50 by 50

Are you a bit perplexed by the title? I would almost solicit what possible answers the readers might think that it means but with my small readership, probably less than a half-dozen, I doubt it would be worth it.

Let's see....50 by 50. That would make for a great barn or hobby shed, don't you think?

50 by 50 would make for a HUGE garden too! Forget that noise, I wouldn't want to have to take care of something that big.

50 by 50 would make a great beach front lot on the lake!

Oh alright, I'll just have to tell you then.

Well, Tam and I really enjoy watching "The Biggest Loser" on Tuesday nights here at the Palmerosa. If I had to choose one show out of the entire week....it would be this show. I think we started watching either at Season 4 or 5, I'm not sure.

***I bet you can already figure out where this is going, right? *****

I must say that over the last few seasons there have been some incredible things happen on the show. Some things nearly "unbelievable" unless you had watched the whole season. Some of these contestants "metamorphosized" into something completely different when compared to how they started the season.

The guy who won the last season was from Broken Arrow, OK (near my hometown of Tulsa). He broke a record of losing 100 lbs in only seven weeks. By the end of the season he had lost over 50% of his body weight. He was a mere shadow of his former self.

Anyway over the last few seasons, we experience with some of these contestants some of the psychological barriers, hurdles, and other challenges people who have weight issues deal with on an on-going basis. Somehow, Bob and Jillian, the personal fitness trainers are able to reach into the hearts and minds of these contestants, and mine too, and touch them in areas we didn't even know existed. Sometimes it makes you very uncomfortable not only for yourself but for the contestant. I cannot tell you how many times a contestant might be explaining what they're dealing with or some obstacle they've just come up against and it's like they're reading my mail! I've realize over time that I'm not the only one out there - there must be millions of us.

Well, one of the things that the trainers tell you to do is to announce to your family, friends, co-workers, etc. that you're embarking on a journey to change your life. When you "put it out there" by telling people, then you've just set some things into motion. Once you've told them, you just became accountable. You see, if you don't tell anyone, and you fail to lose the weight you wanted, well no one knew in the first place.

Okay, have I built this up enough at this point? I can imagine you've already figured it out though.

Well, okay, here it is.........the title 50 by 50 is ......

Oh, do I really have to say? I don't wanna........

"Help me Jesus. I need thee, oh how I need thee".

I want to lose 50 lbs by the time I turn 50. As of today.....I have exactly 11 months.

Well, there it is! It's out there for the world to see. Now, I've done it! I've gone and opened by big mouth and now I really have to do something about it. Now I'm ACCOUNTABLE! Oh....yuk....that really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I told Tamala just this evening after dinner that we've been able to modify our behavior when it comes to money over the last 2.5 years. Now, we need to turn our attention to modifying our behavior when it comes to food.

50 by 50....you think I should have a T-shirt made up?

So, now that I've humiliated myself by broadcasting to the universe via cyberspace of my goal, I'm going to sign off and contemplate just what I've done.

Blessings!

Aruba is beginning to sound nice about now

Are you kidding me? I mean seriously....was it really that cold outside side this morning? When we arose this morning we went upstairs to begin making coffee. I wondered what the outside temperature might be so all I had to do was turn around and look at the thermometer on our green hutch. As you can see below... it didn't lie.



Yes, it really did show -2 degrees Fah. Oh come on...really? I am so over winter words can't convey how done I am with it; and it's only been "officially" winter for less than a month!

Like I said earlier - Aruba is beginning to sound a whole lot more comfy about now. Anybody else up for moving?

Blessings!

Okay, okay - it's a musical day, so sue me!

After my last post, I flipped over to my brother's blog and enjoyed his most recent musical post. But it was something he said in the introductory remarks about his featured musical posting that reminded me of a similar experience. I will quote him here "Every once in a great while, a cover comes along that may possibly be better than the original". I happen to agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

Once again I was cruising the net a few years ago and happened upon a redition of one of America's most iconic songs - "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" however, it wasn't sung by the quintessential Judy Garland, but a regional artist in the great Northwest, Eva Cassidy.

Have you ever bought a CD just because it had one song on it, or am I the only one? All I can say is thank God for Amazon.com because that is where I found it and quickly snatched it up.

The "pure" sound of her acoustic guitar is flawless and her soul stirring rendition is one you may not likely forget.

Allow me to give you a brief history of this artist. She recorded several CDs but she became terminally ill. One person posted a comment that I read summed it up quite well:

"As I understand, she was aware of her terminal affliction at the time of this performance.

If we put the depth of meaning contained in the lyrics of the song in context with what she was going through at the time, the "breaking" of her voice at the phrase "why can't I", will help to appreciate the genuine nature of her perfomance.

Every once in a great while, a cover comes along that may possibly......

"Meditation" from Thais

Several years ago I was surfing the internet for music when I came upon this piece played by Itzak Perman. I was instantly mesmerized by the intense beauty and sheer "power" of such a masterful composition. Only I did not know its name or the artist at the time. It wasn't identified on the internet. I had it saved for 3 or 4 years when I became acquainted with a classical concert pianist. I played it for him asking if he could identify it for me. He only had to hear the first couple of measures and once the violin began he knew it was "Meditation" from Thais. He said that it was his father's favorite piece and they played it at his funeral.

Jules Massanet wrote this amazing piece. I've wondered what Jules may have been experiencing at the time it was written. I've never tired of hearing it. It will most likely be listed in the top five of my all time favorites considering music in all its entirety with all its genres.

I read one person's comments and it said: "It sounds like a slow ascent to heaven and heaven is pierced at 2:00 minutes"

I hope you enjoy it as much as I.



Blessings!

I am gonna get Miss Helena !!!!!

our little sweet and lovely Christmas house guests wished for a white Christmas. Well she got her wish. It snowed ON Christmas Day - it had been 47 years since it actually snowed on the sacred day.

Well apparently she's still praying for snow because our Christmas snowfall is still on the ground and ......it's snowing AGAIN!!!

You just wait till I see her! She'll be wishin' for Spring roses and honey bees! "I'll you my pretty.....and your little dog too!"

We're expecting another 4-6 inches tonight. I really do hope that this storm system doesn't stall out over us. That would be catastrophic!

press Resume to continue -

Hello again dear reader - it has been a very long time since my last post. Truth be known, I didn't have any desire to post anything. I just realized that the entire month of December has come and gone without any postings, but, it is what it is.

Thank you for your understanding.

I've taken quite a bit of time to ponder the "home going" of my former pastor, Billie Joe Daugherty. Not to same that I'm done either - I'm still processing and will be for some time to come. Not only did we have Billie Joe's passing to deal with but another one of God's generals crossed over into Glory on my 49th birthday, Oral Roberts. He was President of Oral Roberts University when I attended from 1979 throught 1981. His legacy leaves a lifetime dedicated to spreading the gospel and being a conduit for the healing power of God. I couldn't begin to do justice to this powerful man of God here in my little blog so I will just stop right there.

I must give pause here for a moment to consider the Reverend Dr. Billy Graham. He just celebrated his 91st birthday last November. I wonder just how long we will have him with us to draw upon his wisdom related to his years of ministry. I just read a little piece about Dr. Graham that said he is considered to have preached to more people in his lifetime than anyone else in history - some 2.2 billion! It has been recorded that 2.5 million people have stepped forward at his crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! I believe he qualifies to also wear the honor of one of God's generals. Of course that is my opinion - but again, this is my blog!

press "Resume" to continue - I think after today that I will endeavor to begin blogging again.

CHRISTMAS was a wonderful! We were blessed to have my folks along with their foreign exchange student, Helena come to our home. Helena is from Norway and she is the greatest! She is just like the little sister we never had. She was hoping and praying for snow on Christmas. Well she must be "blessed and highly favored" because it began snowing Christams Eve night and right on through Christmas day. I think we got 12 to 14 inches! I told her at one point Christmas afternoon - "you can stop praying for snow now just anytime Helena." It seemed like it would never stop! No one even ventured outside on Christmas or Friday the 26th. By Saturday I was feeling a bit stir crazy so I ventured out to do some snow shoveling.

We got another couple inches just last night. So now we have two different snows still on the ground with more on the way! The weatherman said we may break another record this week for the most consequtive days with high temps in the single digits.
I remember from last winter that we had three different snows on the ground at one time. Looks like it will happen again.

Have a blessed and prosperous year in 2010!

I've pressed "Resume" to continue on once again.