “sanity” miles without consciously saying no to either my husband or some housework, etc.

On the bright side, the Apartment has been humming along with a steady stream of sewing projects, most of which will gradually bring in Christmas money and more. And important prayers are still being answered. We are still being kept afloat in big and small ways. The trick is to pay close enough attention to appreciate it all. It’s just that sometimes I grow weary of pointing out the bright side, because there is always someone there to deflate my spirit or draw me back into their version of “reality.” And I have to tell myself that surely these people do not realize how hurtful this behavior can be.

I know, I know, womp-womp, poor me. It’s just where I am right now. I believe fiercely in miracles, in the power of prayer and imagination, in the necessity of faith. Faith can move mountains, after all. I also believe this may be a season of protecting my own faith and sheltering myself a little more. And sheltering my time? I have some reevaluating to do. Some personal decisions to make.

On top of all that, Handsome and I have some big decisions to make for our little Eden, the dirt and hooves Lazy W, so we would appreciate your best thoughts and prayers for guidance. Wisdom. 2016 may be a year of radical change.

horses napping

Ok, my actual to-do list is waiting and surely yours is too, so off we go. Have a lovely Monday!

“If you don’t have time to do it right,
when will you have time to do it over?”
~John Wooden
XOXO

motivation monday: why I’m not waiting until January

I sat down last night and typed out a little summary of how things are going in my pursuit of health and skinny-ness, and it felt super redundant. I even asked my husband his thoughts on my sharing it, and he thought I was weird for even asking. Then Facebook showed that “On This Day” exactly a year ago I had shared almost the exact same thoughts on my blog. I mean, you guys, the seasonal stuff does tend to repeat itself, but you would be laughing right along with me to see how similar these two posts are.

Anyway. So last year I wrote this and last night I wrote almost the exact same thing. No need to share them both. Instead, here is what was on my mind this morning during my run:

Why I am not waiting for a New Year’s Resolution to focus on my health:

5 reasons I'm Not Waiting till Jan

What are your thoughts on this? Is any part of wellness on your radar right now, or in the back of your mind is it something you’ll take care of later, or in January, or eventually when the stars align? What is it about your goal that makes you think t’s better to wait?

Thank you for posting this Dorothy Beal! http://www.mile-posts.com/
Thank you for posting this Dorothy Beal! http://www.mile-posts.com/

Just some food for thought, friends. I finally know for myself that treating my body really really well affects a lot more than how I look in jeans and bikinis. It affects my mood, my outlook on life, relationships, mental acuity, everything. We are not meant to live separate from our bodies, after all, and accepting that the body and spirit are deeply intertwined has allowed everything to make so much sense for me. This understanding makes the short term payoffs of diet and exercise much more valuable, so that the continued effort can bring those long term results, you know?

Anyway. Above are my five reasons for starting now. Here are my five strategies for December:

  1. Run more and with greater variety in my workouts (30 miles per week, add some speed work).
  2. Adding strength exercises a few times each week.
  3. Watch junk food, obviously. But focus on eating all the vegetables I can find!
  4. Sleep, water, and vitamins. I keep a gallon jug of water in my fridge and make a point to drink it empty by bedtime.
  5. Yoga or deep stretching once a week. Three cheers for YouTube!

I’ll be checking in here every Monday this month to make notes of how these five guidelines are serving me. Rumor has it that Monica may be hosting a fitness challenge this month again, so that may be fun too. In November her motivation helped me run most of the 100 miles I promised, despite a hectic farm and family schedule.

Do you have some ideas for wellness in December? I would love it if you checked in with me here on Mondays, just to encourage each other.

“He who takes medicine
and neglects to diet
wastes the skill of his doctors. 
~Chinese Proverb
XOXOXOXO

 

i love people who… (thanksgiving edition)

I love people who set the table with formal precision, using place cards and evenly spaced forks and multiple wine glasses. This makes their guests feel fancy and loved.

I also love people who buy colorful harvest-themed paper plates and serve the meal on TV trays to save that dishes-washing time for extra cuddling later. This makes their guests feel relaxed and loved.

I love people who fold linen napkins into amazing designs and also people who spin stacks of paper napkins into silly little spiral towers.

I love people who get a thrill from cooking the entire meal alone, to serve their loved ones in one grand gesture.

And I love people who divvy up the menu, throwing caution to the wind, and eat everything anybody brings.

I love people who make reservations at restaurants and spend every spare minute talking face to face with their people then tip their waitstaff generously as a holiday gift.

Folks who order full traditional meals from boutique grocers? Love those folks.

I once worked at the bank with a woman who had been so poor as a young, single Mom that for Thanksgiving one year all she could afford was a Spam and canned vegetables. She added what she could to the Spam, served it, and counted her blessings. I think of her every single year while I am planning and cooking way too much food. I love her and her story.

I love people who buy a stack of frozen pie crusts on sale in August then thaw them in November and fill them with canned fruit fillings, and I obviously love people who spend hours mixing their own fats and flours to get the perfect flaky crusts then fill them with peeled fruits they probably grew at home.

I love people who fall asleep watching the Thanksgiving Day parade, and I love people who go on nature hikes while the turkey roasts.

I love people who insist on playing football during the Thanksgiving party, or watching it on television, and I love people who write complicated toasts for their people no matter how botched they end up every yea (me)r.

Some families are good at discussing hot button political topics over stuffing and pumpkin pie. Others wisely eschew this minefield and get really familiar with each other’s day to day life instead. I love it all. (Have you seen the SNL skit yet where they use the new Adele song to dissuade an explosive family fight?)

I love people who deep fry their turkeys just as much as I love those who roast it the same way every year, using Grandma’s pan and secret method. I love people who brine the bird and people who brown bag it.

I love the canned-cranberry-jelly citizens out there in Thanksgiving Land, and I love my grandmother’s raw citrus-cranberry relish and all who love that along with me.

Some people search out every traditional family recipe they can find, and others reach for a more global, cosmopolitan vibe for the Turkey Day menu. Still others (like the Snapp family we know and love) opt for their own unique tradition of steaks and baked potatoes. I love all of these people. Maybe especially the Snapps.

My friend Carmel was the Indian to my Pilgrim way back in 6th grade, for a church pageant. I still wear this apron. xoxo
My friend Carmel was the Indian to my Pilgrim way back in 6th grade, for a church pageant. I still wear this apron. xoxo

The different ways that people celebrate this pretty cool holiday are just delightful. I so enjoy looking around and noticing that, for all our homogenization and structure (and retail saturation), we can be a pretty imaginative and various culture. We are good at honoring our roots while growing our wings. And that is beautiful.

This Thanksgiving, enjoy your details, whatever they may be. Celebrate your traditions and your quirks. Love your people harder than ever. That’s my advice. And give some thanks, actively. It matters.

Very Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours
from The Lazy W, Oklahoma
XOXOXOXO

 

unbridled joy and easy gratitude

Ahhh November, the month of thankfulness. The season of expressing gratitude and counting our blessings, of celebrating the gifts in our life.

Over these past few years I have shared with you guys stuff I’ve learned (reluctantly at times) about the muscles of gratitude, about the importance of showing our thankfulness even when we aren’t really feeling it and about how that discipline can get you to a brighter place. I believe deep down in my bones that the purposeful, conscious act of choosing joy is vital to our temporary well-being and infinitely beneficial to our long-term spiritual health. I also believe that your choice to see the good in life becomes your pulse, gradually, and that over time you cannot help but feel drawn to the brightest of everything and even learn to overlook the dark. So often in life, after all, we are clouded by worry or surrounded by grief and joy does not come naturally.

autumn ivy

And then sometimes joy comes very naturally.

Sometimes life surprises us with wave after wave of unbridled joy. Do you ever feel so happy and giddy that you look around to see if anyone else is feeling it, too? Almost like you need someone else to be similarly caught up in your elation in order for it to be real, or for you to feel okay about it? Especially when huge oceans of grief seem to be swallowing the globe, or swallowing our friends, it can feel self-indulgent to just be really happy about life.

Sometimes you just feel so great that you simply want to share it.

Things are looking up for us, friends. In three or four million different ways. Handsome and I still have normal problems like everybody else, and we always will. Some of them are pretty serious, actually. But we have better perspective than ever. The seasons of grief and waiting have taught us all those important lessons about gratitude and humility, upward gaze and steady breath. Now the unbridled joy is building strength. I find myself grinning for no reason at all. For every reason. At this point, giving up on those yet unanswered prayers would be so ridiculous. We have more evidence than ever that miracles are real. That faith counts. That grateful hearts are receptive to the best gifts.

frosty roses

frosty pots

We woke up to a beautiful, magical, frosty farm. We have in front of us just as much play as work. Our blessings are easy to count. Thanksgiving week at the Lazy W is starting with a big swell of energy and Love, and we want to share it.

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions.
The more you express gratitude for what you have,
the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”
~Zig Ziglar
XOXOXOXO