Good things coming :)

I know it's been forever and a day since I've posted. As you know I changed jobs in February. I love my job, but had some problems with a situation that existed before I started with the company. I am determined to find a way to fix it. Anyhoo as I was approaching my 90 days I got waylayed by the bacteria fairy. It started with an abscess, for which my Dr. gave me a strong antibiotic and prednisone. This lowered my immune system (didn't help what it was prescribed for) and knocked me down with Asthmatic Bronchitis. After one week of feeling better I did some weekend yard work which exposed me to mold (old mulch), back to the Dr. on a nebulizer and a week of bed rest on a different antibiotic. Then it was back to the dermatologist for the abscess and a steroid shot, which still hasn't helped. I'm past caring about that. She said I'm just going to have them again anyway. I had been scheduled to go to a time management seminar for a month prior and really wanted to cancel. Boy am I glad I didn't. The speaker was amazing! Her name was Laura Simms. She had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and was told she had a year to live. Well that was years ago. She was so inspiring. There are a couple of bad habits I have and things I've really wanted to change lately. It was really getting me down in a funk. One of the things she kept saying was, "Life by the yard is really hard. Life by the inch is a cinch." An exercise she had us do was to pick a stranger in the room and do the following: Pick something you've been meaning to do..something very specific. For example you wouldn't say finish my home renovation. You would commit to finishing the bathroom. That's an inch not a yard goal. Next you had to pick a date approximately 21 days ahead. Then you picked a time to either email or call the person. She told us that you are 70% more likely to keep a promise to a stranger. You only stand a 30% chance of keeping a promise to someone you know. I guess knowing those close to us are more forgiving has something to do with it.5 The group I sat with decided to triple team. The three of us will check in together on June 25. About 2 weeks or so ago I ordered a big box of Medifast food and it has been sitting there staring at me. I couldn't motivate myself to pick a date. Since getting married I have gained about 25 lbs. It has been really depressing me lately. Well this was my commitment to my group. I pledged to start the program withing the next month. Here is the amazing part. I woke up the next day and decided to just do it instead of picking a day to do it. I would rather call someone in 21 days and say I lost 15 lbs. then say I picked a date to start. Well I've made it through my first 24 hours and it really isn't that bad. Sure I'm hungry but those small jeans in my room will be worth it. I visited Puck's Blog and was blown away. His before and after photos are amazing and really what I needed to motivate me. I have it bookmarked, so if I start to waver it will help. When I start losing maybe I'll get brave enough to post my weight loss numbers. I don't have the guts to post my start weight right now. I've made a to do list of things I've been putting off. I know that if I can do this it will serve as a catalyst for the rest of the list getting done. I ordered my stuff of ebay and it ended up being 185 including shipping for my first month instead of the 250-275 the medifast site charges. I wanted to make sure I would really do before sinking that much money into it. Besides I live in Lumberton, NJ the ebay capitol of the US....okay I might have something to do with that :) On another topic I've been planting in the yard like mad since my house restriction has been lifted by my mother hen husband. (actually I greatly appreciate him caring so much). I planted about 80 bulbs. If I get my anti squirrel cayenne pepper today I hope for most to survive. I also added primrose, blue flowing grass, guara (pink flowering) and foxglove as well as some new lily colors. I will have red, peach, white, lenape, dark purple, orange and stargazers this year. I also have calla lilies in flame (red & yellow), 2 pinks and yellow. Pink roses, baby blue flowers (forgot the name), azaleas, begonias, pink carnations, strawberries, perriwinkle, ive, a lilac bush, hollyhocks and irises round out the crowd. In the spring there's hyacinths in purple, pink and white and tulips in red/yellow combo, white, pink and dark red as well as daffodils in white and yellow. The forsythia bush doesn't seem to want to bloom this year. The oregano, chives, basil, sage and rosemary all came back nicely though. Along with the bird bath and 3 sets of wind chimes I love my yard. The way I look at it its less work for Dave and you can never have too many flowers in your yard! I'll be posting some flower pics, hopefully later today. I really hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.