Just Drive A Little Farther....HUNNY!

If you have known me for any amount of time you know I get lost. I have no sense of direction. Sometimes I think its because of my ears. Well that's a good excuse anyway, maybe. I have more confidence now because I have an IPhone 5 and it has a GPS program called Waze.
 This week we had our first guest in the new house. A friend of ours we have known for 30 years. We have not seen him in 18. He came from Nairobi Kenya.
Last time the family came to see us we lived in Felton, CA. This was his first trip to Mississippi and he requested to see the great Mississippi River and eat catfish.
Ok that's a good idea. The river is in Vicksburg on the Louisiana border. I figured we could find catfish in Vicksburg so I typed in catfish Vicksburg. I got Catfish Alley Vicksburg; lets GO.
Our first hint that things might not be right was when we got off the main interstate going West to 61 going North and we were in the COUNTRY!!!!! I mean there was nothing except Gods green earth, water, and blue sky. Then we turned again on to
465 getting into deeper country, low lands and swamps......
About this time my husband was seething. He kept asking me WHERE to go and the GPS kept saying just a little farther.....

 Finally we got to a road that said Catfish Alley. We had been driving for 2 hours and we were at Eagle Lake.

 Eagle Lake was gorgeous! Technically it used to be a part of the Mississippi river. But looking down at my phone I was in absolute horror. We were just going around in a circle on Catfish Alley. Just HOW was I supposed to tell the uptight driver who knew good and we'll we were lost; that not only were we lost but there was no catfish!
Kayla and I were in the backseat and I was pointing to the phone & freaking out. I guess the guys figured it out because they pulled over and asked a man if there was a place to eat around here.... Yeah go down the road to the lo stow. Ok thanks

WADDDDDIDDDDHHHHEEESAY??????

 He said the Lo Sto. We found it. We thought he was talking southern but the place was actually named the Lo Sto. Turns out it's famous.

 But no fish on Catfish Alley. We had burgers, fries, and the BEST fried dill pickles ever. Health food right? Our waitress was stinkin adorable. I should have videoed her. She plays fast pitch soft ball and she pitched us right into a happy mood. We were all smiling.  Did you know girls have 6 more pitches? She demonstrated right there how with a flick this way and a twist that way you could send a pitch across the plate at 65 miles an hour underhanded. Just as good as an overhand 95 mile an hour fast ball but with more tricks. If her game would have started right then we would have gone to watch. She was Southern charm at its absolute finest. ADORABLE.

 Once we got full and relaxed we noticed what a truly beautiful place we discovered. I was cool with being lost and on an adventure; because shoot fire I am the only woman I know who could stop for the night in Piccayune on my way to Florida.

We did go to Vicksburg.

 And I lived to tell the story.  Later at home that night before we went to sleep I thought about the whole thing and had a fit of giggles so bad I gave myself an asthma attack.

Catching Up

Bitsie
This little spoiled rotten baby.....if you aren't on Facebook then she is new to you. Crazy how time flies. My Facebook memories said yesterday that I made friends with Farmlady 6 years ago. I got news its been longer than that!!!!

We moved to a cute little house in the country on 4 1/2 acres. We have trees all around us. You can't see us from the street. We have been going to a sweet little church in town here. Its a full gospel small church. The pastor is passionate and young. I have some friends from We Will Go there. This town is sweet and laid back everything we need is 10 minutes away. I love being back in a place without sidewalks. Its awesome.

 The house has an awesome front porch. The view is amazing. I started keeping finches in Madison. Heather left me her two. Its all her fault that I got into birds. Smiling.....birds are adorable. My socies are sitting on a nest. When they lay eggs its called a clutch. This would be my first "batch" of babies if they laid fertile eggs. The mama is a chocolate crested and daddy is a white pied. We have 50% chance of crested babies. I love those little Beethoven hair do's. Socie's are easy to keep. I have no idea where they will winter. Summer is perfect for them on the porch.

Kayla waving hi. Gurl has lost a ton of weight! We both are doing well on the #Whole30.  Round 3 for me.... I would like to get back into a 10/12 pants. Yeah I can do that. If I look old and ugly I may beg the Hunny for a face lift. Yah.
Well maybe not.
My tablet makes it so hard to do this that I lose my train of thought. Anyway. Got up and did a big cook up of veggies for a couple of days. There is so much fresh fruit and veggies now. Perfect time to do #Whole30 again. My body will thank me. I should elaborate sometime on all the non scale victories. Did I tell you I have lost 7 inches? Around my back, waist, & hips, not bad right? Kayla wears my clothes & I got a few when I started walking out of my jeans. I didn't get many because my closet is small and I'm not finished shrinking.  The cool thing about #Whole30 is weight loss just happens but that is a secondary benefit. Feeling better is the primary benefit.
Like feeling freakin amazing......

That's enough for today. Maybe your curiosity is piqued. Maybe not. The plan works like it is. Change nothing. 30 days. You got this.

Once Upon A Time

I used to blog every day. I made about a dozen friends that I think about when I lost to Facebook.  Since I started Facebook any daily discipline of writing, reading or creating has died. I now speak fluent cyber slang. As I type "u" instead of you, because it's faster, I have to wonder. What are we losing as we quickly scroll down and hit the like button? We hit like even when we don't like.

In my life it seems I am always the last to figure out the obvious. Hindsight shows that some women used blogging to promote their products. That's fine, it's smart. I think Ree has probably made millions. I am happy for her. That's not why I blogged. I blogged because I wanted to write. I had stories to tell. Ideas and pictures to share. I blogged for COMMUNITY.
Neighbors are becoming something lost. We have other people in close proximity but do you know them? There are about a dozen women I got to know blogging. They are who I read on Facebook for the most part. But here is the pitch; ready?
I don't know you like I did when I read your blogs. You don't know me as well either. We are operating off of past intimacy.
Let the scooters scoff, you can get to know someone's heart by reading their writing. I miss it. So much has changed in my life that hasn't been written it's hard to know where to begin?
We moved. We remodeled a little cottage in the country. Thats a whole bunch of stuff. I have been following a "diet" #Whole30 where weight loss is a byproduct not the goal. Restoring health and breaking food addictions is the goal. It works. That's something to talk about.
I am not promising anything. I am embracing a lot of disciplines right now. I am just saying I would prefer to be here. It takes more effort. I have to actually write sentences. Attempt grammar and punctuation, and fail miserably; but you still come. You come because you too desire community and neighbors. You long to connect to share ideas to stimulate each other to more. Better art, delicious food, caring for children, taking pictures, we like to share. The process inspires us to do more and do it better. It also reveals limitations. I will never bake like Katie Diers. The best I can do is applaud her talent and affirm to her how amazing her talents in baking are!

That's what we do. We share. We comment. We are neighbors. Lately some of you have learned of life threatening illnesses. Some have had major surgery or are facing major surgery. After all my experience in health care I realized that if we can't cut you or drug you we have nothing else to offer. I have watched myself and people I love eat their way to chronic illness. Yes we have heriditary tendencies, yes their are diseases we have no control over. Bad things happen to good people, also good things happen to bad people. I believe that an optimally macro nutritious diet gives us an immune system that can fight disease off. Most pharmaceutical treatment has adverse effects that need to be dealt with. That is an even MORE important time to eat the best you can and avoid food additives that make us sick. Right?

I am preaching to myself. After two rounds of #Whole30 I learned I am very sensitive to high fructose corn syrup. It makes my joints hot, sore, and stiff. How do I know? When I finished the #Whole30 I was pain free and energetic. I felt like moving.  I felt younger, happier, calmer, more even keeled. I could go for much longer without eating and not experience a blood sugar crash. Wow. Food has so much power over us though. When we moved I ate a couple things a little at a time and discovered exactly how they made me feel. I know what I can eat.

I have food addictions. I have a sugar dragon. The other day I wanted some chocolate so bad I upended the Hershey syrup from Mothers Day and swigged it down straight. My joints paid me back within 10 minutes.
I am beginning round 3 of #Whole30. I am working up to my official first day. I have some hand made corn tortillas I want to eat. Just getting off chocolate is a big enough task. Reading labels again and getting the stuff out of here that can tempt me is a tThere is corn syrup in sausage and tuna fish. Read labels your in for a doozy of a shock.

That's what I am going to be talking about. #Whole30, healthy eating, the struggle to go to the GYM, and whatever else I am thinking about. Because this is Fresh Fixins where you never do know what your going to get!