Soul Sista Version 2.0

I’ve lost 25 pounds since February by just changing my diet. I think that is pretty good considering I haven’t started an exercise program yet. I still need to tweak my eating habits some by eating smaller portions. I also need to change over to some healthier alternatives like eating rolled oats instead of instant oatmeal and making my own granola bars.

I started drinking Silk and I'm in love. Who knew soy milk would actually be yummy. It's a big adjustment for me because I went from not drinking any milk to loving Silk. I wish I would have found this years ago.

I'm on the right track. I just need to focus on adding exercise to my life.

I’m a total cheap skate.  I had to replace my CD player last week so I got a cute little one for 20 bucks. Once I got home I decided that I had payed too much for it so I repackaged it to take back. I end up going to the thrift store and getting one for 10 bucks which I totally love. The moral of the story is go to the thift stores first then seek other alternatives if necessary.

The summer is for afros. I had my mom cut my hair last Sunday. My afro has returned five years after I did the big chop the first time. My hair had grown pretty long but it was a big mess. The ends were damaged and it was two tones from letting the hair dye grow out. I love having short hair. I hated when my hair was long and touched my face and ears so I’d braid it then put it in a ponytail. That hairstyle was getting pretty stale. I’m more bothered by having dark hair than short hair. I started coloring my hair when I was like 14 so having it back to its natural color is a bummer but I had to make a choice. I could have short damaged exotic hair or long healthy boring hair. I guess healthy and boring is the best route.

I’m such an impulse buyer. I won a Fluidity bar on Ebay. I can't wait for it to come. I heard that the dvds that come with it aren't so great so I bought some other barre workouts to use with it. I found a callanestics tape at the thrift store  and bought a set of lotte berk tapes online and a callanestics book. 

I’ve been pretty upset about the passing of Tim Russert.  I’m a political junkie. I love NBC/MSNBC. Russert, Matthews and Olberman are my go to men for quality prognostications. I feel like a part of my childhood is gone. I’ve watched Meet the Press for longer than can remember. Meet the Press was a luxury that I got to see on the days I skipped out on church. A huge yummy breakfast and Tim Russert was something very special indeed that will always bring back fond memories. His son is amazing. What a legacy to leave behind. I can't remember the last time I cried so much over losing someone I don't even really know.

While on the subject of politics. I would love for Obama to take the historic significance of his ticket to the next level by picking either Bill Richardson or Kathleen Sebelius as his running mate. I just needed to get that energy out into the universe.

The past few weeks have been pretty average. Cooking, cleaning and other fun chores. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get a lot of “extra”  stuff done this week. My dad had the week off from rehab but I didn’t capitalize on this extra time. I hope rehab helps him with his swallowing problems. The coughing and gagging is just too much sometimes. It is extremely scary and pretty gross. Whenever he has coughing attacks it makes my heart race like crazy. The frequent intense shots of adrenaline have made me extremely nervous during dinner time.

I still feel like I”m in a rut but I’m trying to re frame my daily routine so that it includes more uplifting, future driven activities.

Last weekend we  got our house painted and I love it. The new shade of green is bright and welcoming. It reminds me mint chocolate chip ice cream.

I own an obscene amount of books which really need to be organized and put away. I haven’t been selling much on etsy because I need to sort my books so I can see what needs to stay or go. Hopefully I’ll get that done this week. I really thought that i would be finish with this by now but I haven’t even started yet.

I love how pretty it is in the spring but I hate allergies. My nose has been giving me all types of problems. From being a snotty mess to bleeding for no reason. It has been a massive pain.

My dad had a birthday on Monday. I bought him some clothes and a cake. The cake was really good. We get another yummy cake next week for my mom’s birthday. I still haven’t decided what day to celebrate on because she works that day.

I’ve been busting my butt doing things that are apart of daily responsibilities. I feel like I’ve been focusing so much on everyday stuff that I’ve lost focus of working towards my long term goals. I’ve made a lot of progress as a person in the past few years but it feels like everything had slowed down over the last year or so. I really need to put more effort into me.

Even losing weight seems to be going super slow. One problem is I really haven’t started exercising regularly but I have changed my diet enough that its making a difference. I  have a pair of pants that I couldn’t even fit that fit now and even have extra room. Other people can see a difference and have commented but I don’t see it yet. I really need to start getting serious about working out. I’ve had a lot of problems with my knees lately. They get stiff and you can hear fluid in them. One day my mom was sitting on the floor and laid her head on my leg and it  sounded like the ocean. I can hear it to when I walk a lot or walk up steps. I hate the sound it seriously makes me cringe. I’ve also been having problems with my left hand and arm. I think I have a pinched nerve from moving my dad and helping him up. I need to find better transport methods that don’t hurt me. I have been doing some arm exercises and It doesn’t feel as numb or hurt as much as it did

The modem on my computer no longer works so I’m going to replace it myself. Fun Fun I hope I don’t screw things up even worse. My mom tried to talk me out of this adventure but I figure I can’t make things any worse. If I don’t try to fix it I have to get a new computer. If I do try to fix it and royally F—  things up then I have to get a new computer so either way the outcome is still the same.

I already bought a new modem and a static electricity discharge strap.I’m just waiting to get them in the mail. So in the mean time I’ll be doing research about replacing modems and praying that I’ll be able to get my computer to work.

I’m sad to see the last day of spring break. I’ve enjoyed having a laid back week that didn’t include so much house work and unfun stuff.Tomorrow I’m back to the regular grind. I have to take my dad to the hospital for a barium swallow test so that his speech therapist will know what course of treatment to take.

I’ve been thinking about moving a lot lately. I don’t think I actually want to move but I’ve just wondered if I weren’t in Ohio where would I be. I like Columbus for the most part. I’m a little tired of the neighborhood I live in and our house is too small. Other than that my living conditions are pretty good.

If i ever moved I think it would be to Colorado or New England.I really love Vermont and Rhode Island.I would love to be able to go to New York on the weekends and have the small town life at the same time.

The biggest change that I really want is to move from urban to rural life. I’d give anything to live on farm. Over the past year I’ve become a little obsessed with green living. I want to grow and raise my own food, make my clothes - really just be as self reliant as possible. Maybe one day this will happen.

April looks like its going to be an awesome month. We are getting the house painted, both of my parents are having birthdays and my dad is going back to speech therapy.

I’m happy that he finally decided to go back. The swallowing and coughing problem is sooo terrible.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about a lot of things maybe I’ll write about them one day. Right now I feel super tired I just want to take a long nap but I’m going to go clean so more instead.

  I’d been milling around the idea of learning how to make soap. I was A little hesitant because I really didn’t want to use lye. Well I went thrifting yesterday and found 3- 2lb Glycerin soap bases. It looks like making soap is my destiny. I’ve been searching for recipes so that I can make my first batch soon.

I also went grocery shopping yesterday.  90% of the things I buy are good healthy options. I’m a pretty disciplined shopper. I try to get little treats for my Dad to encourage him to snack but thats it as far as junk food. My mom is the opposite she always buys a half and half mix of good and bad foods. Today she went to walmart with my cousin and brought back cupcakes and cake which kind of annoyed me. I don’t have a sweet tooth so it isn’t really a temptation for me but it bothers me that my mom does have a sweet tooth and she devours that kind of stuff. Sometimes I have to take a time out and realize that I don’t have the right to force my way of life on the people I live with.

I made some major inroads in my spring cleaning project. I can’t believe how many beads and buttons I own.