Firm

It's February 5th? How can that be? This new year is going fast, but I have to say I'm kind of glad that January is over. It was a little depressing, but now it's gone.

Where have I been hiding? As you know I haven't blogged much this month. I'm not sure why I don't have the desire to write much. Then last week we found out about the death of an old family friend.

Helen was 82, but very healthy until about 2 weeks ago. She got sick and sick very quickly. They found she had uterine cancer and it was already stage 4 when she went in. The family knew she was probably going to die quickly. This woman was our neighbor next to the house where I grew up. My parents moved into the house when they were first married. They just moved out (only about 5 miles away though) about 2 1/2 years ago. So, we've known this couple for a long time. They live in Florida in the winter and in Ohio in the summer. Her family was able to go to Florida and spend her last days by her side. Sunday I went to the funeral visitation with my family and Zachariah. It was very nice. It's been a long time since I've seen that many people from the community where I grew up.

Matt's been pretty sick. He was feeling sick a week ago and rested a lot in the evenings. He stayed home from work on Friday and slept off and on all day. Saturday he went with me to run a few errands, and that wore him out. Sunday he went to church (while I was up with my parents), came home and slept all afternoon. He did come to out Super Bowl party (YEAH GIANTS!), but he was exhausted by the time we got home. Monday he tried to get up for work and felt worse, so he got a doctor's appointment. He has a sinus infection and now has medication to clear it up. He looked and sounded better this morning, and he went ahead into work. I'm sure he'll be worn out when he gets home tonight, but at least he's getting better. That has kept me busy just trying to get him things he needs so he can rest, and then I have to do everything else by myself. Exhausting, but I'm doing fine. I'm just thankful Zachariah and I are healthy.

I'm trying to lose weight. I've known (for a really long time, actually) that I need to get to work. Matt and I have talked about it a little, and he's willing to start trying for a baby if I can lose some weight first. That was actually my idea, but he was OK with it. He's very supportive when I am trying hard. Last week I started by drinking more water and eating less. I still need a lot of work on my diet, but I'm changing things bit by bit. I think that will be best for me for now. Then today I got out the exercise videos and did 20 minutes of The Firm. I wish I could have done more, but I thought I would die if I did. I plan to try to get farther each day. I'll push myself to do as much as I can. I think the biggest problem today was that it was a new workout for me. I did pretty well keeping up with the instructor at first, but then I started losing her. It was getting more complicated and I was wearing out fast anyway. The more I do it, the easier it will get for me to follow and the better shape I'll be in.

I have an idea to try a brand new recipe every week for a while and post about it on here with a photo. I like sharing recipes, and I love trying new things. This weekend I made S'more Brownies. They were really yummy. I think I'll start with that one. Plus SaLy requested casserole recipes, and we just got a casserole cookbook for Christmas with some yummy looking recipes in it. I have yet to try any, so now would be a good time.

I hope I feel like posting more often. And I do enjoy reading your blogs. I miss writing too. I will be working on that as well.