What Can I Do to Be Healthier?

Note: This is not the blog I planned to post today. Life decided to waylay me in the hospital for a few days. And the news is not good. So I am reposting this blog about health and will make a post another time about what’s going on with my own health.

I know that I can eat smaller portions and exercise more. I know this, but actually doing it is so very hard. If my husband bakes a crust-less quiche and I have a quarter of the pie as a serving, that’s not wonderful calorie-wise, but it’s okay. When I then agree to have another quarter so we don’t have leftovers to deal with, that’s where my will power folds.

I Never Could Get the Hang of Thursdays

Dear wonderful, loyal readers of this blog,

I found out this week that I have too much going on. Usually, that’s not a problem as I can juggle things with rare talent, but if I am under the weather and moving at a slower speed, things fall by the wayside. That is exactly what happened with today’s blog: it hit the floor at about 9:15 last night.

Being Different

Diabetes runs in my family, along with obesity, but in spite of that, I was in denial about being diabetic for at least a decade before I finally decided I needed to take care of myself. Watching my mother die from kidney failure due to diabetes should have been the turning point, but it wasn’t: it took a caring Physician’s Assistant who got me on a diet plan and showed me that I could stop taking lots of medications just by losing weight to open my eyes. (Note: The plan helped me lose some weight, but was not a sustainable eating program for life.)

Life is Chaos

Just a few seconds ago, a friend on Facebook asked that we use a .gif animation to illustrate what the inside of our minds is like; I used one that proclaimed “Absolute Chaos!” I have plans and processes going on in my brain, but they do not always get to see the light of day, and when they do, I often suffer because I am no longer as young as I feel.

Mandatory Celebrations

My birthday is September 11 and my sister’s is the day after that. Our tradition is that she calls me on my day to sing the happy birthday song, then I call her on her day and do the same. She has tried to get out of having to listen to me sing, but I call her anyway. It’s mandatory.

Pestilence, Fire, Heat, Quarantine

The title comprises my reasons for not writing lately, in reverse order. If you don’t mind, I’m going to deal with each one and explore ways to work through them. I know some writers are getting things done. I check out my online writing group on Scribophile.com and see that one writer or another has finished a chapter to post there or finished getting feed back and is ready to put the book up on Amazon. I’m slugging my way through posting the chapters of my Regency trilogy book Three and having little or no desire to get on with it.

October Word of the Month — Convenient

Recently, a dear person who took something I posted on Facebook as a personal insult told me I only pay attention to things when it’s convenient for me. Because when she told me, F— you, my son jumped in to defend me, not knowing anything about the woman’s situation. By the time I became aware of it, this usually sweet person had come apart at the seams. I was doing my daily posts on my author pages and working on my book. I guess my Facebook feed should have been my top priority.

If You Can’t Lose It, Hide It

Decades ago I found a Cathy cartoon where she seemed to have nothing but vertical stripes in her wardrobe. She referred to it as Fat Behind Bars. That stuck with me all these years and especially when I shopped for clothes. Because looking fat is a no-no, even if you are, you know, obese.

Writing versus Cleaning

When one is a writer, one must weigh the priorities of various daily tasks against the need to create worlds and put words on paper. How badly does the refrigerator need to be cleaned out? Have any of the leftovers actually spoken? It will keep. Also, the toilet can go another week as long as the health department hasn’t been called. Honestly, if the chain breakfast place down the street gets by, you’re fine.

No NaNo Win This Year

Last year I finished my book in thirty days, in spite of illness, family obligations, and co-running an event for my chapter of RWA. As you can imagine, my elation knew no bounds. I could have written a book a month! I could have gone back in time and won every NaNoWriMo since its inception. I could hardly wait for this year.