Doreen's Fresh Start & Success Story! (Welcome Friends!)

[toystoryduo]

I'm here to start the TGIF party in your journal. (I was up very early this morning! ) Let the party begin:



"Celebrate good times come on! Let's celebrate!
There's a party going on right here...
A celebration to last throughout the year,
So bring your good times and your laughter too,
We 're gonna celebrate your Friday with you!
Come on now... CELE-BRATION!"

:thewave:


Woohoo! Okay, ladies... what song's next on our playlist this morning?

Hope you have a great day, Doe!

 

[DoeWDW]

Let's get this party started!!!

Our second selection will be "It's Rainin' Men!!" Yes, I'm happily married and I'm not "looking" for a man, but it IS a fun and upbeat song AND it's raining like crazy here at the moment. I blame Colin on Who's Line Is It Anyway - he used the song title the other night and now it's stuck in my head.

If I sound happy this morning, it's because I am! I'm on Day 4 of my cycle, always a time of higher energy and happier moods. It's Friday - always a good thing. I got my light box and used it yesterday afternoon - who knows if it has helped or not but it didn't do any harm.

I used my light box for 15 minutes when I got home from work. The company has a questionnaire on their website and then they suggest a light therapy plan. For those who are curious - there's a circadian rhthym questionnaire under assessment tools at http://www.apollohealth.com/ . I got the little GoLite, very small and easy to use. My treatment plan is as follows:
Day Start Time Duration
1-2 5:00 pm 30 min.
3 5:30 pm 30 min.
4 6:00 pm 30 min.
5+ 6:30 pm 15-30 min.


Last night's tennis dinner was fun. I had a cheeseburger (no bun), baked sweet potato, chicken corn soup and then too much dessert stuff. I made the mistake of walking into the restaurant starving and then talking while mindlessly eating.

I'm going to hunker down and get a few solid hours of work done at the office. Tonight I'll get to hang out at home. Tomorrow and Sunday are also plan-free. We may make a quick visit to King of Prussia mall tomorrow - not sure yet. I'll spend the weekend cleaning, working on the finances, doing laundry and planning meals for next week, with extra time for reading and relaxing.

It's gonna be a good day!

 

[septbride2002]

Whoo hoo! A plan free weekend! I love it when that happens! Make sure to enjoy every second of it! You are doing awesome girl!

~Amanda

 

[DoeWDW]

Important Update!
I now have plans for a KoP trip to visit with Erin tomorrow!!! WOO HOO!!

 

[Blueeyes101817]

Enjoy KOP ..i havent been there in so long!!!
you are doing great-keep it up!!

have a great weekend

 

[myhandd]

This is an announcement just to let you know that the crowd favorite, DAX, is back on the journals!!

Hey Doe, i fell off the wagon a little (not bad though) and I am now officially back. Of course, I knew you would be here!

Gotta run,

Dax Has Left the Building!

 

[LAinSEA]

Doe:

I was so happy to read that you DS has found the right college for him! Yay! Did DD get the job?

I'm also glad that the classes you have been teaching are going very well. I absolutely love teaching! it is my own schoolwork that is suffering at the moment.

I am not surprised that you found a lightbox in Seattle. Those grey days are what fuels all the coffee sales also I'm sure. Although we have had unseasonably warm, sunny weather the past couple of days--fall is definitely here. My palms and the banana are still very happy and I still have some tomatoes rippening (but they are about done for the year). I know that I do much better during the winter months if I can get outside and get some light during the day. My mood and health improve. I feel so lucky to have windows in my classrooms and to see outside. Much better than working in a windowless control room.

take care and thanks for keeping track of me!

-Laurie

 

[lulu201]

Good morning, girlfriend. It was so nice to see you and Todd yesterday. You know I love it when we can get together to share "deep thoughts." Also when you let me rant and rave about certain situations. . .I'm sure that letting off some steam with you will help me keep my composure today. Humor. . .that's the plan, right?

Take care of yourself today and give all of your family a big hello from me--
Erin

 

[DoeWDW]

So nice to see so many of my friends here! Thanks for posting to my journal!

DD hasn't heard anything about the job, so I'm guessing she hasn't been picked. The woman she listed as a reference hasn't gotten a phone call either. She'll just have to keep searching.

Yesterday's visit with Erin was wonderful and uplifting. We often think along the same lines but we each bring a different perspective. Talking with her often adds other ideas, other layers of thoughts that I hadn't connected. I so appreciate your friendship, WISH-sis!

Today's activities include laundry, light cleaning, reading and relaxing. I also need to plan meals for the week and make a trip to the grocery store. The bills need some attention too! Uh-oh, this is sounding like too much for one day and I don't want to set myself up for failure. I'll think about whittling the list down to the bare essentials - definitely 2 loads of laundry, planning meals for the next 3 days and a store trip. That sounds do-able. The rest will wait.

I've been using my light box for 3 days now. I 'think' it's helping but it could also just be the "placebo" effect. I'm going to stick with it for a full month, through an entire cycle that includes the dreaded DZone, and then evaluate.

Healthy living? Well, right now that consists of using the light box daily, trying to plan ahead for my week to reduce my stress level, and paying attention to how I'm feeling on a daily basis. I feel like I should also be watching the scale, watching my foods, exercising, etc. but I think that's just too much on my plate now. I need to keep things simple.

Time to move into my day! The sun is shining and it looks like a good day to be me!

 

[Desiree]

Hope you have a great day Doreen! Sounds like your off to a good start!

 

[lulu201]

Good morning, WISH-sis! Here's some sunshine for this grey morning! I haven't watched the weather. . .is it supposed to rain?

I miss our friend from St. Louis.

Thanks for all the yesterday; I could feel it throughout the day!

It sounds like you had a good handle on yesterday and have sound healthy living plans in mind for the time being. Simple is good.

Well, I promised myself some treadie time at 8 a.m., so I'm off to keep my promise. I hope you have a good day. Shall we have a cup of tea this afternoon?

Much love for your day,
Erin

 

[WickedQueen26]

Pssstttt.... I miss you too.

 

[DoeWDW]

I'm at home - am not feeling all that well. Nothing to worry about, just a tummy bug I think.

I'm taking it easy, catching up on laundry, still in my jammies.....

 

[DoeWDW]

I'm taking a couple days off from journaling. I should be back by the weekend. I'm back at work and doing fine but I just want a couple days off of the DIS.

 

[toystoryduo]

Doreen.

 

[Cruise04]

from me too!!!! Hope everything is going okay and that you enjoy your break. Here's a little for your day.

Chris

 

[DoeWDW]

It's hard to have a Friday without my usual Friday party in my WISH journal!



I had to put some extra smilies in for Halloween weekend.

I've taken a few days off from my journal here and have started a journal on another site. I'm not sure I have the time to keep up with 2 journals but I have special friends in both places that I really don't want to lose. What to do?

The scale this morning said 159. Wow, I've never seen that number before and it hurts. I know there are plenty of people here who would be THRILLED to see that number on their scale but the fact is that I'm getting heavier and I'm not happy about it. I'm not making the best food choices and the cold weather certainly isn't helping. I don't want to get heavier but I don't seem to be able to motivate myself to stop it either.

The light box therapy is going well. I switched to early morning light the past 2 days. I eat breakfast and take my pills, have time to pray and sometimes even read, all with my bright blue light shining away.

I've gotta run - have a meeting to get to. I'll be back later.

to all!

 

[lulu201]

Hey, WISH-sis, . It's nice to see you around here. I know: what to do? what to do? We'll figure it out.

I gotta say this, though, I sure love the smilies!

Happy Friday!

Erin

 

[Blueeyes101817]

happy saturday!
the smiles on your journal always make me smile..
maybe instead of posting separely on both journals you could write one entry and copy and paste it into both? that way you can keep your friends on both sites? Just an idea i thought of..
i hope you have a great weekend and get some time to relax!

 

[DoeWDW]

I've made some progress! I walked for half an hour in the fall sunshine yesterday. I tracked my weight, food and exercise in Fitday. I also journaled the times I ate and how I was feeling. Fitday has a nifty calendar feature which shows a little icon for food, exercise and journaling. This will be a quick visual reminder of the days I remember to put all my information in there.

I got all my laundry finished yesterday but didn't put my outfits together. I also didn't plan my meals or get to the grocery store. I didn't even clean. I was basically a lazy slug. This morning DH & I did a quick stash & dash and the kids have a short list of chores when they get home from school. We'll be ready by the time my family arrives.

I feel so much brighter with the sunshine streaming down on me on the way into work! I've said it before but I'll say it again - I really AM solar powered! I MUST make it a priority to get out into the sunshine daily. The light therapy is good but nothing can replace good ole sunshine! Of course that begs the question - if I get enough regular sunlight, should I still spend time in front of the light box or should I save it for those days when the sun is hidden or when I'm indoors all day? I still have more questions than answers about this light therapy but a little esearch should put me on the right track.

I'm feeling bright and upbeat today. I'm ready for the world - bring it on!

Happy Halloween to all!