Dear Cyberdiary:

Simplicity.... for me it is easy ... it is free... it is not heavy ... it can be defined at your will...

For me, SIMPLICITY is being grateful in good times and in bad times....

Today I choose to be grateful...because I am alive and my eyes can see the light of another day

- I am grateful for dawn ... because I woke up this morning and as I hit the pavement at 4 am for my morning run ... the touch of dawn on my face reminded me that I am much alive this day and I can make of it whatever I want to ... I can choose to be happy in spite of all hell breaking loose around me...

- I am grateful for dusk ... because at the end of the day I will lay my head down to rest having withstood the challenges of the day ... having been able to reign in the panamaniac.... having been able to move my foot and just say ouch when it was caught in the way .... having making the choice to be happy in spite of all hell breaking loose around me .. because as I laid down to sleep I had peace with and within me.....

- I am grateful for my mignight hour ... because it comes that it may pass .. and I again I will find joy in the new morning....

- I am grateful for the opportunity to celebrate yet another anniversary year of my husband's kidney transplantation .... grateful for the donor organ allowing him to live whereas both of his kidneys had completely shut down ... the struggle through eight years of dialysis and the waiting list ... oh those dark years but we had our breakthrough and I am grateful....

- I am grateful for the little furry creatures that won over my heart ... yesterday as my heart was heavy in mourning they leaped and played and sought me out and the simplicity of their innocent love made me sooooooooooo happy and so grateful to be alive and well ... simple little creatures that have it all figured out ...  I LOVE THEIR SIMPLICITY....

- I am grateful for my family and friends ... both IRL and in cyberspace ....

- I am grateful for my enemies ... because they encourage me to live well...

- I am grateful for my journal -- a picture of a day since weight loss surgery ... it keeps me in remembrance of me ... just like a tape measure or a scale ... I found a little tool that works for me, for my dressmaking skills and for my creativity ... a picture a day .. keeps the pounds away ... it is not about how I look it is about feeling and living healthy having left 5 co-morbidities behind ... I will do whatever it takes not to go back ... at my age I cannot afford it...

- I am grateful for my WLS and the opportunity it affords me to live a healthier life ...

-  I am grateful ... for love and for life with all the ups and downs... for the challenges and the adversities .... it is one big pain in the arse going through ... but once having been through and having learned a lesson .... there is strength in the duration .... until the next challenge...

Simplicity.. it is free ... it is whatever one makes it ... simplicity for me is being alive today AND  I AM GRATEFUL ...

.... my journal entry in my Journal A Picture a Day....

and my beautiful furry bandidos .... yesterday they dried my tears ... I love my furry critters...


editted tons of typos....

Happy Birthday KenKen ... I celebrate your life as my dufus DS on this your birthday and every moment of my days ... BE HAPPY AND LIVE GOOD ... ALWAYS.... MOM & FAMILY LOVES YOU!

RIP CHENCHU.... my beautiful beautiful dear friend and sista .... I will celebrate your life as tears smart my eyes when I opened up my email on yesterday morning and learned about your early and sudden demise.  I shall ALWAYS remember you ... with a smile once I dry my tears of today ... we were there for each other ... your and your handsome husband who contacted me to let me know ... you just knocked on my door to deliver computer equipment just last week ... the new laptop I got for dufus DS to give him on today ... over the years you have supplied me with all state of the art computer equipment and updates at such low fees as we bartered ... affording me the ability to donate multiple computers to church and outreach center and furnish and upgrade a computer room for children in the community to come to the afterschool peer-to-peer run by the youth regardless of their affiliation with the facility or not.. For affording me the ability to purchase netbooks and laptops for myself and my friends and even friends on my support website for such a low price or for bartering of my services ... for encouraging me on my weight loss journey... for being in awe of my shrinking and getting healthier right before your eyes ... for the ginseng teas... for the heel patches ... for listening... for sharing your store with me... for being such a wonderful woman ... for ALWAYS smiling .... RIP CHENCHU ... I WILL BE MISSING YOU ...I WILL CELEBRATE EVERY MOMENT  that I remember you...

Victor Hugo's poem came to mind - taught to me by my french grandfather...

L'aube est moins claire...

L'aube est moins claire, l'air moins chaud, le ciel moins pur ;
Le soir brumeux ternit les astres de l'azur.
Les longs jours sont passés ; les mois charmants finissent.
Hélas ! voici déjà les arbres qui jaunissent !
Comme le temps s'en va d'un pas précipité !
Il semble que nos yeux, qu'éblouissait l'été,
Ont à peine eu le temps de voir les feuilles vertes.

Pour qui vit comme moi les fenêtres ouvertes,
L'automne est triste avec sa bise et son brouillard,
Et l'été qui s'enfuit est un ami qui part.
Adieu, dit cette voix qui dans notre âme pleure,
Adieu, ciel bleu ! beau ciel qu'un souffle tiède effleure !
Voluptés du grand air, bruit d'ailes dans les bois,
Promenades, ravins pleins de lointaines voix,
Fleurs, bonheur innocent des âmes apaisées,
Adieu, rayonnements ! aubes ! chansons ! rosées !

Puis tout bas on ajoute : ô jours bénis et doux !
Hélas ! vous reviendrez ! me retrouverez-vous ?

Today I will continue to celebrate my life .... my son's birthday ... my friends memoriam ... as both Al and I and my family and YOU and I are blessed to live another day ... LIVE GOOD... LIVE HAPPY ... TODAY ... for tomorrow is not promised...

Sharing my journal collage....

This is me today ... last week I put my extensions back in ... I love the remi human hair ... because I spent too much time in the mornings blowdrying spikes into my short cropped hair ... then I took them out and now I am sorry I did because I got to work late this morning farting around in my head ... short hair is not easy...

I did a short hair/long hair collage ... I love the short do .. I hate the time it takes ... and it screws up my hair business ... we make more money with weaves and braids LOL

I did my pets before and after collage ... my beautiful yorkie of yesterday and my precious bandits of today...

and I will never forget PomPom....

I am loving my life as a half stepping vegan (not giving up diary/cheese/fish yet)...
My breakfast this morning was yummmmmmy...... Mango with Reduced Fat Feta Cheese...to die for...

So I am still munching on my mango ... it is going to be my all day snack.....

Oh, I had the most wonderful Greek Salad the other day ... I ate like a quarter of it and chucked the rest ... I got full real quick and then forced an extra mouthful that was the death of me ... but I love love love Greek salad ...and I meant to ask and could never figure out what is wrapped in the leaves?
Oh, and I love an apple a day ... except on a day like today I am having a mango instead...

So here I go again ... with my short hair that made me late ... I have no time to re-weave it during the week ... today I am off early so if I have the urge I will work those tracks right back in my hair ... otherwise .. I will have to get up an hour earlier which is cutting it too short for my early morning run and then back to get showered and dressed for work...


MY TODAYS RESOLUTION:

I SHALL EAT WELL, DO WELL, LIVE WELL ... I AM IN CONTROL OF ME!!!!

THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE ... SNIPPETS OF MY LIFE ... IT IS MY TESTIMONY... NO ONE CAN TELL IT LIKE I CAN AND THE HALF HAS NOT BEEN TOLD.... ABOVE ALL I AM GRATEFUL....

I AM GRATEFUL ... FOR OPENING MY EYES YET ANOTHER DAY...

I AM GRATEFUL ... FOR YOU AND FOR ME ..... AND FOR ALL LIFE EXPERIENCES ... GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY .... MAKING WAY FOR A BETTER WAY ..

I AM GRATEFUL FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL SISTA WHO SHOULD SEE ME IN A FAULT WOULD YANK ME UP AND HOLLA AT ME .... GET A GRIP SISTA!!!!! TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT .... CHOOSE LIFE AND HAPPINESS ... AND LIVE!!!

http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh286/martitalinda/fun%20stuff/?action=view¤t=TogethernessbeforeandafterSnippetsfrommyJournalaPictureaDay.mp4