Today Is My New Year's Day

Wow!  It has been almost a year since my last post. First, I am hoping to set aside all shame and blame of the past year. Yes, I am another 20 pounds more than my last post, but I refuse to give up. Second, I am planning to enjoy a healthier happier life...starting now.

Happy New Year!

I am not waiting for a magical date to start changing my life. Let's just say today is my New Year's Day!  I just entered my last year as a 40-something and I confess I might be having a bit of mid-life crisis.  What am I doing with my life?  Why am I putting off doing what needs to be done to enjoy a more healthy and happy life?

The new year usually brings a list of goals and resolutions. I have some thoughts I am mulling over. Some may turn into resolutions of sorts. However, I do have a concrete overall goal...to get out there and live a healthier and happier life. Do I have to be a certain weight to be happy? Of course not. But I can tell you my current weight is NOT my happy weight. It isn't the number on the scale dictating how I feel - it is the lack of energy, flexibility and stamina; it is the money wasted on fast food and clothes in bigger sizes; it is the embarrassment I feel at how I have treated my body; it is the lack of confidence I feel around people....and the list goes on.

That being said expect to see the scope of Losing My Puppy expand. The changes I want to make are definitely not limited to physical issues. Other areas I will be tackling and perhaps including in the blog....crafting (finishing quilts), organizing (a gazillion digital pics is one project), reading more, perhaps a volunteer gig and finances (hoping to buy a house next year).  know I have said this many times, but there is so much more to health than diet and exercise. I have toyed with the idea of changing the blog name, but I not doing that at this time. Losing My Puppy has so much history and I not sure I can give it up. A new blog name would have to be an obvious perfect fit. Decision making is one of my challenges along with a good dose of "it has to be perfect". So instead of letting a detail like a blog's name distract me. I will write/share what I feel and if the time or inspiration \comes to make a name change, I will.

Big News Since Last Post

Obviously I can't go back and recap the past year, but there is one piece of news that can't be overlooked. We are back in contact with our little foster daughter.  See this post from last year for a recap of our foster care experience. Just about 2 weeks after my last post we got a call from DCFS that our little sidekick was back in DCFS care and would be like to foster here again. I have never felt so many simultaneous emotions - thrilled to see her again and furious about the circumstances. We could not stay yes fast enough. Then we were elated when we were told she would be available for adoption. She could be ours forever. I will never forget the day in the garden when she made a dandelion wish...."I wish I could stay here forever." However, a few weeks later, we learned that her grandmother wanted her and grandmothers trump foster parents. We were devastated all over again. She remained with us for three months while everything was ironed out to move her to grandmother's care. Thankfully, our experience since has been completely different than our experience with mom. Her grandmother has placed a great value on the continued relationship with us. We talk to our little sidekick on the phone once or twice a week and she visits us for a weekend about every 6 weeks. In fact, she was just with us for a five day visit and brought one of her new "brothers" (grandmother has 6 boys living with her - some kin and others adopted). We had a great time together - highlights include building a time machine and an epic water fight.

I think our hearts have finally healed enough that we are once again considering a new placement. We have had numerous calls, but so far the timing or age of particular children have not fit.

First Things First

My first goal is to get back to tracking food. I have deleted and restarted MyFitnessPal. It would be forever before MFP would acknowledge weight loss since I've gained everything and then some. I decided on a fresh start. If you want to check me out....Hollyanna71718.

Did some fridge cleaning and grocery shopping yesterday. Grilled a big batch of veggies and chicken breast for lunches. Here we go...

Zucchini, peppers and 2 different kinds of eggplant. Eggplant is growing on me.