How did you spend your day off for honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.? I participated in the Tarrant Churches Together work day. I and members of my church, and folks from lots of a variety of churches in the county. Some people worked outside cleaning up areas. Others worked inside.
(From my friend Susan Bernhardt on FB.)
I was grateful for an inside assignment because the day started with a continuation of the fog of Sunday—some of the soupiest fog I’ve ever experienced. It lasted the entire Sunday until the vicious thunderstorms hit our area.
But Monday, God smiled on our area. The fog burned off quickly. After a great ecumenical church service at Baker Chapel, AME Church we set off to an Eastside care center where we spent the morning singing, (hardly had any voice left afterwards) painting nails, and playing games. 
Besides members from our church, there was a group from one of the Harmony Charter Schools.These were some of the most caring and fun folks. They were so good with the elderly women. Even the guys painted the women’s nails. Did a better job than I would have. The seniors can’t graduate until they’ve been accepted to a 4-year college. Talk about having high standards!
Our church has participated in this activity before, but this was my first experience. I didn’t stay for the lunch where they’d intentionally put different folks together, important to do this. All the different colored table cloths were cheerful. I’ve found I wear out with a lot of personal interaction. Since retiring, I’m apparently letting my introverted self, have more sway. I’ll go back next year for sure.
Weight Loss Updates: It was disconcerting to have FB show me that on Jan. 16 two years ago, I did my first day on Nutrisystem. Six months later I’d lost 28 lbs. I documented that loss on my blog. When I decided that I couldn’t eat the packaged food the rest of my life, I stopped using the Nutrisystem food. Surely, I’d learned my lesson about quantities. Well, no. I regained about 10 lbs. But still I felt good about myself and how I was handling food. Then another 5 lbs climbed back on and then I broke my ankle. Yikes! I documented that experience here, too.
So I started over December 14 and over the next couple of weeks lost 6 lbs. But then holidays hit. I tried eating fresh cooked food. As heathy as that is, if you eat too much of it, it’s too much. In November when I went Gluten Free, I took that to mean I could eat all the chips I wanted. Hey, they were GF. It said so right on the sack!
And then I started over again. (Thank God, I can start over!) I’m 5 lbs below where I was when I began Nutrisystem 2 years ago. I celebrate that. I could’ve regained all of it and more. Tuesday morning the scale died. Need to replace the battery. My system of weighing every day and writing down the weight and what I eat, only works if I right down what I eat. DUH!
This morning’s paper had an interesting article about weight bashing, which is a sport in this country. The author pointed out how damaging this is to young children and how girls pick up the bad image thing from their moms. Here is my public apology to my daughters for bad-mouthing my body when I weighed 115 lbs. I should’ve been celebrating that. My older daughter recently reminded me of this time. I don’t doubt that my actions have contributed to the issues they have. Please, girls, know that you are both beautiful inside and out, and the lbs on the scale do not measure your worth. Continue being active and eating healthily, but love the beautiful selves you are.
Book Updates: I’m zipping along well with ACT OF BETRAYAL. As of Tuesday, I was at 27,702 words. Heading to 75 or so. This is almost entirely dialogue. Will have a lot to fill in, but I like how it’s coming. Need more conflict between H & H, but that can happen in rewrites if I don’t show it before.
Looooong post. Sorry. Guess this comes from not writing much of my own ideas last week. LOL
How are you doing on those January resolutions/goals? How are you with your self-concept? How did you honor MLK on Monday or all year long? Love to hear from you.
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Marsha R. West, Author 
Hi Marsha, that sounds like such a fun event at your local chapel. It’s funny, since I’ve left work and I stay at home writing I’ve also become less inclined to socialise and am letting my introvert side have more sway. The irony is that as a writer it’s being around lots of people that lets you practise your ability to empathise and to write great characters.
Wishing you well on your mission to battle weight. Mine also fluctuates, and Christmas hasn’t done it any good at all.
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Hey, Helena. I lived a very successful life as a extrovert, but it just took so much out of me. I never even knew. I even filled out the MBTI as an extrovert because that’s how I saw myself. I love getting a committee of people together to solve problems. The synergy is exciting, but must take more time for quiet after those exciting times. You are so right, we have to be about in the world to observe and listen. Thanks so much for all your support over the years. Love your stories. Maybe this is the year we’ll crack the weight thing. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
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Nice way to spend Martin Luther King, Jr. day, Marsha. Great post.
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Hey, Susan. Yes, it was a good way to spend the day off. Of course being retired, I’m not sure I ever have a day off. 🙂 I loved your pic and quote from FB so much I had to use it. Thanks. And thanks for stopping by. 🙂
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Excellent way to spend your “day off.” When we give of our time and talents, I think we receive so much more. Best wishes on your weight loss journey. Have you ever tried not to weigh every day? Not sure checking that number helps every day. Maybe just notice your tummy feels flatter or your clothes are fitting better? Weigh once a week. I know it’s a personal choice and different for everyone. Thinking of you.
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Hey, JQ. Thanks for your encouragment. I have tried not looking every day, but being short, I can put on 5 lbs really fast. And to see that much increase on the scales has a devastating affect. So I really do better, looking every day. It’s kind of like writing. We all have to find what works for us. LOL It’s a trial and error effort, but eventually we figure it out. Loved your blog today, BTW. Thanks for stopping by.
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