A Brand New Me
By Cindy Walker

WOW! Can you believe it's October already? I'm a strange person because fall is a depressing time of the year for me. Yes the changing colors are beautiful, and I do enjoy them, but at the same time I know this change brings the cold, blustery, gray, dead season of winter. Everything is in shades of black and gray -- at least where I live it's that way. I find the older I get the more I hate winter. If I was rich and could fly off to my ski chalet for a couple of weeks then head back to a sunny climate, I'd be happy. This driving on ice freaks me out more and more each year.

But enough of that. I am sorry to say that the article I had hoped would be written for this month's issue did not materialize. I won't tell you what it is just in case it happens for the November issue. Keep your fingers crossed that I hear something soon.

So, let me bring you up to date on my progress. First of all, my varicose veins. They are disappearing but not fast enough to suit me. Patience is not one of my virtues, which ends up being a big downfall for me. Don't believe me? Just look at my weight loss struggle. Somehow I have to find that mindset that anything good is worth sticking to and results don't come overnight -- or even in a month. Persistence and perseverance are two words that need to implant themselves in my vocabulary and brain. Anyway, back to the vein update. There are a few of the veins that are almost gone -- like those around my left ankle. There are some that have broken up and are getting smaller -- like on the side of my knee and calf; some are fading from deep purple to a rosy pink (thigh!). And then there are some that just won't die. They are still as dark purple as the day is long. I have one more treatment (and I'm REEEAALLLLYYY looking forward to it), so I'm hoping it will clear up the remaining bits. Again, it's going to take several months, not several weeks or days.

Now on to the weight issue. Again, one of my biggest problems is my mind set. If I don't see results or at least the beginning of improvement within a couple of weeks, I lose heart and stop what I'm doing. I have to move from this way of thinking and become realistic. There is a lot I have to try and correct, so it's not going to happen in 30 days. I have a total number of pounds to lose, but I need to break that down into increments, making the overall goal seem more attainable. I need to take baby steps and celebrate when I reach those mini-goals. I have several big events happening next year, and I want to look smashing for each of them. One is happening in February (a mini- Mr. Romance competition) and another in May (the big Mr. Romance competition). One would think that these two things would be a big incentive for me, but I look at these guys as “my boys” and not potential love interests. For goodness sake, most of these guys I could have given birth to! I am such a mom.

Another event will be my thirty-year class reunion. Yep -- thirty years. Boy does time fly, and man am I old! Anyway, I really want to be a knock out for this occasion because I want some of those people to say, “DAMN! Look what I missed!” You see, with six weeks left in my freshman year of high school, my parents decided to move to a new town. Needless to say, I was not happy. I'm not one to make friends easily (I was, and still am, very shy and backwards, but people take it as me being stuck up), so the change was a real struggle for me. As it was, I had only one person I could truly call friend the remaining three years of high school. Guys would just stare at me instead of coming up to me and talking; asking me questions; getting to know me. And heaven forbid if any of them found out I thought they were cute.   more >>

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