Like sands through the hour glass...

...so are the days of our lives. Well, at least that sand seems to move faster than the last two weeks has for us! Since when did I become an early riser? At first, it was jet lag, but even now that I'm sleeping all night, even going to bed earlier if I'm tired, I am still waking up before 5 a.m. I half wonder if those jack hammers aren't a part of it. Although they are to the north of us now, I swear I can feel the vibration of them in my body in the early morning hours. This morning it was 4:40 a.m. when I woke up. I managed to go back to sleep although I have watched too many Friends episodes lately and Phoebe's damn song, Smelly Cat, keeps running through my head! I hate when you can't get a song out of your head!!

On Sunday, I woke up quite early (4 a.m.) and decided to go for a walk...the humidity was down, it was a cool 84 degrees.....and then when I got back, I decided I wasn't going to just "think" about doing yoga anymore. I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired all the time, not just bored! So, I found some yoga online and practiced it and did it. I went to Spark People again and signed up and got busy on a diet and fitness regimen. Today is day 4. All I can say is that the yoga feels pretty good. I can hear and feel the vertebrae cracking in my back when I stretch and feel the muscles stretching....they are sore at first, but then the next time, they are more flexible. Flexible is good. So, I'm going to try and keep it up. Tracking what I eat has been a huge eye opener. But I'm developing strategies for eating when I'm hungry, not bored, and eating only until I'm full and then stopping. I'm amazed at how much I've been eating when I wasn't really even hungry!!
My blood sugars are staying steady, even though I am still eating a lot of carbs. Go figure!!! I thought I'd have to cut carbs completely out of my life! So far, so good....I've lost the water that made me swell like a balloon and drinking plenty of water has helped me flush a lot out of my system. I'm trying to lose 20 pounds before I go home again in January. :)

On a sad note, my brother died last week, We've been expecting it for awhile. I went home in April of 2009 when it looked like he wouldn't make it. He made it alright! So, I got to see him several more times. He was a grumpy older brother and I was the baby sister who could never do anything right and basically annoyed the hell out of him. But he was still my big brother, and my cowboy hero (even though I wanted to punch his lights out more than once), and I will carry all fond memories of him with me.

I will start teaching again Sunday and I can't wait! I have been so bored. There is only so much reading and researching a teacher can do without her students. :) I am sure life will get hectic, and I am a bit worried about keeping up this new diet/fitness routine, but I prefer hectic to watching the sand in the hourglass, which is sort of what I've been feeling like lately....the bright spots in our days are when we have e-mails from friends or family or when we can chat or Skype with the kids and grandkids. Kayla has started back to school (1st grade) and has started a kids' soccer league and she just bubbles with her news. Mykenzie has started talking up a storm and is so enthralled with her papa. She likes to see me, too, but if Papa gets up to go do something else, she wants to know where he is. :) She's so cute. I don't get much of a chance to Skype with my peanut boy, Justin. I hope that will change, but you can only pester a busy parent so much, I guess. :) And since Jenny is probably too busy to read my blog, that won't change anytime soon.

In any case, please write. Please call. Please chat. I'll be back after classes start with all my news!