Water water everywhere and no one takes a drink!

When I first began my journey to better health I looked up quick and easy ways to shed pounds. One of the first and best tips was “Drink lots of water!” So I picked up a 32 oz cup and forced myself to sip on it. Now you have to understand that I actually HATED drinking water. And I thought, “How in the world am I seriously going to make myself drink 64 ounces of water a day? But I had read that often when we think we are hungry, we are actually dehydrated. Since I had a practice of eating pretty much nonstop I decided to drink water instead. My best practice was, if I wanted to put something in my mouth, take a sip of water. It was really hard in the beginning but then it became a habit. Now I literally don’t go ANYWHERE without my water cup. In fact, even in Alabama I had my well worn 32 oz cup with me in many pictures. I literally feel naked without it.

Soda dehydrates the body so I quit drinking it cold turkey. Diet soda may not have calories, but it is LOADED with salt. You are not supposed to drink ocean water because the saline content is toxic to the body. I have to wonder, who came up with the idea to make salt water, add sweetener and then market it to the general public as a diet drink. Oh, they were looking to make $$$$$ because if you drink a diet soda, golly, you are still thirsty! Whooda thunk it? I don’t drink diet soda because before I got healthy it tasted bad to me so I have never really been tempted to subsist on it. I used to get bladder infections ALL THE TIME drinking root beer and finally had to give it up. I don’t get those drinking water because water actually cleanses the body. Every so often I’ll buy a diet soda but inevitably it makes me ill. Which is a little depressing in the grand scheme of things but obviously the stuff is no good for me(or anyone else for that matter).

So if you are interested in losing weight or just making your body healthy, start small. Pick up a cup and start sipping. You may find you aren’t as hungry as you thought you were and you will be doing your body a HUGE favor.

Side note, when I go to the massage therapist they always tell me they notice that I am well hydrated. They say I wouldn’t believe how leathery most people are…. Don’t be leathery! Be supple and smooth! It’s the best known beauty secret out there and guess what, it’s nearly free!

Dreams do Come True

I’ve had a dream for a long time…that I jump in my car and drive to the ocean. On Saturday, June 29th, this dream came true. My husband and I left early Saturday morning and drove 12 hours to Gulf Shores, Alabama. It was a wonderful day of talking and getting reacquainted and falling in love again. We left our three beastlets in the care of my mother(BLESS HER) so there was no “Pipe down in the back” or “Stop farting on your brother!” What a nice day.

We arrived at the beach the next morning full of expectation. We immediately encountered a gentleman who was leaving… “Y’all be careful out there. There’s a lot of jellyfish.”

I braved the water anyway…(ankles only) and had the interesting experience of being stung by “the jelly’s.” We sat out the rest of the afternoon and watched the waves instead.

Day two was better. Not as many “jelly’s” and I actually got to swim. I love swimming in the ocean. Even while being stung by stray jellyfish tentacles.

Day three I met a nice local man at the shore by our cottage. He came in on a kayak and I struck up a conversation. “Are there any beaches close by where we could see some creatures?” I love sea creatures! He said Johnson Beach was a good place to visit and gave me directions. He also said Pensacola Beach, in Florida, was a beautiful place. We tried to find Johnson Beach and couldn’t so we made the 50 miles trek to Pensacola instead. This is what we saw.

It was the prettiest beach ever. There was a yellow warning flag indicating that waves were high and we should swim with caution. I flung myself into the waves and spent several hours jumping and being carried by the water. It was incredible. I was having so much fun in the waves that everyone else disappeared. I heard my husband scream “Margaret!” and I turned to see we were the only people still in the water. Then I heard someone on the beach scream something that sounded like “Shark!” I didn’t panic. I just swam as fast as I could and abandoned my husband to the waves. Yes, I would totally leave him to the shark. My children like me better any way.

We quietly ate our lunch on the shore while a little girl told me about the 6 foot shark that swam right next to her and nearly ate her all up. Then we saw a giant sting ray swim by about two feet from the shore. Creatures indeed!

Near the end of our jaunt we met a man who struck up a conversation with us(the best part of vacation is often meeting people and sharing life stories). One of the first things he said was “There’s a lot of jellyfish down at Johnson Beach. That’s why we came here.” Ha!

We sat on the front porch of our cottage and grilled steaks(a real treat for us) and chilled out on our last night in Orange Beach, Alabama(the cottage was in OB though we visited the beaches in Gulf Shores.) It was a nice, quiet evening and we collapsed into bed, utterly exhausted and ready to head home.

Wednesday morning I woke up early and decided to make one last trip to the beach. I put on my walking shoes and decided to fulfill one more dream….jogging on the beach. I arrived at Gulf State Park near the pier around 6:00am and ran along the beach, taking pictures of ominous storm clouds and sticking my tongue out at the birds. They were utterly annoyed that I interrupted their fishing and gave me the evil eye as I passed by.

I met a nice woman at one point who instructed me not to walk on the dry sand because they were taking pictures of the turtle tracks. Overnight a turtle had crawled onto the beach to look for a nesting site. I was happy to get my shoes and socks soaking wet to protect the turtle tracks. Oy!

This is me at the end of my jog….about 50 minutes later. What do you think? Do I look happy?

We survived the long drive home and today I am back with my beastlets. It was a really nice trip and we hope to do it again someday.

I am also proud to say that neither of us got a sunburn thanks to generous applications of 50 SPF sunblock. I came home with plenty of shells and some residual sand. I am filled with peace and looking forward to spending the rest of my vacation time with my family.

Today we celebrate our nation’s independence. We celebrate our freedoms and reflect on the sacrifices made by brave soldiers who saw a future worth fighting for. Without them vacations like this may not be possible. Happy Independence Day everybody!

It’s a beautiful day in my neighborhood!

This day ends with a whisper and a snore. My dogs are sleeping blissfully on their beds beside my computer while I contemplate the many events of the day. It was a simple day. Nothing much of substance happened. And yet it was important. Every moment of today contributed to the sum total of experiences in my life. Twenty years from now I may not remember it. My children will forget what they had for dinner and I’ll forget what terribly important project I needed to finish at work. It will have been just another Thursday in the grand scheme of my life.

How many days like these do we encounter, the days where nothing of significance happens. We smile and nod and exchange informal conversations with strangers at work. We complain about our headaches and backaches and cranky children. And it’s just life.

And yet I believe I am living intentionally. I consider every person, every interaction, valuable. The conversation with Angela, my favorite Shop N Save Deli associate, who has the prettiest braids and most beautiful smile. Every time I see her we both light up. And she tells me about her grandchildren and I explain why I love Muenster cheese. And we are living life together, sharing a moment where we connect and experience humanity in a tangible way. I feel like I spend half my life in Shop N Save buying food for my family, so much so that many of the workers there have become like family to me. They might think I’m that crazy, frizzy girl with the goofy smile, but that’s okay. I am comfortable enough with myself to be real.

This morning while riding my bicycle I saw a pharmacy worker walking her dog and I waved and said good morning. It was about 5:25am. So when I saw her in the store tonight she just smiled at me. “You sure get up early!” Yes. Yes I do.

I’m not rich. I don’t have a fancy house or a lot of cool gadgets and gizmos. I live a fairly simple life. But I am rich in love, the love I receive from my family and friends and even from strangers who make the effort to smile back. Most often the most extraordinary lives are lived on cul de sacs, in poorer neighborhood’s where children’s tummies are filled with hotdogs and beans. They grow up repeating those patterns with their own children and a legacy resonates throughout history. So when you are experiencing a day that wasn’t very exciting, where you subsisted on coffee and candy bars and your head hits the pillow with no huge sense of accomplishment, remember that every day you live, regardless of how ordinary, is precious simply because you existed in it.