Howdy, folks!  It's been a long time since I posted!  All is well, I'm just enjoying a swampload of work for my business, and getting SonBo ready for college.  We are enjoying the process of preparation - time spent together, getting the dorm room equipped, etc.  There has been a little travel - we saw Tobe and Suzanne in Portland a couple of weeks ago - and we have been taking day trips elsewhere.  Yesterday we went over to San Francisco...where it was 100 degrees!  Our house was so hot last night we got up at 4 and watched movies until dawn.

As far as NS is concerned, I have not been following it much these days.  I am endeavoring to find a balance between NS food and groceries, exercise and work.  It's a process and I am enjoying the journey.  Yoga has turned out to be something I love - it's challenging and rewarding...my arms are finally getting strong and my shoulder almost feels normal after two years of healing.  All things considered, I feel good.

I hope all of you are well.  I'll try to check in more often!

Peace and joy ~ Shannon

I am about 10 days into my renewed commitment to me...it's been going pretty well!  I took a three hour yoga workshop on June 19 (it nearly killed me) which was fantastic and so incredibly difficult!  Subsequently, I had a free week of yoga attached to that and I took full advantage trying various types of yoga.  I love it.  I'm not good at it yet, but I love it.  Tonight I am trying a Yin Yoga class that is mostly stretching poses.  I can't wait!  Yoga is great for most bodies - even injured ones, so if there is an introductory class near you, try it! 

I've managed to get to the gym, not overeat (too much), as I am making a concerted effort to eat real food at every meal.  I have made a few bad choices, but mostly not.  My worst habit is eating pistachios...I get the ones with shells, but they are addictive! 

On Saturday my brother called at the last minute to invite me to a birthday party for his new girlfriend on Sunday.  SonBo already had plans with his friends, HusBo is training for the marathon on July 25, and I had a scheduled massage, so, as much as it isn't like me, I declined the invitation in favor of my own health and that of my family.  I missed a good BBQ for sure, but I needed to make that choice.  I hope I can continue to do so.

Summer is going to be low key here.  Lots of yoga for me, bike riding, etc.  In August we are hoping to get away for a trip with some camping and playing in SoCal, but mostly we will stick close to home.  College is looming and lots of things have to happen before that day comes!

Peace and joy ~ Shannon 

Hello Everyone!  I just thought I would check in as it has been some time since I wrote a blog.  Since our son has been graduated from high school our lives have been filled with activity.  We've had a few parties, friends and family over for impromptu gatherings, we've gone to a concert, a baseball game, and HusBo and I are taking yoga together.  Very fun.  I have put myself back into the schedule and this past week have been to yoga or the gym every day.  I feel sore all over in that really good way.

A few months ago I was feeling very dejected about gaining some weight back, not exercising enough, etc.  I lamented that there was not enough time to focus on me and someone commented that life will always be that way and I had to force in time for myself.  Well, I don't work that way.  When things need to happen for my family I must give my all to it.  Sure, it can have a temporatily detrimental effect on my figure, but my mind is focused.  Once the storm passes I am much more likley to engage with renewed vigor than I am if I have given partial energy to everything.  I like to focus.  Because I focused this last time everything that needed to be accomplished to make this summer a fun experience is already lined up and ready to go.

Anyway, I have been on track for awhile now and I feel fantastic.  My body is strong, my mind is clear, my energy is renewed.  Looks like summer is going to be fun!

Peace and joy ~ Shannon

One of my favorite lyrics from Spamalot...and applicable here, you know?  I know I have been MIA, but I've not felt much like blogging these days.  My son is on his last week of high school before finals...and most of it has been spent getting ready for an awards ceremony, Grad Night at Disneyland, and keeping that Spanish grade up (which he has done admirably).  I have had a significant amount of business coming in, have been sending out graduation announcements and party invitations, getting ready to send out Eagle Court of Honor invitations...it's a ton of work.  I negotiated with my son's dad about college expenses - not as difficult as I thought, but emotionally draining.  I feel tired and drained...and I know it's because I have put myself last AGAIN.  I doubt I am ever going to shake that behavior.  It's my own fault - not imposed by any other person.  Perhaps, when the activity of SonBo's transition is complete I will make time for myself.

My weight is holding steady.  I lifted a few weights while watching the Biggest Loser finale last night.  My goals are still in sight...just a little blurry at the moment.

Hope all is well with all of you!

Peace and joy ~ Shannon

I remember when I first started NS - gung-ho and ready to get thin.  My reasons were to regain my fitness, shake myself out of a looming depression from the events of the previous couple of years, and just feel better about moving in general.  I succeeded like gangbusters and was very free with the "stick to NS 100% and you'll get there" advice.  I think I annoyed the heck out of some people.

Here I am a year and a half later...I have gained quite a bit of weight.  I can't blame NS because it isn't NS's fault.  It's mine.  I abandoned my exercise regime, started eating outsized portions, missing meals...all of the bad habits started rearing their ugly heads. 

What is the difference now?  Well, I recognize what I am doing even as I do it.  I am aware.  For the past couple of weeks I have been consciously sticking to correct portion sizes, NS foods, and and re-incorporated exercise into my routine. 

I also recognized something else.  When I am stressed (about my son, husband, work) I sit still.  As if moving will destroy the equilibrium.  I am not using "sit still" as a euphemism for anything...I mean I actually sit still.  Mostly at my computer for very long periods of time.  It's as if holding the stress quietly makes it more manageable.  In my head it's a battle - I know a walk or a workout will make me feel better, but I am not likely to decide to release the stress only to pick it back up again.  I need to retrain my brain to understand that retaining the stress does not help in any way.

To that end, this weekend is Greek Festival.  I am going to spend some time with my people (ha!) and enjoy some music and dancing.  I will eat Greek lemon chicken and cucmber salad for dinner tonight and Sunday.  It's excellent food and Mediterranean fare is extremely healthy.  I've been to the gym twice this week so far, gotten all of my work completed, and I am going to have fun this weekend. 

Yasou!

Peace and joy ~ Shannon

You people rock.  There it is.  A fact.  I am so pleased to be a part of a community that is kind, progressive, thoughtful, caring, and bothers to listen.  It's truly helpful to be on a journey with loving strangers (yeah, some stranger than others...LOL!) who let you vent and give heart-felt advice.  What a treat.

I did have a bad day yesterday.  Relatives who are thoughtless can really get you down - especially ones for whom you have dropped everything repeatedly to care for their lives.  Although I doubt I will change my basic nature, I will make better choices as to the direction of my natural sense of giving.  Like right in my own home and backyard.  To my friends who would do anything for me.  To my husband and son who bring me more joy than I could have wished for.  To my well-meaning big brother.  To my neighbors who are the kind you find in a Norman Rockwell world. 

I will stop dropping my life to accommodate those who can't be bothered.  I will stop being hurt by their thoughtlessness and go take a ride on my cool new bike.  Did I mention that yesterday HusBo and I played - literally played - on our bikes?  We just rode around like little kids on the streets near our house.  We were laughing and silly - it was great.  Last night we found a cool bike for SonBo and we are going to probably get it this afternoon for him - early graduation present.  It's going to be a family of laughing bicyclists.  How fun, huh?

I guess I will have LOTS more time for that if I redirect myself.  So there. 

Peace and joy ~ Shannon

You know what I hope?  Since I have absolutely no control over others, I hope someday I stop feeling hurt by others' thoughtlessness.  Tougher skin, tougher skin.  Oh, and I really want to learn to say no. 

Very upset with extended family (not my men or my brother) and it's triggering every bad eating behavior I have.  I think I will take the dog for a walk. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW...I didn't exactly binge.  I just ate all of my meals and snacks by 5 p.m.  Now I will have an apple and go to bed early.  The walk helped a little...

Today I got some really sad news.  My friend's sister died.  She was 47.    This vibrant, capable, amazing woman left three children and a husband, a sister, a brother, her mother.   She had a sudden stroke and brain hemorrhage and was gone just 5 days before her 48th birthday.  It is extraordinarily sad.

I don't know if losing weight would have helped her.  I don't know if it was just her time to go.  I don't have any answers.  No one knows how much time we have allotted.  I have reached out to her family and now I am just sitting here thinking.

When something like this happens there are so many questions and you can't help but contemplate your own mortality.   I don't want to leave my family ever - I don't think anyone ever does.  So, from this day forward, I am going to do everything I can to be as healthy as possible.  I am going to make my health a priority - as much as I make my husband and son and dog priorities.  I am going to acknowledge and correct my self-sabotaging behaviors.  Life is a huge gift and I don't want to contribute to the wasting of it.

Sorry to be such a downer, but it was a rough day.

Peace and joy ~ Shannon

Good Morning!  It's a gorgeous day in the Bay Area and I am going to spend it hauling out our bulky waste to the curb for pick-up tomorrow!  I cannot wait to clear our driveway...enough trash!  Make way for the fence project.

In other - and probably more interesting - news, HusBo completed another marathon yesterday.  Avenue of the Giants was his third marathon and he knocked another 9 minutes off his time.  This one he finished in 3:46.  Next stop: 3:30 in the SF Marathon in July.  I will be coaching from the sidelines on my electric bicycle in July...what a deal!

Other good news?  I lost a total of 3 pounds last week.  I am in the groove again.  Bad news?  I made my very first cheesecake yesterday for HusBo's after marathon feast...and it was really, really, really good.  Especially for a first effort.  I knew organizing the recipes was a bad idea...but I behaved so well about everything else that cheesecake had no apparent effect.  But, man, I really did make a great cheesecake. 

So, out to the curb I go to clear our space.  It sure feels good.

Peace and joy ~ Shannon

Why, oh why, did I only order 10?  Well, because, Shannon, you cannot eat buffalo chicken wraps every day.  It's not wise.  It makes you a buffalo chicken wrap addict. 

People, the consistency of the buffalo chicken wrap sucks, but the flavor is muy delicioso and, when drizzed with Sriracha hot sauce, it becomes a thing of beauty.  Seriously, I could eat it every single night.  On the other hand, the pork wraps are just too sweet for my taste and I won't order them again, but I have to power through the ones I have.

On another subject, today is the 4th anniversary of HusBo and I meeting!  It has gone by so quickly and we are ridiculously well-suited and silly.  Tonight we are celebrating with SonBo - a triple celebration - our meeting anniversary, SonBo's college acceptance, and SonBo's Eagle.  Oh, I guess I should add SonBo's Spanish grade coming out of the basement and into the light, as well.

Well, I'd better get on with the day...it a beautiful, clear, cold one!

Peace and joy ~ Shannon