I'm doing OK. Feeling a little light headed off and on throughout the day but it goes away once i eat. I've been to the gym only twice this week. Monday I did some cardio - ran and elipitcal - and yesterday I ran 4 miles on the treadmill. Today: weights and abs, Sat: spinning, Sun: OFF, Mon: Run 5 miles hopefully. I really need to pick up the pace for training for the half marathon - 6 weeks from tomorrow!
I weighed myself on Sunday before we started this diet and again last night at the gym. Currently I am base minus 1.6 lbs. That really doesn't mean much at this point. I can vary by that much on any given day of the week. The significant thing happend this morning. For the first time in a few weeks I had to wear my belt with my jeans. YEA! It's not like they'd be falling off or anything but they definately need a little help. Sweet.
I think we are getting into the groove as far as being more efficient with our time while we are cooking. It still takes a lot of time to put everything together though....
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
I Have A Dream
Today is an historic day. It is the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech" AND it is also the day that a black man will accept a major party's nomination for President.
I have so many different feelings about this. I feel overwhelmed because we are witnessing history - good history - in the making. I am excited about what it means for progress that we are nominating Barak Obama for President. I am scared about the harsh attacks and lies that will be directed at our candidate. I am nervous that his nomination will motivate the most progressive Americans AND the most hateful Americans to action. I am hopeful that in 9 weeks we will have a Democrat back in the White House.
I can't wait to hear Obama's acceptance speech tonight. In the mean time... Here is MLK - It gives me chills everytime I hear it... for your reading pleasure:
I have so many different feelings about this. I feel overwhelmed because we are witnessing history - good history - in the making. I am excited about what it means for progress that we are nominating Barak Obama for President. I am scared about the harsh attacks and lies that will be directed at our candidate. I am nervous that his nomination will motivate the most progressive Americans AND the most hateful Americans to action. I am hopeful that in 9 weeks we will have a Democrat back in the White House.
I can't wait to hear Obama's acceptance speech tonight. In the mean time... Here is MLK - It gives me chills everytime I hear it... for your reading pleasure:
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Day 3: I'm Hungry
Ok... I was going to keep this on the DL but i feel that if I write about it it might help me get through the next 3 weeks.
Husband and I started the South Beach Diet on Monday.
It is painful.
I haven't had pasta, bread, rice, potaotes of any kind or alcohol* for almost 3 days.
I never really realized how addicted I am to sugar and carbs.
Husband and I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen prepping meals. Everything has to be fresh - which also results in a pretty hefty grocery bill.
We are following the book's** 2-week meal plan and then will continue week 3 with a recipe book that was borrowed from a friend.
This is quite difficult. Yesterday and Monday were OK. Today is hard.
I like veggies and eggs so that isn't really a problem for me. The hard part are the cravings.
*Also - I made shrimp salad last night for lunch today and it called for a cup of white wine in the recipe. I poured myself a glass but only drank about half.
** private message to ART: I am using your book and "may" have gotten a little food on it. When you return to the office I will have a brand new copy for you. ;-)
Husband and I started the South Beach Diet on Monday.
It is painful.
I haven't had pasta, bread, rice, potaotes of any kind or alcohol* for almost 3 days.
I never really realized how addicted I am to sugar and carbs.
Husband and I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen prepping meals. Everything has to be fresh - which also results in a pretty hefty grocery bill.
We are following the book's** 2-week meal plan and then will continue week 3 with a recipe book that was borrowed from a friend.
This is quite difficult. Yesterday and Monday were OK. Today is hard.
I like veggies and eggs so that isn't really a problem for me. The hard part are the cravings.
Husband doesn't like veggies or eggs so convincing him to eat this stuff was a challange but he knows that if he doesn't go all out with this then he can't motivate me to do the same without being a hypocrite.
I will post updates on progress and stuggles as they occur.... 19 Days to go.
*Husband and I decided to do this for 3 weeks to maximize our "jump-start weight loss" and because we plan on cheating this Labor Day weekend. We have a BBQ to attend and it is unlikely that we will have the willpower to not eat or drink anything at the party.*Also - I made shrimp salad last night for lunch today and it called for a cup of white wine in the recipe. I poured myself a glass but only drank about half.
** private message to ART: I am using your book and "may" have gotten a little food on it. When you return to the office I will have a brand new copy for you. ;-)
Thursday, August 07, 2008
You know there's room for improvement when....
When you are out running and you get burned by a lady pushing a jog-stroller.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Smoke Detectors
Many jurisdictions across the country require commerical and residential properties to have at least one working smoke detector. It seems like every day there is another story in the news about how someone almost "didn't make it out" or how someone died because their house was on fire AND they didn't have working smoke detectors. Seriously people. This isn't rocket science. Why would you NOT have a working smoke detector? They cost less than 10 bucks AND some jurisdictions (i know mine does) give them away for FREE. It is a simple and easy way to increase your chances of survival.
If a child - or anyone - dies in a house fire and there were no working smoke detectors can the owner or guardian be charged with a crime? Reckless Endangerment? Involuntary Manslaughter? I wonder....
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pyfff/smkalarm.html
If a child - or anyone - dies in a house fire and there were no working smoke detectors can the owner or guardian be charged with a crime? Reckless Endangerment? Involuntary Manslaughter? I wonder....
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pyfff/smkalarm.html
Monday, August 04, 2008
excessive packaging
I remember when CDs first came out in the mid 80's and they were in these looong boxes (at least twice the length of the CD case w/in the box) with lots of artwork and the songs printed on the back, etc. I think the original purpose was to prevent shoplifting by making them an awkward size. At some point technology advanced to the point that little sensors could be put on the cases and at some point it was decided that these boxes were an uncecessary use of material and eventually CDs began to be sold in just their plastic cases. I wish the environmental angle had more to do with it than the shoplifting angle but I doubt it.
In any event as the 80's became the 90's became the 00's there has been an effort to reduce the amount of unnecessary packaging used for packaging products.
There is one glaring exception that I would like to share with you that I would not have know about except for the fact that i recently had several gifts sent to me.
I had packages sent from Crate and Barrel and MAcy's and they BOTH used WAAAY too much packing materials in the boxes. They would use a HUGE box filled with peanuts to send a tiny little box (which inside that little box had additional packing materials to keep the items safe).
It just seems like such a waste. I have thrown away bags and bags of peanuts. I feel bad about taking up space in a landfill with this stuff... I have no idea what the recycling people must think when for the last 2 recycling days we have had tons and tons of cardboard out to be picked up.
I just wish these stores would be a little more thoughtful about the environment. Of course if they ever changed how they shipped stuff i bet people's things will start breaking.... is there no middle ground here?
In any event as the 80's became the 90's became the 00's there has been an effort to reduce the amount of unnecessary packaging used for packaging products.
There is one glaring exception that I would like to share with you that I would not have know about except for the fact that i recently had several gifts sent to me.
I had packages sent from Crate and Barrel and MAcy's and they BOTH used WAAAY too much packing materials in the boxes. They would use a HUGE box filled with peanuts to send a tiny little box (which inside that little box had additional packing materials to keep the items safe).
It just seems like such a waste. I have thrown away bags and bags of peanuts. I feel bad about taking up space in a landfill with this stuff... I have no idea what the recycling people must think when for the last 2 recycling days we have had tons and tons of cardboard out to be picked up.
I just wish these stores would be a little more thoughtful about the environment. Of course if they ever changed how they shipped stuff i bet people's things will start breaking.... is there no middle ground here?
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