Jewish Musings, Friday/Shabbat, March 31

[louise]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you who stop by to read this thread without posting — you are certainly welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in

[louise]

I know we will all be thinking about Angelika today. She’s been waiting so long for this!

Unexpected things happened yesterday. For one, my energy level was much improved (yay!). At the end of the day we got an email saying there will be a meeting on Monday afternoon to discuss office space. We feel sure my boss wants to lower the office rent so some offices are going to go – no idea how that is going to work out – we shall see. Also I started looking for synagogue related jobs online and I saw something that I would like – part time office manager/coordinator of synagogue operations in Manhattan. It’s only 20 hours, which sounds good to me. I’m not really ready yet - my resume is 20 years old and is not geared around my synagogue experience. So there’s something new for my to do list! Probably won’t be in time for this job, but can’t hurt to be ready for the next one!

I’m glad I got to reframe things a bit this week and I appreciate your help. I have my trainer in the morning and then I am expecting a handyman that my friend recommended to take a look at some odd jobs that need tending to. A main thing is to bring an air conditioner up from the basement and swap it with one I have that doesn’t work well. I would also like to get a ceiling fan for the kitchen.

So the earth keeps tuning and each day brings something else – and often that’s a good thing! Eyes front, mind open.

[lee058]

Good morning everybody. Hope you are all well. I had a very good time yesterday with my "five hour vacation" as I said on yesterday's thread, but I will recap for those who didn't see it. After I dropped DS off at work for his meeting, I went to one of my favorite restaurants, a Jewish deli called "Chutzpah" (believe it or not) for a second breakfast. After that, I went to Barnes & Noble and bought three books. Finally, I went to my favorite Asian supermarket, H Mart, and bought several interesting snacks including green tea hard candy. This tastes like a cross between lawn grass and Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda, but it actually is not bad. It was wonderful to have some "me time" to have fun by myself. Since I've had so many health problems for such a long time, I really appreciated that I am finally feeling better and especially that I am not in constant pain from my shoulder and arm. It is amazing that I am more able to drive and do other things without it being such a hassle. Hopefully, I will be one of the lucky ones who will benefit fully from the shot I had on Monday, and not need surgery. I am already cutting down on my pain pills, and will be off them sometime next week, if all goes well.

As Louise said above, "So the earth keeps turning and each day brings something else --- and often that's a good thing!" I totally agree.

Oh, and on Saturday, April 8th, DS goes back on the early morning shift, so we will go back to waking up at 4AM to get him to work by 6AM. This past week was nice, in that we could sleep in and stay up later, but we will get used to getting up early again. I'm glad we have another week of his working in the afternoons.

Right now, it is raining outside and it's supposed to thunderstorm later for several hours. I will drive carefully when I go out!

I'll check in later. Have a peaceful day, Lee

[gazelle18]

So glad you're feeling better, Louise. It's amazing what a turn of the earth can do. You have some interesting challenges ahead!

Good shabbos everyone!

[momof2]

Boker Tov!
Just a quick post.
Time is important. Last night DH and I had a date, last time was in February. Even though I was tired, it was nice to be out without children.
DS is done with his morning nap, so I have been slowly adjusting. At least now both kids are out for 3 hours in the afternoon. Sometimes, I have lunch after they go down, do a little straightening up, then nap too.
Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom.
Tamara

[savtele]

I'm home - everything went well! Singing Jimmy Cliff "I can see clearly now" (even though I can't quite yet!)

Shabbat Shalom!

[louise]

I did a quick resume and have applied for that job! Whatever happens, it won't be for lack of trying.
Thank you for coming along with me this week and for your support.
Shabbat Shalom!

[lee058]

Back again to say hello. It rained most of the day, but it didn't thunderstorm. I'm glad it finally stopped raining.

Louise, that's great! Good for you!

Have a peaceful night and a great weekend, Lee

[happysavta]

Hi, chaverot,

About 8:45 am, I got a call from DD asking if I would pick up the 4 y/o from preschool - she had a stomach ache. Fine. I put her in the car and I drive off. I notice that she's chatty and not complaining about her stomach at all. Actually, she seems quite happy. Then I get another call from her mother to take her to the doctor to check her out. When Noa hears that, she adamantly doesn't want to go to the doctor. Turns out she scammed her mother and her mother bought her story. Yesterday, her stomach did indeed hurt and "it might hurt again later" and she wanted to spend the day with Savta. Much later, she tells me that the real reason she didn't want to stay in school is that she doesn't like to nap. She is a convincing little conniver!

I weighed in today. I've lost 10 lbs in the past 8 weeks. I went to the pool again today. I signed DGD into the Kids Club and went to walk in the water and do some exercises in the water. I missed 2 sessions of the Prevent T2 weekly class cuz I'm in Houston. The instructor emailed me the material and was nice enough to call me and go over them with me.

I think what I've done in the past during periods when I was trying to lose weight is put myself on a strict low-calorie diet. All I wanted was to lose the weight as quickly as possible. The scale defined my success or lack thereof. I ate a very restrictive menu and didn't exercise. Then I would run out of steam and regain all the weight. I've done this over and over and over.

Once upon a time, I used to go to McDonald's or Burger King or Wendy's every single day. But I made a lifestyle change and it stuck with me. Now I wouldn't even consider going to a fast food restaurant. It's just not something I do. I drive by and don't even think about the food inside that I was once addicted to. So that proves that I can make a lifestyle change, right?

I think what I have to do now is look diligently for other lifestyle changes that will stick. Exercise is certainly one. Another is reading labels. I thought I did read labels very well. My instructor just told me that skim milk has more sugar than 1% milk. To prevent diabetes, it's better to buy 1%.
Another thing I need to look for on the labels is the fiber content. Our instructor wants us to drink a lot of water and increase the fiber in our diet. We don't have to go for high protein levels in our menu, but we do have to look for low sugar, low fat foods in all the food groups.

So far, so good.

[happysavta]

Have a lovely Shabbat, everyone. Angelika, you sit back and be Queen of the Palace, OK?