I sure hope you all had a happy and fun Halloween. I loved this holiday as a kid, as an adult and now as a born-again kid. (Betcha thought I was gonna say something else, didn't ya.) 

I hate that it has gotten so dangerous for kids and pets. I always buy some candy to give to the trick-or-treaters that do get to come out in their costumes. although, I have noticed that I seem to get more teenagers trick-or-treating than the little tykes. That really makes me sad. I know many places have Halloween events for kids to be safe at but I miss their excitement at going to a house and screaming "Trick-or-Treat!" Oh well, the whole world seems very different from when I was a munchkin. I figure, if they're in costume, they get a treat. There you have it. 

My problem has always been eating the leftover candy but I heard of a program that collects the leftover candy and sends it overseas to our troops. So thats what I'm going to do. Here in Tucson the drop-off place is Kool Dentistry. A very cool way to send love to our men & women away from home. I didn't even eat 1 piece! Proud of myself about that.

My foot is still hurting and I've been trying to take some ibuprofen to ease the swelling.  So, let me tell you the fun I had beginning to do a barre workout.  Eeeeeeeeeeeeoooooouuuuuch!  I did about 15 min. before I decided to give it a rest. Both feet felt the strain but only the L foot felt the pain. Not fun at all, but I did break a sweat. I'll need to ease into it but do it I shall. I did finish the 2nd 1/2 which was easy for me. I think I'll try 1 of the 10 min. workouts today give to give myself a pic-me-up since I'm home and cleaning the house etc. Who knows, maybe I'll do 2 or 3 of them! See how my foot feels. Upper body is easy, it's the lower body work on my feet that kills. Lunges for days.

I've had such a tough time finding dance classes to take and maybe it's a good thing I haven't been able to. So now I can strengthen my feet, ankles, calves as well as the rest of my body. My strength, balance, fluidity, etc. 

I'm on week 2 of Nutrisystem and able to eat some, and I mean some, real food, as well as the pre-packaged foods delivered by them. I must say that some of the food is bland but on the "pizza" I had last night, I threw on some fresh salsa and red pepper flakes and it helped a great deal. Without even adding unwanted juju's!

Tomorrow, I can weigh myself again for the 1st time in 1.5 weeks. Keep your fingers crossed. It does feel as though some things have changed. Hopefully, it's not just in my mind.

Oh dear God! The cat just caught another pack rat!  He tried to bring it in the house again, but I've got the doors closed off. I think he gets them from the neighbors yard. Theres a lot of "stuff" over there. Oh well, at least he's a good mouser. I wish he didn't feel the need to present them in the house. Earlier last week, I came home to bird feathers in both my living room and office. Yuck. He is quite the hunter. 

Well, time to get ta goin". 

​Peace out folks, and keep dancing

Well, I just had another birthday! Woo-hoo! 

Believe it or not, I really do enjoy my birthdays. Well, except the "9's" I don't really know why but I just don't like them. Oh well, it's not a "9" this year so movin' on.

​We went to a wonderful French restaurant and ate some amazing food. Sis, took me out to brunch the next morning and that, too was yummy. Now I've started on Nutrisystem. 

I haven't been able to win this battle of lb's and so I've decided I needed some help. In the 1st 3 days, I lost 3.6#'s. Yippee me! I won't be getting on a scale again 'til I work with my sis again next week. I only get on the scale at her gym that way I can maintain a fair amount of continuity. She's outa town right now so...no scale mounting for me.

I decided on Nutrisystem because you get all the meals delivered, including snacks, all I have to add is the veggies and fruits. I also don't feel like meetings. This 1st week has been interesting. It begins with the "turbo" week. You actually get to ingest less than you will after the 1st week. I make up the food with snacking on veggies. You do get to eat all the veggies you want. 

I also chose this program because I have a habit of eating more than necessary when I do the cooking. I do love food but this way, other than veggies, all the meals provided are portioned. I have to admit here that when I see the finished meal in the bowl or plate it looks like a pittance of a meal. Ha! But I'm dealing and I'm not starving. I certainly don't expect the rapid weight loss to continue the way the 1st 3 days has, but somethings gotta go.

Typically, the 1st 10#'s of weight loss is due to water loss, but this program has you drinking soooooo much water, I can't imagine it's the case here. 

I do have a lot of weight I'd like to drop and I did take a couple of pics the day I started this program. so, embarrassingly enough, here they are;

It's been a horribly devastating past couple of weeks here in the beautiful US of A. The hurricanes in the Gulf and East coasts, the earthquakes in Mexico and elsewhere, cowardly violence in  Las Vegas, the casting couch revelations (although, its been going on forever, at least people are becoming appalled now) and now the fires in California. I've done some donating but now there are sooooo many disasters I think the best place to donate cash to is maybe the Red Cross. They're everywhere and go anywhere help is needed.

I'm lucky, everyone I know that live in the paths of all of these places are ok but many people have lost everything. Even $1.00 will add to the other $'s to help. I certainly can't afford to donate to all of the areas but we can at the very least, donate to the Red Cross. 

If all of this devastation hasn't caused a bit of depression in you, you're 1 tough cookie, I think. Me, sometimes I think I'm all cried out then another tragedy happens and the flood gates burst open again.

How do we deal with this in our own minds? I dunno. For myself, I did donate. I do speak out against the violence, I do reach out to friends and family to be sure they're ok. I write my Senators and Representatives as well as other Congressional peoples and I cry. I let it out. Thats my way, but there are many folks out there who hold it all in and find themselves caught in this awful crippling state of depression. 

Depression is a crippler and we need to be aware of it when it begins to strike us. I know it's not always easy to understand or see it in ourselves but we need to find ways to combat it. It's not a shameful thing. You are so NOT alone. 

Now, dealing with all of these disasters while NOT being there directly, can be depressing, won't be crippling but it probably feels that way or you have your own issues. But either way, face it head on. Find someone you trust to talk to. Give yourself some positive self-talk. Search for that positive reason for being, celebrate the little accomplishments (no matter how small), know it's "ok" to have crappy days or set-backs. Know that people do care about you. Try to surround yourself with those people. If you just don't answer their calls or texts or emails, know they'll forgive you. Just reach out when you can. 

​Crippling or not, depression sucks. It can be completely devastating but there is light at the end of the tunnel. You'll go through both good days and bad days and your support people will too. Try to pull yourself outa that bed. That can be the hardest thing to do in this, just get out of that damn bed. Get dressed, put on some color, some jewelry, look at some of the art you have in your home and try to remember why you acquired it. Try to find some JOY in anything. It will help.

Now remember, I'm not a psycho-therapist, but I have done some reading and if you have a friend going through something like this, please oh please, reach out to them. Not that you need to call everyday, but occasionally would be helpful. They may not respond but just knowing someone is out there can help them immensely. 

All in all, just be kind to each other, be respectful. When it all comes down to it, we need to live together in this world. It's ours, not mine or yours, ours.

​Here in Tucson, we have a "Be Kind" group called Ben's Bells​. It's a wonderful project. Here is their mission statement; to inspire, educate and motivate people to realize the impact of intentional kindness and to empower individuals to act according to that awareness, thereby strengthening ourselves, our relationships and our communities. 
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