I worked late tonight because I was trying to make a bit of a dent in the huge pile of work that is backed up on my desk. Seems like the database moves a little faster when the majority of the users are logged off. I stayed until 8:00 and then sent my co-worker a text message telling her that I was headed home because I was moving slower than the database by that point. She wrote back and asked if that meant I was asleep. I guess it’s good that we can still laugh … part of the time! I had to go to a meeting in my bosses office this afternoon to discuss the best way to get our workflow moving in spite of uncooperative software and my blood pressure was so high that I could barely hear her over the roaring in my ears. I’ll be glad when we get caught up and some of the stress is off! And no … we are not being pushed to do more than is possible … we’re just a merry little band of Type A personalities who are anxious to get it done as perfectly as possible!
I ventured onto the scales yesterday … even though I said I wouldn’t. I’ve lost (not that I wish to find them) 20 pounds in 3 weeks. I KNOW that’s good but I was still a little disappointed! I had hoped for a minimum of 25 and was really thinking it could be more. Still … 20 was a good start!
My goal for the moment is to be slimmed down enough to wear my Holy Clothing blouse and pants for the dressy evening at Blissdom. (Gives me a month.) I had bought 3 blouses back in December that I have never yet been able to wear. And then I didn’t really have pants to go with them so I ordered some pants from the same company.
I have this in this red, sapphire blue, and emerald green.
And I have these pants in black and brown. Hoping the brown looks okay with the green. I seldom have cause to dress formally and didn’t want to invest too much money in it but I think this will make a really pretty outfit if I can just get into it!
Okay … it’s edging towards 10:00 and I need to go to bed! Talk to y’all later!
This weekend flew! I had Friday afternoon off (because I had to work Saturday morning) but spent it napping. Yesterday, after work, I caught up on laundry and housework. Today we went to church, to a friend’s home for lunch, and then home for another nap. Made a pot of soup. Watched some tv. Steered completely clear of the computer. Still choosing thankfulness and it is making a difference! I hope to spend part of my lunch hours this coming week catching up on some blogging. We’ll see how it goes. I miss you guys!
Another weekend that is! Why do these slow-paced days of relative leisure go by so much faster than their job-consumed counterparts? I caught up on the laundry and did some blog reading but aside from that I didn’t get much done beyond sleeping and eating. Somehow I’m still tired and not even remotely looking forward to returning to work tomorrow.
Our office finally made the leap to the new software that has been hovering over our heads for the last year. We were locked out of the system for an afternoon while changes were made behind the scenes and not allowed to do anything the next day until we could be taught how to use the program correctly. We spent all day Thursday in a meeting with 4 of us going over the details of how to enter an application. I knew it was going to be bad when it took all 4 of us all day to do something which used to take me 10 minutes! On Friday I was set free to go ahead and start on my piled up work. I did better than one 8 hour application but not by much. It’s horrendous! I kind of doubt that I’m going to find much free time anytime soon!
I have pretty much decided that I am going to just stay off scales until I have to face them in the doctor’s office. I was tempted this morning … 2 weeks since New Years Day … but the scales weren’t where I expected them to be. They turned up later but I took it as a sign that I’m supposed to stay off them. Be that as it may … I have seen some signs that I am losing weight. My clothes are fitting a little more loosely, the steering wheel is a bit further from my tummy, and when I had to go into that all day meeting in my bosses office … I fit in a chair that last time I had to perch on the edge of. Little miracles but I’ll take them!
My computer could use a miracle of its own … and Josiah went out-of-town for the weekend. First it was having the issue where it kept turning itself off and losing it’s connection with the monitor. Then one day last week it lost the keyboard. Rebooting seemed to fix it. But then it turned itself off in the middle of the night. I tried to start it back up and it automatically went to an option that asks if I want to restore it to a previous point. The problem was that I needed to choose an option with the keyboard. And it has lost the keyboard again. And then … to make matters worse … it lost the monitor again. Now what in the world am I supposed to do with a computer with no keyboard and no monitor. It’s about as useful as a brick! But far more annoying! Using the laptop at the moment but unfortunately it doesn’t have the Quicken records on it that I need to make invoices for Bert. My bad. If we bring it back to life I will definitely back it up and make sure that everything on there that I need is on here too! And if I had the extra cash I would go buy a replacement just to be rid of the frustration!
Josiah arrived home shortly before 9:00 and fixed my errant computer. Memory error. If it misbehaves again we may have to replace the memory but better that than the whole machine!
Hey Peeps!
Until a few days ago I didn’t think that there was a chance in the world that I would be going to BlissDom this year! There were all sorts of obstacles in my way. They have been miraculously cleared and now we just have to pray for good weather! (Can I get an amen?) We’ll be driving from Tulsa (about 10 hours) and hubby is coming with me to get away for a few days and check out Nashville. Besides … he’s a better long distance driver than I am.
Who I am as a person:
I’m a (seriously imperfect) follower of Jesus. I’m a wife (32 years and counting … yeah … I’m old … sigh). I’m a step-mom times 3. I’m a mom to one 22-year-old that wants to be a missionary. I’m Oma (grandmother) to 6+ (only 1 lives close). I’m daughter, sister, friend, etc.
I was blessed to be a stay-at-home home-schooling mom for 20 years and just reentered the work force (with great trepidation) about 5 years ago. I work in the admissions office of a private university processing student applications. My job is VERY busy for about 5 or 6 months out of the year and then VERY slow for the rest of the time. I took up blogging to fill some of those quiet hours. Now I’d really like to give up the job and blog full-time but …
I have struggled with weight issues for most of my adult life and currently find myself needing to lose about 150+ pounds. My doctors recently told me that I need both knees replaced (arthritis) but they will not do it until I have lost at least 100 pounds. So … I’m on a very low carb diet. I did Atkins before (about 10 years ago) and dropped 200 pounds so I know it’s possible! The trick is staying ON the plan! Venturing off leads to rapid return of the undesired weight.
Because walking is very difficult for me and I keep hearing “wear comfy shoes … the conference center / hotel is HUGE” I had some reservations about attending but I have been offered a chair (not a HoverRound but similar) which will enable me to maneuver with the rest of you. And when you’re tired you can hook your goodie bags on my chair and walk beside me … or you can sit in my lap and take a ride. 
I should also mention that I am painfully shy and prone to social anxiety. Crowds can easily overwhelm me and a friendly face always makes it easier so I’m glad we have this opportunity to meet.
Who I am as a Blogger:
People have always told me that I write well and really should write a book. Somehow the idea of a book scares me. (Maybe someday.) But shorter blog posts … those are easy! And they feed this creative hunger that I didn’t realize my spirit even had until I started blogging. I started on Blogger, moved to self-hosted WordPress a couple of years ago, and added a couple of topical blogs. Last summer my website was hacked with some malware (through a Tim Thumb vulnerability) and in my attempts to clean things up … I managed to delete 4 years worth of blog history. I was, and still am, sad to have lost all that BUT being a lover of new beginnings … I decided to embrace the opportunity!
Beth: A Work in Progress is my most established blog. It’s a catchall for a little bit of everything. I do a few memes here weekly and I regularly pour out whatever is on my heart and mind here. Faith, Family, Humor, Life, Etc. It’s all here. When I was told I needed to belong to a *niche* a few years ago I couldn’t figure out where I belonged. Lifestyle is the closest. But I don’t much care for being categorized anyway!
Looking for Tigger is my fledgling blog. I have long joked that I am an Eeyore … complete with my own storm cloud! When it got really bad recently I decided to combat it … look for my inner Tigger … by finding things to take joy in, and give thanks for, even in the valley. It is a fun and pretty upbeat little blog. I’d love to have you join me there!
Journey is my health and fitness blog and it is, I freely admit, a little dark right now. I have been going through a severe depression and a variety of crises (when it rains it pours) all at the same time. It helps me to be able to journal those feelings and Journey is the place I do that. It is a public blog, because I hope that my story might help someone else, but I don’t actively recruit followers there.
Well … that’s me in a nutshell! A slightly cracked one. I’m really looking forward to meeting you at BlissDom!
I know I keep pestering you about this but … have you looked at my Looking for Tigger blog yet? PageLines just came out with a new theme in December that is super user friendly and they offered it to me at a great price since I already used one of their premium themes. I was curious and wanted to try it but I didn’t want to screw this site up with my tweaking so I put it on Tigger to give me a chance to learn it. And I am loving it! Still tweaking to get it just right but I think it looks good and is pretty user friendly. I know I need to get more content above the fold … not sure how to do that! Take a look and leave me some feedback!
I also added a Google+ page for my blogs here. If you use Google+, even minimally, please add me to your circles. Thanks!
Since I decided to add Tigger and retire Faith Walk I have been working on tweaking my business cards (yes, again) and my Facebook Landing Page. I think everything is where I want it … for now! I’d like the FB page to look a little more professional but … it works!
It’s a little odd that I am spending time playing with web design to relax since computer software is currently causing a lot of my stress! They have finally forced the software change that has been threatened promised for almost a year but no one really knows how to use it. So we’re sitting around waiting while the work piles up. And the office is a VERY tense place! Supposed to be in meetings most of the next couple of days which will hopefully clear some of the fog away!
Life in Oklahoma is as crazy as ever. Today we are supposed to hit 60 degrees even though there was a heavy frost on everything this morning! And tomorrow it’s supposed to snow! Josiah is home but as busy as ever so we don’t see a whole lot of him. Erica has gone back into hiding. We pray for her and try to let it go. Haven’t heard from Mallory since early December though I tried to call a few times. Breaks my heart but … Drake seems to be adjusting to his new normal and is a happy healthy kid for which we are grateful!
Okay … end it on a positive note Beth! I am finding that a disciplined daily offering of praise is going a long way towards letting some light into my struggle with depression. I’m not out of the valley but I can see some sunshine! That’s a whole lot better than I was last month! AND … although I am resisting the scales … I KNOW I’ve lost weight! Long way to go but one step at a time … I will get there!
