A New Me

I cannot believe how long it has been since I've posted here. Time sure does fly! In my case, it's not so much that I've been having fun, but that I've been incredibly busy.

My title today is "A New Me". I'm not new yet, but I will be! I have recently become re-interested in a program I joined over two years ago but quit using because of my hectic life. I have found since I've gone back to it, that I have more energy to accomplish all I have to do every day.

The program to which I am referring is called Spark People. It is a totally free internet diet/fitness program, and it really works! I try to use nearly every aspect of the program to help me live in a healthier manner, but it is totally customizable to your individual needs.

On Spark People, you can track the foods you eat every day and know just how many calories, carbs, fat grams, etc. that you are consuming. This helps you know where you need to make changes in your diet. There is also a meal planner, if you want to take the guesswork out of what to eat every day.

You can also track your exercise, both cardio and strength-training. The program can suggest strength-training exercises, or you can choose your own from a large variety of choices.

There are lots and lots of helpful articles on nutrition, fitness, motivation, health topics, etc. If you read the articles, you're sure to learn something new every day!

There are also message boards where you can get to know other members and give or receive encouragement from others with similar goals.

I'm not one to promote something that I don't believe in, but I believe in Spark People! Since it's totally free, you have nothing to lose by checking it out for yourself. Just click on the link below.

Kids at Wal-Mart

The part I most enjoy about working at Wal-Mart is seeing the kids who come in with their parents ... well, the ones that behave! Like...the cute little girl I saw leaving with her mom one day as I was working at the door as a greeter. I smiled and waved at her, and she blew me a kiss. What a cutie!

One night, I was working at the monitor for the self-checkouts, and a precocious boy of about 6 or 7 came up and asked me where the water fountain was. I pointed it out to him, and he told his mom (who was using the self-checkout right in front of me) that he was going to go get a drink of water. I watched him reach the water fountain by running, skipping, jumping ... every means other than walking. When he came back, he stood right beside me and asked me at least a hundred questions which I tried to answer. When it came time for him to go, he kept standing there looking at me; and I looked at his mom for a clue as to what he wanted. She said, "He wants to give you a hug. Is that okay?" Of course it was okay, and I got a big bear hug. That made my night!

I love it when kids come through the line with their own money! Little kids who don't know what's going on to older kids who have earned their money or received it as gifts. It's great to see them learning by doing.

Then, there was the cute little couple who confessed to me that it was only their 2nd time to go grocery shopping together. They were newly married and looked so young! It was obvious they were nervous, and they even asked if I thought they had done a good job. How sweet! I'm sure they'll get the hang of it very soon.

My LAST birthday!

This past Monday, I turned 39, and I refuse to turn the big 4-0! From now on, instead of birthdays, I will have anniversaries of this last one. It turned out to be a really good birthday. I received many nice birthday greetings from friends and family, and I got to go out to eat with my two men (Scott and Sam, of course). We went to El Patio and had some deeeelicious Mexican food! As is their custom, they brought out the gigantic sombrero for me to wear in a picture. It was worth it because it came with complimentary flan.

Here is the picture taken by the manager of El Patio:



While we were waiting for him to bring us the picture, Sam played around with the sombrero.





Somehow, Sam even conned Scott into putting it on and snapped a picture before Scott knew what was happening.

Long-Overdue Update

Well, I just realized I haven't posted anything here in a really long time. So, today I will tell you all about our Christmas.

On Dec. 21, Sam was a shepherd in the Christmas program at church. Here's a picture of the scene he was in, followed by a close-up of Sam. (He's the shepherd with the blue towel on his head.)






I received a very neat gift this Christmas. Joan (who works with me at Kintronic) gave me a wooden pin carved to form the name of Jesus, shaped as a cross. I've worn it often to Wal-Mart and have received many positive comments about it.




Here's a picture of our tree. The picture doesn't capture how pretty it really is. It's a fiber-optic tree and practically glows. Sam put most of the ornaments on it and did a great job.




For Christmas, Scott gave me a delicate gold chain with a pretty little diamond pendant. It's the prettiest thing he has ever given me. For our anniversary (Jan.1), he gave me matching earrings. Here's a picture of the necklace -- I don't have a picture of the earrings yet.