what a weekend!

I had a very busy Saturday...

We woke up at 4:30 am to get to a 5K race by 7:15 (it didn't start until 8:00).  This was my first one this year and my 'training' had been minimal.  I was a bit surprised to have 2 old men (in their  60s) pass me right away!  I kept one in my sight, the other I didn't see again until a loop and saw him coming the other way, and I saw him break stride!  TWICE!  Walking races have specific rules, one of which is you must have a foot on the ground at all times.  Breaking into a jog results in disqualification.  Bill said he saw him break quite often.

As if having 1 old guy [legally] in front of me, I couldn't shake this other fellow off my tail!  I finally realized he wasn't going anywhere, so I started talking with him.  He's 71!  He races every weekend, he's a nice guy, but when I poured on the juice to try to get a little distance between us, well - the finish line picture can show how far I got.The two ladies to my right were actually runners, as a fast walker I passed a few runners, but no old men:-)

38:00 isn't a bad time, especially since I haven't been training.  A few more pounds off and some good training under my belt I should be able to at least stay with the old man who [legally] beat me.  I did win the overall woman's division though.  I'm told there's a woman who usually races that could probably beat me, but she wasn't at this race.  So I have a goal!

We went from the 5 K in Columbus (Indiana) to Nashville (Indiana) to pick up Bill's award winning painting from the Indiana Heritage Art ShowFrom here we drove into Bloomington to pick up another painting Bill had left with a gallery last year.  Then we headed towards Louisville (KY) to spend some time in the temple.  It was perfect!  It's so nice to leave the world at the door and step into a place of peace and a nearness to Heavenly Father that I just can't get anywhere else.  I heard someone say recently that they can worship God anywhere - they don't need a church.  I agree, we can worship God from any place.  But when I'm in the temple I feel like there's some sort of conduit to my Heavenly Father that I don't have in any other place. 

After the temple we drove home and got to see my sister and her two kids who had arrived while we were gone.  They are now permanent residents of Muncie.  They're staying here until she finds a job and gets enough for her own place.  It's so nice to have family here!

With all this excitement I would have thought that I would have dropped poundage in a major way.  But alas...NO!  I didn't.  While we were on the road I grabbed those little cottage cheeses for my lunch and dinner.  They had 2% milk fat and each was only 90 calories.  I had read from someone else that using cottage cheese for the protein source is fine, but weight loss doesn't seem to be as easy using it.  I think they were right, I lost 1 pound that day. 

I woke up this morning at the exact same weight I woke up yesterday morning.  If someone stalls out on this program for 4 days - which has happened to more than a few people - they're supposed to do a day of apples to kick the body back into gear. 

SO I'm on my 22nd day and have lost 20.2 pounds.  I'm not going to complain...well I can't.

The reason I can't complain is because Bill and I are doing a 30 only positive comments and 'purly praising prayers'.  A speaker in sacrament yesterday spoke of utilizing more gratitude in our prayers and Bill and I had been listening to Klove radio a few weeks ago and they were challenging listeners to be more positive.  So we decided to try it for 30 days - no negative comments!  We had to have some sort of consequence to assure our commitment, so the one who utters negativity owes the other a 5 minute massage for the first, and 5 minutes is added for each until 30 minutes is reached then we reset.  So far I owe Bill 5 minutes...