A Nine Day Adventure...Part Three: All play on Labor Day...

The main reason for this particular trip south was so that we could lend childcare for Deacon (4 1/2) and Owen (2 1/2) while our son and daughter-in-law went for a 4 day pastoral assessment in Greenville, NC, two hours from their home. On Monday, Andy really needed some time alone to do some preparations for it as they would be there from Wednesday through Saturday. So he took off for a local coffee shop, and Ellie and the rest of us went apple picking! Ellie knew of a place closeby called Skytop Orchard, which is literally at the top of a mountain!

Here are some of my favorite photos from that day:

I kid you not...this is the view we could see as we looked out across the apple orchard!

Granpda pulling the kids in the wagon as we head for the trees...

There were plenty apples within easy reach for the kids...this is Deacon...

I think Owen must have eaten three or four of them...

Deacon has no idea I caught him doing THIS!

Deacon snapped this picture of me!

It's so cute the way they were holding onto our loot while being pulled on the bumpy path...

I later turned some of these apples into a delicious pie!

The apple orchard also had a small barnyard for the kids to enjoy...

We caught up with Andy for a late lunch at this cute little place called Hubba Hubba in Flat Rock, NC, and had barbeque outside on a picnic table before returning to the Love Shack to do some relaxing.

In the evening, we all took a 1/2 mile walk around this pretty lake that is on the Bonclarken Conference Center grounds.

Next ~~ We take some time for ourselves before the 24/7 child care begins, and enjoy a visit to Carl Sandburg's home.

(Note: Five Aspects of Woman Series in progress at my other blog,www.mistressofmydomain.blogspot.comScroll back to Aug. 29 and read forward)

Diet update...

I just happened to notice that it has been a month since I posted about my eating plan and the first 10 pounds of weight loss. That was then, this is now.

I'm learning some things, and I'm not giving up. But I am a bit frustrated.

A couple of weeks ago I went out and bought a new bathroom scale and even though it read about a pound higher than the scale at my doctor's office, it was consistent and had nice large, bright red numbers. I'd never had one of these digital LED scales before, and I found it a little too fun to use.

That's right. I became addicted to weighing myself. I was waking up several times during the night and went straight to the bathroom scale. It was ridiculous but I couldn't help myself.

Then suddenly, after one week, my new scale died. I tried a new battery. I did everything the instruction sheet told me to do. I went to the manufacturer's website and followed even more directions. Things went from bad to worse. Finally they told me I could mail the scale back and they would replace it. I hope to do that this week. I have no idea how much I weigh!

And that is probably a good thing...for now. I doubt that I have lost any more weight, by the feel of my clothes. I'm hoping I have "maintained". I think I need to eat more.

More?? Yes. Ever since I lost the first 10 pounds and my appetite got more under control, I haven't been eating like I did the first month. I've often been skipping breakfast and sometimes just munching on celery sticks and peanut butter during the day. Then I am really hungry by suppertime and tend to overeat at that meal. This is not a good thing. I do fear that I have plateaued with the weight loss. I've heard about the "starvation" effect that can happen when dieting, where the metabolism slows down and I'm wondering if my body is refusing to let go of my extra fat because I'm not feeding it as regularly? And if I start eating regularly again, will I gain back even more fat, a la the famed "yo-yo" diet thing?

So, starting TODAY, I am going to do the same thing I did the first month when I was losing consistently. Slowly, but consistently. I will go back to regularly eating breakfast and lunch minus carbs. Then I will eat a normal supper but with smaller portions. I will also not indulge in a dessert every night, and will replace that sweet thing with fresh fruit more often than not.

I'm still drinking my water and moving around more and easier than before I started this, but not as much as I did the first month. So I need to return to concentrating on that as well.

How am I doing psychologically and spiritually regarding all of this? I'm a bit fearful. I'm fearing failure because I expected the second month to be as easy as the first month. I'm annoyed with myself that I became so obsessed with weighing myself. I'm scared that as fall is here and winter will follow, that I will not be outside moving around as much and will have a set-back because of it.

I really don't have the time or money to join Curves or a community fitness center. So I need to find something physical to do that I will enjoy until I can be outside more next spring. I definitely cannot afford to go six months of the year without exercise.

I will miss these days, but I am determined to find something else to do until they return.

I also am going to return to keeping a diary of what I am eating/doing and tracking what works and what doesn't work. This will require some discipline.

When I get my scale replaced, I will weigh myself once each morning and take an average of my weight for the week to use as my measure of how much I weigh.

Here are some of the Scripture verses that I will be concentrating on:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philipians 4:13

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and SELF-CONTROL." Galatians 5:22-23

"Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you." Psalm 37:5

Woman: from the man and for the man? Are you kidding?

FIVE ASPECTS OF WOMAN series in progress at my other blog. Please start with the August 29, 2010 post and read forward. And be blessed...

A Nine day adventure... part two: Sunday

Here we are having our

breakfast in the beautiful

conference center's dining room. It was great not to have to wander around looking for a place to eat.

Our son suggested a nearby church we would enjoy visiting where his friend is the pastor. It was only a few miles away so we did just that...

We love beautiful, old downtown church buildings...

And especially when they house a thriving congregation...

We were delighted to find it was a communion Sunday, and since we arrived early, I took a picture of this beautiful scene. God's people are where you find them, and we sat next to a friendly woman whose name, appropriately, was "Dixie"!

After church, we stopped at a local grocery and bought enough food to last a couple of days. Andy's family would arrive in the mid afternoon, and I made us a simple spaghetti supper. It had been two months since we saw each other, so we just flopped out for a while at the Love Shack...

and then found our way to the North Carolina Apple Festival, which is held every Labor Day weekend in Hendersonville...

It was a beautiful day with mild temperatures in the '70's and a hint of fall in the air, which the locals were delighting in after a summer of unrelenting heat. We sampled yummy apples, apple slushes, fried apple pies, and visted all kinds of vendor booths. The festival sprawled up and down Main Street, and was a bunch of good, down-home fun!

Next ~~ all play on Labor Day!

(Note: Five Aspects of Woman Series in progress at my other blog,www.mistressofmydomain.blogspot.com Scroll back to Aug. 29 and read forward)

A nine day adventure...part one: The Love Shack

We'd been planning a trip to South Carolina to visit our kids and grandkids there...but we had no agenda other than being with them...and we knew we would be watching the two kids and the dog for four of those days as their parents went away to a church-related event. Our son, being a new but very personable pastor, has a lot of connections, and he asked a church member if we could use his little "love shack" in the mountains for the Labor Day weekend. Apparently he loans it out frequently and Andy and Ellie have used it before. Now what are the chances it would be available for the last summer holiday of the year? But it was, and the owner graciously loaned it to us!

The private property we would use is located on the grounds of a conference center that is owned by our son's denomination. It is called "Bonclarken," which, according to Andy, is a "made up" Latin compound word: Bon (good) clar (clear) ken (vision). It is located in Flat Rock, N.C. (Apparently there are two "Flat Rocks" in N.C. -- this one is up in the Blue Ridge Mountains and it took us 10 hours to drive there.) We depended on Dora, our faithful GPS, to get us there, and she did!

We turned onto the road and saw this inviting view...

And then we saw this beautiful sign:

It really was quite a "treasure hunt" as we were told the key to the house would be in an envelope with our name on it, tacked to a bulletin board in a hallway outside the offices of the conference center.

We found it with no problem, and to our surprise, tucked inside was a map of the grounds, and two tickets that our son had provided for us for Sunday morning breakfast at the conference center dining room. There were a couple of retreats going on, and and so there was a buffet available.

We had no idea what to expect, and we were on our own Saturday night as Andy and his family would meet up with us on Sunday afternoon. (It is a two hour drive from their home in Rock Hill, S.C.) We certainly didn't expect to open the door and see such a beautiful, immaculate place that was graciously loaned to us, strangers, for three nights!

I fell in love with this antique bed as soon as I saw it, so this was the bedroom we choose to use. There was also a loft with a queen bed, and a finished basement with bunk beds for the kids.

So after the long drive and getting our things into the house, we drove out to a fast food place to get some supper and got back before it was totally dark. It was all pretty surreal.

Next ~ Sunday morning breakfast & church, Andy's family arrives, and the Hendersonville Apple Festival!

(Note: Five Aspects of Woman Series in progress at my other blog, www.mistressofmydomain.blogspot.com. Scroll back to Aug. 29 and read forward)

The redeemed mistress...

Five Aspects of Woman Series in progress and can be found here. I'd love to know you are reading along...please leave a comment!

The harder I work, the behinder I get..

Read all about it here. Five Aspects of Woman series in progress at my other blog, www.mistressofmydomain.blogspot.com. Hope you have time to read it and I'd love your feedback! Scroll back to Aug. 29 and read forward.