Jumping on the healthy bandwagon

So of course, everyone in the world is jumping on the healthy bandwagon. I myself have been trying to do this for many years, and I have had moderate periods of success and failure, so I am not about to lie to everyone and say I have found some new reason to go full throttle and do this thing.

But I will say this. The only real way to lose weight (in my case) and be healthy is just to do the work. No pills, fad diets, or surgeries will ever conquer your own eating habits.

If I had to say that there are reasons I am thinking about right now, I guess it could be because I have been following the success of others. For one, a friend from high school has been documenting his weight loss journey in another blog, (he's a journalist, so there is some real thought put into this one, a good read), and also there is a new season of two of my guilty-pleasure shows on the Style Network: Ruby and Too Fat For 15. There is also a new show on A&E called Heavy, but the thing about the other shows is that I have come to really follow the characters, and that is what keeps me coming back.

At any rate, all three of these people (or groups of people) have lost weight by looking their problem right in the eye and facing it. I sincerely hope that I have the courage to do that. For now, I am taking baby steps. For example, I am still active in karate. Perhaps a little additional workout would put me in better shape for it.

Also, today I brought myself a very healthy lunch to work today: salad, tuna, and fruit. But somehow, there are always demons lurking in the side lines:


Someone brought the leftover cupcakes from Honor's Day into the office kitchen. Drat! Or as my favorite comic strip character heroine Cathie would say - AACK!

But I resisted. All in the name of baby steps.

Missing him today

Another free digital slideshow by Smilebox

Getting through any way I can

Things that are helping me get through today:

• Listening to my Ray LeMontagne Pandora station
• Understanding and kind folks at the obit desks of the Mobile/Baldwin area newspapers
• Having an understanding and supportive work/school environment
• My husband, who cracks jokes when I need a laugh
• A best friend who has selflessly offered her support in her own time of need.

I'd say that is a pretty good start.

Miss you Pee-Paw.

Dealing with the inevitable

I've been putting off writing about something personal in here because I guess I just don't know how to express certain things anymore in such a wide open way. Suffice to say that once upon a time I was willing to tell just about anything to a blank computer screen and send it out into the abyss for all (or none) to read. But now, as I am getting older, I know the value of talking with people close to you about the things that really matter. Human contact and interaction are highly-underrated these days.

So anyways, the news is that my grandpa is nearing the end here on earth. He has walked it for 84 years, and had - by all accounts- a blessed and charmed life. I don't think he would ever disagree. But the hardest part of it all for me is that whether I like it or not, his life will end sometime in the future. It certainly has come sooner than I had expected.

The other bad news in this post is that one of my best friends is also dealing with loss in her life. We all feel it differently, some more deeply than others, but there is no mistaking how it changes you when you are the one left behind.

So before I leave on this most utterly depressing note, here is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding, can you spot my Pee Paw?

Me and The Beach

...are like peas and carrots.
Or we used to be, when I was younger, thinner, and had fewer cares in the world. Naturally, being from the Eastern Shore, the beach was just a part of life. My "beach" was really Mobile Bay and the "big beach" was Gulf Shores, which was always just a short car ride away.

Since I went to college in Birmingham and now live in Tuscaloosa, I find myself missing the beach quite a lot. Being just stroll away from the water is something I always took for granted when I lived there. It has been a solid 8 years since I was really living at home, and I am hoping one day we will reunite. But for now, short trips will have to suffice.

Which brings me to my next thing - a short trip to the "real beach"! Jennings and I will be taking the first part of my spring break to hang out in Fort Morgan in a cute little nautical-themed condo that we found.

So on this rainy day I will be imagining the beach, and not all that yucky work stuff I should be doing.

Anyone else still get a spring break? What are your plans?

Goldie needs a nap

I know it is Tuesday, but it sure feels like Monday all over again. This weekend, I got to help with the College of Arts & Sciences biggest fundraiser event, the Arty Party, and I hate to say it but I am still recovering. I even resorted to drinking black coffee this morning. If you know me at all, you know that coffee is not even my thing. I'll have the occasional espresso drink, but I hardly ever have coffee.

At any rate, the event was a pretty big success, preliminary estimates show we raised about $40 k for the department of Art and Art History. One of my tasks was to photograph all the auction items so they could be advertised on our website. Here is one of my personal faves:


In Woods Quad on the UA campus, there is a giant iron statue of a sleepy robot name Goldie. For the Arty Party, the artist made a miniature Goldie to auction off and I thought it would be neat to photograph them together. =)

Also, laying down and taking a nap is definitely something I would like to do right now....

Sad days for Auburn fans, but even sadder days for Americans

So, as most of you know.... A man poisoned the historic trees at Toomer's corner.
Also, as most of you know, I was born and raised an Auburn fan, and this news makes me incredibly sad. I could talk about my memories of rolling the trees after the games, the streams of TP flowing long. But truthfully, I don't have those memories, because I have only been to a handful of Auburn games in my lifetime, but that doesn't mean I am any less of a fan. But although I did not personally roll those trees, the entire practice was a sign of victory for my all-time favorite team, and even settling for photos of the action was enough for me. Because truthfully, it is more about what those trees represent: pride.

It would be an understatement to say that football is king in the South. It is a cultural phenomenon all unto itself. Each two-a-day practice and hard fought battle is something that goes down in history in the small rural towns of our region. And out of that are born tremendous rivalries, some could argue as monumental as the Romans vs. the Greeks. The Auburn-Alabama rivalry, in my opinion, is no different. Each team has a history steeped in tradition, and today - as they did 50 or more years ago - little boys dream of growing up to play football wearing either crimson or orange and blue. Little girls grow up wanting to cheer for those boys. And the rest if us? Well, we just can't wait for football season to start.

So not only am I saddened that our rivalry has cost us something that is irreplaceable, but also I am saddened that this is the great struggle of our time right now.

Don't get me wrong. Football is something I love deeply and look forward to each year, but I cannot believe that we are all more consumed with this tragedy than anything else going on in our country. People in this age are more willing to stand up and do something about this than they are to talk about the real issues in the world: poverty, racial tensions, educational gaps.

We live in a culture that is comfortable with accepting the status quo. As long as we feel we are on the top of the heap looking down on everyone else, we are willing to accept mediocrity. I personally am tired of people who do nothing or care nothing about the rest of society, but will spend all their time in life calling in to shows like Paul Finebaum and airing their grievances for all of us to suffer through.

So yes, it is a sad day. And the Auburn spirit with triumph, as so many have said. But can we just for once get our heads out of the fog and see what is really at stake in this world?