Og Mandino ~ Three Volumes In One Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars This is my first book review at All Around The Circle. I hope you enjoy my book reviews and insights in addition to Elle's. This is a book I would not have chosen for myself. It was given to me as a gift from my sister, who just happens to be my up-line with Avon. Why wouldn't I have chosen it for myself you may wonder? Well, I'm not a 'self-help' reader and definitely am intimidated when I see a big 'ol book like this one is!!!! Granted, there are three books in one in this particular book, but none the less, it sat on my bookshelf for about eleven months before I decided to make myself read it! At first I thought it was going to be all about business. But really, this is one of those books that you can apply to life in general, so I would recommend it to anyone. Also, there are religious references in this book (no doubt) but even if you are not the religious type, do not let that hold you back from reading this book to gain knowledge. The first book is called "The Greatest Salesman In The World." This story is the basis of everything. I honestly found myself excited to sit down and read to find out what would happen next. The main take away from this book are 'The Ten Scrolls.' These are ten lessons for beginning anew; to believe in yourself, have faith, build confidence, control emotions and focus on what you want in your life. If you follow the book the way the author wants you to read the book, you will be reading one scroll every month to ingrain these scrolls into your brain. Well, I do not have that kind of time and as I said above, I was intimidated enough at the size of the book and just wanted to get through it! (Just being honest here.) So with that said, I know I will refer back to this book in the future when I need some inspiration. I enjoyed the story of the salesman and in the life lessons each scroll touches upon. This is one of those books that every senior in high school or freshman in college should be required to read. The second book was called 'The Greatest Secret In The World' and I felt it was just reiterating each scroll in more detail and dragging out the process of dissecting each scroll. The third book was called 'The Greatest Miracle In The World' and I really enjoyed this one. I couldn't wait to finish it to find out what happened! Og Mandino is a tremendous storyteller and I often wondered throughout this book how much of this story was fiction and how much was non-fiction because it truly read like a non-fiction book to me. I know I did not give away what the story lines of these books are about. It is very complicated to explain, but just know that these books are like no other I have ever read. I can truly say that. If you do read any of these books, please don't hesitate to come back and visit me here to comment and talk about the books. The next book I would like to read by Og Mandino is 'The God Memorandum' which was a part of the last book ('The Greatest Miracle In The World.') I was thinking of reading 'The Return Of The Ragpicker' because I thought it would pick up where the story left off in 'The Greatest Miracle In The World', but then I read some reviews from others who have read it. They said the author wrote it ten to fifteen years after 'miracle' and that it was basically a 'brag' book of the author's accomplishments and 'politically correct platforms' replaced his God-based inspirations. Because of this I will probably not bother with the 'return' book, however I would like to read more of his early works because it seems to me that is when he was most 'humble.'
Og Mandino ~ Three Volumes In One Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars This is my first book review at All Around The Circle. I hope you enjoy my book reviews and insights in addition to Elle's. This is a book I would not have chosen for myself. It was given to me as a gift from my sister, who just happens to be my up-line with Avon. Why wouldn't I have chosen it for myself you may wonder? Well, I'm not a 'self-help' reader and definitely am intimidated when I see a big 'ol book like this one is!!!! Granted, there are three books in one in this particular book, but none the less, it sat on my bookshelf for about eleven months before I decided to make myself read it! At first I thought it was going to be all about business. But really, this is one of those books that you can apply to life in general, so I would recommend it to anyone. Also, there are religious references in this book (no doubt) but even if you are not the religious type, do not let that hold you back from reading this book to gain knowledge. The first book is called "The Greatest Salesman In The World." This story is the basis of everything. I honestly found myself excited to sit down and read to find out what would happen next. The main take away from this book are 'The Ten Scrolls.' These are ten lessons for beginning anew; to believe in yourself, have faith, build confidence, control emotions and focus on what you want in your life. If you follow the book the way the author wants you to read the book, you will be reading one scroll every month to ingrain these scrolls into your brain. Well, I do not have that kind of time and as I said above, I was intimidated enough at the size of the book and just wanted to get through it! (Just being honest here.) So with that said, I know I will refer back to this book in the future when I need some inspiration. I enjoyed the story of the salesman and in the life lessons each scroll touches upon. This is one of those books that every senior in high school or freshman in college should be required to read. The second book was called 'The Greatest Secret In The World' and I felt it was just reiterating each scroll in more detail and dragging out the process of dissecting each scroll. The third book was called 'The Greatest Miracle In The World' and I really enjoyed this one. I couldn't wait to finish it to find out what happened! Og Mandino is a tremendous storyteller and I often wondered throughout this book how much of this story was fiction and how much was non-fiction because it truly read like a non-fiction book to me. I know I did not give away what the story lines of these books are about. It is very complicated to explain, but just know that these books are like no other I have ever read. I can truly say that. If you do read any of these books, please don't hesitate to come back and visit me here to comment and talk about the books. The next book I would like to read by Og Mandino is 'The God Memorandum' which was a part of the last book ('The Greatest Miracle In The World.') I was thinking of reading 'The Return Of The Ragpicker' because I thought it would pick up where the story left off in 'The Greatest Miracle In The World', but then I read some reviews from others who have read it. They said the author wrote it ten to fifteen years after 'miracle' and that it was basically a 'brag' book of the author's accomplishments and 'politically correct platforms' replaced his God-based inspirations. Because of this I will probably not bother with the 'return' book, however I would like to read more of his early works because it seems to me that is when he was most 'humble.'
Posted at
10:33 PM
| by
Lisa Epler, AVON AMB & Gold Amb. Leader / 10 Star Ambassador
Hello AATC friends!
It's been quite some time since I've blogged.
I have wonderful followers who look for my book reviews,
send me sweet e-mails asking about my family and blog friends
who I follow and I've missed as well.
Although I'm not going into detail as to why I've been gone,
I will say I needed some time away to regroup. To figure out the direction of my blog and how I'm going to get where I want to go.
I haven't been reading much at all, which is a BIG part of my blog....book reviews. I've been missing it and with summer upon us, I hope to get back into reading & reviewing again.
I've also decided to help an online friend with her business.
This will help me to grow and earn money to expand my blog in the future. I will be adding my friend as an author to my blog so she can be the voice of her business which will be located under her own section, but in turn she will compensate me for any customers she gains that are my followers. I will also be helping her with some other virtual assistant tasks which will help me earn so I can create a bigger and better blog! I'm looking forward to having another blogger on board with me to add to my site's content!
As always, family comes first and everyone around here is definitely keeping busy, busy, busy!
My oldest daughter Em is now 13 years old and will be entering 8th grade....her last year of middle school!!!! She's been busy this school year with singing in choirs and playing violin in orchestra.
Kaye is 9 years old and will be heading into 4th grade.
She's kept busy with Girl Scouts, friends birthday parties,
school & field trips.
Jay has made me proud by quitting his addiction to cigarettes and continues adapting to a healthier lifestyle.
I have been busy being the taxi driver for my daughters, housekeeper for our home and accountant for the bills which hasn't left me with much 'me' time. I would like to get back to exercising and eating healthier, reading more and getting things organized around my home. There's a lot to be done and when I get to where I am going, it will feel so much better to have accomplished a healthier lifestyle, more organized home and acquired some free time to just be.
Of course I'm excited to be back blogging and adding new and exciting things to my blog. As always there are other places you can find me online. Just scroll down to the bottom of this post and look to the right of your screen. All my social media icons are there and you can follow me on whichever networks you're a part of. Some social outlets I'm more involved with than others. It's all a work in progress and I'm grateful that you're along on this journey with me!
I have wonderful followers who look for my book reviews,
send me sweet e-mails asking about my family and blog friends
who I follow and I've missed as well.
Although I'm not going into detail as to why I've been gone,
I will say I needed some time away to regroup. To figure out the direction of my blog and how I'm going to get where I want to go.
I haven't been reading much at all, which is a BIG part of my blog....book reviews. I've been missing it and with summer upon us, I hope to get back into reading & reviewing again.
I've also decided to help an online friend with her business.
This will help me to grow and earn money to expand my blog in the future. I will be adding my friend as an author to my blog so she can be the voice of her business which will be located under her own section, but in turn she will compensate me for any customers she gains that are my followers. I will also be helping her with some other virtual assistant tasks which will help me earn so I can create a bigger and better blog! I'm looking forward to having another blogger on board with me to add to my site's content!
As always, family comes first and everyone around here is definitely keeping busy, busy, busy!
My oldest daughter Em is now 13 years old and will be entering 8th grade....her last year of middle school!!!! She's been busy this school year with singing in choirs and playing violin in orchestra.
Kaye is 9 years old and will be heading into 4th grade.
She's kept busy with Girl Scouts, friends birthday parties,
school & field trips.
Jay has made me proud by quitting his addiction to cigarettes and continues adapting to a healthier lifestyle.
I have been busy being the taxi driver for my daughters, housekeeper for our home and accountant for the bills which hasn't left me with much 'me' time. I would like to get back to exercising and eating healthier, reading more and getting things organized around my home. There's a lot to be done and when I get to where I am going, it will feel so much better to have accomplished a healthier lifestyle, more organized home and acquired some free time to just be.
Of course I'm excited to be back blogging and adding new and exciting things to my blog. As always there are other places you can find me online. Just scroll down to the bottom of this post and look to the right of your screen. All my social media icons are there and you can follow me on whichever networks you're a part of. Some social outlets I'm more involved with than others. It's all a work in progress and I'm grateful that you're along on this journey with me!
It has been such a cold and snowy winter here in Northeastern Pennsylvania that it shouldn't be surprising that on the 1st day of Spring we get around
6 inches of the white stuff.
My daughters were dismissed from school two hours early and the roads were terrible. When we got home they both had a snack and then I told them they needed to use their time wisely. They both have school projects due in the near future and I told them that if they used their extra time today they would have some extra time to do something fun this weekend.
Kaye wanted to sign up for the school science fair and is doing her report on Koala Bears. Em has a book report which includes a diorama depicting a scene from her book. This is due on Monday. Em also has a Rube Goldberg report for science and is working on a machine that performs an operation. She will record and then e-mail this her teacher for extra credit.
This morning I did three loads of laundry and started to
'Spring Clean' our back room in the basement.
This consists of going through paperbacks I want to find new homes for, organizing scrapbooking supplies I haven't touches in forever and switching out wardrobes (put away winter and get out spring clothes.)
I finally took down the St. Patrick's Day decorations and decided to go up in the attic to get some Easter decorations down. Very weird to be putting up Spring decor when it looks like we're in the middle of winter outside! (I'm secretly hoping that by doing this I'm keeping away any future snow in our future.)
She'll be in her school district's All City Middle School Choral Concert, PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators) orchestra concert (which she was nominated for), her middle school's orchestra & jazz band concert and finally her middle school's Spring orchestra concert. She'll also be going on an end of year band trip to Great Adventure, an indoor water park and an aquarium! She has a few Girl Scout activities lined up as well. She'll be camping out at a local amusement park and then spending the following day riding the rides. She's also going on a hiking trip along a river and there are a few more trips her Girl Scout leader has planned I'm sure. I do not remember being this busy when I was a 6th grader, that's for sure!
Of course all of these activities keep me (Mom) busy as well. Early morning practices, a few Saturday morning practices here and there this month, along with fitting in the normal day-to-day errands & activities.
So, if you see that I haven't posted much on the blog, it could be because I'm playing taxi-cab driver more than I'm finding time to to blog.
It has been such a cold and snowy winter here in Northeastern Pennsylvania that it shouldn't be surprising that on the 1st day of Spring we get around
6 inches of the white stuff.
My daughters were dismissed from school two hours early and the roads were terrible. When we got home they both had a snack and then I told them they needed to use their time wisely. They both have school projects due in the near future and I told them that if they used their extra time today they would have some extra time to do something fun this weekend.
Kaye wanted to sign up for the school science fair and is doing her report on Koala Bears. Em has a book report which includes a diorama depicting a scene from her book. This is due on Monday. Em also has a Rube Goldberg report for science and is working on a machine that performs an operation. She will record and then e-mail this her teacher for extra credit.
This morning I did three loads of laundry and started to
'Spring Clean' our back room in the basement.
This consists of going through paperbacks I want to find new homes for, organizing scrapbooking supplies I haven't touches in forever and switching out wardrobes (put away winter and get out spring clothes.)
I finally took down the St. Patrick's Day decorations and decided to go up in the attic to get some Easter decorations down. Very weird to be putting up Spring decor when it looks like we're in the middle of winter outside! (I'm secretly hoping that by doing this I'm keeping away any future snow in our future.)
She'll be in her school district's All City Middle School Choral Concert, PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators) orchestra concert (which she was nominated for), her middle school's orchestra & jazz band concert and finally her middle school's Spring orchestra concert. She'll also be going on an end of year band trip to Great Adventure, an indoor water park and an aquarium! She has a few Girl Scout activities lined up as well. She'll be camping out at a local amusement park and then spending the following day riding the rides. She's also going on a hiking trip along a river and there are a few more trips her Girl Scout leader has planned I'm sure. I do not remember being this busy when I was a 6th grader, that's for sure!
Of course all of these activities keep me (Mom) busy as well. Early morning practices, a few Saturday morning practices here and there this month, along with fitting in the normal day-to-day errands & activities.
So, if you see that I haven't posted much on the blog, it could be because I'm playing taxi-cab driver more than I'm finding time to to blog.
I know it has been quite some time since I posted an IRL (in-real-life) blog entry. To say the least, life has been moving pretty quickly around here since the school year began.
So I'm taking the opportunity today, Em & Kaye's second snow day of the year, to do a bit of an update on the goings on.
Em is now in 6th grade at the middle school and Kaye is in 2nd grade. Activities for Em consist of private violin lessons once a week for a half hour, 7:30am orchestra practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays at school, 6th grade chorus practices after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Girl Scout Cadettes every other Tuesday from 6:30-8pm, church choir practice from 5:30-6pm every Thursday and singing in church the first Sunday of each month at the 9:30am service. Em has also been chosen to be in the All City Orchestra concert in a few weeks as well as nominated to participate in the PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators Association) Orchestra Concert in April. This means some extra music to learn and extra practices to attend.
Kaye's schedule is pretty much Brownie Girl Scouts every other Wednesday from 6-7:30pm and then Girl Scout activities as scheduled. Kaye also sings in the church choir. The girls also have done a few Girl Scout cookie booths and have a few more to attend as well. 'Tis the season for the Girl Scouts to make their money for their upcoming troop activities!
The Fall was a busy season. Em adjusted nicely to middle school and her new schedule. Kaye is doing a great job in school with reading development and is also doing a wonderful job in math. Fall is our family's 'birthday season' with Jay and my anniversary at the end of September, Kaye and my birthdays a day apart towards the end of October, Jay's birthday a week before Thanksgiving and Em's birthday a week and a half before Christmas. Needless to say, I felt like I was shopping for three months!!!! I am so glad to be done with all of that rushing around!
In my last IRL blog post I talked about the wake-up call from my body. I continued into the Fall months seeing my chiropractor and am finally on a every 2-week schedule with adjustments. I had planned on getting back into a workout routine for the new year incorporating my elliptical and hand weights, but I was told no by my chiropractor. She wants me to walk more and build up my back muscles over the next 2 months before she will allow me to get back on the elliptical or do any type of resistance training. My plan is to walk either at my church or the local community center indoor track. Of course that has been next to impossible lately with 2-hour school delays, days off and errands. I need to somehow get a schedule established so I can get moving!
Jay has been down in the dumps lately because his beloved football season is over. This pretty much happens every year. He gets so excited in the Fall for the season to begin and gets down in the dumps when it is over.
I'm still trying to convince Em to write summaries of the books she reads for my blog. She looks at it as 'extra' work, but she already had to do book reports and write summaries of her books in her school book journal, so I'm not sure what the big deal is?
As I said, today is a snow day. We're still unsure how much accumulation we're going to get here in Eastern Pennsylvania, but it could be anywhere from 6" to 20". It's pretty much a wait and see event. In between changing the bed sheets, vacuuming, figuring out what the heck to feed Em & Kaye for lunch and general house clean-up, I will be trying to grab some online time today. Pinterest, Google + and checking on my Bloglovin' friends are on my must do list! I'd also like to figure out what to read next. So many books, so little time! If you're in the eye of this big dumper of a snow storm, please stay safe.
I know it has been quite some time since I posted an IRL (in-real-life) blog entry. To say the least, life has been moving pretty quickly around here since the school year began.
So I'm taking the opportunity today, Em & Kaye's second snow day of the year, to do a bit of an update on the goings on.
Em is now in 6th grade at the middle school and Kaye is in 2nd grade. Activities for Em consist of private violin lessons once a week for a half hour, 7:30am orchestra practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays at school, 6th grade chorus practices after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays, Girl Scout Cadettes every other Tuesday from 6:30-8pm, church choir practice from 5:30-6pm every Thursday and singing in church the first Sunday of each month at the 9:30am service. Em has also been chosen to be in the All City Orchestra concert in a few weeks as well as nominated to participate in the PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators Association) Orchestra Concert in April. This means some extra music to learn and extra practices to attend.
Kaye's schedule is pretty much Brownie Girl Scouts every other Wednesday from 6-7:30pm and then Girl Scout activities as scheduled. Kaye also sings in the church choir. The girls also have done a few Girl Scout cookie booths and have a few more to attend as well. 'Tis the season for the Girl Scouts to make their money for their upcoming troop activities!
The Fall was a busy season. Em adjusted nicely to middle school and her new schedule. Kaye is doing a great job in school with reading development and is also doing a wonderful job in math. Fall is our family's 'birthday season' with Jay and my anniversary at the end of September, Kaye and my birthdays a day apart towards the end of October, Jay's birthday a week before Thanksgiving and Em's birthday a week and a half before Christmas. Needless to say, I felt like I was shopping for three months!!!! I am so glad to be done with all of that rushing around!
In my last IRL blog post I talked about the wake-up call from my body. I continued into the Fall months seeing my chiropractor and am finally on a every 2-week schedule with adjustments. I had planned on getting back into a workout routine for the new year incorporating my elliptical and hand weights, but I was told no by my chiropractor. She wants me to walk more and build up my back muscles over the next 2 months before she will allow me to get back on the elliptical or do any type of resistance training. My plan is to walk either at my church or the local community center indoor track. Of course that has been next to impossible lately with 2-hour school delays, days off and errands. I need to somehow get a schedule established so I can get moving!
Jay has been down in the dumps lately because his beloved football season is over. This pretty much happens every year. He gets so excited in the Fall for the season to begin and gets down in the dumps when it is over.
I'm still trying to convince Em to write summaries of the books she reads for my blog. She looks at it as 'extra' work, but she already had to do book reports and write summaries of her books in her school book journal, so I'm not sure what the big deal is?
As I said, today is a snow day. We're still unsure how much accumulation we're going to get here in Eastern Pennsylvania, but it could be anywhere from 6" to 20". It's pretty much a wait and see event. In between changing the bed sheets, vacuuming, figuring out what the heck to feed Em & Kaye for lunch and general house clean-up, I will be trying to grab some online time today. Pinterest, Google + and checking on my Bloglovin' friends are on my must do list! I'd also like to figure out what to read next. So many books, so little time! If you're in the eye of this big dumper of a snow storm, please stay safe.
I've been wanting to write this blog post for quite awhile now. What's been holding me back, you might ask? Well, I really think it is a state of mind for me. Let me start from the beginning....
Saturday, May 24th I was re-potting some flowers. I was on a knee pad on the ground bending over just going about my business. After about an hour I felt a 'pull' in my back. I knew I was done for the day. I proceeded to get the ice pack and just be still for the rest of the day. The next day, Sunday arrives and I'm still hurting. More ice pack ona nd off all day. Monday arrives and I call the chiropractor. There aren't any openings until Wednesday and it isn't with the doctor I saw once before for a shoulder issue, it's with a new doctor, so I take the appointment.
I am thrilled to finally get in to see the chiropractor. She is young; fresh out of college.
She can tell I am not walking properly. She checks my legs and sees that one leg is 2" shorter than the other. She informs me that my hip is out of places, has dropped. This is news to me, as I hadn't had any pain in my hip, just the bottom right of my back. She checks my back and tells me I have nodules (scar tissue) there probably from my hip being out of place. She adjusts my hip she then goes on to do some pressure point/resistance therapy on my back. I am in bad shape and she is amazed that I'm not in more pain than I'm stating I'm in! This begins the weekly visits to the chiropractor. Twice a week that first week, three times the following week, twice the third week, twice the fourth week, once the fith week, once the sixth week and next week will be the seventh week. She also noted to me about the thrid week into treatment that my right butt cheek has mor emuscle tone than the left and I need to start doing the clam shell exercises to try to build up muscle again. She also wants me to stretch the right side of my back out while lying on my side on the bed.
She's been doing something called the graston technique ( www.grastontechnique.com/ ) on my back where the nodules are.
Graston helps to break up the scar tissue; even deeper than a deep massage could even get. All the videos I've found on YouTube show the chiroprator or physical therapist grazing the back up and down with the metal graston tool. Let me tell you, I would love it if that was how gentle she used the tool on me. But no, she takes that tool over each nodule like she's trying to erase something really hard on a piece of paper! And my skin is sensitive so that rubbing makes it fell like my skin is burning; like an Indian brush burn! NOT FUN!!!!
Yesterday she did a bit more graston on me and the nodules, to my surprise, have actually moved higher up my back than they were. They are breaking up and are much better than they were, but I fear this is something I may have to keep an eye possibly for the rest of my life.
Two Saturdays ago my daughter's Girl Scout troop had a Bike & Boat excursion planned and I was okay-ed to go by my doctor. I had an appointment two days before the trip so that I wouldn't be sore before the trip. The doctor told me the biking would be good for me, but the canoeing might be a problem. About half way through the canoe part of the trip my back really started to feel it. I had a lot of fun on the trip, I just wish I felt like I were in better shape. I went to the chiropractor the Monday after the trip and I really needed to be adjusted and have the nodules worked, since I was in moderate pain after the trip.
I was given the okay to start back on my elliptical, just not a high resistance level or any inclines. So this morning I took my 14.5 year old dog for a 2 block leasurely walk and then came home and did 15 minutes in the elliptical. The elliptical should be good for building muscle where I need it as well. It is a bit sore, but nothing terrible. My next appointment is next Friday.
So I guess mentally, I wasn't ready until today to type this all out and re-live it. It's been painful and a learning experience. I've had a lot of time to think about goals, where I want to be physically and how I'm going to go about getting there. I'm aging and I truly need to start protecting my body better. The many days where I couldn't do much because I was in pain really held me back from so many things. I don't want to live my life like this. I have to try to prevent anything like this from happening again in the future by being a better caretaker of my body.
I've been wanting to write this blog post for quite awhile now. What's been holding me back, you might ask? Well, I really think it is a state of mind for me. Let me start from the beginning....
Saturday, May 24th I was re-potting some flowers. I was on a knee pad on the ground bending over just going about my business. After about an hour I felt a 'pull' in my back. I knew I was done for the day. I proceeded to get the ice pack and just be still for the rest of the day. The next day, Sunday arrives and I'm still hurting. More ice pack ona nd off all day. Monday arrives and I call the chiropractor. There aren't any openings until Wednesday and it isn't with the doctor I saw once before for a shoulder issue, it's with a new doctor, so I take the appointment.
I am thrilled to finally get in to see the chiropractor. She is young; fresh out of college.
She can tell I am not walking properly. She checks my legs and sees that one leg is 2" shorter than the other. She informs me that my hip is out of places, has dropped. This is news to me, as I hadn't had any pain in my hip, just the bottom right of my back. She checks my back and tells me I have nodules (scar tissue) there probably from my hip being out of place. She adjusts my hip she then goes on to do some pressure point/resistance therapy on my back. I am in bad shape and she is amazed that I'm not in more pain than I'm stating I'm in! This begins the weekly visits to the chiropractor. Twice a week that first week, three times the following week, twice the third week, twice the fourth week, once the fith week, once the sixth week and next week will be the seventh week. She also noted to me about the thrid week into treatment that my right butt cheek has mor emuscle tone than the left and I need to start doing the clam shell exercises to try to build up muscle again. She also wants me to stretch the right side of my back out while lying on my side on the bed.
She's been doing something called the graston technique ( www.grastontechnique.com/ ) on my back where the nodules are.
Graston helps to break up the scar tissue; even deeper than a deep massage could even get. All the videos I've found on YouTube show the chiroprator or physical therapist grazing the back up and down with the metal graston tool. Let me tell you, I would love it if that was how gentle she used the tool on me. But no, she takes that tool over each nodule like she's trying to erase something really hard on a piece of paper! And my skin is sensitive so that rubbing makes it fell like my skin is burning; like an Indian brush burn! NOT FUN!!!!
Yesterday she did a bit more graston on me and the nodules, to my surprise, have actually moved higher up my back than they were. They are breaking up and are much better than they were, but I fear this is something I may have to keep an eye possibly for the rest of my life.
Two Saturdays ago my daughter's Girl Scout troop had a Bike & Boat excursion planned and I was okay-ed to go by my doctor. I had an appointment two days before the trip so that I wouldn't be sore before the trip. The doctor told me the biking would be good for me, but the canoeing might be a problem. About half way through the canoe part of the trip my back really started to feel it. I had a lot of fun on the trip, I just wish I felt like I were in better shape. I went to the chiropractor the Monday after the trip and I really needed to be adjusted and have the nodules worked, since I was in moderate pain after the trip.
I was given the okay to start back on my elliptical, just not a high resistance level or any inclines. So this morning I took my 14.5 year old dog for a 2 block leasurely walk and then came home and did 15 minutes in the elliptical. The elliptical should be good for building muscle where I need it as well. It is a bit sore, but nothing terrible. My next appointment is next Friday.
So I guess mentally, I wasn't ready until today to type this all out and re-live it. It's been painful and a learning experience. I've had a lot of time to think about goals, where I want to be physically and how I'm going to go about getting there. I'm aging and I truly need to start protecting my body better. The many days where I couldn't do much because I was in pain really held me back from so many things. I don't want to live my life like this. I have to try to prevent anything like this from happening again in the future by being a better caretaker of my body.
I cannot believe how quickly this week is going by.
Monday I went shopping in search of an Easter outfit for myself.
I didn't find anything. I did, however, get a pair of sandals, some shorts, a few T-shirts, a few pairs of yoga pants and three pairs of sunglasses. I also bought Jay some T-shirts and tank tips for summer. All items were at a reasonable price and I was happy to be crossing some needed items off of my list. I wasn;t looking for jeans, but I found some Petite jeans in my size on a clearance rack.
They were regularly $44 Gloria Vanderbilt jeans that I ended up getting for $6 a pair! I wanted to get more, but I am hoping to be out of the size I am in, so I didn;t want to go too crazy, but you can't even buy $6 jeans in a thrift store! I was extremely happy about the purchases, but am still bummed about my weight.
Tuesday I assembled my daughters Easter baskets and filled Easter eggs for their egg hunt from the Easter bunny. I did one of Kaye's iron-on shirts (Hello Kitty) but I had to wash the other T-shirts I bought, so I will do them another day.
In the afternoon Em was one of two qualifiers from her homeroom to participate in the 4th & 5th grade spelling bee at her elementary school. She was up against 13 other students. I could tell she was extremely nervous the way she presented herself and the quiver in her voice when she spoke. Not all her words were difficult, but some of the harder ones were extinguish, pennant, relevant and her winning word arid. She won a dictionary and a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble.
I had tears in my eyes when she won. I knew how much she had doubted herself and how nervous she was about this and to have made it through and won was such a huge accomplishment for her! I am an extremely proud Mom!
All her friends were hugging her, teachers congratulating her, I took a photo of Em and the principal as well as Em and her homeroom teacher. It was a very exciting day!
Wednesday and Thursday of this week are 1/2 days for my kids because their parent/teacher conference days from February had to be re-scheduled due to being off for a snow storm. So Wednesday after I picked the girls up from school we went to Old Country Buffet for lunch (something we only do a few times a year) and did a little shopping. The shopping was very disappointing.
I must get my butt in gear and lose weight. Trying on clothes is not fun when you don't look nice in anything. The next step is to start moving more, plan meals and eat healthier.
So today the plan is to finish the iron-on T-shirts for my daughters Easter baskets while they're at school, then they will be at my parents house this afternoon while I go to their teacher conferences. The girls have choir practice in the evening and then they are off Friday, which is when we will be coloring Easter eggs. If I get a chance I will boil the eggs today.
Hope everyone is having a good week and that wherever you are that your Easter weekend forecast is a good one!
I cannot believe how quickly this week is going by.
Monday I went shopping in search of an Easter outfit for myself.
I didn't find anything. I did, however, get a pair of sandals, some shorts, a few T-shirts, a few pairs of yoga pants and three pairs of sunglasses. I also bought Jay some T-shirts and tank tips for summer. All items were at a reasonable price and I was happy to be crossing some needed items off of my list. I wasn;t looking for jeans, but I found some Petite jeans in my size on a clearance rack.
They were regularly $44 Gloria Vanderbilt jeans that I ended up getting for $6 a pair! I wanted to get more, but I am hoping to be out of the size I am in, so I didn;t want to go too crazy, but you can't even buy $6 jeans in a thrift store! I was extremely happy about the purchases, but am still bummed about my weight.
Tuesday I assembled my daughters Easter baskets and filled Easter eggs for their egg hunt from the Easter bunny. I did one of Kaye's iron-on shirts (Hello Kitty) but I had to wash the other T-shirts I bought, so I will do them another day.
In the afternoon Em was one of two qualifiers from her homeroom to participate in the 4th & 5th grade spelling bee at her elementary school. She was up against 13 other students. I could tell she was extremely nervous the way she presented herself and the quiver in her voice when she spoke. Not all her words were difficult, but some of the harder ones were extinguish, pennant, relevant and her winning word arid. She won a dictionary and a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble.
I had tears in my eyes when she won. I knew how much she had doubted herself and how nervous she was about this and to have made it through and won was such a huge accomplishment for her! I am an extremely proud Mom!
All her friends were hugging her, teachers congratulating her, I took a photo of Em and the principal as well as Em and her homeroom teacher. It was a very exciting day!
Wednesday and Thursday of this week are 1/2 days for my kids because their parent/teacher conference days from February had to be re-scheduled due to being off for a snow storm. So Wednesday after I picked the girls up from school we went to Old Country Buffet for lunch (something we only do a few times a year) and did a little shopping. The shopping was very disappointing.
I must get my butt in gear and lose weight. Trying on clothes is not fun when you don't look nice in anything. The next step is to start moving more, plan meals and eat healthier.
So today the plan is to finish the iron-on T-shirts for my daughters Easter baskets while they're at school, then they will be at my parents house this afternoon while I go to their teacher conferences. The girls have choir practice in the evening and then they are off Friday, which is when we will be coloring Easter eggs. If I get a chance I will boil the eggs today.
Hope everyone is having a good week and that wherever you are that your Easter weekend forecast is a good one!
You know how you plan to accomplish specific things on your to do list for the next day? Well, Tuesday evening I was feeling optimistic and planned how the day was going to go for Wednesday. What I didn't take into account was how I would feel on Wednesday.
Needless to say, I woke up cranky, tired and unmotivated. Some of the items on my 'to get done' list included stopping at yet another grocery store, going to Michael's crafts to look for a birthday gift for one of Em's friends, get to another store to look for some non-candy related items for Easter baskets. I had in mind peds to wear with sneakers, maybe a cute T-shirt/short set and just start to knock things off the list. Well, my frame of mind just was not present yesterday.
I went to the grocery store and forgot the list! I thought maybe I had left it in the car, so I parked my cart with my fruits & veggies in it and went out to check. Nope, not there. There wasn't a ton on the list, but somehow it did not make it to the store with me, the store ad and my coupon box. I knew then that I should've just stayed home. So about a half hour later I return home disgusted. My list was in the living room with my clipboard and notes that I had taken from one of the online Mom Conferences I watched on organizing the night before. (Ha! Organizing!!! How ironic!!!)
At 1pm in the afternoon I was feeling like a loser as a wife and mother. (There was a slight huff Wednesday morning about not wearing a jean jacket. This is a story for another time.) How to pick myself up and get motivated to do SOMETHING??????
I decided to make a photo to upload to the contest @5minuteformom to possibly win a Pro75 account with Pixorial. So here is mine:
After I created this I decided it was time to take a look at the UBP14 prize page and decide what 10 choices to put on the prize list. Whew! Lots of choices!!!!!
Got that done and crossing my fingers I win something since I didn't have any luck at the Google+ Hangout or the Twitter party.
Before I knew it ----time to pick the kids up from school, after-school snack, dinner, clean-up dishes, take Kaye to Daisy Scouts, and help Em with her book report. Well, the book report took MUCH longer than I thought because she needed my help to make a brochure in Open Office Draw and I had to rotate words, and measure where items went because it is a tri-fold brochure. It was nice to spend time with her working on this project and I will probably share it with you all when it is complete.
After the kids went to bed I wanted to watch some T.V. with Jay, but he was beat and already sleeping. I decided to listen to a few Mom Conferences online.
Up first was the topic of defining your time. Boy do I need help in this area! I also listed to the Systems of A Healthy Marriage: Top 3 Successful Marriage Tips. Great advice!!!!
Sooooo, not much blog hopping happening for me, but as I've said before I always continue blog hopping after the UBP ends. So make sure you look out for me in the coming days and weeks!!!!
You know how you plan to accomplish specific things on your to do list for the next day? Well, Tuesday evening I was feeling optimistic and planned how the day was going to go for Wednesday. What I didn't take into account was how I would feel on Wednesday.
Needless to say, I woke up cranky, tired and unmotivated. Some of the items on my 'to get done' list included stopping at yet another grocery store, going to Michael's crafts to look for a birthday gift for one of Em's friends, get to another store to look for some non-candy related items for Easter baskets. I had in mind peds to wear with sneakers, maybe a cute T-shirt/short set and just start to knock things off the list. Well, my frame of mind just was not present yesterday.
I went to the grocery store and forgot the list! I thought maybe I had left it in the car, so I parked my cart with my fruits & veggies in it and went out to check. Nope, not there. There wasn't a ton on the list, but somehow it did not make it to the store with me, the store ad and my coupon box. I knew then that I should've just stayed home. So about a half hour later I return home disgusted. My list was in the living room with my clipboard and notes that I had taken from one of the online Mom Conferences I watched on organizing the night before. (Ha! Organizing!!! How ironic!!!)
At 1pm in the afternoon I was feeling like a loser as a wife and mother. (There was a slight huff Wednesday morning about not wearing a jean jacket. This is a story for another time.) How to pick myself up and get motivated to do SOMETHING??????
I decided to make a photo to upload to the contest @5minuteformom to possibly win a Pro75 account with Pixorial. So here is mine:
After I created this I decided it was time to take a look at the UBP14 prize page and decide what 10 choices to put on the prize list. Whew! Lots of choices!!!!!
Got that done and crossing my fingers I win something since I didn't have any luck at the Google+ Hangout or the Twitter party.
Before I knew it ----time to pick the kids up from school, after-school snack, dinner, clean-up dishes, take Kaye to Daisy Scouts, and help Em with her book report. Well, the book report took MUCH longer than I thought because she needed my help to make a brochure in Open Office Draw and I had to rotate words, and measure where items went because it is a tri-fold brochure. It was nice to spend time with her working on this project and I will probably share it with you all when it is complete.
After the kids went to bed I wanted to watch some T.V. with Jay, but he was beat and already sleeping. I decided to listen to a few Mom Conferences online.
Up first was the topic of defining your time. Boy do I need help in this area! I also listed to the Systems of A Healthy Marriage: Top 3 Successful Marriage Tips. Great advice!!!!
Sooooo, not much blog hopping happening for me, but as I've said before I always continue blog hopping after the UBP ends. So make sure you look out for me in the coming days and weeks!!!!
