Hermit Blogger In the Spotlight

It's no secret that I'm quite the hermit when it comes to blogging.  

In fact, my blog breaks the "blogger rules" as blogs typically go.  

Or so it seems.

I don't do widgets (much). 

I don't campaign.  I don't do much hyperlinking.

My blog is basically just my little corner of the internet 

where I choose to "unload."  

And if there are other people who happen to wander 

into my little corner of the world, 

that's great.  

I welcome visitors.  The more the merrier.  

I'm a bit of a mystery, figuratively and literally.  I deviate at times.

So in followup to my last blog entry where

I answered questions from another blogger who tagged me to play "The Question Game," 

I will be posting MY questions to Deborah (because she started it)...



... and also posting my questions openly.  (Oh, no, I've already broken the rules!)  Whoever happens into my blog and WANTS to play (the question game), that TOTALLY works for me.  

This is my version of: 

Play It Forward

The Rules Are:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post. (isn't this one redundant?)
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
4. Tag eleven bloggers, however, you can break the rules and tag fewer people if you want.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!
6. Have fun!

I've already answered Deborah's questions in my last post.  

Now I'll list eleven fun facts about myself, followed by my questions to Deborah, et al...

...well, here's a long list, so it's actually more than eleven, because, well, I'm just more fun than a barrell of monkeys!

Morning person or late night person?

Do you look people in the eye when you are talking to them?

How old were you in your first serious relationship?

Favorite genre of music?

Christmas lights:  white or colored?

First physical characteristic or attribute you notice about the opposite sex?

Where do you want to retire?

Where do you want to travel to most?

Do you believe in instant chemistry between two people?

Predictable or spontaneous?

What do you like on your pizza?

So, What's YOUR Question?

Interesting.  I've just discovered that I'm being interviewed.  Well, sort of.  I'm usually the one RECORDING the questions and answers.  Now I'M the one GIVING the answers.

It appears I've been tagged by my sweet-n-funny friend and blogger, Deborah~~~who it seems I have known for years but have unfortunately never met in person~~~to answer a list of questions directed to other lucky bloggers whom she has chosen to interview.  And after answering HER questions, I'm to PLAY IT FORWARD.

Hmm.  Okay.  This should be fun.  (I'm a game lover, and I'm frankly tired of proofreading right now and desperately need a break!)

The Rules Are:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post. (isn't this one redundant?)
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
4. Tag eleven bloggers, however, you can break the rules and tag fewer people if you want.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!
6. Have fun!

These are the questions that Deborah is sending out to her tagees:

1. Left or right handed? -- Right  

2.  Introvert or extrovert? - Introvert, with bursts of extrovert

     3.  Dog or cat?  - Dog

4.  Coffee or tea?  - Coffee preferably, but I drink a shit load of green tea
 
5.  Cream or black?  - Cream

6.  Carnivore or vegetarian?  - oh, Deborah, really?  Carnivore

7.  Stairs or escalator? - Stairs if they're beside the escalator

8.  Shopper or buyer?  - Shopper

9.  Dancer or drinker?  {you know, at the clubs, heh} - Um, dancer that drinks?

10.  Car singer or car dancer?  - Car singer

11.  Naked or jammies?  -    Neither, but as very little as possible.  (I live with all men and I'm a modest type, always having feared they'd walk in on me one morning and find me asleep in the nude!)


Now.  For my list to others...this may take some creative thinking. 

Stay tuned...

Fire Light, Fire Bright, How You Warm My Heart Tonight

One can enjoy a wood fire worthily
only when he warms his thoughts by it

as well as his hands and feet. 

~Odell Shepherd

Finally getting around to sharing the story behind our new stone patio, well, not so new anymore, as it was started and completed last fall.  My husband, quite a self-sufficient handyman having grown up on a farm, collected stone from that same farm that his mother still calls "home."  Over the course of the summer he made several long trips to haul rock and stone, painstakingly measuring, cutting and laying each one strategically into place.  Voila!  A beautiful stone patio is born.

Laying out the design

Digging up the lawn

With the help of our sons, he unloaded the stones from the truck bed each trip, my middle son, better known as "the big guy," being the force behind manhandling the center stone, a round stone weighing approximately 400 lbs, placed in the center of the patio. 
We have been enjoying a wonderful fire on the patio ever since.  And it all started with a Christmas present to me Christmas 2010 from "the big guy."  He knows his mommy well and how her heart had been pining for a fire pit for years.

Winter has not stopped us.  New Year's Eve was celebrated both inside and out as we kept a warm fire burning throughout the evening.  Even on the coldest days of this winter season, we have managed to build a fire on average once a week.  Complete with wiring for music and lighting, it makes for a perfect end to a long and otherwise uneventful day.

S'mores for dessert following dinner out with friends

And this one....taken Christmas Eve day with my youngest son

~ ~ ~

Last night we decided to unwind by the fire, finding ourselves there for hours, recalling the week's events and planning our days ahead, enjoying our favorite beverages under the stars and sliver of moon above.   Mesmerized by the dancing flames and the crackling of wood, I poked, prodded and rearranged the logs with a childlike fascination.  And when it was time to head indoors and get ready for bed, I exhaled with a gratifying sigh of contentment.  Another day is done.

To poke a wood fire

is more solid enjoyment

than almost anything else

in the world. 

 ~Charles Dudley Warner

Countdown to Confident Beach Body

Well, we're wrapping up February, and it's time to shed the winter coverups, the "safe" clothes, the layers.  It's now CRUNCH TIME for going for the scantier styles, the shorts, the sleevless tops, bikinis, and other body-conscious fashions.

I'm SO over winter, even though we've had a relatively mild one.  Seasonal depression has taken a toll on me, far more than in years past, and has periodically stimulated mindless "comfort" eating.  Enuf of this recklessness.

Knowing the time was drawing near, and just as I was about to get down to business with a sharper focus on planned menus and more disciplined, structured workouts, I seemed to have injured my hip at some point and it ended up setting me back for about a week as I allowed my body time to rest and recover, along with regular doses of Ibuprofen.  I'm pretty sure it was lifting too heavy on the single-leg leg press machine, trying to target outer quads.  That angle seemed to have irritated and inflammed my hip flexors and the surrounding connective tissue, and once the inflammation had set in from the over-exertion, rather than stretching and allowing a proper recovery, I ignored the signs and worked through it until my body finally began to rebel in protest and said: Enough.  No more.  And that's when I began feeling PAIN as opposed to routine soreness.

Well, I made it through the rest time, and thankfully my hip is much better, almost entirely back to normal.  I made it to the gym for the first time this past Monday, working mainly upper body, but experimented with a few sets of body weight walking lunges -- testing the waters.  No issues.  SWEET.  Then again on Thursday, this time testing step-ups, first with body weight, then with very light dumbbells.  This actually felt good.  I also experimented with foam rollers at the end of the workout to release the tension in my muscles.  Felt wonderful. 

I made it to the gym again this morning, and I felt almost no residual discomfort in my hip at all.  I worked mostly back, but did body weight speed squats, step-ups with DB's, and speed squats with a 20# barbell.  No issues.  None.  REALLY SWEET.  Great workout.  How I'd missed the euphoria that comes with hard-at-it training.  My fix.  My escape from stress-induced insanity.

My diet has been on track all week, and today I even confiscated a used half-gallon milk jug to track my water intake, aiming for a minimum of one gallon, not counting what I drank at breakfast and during/after my workout.  (Only 1/4 gallon to go!)  I prepared chicken, sauteed in a tiny bit of coconut oil, lots of yummy seasoning, and had that along with a bit of avocado for dinner.   Today is a low day in my carb rotations (50 or under).  I'll be back to around 100-125 grams tomorrow. 

I'm leaving winter behind, literally and figuratively.  The clock is ticking, and I plan to earn my badges and wear my summer fashions with confidence.  I've been down this road.  I know what it takes.  And I've started the engines...the fire is lit, and the HEAT IS ON.

Countdown to my best body for summer...

building it

dreaming it

planning it

DOING it--full steam ahead.

Wake up, America! Our Country's Tater Tots Are At It Again

Hey,
Mr. Potatohead
-- er, uh,
Mr. Holmes...!!!

Wake up and smell those
candy roses, will ya? 

And make sure all your
Ivory-Tower Tater Tots
in Washington
get a good whiff
while you're at it, K?

In response to the statement by Frank Holmes, CEO of U.S. Global Investors, claiming:  "The Economy Can Handle Higher Oil and Gas Prices" -----


(Texas Citizen):  "Hey, Frank Holmes, can I borrow $60 to fill up my compact economy car?  Because apparently
you live where there are always rainbows in the sky,
flowers are made of candy, and you shit sherbet out your ass!"

Paradise by the Dashboard Light

Recently added MUST-HAVE download to my gym/run playlist...
WHAT a fun song!

Trash to Treasure

Ugh.  Here it is, 2:10 in the morning, and I can't sleep.  I woke up thirsty and jittery.  Likely too much caffeine too late in the day.  But it tasted SO GOOD at the time...!  Paybacks are hell.

I've been going through a major decluttering campaign for the last week or so, and part of that mission has been throwing out old magazines that have served their purpose.  I tend to be a horder when it comes to magazines.  (That word.  Horder.  It gives me the creeps, as my mind flashes to that TV show about horders and the FILTH and insanity that surrounds them.  I can't watch it.  I would have nightmares and be scarred for life.)

Back to the magazines.

So I was going through some Men's Health magazines today, and I have to admit, giving those a pitch was a bit of a struggle.  LOTS of eye candy.  Safe and innocent porno.  Call it what you will.  It's a fun read.  And not just for the illustrations.  There's some really good stuff in that magazine.  I actually like it better than Women's Health.  It rates right up there near Oxygen Magazine in my love-to-reads.  The articles have more meat in them...play on words! ... (oh my mind, how it wanders.  But AT 2:00 A.M. IN THE MORNING?)

So I decided I would try to stick to just WORDS that inspired me, headlines, titles, etc., to create an inspiration board.  I'm gonna glue these words to a board that I've sanded, painted, distressed, then do a poly coat on it to seal it -- at least one coat, maybe two or three.  This should be fun.
Trash to treasure.
Toss the clutter,
save the MEAT,
the good stuff,
the motivation that comes from
"training the brain."

When finished, it will be displayed in a prominent place near my elliptical in the garage, which happens to be near the free weights and Smith machine.  It will give me something FUN to look at during those early morning cardio stints -- far better than a row of shelves stacked with Lord knows what, rows of shoes, ladders, tools, brooms, shovels, mystery boxes...ET cetera.  Ah, yes.  My new wonder wall.

After clipping the words and phrases that sang to me, WORDS that echo my heart, I carefully arranged them into a design, sort of like working a puzzle.  Hey.  Not bad.  It's a start!