(This blog post was partially lost in a server error.  My apologies!)

Have you ever tried to loose weight? Get in shape?

Does it happen overnight? Can you wish it into being?  Snap your fingers?  Does the weight just drop off?

If you are honest with yourself you will 100% say, “No.”

I would like to take this opportunity to show tribute to a dear friend of min.  Two years ago, this month of September, my friend started the long hard journey of weight loss, exercise and healthy living.

And, I am sure most of you are thinking, “Two years?” Shouldn’t it only be a few months?

Again, if you are honest with yourself, you know the answer is, “No.”

Anyone who has seriously tackled living healthier knows that it is not something they do and then can stop It is a complete change of lifestyle and focus.

Again, you may think, "Oh that is easy"

Try it. For two years. It is harder than it looks.

Did she do it by some binge diet?  A magic pill? Surgery? Saying she needs to do it and hoping it will happen by osmosis?

No.

She did it the old fashioned way of blood, sweat, tears, trips to the ER and giving it everything she has. This has not been an easy journey by any means. But 2 years ago, she made the decision. By doing this the hard AND right way, she has had to make sacrifice after sacrifice, but the rewards far outweigh them all.

Finding those moments to get to the gym when she could sleep in or go to bed early, she made it a priority. Keeping herself away from the tempting foods or late night snacks with friends, she missed out on those fun times but is building herself a legacy. Eating proper portions and healthier foods, she made it part of her lifestyle.

Whenever I read the verse about Paul, pushing on in the race… "Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. pan>No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”  I picture her. She has beaten her body and made it her slave.

Having watched her go through this these last two years, I can’t help but stand in awe of her faith and determination. I know there have been times when the task felt daunting, overwhelming, but she set her mind on higher things. “Christ, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross.”  She continues to persevere. She has her eyes on the prize, a healthy life, a long life, in service to the Lord.

She has pursued this task with more joy and enthusiasm than I have ever seen. I admire her for making it something that flows from her, like a musician to his instrument, she breathes healthy living In a world of so much excess and indulgence, she stands for restraint and self control It is not of herself that she has persevered, but through the strength of Christ

The benefits are not solely on the outward, but inwardly as well…

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace... (This is where data was lost.  Again, my apologies!  If I can get the original from her, I will type it in!)

On Saturdays, before I go to the garden, I swing by Dan's, hand over my pocket change and get a refill half coffee / half cappuccino. This takes place a little after 6AM since Dan's opens at 6, sometimes earlier. Am I their first customer? Not a chance.

There were already 5 cars that arrived to Dan's ahead of mine. The inhabitants of those cars were all gray haired men, with their own mugs or refillable containers. They have left the comfort of their cars with leather seats with butt warmers for hard plastic chairs that have been sitting out all night and are wet with dew. They sit in front of Dan's, which is merely a gas station, and shoot the breeze about life, argue about sports and reminisce about the past.

This fascinates me and oh, how I wish I could join their club.

One of my favorite past times is sitting and listening to old men shoot the breeze. I love hearing their stories that they have told a thousand times before. I love how they know so much about the sports they love and the years and dates just drip from their lips like a mother's with her child's birth-weight. I love the fact that they can congregate anywhere, as long as there is some form of coffee... gas stations, diners, etc. I love that they also just sit for long periods of time, not saying anything, just watching the world, reading the paper in a goup, yet no one is offended. I also love the eras they grew up in and how that has shaped, for good or bad, who they were and are.

Josh shares my same fascination and he too wishes he could join their club. My husband and I love eating at restaurant dives in strange towns and we inevitably run into these groups of men and, without even trying to eavesdrop, end up hearing them spin their tales. They speak loudly, either from past ear damage from wars or factories, or they are speaking up for the others who have those conditions.

My grandfather-in-law is one of the sweetest old men I know and talking with him always brings joy into my heart. He too can spin marvelous tales of the past and give you play by plays of the days (base)ball games. In strange ways he embodies a lot of what I feel like my own grandpas would have been like if I was given the chance to go back and enjoy their company once more.

Josh and I went on a Friday night date and stopped by the local high school to watch the end of the game and there in the back, in the free seats that we were enjoying, was the group of old men I normally see at Dan's. And sure enough, the next morning at 6AM, there they all were, double in number now since the football season is officially going strong.

They too, like Josh and I, were reeling from the kid who should've caught the pass that lost the game and oh, how I wanted to add my two cents into their conversation. But I couldn't, I wasn't wearing their club clothes... and I have work to do, a garden to weed... and I have to get back to kids at home, who will be waking and wanting breakfast... and I just don't have the time to sit in front of a gas station all day and not do anything...

Maybe this is why older women do not congregate like this, outside, in open public? They have to be doing something else? Quilting? Their hands have to be busy, they are used to watching kids and doing something else? I sat in the line at Caribou getting my $1 off latte (Thank you Leah!) and was preparing checks for a bank deposit, when the cashier says, "I'm sorry we don't take checks." To which I reply, "This isn't for you, this is for my next stop."

A friend's older grandmother, whom I love and adore, will talk to me for hours about God and life and being a wife and mother but I can assure you we would not be sitting still for it. We'd be making a run with the local police or going to get that good deal on sirloins or something... but not sitting still. And dur

It is time...

We have to be out of our garden by October 1st.  This puts another point on the side of a garden at home. It is truly sad to see it all end.  But I think just breaking free of it all at once is probably nicer than trying to drag it along?  (I am really just trying to make myself feel better because truly, it is going to be sad for me.)

I went to the garden on Saturday morning.  Just because it was 6AM and I was awake.  Since the garden is winding down, there really isn't much to do.  I did pick 3 kinds of tomatoes (just a small batch) which was fun that they are still turning red.  I picked the rest of our leeks (to make Chinese omelets and give come to Mom to make Potato Leek Soup), picked some chives and basil for the leeks dishes and pizza for Zeke's birthday... oh, and tons of hot peppers. 

I had been praying that somehow, we could revive out cantaloupe, but to no avail.  I tried and tried but there was no bringing back the brown wilted plant and the fruit would then not get fed. 

That is him, in the upper left.  All that brown you see that looks like old straw is the brown wilted plant, right in the center of the photo.  Soooo sad.  I took the kids to the garden last night to show them how far he had gotten before the bugs got him and to dissect him to see what was inside.  This is what we found...

He is gone.  The green in the middle is weeds.  The green in the back is chives.  The green in the back left is tomatoes.  But no cantaloupe.  Either a big animal picked it up and took it out of the fence, or a person did.  In this case, I am glad they did.  I have never eaten a green cantaloupe, and was going to dissect this one just for fun with the kids, so if someone took it and will actually eat it, more power too them.  I hope that the inside does have some fruit in it for eating, or else seeds for planting next year would be nice too.

Oh, and the habanero and chili pepper plants we planted in the front of the garden for people to take from were completely stripped of peppers, as well as some herbs missing, and some tomatoes and I am really ok with it.  We have definitely been blessed this whole season!

Here are some pictures of the ending of our garden.  The kids actually said they were sad to see it go.  I think all the rain and harvesting made them forget all the daily hard work of a few months ago!  It was a brisk day yesterday and oh so nice there! 

Jeremiah and Miriam picking habanero peppers.  These plants have done amazing.  I have yet to figure out how to can but if you want any peppers they are yours! 

Ezekiel and his celery.  This is going to be sad because I don't think these guys will make it to completion.  I am wondering if we can transplant them.  They are said to be done the end of September and right now are only an 1/8" thick.  They do look like mini-celery though, which is really cool!