What I Learned in June

We are officially into summer now and simultaneously halfway through the year! It's been an educational little month for me, so I thought I'd share with you some of the things I've learned!

1. I am weird, weird, weird when it comes to losing weight.

If you've been reading here long you know that two and a half years ago, I went on a mission to lose weight and ended up losing right around 30 pounds. I had gained almost half of it back and wanted to fix that before it got out of control. So the day after my 40th birthday, I started a new eating plan. One of the components of the plan is that I write down everything I eat (and when I eat it) every day so I can begin to see patterns of things that help and hinder. Well, in six weeks I've lost eight pounds, but I've also learned that my only pattern is I have no pattern. Sigh. The days that should register a loss often plateau or register a gain and the days when I step on the scales praying I've not gained end up showing a loss. I'm weird.

2. Cleaning and reorganizing my office makes me happier than it probably should.

In the past few months, my home office got about as out of control as the pounds on my body. Stacks and clutter everywhere! So when school ended, I made cleaning the office my first summer project. It took several days to sort, weed out, clean up, reorganize, but ohhhhhhh what a thing of beauty it is now! I'm so happy in there! (Still have to tackle the closet, but the OFFICE is back on track.)

3. My inner teaching nerd loves to tutor.

I've been working with a friend's daughter on some reading skills, and I'm full force into nerdville with that project. Curriculum, games, school supplies - be still, my beating heart! But also - seeing her face light up when she gets something right? The. Best.

4. Dogs can donate blood.

I had no idea. One of my Facebook friends posted about it after her parents' dog nearly died and one of the vet's employee's dogs donated blood to save her life.

5. I've gotten used to hearing my voice but not seeing myself on a screen.

We were asked to do the announcements at church a couple of weeks ago, which meant we went to church in the middle of the week and recorded them on video. When they played on the big screen on Sunday morning, I was entirely freaked out at the sight of myself. After years of radio and podcasting, I've gotten used to hearing my voice, but I've not gotten used to seeing myself, and it's just WEIRD!

6. I like the atmosphere of a fundraiser walk.

Ryan and I walked in the 2018 Indianapolis Kidney Walk this year, and I really enjoyed it. I know a lot of fundraisers take place in the form of a race, but I really enjoyed being able to talk together with the other team members while we walked. I also enjoyed being able to stop whenever we wanted to take pictures. It's a whole different atmosphere, I know, but I enjoyed it!


7. You can lose weight by showering. (I probably can't. But it's possible.)

Ryan weighed himself the other night, went to shower, and then weighed himself again and he'd lost weight. WHAT? All my little programs always preach getting weighed before showering so you don't have all that water on you. But he said back in his wrestling days, they'd work out, sweat hard, and then shower to wash away all the salt and sweat and sometimes they'd lose weight in the process. Who knew?