Friends

I have been doing a lot of thinking about friends and the art of having a successful friendship.  I have found that as we grow older, friendships are harder to keep and new friends are hard to come by.  

When we were younger, our relationships were somewhat "forced" because we were stuck in the institution of school and we either got along with people or we were loners during recess, lunch, sporting events, weekends, etc.  As adults, we are in a similar situation with our jobs and our co-workers.  However, now we must all get along, whether we like it or not.  Outside the doors of work, there is a whole world that can be kept completely separate.

Some of us have friends that we have carried from childhood into adulthood and they are our sounding boards, our social buddies and our friends for life.  Many people, like my self, have gained friends and lost friends through re-locations, marriages, relationships, divorces, starting a family, etc.  Everything that life throws at us is a potential deal-breaker for a friendship.  

For many of us, as adults, we are so busy with our lives, being parents and spouses, that we simply don't have time for friends.  Of course, there are different situations and many people find a very happy balance between all of their responsibilities to everyone.


My husband and I were talking about friendships just the other night.  I explained to him that it is hard to find that "perfect" friend who will fulfill all of our friendship needs.  I told him that I have many acquaintances that I have different things in common with.  When we speak, it is always about our common interests and experiences.  Sometimes our conversations are light and friendly and other times, they can be deep and emotional.  It just depends on the common ground that you share with one another.  Are these people that I would hang out with or spend time together?  Probably not.  But that's okay.  We are both getting from each other what we need.  If the occasion arose for us to do something together, at least we have that history we can build on.

In all of our lives, there comes a time when either our kids have gone off to college, we may have switched jobs or we may have suffered a loss in our marriage, that we feel all alone and we need someone to turn to.  This is when I believe in the phrase, "Everything Happens For A Reason".  People are brought into our lives at the most unique and unexpected times and they serve a purpose.  I truly believe this.


Occasionally, I meet a really interesting person and we hit it off.  This may be my new hairstylist, the teller at the bank, the nurse at my doctor's office or my children's teacher.  When I meet them, I think about how nice it is to talk to them and since we seem to get along, I wonder if they could be a potential friend.  But as an adult, I don't know how to expand on our casual conversations without sounding like a stalker.  It reminds me of the funny comedy, "I Love You Man!".  What if the person you are trying to friend thinks you are hitting on them?  What if they reject your offers to get together?  I can think of all sorts of "what if's" that make me timid to pursue anything.  


Why can't it be as easy as jumping in the sandbox and saying, "Will you be my friend?".

Movie Review - Horrible Bosses

My fourteen-year old daughter and I decided to go see "Horrible Bosses" this weekend.  Since viewing the movie trailers for the last couple of months, I was really excited to see this movie.  The cast, the previews and the story line all appealed to me.  But, leave it to Hollywood to ruin yet another movie by showing too many good parts in their trailer.  I guess I should not use the word "ruin".  This is harsh.  The movie was still funny, entertaining and I am glad I went.  However, I found that all the really funny parts were shown in the previews.


I was a little worried that my daughter may see and hear too much adult "stuff" but I did not find it to be any more embarrassing than watching some television shows with her.  Other than Jennifer Aniston showing some cleavage and wearing lingerie, there was no nudity.

The cast was great!  Justin Bateman, as always, does a great job at playing the "uptight" friend.  Charlie Day stole the show as the "sex offender" who got his title because he urinated, at night, in a playground, next to a bar.  Through the movie, there are several references to this and I feel he was surprisingly funny, for an actor that I had not seen before.   Jason Sudeikis was funny, but I had a hard time believing that he was such the "ladies man" they made him out to be.  Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey and Colin Ferrel were the "Horrible Bosses" and were so believable, I wanted to kill them!  It was awesome seeing hunky Colin Ferrel in such a nerdy role.  Jennifer was such a man-eater and Mr. Spacey always does a good job in whatever he does.  I must also mention Jamie Foxx as Mr. Motherf..... .  He was so funny as the original hitman they hired to wack the bosses.


Overall, this movie is funny and worth seeing.  What did you think?

Today's Meditation - Control

This meditation is perfect for me.  I am forever trying to control everyone and everything - it's just my nature.  I need to work on this.

The essence of surrender is a recognition that you can't control everything.  In fact, there is very little you can control.  Give up trying to control everything and you will feel a giant weight fall off your shoulders.  Give up some of your worries to your higher power, your inner sense of wholeness, the deeper self that has intuitive wisdom and perfect peace.

Say to yourself: I am part of a whole that is larger than me and also present in me.

~Afternoon Affirmations

The Dukan Diet - Day Four

The Dukan Diet  - Day Four - Phase One - Attack


I woke up this morning eager to see how much weight I lost because I really felt that yesterday was a day of weight shedding.  To my disappointment, I had not lost any weight :(  Maybe it skips a day?


I was really depressed because my kids left to go to their dad's and I did not have plans.  Usually, I would plan my day around eating out and enjoying myself.  However, since I felt like I could not eat anything, I figured I would just go back to bed and sleep the day away.  A few hours later, I realized this was a waste of a perfectly good day off of work.


I got up and opened the refrigerator.  Seeing all that food from yesterday's shopping trip was irritating me.  By now, I usually would have sampled at least one of everything in the fridge.  Instead, I decided to consolidate some of the food into smaller containers and I began cooking sauces, dressings and other yummy looking recipes from my Duakan Diet book.  This made me happy as I discovered some tasty stuff that would help me get through my diet.  I am excited to try them with different meals and they were really easy to make.

The rest of the day pretty much went down hill :(  I was hungry all day.  While I lounged around I ate a lot of food.  I believe my two worst decisions was eating Sherbert and having more lemon juice with salt.  I felt that because the Sherbert was fat free that it would be okay, but the problem was the sugar that was in it.  Also, I guess because I knew I could not have salt, I wanted it even more.

So, today, being the fifth day of the diet will be my last for now.  I actually gained a few pounds back and throughout all of this, I have only lost one pound.  The first three days I was gun-hoe but found by day four, it was tough, especially being home for the weekend.  


Do I feel like a failure?  Yeah, kind of!  But, I did good for 3 days at least and I saw where I made my mistakes, and they are easy to fix.  Perhaps next time I try this, I will start on a Monday and I will also make sure to plan it around my female cycle.  Until next time.....

Hey, are you missing something?

 

I often wonder about the "one shoe" I see laying off to the side of the road or in the middle of the street.  

Why is there just one?

Hey, is someone missing this?

Where was the shoe before it became abandoned?  

Did it's owner just not like that shoe? 

Is someone out there walking around with only one shoe?

It's one of those things that make me go, mmmm........

The Dukan Diet - Day Three

The Dukan Diet - Day Three - Phase One - Attack

I lost three pounds since yesterday, now I am at 168.  Now that's the kind of results that I want to see!  I was not hungry this am but knew that I needed to eat before I went about my errands for the day.  I had some cooked ground turkey and put some spices in it along with my day's requirement of oat bran.  I immediately felt rumbling in my stomach.  I guess that's what the fiber is supposed to do!


Later, my stomach hurt but also felt full.  I took the kids to Culver's and boy, did everything look good, especially their ice creams.  I was good and although I was not hungry, I ordered a bowl of roast beef.  Normally, it comes on a bun and the cashier asked if I would rather have it in some lettuce (when I said I could not have the bun).  I excitedly said, "Yes".  Then I realized that I am not allowed to have lettuce until Tuesday.  So, I sadly changed my mind and just ordered a bowl of meat :(  It really was not tasty and I only ate a few bites.  So much for going out to eat.

I went into a yogurt shop next to the grocery store in hopes that I could find something nonfat since I was dreading eating any more dry meat.  To my surprise, the lady in the yogurt shop told me that all of the yogurts were nonfat!!!! I enjoyed my small bowl as I shopped.


Shopping was difficult because I was trying not to only concentrate on what I needed, but also on all of the yummy stuff my family eats.  Two hours later, I was on my way home.


Dinner time came and I chose to have a turkey drumstick and some nonfat cottage cheese.  The cottage cheese was so good, I had thirds!  The turkey was not as satisfying, but I appreciate that my hunny took the time to grill it for me :)


While watching tv, I began to crave something that I actually really enjoy and have a hard time fighting.  I know you will think it's completely weird, but I like to have a small glass of lemon juice with lemon.  Although I need to stay away from both of those, the temptation was too strong. :(  Oh, well, I am not Superwoman!!!

The Dukan Diet - Day Two

The Dukan Diet -Day Two - Phase One - Attack 

I woke up this morning feeling pretty good.  I did not feel tired or hungry.  I checked my blood sugar and was surprised that it was in the healthy range (usually my morning blood sugar is elevated).  I also checked my blood pressure - all good!

My weigh in was 171 (only lost a pound).  With only eating lean proteins and non-fat dairy yesterday (and walking for 24 minutes), I felt that maybe it would be more.  But, I am keeping a positive attitude and expecting a bigger loss within the next few days.

I pre-packed/cooked my food last night so that I had a smorgasbord of food available to me today.  I really was not hungry and ate minimal but felt fine with plenty of energy.  The challenge was at dinner time when my family decided to have McDonald's.  The smell of the fries and the look of the food was tempting, but I did well.  I also re-read some portions of my diet book and found out that I can have non-fat cream cheese and lean lunch meat.  I am excited to expand the realm of what I can eat.  I am especially excited that in a few days, I can introduce some vegetables that I like.