a chair is: November 2009

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Fitness Tuesday Update - So close...

My Facebook status this morning:

Tuesday Fitness Project Update: Trying to get back to making this project my priority, get my schedule back (early bed, early wake-up) and get more exercise. Lost 1.6 lbs this week (whew!) for a grand total at the end of Week 26: 36.2 lbs. (5.2 lbs to go to my Primary Goal Weight!!!)

So. I didn't post here last week, partly because I was super-busy with the annual workshop on loss and art, and partly because there was nothing to post except that I didn't lose any weight, but rather had gone up nearly a pound. I've lost that and then some this week, so feel like I'm getting back on track.

I finally started feeling Well about a week and a half ago-had been feeling so Unwell for long enough that feeling Well felt...well, quite odd! It took me a moment that morning to figure out what was different. And when I did, I felt a rush of intense gratitude. I try to hold that gratitude every day. I don't want to take feeling healthy and whole for granted - it's a major blessing.

People ask for pictures...here's one taken not so long ago, with me doing the "Look, I have a waist smaller than my bust!" pose of weight loss commercials.

...and wearing my luscious Round Trip Jacket. I'm more than happy with the way my handknits fit the smaller me. And am looking forward to knitting, oh, say a Medium or Large instead of an XXL-less knitting time, less yarn to buy. And yes, that was definitely on my list of motivating thoughts for staying with the Fitness Project!

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Tuesday Fitness Update

Tuesday Fitness Project Update: Such low energy still - whatever is going around is tenacious. And yet...I've stayed focused on the goal and lost 1.2 lbs this week for a grand total at the end of Week 24 of 35.4 lbs lost.

I missed posting last week (.6 lbs lost ) due to inertia, I think. I've been sick for weeks now- actively ill with some bug, probably not The Flu, for nearly two, and dragging ever since, then getting more actively sick again for a few days, now back to the low energy, low level of congestion.

Beginning to wonder if allergies are part of the mix - I know I definitely feel....allergy/antsy when I have to crunch through the leaves piled near my car. Also wondering if I'm not being as vigilant about my nutrition since I got so busy with fall commitments mid-September. I know I'm not cooking as creatively or eating as many veggies as I was eating before that.

Stress level is high right now, too. Very high. In less than two weeks, we'll be holding the workshop "Creating a Path Through Loss / The Arts as Healing Tools." I'm chairing the planning committee this year and I just haven't been on top of it due to this draggy illness.

On the brighter side, I'm really pleased with how I look and how I move these days. I love how some of my favorite jackets & shirts drape and flow around less me. And every time I bend, stoop, lean, reach...I am conscious of such a difference. There is ease, maybe even elegance...the movement drapes and flows, I flow in the movement.

I am beginning to have a different body sense...it has something to do with compactness, of a feeling of being more substantial. It's as though I am more solidly connected to, radiating from, my center. When I weighed too much and when I weighed too little, that sense of being substantial and centered was absent. This is both a physical and a...spiritual sensation.

This is very interesting to me, that I can sense this clearly: I am coming to a place of balance with my physical body, my center. It isn't about that number goal. It's about that balance.

Organizing Books I Like

It's Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys by Marilyn Paul

Official chair is...
Folk Song & Folk Tale

Why an official blog folk song & tale?

There's A Hole in the Bucket

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?

With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.

But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.

So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it!

With what should I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

Use the hatchet, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the hatchet, dear Henry, the hatchet.

But the hatchet's too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The hatchet's too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

So, sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So sharpen it dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it!

With what should I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I sharpen, dear Liza, with what?

Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, the stone.

But the stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

So wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So wet it dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what should I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.

With what should I carry it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I carry it dear Liza, with what?

Use the bucket dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, the bucket!

But...there's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza...

The Old Woman
and Her Pig

ONCE upon a time an old woman was sweeping her little house, when, to her great joy, she found a silver sixpence.

"What," said she, "shall I do with this little sixpence? I think I will go to market and buy a pig." So the next day she went to market and bought a nice little white pig. She tied a string to one of the pig's legs and began to drive him home.

On the way the old woman and her pig came to a stile, and she said:

"Please, pig, get over the stile."

But the pig would not.

Just then a little dog came trotting up, and the old woman said to him:

"Dog, dog, bite pig;
Pig won't get over the stile,
And I sha'n't get home to-night."

But the dog would not. So the old woman held up her stick, and said:

"Stick, stick, beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't get over the stile,
And I sha'n't get home to-night."

But the stick would not.

So the old woman gathered some bits of wood together to make a fire, and set them on fire, and then threw her stick into the fire and said:

"Fire, fire, burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't get over the stile,
And I sha'n't get home to-night."

But the fire would not.

So the old woman fetched a pail of water that was standing near and said:

"Water, water, quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't get over the stile,
And I sha'n't get home to-night."

But the water would not.

Then the old woman saw an ox coming; so she said:

"Ox, ox, drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't bum stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't go;
I see by the moonlight
It's long past midnight;
Time pig and I were home an hour and a half ago."

But the ox would not.

So the old woman turned around and saw a butcher, and she said:

"Butcher, butcher, kill ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't go.
I see by the moonlight
It's long past midnight;
Time pig and I were home an hour and a half ago."

But the butcher would not.

So the old woman took a rope out of her pocket, and said:

"Rope, rope, hang butcher;
Butcher won't kill ox;
Ox won't .drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't go.
I see by the moonlight
It's long past midnight;
Time pig and I were home an hour and a half ago."

But the rope would not.

Just then a large brown mouse ran across the meadow, and she said:

"Mouse, mouse, gnaw rope;
Rope won't hang butcher;
Butcher won't kill ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat dog;
Dog won't bite pig;
Pig won't go.
I see by the moonlight
It's long past midnight;
Time pig and I were home an hour and a half ago."

"Yes," said the mouse, "I will, if you will give me some cheese."

So the old woman put her hand in her pocket and found a nice piece of cheese; and when the mouse had eaten it:

The mouse began to gnaw the rope,
The rope began to hang the butcher,
The butcher began to kill the ox,
The ox began to drink the water,
The water began to quench the fire,
The fire began to burn the stick,
The stick began to beat the dog,
The dog began to bite the pig,
And the pig began to go.

But what time the old woman and her pig got home you, nor I, nor nobody knows.

--Tales of Laughter (1902), eds. Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith

a chair is

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Fitness Tuesday Update - So close...

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Tuesday Fitness Update

Tuesday Fitness Project Update: Such low energy still - whatever is going around is tenacious. And yet...I've stayed focused on the goal and lost 1.2 lbs this week for a grand total at the end of Week 24 of 35.4 lbs lost.

Links

Organizing Books I Like

Previous Posts

Archives

Official chair is...
Folk Song & Folk Tale

There's A Hole in the Bucket

The Old Woman
and Her Pig

a chair is

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Fitness Tuesday Update - So close...

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Tuesday Fitness Update

Tuesday Fitness Project Update: Such low energy still - whatever is going around is tenacious. And yet...I've stayed focused on the goal and lost 1.2 lbs this week for a grand total at the end of Week 24 of 35.4 lbs lost.

Links

Organizing Books I Like

Previous Posts

Archives

Official chair is... Folk Song & Folk Tale

There's A Hole in the Bucket

The Old Womanand Her Pig

Official chair is...
Folk Song & Folk Tale

The Old Woman
and Her Pig