OGYST - A Brand New Week 1

Okay folks...this type 1 diabetic, vera bradley addict, and workaholic chickie is kicking it back into high gear. Yes...after about a year...OGYST (Operation Get Your Shit Together) is starting up again. I really mean it. I am starting off with a few weekly goals to get me going...and I will work my hardest to carve out the time (aka not let work eat my life away) to take care of me. I can do this. I will do this.

OGYST - Week 1 Goals
* Exercise Five Days
* Write Down Blood Sugars
* Eat Three Meals a Day
* Write Three Blog Entries (on any topic)

And GO!!!

Next Stop...a quick trip to the grocery store so that I have actually have food to eat.

Get Your Write On!!!

I think it may be an almost "seven month itch"...but I am back in the writing state of mind. I haven't really done a thing since last November's NanoWrimo and the possibility of a summer "Camp NanoWrimo" has me really excited about what I am going to write next. I have been readying myself by doing some reading on writing...I just finished Janet Evanovich's book How I Write and am going to read Stephen King's book On Writing next. Feels so good. Like getting back to the gym. Writing does my soul good. And just like getting back to the gym...I need to get back to writing too. It is time to get back to life...or the next part of my life...a whole new chapter is readying...I can feel it.

I know that all I need to get started is some good music and a blank page. I always have both so I am ready. I'm going to get my write on and my life on too.

Some songs fueling the soundtrack include the following:

* The Lone Wolf - Kathleen Edwards
* Crossfire - Brandon Flowers
* L.E.S. Artistes - Santigold
* What You Know - Two Door Cinema Club
* Something to Die For - The Sounds
* Driven By Their Beating Hearts - A Silent Film
* Houdini - Foster the People
* Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine
* MoneyGrabber - Fitz & The Tantrums
* Billie Holiday - Warpaint

Note...that most of the above list is thanks to my awesome sister who always seems to know which songs I need to hear.

It hits at the strangest moments...

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could feel this loved all the time? Safe in your Grandma's arms? A whole new everything in front of you? She was a big fan of mine. Always encouraging...especially when it came to writing. I trusted her opinon because she wrote beautiful poems and read a lot. I actually let her read all of my journals once...we were bonded because of it. She had a readers view into my life during some of my most formative years. It made me feel wrapped in her arms...it still does. Just like this picture.

I have been thinking about this blog post for a long while, ever since I saw the movie Bridesmaids. A movie that was freaking hilarious but I could feel something just below the surface stirring. When I sat in my seat, I could see a wheelchair in front of me...we were late to the theatre and it was packed so we were close to the entrance. During the previews, I heard a familiar sound. The sounds of someone trying to talk who can't. I never appreciated the emotion conveyed through tones before. It made me think of Grandma in those last months.

The sounds that continued through the movie were of laughter and comments on what was an incredibly fun movie. I was laughing and truly enjoying it, but every now and then I would flashback on a moment at somepoint between the end of December and the middle of March. The sounds were so familiar. They were the only verbal type of communication we had with Grandma and I missed them. I thought back to the day when my Mom and I took her to the doctor for a follow-up appointment...and how everyone stared at us in the waiting room. For me it was an energy surge. Yes...this is our life...and we are handling it. I was proud. Now I think back and wonder how the heck we did it. And then I remember...it is that four letter word again. Love.

As the movie was winding it's way to the end, the person behind us with her beautiful sounds was being helped down the stairs by her caretaker. I happened to look over and could see her white shiny hair and a smiling face glowing in the light reflected off of the screen while she was helped into her wheelchair. It was just a glimpse and then it happened. All that was lingering just below the surface came out in heaping sobs. The missing. The sadness. The memories. The love.