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I'm a work in progress

I have stopped making official New Year's resolutions because I've never made it past the second week.

 I stopped giving 'things' up for Lent because I've rarely made halfway through the 40 days without succumbing. (That Jesus was sure amazing because I've given up things like chocolate or wine but He gave up the essentials, like food and water. And the only tempter I had was a commercial or a walk through the grocery store - with a full stomach and plenty of water to drink. Jesus had Satan, the greatest of tempters, and he certainly had to be hungry and thirsty).

 I recently signed up for a 30 Day challenge to lose 12 pounds. Not a monumental task except for the fact that I signed up for it while transitioning to the wheelchair. In winter. With a wheelchair without snow tires that made it especially challenging to get out and about.  Yep, I set myself up for failure on that one! 

 On one of the diet plans I tried a few years back, my goal was to lose 40 pounds. I got to 38, and called it good. (By the way, I've lost and gained the same 40 pounds at least four times in my adult life.)

 My epic failures do not all relate to weight loss or food either. I have on numerous occasions, promised myself that I would:

      1) Write daily;
     2) Write weekly;
     3) Write.

 Like the book I've been working on for the past two years - and I think it's good and might even have a chance to get published - I've promised myself to finish it. This year. Well it's March 17 (Happy St. Patrick's Day, by the way!), and I've worked on it twice. 

 I have also made promises to myself to stop swearing. It took three children mimicking my words and about 10 years, but I've largely succeeded except for the occasional damn or hell.

 And recently, I promised that I would not focus on politics since it raised my blood pressure and increased my frustration. I promised myself not to post on Facebook anything political. That lasted until the next debate or primary or funny/thought-provoking/amazingly stupid incident in this 'presidential -campaign- like- no- other- presidential- campaign'. #makedonalddrumpfagain
And can you believe that ...  See, I can't even write this paragraph about my pledge to NOT focus on politics without focusing on one of the frustrating aspects.

 I am a work in progress. 

 I'd like to write that I know my limitations, but clearly that's not true since I keep losing, then gaining the same 40 pounds. Work in progress, I am. Or that my political abstention can't last more than 10 minutes. Working. Progress. Or that while thinking about politics, in addition to raising my blood pressure and breaking that pledge, I'm breaking my 'no swearing' promise and mumbling mild expletives. So much work and so little progress!

 So, instead of ending this on a note of defeat and because the glass is half full, I will end this blog post this way.

 I wrote today!

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It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

I put my pride aside and got my ass off the grass and into the wheelchair. {I spent a couple minutes deciding whether to put an exclamation mark after that declaration or to put the period after that statement. I think the period better suits my mood about getting said ass into the wheelchair!} On July 4, Saugatuck has a wonderfully unique parade that includes quirky participants like the artsy-fartsy campers at OxBow art colony and the LGBT members of a local foundation along with the more traditional participants like Girl Scouts, fire trucks, and local politicians. It had been a couple years since I had been to the parade, this year, though, my Mom and sister were in town and I wanted to take them. So we loaded up in the van, including Kerri's wheelchair and my own. Once we parked, John asked if I wanted to use my chair and I initially balked but then remembered that it can be a long, hot parade and it might be better to have a place to sit. So, I acquiesced and took the cha...
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The day of the dead - or our recent sightseeing in DC

We spent three days in DC - but only one of those was sightseeing. The first we picked up Delaney at her journalism conference, taking her back to the hotel and letting her nap for a couple hours and then going to dinner at Red Lobster. She took the picture above and was mortified that her parents could be so embarrassing. In other words, we were doing our job as parents - embarrassing our child. that is after all in the parenting contract - "Thou shalt embarrass your offspring on all possible occasions." Our second day, included a tour of American University for Delaney. She loved it - more on that East Coast college tour in a later blog. The third day - we decided to spend our time visiting the Holocaust Museum and Arlington National Cemetery. Hence the title, 'the day of the dead'. We arrived at the museum shortly after they opened and got our scheduled time to visit the main exhibit. I put pride aside and used the wheelchair because I knew that it ...
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Down 24

My life has been a lot like this roller coaster. Not just ups and downs, but several twists and turns. Sometimes I am whooping for joy, hands in the air ready for the what lies ahead while at other times I can see a loop or drop coming and the dread is palatable, the nausea is real. And also like a roller coaster is my weight. I've never been svelte but I have been within the BMI range. I have also been overweight and more recently the scale put me in the obese category. And that should have scared me into action but instead I just made excuses or rationalizations like "It's because I use a wheelchair to get around," or "I'm sure once X happens I'll lose that weight," or (my favorite) "It's just water weight/constipation". (Like all I needed was one really good poop and I'd be at my target weight! No plunger in the world could have worked! Like comedian Ron White says 'Just one really good dump from a new pant si...
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