A quick media post...

Watching...


Keeping up Appearances

Reading...

getting ready for the movie coming on August 7th! :)

Listening to...

Love this website and listen to it ALL THE TIME while I work in the kitchen. My fave is my Diana Krall channel with women and some men singing classic jazz standards. It is MAGNIFICENT!!!

Interesting day...

Wow, the emotions of this day have been something else. We went from excited and happy to see my Mom who flew in this morning to being deeply sad about news that a dear family friend and church member passed away this morning after a long complicated medical history.

Miss Nodi passed away... a woman who had done just about everything from being a Neonatal nurse to being a farrier (one who puts horseshoes on a horse). She never had children of her own but mothered many children throughout her life. She was precious and my children adored her along with every other child she ever met!

She had been confined to a chair for many years with severe diabeties and health problems but came to church almost every Sunday and never came without treats for the kids when she came. We will miss her greatly but she is running with her Savior in fields of green tonight.... and no one would want her to come back from that. Please pray for her family both relatives and church family as we make plans for her burial over the next few days. Thank you!

Apollo 11 reinactment in Alamogordo, New Mexico today

Apollo 11 reinactment
Originally uploaded by leann_richardson

40 years....

Today is the 40th anniversary of the day that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren walked on the moon. In celebration of this day we took the science geeks in our house... all six of us.... up to Alamogordo, New Mexico to the Space Museum and IMAX. It was a fun day with a mock Apollo 11 launch and a mock space shuttle launch complete with original recording of the July 16. 1969 event and a fabulous Discovery Channel presentation of the quest for the walk on the moon. We came home with great memories, a few photos and two Junior Astronaut suits for our two summer birthday boys. It was a great day!!!

SEE OUR PHOTOS HERE!!!

A bit of trivia... we all know what Neil Armstrong said when he stepped out of the module... "One small step for man... one giant leap for mankind." but do you know what Buzz Aldrin said??? "Magnificent Desolation!"

Some things you might be interested in...

* NASA 40th anniversary Apollo video stuff

A few changes...

First of all... I deleted my hypothyroid blog because just like everything else in my life I just cannot keep it going by itself. I am putting all those posts here now as I have information. I won't quit posting I just will have it all here. I am also thinking about moving my book blog into this one, too... I will let you know if I do.

Secondly, in my reading I have come across some herbal suggestions that I am going to be trying to see if they work for me. I share this for those who might benefit from this information, too. You know who you are... ;)

I have trouble getting a restful night's sleep as well as having energy during the day. I told you before that we suspect adrenal fatigue. The recommendation for herbal supplements is ginseng and B12 supplements during the day and something called Valerian for a more restful night's sleep. I have done the research and will be using the following with confidence that things will get better. Here is what I have purchased and will be starting tonight...






I also picked up two Pilates DVDs on swapadvd.com (a sister site to paperbackswap.com) and will be using them for early morning sessions to get my body moving better first thing in the day...

One cannot start a new exercise routine without the motivation of a cute new outfit, right? So, I bought clothes... at Walmart... so they were not that expensive... but they are cute and fun and I cannot wait to use them... which is exactly the point! LOL



I also started that notebook with the pdf files I shared with you guys yesterday to keep me on track...

This along with that book on Thyroid Diet are my resources to figure out what I need to be eating on a daily basis for optimum health. I am still reading it. :) There will be more as I learn and figure things out. Again... I share so that someone else might benefit from my trial and error in some way. I would love it if any of you ever commented and let me know you are in this struggle with me... I know a few of you that are and I appreciate your kind words of support. <3 It is sure a comfort to know one is not alone in such a thing. We can encourage one another... :)

Needing Accountability and Perspective...

After reading the book on Living Well With Hypothyroidism I have come to the conclusion that I am going to have to keep up with some things. I am printing the following (at the bottom of this post are the links) in order to see what is going on with my time, my diet and to be able to get some things under control. I want to take a look at things and see where change needs to come and what kind of change is necessary. It is all one big experiment these days... LOL The whole frustration with hypothyroid is that you are so OUT of control and for a girl who likes to be IN control this is definitely NOT a good thing. No matter what I try I cannot lose weight or have any energy.

The new Armour Thyroid pills are helping but change is slow. I also find that my joint pain and the swelling I have make it more difficult to do strenuous exercise so I am moving to a more gentle approach. I am adding Pilates and some basic strength training. I will also take walks outside as the weather gets a bit cooler in about a month or so. The heat just makes me puffy... and today it was 105 so it was not a day to be outside for sure.

I won't be blogging it all but I will be keeping a personal journal for my sake. I cannot take this weight gain... it wears me out.

Here are the links for the forms I am using if anyone else is interested in using them...

Daily Time Record

Daily Food Diary

Daily Exercise Record

SHOCKING!!!

I am going to share something with you that will shock you. I have never lied about it but just have never really mentioned it before. Are you sitting down??? I have NEVER READ A JANE AUSTEN NOVEL ALL THE WAY THROUGH.

I have always had every intention of reading them. They are sitting on my bookshelf as we speak. I have actually even put it in the pile and started a chapter merely to be pulled away by something else I had to read instead like a textbook... or a book I was reviewing... or a study book for Bible study... or something and it just never happened.

With that said.... I am putting the list up. I will finish my semester and my project and finish reading Julie and Julia and then next up I will start reading... in order.... the Jane Austen novels...

in chronological order

• Sense and Sensibility (published 1811)
• Pride and Prejudice (published 1813)
• Mansfield Park (published 1814)
• Emma (published 1816)
• Northanger Abbey (1817) posthumous
• Persuasion (1817) posthumous

Will I get distracted along the way?

Probably... but they are going to get read somehow... someway.... I will read them.

When I am finished I will reward myself with the ULTIMATE ROMANTIC MOVIE EXTRAVAGANZA and watch ALL of the movies... yes ALL of the movies and the documentaries that I can find on the Netflix website.

I will block out testosterone and legos and tools and all the man things that are in my house and I will veg in my room with chocolate and other estrogen boosting substances and I will watch them ALL BY MYSELF and cry and laugh and love every single minute of them.

I will... I Will.... I WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!