I just finished reading Alexander McCall Smith’s latest in the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, The Double Comfort Safari Club.  It was just as wonderful as all the others.  The very end however brought tears to my eyes (no spoilers).

“Having the right approach to life was a great gift in this life.  Her father, the late Obed Ramotstwe, had always had the right approach to life – she was sure of that.  And for a moment, as she sat there with her friend, with the late-afternoon sun slanting in through the window, she thought about how she owed her father so much.  He had taught her almost everything she knew about how to lead a good life, and the lessons she had learned from him were as fresh today as they ever had been.  Do not complain about your life.  Do not blame others for things that you have brought upon yourself.  Be content with who you are and where you are, do whatever you can do to bring to others such contentment, and joy, and understanding that you have managed to find yourself.

She closed her eyes.  You can do that in the company of an old friend – you can close your eyes and think of the land that gave you life and breath, and of all the reasons why you are glad that you are there, with the people you know, with the people you love.”

This passage made me cry.  Both in missing my late father and in awe and appreciation for how simply and beautifully the author captured the essence that is God/dess – the breath and joy of life, the knowledge that we are all works in progress, the wisdom to temper truth with love.

I cannot praise this book and this series highly enough.

Well, after some trial and lots of error at the expense of my small intestine I’ve decided to quit the pre-packaged food program.  I think the program has a lot of benefits but unfortunately there is some ingredient in the food that causes my body to react poorly.  The other issue for me is that I was missing “real” food to the point that it was driving me a little insane (ask my husband).  I love food and I see no reason I can’t stay in love with food and lose weight at the same time.

I have signed up for Weight Watchers on-line.  I think that when I tried it before I was either lazy or just not ready to do the work.  What the other program has shown me is that if I don’t get my weight to a healthy level I’m going to have to go back to something like their program in order to just get it done.  The ghost of Diets Future has shown me the hell that awaits if I can’t do this the natural way.  And the real Hell’s Kitchen?  Does not include the nummy Gordon Ramsey.  Consider me scared straight.

Speaking of Gordon Ramsey, one of the things I found on the other program that made me unhappy was an inability to enjoy my favorite tv shows.  I am a fan of Top Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, Chopped, Ace of Cakes and a bunch of other stuff on the food network.  Every time I’d watch something and get inspired I’d be like, “Oh well, can’t make that.”  With Weight Watchers if I’m willing to do the measuring and point counting (thank you iPhone for the mobile ap, btw!) I can fix anything that looks good.  I might have to swap a few ingredients but even if I went with the fully fat, fully tasty version I can find other ways to compensate – do some extra activity that day or eat light in preparation for an amazing meal.

Finally, I wanted to share that I went to Yoga today with my husband.  It was difficult and I sweated a lot but I feel refreshed, stretched and worked out without being TOO sore.  I enjoyed the mind/body engagement so I was never bored.  I plan to go again next week.  In the mean time I’ll see if perhaps I can start Nia again.  It’s a combination of dance, martial arts, tai chi, and yoga and has that same sort of mind/body confluence and visualization that keep my mind in the moment instead of my to-do list.  I don’t remember why I quit going.  I do remember that aside from a blister on my big toe which turned into a callus that I enjoyed it a great deal.  Plus – endorphins!

Wish me luck!

Austin musician Sam Beam will be performing at home soon with his creation, Iron & Wine.  The Paramount Theater will host Iron & Wine with special guests on July 29th , 2010.  Proceeds benefit the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) & the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM).

I’m very excited about this show.  I’ve loved Iron & Wine ever since “Such Great Heights” was featured in an M&M commercial.  I didn’t find out who it was until browsing the Garden State soundtrack on iTunes.  After hearing “Boy With a Coin” I knew this band was something special. Sam’s vocals are a delicate counterpoint to his poetic and sometimes dark lyrics, backed by rolling acoustic guitars and ethereal harmonies.  Iron & Wine’s sound varies in texture depending on lineup,  collaborators and instrumentation but the core remains an Austin folk/world earthiness tinged with sweet sensuality.  Trumpet, concertina, steel guitar and violin are just a few of the fun surprises that so beautifully enhance the catalog of Iron & Wine. Listen today!

Don’t miss this very special Austin show. Tickets are on sale now.

Yesterday was hard for me.  It was father’s day and as my readers may or may not know I lost both my parents to cancer.  Every father’s day I think about my dad and how much I miss him.  I also try to spend some time thinking about everything he taught me and the fun we had together.

In honor of him (although he’s nothing like Justin’s dad) I read Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. If you aren’t familiar with the phenom of Sh*t My Dad Says, check out Justin’s twitter account. The book contains some of the best quotes and anecdotes from Justin’s Dad. It was full of belly laughs and kept me reading until 2am.

I’m trying a pre-packaged food program.  The food is upsetting my tummy and I’m finding it hard.  Today went okay but at one point during the sadder part of the day (after watching “Up”) I broke down and ate some cheese. It was less than one ounce of low-fat cheese, but it wasn’t planned. The good thing is that I wrote it in my journal and then made sure not to eat any fat the rest of the day. The cheese was delightful and left me feeling satisfied so I’m not going to beat myself up too badly.

This morning the scale told me I’ve lost 7lbs in 5 days. I don’t know how accurate it is but I will tell you that I noticed my bra fitting much more comfortably this morning. Given that I was eating ice cream and fast food every day until 5 days ago I suppose it’s not unreasonable to drop that much in such a short time. Thank goodness for the omega-3s they have me taking.   I don’t want to end up looking like a human shar pei.  Loose skin: cute on a puppy, not so cute on a person.

As my friends and family know I’ve struggled with my weight since entering college. Back in High School I rode horses (hunter/jumper) which as anyone who as done it knows is not just about sitting on a pony and letting her do all the work. I lifted 50lb hay bales, carried heavy saddles to and fro, curried & combed (wax on/wax off) the horses and sweated buckets while mucking out stables.

I weighed 117 lbs of hard, solid muscle including thighs the envy of Bond girl Onatopp. And then I fell. Hard. Several times.

(not me, but you get the picture)

At one point I broke a solid jump to pieces using my back thanks to one particularly skittish filly who politely refused by sliding to a stop at 35mph in front of a 5 foot fence. I kept going. Over the head and through the fence to the hospital we go. While I sustained no life threatening injury my mother’s patience with “dangerous sports” took a fatal blow and that was that.

Somewhere after quitting riding my body started to change. I was no longer expending twenty bazillion calories per day so it didn’t need quite as many in order to maintain. My brain, taste buds and stomach didn’t get the memo. I’ve been slowly growing outward ever since.

This year I hit a banner figure which I never thought I’d reach. No, I’m not telling but I assure you it was horrifying.

Since my cholesterol is good and my blood pressure okay (if on the high side) my doctor has only ever told me that weight loss might make me sleep better and will be easier on my joints. She’s never pushed.  But I need to make a change.

I’ve signed up for a pre-packaged food program.  I am hopeful.

It’s been one week now since I challenged myself to keep my email organized and so far so good! The only sort of “bad time” was this morning. I work from home most Fridays and my home email interface to my work account doesn’t allow me as many options as my office computer. Friday’s email was uncategorized and clumped together when I arrived this morning (Monday). Luckily it took only about 5 minutes to get everything back in shape.

My flag and file system seems to be working! Give it a try, you might be surprised at how organized you can be!

If you’re anything like me you sometimes find work email to be overwhelming.  Here at the City of Austin we have size limits and I can’t tell you how many times I get the warning that my box is over the size limit.

Every month I have GTOPs grantees sending me pdfs of reports and invoices, all of which are large files. If I’m not fast enough on the draw getting them either into folders or printed out my box will hit the limit very quickly.

I could of course automate some things, having anything with “GTOPs” in the title sent to a folder. There are several problems with this idea. First, not everyone is going to use the same title, even if I ask.  Second, if something ends up in a folder which is somehow accidentally hidden I just won’t see it.  I need to see every email that comes in.  Finally, folders (in my mind) are for archiving, not for action items.

After several weeks (months, really) of being in the weeds I finally got caught up this morning and was able to clear out my email box.  I have quite a few items that require my attention but before getting to them I thought it might be nice to contemplate a new system.

Here is what I came up with: Every email that comes in with either be flagged, put in a folder or deleted. Period.  No emails will remain in my box to drift aimlessly collecting virtual dust.  If something needs an action by me it gets a red flag.  If it requires an action by someone else it gets blue.  If it’s just for me to read later (say a news item or conference brochure) it gets purple.  If it is archival information (say last month’s report from a GTOPs grantee) it goes in a folder.

Every item in my in-box will be flagged. If not, then I’ll assume I haven’t given it attention and will try to make sure I do something with it immediately.

Now that I have a system let’s take bets on how long it will last.  Complete breakdown in a week? a day?  or will it actually work?  Stay tuned!

It’s not too late! Register today to learn about what other organizations in Austin are doing to get young people excited and involved with technology! Topics include creative professions and computer refurbishment plus networking activities (with prizes!)

For a full agenda and to purchase tickets visit:
http://austinconnectsyouth.eventbrite.com

Yesterday I attended training for a grant from OneStar Foundation. It included a segment about social media uses. One thing that stuck out in my mind was the presenter’s discussion about having separate facebook and twitter feeds for personal and professional use.

I am in no way ashamed of my taste in movies, political views etc. but it did get me thinking – do my colleagues really want/need to know that I had an amazing taco for breakfast or what my weight loss goals are (and how I’m cheating by having a taco for breakfast)? On the one hand I’d like to the think that my professional contacts are actual people. I enjoy reading about movies they saw or funny bits of lol around the interwebs. On the other hand I would hate to think that I might burn a bridge by accident if I should happen to post something that a colleague found offensive.

That said I don’t tend to post things that are overtly political or religious so maybe I shouldn’t worry.

The biggest thing that keeps me from wanting to have separate personal and professional accounts is the time factor. Having to log in to two separate profiles doesn’t sound like fun. I know that on my iPhone I’d just keep my personal one open and wouldn’t even bother looking at my professional profile unless at a terminal where I don’t have to use one finger to type in my email and password.

I don’t know about anyone else but I miss the days of Live Journal. They make it easy to post certain things to only certain groups. While Facebook has some features that would allow me to block certain things it’s not the same as having multiple groups to choose from. I had groups on LJ for women only, people who like crafting, family, and my closest friends. Facebook doesn’t offer that level of control.

I’m going to post this to FB and see if my friends and colleagues have any advice.

Following up on my New Nail Product Test blog entry – they didn’t last 24 hours.  After cleaning, cooking and washing my hair several of the things were curled up at the edges and one had split in half.

So much for that!