Author: julesfarm@yahoo.com

I haven’t known what words to use to describe how I feel about everything. This I do know. I have listened harder in the last several days than I have ever listened before and I’ve still got work to do. I’m taking a break from the blog to read some recommended books on Black History and Black Autobiographies and watch some recommended documentaries and movies. I’ve always been one to speak up, but I need to speak louder and more often. I’ll come back to the blog and share my resources. For today, I’m getting ready to head over to Effie with my 10 year old grand daughter, Amiyah, and I could not be more excited! We are camping this weekend with my dad, stepmom and a group of other Vintage Trailer owners. I’m not really sure who is more excited to play house in my trailer, me or Amiyah. […]

This trooper is home. Surgery went great! She posted the above picture on Facebook after getting settled in her hospital room. The hospital had just began allowing one visitor per day as of this Tuesday, so she asked me to come up. I got to spend the afternoon with her and she was doing great! Getting up to walk and exercising her lungs as directed. She was having some difficulty keeping down the fluids they were giving her, so they kept her an extra night to get that under control. She came home Sunday afternoon!I I’ll keep you posted on her recovery and success. I spent a little time over at Effie this weekend making sure she is all ready to go camping Friday. That’s right. I get to camp! I camped for my very first time one year ago with my dad and stepmom and met this particular group […]

My girlfriend Betsy made this sign/tray for me for Effie and gave it to me last night. I think it’s just the cutest! Thanks Bets! If you’ve not made Betsy’s Zucchini Soup, well that’s the same girl and it is delicious! Thank you all so much for your sweet comments either here on the blog or via Facebook for Kate. When you’re headed into something big like she is, it’s nice to have support and the prayers you all offered up mean the world to the both of us! It’s late but I didn’t want to skip a post again. I’m liking my daily “habit”. We’re talking about the importance of habits in the Workshops this week and it has me thinking about some of the healthy habits I’ve developed over the years. Blogging daily had become a healthy habit for me as a great accountability tool. Getting back to […]

Kate is our oldest daughter. Kate is the kind of person that would truly give you her last dime if it would help you out, and she’d do it in a heartbeat. She has always been a giving person with a heart of gold. Kate is married to Shelby and together they have four children. If you’ve been reading for a while, then you will remember that it was Kate and Shelby that experienced the flood in their home, not once, but twice, in the summer of 2017 when everything over here seemed to have a dark cloud looming above. Kate and her family moved in with us while Mike and Shelby worked liked crazy to get their house put back together. Since that summer, many great things have happened for them, including buying their first home and being able to put the “flood house” behind them. Kate had a […]

I am thankful to all who have served and happy to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I know many families have traditions they enjoy doing over holiday weekends. Mike and I always seem to spend three day weekends working on projects, and this year was no different. I would have been here sooner, but I’ve been fighting my computers ability to load pictures. After lots of frustration, I gave up and decided I wasn’t meant to write a blog over the weekend. After trying several things today, all I needed to do was to turn my computer off and then on. Yep. You think I’d learn, right? Anywho, I’ll keep this fairly short today. Mike is working away at his garage project and I’m keeping myself busy trying to help where I can but […]

Pretty quiet day here yesterday. Thursday is typically a full office day with a morning, noon and evening workshop with fillers in-between of emails, coffee breaks and a meal here and there. This week I decided since I’m going to be doing Virtual Workshops for a while longer, I’d get cozy back in my office in the basement. I love this space, I just wasn’t sure the one window would be enough lighting for Zoom, so I temporarily had set up in the the spare bedroom. After playing with lamps and a few different ideas in the basement window, I’ve decided this will work. Also, I have everything I need here, so it’s all good. Occasionally I’m distracted by an energetic squirrel, bird or bunny, but it’s much nicer than my view of the roof I’ve had for the last two months. If I get in steps or activity on […]

How are you currently grocery shopping? I’ve decided to give grocery Pick-Up a try. For whatever reason I am finding grocery shopping dreadful and full of anxiety. Yesterday’s Pick-Up went smoothly, so I’ll give that a go again. I had a small order and was pleased to see everything I ordered was in the bag. After a relaxing morning on my computer in my pj pants, then a quick trip to pick up groceries in my pj pants and walking shoes, I headed out the door for a 4 mile walk, still in my pj pants. Also, missing my grand babies. Some days are just pj pant days. 10K for steps yesterday and some yummy food. I buy this at Costco and I like having it on hand to add into Yogurt. Some days can be harder than others to keep my hand out it for a sweet snack. So […]

Three of my favorite words when it comes to my health. I’ll get to these kabobs in just a sec. Lifestyle Knowing this is a lifestyle and not a diet makes this doable for me long term. Thinking about being on a diet for life sounds overwhelming, hard and unrealistic. If I have a day where I don’t make the best choices, I know I’m not ruining my diet, I now that I haven’t failed, I didn’t screw everything up and I don’t need to start over. I had a day where I didn’t make the best choices. I’m normal. I’m human. I’m imperfect. I’m aware. I’ve become very mindful of how what I eat affects how I feel. Knowing that makes those days where I don’t make the best choices, fewer and further between. I also know that I’ll have more days where I eat something just because it […]

Unexpected circumstances can leave us wondering what tomorrow will bring. When things don’t go well here, Mike will say, “It is what it is and we’ll figure it out.” He’s right. While it doesn’t make what may be happening any less real, I know that together, we will get through it. We got this. I’ve had so many conversations in the last two days with friends that are struggling with anxiety and emotions and now several friends have lost their jobs. It is all so heartbreaking. To anyone reading, please know that you are not alone. I welcome any comment, email, text message, Facebook message, Instagram message. I’m offering my ear (or keyboard) because sometimes we just need to talk and know that we are not alone. Together, we got this. I’ve been thinking a lot about my word “Create” that I chose for 2020. I’ve been thinking about how […]

I remember being a WW member years ago when our Coach (then called Leader) would occasionally ask the question….”What does a successful WW day look like to you?” I remember my exact answer then and for me it hasn’t changed a bit. I never expect perfection from myself, a lesson I’ve learned in life and a lesson I hope that you have learned as well, but I do have expectations of myself and I’ve worked hard to find the balance of what that means for me. Not every day will be the ideal WW day, and that’s okay. I embrace the ones that are. A successful WW day for me includes tracking my food (it keeps me mindful of my choices), staying hydrated (drinking plenty of water not only keeps my hydrated, but it also keeps me full in between meals and snacks) and staying active. Staying active for me […]