Retirement/Reward

My husband announced that he is going to retire the end of March 2016. It will be very bitter/sweet for him.  How to you say good-bye to a company that you were with when it had its humble beginnings? Starting as the truck driver 41 years ago and growing into one of the Managers in just a few short years. The building he has been working in for the last 32 years he had the opportunity to supervise the construction from the ground up. He had a voice in every part of it. That is how much the owners trusted him and his decisions.  We as a family even spent many hours assembling shelves, cleaning, and just enjoying the progress made each day. My children all have worked at sometime or other in that building.  I even answered phones one day when the receptionist was gone. (One day was enough for all of us!) 
The most important joy he has had is the people who he has met and become fast friends with through the years.  Many of them are gone now but he stills talks of them and the things they taught him through the years. He has many employees that have been with him for many years.  He has appreciated them and cares about them.  Not many can say that they were able to dedicate their life to a company and enjoy so many things about it. (Of course there are always a few rough spots but what job is always perfect?)  What a wonderful life he has provided for us his family. We have had all we ever needed and then some. That is the kind of dedicated person that he is.  He puts his all into what ever he does.  I am so proud of him and the example he has given to my children of, "an honest days work for an honest days pay." I really do think it is a reward to be able to leave this kind of legacy.  Well done Russell,  Thank you for all you have done.  I Love you.

Marvelous Motivation

I have not been writing on my Blog as often as I use to.  I have promised you that I will not write just to write but will update you on different things that I feel are important.  A fun thing to share is that after just 3 full weeks of leading the Weight Watchers  SUU at Work they have lost a total of 216 pounds.  I am so proud of them.  It has been fun to watch them learn and lose that unwanted weight. They motivate me to do better.  That being said.....
      I have been struggling with myself.  I can't seem to get going and exercise like I need to. Maybe it's the time of year? Maybe it's a bit of seasonal depression? What ever it is I need to get moving to keep myself healthy and strong.  I was really pondering this the other day while sitting on my front porch when I saw something that both shamed and motivated me.

      This little tiny lady walked past my house.  She has to be in her upper 80s. She smiled and continued on her way. She was walking and enjoying the day.  She had figured out a way that she could do that. When she gets tired she sits for a few and then on she goes. She was happy and looked healthy. Later that day as I glance out the window I saw a gentleman walking around the track across the street from my home. He was pushing a walker and struggling to keep his balance.  His friend was walking along behind him with his arms out stretched ready to grab his friend. I could see from his movement that it was very painful for him to walk  but he wanted to walk so badly he was enduring it.   Shame on me. I can walk. My balance is good. I am strong and healthy. I needed to see these two people  to once again be reminded of what I can do. So,  I have walked more and enjoyed it. Not as far or as fast as I use to but it is a start. I just need to get out that door and put one foot in front of the other and enjoy the day. Plus walking is an excellent way to combat depression. Why don't you give it a try?  Maybe you will find you like it and will feel better too.
                                                                                                                

Up the Black Ridge

I have a new adventure in my life.  I am going to be teaching a Weight Watchers class at SUU up in Cedar City, Utah. I will be driving over  the famous Black Ridge once a week for a while traveling about 50 miles each way from my home.  It is called an At Work meeting and will be done right on the campus. An interesting thing about this.  I went to SUU after I graduated from high school. I moved down there with my girlfriend Pauline. We jumped into college life and had a lot of fun. I was a poor college student so I had to work.  I began working on campus in the food services.  I chased my hubby to the end of town and back several times until I finally convinced him we should get married. (He must be glad I did because we just celebrated our 43 year anniversary)  When we were first married we lived in northern Utah and I though little of my SUU days. We then moved to St. George in 1984.
Fast forward 21 years and once again I was a student attending SUU. This time my friend Terri and I  were driving the black ridge to finish our second year of nursing school. A Dixie College/SUU partnership program with Weber State University. We drove every day and became pretty skilled at driving in the "Nurse mobile!" ( a little old white Volkswagen beetle) Terri use to say that if a big enough gust of wind hit us we would be tumbling down the mountain like an empty tin can..
Now 24 years later I am once again going up the ridge. I am excited. I will meet many new people who share my common goal of healthy living. The part about this new adventure that surprised  me is I will be holding the meeting in the exact building and in the exact room that I worked in so many years ago. What are the odds of that?  To me it is pretty amazing.

What is recovery?

I have not spent a lot of time on my Blog lately. I have had other projects going on and less free time. I do want to mention as it is recovery month that it has been 6 years since I spent my long summer in a rehab getting off my narcotic medications.  I posted a picture of me the other day on Facebook with a red recovery pin on.  Some of my friends thought it was for Breast Cancer but it was for Narcotic recovery.  Many wonderful things have happened to me in the past 6 years.  I have lost 125 pounds and gained my health. My mind has become clear and I am able to learn so many wonderful things.  I still have some fibromyalgia issues but they are so much less. I have been able to walk thousands of miles, gone on wonderful trips, (without the worry of running out of my pain pills), hiked hundreds of trails, and played a lot.  I have been able to work at Weight Watchers and meet so many incredible people and share in their own healthy journey's. I have made many new and cherished friends.  I have laughed, cried, and listened to many heartbreaking stories about loss of self esteem and health. I have watched those same people bloom and grow into strong self loving people.  One of the biggest joys has been spending time with my family. Just being able to be with  my grand's and watch the world unfold through their eyes. I should have not lived. I should have died in my sleep.  One of my children would check on me every morning just to see if I was still alive. I regret the pain I put them through. The worry and fear. I have had to learn to put that in the past. To live and celebrate my life now. I am so grateful that I had a moment of clarity and was able to get the help that I needed. If you are struggling with addiction accept that it has a hold on you. Ask for help. Live!

Heavy heart today

Yesterday I heard the news that a young man who I knew had passed away.  I do not know the details of his passing but my heart is heavy for his family and friends who had so much love for him. This young man came into our lives over 30 years ago. He was my son Andy's "best friend" when they were in grade school. He spend many hours playing at our house with both Andy and Ashton. We moved from the area and I did not see that boy for many years. I ran into him next at a very hard time in my life. I was at an Narcotics Anonynous meeting and this tall healthy looking man grabbed me and said, " are you mama Dodge? " I could not figure out who he was until he told me. We stayed after the meeting and talked for a long time about the hold of addiction. He was very open and shared many feelings about the many times he had disappointed his family. The time spend in jail and how this was the time. This time he would beat this beast. Never again would he put his family and himself though the struggles addiction had caused. I watched this "boy" become stronger and clearer as time went by.
      I did not see this young man coming after a while.  I ran into his mother one day and she told me he was doing well but still fighting hard to improve his life.  Then to see his obituary in the paper shook me up pretty bad. 
        Addiction kills.  It kills family, friends, jobs, and lives. I have lost several cousins to this killer. I have lost several friends. I am sad this young man's mother has to bury her son. She was his greatest supporter and strength.  He had so many hopes and dreams.  RIP your struggle is over.

House is full again

My life has changed once again.  For years now I have had the time and freedom to come and go as I wanted. To exercise, shop, and do my errands. This summer I have been given the wonderful opportunity to have my two grand's spend almost every day with me. They are good boys and I have spent mornings with them before school for several years now but this is different.  A challenge for me to figure out. When to exercise and how?  I have been using this as a reason to not exercise and I have to change my mind. What has added to this challenge is that they want to spend as much time with their cousins as possible so that adds 3 more boys to the mix. It is fun, it keeps me busy. It also keeps them busy, and happy.  We have to stay inside most of the time with the temperatures so hot but I have a large cool empty basement. (A boys haven for huts!)  I have had to really scold myself and remind myself that there are moms all over the world that can fit exercise into their busy lives. I have a few options and I need to get going.  Walking early in the morning  when it is cooler. They come about 8 most days. Take them swimming in the afternoon. Good for all of us. Exercise videos. I dug out my wii fit to see if that would help me get going and so far I have not been able to grab a turn. It was a hit with all the boys and they spend quite a bit of time challenging each other to different activities. It wears them out so maybe it was not such a bad idea after all.   Also the different foods that I have in the house.  I still try to eat healthy but once in a while a treat calls to me. Usually when I do indulge one of them reminds me that I really shouldn't be eating that!  I am surprised at how much they have learned.  We have discussions often about "healthy and unhealthy" foods. At this point some of them are pretty young to fully understand that concept. I just explain that any food eaten in large amounts can be unhealthy. They seem to understand that. I talk to  them  about exercise and workouts. It would probably be more effective if I demonstrated to them by actually doing some exercise or workouts. Sounds like I am in need of a attitude adjustment. This has really opened my eyes that I need to be willing to adjust and try new options. It has also given me a greater admiration for others that are working on their own healthy journey.  Especially those of you who are working, caring for children, and still taking time out to exercise.  " You are my inspiration and motivation." Thank you for showing me that it can be done.

Frozen Shoulder update

I once again have been able to prove that doing exercises does help your body recover.  I posted in an earlier post about my frozen left shoulder.  I had very limited movement and pain....oh, my the pain!  I am happy to report that my shoulder is unthawing and at a faster rate that I ever hoped for.  I have been diligent in doing the list of exercises that the Dr. gave to me and I can really see progress.  I have a ways to go but If I go real slow I can raise my arm straight up like I want to be called on to answer a question.  That is real progress! The movement still causes quite a bit of pain and I have to go slowly but I can do it.  That was impossible a month ago.  I still have limited movement in some of the directions but can see improvement there also. In some strange way I am glad I went though this because it has given me a opportunity to learn many things.   I have learned to appreciate movement more than I ever did before.  I  learned that exercise can help tremendously when done correctly and regularly. I  learned to ask questions and research. I learned that I can handle the pain that in my research was rated as intense and severe, and that  I don't need pain pills to get through an injury.  That has been a great fear for me.  "What if..?" I get an injury and have to take pain pills. (If I ever do need them I also know how to handle it thanks to my NA meetings.)  I learned that I can tell the Dr. NO THANK YOU, I don't want them and walk away. I have learned to watch and make sure I am not protecting that shoulder to much and limiting that movement I can now do. I have learned that my body can heal and wants to heal. This is just a small sample of the lessons I learned from this and I wanted to write them here so I would not forget them.  I just wanted to share this and hope you are looking for some of the things that you can learn as you go through your struggles and trials.