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Ok, so I'll give you an update on my weight loss...
This hasn't been exactly a piece of cake, no pun intended! I last wrote in August about hitting a plateau. Well, I have managed to break through it. Gradually. Persistently. Painfully slowly. So far, I've lost a total of 40 pounds. Please, spare the applause. I have a long way to go, no time to sit back and dwell in it. The biggest effect has shown up in my waistline - I'm down 6 inches there. I am now wearing pants that date back several years. They're still just a little tight, but once I get past them, it will require investing in some new ones. I am still eating healthier - more fruit and vegetables, fish a couple of times a week, whole grains, smaller portions - but I haven't exactly given up on certain indulgences, as in - and not limited to - a good bottle of red wine. I guess I could have lost more weight faster, but my approach was to make lifestyle changes, and look longer term. Walking has been the key. It's gotten to the point where I can't not w
I Just Haven't Been Motivated Lately
So I haven't written anything on my blog lately. (My friend Christine , recovering from a little back surgery, doesn't suffer from a lack of words. She's a natural.) I just haven't had much to say lately. So, in the spirit of motivation, here's a few of those motivation-like posters . I think a few of them are pretty funny, but I should warn you - language alert! Still worth a look...
Thank God Election Day Is Almost Here
I'm really tired of it all. The ads, the sound bites on the news, the debates - all of it over, at least for a little while, until everyone and their neighbor starts posturing for the 2012 election! In sizing up all 4 candidates, after all the dust has settled, after all the blah-blah, after the ridiculous amount of money spent on each side, I see only 4 politicians. Two of them are lawyers. Two of them aren't. Two of them are polished and eloquent. Two of them aren't so polished and eloquent. Two of them talk about a lot of things. Two of them make things happen. I don't think the choice is difficult. Be sure to vote...
The Bayou Folk Museum in Cloutierville, LA
where my grandmother was born, is no more. Fortunately, I went by there in July and snapped a few pictures. RIP. October 1, 2008.
I Feel I Have Lost a Member of My Family
This picture is from the Shreveport Times on October 2, 2008. This really makes me sad. The Kate Chopin House in Cloutierville, LA, also known as the Bayou Folk Museum, is where my maternal grandmother was born. It burnt virtually to the ground yesterday. Thankfully, I went by there and took a few pictures while I was on my grand family vacation back in July. I also have an original painting of the house hanging in the foyer of my own home. My grandmother, deeply loved and known to all as "Mamie", was born Dora Marie to my great-grandparents, Thomas Jefferson and Marie Aline Rachal Cockfield on June 17, 1888. Along with 9 siblings, she grew up in Cloutierville, which is on the banks of the Cane River, a region rich in Louisiana history. The area was settled around 1700 mainly by the French who built Fort St. Jean Baptiste 20 miles to the north in Natchitoches, but the Spaniards, who had come up from the Rio Grande in Texas, had also established Fort Los Adeas only a few
This Is Cool, Part 2
I wrote earlier about receiving a comment on the family tree website I am working on. Well, it ends up that the comment was left by a somewhat distant relative - her name is Sally and we share the same great-great paternal grandfather! And to top it off, she has done extensive study on our family history. She has since been spoon-feeding me bits and pieces of genealogical data, and I have actually been able to give her a little info back, mostly thanks to my Aunt Shirley. I am slowly being drawn deeper into family tree research; I only wanted to see what the structure looked like, learn a little bit, and be done with it. Instead, I am finding out there's more to it than birth and death dates - I am uncovering stories about different forebears that paint pictures of real people who lived rich lives, only in another time. It is both profound and humbling, for without just one of them, I do not even exist! I have found something that is more than just a hobby, and something that I can
A Blog Is a Great Way
to express yourself. No rules, just whatever comes to mind. I have been pushing my friend Christine to start one, and she has, at long last! You can find her here . She has a nice way with words and I think she may have found her calling...
