Is It WW3?, A Sleepless Night and Baking - My Gerbil Mind at Work Again - LOL

I'm operating on minimal sleep today, which is rare for me. I went to sleep a bit earlier than normal - I had enough of watching the war and the various pundits. I had enough of the human misery, the never-ending discussions and the intransigence of politicians. I had enough of Putin and Biden, Poland and Ukraine, and dreams of empire. I had ENOUGH. I went to sleep.

I'm sure some of the reason I couldn't sleep last night is 
my total belief that WW 3 has already started. DH has the 
TV on to MSNBC or CNBC all the time. He's not even 
watching the financial network (his usual "on all the time" 
TV station). I'm a bit overwhelmed by war and misery 
right now. 

There are some really interesting world maps out there 
to look at, I'm giving a couple of URLs for two 
different maps on Reddit. Both maps seem to say 
I'll never have an opportunity to visit Egypt. *sigh* 

I found this map first: 
https://i.redd.it/pri6kmvj6f561.png
Then, found this refinement
https://i.redd.it/ekqqamwcdus01.png

I awakened fully, after a restless hour of tossing, turning and just not getting comfortable, at around 12:30 am, giving up on sleep. I didn't want to actually get up - I still hoped to get a little bit of sleep. But I also wasn't getting anywhere at convincing my hamster brain to settle down. So I powered up a guided meditation instead. 

Astral projection has fascinated me since I was a child. I 
tried it numerous times, as I'm sure some of you did. But 
I was totally unsuccessful. I've been taking a class through 
Mind Valley on Astral Projection. I can't say it's any more 
successful, but I do find it relaxing, and if I have a chance 
to actually practice it seriously, it may be something I 
can do. It's a fun course, in any case. 

I've been working through a course on Astral Projection, which has been marvelous. So I cued up the next session and listened for the 20 minutes of the course, then entered into one of the two practicums offered for that chapter, each of which would take more than an hour. I totally lost myself in the practicum and was finally was able to relax and concentrate on something totally different than the war and misery happening on the other side of the world. When the practicum ended, I still had 45 minutes until my alarm was set to go off, so I grabbed that little bit of additional sleep. Still, it wasn't a good night and I'm going to be a bit of a Zombie today. 

I'm not at my best today - a lack of sleep will do that 
for me. I'll be a bit of a Zombie today - just going through 
the motions. Hopefully I won't be super busy today, 
DH is never as helpful with customers as Chickie is. 

Unfortunately, today is a Monday. That means I'm not working with Chickie, I'm working with DH. He'll be in the back room for most of the day doing the financial paperwork for the store, balancing the checkbook, and probably playing Bridge on his phone (it's what he likes to do, although he curses at the game for it's choices of cards all the time). Working with DH is never a relaxing experience, but I'm usually able to handle things fairly well, and I'm not shy about calling him out to help when necessary. 

I love watching baking and cooking shows. 
Tonight is this week's episode of Season 8 
of the Spring Baking Championship. I'm 
always amazed that the bakers can whip 
things together so quickly and have them 
look so amazing. 

Still, I'll be happy to close and lock the shop doors tonight. I've got the Spring Baking Championship show to watch tonight, (I dearly love watching cooking and baking shows, although I don't eat baked goods at all any more). I can relax, watching people go crazy over flour, sugar and flavors. There's no way I could possibly do what they do within the time-frames in which they must complete their challenges. Hopefully I'll get a full, uninterrupted night's sleep tonight since I swim tomorrow and I don't want to fight exhaustion on top of pushing my lap times. 

Sometimes that unexpected bit of kindness can pay 
amazing dividends. It costs nothing to be kind, 
and the payback is priceless. 

Have an excellent Monday. I hope your Spring is starting out well. I'm grateful that we have had some nice temperatures for a change. Today will be lovely (after the rain goes away), and we'll actually be above freezing for Tuesday and Thursday this week. That's awesome for March. I'll take it! Enjoy your day to the best of your ability. Do something unexpected and kind to help offset all of the negativity in the world right now. I'll be back tomorrow. Peace! 

Cooking, Project Runway and A One-Year Anniversary - Life Is Good

Yes, it's cold, -12 F (-24.4 C) as I type this, but that doesn't matter at all. I've already set up my laptop for today's cooking class - no forgetting or missing the time today. The class starts at 10:00 am and I think it's scheduled for an hour. I'm just going to watch and take copious notes, and I hope there will be a full recipe to print out afterward. My pork tenderloin is in the refrigerator defrosting. I'd like to make the dish later today, but I don't want to try to cook at the same time as watching. I know I'm slow in the kitchen, and I want to make sure I have the recipe correct before trying it. 

Today's cooking class is Harissa Lamb Kebob with Ratatouille, 
something totally new for me. I'm looking forward to it. I adore 
cooking shows in general, but they usually aren't detailed 
enough to actually take notes. I'm hoping there will be an 
actual recipe to download, and that if I take good notes, I 
can make this (although I'm using pork instead of lamb). 
At any rate, it looks tasty.  

It's also Friday, so I'll be watching the replay of last night's "Project Runway". It's down to five designers now, and they're all quite talented, and very different in vision and technique. It's been a wonderful season thus far, and I'm very grateful for Peacock because watching it on Fridays on Peacock has been an excellent option. 

I've been a Project Runway addict for many years now, and 
this season is no exception. No doubt that Christian Siriano 
is the most successful of the winners, but several other winners 
and some competitors, are actually doing fairly well in the 
fashion industry. I love the challenge of the whole thing. I 
admire the skills that each of the competitors have. There's 
no way I could put something beautiful together and have it 
fit wonderfully in the time frame they have for each challenge. 

It occurred to me last night, that I've had VooDoo for almost a year now. It might be a few more days before the actual anniversary, but it's pretty darned close. I can't imagine being without it now. I have no camera on my desktop computer, and the thought of having to have done WildFit or other Zoom calls with only my phone available is horrific. I like the larger screen and the built-in camera on VooDoo. I could improve things by having an external camera, but really - I don't think it's necessary at all. Perhaps I should buy it a cupcake with a candle and sing "Happy Birthday"? LOL

Last year, and continuing on into this year, has been a 
year of self-improvement and exploration. MindValley has 
been instrumental in this quest, and I'm happy to have 
found them. I'm in my second year of membership 
now, and there are more classes I want to take. I'm behind 
on almost every class, but the most important one - 
WildFit - has changed my life forever, so it's a total win 
for me. 

What an eventful year it has been! I started by getting VooDoo, then I joined MindValley. Through MindValley I found WildFit, and then, at the end of the year, the swimming pool finally reopened and I got back into the pool. I was able to go to the State Fair once again, and see my dear high school friend and sister Sharon back in her room down my hallway. I attended the Renaissance Festival's belated 50th Anniversary and finally got a new corset - something that's been on my list for more than three years. I got my tattoo - my Winged Scarab and Solar Disc featuring the Eye of Horus. I also made broad steps into closing the store later this year (at least, I'm leaving the store at the end of August, if all things work out). DH might stay another few months to get more things cleared out before locking the doors for good. 

It looks as if I got VooDoo right around 
the 25th of January last year. So yes, 
it's almost a year. I can't imagine being 
without it now. It's been a wonderful 
laptop to have and has fulfilled my 
expectations. 

I'm going to try my best to enjoy today despite the cold. I have a lot of things on my agenda besides the two computer sessions, so I won't be bored at all. Have a truly excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. Try to be kind, think before you speak, and spread love. We all need more love in our lives. 

Crazy Schedules, Wonderful Books and Planning - A Typical Day

Yesterday's crazy schedule actually worked out. I didn't shop at the co-op, but I actually didn't need most of the groceries I needed from there until Friday, so I've pushed the co-op off a couple of days. I was in plenty of time for my 9:00 am quarterly phone call with my financial advisor, and had time to set up and watch Sadhguru's talk at 10:00, along with more than 3500 other people. I've participated in many of these Zoom presentations over the past few months, but this talk brought in more listeners than any other I've ever been in. 

I purchased "Karma" yesterday and I'm 
looking forward to reading it. Although 
he has several other books, the only other 
one I'm really interested in is "Death". 

According to Vishin, the CEO of MindValley, Sadhguru's class will become available within a couple of months. That seemed to take Sudhguru a bit by surprise, which I found amusing. I'm inclined to side with the motorcycle-riding guru on this one, and whenever the class actually does become available, I'm definitely going to subscribe to it. Sadhguru was fascinating to listen to as he tackled the various topics introduced by Vishin and by the audience. I did buy his newest book, "Karma", in e-book version. I'll load that up on my non-fiction reader and probably start working through it today. It's a top-seller with a huge number of 5-star reviews, so I want to see what the fuss is all about (in addition to wanting to read it just because of the subject matter). I've got to love any older, eccentric gentleman who talks about karma and rides a Ducati motorcycle. 

The other book of his I'm interested in 
reading is this one. I have a 20% off 
coupon that expires at the end of the 
month. I'll probably use that and save 
a little bit. It should be an interesting 
read. 

In fact, yesterday's tight schedule managed to resolve itself into a rather nicely-paced day, which was quite a surprise. I'm pleased, though, I was not looking forward to a push and tug of a day. Aearwen and I had a great chat to finish off the day, and as always, we connected on many levels. She's most definitely a Sister From a Different Mother and I'm so happy to have found her many years ago. 

Getting to and from my bank often feels like 
I'm taking a "Great Circle Route". Since my local 
branch closed several years ago, it's a good long 
drive to our closest location. 

Were you taught that the shortest distance 
between two points is a straight line? That 
doesn't take into account the Great Circle 
Routes, which are actually shorter than 
the straight line, as shown above. 

Today's schedule is a bit hectic to start out, but then will settle down. I need to get to the shop, drop off my stuff, and head right back out to the bank. I probably should have asked DH to bring the deposit home with him, but he more than likely would have forgotten anyway. On that rather boring note, I'm totally out of here. I have things to do, people to see, and more things to do - LOL. Have a totally EXCELLENT and MAGNIFICENT day and please, be kind and stay safe. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Oh To Be A Time Lord and Skip and Hop Today - A Scrunched Schedule

I started out today thinking, "I have time to do my errands this morning" - mostly consisting of getting lots of green veggies into my refrigerator for the upcoming week. Then I realized I wanted to catch the MindValley live video of Sadhguru (Jaggi Vasudev) at 10:00 am my time, and my "lots" of time compressed into "no time". Of course, I can watch it on my phone, if necessary. Not a bad choice, but I'd much rather watch it on my laptop - more convenient and a larger screen. That means I may need to split my grocery shopping into two runs - one before Sadhguru, and one after. Far from impossible, but a bit frustrating. 

Apparently Sadhguru will be offering a class 
through MindValley. That is something I 
might be very interested in. 

The guru's tweet for today: "On this Full Moon 
day, Gautama the Buddha got enlightened, 
an event that created a big wave of 
spirituality all around. Let this be an 
inspiration for you to intensify your 
spiritual practices." 

Occasionally we'll get someone through the shop doors who wants to dump, not shop. Yesterday we had one of those people. Apparently she was cleaning out the house of a relative (I was busy with another customer and didn't have a chance to speak with her directly). She brought in a bin and a large box of leather pieces and scrap for us to have/sell/donate/use, and a real gem (at least for me), an Empisal Mini Instant-Knitting Machine, in it's original box. Looking at it more carefully later on in the afternoon (and after downloading and printing a full manual last night - (yes, those things are archived and available for anyone who needs one), my "new" machine has almost everything it originally held, with the exception of one non-essential part and the clamps to attach it to a table (easily obtained). 

Although this isn't my newest find, it is one exactly like 
it, just a bit cleaner. My box is a bit more worn. It's a
cute little knitting machine. I'm really looking forward to
cleaning it up and seeing how well it works. 

It's a real gem of a knitting machine. A true mini - only 60 needles wide. (My LK-150 has 150 needles, by comparison.) It's all-metal construction, and I probably should take it apart and clean it thoroughly, but it actually looks like it's in pretty good shape. There are people on my knitting machine boards who specialize in cleaning up old equipment, so I'll have to ask for advice from them. It'll be a nice project for the winter months, and in the meantime, I'll try to find space for it in my knitting cabinet (Sewing Cabinet #1, if you recall from the great clean-up). Sixty needles is REALLY tiny, but stripes of knitted fabrics can be joined into larger items - basically, that's what a lot of knitted blankets are. 

I'm missing the clamps and I'm totally missing 
the fancy hook on the left. I actually have the 
"weights" which are rather ridiculous, but also 
very vintage. Most importantly, I have all of the
necessary components to be able to make it a
useable machine. What a fun gift to land at my feet. 

Finally, I had a lovely email this morning that I'll share with all of you. It was from a Paleo diet group I follow, but it applies beautifully to WildFit too, so I've also passed it along to a WildFit Alumni group I belong to. Here are the 10 Commandments of Paleo (and WildFit). 

1 - Thous shalt not eat processed foods. 
2 - Honor thy egg, nut and (grass-fed) meats. 
3 - Thou shalt refuse refined sugars and grains. 
4 - Thou shalt give up gluten. 
5 - Remember thy natural sweeteners (raw honey, dates, maple syrup).
6 - Thou shalt bypass beans and legumes - yeas, that means you, peanut butter! 
7 - Thou shalt avoid most alcohols. (Non-colored spirits, like vodka and gin, are best). 
8 - Honor thy coconut (flour, oil, water, etc.)
9 - Thou shalt vary thy veggies. 
10 - Thou shalt not sip sugars. 

So, there you have it, the basics of a healthy diet. I do allow coloring in my alcohol since I love my dark rums, but I'm fine with a good white Patron or 1800 tequila too. I'm afraid my Kahlua will only be a rare treat - LOL. Have an excellent Wednesday. I've already got load one in the dryer, so my day is starting out "smoothly". But it can quickly turn into shit hitting the fan - I know how these things can go, LOL. I'll be back tomorrow. Please be well and stay safe. 

All Good Things Must Come to an End - WildFit Wrap-up

Today is the final Zoom call for my WildFit Tribe and I'm looking forward to it and dreading it all at the same time. It's been a long journey - 13 weeks of trials and sacrifice, with varied results in the end, but I'd say more than 80% of the participants are thrilled with the program and going to stick with it past today and tomorrow. Many of these people have joined our separate Facebook group that was set up last week by one of our Tribe members. That will allow all of us to stay in touch with each other, because realistically, most of us have more weight to release and we'll need the support of the Tribe to get there. 

MindValley is a premier location for self-improvement 
classes in a wide variety of aspects. Anything from 
career to personal development courses are available 
through MindValley, along with free Master 
Classes lasting 60-90 minutes in length every 
month or so. I highly recommend MindValley to 
all of you. 

I've done other MindValley classes, in fact I'm taking several others right now, but WildFit was unique. The way the program is structured, with such a high level of interaction and guidance, is what allows it to be as successful as it is, and allows the participants to link to each other. My other classes have taken place on the MindValley network which has participants posting in a far different way than on Facebook, and it's much less interactive with less back and forth between people attending the classes. 

Eric Edmeades is the founder of  WildFit. Although 
we haven't interacted with him directly, our coaches 
do touch base. We were having some people who had 
problems with the program, and I posted a response 
to them. Eric actually responded to me on Facebook, 
personally! I was shocked and delighted. My friend 
Talita was so excited she immediately messaged 
me and we got into a long conversation back and 
forth for a half- hour about MindValley and how pleased 
we were with the classes we were taking. 

I love the classes I'm taking - I think I'm allowing my mind to explore directions I've wanted to go since my college days. I thought I was a bit silly taking four classes at the same time, but my O/L friend, Talita, is taking more than ten. Suddenly I don't feel as silly at all - LOL. 

Lots of green veggies is foundational to WildFit. Add 
high quality protein to that, along with fruits (in season 
only) and other veggies like squash and beets, and you've 
got a lovely variety of food. I've always been a bit 
of a bunny - I love my salads and veggies. The 
emphasis on green veggies was no issue for me. 

But since today is the final Zoom call, we're all taking our Alkagizer drinks along with us, putting them into cocktail glasses, and celebrating. It's Graduation Day for those of us in the basic program, and we're going to toast each other and wish each other the best with cheers and tears this afternoon. Although I'll still be in touch with some people, I'll miss the cohesiveness of the Tribe. But life must go on, and programs have to come to an end. I've made some good friends, and that's the important thing (along with the 15 pounds I've released). Oh, and why released instead of lost? You look for things that are lost, you release things permanently. It's all in the psychology of it. 

I might whip together a simple garnish similar 
to this cute Christmas Tree garnish. I have 
a cucumber that I'll be using today to make 
more Alkagizers, I can get a carrot and olives 
at the grocery store this morning along with 
my regular Friday shop. I actually also need 
to get to Target and the office supply store, 
so my morning is pretty crammed. I've set aside 
a crystal goblet, and I'm totally ready for 
today's Zoom call. 

On that note, I'm off to the store. I still have a lot to get finished before I can settle down in front of my laptop for my Zoom call. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow, and please stay safe and be kind. 

Self Improvement is Hard Work - Or A Lot of Classes

I'm approaching the end of my WildFit class, and ready to start my life Living WildFit. Many of the "Tribe", along with me, have set up a separate Facebook account so that we can keep in touch with each other and support each other past the 90 days of the program. We've established friendships through our weekly Zoom calls, and many posts. We've shared recipes, success stories and the occasional failure (lessons learned) or experiments. Having that secondary group is going to make leaving the active group much easier to do. We have a safety net - something that I'm not sure any other group going through the WildFit program has ever had before. I have a strong Tribe. 

WildFit wasn't my first Mind Valley program. I've been taking 
"Be Extraordinary" for a while, but put it on hold while 
dealing with WildFit because WF is extremely time 
consuming and intensive. I'll pick BE back up again at 
some point. There was a lot of great stuff in that course. 

It's going to be a bit scary - leaving the structured program after tomorrow's video lesson and Zoom call and striding out into the big wide world of food choices without immediate answers and guidance from a Coach. Several members of our group are planning to move on and learn how to be Coaches. Although I've been encouraged to do the training, so far I'm content to not pick up a new career at this point. I want to retire and actually play with my art. I've had imagery and design pieces coming through to my inner eye and I want to fire up my kiln, pull out my copper, and start working with enamels and gemstones again. 

I've been enjoying "The M Word" and actually 
think it will go far in helping me with my 
meditation practice. I love starting my days 
out with meditation. I'd always wanted to 
do that, but real life got in the way. Real 
life tends to be sleeping at 3:30 am when 
I settle down to meditate, so I'm actually 
successful for a change. 

Because I am focusing on self-improvement, I decided to broaden my scope of a few other side-tracks at the same time. I've been meditating every morning since the early part of the year, usually for at least 30 minutes at a time, often for longer. I've been using a method called "guided" meditation, where I'm listening to a particular teacher guide me through a series of thought processes to shape that day's meditation. There are some teachers I really like, others that I'm not as fond of, and one that I liked so much I chased him through several apps to find a spot where he had uploaded more than 40 of his meditations to work with. 

I've also started working with "Chakra Healing". The workbook 
she has made available to all of us is more than 100 pages of 
pdf. Since I like to actually look at pages for reference, that's 
a lot of pages to print. The printer is up to the task, but I'm 
almost out of paper. So ... guess I'll hit Target on Friday and 
get some more printer paper. 

But I want to fine-tune my meditation. I know it can be a tremendous tool for self-awareness and universal rhythms and intensities. I decided to take the course on Meditation from Mind Valley, and while I was at it, I also decided to enroll in a course on healing my chakras. It seems to me that the two programs will work quite well together. When I combine these with the "Energy Medicine" class I started a few weeks ago, I should be in great shape - physically and mentally - by the time I get done with all of this. At least that's my goal. We'll see how successful I really am. 

I'm behind on my "Energy Medicine" class. There's a lot 
to learn here, and I haven't given it the time it deserves. 
The beauty of a Mind Valley class, however, is that you have 
full access to your classes for as long as you're a member, 
so the individual lessons, which are on-line anyway, are 
mine to watch in my own time. I need to truly understand 
meridians, how energies flow through the body, and how 
best to help them along. 

It's like I'm housecleaning my body and soul. Something that probably badly needed doing (we won't talk about the physical housecleaning that also needs to be done - LOL). I'm excited about the possibilities opening up, and the fact that my creative side seems to finally be waking up once again. Now I need to start aligning things, get the rest of my weight off, and begin the next phase of my life. It's looking like it'll be a lot of fun, and I'm certainly enjoying my Mind Valley membership. On that note, I'm out of here. Have an excellent day, be kind and stay safe. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Wednesday was Hectic, But WildFit Is a Brilliant Success

My Wednesday off was the usual hectic day, although I skipped the co-op and only shopped at my local grocer. That shaved a good hour off my morning tasks, so it was a welcome change of pace. I'll try to shop at the co-op one or maybe two times a month. They have lovely produce and a spice selection that's unmatched, but it's a 40-minute round-trip drive and some days I just don't have the time. As it turned out, my usual lack of brain/thought/luck played through again, and I realized at 5:30 pm that I had forgotten to buy the lettuce for my nightly salad. I had to take a very quick drive over one more time, buy my lettuce and get back home. It's a good thing my local grocer is only a mile from my house. 

The produce section at my local grocer is huge and very 
well staffed/maintained. They have almost any vegetable 
or fruit you could imagine. I've expanded myself through 
WildFit, trying fruits and veggies I've never had before, 
and that's been a real treat. 

Monday starts the final week of WildFit and I'm going to miss it. Although many of us set up and joined a separate Facebook group so we could stay in touch with each other as a Tribe, it won't be the same. I think there is an after-program option also available called "Living WildFit" which I'll look into joining. That would offer monthly calls and lectures along with the ability to call on the coaches for help when/if needed. I can see some real benefits to that. 

I absolutely love the logo of WildFit. They have 
shirts available with it, and I think I'll indulge in 
one. I'm not sure if I want short sleeves, long 
sleeves, or maybe a hoodie. I'll have to think about that. 

I haven't done my "final" measurements yet, I'll do those tomorrow. I know I've lost inches, it's quite evident in how my clothes fit me as well as what the scale is telling me. But the photos and measurements are everything. According to the scale, I've lost 15 pounds since I started WildFit, and I'm quite pleased about that. I had been unable to work below a 5 pound loss for more than five years - just bounced in that weight range time after time. I've finally broken through that floor and continued down. It's been hard work, but it's also been very worth it. 

I have this class, "The M Word", starting on 
Sunday, the 16th. I probably won't really have 
time to watch anything until Monday, but maybe 
I will. It's hard to say. I'm not sure exactly what 
I'll learn in this class, but if I can improve my 
meditation techniques and breath control, 
I'll be pretty happy. 

I'll be glad to get through the final week, though. I have other programs starting up - one for meditation, and another on Energy Medicine that I've been taking for the past four weeks (although not with the attention it deserves because WildFit is so time consuming). I'd also like to continue on with the course that started it all - :"Be Extraordinary", which I stopped half-way through. I'm still meditating every morning - love it SO much - and all-in-all, the "whoo whoo" of MindValley and their classes is right where I want to be right now. I just don't have enough hours in the day to learn everything I want to. 

I've been taking Donna Eden's "Energy Medicine" class, and 
it's got some incredibly valuable techniques and ideas in 
it. I haven't had the chance to fully concentrate on it, though, 
and that's on me. Fortunately, once enrolled, I can always 
access everything on-line, and I'll be going back, with a 
new notebook, and working through this one in depth. 
There's so much to learn and she's an excellent teacher. 

On that note, I'm out of here. I think I'll treat myself to a nice cup of Roiboos tea this morning, something I rarely indulge in. I hope you have a wonderful Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. As always, please be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. (And no, I didn't get to knitting yesterday, despite my saved time with grocery shopping. Oh well.) 

A Funeral and a Celebration of Life with a Little Healing Thrown In

I checked my schedule and the funeral for Prince Phillip begins at 8:30 am local time. I'll make sure I have a TV on at work to listen/watch. I've watched most of the major events happening in Britain over the past decades - the weddings and the funerals. I can't imagine not watching this as well, although it certainly will be different given Covid restrictions. I wonder if the crowds will come out, despite the risks of contagion. I suspect they will be there, good idea or not. 

It's a bit appalling how those paying their respects in this 
photo are almost all white males in dark suits without a 
mask in sight. They rather look like a mass of penguins 
returning to their nesting area. 

The first thing on my agenda yesterday was a quick trip to Mississippi Market Co-op for veggies and miscellaneous. I had no idea what the miscellaneous would be, but knew I wanted to stock up on veggies for my veggie smoothies. I ended up scoring the mother lode! I not only found my Coconut Butter on the shelves there, but also the Fenugreek Seeds spice I had been unable to find at any other outlet. I also found a pure roiboos tea without fillers or added "Natural" flavors. I immediately made myself a lovely cup of tea when I returned home. 

Roiboos tea is from the South African roiboos bush. The 
leaves are harvested for the tea, which has a slightly 
earthy flavor with an underlying sweetness. I've loved 
Roiboos tea for years, but finding some that doesn't have 
any additional additives has been hard. Finally I 
succeeded at my co-op. 

Fridays are Zoom check-in days for my WildFit food program and it's always wonderful to see so many people who have become friends on-line. We're all stumbling through this together, and each of us have our own problems either with the program, or because of it. Our Coach, Monica, recommended I change my eating patterns slightly, adding in one more category of food for my evening meal, so I made sure to start that last night by adding Butternut squash to my dinner plate. It was quite good, so no objections from me - LOL. 

Dinner emphasized variety - we're really supposed 
to push for variety in veggies to help our bodies 
and keep from getting bored. Here I had a small 
tuna steak with sauteed mushrooms, fresh green 
beans, roasted Brussels sprouts and roasted 
Butternut squash with a small side salad. It 
was very tasty. 

I start a new class on Monday - a class in Energy Healing from Donna Eden, a world-renowned energy healer. It's a fascinating course, one I'm really looking forward to knowing more about. I know that I don't see energy fields, but that doesn't mean I can't have effective healing or that I can't do things that might be effective for others. At any rate, I'll understand much more about the way the body can heal after I'm finished with the course. I know it's a little "woo-woo" for some people, but I think it can be an effective course of treatment in many cases. It will intersect with WildFit for several weeks, but there's nothing I can do about that. My main focus is WildFit, anything else will have to be secondary. 

I'm not fond of taking two classes at the same time, and 
my WildFit program goes through most of May, but I 
couldn't turn down the chance to work on Energy Healing 
from one of the leaders in the field. I'm looking forward 
to this class, which is actually given in an 8-week format 
of download on Monday and take the week to look through 
the class materials and work through any exercises. 
At the very least I'll learn much more about meridians, 
chakras and polarities. 

On that note, I'd better get moving. I want to have breakfast before I head out and I can't be late for the funeral. (Oh good grief...I'm so ridiculous. Despite the fact that the dead won't give a darn if I'm watching or not, I still want to watch.) Have an excellent weekend and please continue to be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. I'll be back on Monday. 

Two Lectures and a Closed Drawbridge

I had two on-line lectures yesterday, both of which I wanted to watch. I caught the first one - no problem. It was early - starting at 8:00 am. I enjoyed watching it very much and the class was very interesting to me, but I'm not signing up for it. Too much mention of "God" in it. I don't get along well with self-improvement applications that always mention the divine. It's a personal thing - nothing against the class or the class mentor, just my own thing. 

The first class was going to be taught by 
Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith. I actually think 
I could learn a great deal from him, but I 
don't think I'm ready to listen to him yet, 
and I'm already in over my head (time-wise) 
with the two classes I have. I can't really 
spread myself much farther right now. One 
thing at a time. 

The second class, a class in living abundantly, was actually a live broadcast from Britain with Marisa Peer, and it was marvelous ... for as long as I could actually watch it. Given that it started at noon, my time, and I was at work, I knew it was a toss-up. We had been sporadically busy, and it could have continued that way, but 30 minutes into it, I pulled out of the room and shut it down. I had too many people in the store needing help and Chickie was pinned by one customer. Time to get to work. I understand a taped version of the full talk will be available within a week and I'm looking forward to that because there was a LOT of information she was giving out and no real time to write it all down. I'm not signing up for this class either - I have my hands full with the two classes I have going right now - WildFit and Be Extraordinary (which is on my back burner until WildFit is over). I have to admit that her Masterclass in "Rapid Transformational Therapy" was extremely helpful to me a few weeks ago, so I want to hear everything she was saying in this class. 

The second Masterclass was by Marisa Peer on 
"How To Live an Abundant Life" and it was 
unexpected and glorious. It was the first live 
Masterclass I had ever attended and that was 
exceptional. Things moved so quickly though, 
I'm glad the videotape will be available to watch 
later. I was very disappointed to have to leave 
the session mid-way through. 

DH is back to silent mode. There's no real reason for it, but he's not sleeping well (guilt, perhaps?) and he's increasingly grumpy yet again. I'm getting very bored with the attitude. This is NOT what I signed up for years ago. Well, I'll see if things improve soon. Maybe. At least he's not actively angry with me and exchanges words every now and again. 

The drawbridge of DH has been pulled up once 
again and nothing is allowed into his personal 
castle. He's not talking and he's barely 
interacting with me. If I'm going to be alone, 
I might as well be alone on my own, don't 
you think? I'm starting to get extremely 
frustrated. 

On that note, I have a busy day today so I'm going to plug in photos and jump into my first task of the day. I hope all of you have a splendid day and I'll be back tomorrow. And, of course, please be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. 

Yesterday Was Intensely Busy - Today (Hopefully) Will Be Better

I totally expect to crash and burn at some point today. I awakened early (shortly after 2:00 am early, to be precise) and looked at my phone with bleary eyes. Not quite in focus, obviously, because I thought it was shortly after 3:00 am, in which case my alarm was going to go off shortly. I turned off my alarm and settled down for my morning meditation. Afterward, I picked up my phone with less bleary eyes and realized I was WAY early. But, it was too late to go back to sleep, so I went ahead, got up, got dressed and hit the treadmill. I'll be dragging tonight, what a mess. 

I will be completely exhausted by tonight. Waking up 
after only five hours of sleep is not healthy for me. I 
can manage a day, but I'll need a bit more sleep tomorrow 
to get back in the groove again. 

Tomorrow the duct wizards come to check out and clean my dryer's ductwork. I took a serious look at the laundry shelf yesterday, and moving it might be next to impossible. I'll clear it so that things won't be in the way, but they may have to work around it. I don't think they'll be happy about that, but I'm sure they've had bad placement of ducts in the past on other jobs too. Sometimes there isn't much of a choice, and this might well be one of those times. Hopefully they can resolve the heat issue I'm having with my dryer and I won't have to actually schedule a repair. 

These guys are coming by tomorrow between 10 and noon 
to clean out my dryer vent. I'm hoping that will fix my 
clothes dryer, because I'm really tired of lugging my wet 
clothes over to the laundromat for their large dryer. It 
really pokes a hole in my day, being unable to dry one 
load while washing the next. 

Last night, DH was enumerating the many food plans I've been on in my life with him - everything from Weight Watchers to Nutri-Systems, and several others as well. Of course, those are all diets. What I'm studying now is a 3-month course in nutrition and body chemistry. A bit of a different angle and take. There might be potential weight loss, although I joined this program for the purpose of getting healthier by understanding the nutritional needs my body. I would love to lose a few pounds from the program, but that's not my goal - my goal is increased health. 

We've all been there - and on average, when regaining 
weight after a "diet", we tend to not only gain back 
what we lost, but add an additional three pounds. 
I'm hoping to understand my body better, do what it 
needs in terms of nutrition, and if I lose weight 
as a by-product ... fabulous. 

I was pushing to get through the information in yesterday's on-line lectures. I'm hoping today's lectures will be a bit less time intensive. Yesterday ended up with more than three hours of video lectures, Q&A sessions and the basic daily lecture in my nutrition class, plus another 45 minutes of web class for my personal growth program. It was hard to get everything dovetailed into my very busy day, and I had to completely blow off one web class. I'm determined that today will be better - LOL. On that note, I'm off to get some hot tea. Have an excellent day and please be kind, stay safe and wear your masks. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Changing A Habit - Personal Growth with MindValley

Habits can be changed. Ask anyone who has given up smoking cigarettes. Ask anyone who has altered their eating habits to lose weight or improve their physical well-being. Ask anyone who has broken the hold of opiates or other drugs on their life. 

Bad habits can be learned, and what's learned 
can also be unlearned or altered. Today I set upon 
a path of a new habit to unlearn an old, poor 
habit. It's exciting and a little scary. 

Bad habits can be learned - all of those items listed above are learned behaviors. We learn that cookies and other sweet items taste really good, so we allow them to enter our lives regularly. We start smoking by coughing and hacking, wondering how anyone could be silly enough to want to smoke, but often we end up with a pack-and-a-half habit. We take pills to minimize the pain after an injury or surgery, and find it almost impossible to put them away afterward. These are learned habits. 

The key to habits is to choose wisely. Choose the habits 
that enhance your life, not degrade it. Everyone can 
choose their habits, choosing ones that are beneficial 
instead of harmful is an important distinction. 

The thing with human beings is we're always evolving and changing ourselves, in ways both good and bad. We have choices, and we don't always choose wisely. I've been trying to choose wisely, and I'm hoping that my latest choices will turn into addictions that will benefit me, not harm me. 

I've been a student of various personal growth programs 
for much of my life. So I'll forgive DH for rolling his 
eyes when I discussed my latest program with him. But 
he'll support me through it, and that's really all I'm 
asking from him. Personal goals are more achievable 
when I don't have to fight battles at home. 

My basic addiction is personal growth. I've been addicted to attempting positive personal growth programs for a very long time, and many of the items I've tried through the years have been awesome and amazing and wonderful. The problem has always been hanging onto them - allowing them into my life long enough to truly become a habit. Today I start a 13-week (3-month) program of changing my eating habits to encourage healthier habits and increased metabolism. I'm really looking forward to it, although I'm quite sure there will be some serious challenges involved. I'm not sure exactly what will be required, but I'm placing my trust in the guide, and I think, in the long run, this will be exactly what I need and exactly when I need it. 

My WildFit journey begins today and I'm very excited and 
a little fearful. Change, even good change, can be a 
fear filled experience. I have a "buddy" for the program up 
in Ely, Minnesota, and 200+ of us from around the world 
have joined together to improve our lives and our interaction 
with food. This should be awesome. 

So, today I start WildFit - a program offered through MindValley. MindValley is a personal growth company with some truly amazing mentors and classes. WildFit is a partner program - not under the umbrella of MindValley, but rather a partner on the path to self-help and realization. I'll lose some weight through the program, but that's not the focus of it. The focus is choosing foods that will be beneficial for the body, not just empty calories. That interests me a great deal. It's a holistic approach, not just a food regime and it's going to be a wonderful journey. 

I've been taking Vishen Lakhiani's class "Be 
Extraordinary" for a couple of weeks. I have to say 
it is making a huge difference in my life. I'm going to 
stick with these two programs for a while, though. 
There are other programs of interest, but I need to 
internalize "Be Extraordinary" and "WildFit" 
completely before embarking on more aspects of 
personal growth. The longest journey begins with a 
single step. Today I'm stepping out bravely into another 
new area of growth. 

I'm off to have breakfast, tea and head out to work. The first two weeks of WildFit are a lot of self-examination and explanations - setting the groundwork, so to speak, so I'm fairly certain my current food choices are just fine for the time being. But I'm also sure things will change. How exciting! Have a wonderful Monday and please, be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow!