It's A Whirling Dervish!!

Holy Smokes!!  September has been a month of craziness.  Long story short, shoulder muscle tear, cancer and I bought a house.

NOT MY MRI!!

First things first, back in May 2016 I was doing my household chores and reached into the dryer to take out the clothes and "OUCH!"  I figured it would pass, yeah, nope, didn't pass and not feeling better.  So I saw my PCP 9/13 and she ordered a MRI. Getting the MRI scheduled turned out to take longer than expected because I did not want to go to the MRI at the physicians practice. After 2 days they called to say that the office could not book the scan without a pre-auth and she reiterated she could book me at THEIR facility.  Um...no...I want to go to Shields. Upon returning to work on that Friday, I spoke with the CIO about the whole pre-auth thing.  He said, why I was asking, so he was informed that I was in need of a scan and my physicians office tried to book one and was told they couldn't do it without pre-auth; but they could book at their facility without one.  His reply, "Hold on, we can fix that.  What do you need scanned and when and what do you want it done?"

I really do work for a wonderful company.  Benefits may not be the best, but my co-workers and the employees here are fantastic.  Let's just say this, we take care of our own.  The motto our company lives by is "treat everyone like they are a family member" 2 days later, scanned; 2 hours later report read and submitted to my PCP.  Have I heard from my PCP yet, no.  Do I know what's wrong, heck yeah.

Now the second event is a little troubling but I do not have fear.
Three years ago, in September, I had a thyroidectomy because of cancer.  Out it came and and I have been cancer free, until.....

I don't want to get in depth, after all, this is the Internet and you have no idea who is reading it.  When you are a female you know when something isn't quite right.  Well, I knew something was not right when Aunt Flo was showing up sporadically for 3 weeks straight.  So I made a call and was booked the very next day for an appointment.

I have spent entirely too much time with my legs in stirrups riding a ghost horse with no name.  A smear, an ultrasound and a biopsy later, results come back on 9/21 as cancer.  Freaking wonderful!!  All my lady parts below the waist need to be exercised like a demon - ASAP.

I can not lie, that diagnosis kind of gripped me by the gut and put me into a 24 hour session of unknowing and fear.  Why me? Why now?  I don't have time for cancer and everything that goes along with it?  I have more things I want to do? God, what the heck, didn't I pass my test of faith the last time?  Don't you know I am buying a house? I have obligation and commitments that I take seriously...come on!!

Saw the gynecologist oncologist yesterday 09/22 to confirm diagnosis and schedule surgery for 10/3 to get the parts removed.  I am glad it is fast tracked, I have a vacation in November. I know, health first but I LIVE for my vacations.

If the results of the pathology prove that cancer is contained and has not spread I will be good to go. Normal recovery time six weeks, short recovery time 2-3 weeks.  If the pathology comes back and it has spread further treatment will be necessary.  We will cross that bridge when and if it gets here.  No need to worry, worry only steals joy from life, and dang it, life is too short.  I am enjoying my time here.

People say I look at life through rose colored glasses.  That may be true 3/4 of the time, because I choose to look for the good in all things, BUT I acknowledge the other 1/4 of the time where realist views are necessary.

I am hopeful because God is concerned with everything about me and I have faith that tells me whatever it is, God has this and things will be as He plans.  This is not a shock to God, but it is a shock to me.  We all have an expiration date, I'm just hoping mine does not come up for a LONG time.  This is a testimony in the making to prove God is good in ALL things.

Time to bring this post up to my normal happy place. If all this medical madness was not enough stress for one person, I closed on my house today!! We have been living in a family home for 12 years now paying rent that covered all the basics of house maintenance, no one was getting rich and we had a roof over my head. Again, no need to get into the specifics but we bought the house and now I have a mortgage. Buying a house was not on my bucket list but God has a plan.

Oh, I almost forgot!! This coming Sunday, 9/25, #theleakinglady and #thedrippydiva are doing a color run in Providence.  I still need to keep moving!!

So here I sit, shoulder muscle tear, lady part cancer, a new mortgage, planning a Disney trip, doing a colorful 5K this weekend and happy to be alive.

I think I need to go for a walk....

Sending you all love from #thedrippydiva

MOVE IT or BUST

One of the questions that some of my friends have asked me is "Why are you exercising?" "What motivates you?" "How do you stay motivated?"

Those are 3 questions which I think about and rehash often.  So here are my answers today (subject to change depending on my mood).

Let me be up front and tell you all this....I don't enjoy exercising.  The professionals tell us "exercise, it makes you feel better", "exercising gives you energy," "you will sleep better," "exercise relieves stress." For some, these may be a true statements.  For me, it's  horse pucky. When I am done exercising I am tired, sweaty, and I feel like a 5'7" pile of blah.  I have no more energy now then I had 10 months ago when I started this whole process.  *Disclaimer* I have always had plenty of energy so that is why I notice no change. My sleeping pattern has not changed, on average I get 6 hours of sleep on weekdays and I am lucky to get 7 on weekends. My internal body alarm goes off at 4:30 so there is no getting around it.  But I digress...

1. First question that needs to be answered is Why?
Basically the reasons why I do this is over the past few years, whenever I saw my primary MD she always brought up my weight and all my diagnoses.  Obese, high blood pressure, acid reflux, type 2 diabetes, my health post thyroid cancer (I am fine - nothing to report - no cancer has returned). Her topic of discussion, weight loss surgery.  She has talked to me at length about the options and her recommendation is to have gastric bypass surgery.

This is a serious surgery (and like marriage) should not be entered into lightly.  It would mean a total revamp of my lifestyle (and my husbands). Surgery is an option that may be right for some people at different stages of thier lives.  At this point in my life, I do not wish to go down that path, for now. So the path to a smaller, lighter, and healthier me is old school diet and exercising.

2. What motivates me?
Hmmmm...the fact that I do not want to go under the knife is one MAJOR motivator. The committment I made to exercise and be an accoutability partner to my "sister-in-sweat" is reason number two. I promised I would exercise 3 times a week, so when my word is given, I do my best to keep it.

3. How do I stay motivated?
Simple answer, refer to the question 2 above above.

There are some frivilous and selfish reasons why I am doing this as well, I can not lie.  If you know anything about me, you know my vaction spot of choice is WDW.  Going to the happiest place on earth requires LOTS of walking (minimum 9-12 miles A DAY), but it also requires stuffing myself into airplane seats and ride vehicles. Both things can be challenging and humiliating.

I hate the fact that when boarding a plane I need to ask for a seatbelt extender. I dislike the fact that my poor husband gets stuck in the middle seat so my girth and fatness does not invade a strangers space.  Just once it would be so nice to tell  him "Babe, of course you can take the window seat."

The uncomfortable feeling of worrying that I will not fit in a ride vehicle at the parks and not be able to enjoy ride makes me sad and anxious.  At Disney, fitting in a ride vehicle is not normally an issue (Disney ride vehicles are Pooh-sized friendly), but occasionally when I get in one, my constant companion know as "bertha" gets in the way of a lapbar or seatbeat. I have to physcially pick "her"up and then put "her" down so the lapbar or seatbelt can be in a proper position for the ride to proceed safely.  It is not very comfortable and is very embarrasing.

So a small goal is that by my next vacation, I hope to not be asking for an seatbelt extender when I get on the plane.  I will know sooner rather than later.

Who Wants Bling? What girl likes bling?  This girl!!  So as small goals I have been doing 5K races, both in person and virtually (we can cover virtual racing at a later date.) Another goal that was set is to do a Disney Princess 5K AT WDW - that is happening Feb 2017.  I am signed up and currently walking/running trying to achieve a 16 minute mile - I am almost there.  What do you get at the end of every race? BLING BLING!!

I don't want adult..
I know that if I do not exercise 3 times a week I will never get to the time goal needed for the Princess 5K, nor will I be able to lose weight successful (having no thyroid also impeeds the process.)  Those facts (and my hands) get my ample size deriere dressed and out the door, that and a promise. As long as I am upright, and I am physically sound (no colds or injuries) I am getting dressed and hitting the pavement or "dreadmill" weather dictates location.

There are days that I JUST DO NOT want to exercise, and there are somedays my schedule and the schedule of my partner in sweat do not line up (I prefer not going alone - if I have to sweat someone is getting sweaty with me.) For days like that, I put out the call out to my friends or drag my most faithful groom with me. Thank GOD for my friends & Chad, without them this journey would not be as successful.  I also know me, if one day is skipped, one turns into two and then, BAM!!,  its been a week and I have not moved.

So that is what keep me moving and loosing.

Friends, I know that this journey to better health is not easy and can sometimes feel lonley, and be very frustrating to say the least.  It also know that you my feel like you are doing all that you can and the scale is not moving and there are no visual physical changes.

Know this, everything you do will yeild results - the changes may be happening internally, but they are happening.  Please know, you are not alone.  Just keep moving and grooving ladies it will pay off in the end (and I am not talking about your backside)...if this #drippydiva can do it ANYONE can.

That's it for now...someone get me a towel the sweat is on!

It's a Colorful World

This past weekend I participated in the ColorVibe 5K event in Seekonk, MA at the Seekonk Speedway.  The charity supported by this event was the Ronald McDonald House. A group of ladies from the FB group Stronger Together participated, Kelly Coury, Donna Drew, Lisabeth Dion, and yours truly. We arrived at the Speedway at 7:00 am dressed in white ensembles and were ready to roll. Registration took place and we hung out waiting for the event to begin.  While lingering we watch many people of different shapes and sizes file in all sorts of attire. Around 8:15 am a Zumba class started.  Let me tell you, when I grow up I want to be as fit as those instructors.  Wholly Macaroni!  It was a warm morning and those ladies were tearing it up.  God Bless them!

If you would have told me 9 months ago that I would be participating in a Color Run/Vibe event I would have told you "you are nuts!"  But low and behold, here I was standing around with 1000+ other people waiting to get colorized.

The run kicked of at 9:00 am and the four of us started together in the second wave of runner/walkers.  I must admit it was a neat experience to run through a cloud of colored pink dust.

We trekked 3.1 miles through the property area of the Speedway.  Who knew they has so much land!  I started running and ending running, but in the middle I walked.  The land was not flat with lots of places anyone could have sprained an ankle.  You all know me, I am as graceful as a cow on crutches.

Donna Drew lead the pack and the rest of us walked together at points in time.  When it was all said and done we all finished the race colorful as could be. Kelly crossed the line multiple times for fun and celebratory purposes.

We thank Mark Lambert and Kaycee Lowengrub for coming out to support us.  Thank you Mark for the crossing line pictures.

Moral to the story...

My friends, Henry Ford said this

 
You will never conquer a goal you don't set for yourself, no one can do it for you.

The good news is if you set your mind to achieve a goal and do everything in your power to attain it, you WILL do it.  We live in a "microwave society" we want it now.  Listen. the timing may not always be what we want it to be, but DO NOT give up.

Quitters never win and Winners NEVER quit. This is #thedrippydiva signing off.   Someone get me a towel......

How Did This Happen?

I was doing laundry a few weeks back I was mindlessly sorting, washing and folding. When I went to put the clothes away I realized there was a drawer of workout clothes.."how did this happen?" I thought to myself. So lets back up to Thanksgiving 2015.

My husband and I were at the dining room table of my sister from another mother.  We had just consumed a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with all the trimmings.  All parties were full and no one had fallen into the "turkey coma".  Kelly made a comment that she would like to start working out because she wanted to improve her health.  I opened my trap, a.k.a. my mouth, and piped up saying "I have a membership at Planet Fitness.  If you want to go try it out and see if you like it we can meet up there one day and workout." That was the statement that got this whole ball rolling.

I've had a membership there for many years and went occasionally when feeling up to the challenge of trying to get fit.  Visiting PF is not uncomfortable as they are a "judgement free", although what to wear to the gym was a nightmare.  

I normally want to wear long shirts to cover all my rolls and more importantly cover "Bertha". 

Yes, I have named the fat apron that is located on the front of my body Bertha.  She is a constant inconvenience and should have her own zip code.  Let's face it we all have problem areas, mine span between my neck to my knees but more precisely there is more belly than butt, which makes the lower hemisphere of my frame the issue.  Anyhow back to the story...

We visited together, Kelly liked it, we made a commitment that if she joined we would workout a few times a week. 

I only had one pair of workout leggings and a couple of 5x t-shirts that were huge, long, covered everything I needed covered and also took care of hiding the bat wings better know as my "second wave".

Side note...why do we call the clothing we place on our bottom half "a pair?"  Granted I am big enough to wear 2 but heck, I am only wearing one garment, but I digress.

This is what I was going to have to wear to cover up this bohemith size body due to my embarrassment of Bertha and my other unattractive bits.  After a few weeks I found that I could no longer handle these long t-shirts as they were heavy got in the way.  

Side note, I sweat like a nervous bride so these shirts would also keep the heat in and cause me to sweat even more. #drippydiva party of one.

This began the quest to find clothing that I could wear that would cover my ample tummy and yet be cool enough to work out in.  It started with sports bras because I only had one, then it was tank tops, shortly thereafter I progressed to workout skorts instead of leggings for these summer months. Before I knew it I had workout clothes.  Thank goodness because I needed them and use them three times a week.

The moral of this story is....heck, there is no moral.

I have a drawer full of workout clothes!

Miracles

Driving in today I saw the most beautiful sunrise which got me thinking about miracles. We often ask God for miracles but never stop to realize that everyday is a miracle, we are walking miracles. 

How complex is the body? We function and breath on most days without any thought of what is happening, how many muscles does it takes to perform a simple function as a smile? Everything in our body works together like a symphony and we have only one person to thank for that, God. (MIRACLE)

And just for your information the number of muscles it takes to smile is 12Zygomaticus major and minor – These muscles pull up the corners of your mouth. There is one set on both sides of the face. Total muscles: 4
Orbicularis oculi – Causes the eye crinkle. Total: 2
Levator labii superioris – Pulls up the corner of lip and nose. Total: 2
Levator anguli oris – Helps to raise the angle of mouth. Total: 2
Risorius – Pulls the corners of mouth to the side of the face Total: 2

Psalm 139:14 NIVI praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

He has seen fit that every particle of the air we breath is in place and mixed in such a fashion that it provides us clean air to breath (MIRACLE). He paints the sky every morning with sunrises and sunsets, each one unique in its own way (MIRACLE).

Genesis 1: 6-8 NIVAnd God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁷ So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

This brings me back to each and everyone of us. We are unique and different in our own ways and that makes us beautiful, unique, special - MIRACLES.

Praise & Worship

This morning (11/11/12) I had the honor and privilege to lead the congregation at New Hope Christian Church in the Praise and Worship service.  If you know me, you also know that this is something I do on a pretty regular basis.

Nineteen years ago I would have never imagined leading roughly 500+ people in a Worship service.  I was a car and shower singer what was God thinking!! He certainly had, and has, other plans. 

There have been many times in the worship services where Gods presence is felt, but today's time of worship was deeper and His presence was more palpable then ever before.  I was moved to tears (in the middle of a song which makes it kind of difficult to lead) but Gods presence and the movement of the Holy Spirit was just so overwhelming, it stopped me in my tracks and His love more me and I for Him just flooded my soul.

Why am I writing this down and telling the world?  I am doing it more for myself then anything because I want to remember how it felt and remember that we have been created to Worship and these are the encounters that He wants to have with us.

 My desire is that as I continue to grow as His child, in this calling,  that my life brings glory and honor to Him. Selah!

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deut. 6:5)

Word Lesson (just for fun) - Hebrew words for Praise = Yadah

It's Tuesday....

After returning from vacation I am finally getting back into the swing of things.  I have caught up with all my email (personal and work), have returned all calls and have started planning our next adventure with another set of good friends.  Where did Monday go??

Tonight we start rehearsals with my peeps from LCDTheater group http://lcdtheatre.webs.com/.  We will be performing in a fundraiser for the Somerset Inclusion Playground Group November 9, 2012 at Whites of Westport.  http://www.somersetinclusionplayground.com/   The Somerset Inclusion Playground Alliance  (SIPA) desires to network with the community on building an Inclusive Accessible Playground that will be enjoyed by ALL children in the town of Somerset and our surrounding communities.

Tomorrow I return to the praise team rehearsal schedule rotation.  It feels like forever that I have not been leading worship.  But I must say I have not stopped praising and worshipping God for all that He has done for me and for the many blessing He has placed in my life.  My vacation reminded me of how majestic is the work of His hands, just read Genesis 1 and you will know exactly what I am talking about. (below is text from "The Message" version)

~*~*~*~*~*~~*

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

 ^3-5 God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared.
   God saw that light was good and separated light from dark.
   God named the light Day, he named the dark Night.
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day One.

 ^6-8 God spoke: "Sky! In the middle of the waters; separate water from water!"
   God made sky.
   He separated the water under sky from the water above sky.
   And there it was:  he named sky the Heavens;
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day Two.

 ^9-10 God spoke: "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;
   Land, appear!" And there it was. God named the land Earth.
   He named the pooled water Ocean.
   God saw that it was good.

 ^11-13 God spoke: "Earth, green up! Grow all varieties  of seed-bearing plants,
   Every sort of fruit-bearing tree."  And there it was. Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,
      all varieties, And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts. God saw that it was good.
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day Three.

 ^14-15 God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky!
   Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years,
   Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was.

 ^16-19 God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day,
   The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars.
   God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth

   And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark.
   God saw that it was good.  It was evening, it was morning—
   Day Four.

 ^20-23 God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
   Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!"
   God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters,
   And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good.
   God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!"
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day Five.

 ^24-25 God spoke: "Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds."
   And there it was: wild animals of every kind, Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
   God saw that it was good.

 ^26-28 God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature
   So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle,
   And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth."
   God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God's nature.
   He created them male and female.
   God blessed them:  "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
   Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
   for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

 ^29-30 Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
   And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food.
   To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes,
   I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was.

 ³¹ God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good!
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day Six.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He did this all in 6 days then he took the 7th day to rest.