i'll show you, dr. kau!!!!!

three months ago when i went to the dr. he & i had a big fight. we actually yelled at each other! he kept wanting to give me all sorts of medicines that gave me or had horrible side effects. i kept refusing to take them. i got really - REALLY - sick one one of the medicines. when i left the office, i said, "i'll show you, dr. kau!!" (pronounced cow, so you'd think i'd like him!!! well, i actually do like him, i was just sick of his "cover it with a pill" attitude instead helping me fix the problem.)

from may to august i had lost 6 lbs. - after months of not losing anything. after years of eating nothing but salads. after walking with the dog a few times a week in the evenings.

after that day i began walking in the mornings with the dog & my friends s & f. EVERY day. and i began my paleo diet - paleo way of eating rather than a "diet". my body's getting the workout it needs & and it's not starving anymore. the scale frustrates me, so i don't weigh every day or every week. in fact, after weighing every day the 1st week, i've only weighed 2 or 3 times in 3 months. instead i'm gauging how i'm doing by how my clothes fit & how my body feels.

and now i've added "planking" every morning & evening to strengthen my "core" & abdominals.

i'm going to be adding weights & other exercises to my evening routine. and i'm really shooting for an earlier bedtime...........that one's gonna be the hardest!!!!

last week when i went to get my blood work done, the technician was impressed. today when i walked into the office, the nurses were like, "wow! look at you!" the head nurse said, "what have you been doing?" she was so excited & told me my numbers --- wow!!! i did good!!!!

i lost 11 lbs in 3 months and lowered my AC1 4 points!!!!!! so that's 17 lbs in 6 months and while the scale may not show it, i can really see it in the inches.

i'll have that "barbie body" yet!!!

dr. kau was a pooper & instead of being as excited as us girls were, he said "that's good, but you're not at the target # that i want you to be at & your blood pressure is higher than it was last time & your cholesterol is higher too. i want you to take these 3 pills." we "discussed" it back & forth for awhile. he took me off the insulin shots -- YAY!!! but because of my non-existent insulin production, i still need to take a pill for that. much better than several shots a day!! so i conceded on that point. rather than his other 2 pills, i'm going to look at lowering my blood pressure & cholesterol in a more natural way.

i walked out of there saying, "i'm going to show you AGAIN, dr. kau!!!!"

and yesterday i did something that a few months ago i NEVER would have DREAMED of doing ----

i posted pictures of myself in a swimming suit on facebook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

trying to show how much extra room there was in my shorts....

wow! that took guts!!! skinny guts!!!!

peanut butter cookies and pizza

that's what i made tonight.

(that's a LOT of cookies!!!)

well, i made the crust tonight. it will be pizza tomorrow night.

(it's shiny because it already has the plastic wrap on it!)

i promised my friend susan (aka "tax widow") that i would give her & foster a date night as soon as tax season was over. tax season 2014 officially ended yesterday, october 15!!!!! YAY!!!!! susan has a fun, romantic evening planned - she's cooking all of foster's favorite foods & then there will be ballroom dancing (in their living room!) and then they'll probably do what every married couple does.....



....they'll do some chores around the house, pay some bills, talk about things that need to be done for/with the kid, & then they'll fall asleep in front of the tv!!!!!!!! how romantic!!!!!!!

what were YOU thinking they'd do????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i, however, will be having a very unromantic evening with 3 men! (susan gets 1, i get 3!!!) the CPA & i will be "babysitting" sam (aka "geronimo's boy") and grandpa carter! we'll be having cauliflower pizza that everyone can put their own toppings on, gluten-free peanut butter cookies & movie popcorn that we'll pick up from the movie theater on our way home while we watch "the guardian" -- a really good guy movie that's really good for girls too. (cuz it's got lots of cute coast guard/navy seal type guys in it!!!!!!!!!!!) on the CPA's big screen tv with surround sound!

come to think of it, i might be having the better night after all!!!!!!

the CPA agreed to this weeks ago. but i guess since he's been so involved in tax season, he forgot. when i reminded him the other day, he wasn't too happy, but he'll get over it!!!! he doesn't have to DO anything. i'm doing all the cooking & i even told him we could use paper plates. what is it with guys and paper plates? they act like it's so hard to wash a dish! that's what dishwashers are for!!!!

i wanted some kind of dessert that guys would like. (i'd prefer a berry cobbler, but that sounds more girlish than guyish! (even though guys DO like berry cobblers.....) so i made gluten-free peanut butter cookies. all guys like peanut butter, right? but they do have sugar in them, so other than the 1 i tried tonight, i won't be eating any of them. they remind me of the cookies we had in elementary school. i have never, NEVER, seen these cookies anywhere except my elementary school. i don't even think the high school had them! they were huge (at least they were back then - but everything about elementary school was huge. when i went back as an adult, i couldn't believe how little everything looked!!!!! it was like they had shrunk everything!) and they had this CERTAIN texture -- gritty, like sand! but they were SOOOOO GOOD!!! and they usually always served them with this one certain meal: the best homemade mac & cheese (not the boxed kraft garbage with the fake orange cheese, this stuff was white & had huge noodles...!), peanut butter sandwiches on white bread - no jelly, and green beans!

anyways, i've been trying to find a recipe that matches these cookies for 35ohmygosh36years or more!!! and by golly, i think i found it!!!! and they're soooooo easy!!! and gritty!!!! ha ha!!! and they have only 4 ingredients: 1 cup of creamy peanut butter, 1 cup of sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon baking soda.

that's it!!! you mix it all up with a spoon & make 1 inch balls, place on an ungreased cookie sheet & flatten them with a fork by making that "trademark" peanut butter cookie crosshatch with the fork tines then bake at 325 for 10 minutes. let them cool completely before trying to remove from cookie sheet or they'll crumble. and then you will have to eat the crumbled one(s)!

well, i'd better get to bed - 4darkthirty comes awful early, i've had a busy, stressful week at work & i've gotta be rested so i can stay awake tomorrow night. i'm notorious for falling asleep during movies at home. i can stay awake in the movie theater, but i always fall asleep watching them at home!

tomorrow would NOT be the night to do THAT!!!!

the song, part 3 -- the review. finally!

it's been really hard to blog lately. i think all bloggers are going through "something" right now. i haven't had time to blog and i definitely haven't had time to read the blogs of others. and the ones i have read have been in the same position. some, like me, used to write daily, & now we're lucky to get a couple posts in a month. some have disappeared completely. their blogs are still there, but they haven't been updated in months. and then there are those who seem to have the time & energy to move a vase, hang a picture in 17 different places, swap out the pillows on the sofa for every season & blog about it daily! good for them!!!! if they weren't doing that, whatever would we do with our free time?!?!?!!!!

all of that to say: i apologize for the delay in the posting of my review on "the song". i've been super busy at work, working late, & then when i come home i'm too tired to even think of something to say. plus i've been stressing over writing the review! i've never written a review before. i don't know what to say, how detailed i should get........so instead of writing, i've been stressing!

but now i've decided to just write. after all, i'm a blogger, therefore, i'm a writer. so i will write! i'll just pray that what i write will be inspired by & be pleasing to the Lord.

all images in this post - except for one - are from "the song" facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheSongMovie?fref=nf

this movie has been touted as "a great date night movie" -- well, it's such an emotional, introspective, deep, personal movie that i'd be careful who you go to see it with! it's a great movie for married couples or engaged couples to see together. if you're single, it's a good movie to go see with a bunch of your girlfriends (or guyfriends if you're a guy). but if you're a girl & you go with a guy who's just a friend, even if you've been friends for over 7 years, it's
a leeetle un.com.fort.able!


the subject matter is a little intense & there were quite a few times i wanted to squirm in my seat! and every time he moved, i thought he was squirming & then i'd think, "oh why did i do this? why didn't i just come by myself? he's probably thinking i had ulterior motives..." i know i should have relaxed, but.....

.....uncomfortable movie moments.....

like it says in ecclesiastes, there's a time -- & a reason -- for everything....... & proverbs: a man's (or woman's) steps are directed by God.....

the movie was very tastefully done. this wasn't the typical "hokey christian film" of the 70's with actors who can't act, poor cinematography & a story line where the characters act like "goody 2-shoes perfect christians who do no wrong except for that one person who's not really a christian & so they all work hard to 'save' him." the actors in "the song" were REAL. they were natural. the characters were sinners, just like you & me. just because we're christians doesn't mean we're perfect or that we won't be tempted or give in to that temptation. but because we're christians, God convicts us & forgives us, but we have to repent. and forgive others. and forgive ourselves.

"the song" is the story of jed king, a singer who's the son of a famous singer, trying to make it on his own rather than the coattails of his father, david king. there are many biblical references throughout the movie & many "thematic elements" -- similarities to people, events, etc., from the bible: david king/king david; david king has an affair with a married woman, just like king david. jed goes to the small town of sharon where he meets rose - rose of sharon; it's love at 1st sight as far as jed's concerned and when rose asks him what's the one thing he'd ask God for if he could ask for one thing, he says "wisdom" - just like solomon. throughout the movie there's a narrator doing a voiceover of ecclesiastes and other bible references. the writers did an excellent job tying the bible into the scenes. it really "made" the movie.

jed & rose begin a courtship & marry - there are no sex scenes or bare skin/private body parts in this movie, but on their wedding night as they walk upstairs, you "know" what's going to happen, but everything is left to your adult imagination -- maybe understanding is a better word. we had s & f's 14 year old son & 93 year old grandpa c with us & i felt even this scene was appropriate for them.


jed writes a song for rose & the song is influential in his career skyrocketing. over the years they have a son, Ray (as in rehoboam, solomon's son....!) jed's away from home a lot & worldly temptations take over. even though i "knew" jed was going to have an affair, i was secretly thinking, "no, no, don't do it!!!!" but he does.

and that's all i'm going to say......i don't want to ruin it for y'all. if you haven't seen this movie & it's still playing near you, GO SEE IT! if it doesn't come to your area, wait for the dvd & GET IT!! the dvd is coming out in early 2015 according to my friends @ "the song"!!
i'm gonna want to buy 20+ copies to give as gifts!!!

and BE SURE to watch all the way through the credits because there's a special ending scene that you MUST SEE! the credits are long, but it's worth it! i always like to stay through the credits -- usually makes the people i'm with irritated, but sometimes there are special things in the credits! like this final scene!

when we were walking out of the theater, s asked me how i liked the movie. i said, "it was more emotional than i expected & brought back some bad memories." some of the scenes were hard to watch -- a little too close to home. it's one of those movies that makes you think & search your soul. one of the things i "got" from this movie was forgiveness & how important it is. i always wondered why God didn't answer my prayers to save my marriage. i realized that even though i had forgiven john AFTER we got divorced, i should have forgiven him BEFORE. not to say that everything would have worked out & we wouldn't have gotten divorced, but forgiveness on my part was required by God & i didn't do it. at least not when i should have.

and even now i question why God doesn't answer my prayers. and i realized i need to forgive myself. forgive myself for not trusting God enough, for not letting God be the One in control, the One who directs my steps. my friend renee posted her devotional reading for october 10 on facebook. it's so appropriate!!!!!!

i love how God uses things like movies or devotionals to make me think & get my life back on track with Him. i love how he reinforces the fact that HE LOVES ME.

right now i'm working on being the right person for HIM, for God. because HE loves me.

when the movie producers sent me that message saying they wanted to bless me with this movie, they had no idea how much i would be blessed!!!

the song, part 2

i should stop making promises about what i'm going to post! today was supposed to be part 2 of "the song" -- my review of the movie.

BUT, i spent the day yesterday working on the ranch! i mowed, fertilized, watered, pulled weeds, mulched the flowerbeds and did 3 loads of laundry.

(i should have weed-eated too, but i didn't!)

i think next time i'm gonna lay around & let HIM do the work!!!! whoever came up with the saying, "workin' like a dog" or "it's a dog's life" was crazy --- THIS dog doesn't work & i'd trade my life for his any day!!!! to just lay around in the sun all day long, have someone bring you your food, love you, rub your back, play with you & then let you lay in the sun again while they go to work -- yeah, i'll do that!!!!!!

here he is "guarding his food" from the birds!!! lazy thing even ate by laying by the food!!! he sure isn't that lazy at 4 am!!!!!!

sam came over yesterday & played with geronimo for a little bit---geronimo was a happy dog!!!

today after church i had lunch with the carters (the non-CPA part of the carters!), did a little grocery shopping for vegetables to go with all the meat dishes i made last saturday, came home & finished weeding & mulching one of the back flowerbeds, laid out for a little while, played with the dog, & now i'm pooped!!!! it was a short afternoon because we had communion in church & that always makes the service longer. after lunch & grocery shopping, i didn't get home til almost 3pm!!!!

i've been waiting for the carters to come with a delivery of pallets and then i think i'm gonna go to bed! the pallets are from the renovations we're doing to the main building at church. there were several REALLY NICE ones!!!!! i see a work bench being built in my near future!!!!!

since i want to do my review of the movie justice, i'm going to wait & do it another time. it's gonna be hard to write a review -- i don't want to give it all away & spoil it for those of y'all who haven't seen it!!!!

so, since darkthirty comes super quickly & it's already almost 9:30, good night for now!

"the song"

all images in this post are from "the song" facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheSongMovie?fref=nf




you've probably noticed that just about EVERY post i've done on facebook since last saturday has been about the movie "the song". i've been sharing the movie production company's posts because i feel this is a very important movie that EVERYONE should see. and something really special happened to me involving this movie, but i couldn't say anything until after i went to it thursday night....................................

well, i was going to write last night about my involvement & experience with this movie. at about 8:00pm i sat down on the couch with my laptop in my lap and wrote the title & the paragraph above.

2 hours later i woke up, my hands on the keyboard, drool running down my chin!!!! (just kidding about the drool, but it sounds good, doesn't it?!!!!!)

i had a hard time sleeping wednesday night--it was like christmas eve!!!!! i was so excited, waiting for thursday night. then thursday night was a very late night & my emotions were running rampant, so it was hard to get to sleep. pair that with getting up at 4 am and some very busy days at work, & i was exhausted.

so today was a sunny beautiful warm day & i spent the entire day outside working in the yard - mowing, pulling weeds in the flowerbeds. i also mulched & put down "weed & feed". have 2 more flowerbeds to weed & mulch. & i really should weed-eat. another day.........

i promised to tell y'all about "the song".

so here's how it all happened:

one of my high school friends shared a post from "the song" on her facebook page. i saw it thursday, sept. 25. the movie was to open in theaters the next day. after seeing the trailer, all i could think about was wanting to see this movie. it was advertised as a christian movie & in the past, "christian movies" have been pretty "hokey"!! they usually have bad acting, poor cinematography, corny actors......this one looked different. professional. GOOD. i REALLY wanted to see it. i looked up what theaters it was playing at -- a bunch in houston at about 12 theaters. it said "limited engagement" & wasn't playing in every place in the US. on "the song"'s facebook page people from all over were posting that it wasn't playing in their area, that they wished it would come to their town....etc. "the song" was replying to everyone's posts saying, "hope it comes to your area soon" or "keep watching listings in your area for it to come to a theater near you", etc.

i texted "the CPA" & said, "i know you're in the middle of tax season, but i really want to see this movie. can we go?" and i sent him the link to the trailer. he replied back "i don't mind going, but we can't go until after october 15...."

so i posted on "the song"'s facebook page: "can't wait to see this movie, but we can't go until after the october 15 tax deadline. dang tax season!!!! sure hope it's playing in houston after the 15th. but for sure this is a purchase once it comes out on dvd".

WELL, "the song" LIKED my post and they replied: "dorothy, we want to bless you with this movie. message us & we'll get you hooked up with some tickets!"

OMG!!!!!! i saw this post while i was cooking last saturday afternoon!!! i would have missed it until much later had i not turned on facebook so i could access my pinterest account for some recipes!!!!! so starting saturday & continuing all week, i have been private messaging "the song"'s producers, tryingn to get our schedules all worked out to see this movie before it closed in houston. they said it was a "limited engagement" and might not be playing after the 3rd. it would depend on how well the movie did as to how long they'd keep it here, in what theaters, etc. they said it was rather "iffy" that it'd be playing as late as october 18 & was there another date that would work..

i did a lot of praying! and then i took a big chance.

i told the CPA that i was working on a surprise for him. he's been working a lot of long hours & needed a break. i decided i wanted my friend s & her husband to go too. he's a CPA too. so i told "the song" we'd need 4 tickets for oct. 18. they said we'd be better off doing oct. 3 to be sure it'd still be playing. susan & i decided that it'd be better to find a theater closer to the guys' work, that way they could work later & still get to the movie on time. the theater closest to them only had the movie playing til thursday. she checked with her husband & he said he could do it on the 2nd.

i told the CPA that he could work as late as he wanted any day from that day (sunday) up to the 15th, but he had to give me thursday the 2nd. no client meetings, no co-worker meetings, nothing. the 2nd was MINE! he said OK!!!! yay!!! i still didn't tell him til the next day when i had it all confirmed with the movie producers. i couldn't believe he agreed to it - right in the middle of a tax deadline!!!! but after all, he IS the smartest man in the whole world (because he's the only one who's figured out that he needs to do whatever i say!!!! ---- see the post from july 2012 about the birthday card i made him here's the link to that post: http://texascountrygirl28.blogspot.com/2012/07/i-stamped-card-tonight-or-what-every.html

so all week the producers & i were texting back & forth, getting everything finalized. i felt so blessed because i hadn't read any other posts where they had given someone tickets. blessed because i was going to be able to bless some friends with free tickets -- and at a time when they really needed to spend some time together. i really wanted to see this movie succeed in the theaters. i wanted them to be blessed with success because they had blessed me. so i decided i'd "advertise" it -- share posts & let people, my friends on facebook, know about this movie & hope to convince some of them to go & see it.

so that's the reason i've blasted my fb page with posts about this movie!!!! i'm praying that they do well -- in fact, i think they are because they added another week of showings!!!! it's not in all the theaters, or as many as it was opening week, and there are less times that it's playing, but it's still playing!!



and now it's after 10:30 at night & i still need to take a shower & put clean-white-dried-on-the-clothesline white sheets on my bed......so i'll finish this post tomorrow....tomorrow's churchday & i'm "driving miss amy"
so i've gotta hurry & get to bed so i can be ontime to get her!!!

stay tuned for the review of the movie!!!!!!!