Job List, Questions and Answers

Janet asked recently in the comments area what I would be doing with my time now that I’m no longer home schooling. Hmmm. Great question! I had to stop and think about it for a minute and the more I thought about it, the more I remembered the variety of things that comprise my Official Pastor’s Wife Official To Do List.

And then, because I’m all about writing about the tiniest pieces of the teensiest bits of trivial minutia of my life, I thought I would share my list with you. (You can thank me later.)

As you’ve probably already surmised, my biggest time chunk is dedicated to keeping up two blogs, which takes about 10-15 hours a week. (Between writing them and taking/editing/posting pictures for them.)

My only other regular weekly activities are teaching a Wednesday night adult class (2-3 hours prep) and preparing music/media for the Sunday morning services which takes another 3-4 hours.

Apart from that, everything else on the list below is the kind of stuff that ebbs and flows. (Now that I’m living near the ocean, I have to pull out these nautical terms occasionally so as to impress the natives!)

Here’s a Three Week Sampler of my life.

1. Attended a pastor’s dinner sponsored by the Gideons (the organization that puts Bibles in hotels).

2. Hosted a pastor's lunch in our home

3. Gave an informal piano/songwriting lesson to a church member

4. Visited and prayed with someone in the hospital before his surgery; Steve usually does that, but he was out of town.

5. Have spent about twenty hours so far, organizing a pictorial church directory, including designing the cover. (I probably have another ten hours to go on that project.)

6. Worked on Annual Business Meeting packets.

7. Will be hosting a Board Meeting dinner at our home

8. Hosted a pot luck dinner at our home for the worship team.

9. Am preparing certificates to be handed out to those who were baptized recently.

10 . Organized names for an updated Prayer Chain list for the church

11. Am giving the devotional at the overnight gathering our the Girls Ministry at our church is sponsoring.

12. Am working on a media presentation for an upcoming Sunday morning service.

13. Cooked for (and attended) a senior's luncheon held at the church.

14. Attended a viewing.

15. Did two pastoral visits with Steve.

16. Had dinner with a church family.

17. Spent several hours updating our music files—both computer based, and paper based.

18. Will be attending a day long conference about creativity in the church. (Sponsored by the church where the CF Husband is the music pastor.

The next two weeks are going to be especially interesting because we have ordered a new computer for our sound room. The current computer is about twelve years old and is not quite up to the task of handling all the multi-media/graphics tasks that we’ve been asking of it lately.

The computer is being custom built for our church by our friend, Wyatt and will also serve as my secretarial computer when I’m working at the church instead of working from home. I will no doubt be spending countless hours on it, learning all of its fun and challenging features--I am REALLY looking forward it.

So there you have it! Wasn’t that exciting?

And since that whole long post was the result of a question in the comments area, let me finish answering a few more of the questions that have been left lately.

Anonymous wrote, “Lesley Sansone (note: she is the fitness instructor I featured recently) is a wonderful instructor and her DVD’s are easy to follow.”

I have to agree with that! That picture I posted of her was taken from a DVD I actually own. I have done the workout several times and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get in better shape but doesn’t have the time, desire, or physical ability to do more demanding workouts. The DVD I bought came with an exercise band, which is a really nifty tool, and it also contains one, two, three and four mile walks all on one DVD.

Margie asked, “On your 30-day break from desserts, how much weight did you lose?”

Margie, I lost 3-4 pounds which I was pretty happy with considering that I didn’t get my exercise routine (the DVD I just referred to) going until the last week.

Lizz recommended the Biggest Loser DVD’s because they feature real people.

Lizz, that is a GREAT idea, and long overdue. I’ll keep my eyes open for them since I could use some exercise DVD variety.

And lastly (on a non-exercise subject) here's a comment that really made my day.

Jenna said, “I was just crying my eyes out after a really rough day when I read your post- thanks for cheering me up and bringing a smile to my face.”

Jenna, I am so glad to know you found a reason to smile on your tough day. I hope things are going better for you today!

Imponderable

Here is my imponderable question of the day.

Why is that when you purchase a fitness DVD to do at home, the picture on the cover always features a person who looks like this?

Is this picture supposed to somehow inspire me? Is it supposed to make me feel energized? Is it supposed to engender feelings of warmth and happiness? Hmmmm? WHAT is the purpose of that kind of photo?

And let me also ask you this imponderable question? Why is it that the workout included on the DVD unfailingly features a whole flock of other annoyingly thin ladies--in addition to Miss Twiggy on the cover? Just how is that supposed to make me feel motivated?

Why don't they put real people on the covers? Why don't they put real people in the demonstration? Real people like the model on this magazine cover?

There now. Don't you all feel better? Don't you feel inspired?

Can you see how the inspiration just oozes out of the model's face? Do you see how she is trying to burn into your brain the irrefutable truth that even the food you eat standing up contains calories? And even if you break a cookie in half before eating it, the fat grams don't fall out? And that consuming your child's leftover macaroni and cheese so it doesn't go to waste will still, um, make the macaroni go to "waist?"

These are the kinds of truths that the perfectly formed women on the covers of exercise DVDs are not capable of communicating. And that is why I believe that I may have a second career in being a fitness magazine model.

In fact, I'm quite certain that as soon as this magazine cover hits the Internet, my phone will be ringing with Fitness Modeling Offers. And if, for some odd reason, they don't think the picture on this particular cover is what they're looking for, I have more!

My own personal fashion/fitness photographer, the famous Sarah Smith, also took these photos last night.

I know beyond any doubt that you can not look at these photos and not be inspired to lose weight! And that knowledge makes me so very happy.

I am making a difference.

I am inspiring people around the world to eat healthy and get fit.

My fluffy (but happy) form on the front of fitness magazines may very well begin a revolution in the weight loss world.

It's a, um, heavy responsibility.

A Little Ol' Idea

Thanks to each one of you who commented after my "weepin' and wailin' 'bout weight" post yesterday. Your compassion, understanding, and wisdom were so therapeutic. (Not QUITE as therapeutic as Little Debbie's, of course, but very, very close.)

And in order to even more fully appreciate what you all said, I've taken an excerpt from each comment and am posting it below. The unifying theme in almost every entry is that we all struggle with many of the same issues, which I thought should be an encouragement to us all.

After the "comments" be sure to read down to the end where I have a little ol' idea for us to consider.

Without further ado . . . here are YOUR wonderful comments! (Also, if a commentor has a blog, I included the site address. However, for some strange reason, all the "clickable names" associated with links didn't change color like they were supposed to so you can just click on any name you're interested in to see if it links you to a blog.)

COMMENTS FROM YESTERDAY:
Becky, I am SO where you are...And like you, I know exactly how I put the weight back on that I had lost. I feel better just knowing someone else is in the same boat and I think it's time for me to get back out walking and eat better. I think we can both do it. We both did it once before! --Lesley

I know exactly how comforting those carbs and chocolate can be. --Leesa

I have yet to get back to our gym since doing my first triathlon this summer. Here's to getting back into training for all of us. --Sheri

I think most of us would be gaining a pants size or two ourselves if placed in the same situations. --Karen

I feel your pain. Several years ago I lost 50 lbs. I maintained that loss until I got pregnant. I gained 50 lbs. during my pregnancy. Don't be too hard on yourself, you're going through some major life changes. Me? No real excuse! --Melissa

Start by forgiving yourself. Then move on. Immediately. --Vickie

You go girl! You lost all of the weight last year and you are a carb junkie to boot! I am envious. That is my downfall too. I just love those carbs. I need to take off and keep off about 10 lbs and it is ever so difficult. --Catherine

I have about 70 lbs to loose to get to a comfortable weight but can't seem to not eat the bad food. --Angela

Exercise will help reduce your stress and help balance your emotions. It will be easier to get back in shape this time, it really will. You have only been out of the gym a month, you have not lost all the strength you have gained. --Min ("Min" is a trainer/nutritionist and left a lot of very helpful advice.)

Just try to guess how many women read your post, sighed, and said "ME TOO." Everyone likes to shout successes, yet we cower and hide from our slip outs. The thing is that we can't have one without the other! --Tess

So, you see, you wouldn't have these problems if you weren't so dang thin to begin with! (I'm not saying I'm really, really fat...but it looks as if I swallowed Little Debbie herself!) ---Sue

I just want to say that I agree with everyone here. Please don't be so hard on yourself. --Nancy (I couldn't get your website address to cooperate with a clickable link. However, you can access her page in my right side bar. )

A great side benefit of the exercise is all of those endorphins, which will even help lift some of the sadness. So, ya got ta move it, move it... and those clothes will fit well again in no time! --Pam

Becky, I do understand the 'call of the carbs' after such tumultuous days. It helps a lot to plug the holes that get poked into my high spirits! Kudos's to you for getting to the gym! Yippee! Myself, I am soo wimpy (and a little scared) to try it, so you are well ahead of me. --Regina

Oh gosh, I think we've all been there. (The "found pounds" and lost fitness, not everything else you're having to deal with). Lyndsay

I do empathise with the "dryer shrunk all my clothes" theory. I have thought that myself recently - but I am back with that exercise video - not as diligently as before - but it is a start - so, Becky, we are all in that waiting room with you again - only, thankfully, this waiting room is outside a gym!!! --Mary

And finally, an intriguing idea from Anna . . .

Maybe there are people who would like to organize a work out buddy system on the Internet. We could all post our goals for the week and then report how well we did. (We would all have to be honest) :)

I don't have anyone to work out with so this might make me more accountable. We could also have a buddy to whom we can send encouraging messages. I don't think we should focus on the weight loss, but instead the achievement of working out. If we work out, the weight will come off.

What do you think of that idea?

Here are a few thoughts I had:

The area in the right column called "My Community" gets a little bit of use, but not much. There is a very active discussion group over at MckMama's site that draws thousands of participants and so it's a great place to go to involved with a lot of input and discussion.

However, rather than reinventing the wheel and trying to build an active discussion group here, we could use the area instead for a support group forum for people who are not just trying to lose weight but also make make healthy living choices in general.

If you'd like, we could give it a try for a predetermined length of time, let's say until October 1. If there is enough interest to keep it going, we will. If not, well, it will have been fun to try!

So I need to hear from you whether or not you're interested and if so, what sorts of categories I should set up. Here are some ideas. Can you think of others or can you think of something you'd like to change on these?

• Healthy recipes

• Good books/resources that are especially helpful

• Things you're struggling with right now in the fitness/health area

• Things you're proud of about yourself in that area. (I'll brag on myself here: yesterday we went to a movie and I cut up an apple and put it in my purse. I ate that instead of my usual Peanut M&M's and it even tasted good to me. Hurray!)

• How much weight and/or inches you've lost in the last week/month

• Workout/fitness goals

• General inspiration/information

Please chime in and let me know if this is something you'd like to try. I tend to get the feeling that many of us are in the same boat and could use an encouraging sisterhood to keep us accountable and rejoice with us when we succeed. (And give us a virtual hug when we don't.)

Thanks for stopping by and, again, thank you for all your encouraging comments yesterday.

My Torpid Turtle-esque Self

Honesty.

Not so much fun.

Especially when it has to do with me. And my weight. And my discipline. Or the lack thereof.

Last year I lost thirty pounds, which was a wonderful and rewarding thing to do.

And for about fifteen minutes during that period of time, I actually dropped down to a size ten, from a size fourteen! Which was also wonderful and rewarding.

Unfortunately, my "ten-ness" was severely compromised by the arrival of Christmas. It's hard to maintain any consistent smallness when Christmas concoctions and fabulous fudge start showing up regularly in the vicinity of one's person.

So I went pretty quickly back up to a size twelve which I was really okay with. I'd rather be a size twelve and be happy than struggle and starve and be miserable trying to be a size ten.

And I've done really well maintaining that weight for almost a whole year, an accomplishment which I am quite proud of.

However, a few weeks ago I started getting just a wee bit lackadaisical about going to the gym because, as I whined to myself, going to the gym just wasn't fun. (Pitiful, I know.)

And then we traveled out of town to Nag's Head and Manteo and and I ate a lot of yummy beach food while we were there.

From the beach, I left almost immediately for Wisconsin to be at my Dad's side as he passed away and to attend his funeral. And I ate a lot of yummy "family gathering" food while I was there.

And then we flew home and we were in three airports and I ate a lot of yummy airport food while I was there.

And then? Well, then I got home and a fabulous, famous food group called Comfort Carbs and Calories started calling my name. And so I've been heating a lot of yummy comfort foods while I've been here.

And you've probably already guessed the rest of the story.

The rest of the story is that a few pounds have come back for a visit. In fact, earlier this week I was getting dressed and I thought, "Wow! These pants have really shrunk in the dryer."

Except of course, the pants hadn't shrunk. The problem was that I had shrunk earlier in the year and then unfortunately neglected to do any unshrinking.

And so yesterday I somberly headed out to Goodwill to purchase a couple pair of slightly roomier carpi's to get me through this temporary unshrunken state.

Not so fun.

Something else that wasn't so fun was going to the gym on Tuesday for the first time in a month.

I sat down on that little torture machine which is supposed to work the inner and outer thighs. (Not that my inner and outer thighs need any work, mind you.) I did one little 'ol rep and stopped dead in my tracks. I looked at the weights to make sure they were set at the lowest weight possible.

They were.

Then I looked to see if anyone had hung an additional weight on the machine, which people do sometimes do when they need a "half way" setting between two weight choices.

They hadn't.

I sat there and pondered some unhappy ponderments.

A month ago, I could do fifteen reps at that low weight and now I could barely do five?

Not a good thing.

I also made a heroic attempt to do my pre-treadmill stretches which was really pretty funny, in a nonfunny sort of way. The stretches I used to do fairly easily in the past were now throwing me into great contortions of flinging and flailing. There was not one part of my body that was willing to bend, flex, or stretch, no matter how nicely I asked.

After I had spent a mere five minutes on the treadmill, going at a pace that very closely resembled the torpidity of a turtle, I felt like I was going to fall over, pass out, and/or have a nonfit fitness fit, right there in front of everybody.

And the day following my pitiful, mini non-workout? I felt woefully weak and wobbly all over, as if I had just complete the world's most difficult Triathlon after having climbed Mt. Everest.

And yet as hard as it is to work out at the gym, I do know that staying home and eating Little Debbie's is obviously not a solution. (Although I think that somewhere in a more perfect world, it really SHOULD be a solution.)

I told Steve how discouraging it was and he said to look at it another way. He said, "At least you know that when you exercise it makes a difference, because you can tell such a big difference when you don't!"

Which is true. But I still don't feel terribly encouraged.

I just mainly feel terrible.

I'm still dealing with Dad's death, still bursting into tears for no reason whatsoever, still longing for my pj's, still hankering after creamy, comforting carbs and yet STILL trying desperately to get a grip on stuff so that poor choices don't completely short circuit whatever good health I have remaining. With major inflexibility issues, muscle weakness, and lung disease, I really do need to stay as fit as I possibly can.

Of course, in addition to those aforementioned challenges, I have a huge life change coming up that will affect where I live, what friends I have, what friends Sarah will have, what house I will live in, my husband's ministry and career, our finances, and just about anything else you can imagine. (Not to mention the wonderful challenge of homeschooling my lovely daughter.)

Obviously, there's been a lot on my plate recently. Um. Both figuratively and literally.

So that's my confession for the day. I've lost muscle tone. I've lost strength. I've lost flexibility.

However, if we want to instead focus on what I have found, then I will tell you that I have found six pounds. Yup! I just turned around and there they were!

If any of you reading this morose missive today should have any words of wisdom, or encouragement, or cheer--or even a recipe for a low cal item of comfort-- I would be most grateful.

In the meantime, I shall take my torpid, turtle-esque self away and engage in some sort of terrific, torpid, turtle-esque activity. (Do turtles eat Little Debbie cakes?)