It May be a Southern Thang.

 You know how you go to the store and a man will open up the door for you? (I mean, that is of course, if the door isn't an electric door) You start to approach the door and you see a man about to walk away from it, but then he turns and gives you a little nod just before he reaches out to pull the handle on the door to let you inside - - it may very well be a lost form of masculinity, but one this Southern girl dearly appreciates.  I was walking through the parking lot of our local grocery store just this morning with one of God's best creations. When I say that God really out did Himself on this one, I do mean it.  I was walking through the parking lot with my son Reuben who, by the way, was raised by a good Christian Southern woman who was also herself raised by a good Christian Southern woman, WHO, in case you were wondering, was raised by a good Christian Southern woman!  I'm talking to my son when I realized I was talking to myself, he was NO WHERE to be seen.  I glance around and finally found him; he had literally sprinted ahead of me to get the door not only for me, but for the two ladies who were arriving just before I was about to step into the doorway.  The smile on my face!  You could have seen it a mile away and around a bend!  The two ladies did their part too; they gave a giggle and a nod to my gallant son and of course they smiled at me too because they KNOW where he learned his good manners.

I tend to brag on my son's good looks more often I suppose than I do my two daughters.  I can't help myself, he's taller, rugged and the soldier mentality of his just oozes toxic masculinity, something I am absolutely a fan of -- no Metro pansy boys for me, thank you very much. Give me a man every single time!  My daughters are gorgeous of course, but in very different ways. Funny how you can have two kids from the same two parents and just 14 months apart, but they come out looking so very different from one another, and boy howdy, did they ever turn out different in their ways, means, emotions, attitudes and behaviors. You can't get more day and night than you do with Laura and Caity, that's for damn sure. It may be another Southern thang, but I do say "boy howdy" and "that's for damn sure" now again.

Laura, my introverted, somewhat shy-to-speak-to-humans type is 31 years old and really she doesn't date anyone. It may be because she's always got a horse in her hands or it could be because she's rather observant and has noticed that most of her friends have already started on their 2nd marriage, they have kids strung out across the nation, and they tend to get all gussied up for someone who only wants to use and abuse them  - her assessment of the situation anyway.  It could also be because she's just not social really, and being at the barn is going to be the best place a man (who also owns horses) will ever catch her attention. She doesn't take selfies, she's not into make up other than when she cos-plays or does online animation videos and Tik Toks.  She's a gamer, a streamer, has thousands of "followers" but only 2 actual friends. She's really pretty in a natural way, but very few actually SEE that.

Caity - - let's see, how do we describe Caity Baby? I'd say a loaded firecracker as opposed to one that has already been set off. She's full (and I do mean FULL) of energy and surprises. She's drop dead gorgeous in the most usual and commonly acceptable way, and she knows it. She literally tells herself every day how pretty she is, and she won't allow anyone to treat her less than the queenly manner in which she has grown accustomed to.  She is a Leo by zodiac, perhaps that matters. (Laura is a Taurus, quite stubborn and bullheaded) Caity is also an exhibitionist - - EVERYONE will see how she looks either with or without clothes, and she really doesn't give a damn what they may say or think about it. She's quite pleased with herself and who she is, therefore she's her own woman...again, it may very well be a Southern Thang.  Both girls are Christians, solid believers in Christ, but we do say that Caity will be the one flipping the Devil off on the way to Glory.

Being born a Baptist wasn't a bad thing either - - in my opinion everyone should be a Baptist for about 10-12 years and get the benefit of learning every tiny detail about every single story in the Bible. Then when they reach the age of accountability they need to read the Word from their own point of view and do their meditation, prayer, and seeking of God's will -- that is NOT a Southern thang, but a Gospel thang.  I'm so very grateful my Lord decided to set me in the great Southwestern state of Oklahoma; perhaps I would have preferred to be born in the Lowlands of Scotland bordering England, but we'll never know - - I have a twang, not a drawl, and certainly not a brogue.  It's a Southern Thang.

It's Been a "2020" Kind of Year

 My 2020 started just a bit early, in that on December 2, 2019 I was released from my very permanent and would be forever teaching position at an elementary school that literally begged me to come teach for them. I am THAT teacher, the one that teaches 6th graders at a higher learning level, so the school made such a fuss about me joining them.  Funny how a few months (from August to December) can make such an impact on the lives of OTHER teachers who didn't want to have to deal with the shared students we taught asking questions about how Bloom's Taxonomy scales and/or levels of observation could be applied to the disciplines the kids were learning other than Reading. (I taught Reading. There was a Writing teacher as well, and let me tell you, she was the WORST at stringing two sentences together let alone using proper grammar. Call me crazy, but if you're teaching kids grammar you should probably know it yourself!)   

I lost my job just before 2020 struck, but I wasn't upset about it. I was able to strike back and get a great severance package based on evidence of how badly they had wanted me to teach for them, and how abrupt my severance was.  My unemployment kicked in a few days after the settlement came in, and with the new income stacking up in the bank I decided to take off the entire teaching year and just sort of gather my thoughts, perhaps think about another line of work (such as Securities).  That's when COVID hit hard, more forced unemployment for some, a continuation for me.  Our government paid us to stay home and I applied for my teacher's retirement a bit early to ensure that I really didn't need to go back to work even through the end of what was already promising to be the strangest year this planet has ever encountered.

Sometime in the summer I realized I didn't know enough about trading securities to make an actual impact when I decided to go into the field. I began studying the fringes of the industry, and put my mind to work on getting to know everything I could about securities such as bonds, stock, mutuals, and T-bills. I wanted to know everything possible. I'm still in the middle of learning everything I can, but the good news is I am able to study at home and work from home selling insurance (Life, Health, P&C, and Workers Comp) as a 1099 producer - - enter Allstate.   

Allstate agents often hire producers and service managers on a salary basis to get them through tough times and then they routinely let them go so they save money and the producer has been paid, so no one is upset with the other party. That's what I've been doing for the past 3 months, and that assignment will end on Christmas Eve....Merry Christmas, you've lost your job!  It's OK, it was a temp thing. I expected to lose it around mid-January, so what's a few days? Earlier in the summer I accepted a two-week assignment that turned into a month! I was not selling anything; I was literally putting pieces of paper into their rightful place.  A little-known company had allowed their filing to become such a mess that it was causing them to lose business when they couldn't find the papers they needed for an unexpected audit. I took over the chore, and by takeover I mean I TOOK OVER and forced the actual people in the office to back the hell off so I could get their files in shape! It was one of the most fun jobs I'd ever done simply because I made it MINE and refused to back down! Those auditors were NEVER going to say they couldn't find what they needed after I got finished with that filing room/disaster.  

So here we are on the last week of the year 2020.  I look around my house and there isn't a single Christmas decoration in my house unless you count the ONE wrapped present that I just finished wrapping for my son and his wife.  We don't have a tree, we don't have garland, we don't have bells, whistles, ornaments, tinsel, or elves.  Laura and I spend our money on horses, feed, board, tack, saddles, vet bills and the like, so we don't have time or money to clutter the house with needless merriment, however we do really enjoy going out and looking at lights, decorations, trees, other people's stuff, and making a big deal going to see Santa with kids or friends who take their pets.  This year that's been rather sparse to be honest. We've seen one Santa and we've had one evening out going to see the lights in the park - - but it was incredible, I'll say that. 

ONE present was wrapped this year. That just made me laugh.  Because of apps like Venmo, PayPal, Amazon Prime, and others, I just didn't really need to buy an actual present for anyone.  I gave my daughter Caity my FitBit Versa 2, I wasn't using it.  I paid for Laura's board, and I gave Reuben and his wife Josie tickets to the most sought-after game for the Oklahoma Sooner season; the Bedlam match up with Oklahoma State! The grands will of course be gifted, but that's a Venmo thing to their mom and dad and I always wait until after Christmas to get Brandon his present to see what he didn't get - - it's a thing. It's our thing.  ONE FREAKING PRESENT is all I wrapped and I didn't have to do that, but I did decide that Josie needed more than the OU tickets since she's not really a fan.   

I wasn't put out like most were during 2020. The lockdowns and mask wearing were certainly annoying, but I only played at it, I didn't really lockdown, quarantine or even social distance that much. I rarely don a mask, and if I do I pull it down as soon as possible. I can't let the sheep mentality get me down, I've got too much to do.  I am hoping 2021 brings a bit more UPLIFTING news...uplifting being the key word. I'm looking for the RAPTURE!  There's simply NOTHING this world holds for me, and I just figure it's time to leave it - - while the leaving is good.  Here's hoping we see Jesus really soon.  I am ret-ta-go.  

Not Gonna Catch Me in the Belly of a Whale!

 This will be rather short and to the point. I was asked today why it is that I continue to love and pray for someone who seemingly isn't interested in me either praying or loving him.  I had to laugh.  The subject of my prayers and love (not affectionate love, mind you, but honest love), has absolutely no authority whatsoever to ask me to stop praying for him and he has zero authority to ask me to stop loving him. It really isn't his choice - - anymore than it is MY choice. I did NOT choose to love him. I did NOT choose to pray for him. I did NOT ask for this assignment, but as I have said both to myself and others, you will NEVER catch me sleeping in the belly of a whale because I didn't do what God asked me to do. NOPE. Not this girl. I am never ever going to be treading water hoping to drown before a fish finds me and decides to keep me "safe" just long enough to erode my skin, starve me, dehydrate me to the point of exhaustion before dragging me up and down deep waters on a loopty-loop fish-rollercoaster while I have only the strength to pray and ask God for His forgiveness! I will ALWAYS do what I am asked to do; and if that means I get into the closet and pray for someone who I've never met - - seems pretty easy to me! That's what I'm going to do.  It just feels really really good not to be all slimy with my hair full of fish mucus and so blinded by the absolute darkness that I can't see my hands folded in prayer before my face.

NO THANK YOU - - the man can go about his day to day, he can be who he's supposed to be, he doesn't have to contact me, he doesn't have to even KNOW that he's being prayed for. His mission is not my mission, and my mission is not his mission. I am going to do what I was asked to do, and I'm going to do it the best of my abilities because God was great and gave me the foresight to know when to pay attention to Him! Believe me, I've seen the gills in the past as they swam right past me. I know how close I've come to being considered BAIT. No thank you. I will just keep my feet dry and my soul connected to God.  It just seems to work out best for me when I do.  God will let the man know if God thinks the man needs to know. If the man argues with God because I'm praying for him, well all I can say is...belly up friend, hope you go down easy without too much of a fight.  I wouldn't wish the belly of a fish on anyone! God has HIS way of getting our full attention, doesn't He? 

Losing Weight the Natural Way

Let's start off with a lovely disclaimer:  "Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information."   

 
 

OK, now that is out of the way!  Where I am a "doctor", I am not a doctor of medicine. I hold an earned Ph.D. in Administration of Leadership so maybe I can use that education and some experience to lead you down a great new healthy path.  I'm doing it too, so you won't be alone!  C'mon, it will be fun.  Let's shed the pounds together. 

For about four months now I've been trying to knock off seemingly hundreds of needless pounds, but in reality, it's a lot closer to 30-35. I literally woke up in August of 2020 telling myself that this was it, I was absolutely tired of feeling sluggish, not having the confidence I needed to ride my horse properly, and not feeling as if I was doing myself any favors because I was quite literally heavier than I've ever been in my life, which included the times when I was nine months pregnant! Of course, each time I was nine months pregnant I was much much younger than I am today, so my body just sort of bounced back - - or made an attempt to. For years I've neglected myself and it was not only catching up to me but it was showing (EVERYWHERE).  

I didn't exactly fall off of my horse Casper, but I wasn't riding properly and I could tell I was putting a bit of a strain on him as well.  He weighed about 1000 pounds or so and with my weight, my saddle, tack, and blankets, I was putting 250 pounds on top of him. A horse can take right at 20% his/her bodyweight comfortably and there I was adding an additional 5%, which may not seem like much, but if you added 5% of your body weight to your back right now it wouldn't feel all that terrific would it? I knew it would take me a minute to lose the weight and I didn't want to continue paying board for a horse I couldn't ride, so I did end up selling Casper to a great family with three children. He's in a better place and it gave me the opportunity to focus on ME (the right way). 

Through a good plan of dieting with less calories, cutting the carbs as much as possible, and giving up anything not necessary such as preservatives, empty calories, starch, sugary snacks, and the habits of taking a snack or two after dinner, I managed to lose 10 pounds almost immediately. I think within two weeks I had shed the first 10 pounds; that was an amazing feeling. Adding walks, lifting weights, and basically continuing the process led to me losing another 10-12 pounds, but then something really bad happened; I hit a plateau. I hit the mother of plateaus! I was stagnant for literally 62 days! NO ONE DOES THAT.  

 

I ate correctly, drank only tea and water, slept over 8 hours a day, did the intermittent fasting, I was working out, lifting weights, punching my kickboxing bag, doing planks - - you name it, and I was doing it! I was the quintessential diet and exercise machine soldier! The result was a resounding nothing! The scale did not budge! What was I doing wrong? I couldn't figure it out so I just kept doing what I knew would somehow have to create a calorie deficit and I would eventually breakthrough - - that was my hope. My hope was built on sand. Just a bunch of worthless sand. I needed a rock! I need truth. I needed help.  

If you know me, you know I love to study. If I could be paid to study and research I would do that. I would do it for free, but I have to pay my bills. I love reading. I love studying, I love looking things up and finding out things that I've never known before. I am THAT student. I have always been THAT student. It has served me well. Through reading about breaking plateaus, I came across a simple, easy, and cheap way to break through any and every plateau and it's not only natural, it's so freaking easy (and often talked about) that I couldn't believe it would work. I had it in my head that there's no way this could work, but I'd give it a try anyway. Hey..guess what...it worked! 

I won't string you along like they did in the infomercial thing that I stumbled across, I'll just tell you exactly what I did and am doing, and you can jump right on it as well. You may think it's crazy bonkers, but you'd be a fool not to do it too if in fact you need to (or want to) lose belly fat and get over that stupid scale issue I was having.   

Ready?  Lemon, ginger, cumin, cinnamon tea.  I add honey, blackseed oil, and actual tea to it too. It's NOT just lemon being boiled, you have to boil the lemons in their peel to get the pectin you need to boost the metabolism past the point to where the rest of the mix can do the job(s) they were masterfully created by God to do.  SIMPLE...super simple. You choose how much you want to drink; I personally drink about 5-8 cups of it a day because I am THAT way too. I don't mind the taste, and I certainly want to continue losing the belly fat, back fat, even the boob fat (sorry boys) because I don't like big fat floppy boobs. I want my boobs to stand up and pay attention and it's really hard to do that when each one is the size of a small cantaloupe (too much information?). 

Here's the recipe I use so you can do it my way, but please, please, feel free to add to it and make it your own. 

4 cups of water 

1 big fat lemon, sliced rather thinly 

1 teaspoon of cumin 

1 teaspoon of cinnamon 

1 teaspoon of blackseed oil 

1 tablespoon of honey 

1 tea bag - - usually Earl Grey or Jasmine 

YOU LET IT BOIL for around 3-5 minutes, and then turn off the stove to let it cool down. You pour it into a glass container to add more water to it, and you pour yourself a cupful while it's hot. You let it cool in the fridge and drink it either hot or cold throughout the day. Again, I like mine hot, so I just reheat it in the microwave for a minute each time.  Believe me when I say it will work on so many levels. You will find yourself going to the bathroom to relieve yourself a bit more, you will find that you have more energy. You will start to see a change almost immediately, certainly by the next morning.  

Here's another trick/clue that the professionals told me through my research: weigh yourself around 5:00 a.m. or before the sun rises because you'll add weight to your body through the liquid and/or food consumption during the day.  If you're honest you can take off 4-6 ounces for waste and it helps you to feel that much better about your true weight.  No one is going to freak out if you claim you weigh 4-6 ounces less than what the scale says. It's your little secret.  

There you have it. WEIGHT LOSS the natural way. Do talk to your doctor first if you feel you may need to do that. It's never a bad idea to get a professional opinion. I'm great at leading people in the right direction, but I will never claim to know what makes us tick! That's beyond my scope of education at this point.  

Best of luck to you, and seriously consider giving up anything that may hinder both your mind and your body from being the best it could be. You may find that sugar is simply not the antidote we all believed it could be.  I remember my granny was a stout woman, but she was a hard stout woman. She had rock-solid muscles well into her 80s. When I thought about that and how she could achieve it I began to recall her diet, her daily exercise routine, and there it was, she had lemon and ginger tea almost every single day.  Why did it take so long for me to figure this out for myself? (Shakes my head).