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D710DANCE's Recent Blog Entries
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Friday, September 28, 2007
Today my sister was released from prison, this time she had been in for a little over two years. So my youngest niece (her daughter) and I set off on our 2+ hour roadtrip to this little country town to pick her up.
I am ashamed to admit that a part of me was dreading the trip.
One, I have so many urgent projects at work that I *thought* I couldn't afford to take off. Two, I absolutely loathe driving for longer than 45 minutes. Three, Mapquest will do you no good to find this place and accurate road signs are unheard of. Four, I had volunteered to give one of the released inmates who is also from our city a ride home and I was unsure if all of her belongings and my sister's belongings would fit in the car. Finally, it was hard enough imagining what my sister had been through over the past few years and I just didn't want to hear all of the "prison memories" on the 2+ hour drive home...
Nevertheless, bright and early this morning, Kia, my snack bag, my Migo Water Bottle and I head out on the open road!!!
So we arrive and are immediately greeted by a group of inmates on their way to "work". When I get out of the car they said, "You must be Ms. Vee's sister, she can't wait to see you, she's so excited about going home and she's lost too much weight." Then they went on to comment about how much they were going to miss my sister, how beautiful my niece and I are, how much my niece looks like my sister and how much she has missed our family!
CRRUHHHCHINK (the 1st crack in my face).
When my sister came through the doors I was shocked. I know that she's lost almost 100 lbs. She was beaming her skin looked so healthy and she looked years younger. Immediately after I hugged her, I had to look at the tag in her clothes to see what size she was wearing. She had lost almost 5 dress sizes! One of the workers walked out and helped us load the car. She went on to comment about how well Vee had been doing with watching what she ate (which was an accomplishment since she was allowed to work in the kitchen and had access to almost anything that she wanted to eat). My sister looked at me and said, yes I've been trying to do what you told me and I've even been doing the exercises at work and in my cell that you told me to do.
CRRAAAZACK (the 2nd crack in my face).
Anyway, she knew that the rest of us had been losing weight and she wanted to as well. (Which I am so thankful for, her health was in the seriously critical range just before she was arrested).
Then her friend came out to get in the car. She had all of her possessions from the past few years in one small clear trash bag, and I had the nerve to be concerned that she would have too much *stuff*! And the first thing that she said was "Wow, oooh the outdoors. I have not seen the outdoors or daylight in over 2 years...thank you for taking me home."
GULP...that was me swallowing super hard to keep from crying and busting out into a re-enactment of the episode of "Mama's Bird" from Martin!!!
Then what really did it for me was when they got in the car. Of course, I had packed a "snack bag" just in case my niece and I got hungry, or just in case my sister and her friend hadn't had anything good to eat. The bag was full of fresh fruit, nuts, granola bars, ice-cold bottled water...ya know the bare essentials to keep you away from a FRY ATTACK. So, I offered them something to eat and passed the bag back to them. They both said oooooh grapes, we haven't had any fruit since we've been here. So, I turned on my ignition and my CD resumed play. My sister's friend said...ohh music, I can't remember the last time I heard any music.
Have mercy...no fresh fruit...no music!!! Now I can go for days on end without watching TV, but if I didn't have music...now that's torture. AH LAWD!!!
CRRRAAAPLOW (my face just hit the ground).
So on the way home they did share "prison memories", but more importantly they talked about what they learned from those experiences and how thankful they were to have another chance at life.
I just learned so much from listening to them and more importantly from watching them....they were so grateful for the simplest of things...riding in a car, talking on a cell phone, etc.
After I picked up the cracked pieces of my face, the part of me that was dreading the trip completely vanished and I felt privileged to have been a part of one of their final "prison memories."
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
...proud I am of my niece NEWBEIN!
...I can't believe that my little Kia (my youngest niece) just turned 23!!! AGH...my baby is growing up!!!
...much I miss my Daddy!
...much I love love love all 104+ of my SP friends!!!
...the CARDIO CONNOISSEURS continue to motivate me to do my personal best.
...the CC Stronger Challenge is showing me what I'm made of! (AND I'm getting Longer, Better, Faster, STRONGER!)
...Jill Scott's new song "Hate on Me" has revolutionized my cardio workout.
...pumped I am that I'm jumping rope!
...I feel so connected to the members of TQ17!
...how much I miss working out with MRS. TJO1214!
...excited I am about completing the final steps to transfer to my new job!
...nervous I am about my sister's release on Friday and the 2+ hour road trip that I will need to take to pick her up.
...excited I am about being invited to play golf this Tuesday with one of this city's top female movers and shakers!
...weird it is that my weight is fluctuating from week to week, yet my clothes continue to fit looser!!!
...I appreciate SNIKWAD's "BMI pearls of wisdom" and for reminding me that it's okay to be a CARDIO-A-HOLIC...HA!
...much the DIVAs a/k/a DIVAs Gettin' Down (NEWBEIN, TJOI214, CLEWIS018 AND LOVABLELULU) mean to me!
...thankful I am for the completely honest friendship that I have with LOVABLELULU and how I can talk to her about absolutely EVERYTHING!
...much I appreciate M3NOMOFAT for showing me that you can be both VIRTUOUS and VIVACIOUS, SAVED yet SEXY!!!
...grateful I am to MARSHBTOKS for introducing me to doing the elliptical machine "Hands Free"
...COLD-BLOODED and workout-friendly my new haircut is! (trust me pictures will be forthcoming!!!)
...excited I am about being a few pounds away from Stage 4 of "Operation Janet Jackson."
...I am waiting with tip-toe anticipation for October 9th!
...the definition that I'm developing in my arms, shoulders, abs and calves as a result of strength training.
...although I have never met JANEYJAYE and NOEILAND, they push the heck out of me during Spin Class!!!
...I cannot wait until I get a response from the producers at Core Rhythms!
...blessed I am to have a friend like Lisa.
...proud I am of Mama's weight loss!
...grateful I am for my manual tracking tools when I'm unable to SPARK (i.e. my Fat Li'l Notebook and my Cardio Cards)!
...SUPER APPRECIATIVE I AM FOR THE CREATORS OF THIS WEBSITE!!!
Oh, if I just had a little time...the things I would blog about!
Monday, September 17, 2007
This past Saturday, my co-workers and I played in a Golf Scramble that was sponsored by the Men's Ministry at my church. Although this was my 3rd official time playing golf, I am hooked, and I am planning to take some golf lessons in the near future.
We had such a good time, but the things that I am proudest of are:
1. A couple of times my ball actually went airborn!
2. Our score was 6 under PAR.
3. I was able to keep up with my same #2 pink "Hope" ball during the entire game.
4. Last but not least, my golf shirt was a size "L"...no "X" or any numbers in front of it...just an "L"! Yay Me!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Yesterday, before I realized it, it was after midnight and I had not done a real workout--which made yesterday my 8th Fitness Break Day so far this year. Sure a few minutes here and there I danced to my favorite songs, did some Tae Bo Side Kicks/Knee-Lifts and some Core Rhythms standing crunches, but I always do stuff like that anyway...so I don't count it as a real workout. I had nerve enough to feel guilty! Then I said, to myself the DEVIL IS A LIAR!
Although I didn't get to physically workout yesterday, I did get to preach at one of my friend's churches and had one of the best spiritual workouts that I've had in a long time! God has truly been good to me and HE just keeps blessing me. When I just take a few minutes to think about HIS love for me...I just get overjoyed.
THEN this morning when I got to work I did an unofficial weigh-in and am approximately 4 lbs. away from my next goal. So far it looks like I've lost over 6lbs. just since Monday. HALLELUJAH!
THEN I checked my personal email, the producers at Core Rhythms have been reviewing my testimonial information and their Customer Service Manager wants to set up a time to talk to me about the next steps. GLORY!
THEN one of my vendors asked me for a before and after picture...he had been working on getting some tickets for me to the Oprah Winfrey Show...based on correspondence that he's been having with one of the producers they're now talking about actually having me as a guest on the show. PRAISE HIM!
Regardless of what does or does not happen with Core Rhythms or Oprah. I am so thankful that God has kept me and has brought me this far!!! AMEN!
Yes indeed, I've got a TESTIMONY!!! God has been good to me!!!
Psalm 118:1 A “Give thanks to the Lord, for He IS good!"
Friday, September 07, 2007
Lately my friends, family and church members have been calling me "Skinny" as if its my new nickname. And of course I don't mind--I absolutely love it--even if they're just trying to be nice :)
Well on Tuesday 9/4/07, although it was under very sad circumstances, I got to visit with my friend "B-Mack" when he drove up for the funeral for one of our friends.
"B-Mack" and I have been friends, well more like siblings, for almost 7 years and he has been another source of support as I have fought this battle with the bulge. "B-Mack" is one of those people who is very direct and honest, which is one of the things I have appreciated most about our friendship. A few months ago he and his family relocated. During his going away party he complimented me on how well I was doing with my weight loss and said that he could tell that I was serious about "Operation Janet Jackson!!!"
Well, when I saw him on Tuesday one of the first things that he said was, "Wow! Look at how skinny you are!!!"
SKINNY...Who me???!!!
Then after looking at the picture we took, I was soooo surprised to see how small I look. My face is thin, you can clearly see my neck and WOW I have my very own waistline!!! It is so good to see that all of the recent changes that I've made to my program are working. And although I have NOT YET reached my goal weight of 223 lbs, I feel sooooo good! And receiving all of the positive support from the folks who genuinely care about me makes me feel even better!!!
SKINNY...I like it!!!
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