Another vote for a bearded dragon!

That is fantastic!!! Congratulations!

Eagle, I'm so sorry to hear that your ankle is hurting again! Yeah, pavement is brutal. I walk on pavement for my warmup, but then I'm on dirt trails for my actual run. When we chose this house, my husband's #1 criterion was that it had to be within easy walking distance of this particular open space area. It didn't mean that much to me at the time, but now I'm glad that he was so insistent! Trails through a forest sound so nice! I'm not in forest, but desert. Are you worried about wild animals, or about being isolated, or . . . ? It can be a little nerve-wracking to do it alone. The open space area where I run is still surrounded by city on three sides! It's not isolated at all. That has advantages and disadvantages. I don't worry about wild animals, but human animals can be a problem. A woman was brutally attacked there a few months ago. I don't think they ever caught the guy. :-( I walked my running route this week, and my ankle felt just fine doing that. I'm going to TRY running again tomorrow, though I'm not sure if it's too soon. I was thinking that instead of jumping back into Week 6 (which is when I got hurt) I would start over with Week 1, but work through the weeks faster this time. We'll see. I think I'll just have to play it by ear. I see a lot of jackrabbits, roadrunners, and quail where I run. This week I got to see a coyote. :) I've seen them in the distance many times, but this one was only about 15 or 20 feet away, and was quite startled to see me!

Thank you for this! I got sidetracked this week and didn't read the book as planned. Obviously I need to pick it up again. :)

I would really like to thank everyone for the thoughtful and insightful replies, and to thank Quill for starting this conversation in the first place. This is a really interesting and helpful discussion. This is something I have struggled with, something I will no doubt continue to struggle with, and it is helpful first of all simply to know that others have similar struggles, but also to hear the wisdom that has been offered here. T.Wells mentioned that the Orthodox view is that not all passages of the Bible carry equal weight, and I wanted to say how absolutely liberating that realization has been for me. The Gospels are the pinnacle, so to speak, and when I read them I feel closer to Christ, I love him more deeply. So, I read them! The OT stories don't always have the same effect on me - some do, some don't. They are more problematic. So I don't read them with anywhere near the same frequency that I read the gospels. And I have to read them concurrently with commentary and interpretation. And even so, I struggle. And you know, I think that's okay. A few random thoughts... Regarding the story of Noah's Ark, this one was actually the first story which had troubled me as a child, that "clicked" for me as an adult. First of all, as a child I was taught it was literally, historically, factually true, and as an adult I do not believe that to be the case at all. I think it's very clearly allegorical or metaphorical - though I realize not all other adults think that and I'm not trying to offend anyone. Anyway, point is, I firmlly believe that this story is about baptism. I think that the story is trying to tell us something very similar to what St. Paul tried to tell us about sin, death, and baptism in Romans chapter 6. Regarding how God "hardened" Pharoah's heart, I once heard it explained this way. Think of God (God Himself, God's love, God's presence) as heat. Heat affects different substances very differently: the same heat that will harden clay into brittle ceramic will soften gold into something malleable. Some of us will respond to God by softening, by allowing Him to reshape us. Some of us will become hardened, resistant. The choice is entirely ours. I haven't tackled Job yet. :) Or lots of the others mentioned. When I do, it will be with the help of Orthodox commentary and interpretation, because I know that (accompanied by lots of prayer) is the only way that I will have any hope of understanding them!

Yes! I was going suggest simply reading the gospels and praying the Psalms, repeat as needed, until you feel you are ready for more.

This is something that I am really struggling with! My closet is about half clothes and shoes, and half stuff that I never touch. The "stuff" is items that were given to me by people that I love, some of whom are no longer living. The items themselves apparently don't mean that much to me, because I have them in bins in my closet and I never deal with them in any way. But the thought of getting rid of that stuff tears me up! The things are so strongly tied to the person. I think I'm going to "practice" KonMari-ing my unemotional things first, ordinary stuff like clothing and kitchen utensils, before I even attempt to ask myself which of those items truly spark joy. Beyond that, I'm honestly not sure what to do, or how to approach it.

Yeah . . . I read the gospels over and over and over. And I informally study the epistles one at a time, but I'm not very consistent with it so I haven't made much progress. I like reading about the lives of saints, too. But the OT doesn't speak to me.

I was under the impression that temporarily raised cholesterol levels during weight loss was quite common. The layman's explanation going something like: fat is being "freed up" from the adipose tissue to be burned, and that means it has to float around in your bloodstream for a bit until it is burned. I've heard that you should recheck your levels about three months after you've reached your goal weight.

It annoys me too. It's a bad policy, because things do get lost. It's a bad policy because I paid $$$$ for that lab test and I'm entitled to the results!!!

Well, it feels just fine when I'm NOT running. :) I'm going to just walk the workouts this week and see how that goes. I'm very hesitant to seek medical attention, because we've used up the money in our HSA, but haven't met our deductible yet, so everything is out of pocket. :( So for now, I'm going to walk, do foot circle exercises, use compression bandages, and see how that goes. If that doesn't help, then I think I will have no choice but to shell out the $$$ for medical help. Thank you, Stacia, and everyone, for the concern and support! You guys are the best!

kbutton, thank you so very much for the information and resources! This is a wonderful help.

Last week I had an out of town guest visiting, and then we did some local traveling together. I did terrible regarding the diet. But I got back on track yesterday, and hope to maintain that today.

:grouphug: You *are* allowed to be frustrated, and upset, and tired, and human. I know it's hard. I know that I constantly test my husband's and my daughter's patience. I know that I frustrate and disappoint them. It just plain sucks.

I would appreciate any book recommendations that you might have! :)

I don't know if I have ADD, but I do know that I'm the most forgetful and scatter-brained person that I know. Seriously, it scares me how quickly I forget things. My husband has even, lovingly, asked me, "just what is it you're thinking about when you're not thinking about what you should be thinking about?" The problem is, I don't even remember, so I have no answer! :lol: I agree, post-it notes don't really work, because they just become part of the background as soon as they're not new and novel anymore. One thing that helps me personally, though I have no idea if this would work for anyone else, is to tie my routine to a number. For example, when leaving the house, my number is 4, because there's four things I have to do: grab my keys, grab my purse, make sure the back doors are closed and locked (my dogs have a tendency to push them open when they're not locked) and check my tote bag (this is where I will put things such as library books that I need to take out the next time I go). His number and his routine will be different of course, but for whatever reason, having that number helps me. When I put my hand on the door to leave, if I haven't already, I remember the number 4 and mentally go through my list of four items. I don't understand, though, how he's leaving his wallet at places other than home. When checking out at the grocery store, for example, my wallet stays in my hand during the payment process, then goes back into my purse when I'm done. There's no opportunity for me to leave it, because I'm not setting it down anywhere. So finding out *how* that is happening might help prevent it from happening again. I have to be almost obsessive about little routines and habits or I forget important things completely. My keys go on a little rack by the door the moment I walk in. I don't allow myself to leave that area until the keys are hanging on the rack, otherwise I will wander somewhere and set them down and think of something else, and then have no idea where I left them when I need them. My husband has a different spot, but still a designated spot where he puts keys, wallet, and cell phone when he gets home. Having everything that your husband needs when he leaves the house gathered into one place can really help. And he has to make it a habit to put all of that stuff in that designated place as soon as he gets home. Not "in a minute" but right when he walks in the door! That's all I can think of at the moment, and I don't know if it's helpful. I can imagine how hard it must be to live with someone with this problem. It's no picnic being the person with the problem either. :)

Thank you both for the advice!

I tried to restart today (after a rest, after an ankle injury) but it didn't go so well. The ankle started hurting again almost immediately, not badly, but enough to worry me. So by the time I finished my first interval, I decided I'd better just walk the rest of the way. :( Not sure what to do.

I've only read the first little part of the book, so I'm sure others are better able to answer than I am. But already it does strike me as very different from FlyLady and Motivated Moms (both of which I have tried). FL and MM are both built on routines/schedules. KonMari strikes me more like setting up your space in a way that it practically takes care of itself. It seems like it's going to be more about a philosophy of how you view your home and your things, and less about "how to" on a daily basis. I think I'm not explaining this well, but I would encourage you to read the book and see what you think. From what I've seen so far, I think it's quite different.

I received the book and am starting to read it now. I've been keeping up with this thread, too. Very encouraging! I appreciate all of the posts. :)

Is the new week's thread up yet?

Maybe I'm crazy too, then. :) I don't place too much value on the 'hearing it from me first' concept. What I do value is that we have the kind of relationship where she will come to me with questions, because she trusts me. And what I value even more is her having enough self-confidence and a healthy enough sense of boundaries to stand up for herself and say no when she wants to. I don't know to what extent the latter one is true, but I do very strongly believe that it's about a hundred million times more valuable than her hearing about a concept for the first time from me. And I realize no one is arguing otherwise -- I'm just "thinking out loud". And I think that the ability to resist pressure from others is the key here, and not merely that the others are the source of the information.

Joanne, I typed my post before I saw your most recent one, so please know that was just general thoughts, not a response to your thoughts in particular. I appreciate and agree with your post.

That would be the full extent of any conversation that I would have with my dd on that particular topic, right there. I do not see the need for any more than that. Like I said before, I want to give my dd the info that she needs for her health and her safety, and I endeavor to do that in a sex-positive way, and I will answer any questions that she has to the best of my ability. But do *I* personally really need to be the conveyer of ALL THE FACTS? I really don't think so. Frankly, I'm glad that my parents weren't! There were a lot of things that I learned from and with my partner, and I rather liked it that way. There was joy and such intimacy in that. I know I'm not articulating this well, but I think there are limits to what a parent needs to say. I don't intend to say all the things. I hope to say just enough of the things to give her a healthy, safe, happy start in her adult life, and leave the rest to her to discover in the context of a loving relationship.

I only meant that I would not feel the least bit put out or upset by a guest bringing their exchange student, because that's what I would expect them to do. I wasn't thinking about the other aspect of it, but I agree that giving a heads-up to a host who might not realize you have a new resident in your home is a good idea!