My Last Stress Busting Strategy for the Year.........

The above Strategy is my last...tomorrow I will try to find another self help book to share with you on by blog.......I don't know if any of you actually read those captions I post at the top, but I like to think that you do and they are somewhat helpful. If you do read them and would like me to continue to post self help notes.....please let me know, I will add a poll for you to vote on. The above says to list 101 things you would like to achieve in your lifetime, then prioritize and put a deadline. For this week, if you read my blog, either blog a list of your own, or comment your list or email me your list at runzwithscizzorz@charter.net that way I at least know you are out there. Please put some thought into it and make it something you would really like to achieve......here is mine...

1. Become completely debt free.
2. Buy a home again.
3. See Stevi go to College.
4. See Jayson complete his GED.
5. See Jay stay sober.
6. Own a car outright.
7. Drive a car I own until it just won't drive anymore.
8. See Jack at least 4 times a year.
9. Simplify life and be content with it.
10. Make exercise a life routine for 4 days a week, no excuses.
11. Stay within the 120's for my weight, consistently.
12. Hike, snowshoe or cross country ski once a week.
13. Learn to really swim.
14. Dive off a diving board.
15. Sky dive
16. Learn to kayak
17. Walk my dogs at least once a week.
18. Love my husband 100% with no exceptions.
19. Finish sewing projects once I start them within a month.
20. Knit socks
21. Knit mittens
22. Knit a hat and scarf set.
23. Knit a neck warmer.
24. Sew my self clothing that looks great.
25. Design my own clothing.
26. Write a book.
27. Forgive my molester.
28. Think of the positive first in all situations.
29. Not say unkind words against any person.
30. Love myself despite my flaws.
31. Forgive Sonya for hurting me so badly and write her a letter to get it out.
32. Go to Europe
33. Go to Spain
34. Vacation once a year, even if it is only at home.
35. Take Stevi to San Francisco
36. Visit Sarah and Kate
37. Take a trip on a train
38. See the Grand Canyon
39. Find Derrek Buletti
40. Ride my Harley across the United States
41. Make gifts for friends that have meaning.
42. Bake cookies, brownies, cakes, muffins etc. instead of buying them.
43. Plan a family reunion every 3 years.
44. Accept more invitations to spend time with friends.
45. Have dinners parties once a month
46. Start Bunko again
47. Purge my closet every January 1st of old, not worn and out of date clothing and shoes.
48. Return calls within 48 hours.
49. Call a friend once a month that I haven't spoken to in awhile.
50. Start an IRA again.
51. Rebuild our credit.
52. Save more money and NOT TOUCH IT
53. Buy Stevi a car when she is of age.
54. Talk and really listen to my family
55. Learn to groom Dyna
56. Stick to a strict budget, even when I don't have to anymore.
57. Make soup instead of buy it in a can
58. Make home made ice cream when we crave it instead of go to the store.
59. Help my sister start a sewing/knitting/craft club.
60. Get an iphone
61. Help my Mom paint her accent walls
62. Paint my own accent walls
63. Create a sewing room
64. Reupholster the salon benches
65. Re-paint the salon
66. Redecorate the salon
67. Move the salon to a better and more open location
68. Become a stronger business woman
69. Be more organized with my books by creating a filing system
70. Set aside one day a month for paper/book/tax work a month
71. Set aside one do nothing day a month
72. Get 7+ hours of sleep
73. Drink water daily....64 oz.
74. Snack on fruits and vegetables instead of processed foods
75. Blog at least 3 times a week for release.
76. Eat more sandwiches instead of grabbing something while out and save that money for me to shop!
77. Only buy one soda a week
78. One buy one coffee a week
79. Try to not drive like a man when my mom is in the car.
80. Send more notes and cards to special people in my life so they know I am thinking of them.
81. Have a family game night every other month
82. Repair broken items rather than replace them
83. Get Stevi a wooden bench at a garage sale or used furniture store and paint it for her.
84. Hang Stevi's room decor for her
85. Finish hanging photos rather than expect Jay to do it.
86. Finish unpacking garage.
87. Really wash car once a month, by hand or wash, which ever is in budget.
88. Price compare purchases before purchasing.
89. Do not wait until the last minute to buy gifts and cards and make sure they are delivered in a timely matter.
90. Finish Tenleigh's quilt
91. Make a quilt for my bed
92. Make a quilt for Mom
93. Replace buttons and do clothing repairs once a month
94. Bring in dry cleaning once a month
95. Trim dog's toenails once a month
96. Give myself a pedicure once a month
97. Give myself a facial once a month.
98. Quit swearing
99. Smile more to strangers
100. Help strangers in need more
101. Keep house clean and tidy daily.

Why?........

To torture me? Just to be mean? I don't get it. Last night I started reading Sam's Letters to Jennifer. It is good, really good, so as I lay in bed, I read to page 125. I could have read all night. Why did I stop at page 125? Well first let me tell you, I got this book at a book exchange. I love James Patterson almost as much as I love to read. So now back to the why? Some one ripped page 125/126 in half......yep.....in half, long ways. So now I guess I have to read half a sentence and just make up the other half? TWO WHOLE PAGES! ARE YOU F'ING KIDDING ME!........ARGH..... I have to go, I think I need to take my medication..........

Oh and by the way, for those of you who REALLY know me.....you know that I have to read THE WHOLE BOOK! Once I start a book, even if it sucks, I have to finish it! (Just a minor issue I have.) But this book doesn't suck.......I could have read the whole thing last night............

WHY, WHY, WHY!

Gray Eagle Creek Trail

We were expecting snow up in Graeagle. According to the forecast, it was to snow until 3 am this morning. The temperature was only supposed to reach 55 today, so we didn't know what to expect. Since my dogs basically only have lincoln logs for legs, I left them at home just in case. I really felt bad because they would have been fine.

Cheri brought her beagle Simon with her today and he and Chyla took a moment to get to know each other but after a bit they were fine, I think only having one new dog for Simon to meet is probably a good thing since he is normally a leash walker.

The weather was a bit chilly but all in all the hike WAS moderate, there were some hills but nothing like Fridays hike. I don't think Cheri thought of throwing rocks at me once this trip.

It really is beautiful up in the Plumas National Forest area, next week we will be hiking on Tuesday at Hunter Creek which is in the Mogul area, so we won't have to travel, however it is a 7 mile hike so it will take us 3-4 hours. Cheri showed up sporting new hiking boots and said they really made a difference, so tomorrow after Mom and I do our "Fitness Express" class at noon, we are going to head over to Sierra Trading Post to see if there are any boots in our budget. (Budget, hate it, hate it, HATE IT!)

Check out the dew on this leaf, it really was gorgeous up there. We had a great time, Cheri was a trouper and I think we now have a hiking partner!

Cheri gave me a boost up for a photo opp. ......it didn't work as I had fantasized, I got up and slid right back down.......oh well! Got to love friends with a helping hand......

Race for The Cure

Today was cold. It is the first Susan G. Komen Race for the cure that Nellie, Liz and I had done, we had one other team mate Amber who ran with her sister. Because there were only four of us on our team, we didn't get a sign this year, which is fine because I don't think any of us could really feel our hands.
Most of the time we had to walk because there were so many people but when we got a decent passing lane we ran for a bit. That was enough for all of us, Nellie is probably the most fit out of the 3 of us (she's 21) and Liz and I lost our training motivation a while back. My right knee kept hurting, I think I will try a brace because while I got better at running, I actually was enjoying it. Nellie could run completely around Sparks Marina no problem and Liz was doing well too, but life happened for all three of us (Amber is a crazy runner so I am glad we didn't hold her back) so we lost our training motivation, time, schedules, etc.
Liz walked for our Grandmother and I unfortunately walked for four, Grandma Fake, Sharon Stephenson, Kathy Taylor and Judy Bitz. Had I known we could also wear a celebration for survival sign, I would have also had Michelle Gandolfo and Lynne Shoenberger on a list as well. Survivors that were walking had pink balloons with the years and months they had survived so far, there were a lot of balloons and we saw a few men walking for "My Beautiful Wife" which almost made me cry. I hope next year we have a larger team, Liz wants to start her own with an ad such as......
"Do you lay down and watch the sit-up segment of Jazzercize class? If so call Lazy Liz and we will stroll for the cure in 2010...." She may have some takers, good luck with that sis.
We burned around 640 calories this morning so the 3 of us finished at Starbucks and enjoyed a nice hot latte, Nellie had a steamer, and some more girl talk. It was fun, come to think of it, I am glad I didn't run it because the togetherness of girls was much better....yeah!

JOIN US NEXT YEAR FOR TEAM MOXIE LADIES!

The Broken Dog and Pissed off Friend.......

My mom and I started hiking a month ago, and our goal is to hike/snowshoe/cross country ski once a week to be one with ourselves and nature. I apparently (this I found out JUST yesterday) am weird for loving to exercise the way I do....hmmm. So my Mom went to Barnes and Nobles and bought a hiking book for the Reno Tahoe area. So far we have done Ophir Creek Trail (Davis Creek area) Thomas Creek Trail (Arrowcreek) Mt. Washington (Plumas National Forest) and yesterday was Bear Lake Loop (Graeagle, Ca.)Yesterdays hike said 3.4 miles of moderate and scenic hiking.......I think that means if you stay on the trails that are in the book. Well who needs a book with memories such as ours, plus it is an adventure, right? We were supposed to loop around 4 lakes, Little Bear, Cub, Silver and Round. Only we kept on going, as the hike progressed into the most difficult hike so far, (and we brought a newbie, Cheri along since it was her first time we thought this moderate hike would be perfect to break her in) basically rock climbing, we came onto Long Lake. As my Mom said, "We should have know when the man we ran into said 'Worth the hike isn't it? No you don't want to go that way.....you want to go back around this way. Well ok, I am going this way, you girls have fun...' then split quickly." As we continued onward, I mean upward.....it got more and more difficult. Then we started to see signs that said 'Pacific Crest Trail' and 'Mt. Elwell'. Signs are a good sign right?
Cheri started to question my natural ability for finding our way back.....I assured her she did not need to be concerned as sometimes these trails can be deceiving and we always find our way back. After around two to two and a half miles of climbing up, and quite a few rests (photo opps.) I told them to hang on and I would hike further up and see where the trail was heading. At that point I came down and told them that I thought maybe we should turn around since there was a guy in Leiderhossen's (sp) who didn't speak any english but I think he was asking for my passport. So we did turn around then found the same sign we had found before that said 1/2 mile to Round Lake........why didn't that make sense before? I don't know. Onward soldiers. We are now 4 miles into our 2-3 mile "moderate" hike. Why is it when you are hiking, you are always hiking uphill? Even on your way back? Does that happen to anyone else? Cheri is now not speaking to me and she has sunglasses on but I am pretty sure she is glaring at me...... We continued to hike up, found an old mining camp that we were sure was a plane wreckage..and the dogs dug for buried treasures which gave us some time to get water, rest and have a snack. Eventually we came to the top of the crest and started to head down, which seemed like it was taking a lot longer than we had anticipated that could have just been us because we were all exhausted, but an hour later, we came to where we had started. Luckily there was a map so we could track were we had gone and found that according to the legend, we went approximately 8 miles and were heading towards Alaska. My Timex watch that Jay bought me last Christmas doesn't have a pedometer, (I need to use Jay's I think) but it tracks your heart rate and it said I burned 1327 calories. That is more than most people burn in the gym for the week! We will continue to hike weekly, even thought Dyna has thrown up on two of our hikes (sorry Chrissi) and Raider was limping last night (I think he pulled something jumping out of the car at my Mom's house he is better today) and Cheri said she will go with us again on Monday, even though
in the car, she admitted to both of us that at one point, had she been able to bend over and pick up a rock, she would have thrown it at the back of my head. But she completed the most difficult hike for us so far, and my mom and I are a month into it on top of an exercise program. Good job Cheri. Hope to see you Monday, 9:15 for the Graeagle Creek Trail, 4.4 miles of "moderate" hiking..........yeah, we'll see.............

I'VE MET GOAL!

We started Weight Watchers on August 1st. It's amazing how you gradually put on weight and don't notice it until one day you see a picture of yourself and then think to yourself, no wonder my clothes are so uncomfortable! Today I finally reached my goal! I am so excited! In the past, when I have gotten down to my weight I started introducing "bad" foods back into my diet because I had lost weight. I will now stick with weight watchers to monitor my weight. I started with meetings and then Jay, Stevi and I figured out the point system and have been doing it ourselves ever since. As of today, all 3 of us have lost 15 lbs. ea.! I feel much better and I know I look better, you can see it in my face mostly I think. What a great way to start your day. Now I can start using my activity points as I earn them and I think you get 4 more points a day on top of that. It doesn't sound like a lot but when you only get 20 points a day, that's huge, (it equals around 200 more calories a day). So for now, I will continue to exercise, and eat 20 points a day plus my 35 weekly flex points, add in my activity points when I earn them and weigh myself daily. If I need to add extra points in because I am continuing to lose, I will, if I start to gain I will take them away again, either way I will figure it out! Oh Happy Day!

Has it really been 6 weeks.......

In 6 weeks...........

Stevi started 7th grade

made new friends, and All-Stars for Soccer

played football with the neighborhood boys

figured out her middle school locker.

In 6 weeks.......

I've rolled Lumpias with Dora for Jeff's dinner party

gone hiking up the Pass

cut my hair short

took my Mom to an exercise class.

In 6 weeks......

Jay has golfed 3 times

made friends with all the neighborhood boys

got laid off from Q & D

is now out of town but under employs.....

In 6 weeks.......

I have missed reading all my blogs

worked way to much

saw Marilyn Manson

and I'm now back in touch.

In 6 weeks.....

I have read too many books

ridden my bike

lost 14 lbs.

and now love to hike........

In 6 weeks........