Sunny Sunday

Last night I had a bit of a restless night and ended up rising about 7 a.m. We went out for breakfast and I had the first pancake I have eaten since December. Counting carbs really restricts your diet and of course I had it with sugar free syrup. It bothers me to consume all this artificial sweetener. I am in a rut, tired of drinking diet soda. I purchased diet iced tea but cannot find it decaffeinated which means I have to limit that. I drink a lot of water but I long for juice. You never know what you have until it's gone and the freedom to eat what you want, when you want is one of those things. If I want a carb it has to be consumed with a protein and then there is a limitation on how many carbs I can have in one day. It's all about choices and making the best choices. I can't begin to imagine how a diabetic vegetarian can make it work. All the proteins that are not from animals are high in carbs such as beans and peas.

My spirits are lifting. The weather has gotten much better. The resident gardener has prepared the pots for flowers which we will purchase and get planted this week. Right now money is tight and I will be doing the pots only. In a few months I will purchase some more things as I get back to a steady paycheck. The other day I watched Suze Orman on Oprah and she gave many bits of advice that I felt were helpful to me. At the end of the show she said she wanted to ask the people watching to do something. She wanted them to focus not on what they USED to have, no longer have but what they still have. That really touched my heart. I have spent a lot of time thinking about the times that were so easy for me and how hard these past few years have been. Perhaps hardest of all is that much of our money has gone for medical expenses. I digress.......I still have a home, a car and food to eat. I have neighbors who are living day to day not knowing if they can keep their homes. Homes that they mortgaged two years ago and now they owe more than they could sell them for. I honestly think this is a wake up call for all Americans. Even those not currently feeling the crunch. We have to stop buying things we cannot afford and do not need. We have to stop living on so much credit. Two years ago if anyone had told me my husband's company would shut their site and he would be out of work I would have never believed it. Times have changed and if we don't learn to change with them we can find ourselves in serious trouble. We are making small changes wherever we can. Those small changes add up. This year instead of an overflowing basket that my son always received he is getting ONE chocolate bunny. I am starting now to simplify.