Acceptance Does Not Equal Defeat

I like to consider myself a decent friend(with moments of awesomeness)and a fairly adequate listener(unless a Chris Robinson song is on and then I will just zone out for a few minutes). I find lately as I listen to good friends or just sit in a room with others in conversation that I may be more aware of my actions and the actions of others than I ever realized. I tend to question why people do what they do and what the driving force behind it is before passing judgment. I am far from perfect so I don't expect perfection from others. I do think I tend to give more understanding to people since at any given moment I can spaz out if I ingest bread. #sigh

I also find it hard to see something as black or white...for me...no one is inherently good or evil. We are all paprika to me :) So, as I find myself listening to or reading about the actions of others I find myself breaking down why folks just tend to(what we call in the South) 'act a fool' in the most precarious of environments like work, church, restaurants and most of all on Facebook. I accept that all people have their own standards of decorum(after all...not everyone could have a grandmother like mine to mold them) yet that doesn't stop me from hoping for better behavior/treatment from my fellow humans. I wake up every morning in full acceptance that the world and people in it can and will disappoint me.....yet my heart always hopes that through a smile, a kind word or just a listening ear that I can somehow change that fate...if even for just today. Tomorrow can hold dissapointment...but today I will hope for sunshine. - The GFG

Looking Up The Mountain

Here I sit after a hot bath all cozy n' junk and thinking about the path I have chosen and where to place the mile markers along the way. The thought pattern that led me to deciding on a nine month time frame(Oct-June)for my 'total Ginger transformation' is simple.It takes nine months for a woman to create a life-so I can change my life in the same time frame :)

I started today monitoring the quantity of my food with an app on my iPhone called 'itrackbites' and eating harmonious foods that fit into my lifestyle. Now don't get me wrong y'all- I eat and I eat well :) Breakfast was pumpkin coffee, eggs, bacon and a banana. (Well, to be honest after sleeping so late that was actually lunch) Dinner was a chicken Caesar salad with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Yum! Tomorrow will be fruit and coffee for breakfast and my friend David's amazing 'egg bake' paired with cottage cheese for lunch. Dinner will be some lovely veggies and shrimp. (Notice the trend of no sugar and no wheat) #gingerfriendly

I look forward to the next few days and logging how the new lifestyle is working for me. Wishing y'all a wonderful week! - The GFG

Operation: Ginger....OH SNAP!

Today I am excited y'all! I've probably experimented with every health path out there and avoided what works for FAR too long because I didn't want to face the facts- gluten and its kissing cousins(gluten alternatives like corn, rice and potato flour derivatives) hate this body I live in. Having tried OVER and OVER again to find a way to still include these foods just make me unhealthy and unhappy. Stuff just got real...real fast. I'm tired of being tired.

After gathering lots of information, picking myself up and learning from the failures- I've tweaked a plan that fits my own flavor of uniqueness :) I will move my body with Jazzercise and Yoga. I will nourish it with good foods purchased from the perimeter of the grocery store and utilize Weight Watchers as a tool for managing the quantity of what I take in. I will NOT be eating the processed foods that the Weight Watcher plan endorses. That is simply NOT harmonious for me. (See Lori- I do listen)

My goal date for shopping to aquire new clothes AND a bikini is June 1st 2013. June is the month I first met Lori and when my life began to grow and evolve. It's perfect for a landmark on this path. I look forward to it! It's gonna be a fun, scary and educational nine months :) Check In with me from time to time. I will update my progress. The total weight loss will be 40 pounds when I am at my healthy Ginger goal. See ya at the finish line y'all. Failure is NOT an option. - The GFG

The In Between Moments....

Hello loverlies! I've been a very busy girl as of late. Cason, Gamer Boy and I moved!
We now call a 1938 Spanish style hacienda our home. It's absolutely 110% ME. It's all hard
Wood floors, French doors, crystal door knobs and even has a secret passage way. #awesome

I've paid for a shiny new header(complete with a cartoon me) to be added to my home page
and was waiting for it to go live to begin posting again but something happened yesterday that
just stirred up the 'word nerd' in me and I had to get it out or explode. Seriously. It really feels
that way when a thought/realization/epiphany hits me.
It's write it out or live with all the words banging around in my head like that little cubby in your
driver's side door that's entirely USELESS except for holding change and you overly fill it and it spills when you shut the door and irritates you. #tangent #focusginger

So.....yeah....back to yesterday. I got in my car after work and before I got off the
street my job is located on my iPhone rings and up pops a pic of Cason with the
words 'Prince Charming' is calling lighting up the screen. I answer and he asks
with his OH Sooo silky Southern drawl for me to join him on the patio at a local Mexican
restaurant for dinner.( did I mention we live in TOWN now and everything, including
work is only FIVE minutes from our house?) #sheerepicness

I agreed- OF.COURSE :) We then said a quick good bye and I continued my drive there.
A feeling washed over me y'all- one of complete and utter gratefulness. I have KNOWN what loneliness feels like. I don't mean the kind where you are bored and can't think of anything to do...I mean The kind that runs BONE DEEP. The loneliness of no phone ringing, no plans made, no one to call and ask how your day was or sit across from you at dinner AND the mornings where no one leaves the lid off the toothpaste :(

That five minute drive was a lifetime of reflection condensed into the summation which equals
and keeps me aware of how precious those 'in between moments' are. Those moments actually happen daily for me. I have an amazing partner who 99% of the time calls to talk to me on the
way home(even if its just a five minute drive). I am blessed to be a girl that sits my phone face
up and anxiously awaits it to light up with his name. I get to be one of those girls you see driving
down the road in cute sunglasses with a smile on my face because I have someone(s)..Cason and
Gamer Boy....waiting to spend time with me. Those little moments make me rich. Those little moments enrich the lives of us ALL if we only stop and acknowledge them. I hope I never EVER have to live without them again. - The GFG

Life In The Ginger Seat

It's 10:30pm on an August evening in the deep South. Here I am..feet propped up on the coffee table(with perfectly pedicured toes..OF COURSE) with my laptop listening to the dryer toss Gamer Boy's school clothes around and pondering the events of the last week. Gamer Boy started high school.(Yes. I. Feel. OLD.) So far he likes it very much :) #relievedginger

As for Cason - he is out for the evening visiting with a life long friend who is here from California. I smile
as I think of the laughter and conversation that must be going on between the two of them :)

As for me - I suppose I am content(at the moment)in my seat. Being 'glutenized' the first part of last week was awful but I got through it. Gamer Boy starting high school was stressful but I got through it. Right now,
as the evening finally begins to cool down and I am winding down, I find myself doing what I always do - looking for something to fix. I am a pleaser by nature. I always feel like I need to make things better for those I love and especially have a formed habit of always working on myself. Impeccably Imperfect is how I see me. Always a work in progress. Always something to learn and experience. There are very few moments where I feel that I am completely fine. There is always something I can try to make better in my world, isn't there? *sigh* Maybe the answer to this question is to just sit here and relax. That sounds pretty good to me. Goodnite y'all. - The GFG

Finding My Way Back...

I've been on sort of a "break" from writing. It was somewhat voluntary and involuntary all at
 the same time. Gamer Boy pretty much has custody of my laptop to do his graphic design
work and online gaming and Cason runs Linux(a NON-Ginger friendly I.T. people version of
the interwebs) on his laptop..THUS..leaving me with only my NOT. SO. SMART. phone or the Kindle(which I canNOT type on) to blog with. #sigh

Alas...my beloved Cason got me this super cute laptop of my very own as a birthday gift and
HERE. I. AM! #happyginger

Along with the break from writing...I've taken a break from being strict with food. (Lori, if you
are reading this..I am very sorry and am paying for my bad behavior. Of this, I am certain you
already know. Love you.)It's not like I went TOTALLY off the deep end n' junk. I just haven't
been so great. Oooooookay...so I may have stopped at Krystal's once or four times.(It's my
absolute FAVORITE "I'm having a bad day and I wanna eat really crappy food" place to stop).
I do believe my saving salvation from going completley into a Gluten induced Coma is the
excercise I've been getting at Jazzercise. Perhaps it helps my system digest and get cleaner faster??

One of my favorite literary characters(probably because I can relate to her very well) Miss Anne Shirley from 'Anne of Green Gables' said  "tomorrow is a fresh new day free of mistakes".  That's how I feel this evening as I sit in my pink chair and type. Here's to tomorrow. - The GFG

Move It And Lose It

Hi y'all! It's been a while since I checked in on my little corner of the interwebs. Life. Is. FULL. :) Cason and I have been going NON STOP for the last few weeks or so it seems. We have the good fortune of constantly enjoying the company of good friends.

I recently joined a Jazzercise class and I PuffyHeartLOVE it!!! My instructor Melody is one of the cutest little things I've ever seen. She is just bursting with energy and welcomed me into her class with a bright and loving spirit. Jazzercise is recess to me. It's teaching me to control my muscles and it is also the best one hour stress reducing therapy I've ever encountered! I've now lost four pounds and I look forward to going every chance I can. Stay tuned for more adventures in exercising. - The GFG