I'm is sick..

My head feels like its about to explode!!

I came home from work and instantly fell asleep.. now its 2 in the morning and I'm miserably awake and I cant get back to sleep.. its a wonder how many of my friends are up at this ungodly hour... I guess I shouldn't complain because my poor friend Jason is up driving all over the country making deliveries.

With all my suffering, I haven't put much thought into the Lenten season. I am Catholic so I need to begin my fast like ASAP. But instead of giving up things that wont necessarily change much about my life or my contribution to society according to God's will, I am thinking about adding something in to my life.

Me and my boss were joking about me coming in to work on time every day for Lent or going to work out one morning for Lent but I need to be doing something that's going to help me grow closer to God. So, I am going to devote a portion of my lunch time to quiet prayer and reflection as I seek out God's guidance and direction in my life so that He may be able to have every opportunity to use me as He sees fit. My heart and mind needs to stay tuned to him... this would be a good way to cut out or deflect any distractions that might come my way!

Well, this post turned out to be pretty productive. My weight loss on the other hand has not been. Over the course of Mardi Gras, I gained 2.6 lbs so I have some serious catch up to do if I'm going to stick to my goals... All is not lost though. I am going to be having a very healthy omelet for breakfast and for lunch, a salad and sandwich. I am going to ease back into planning my meals so that I am not taking in more than 1400 calories (my diet planner said 1600 but I really think thats too much). And then whenever I get over these horrible sneezing bouts, I'll get back in the gym and sweat off my frustrations (which I definitely have some major ones now lol).

I just called to wish you a Happy Valentienes Day...

For the first time in I dunno, like almost 10 years, somebody - other than my mom - thought about me on Valentines day. The funny thing is, he didn't give me a gift... I'm just happy that he called to wish me a happy V Day. It's so sad! I know, but hey, it is what it is... lol

One day, I'm gonna have a nice stable relationship where we can treat every day like Valentines day. Hopefully, its not in my dreams lol... Anyhow, until then, I'll just keep working out and trying to reach my other goals... we'll see what happens in 2009. I keep u posted!

At any rate, I hope everybody enjoys their day today and spread some love to those folks who might not be expecting anything today.

A Rainbow in My Cloud!

I want to go out tonight... but I am so0o0o0o tired. Tonight I got to see Maya Angelou speak. I didnt realize that she is 80 years old! She is an amazing woman. And very funny! She had us cracking up laughing. She sat up on the stage and told us all kinds of stories from her life. Her main theme was about being a rainbow in somebody's cloud. She said that she had an uncle who was crippled and he did not like to travel much because he was ashamed of his disability so he stayed in his small town in Arkansas. He taught her her multiplication tables by holding her by her neck over the pot belly stove.

Years later, her uncle passed away and she went to settle his estate and she met a man in Little Rock who wanted to meet her. This man told her that whatever she wanted to help her settle her estate (including a Lawyer) he could arrange for it to happen. He said that he knew her uncle because he grew up in that small town and her uncle gave him a job in his store and paid him 10 cents a day and that kept him off the streets. He also mentioned that Willie had even taught him his multiplication tables too. He credited his entire life's successes to what Uncle Willie had done in his life as a child. He was the mayor of Little Rock Arkansas and one of the first black mayors in the country at the time.

Little did Uncle Willie know who that child would grow up to be... little did he realize that by touching that child's life, he was touching many many more lives. Uncle Willie had been a rainbow in his cloud. So, with that being said, I've been thinking of all the rainbows in my cloud. My friends, my family, mentors, teachers... All the people who believed in me even when I had no clue. Its so many people who I'm sure dont realize they touched my life.. I am extremely blessed, and I thank God for that. Thank you Lord for the beautiful rainbow you created with all the different colors who represent the most important people in my life. I pray that I can be a rainbow in someone else's cloud. That's what we should all strive for... so I leave you today to ponder about your rainbow.. And even more importantly, how can you be a rainbow in someone else's cloud?

Good News Today!!

So last week I got a call from my doctor saying I needed to come in and get a biopsy done on my cervix because I had an abnormal pap. My appointment was today :-(. It was awful but I would rather her catch whatever this is early than to be a few years down the line with some sort of cancer. She did my blood work and everything else was fine. WHEW!! I always get so worried about having some rare illness that 1 in 1trillion people get. Well, I am perfectly fine except for the pap situation which is extremely good news.

Well a part of the routine is to check blood pressure and weight before I get seen by the doctor and guess what!! I LOST 5 LBS!!!!!!!!!! So since my last visit (about 3 weeks ago) I had gone from 212 to 207. I am so0o0o0o excited about that! This is some serious motivation to keep going to where I'm trying to go... All I have is like 37lbs more to go!! So, if I work out 3 times a week and continue to eat relatively healthy, I should definitely see a 1 to 2 lb weight loss every week. That means by June or July I would be pretty close to my goal. WHICH IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER AND I CANT WAIT TO BE SKINNY AGAIN!!!

I think I finally found my balance with diet and exercise. That feeling is so liberating. Anyway, I am also excited because I want to start a business. I want to get involved in social entrepreneurship. I want to own a restaurant and have the restaurant fund a community resource center. There will be many more blogs to do with that!

OMG Im a Pig!

I just went to Acme Oyster House and ate onion rings, meat pies, chicken wings, and chargrilled oysters!! Then went home and had ice cream and fudge brownies. The ONLY thing that saved me is that I had a friend with me and I asked him to eat most of it for me lol. I had little bites of everything. It was SO good though!

So, about this friend... I'm sure you want to know more, right? Well hes really nice... lets call him Bernard :-). So, Bernard is really cool... turns out he went to school with me but unfortunately, I never met him until recently because we have a lot of mutual friends. Well, of course he has that male disease that 20-somethings have where he doesnt want a girlfriend. One day, I'm gonna meet a dude that will want one lol. Anyhow, Bernard is so0o0o0o0o funny... I laughed the entire time we were in that restaurant! I really needed that because I was kinda sad about some news I got (stay tuned for that blog... coming out next week). But it was good to get out from under my work, and off this detox. I was tired of going to the bathroom all the time lol. But, back to Bernard. I dont know what made him take the time off to hang out with me but I'm glad he did... its good to have the company of new friends who dont know a lot about you. Its fun to learn about people and hear stories you never heard before and whatnot. He's a good dude and I hope he gets his big mission accomplished cuz Lord knows hes been working hard! The best thing about him is that he is planning on leaving the city. I cant wait for him to move to his next destination. I'm already setting up my vacation lol! All I have to pay for is my plane ticket cuz im gonna be right on his sofa! Bernard if you end up reading this, you should consider getting a guest room :-)

Im getting sleepy...

Nature's Secret: Super Cleanse

Its been a whole day on my detox. Yesterday for breakfast, I ate oranges and grapes. I went to the gym, did some cardio (30 minutes treadmill, 30 minutes on the elliptical) had a strawberry banana smoothie, and then I went shopping!

I bought lots of fruit (nectarines, plums, bananas, grape tomatoes) and veggies(spring mix lettuce, spaghetti squash, carrots, celery) for snacking and meals. I also got some hummus and I've been eating it with carrot sticks which is so0o0o0o good.

Once I get through some of these foods, I'm going to do some lentil soup and some other kind of beans. I also have some crab meat that I don't want to go bad, so I may be sneaking that into some of my meals. Okay now here is the good stuff... or at least I hope its the good stuff...

I bought the Super Cleanse for $15 at Whole foods. It is gigantic horse pill with a horrible after taste. I took one last night and one this morning. I dont feel any different yet. I'm going to take another one tonight. I'll post some progress on it in the days to come. The directions say to take one pill in the day and one in the evening and then increase by one pill every other day until you get desired results.