Notes on a self improvement project

Today is Memorial Day.  It is a day to reflect on the sacrifices of the men and women who serve this country in our military, but also to remember others who have passed.  For me, I have lost some good friends recently.  Connie, the court reporter friend who lost her battle with cancer just recently - and far too young.  Misha, the little dog I got for Dale just before I moved - she was still a puppy and such a good little girl.  I will always regret not insisting that MIsha come live with me when Dale got sick the first time.  I know in my heart that Misha would be alive now if I had.  And Dale.  Again, far too young.  He had a lot of potential and I know he was trying very hard to get his life on track.  If he had been able to stop drinking, he really could have had a great future.     I still struggle with my feelings for Dale.  We did love each other very much, and there is a part of me that will always love him. ...

Again, it was another normal week.  Except for a tick bite that I am a little concerned about.  I may actually see a doctor about it tomorrow, if I can get in.   It doesn't look like a Lyme's rash, although I'm not really sure, but it is swollen and there is like a big bruise around it.  Although  I should be resigned at this point to the fact that fate is just not my friend, I really can't believe that I would have to go through the fall and its aftermath AND a tick problem in the same month.  Oh well.  At least I have good stories, right? It is a new recipe day.  I had invited a friend from work, but he canceled on me, so I asked my neighbor.  He agreed to join me, so I do have a human to share the experiment.  This is the recipe I am going to try: http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/layered-enchilada-bake-107317.aspx  It is an enchilada bake.  My friend Desiree was kind enough to lend me her brand new cookbook for s...

This was a fairly normal week, and I think I stayed on mostly on track with many of my goals.  I got back into the walking routine, and I think I cut back on the extra soda that I've been drinking.  I did my creative writing last week, and I fully intend to write again today.  I noticed myself apologizing very little this last week, so all of those things are going well. There were some moments that made my goal of laughing more a little harder than usual.  This week on Monday, one of the court reporters that I used to work with passed away.  Connie had been sick for awhile, since even before I moved, so I think I thought that she would certainly get better.  I never really thought that she would lose the battle.  I got to know Connie fairly well, because we worked together the whole time I worked at Gramann, her son was in theater and we talked a lot about that, and I did a little bit of proofreading for her.  I liked Connie and respected her, ...

Something else that is bad for my goals?  Falling while walking the dogs, mutilating my face with pavement, and ending up in the e.r. getting stitches inside my mouth and by my eye.   At least, it has been bad for the walking goal.  That sort of ended the walk early on Wednesday morning.  I promised my parents I wouldn't walk again until at least the stitches were gone, and honestly, I wasn't really up to it on Thursday or Friday.  By Saturday, the dogs were going absolutely stir crazy and I was too, so I did go out for a short walk Saturday and I might go out again today.  It is a beautiful day.   It is amazing how draining that kind of pain in your face is, though.  Wow.  There is nothing between your face and your brain to interrupt the pain message, so it is really intense.   So, this event kind of proved my point about not taking physical risks...Walking.  It is a fairly safe activity, and I really could have been hurt mu...