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Echo Challenge Collection

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 by Alyice

“I collect human relationships
very much the way others collect fine art.”
– Jerzy Kosinski

It’s echo time! This time the prompt is “Collection”. My grandmother was a collector of things, my mother was a collector of things, but I was not a collector, or so I thought.

My maternal grandmother collected simply for the sake of hoarding. Her home was filled to the brim with unopened boxes—boxes that made her home look like a warehouse, boxes that could have made fun hiding places if we’d only been given the opportunity to walk through her front door.

My mother was a hoarder, too. She packed her home from one end to the other with things that always came before her relationships. Things that needed cleaning, rearranging, storing, and moving. Things that always moved from one room to the next only to find their way into a box, in the garage, and back out again.

I, however, was neither of them. I was not a hoarder.

I didn’t like to be controlled by things. I didn’t like the idea of worrying about leaving my things alone for fear that someone would stop by and take them away. I didn’t put a higher value on “things”. I didn’t value things more than I valued “people” or “relationships”. And therefore, if I wasn’t a hoarder. I was not a collector.

But I was mistaken. Though not a hoarder, I did have a healthy obsession with three things: books, movies, and shot glasses.

As a young child, I was a shy girl. I spent most of my time daydreaming about what it would be like to find Prince Charming, or at least the modern day version of him. And I dreamed about what it would be like to be so filled with self-confidence that nothing was too scary for me to tackle. I dreamt about having a lot of money and using it to transform the lives of others. And I dreamt about seeing the world—of traveling to far off places, of meeting new people, and of forming many “Lucy and Ethel” relationships.

Sometimes, however, I didn’t daydream. I picked up a book or watched a movie instead. And I lived vicariously through my beloved storybook characters or the characters on the television screen. I could care less who the writer was or which actor was playing which part—it was the characters that transported me from my reality into theirs.

So it was only natural that as a young adult, I’d start collecting both books and movies. I just didn’t realize how crazy of a collector I was until we had to transport 100+ boxes of books and movies from one state to the next. After my second state-to-state move I realized it was time to let go. I’d never go back and read many of those books, and I had outgrown and became weary of certain films. So I packed up nearly two-thirds of my collection and donated them to a few worthy causes.

I still collect, but I’ve learned to be more selective. A lesson I learned from my daughter. She is very selective when it comes to the books and videos she buys. And for now, it’s only good fantasy books; especially those that have been turned into marvelous films like Peter Pan, Harry Potter, and The Chronicles Of Narnia.

Another obsession of mine is collecting shot glasses.

It all started when my honorary Aunt Sue would take me with her antique shopping as a young girl. She’d find the prettiest things: doorknobs, cabinet handles, furniture, postcards, lace, and stunning glass containers.

I loved those glass containers and have had an infatuation with old glass ever since. But as a young girl, who still lived at home, and shared a room with a very sloppy younger sister, I knew bringing such beauty home would be insane so I just looked and coveted.

Then I spotted them. Shot glasses. They were perfect! They were affordable, they took up very little room, they came in various shapes and colors, and they contained history. Now, when I went shopping with my Aunt, I had something to be excited about, too.

Everyone got a kick out my collection. They couldn’t understand why I, a young girl who didn’t drink—and still doesn’t—would ever be interested in collecting shot glasses.

When I became a young adult, I stopped collecting shot glasses. It just wasn’t the same; collecting them without my aunt. Then one day my honorary grandfather gave me a gift—a shot glass from Russia—and I was hooked all over again.

I collected for a few more years after that, even had my new husband gifting me with a few shot glasses. But then we moved into a rental that had no space for such a collection, and it got packed away; a faded memory that longed to be placed back on a shelf some day.

This past summer, after taking many trips to Rapid City to visit my now college bound son, my husband started my collection back up again. “After all,” he’d say, “new memories are being made.”

So yes, I am a collector of things. And I thank God that I am not a hoarder who values those things more than I value the relationships He has so graciously bestowed upon me.

Until next time…

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Getting Motivated

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 by Alyice

Confession time. Though I’ve not really committed to losing the weight or getting physically fit over the past five or so years, I have tried to start an exercise routine several times over the past few months. And I’ve failed miserably.

The problem is that I had high expectations of what I could do physically. The mind was willing, but the body was not. I overexerted myself, I pushed too hard. And as a result, I failed to follow through with my exercise routines.

I’m sure it didn’t help that the depression makes it so easy to cave and say, “I can’t do this”. Then add my hip problems to the mix and it’s just one more excuse as to why I cannot do it.

However, that is all about to change!

A friend reminded of Susan Powter‘s motto recently and I realized that yes, I can do this! One baby step at a time!

In case you don’t know, Susan Powter was a physical fitness sensation back in the late 90s. She was ridiculed in the industry for not having a degree to back up her claims, but the girl knew her stuff. Fed up with her own life, she took back her life through research, healthy eating, and moving her body.

“The key”, she’d always say “is in the modification”.

She was 130 pounds overweight, and physically unfit. At first, she could barely walk from the porch to the mailbox without getting out of breath, but she kept doing it until eventually she could do it effortlessly. Then she walked from the porch to the corner of her block, again until she could do it effortlessly. She continued to take baby steps, modifying her exercise routine, and improving her health.

Say what you will about Susan, but she’s an inspiration. Reading her book, “Stop The Insanity” after the birth of my first son got me motivated to lose most of my baby fat, and keep physically fit.

But after my second child, life just got in the way. We experienced many ups and downs in our family that drained me of energy and made it all too easy to put “taking care of myself” on the backburner, time and time again.

Now, however, things are slow around here. The depression is starting to lift, summer is upon us, and I really want to get rid of the aches and pains that make me want to sleep instead of move about. Plus, I’d actually like to lose some weight.

Another thing that has me motivated to lose weight is Dr. Oz‘s scare on stomach fat—or omentum fat. Though under normal circumstances, the omentum does a body good, when it’s enlarged it can cause great harm to the body.

A healthy omentum is “thin like panty hose”, but an unhealthy omentum—which comes from obese people—is “thick like uncooked dough”. It’s the thickness and increased size that’s makes the omentum dangerous.

It crowds the organs and stores bad fat which causes a vast array of health problems like heart disease, hardening of the arteries (high cholesterol), and diabetes (high blood sugar). And as a result, it can literally take 15 years off your life expectancy. (Okay makes sense to me as I have both high bad cholesterol and high triglycerides—both of which are currently being controlled by Crestor).

Dr. Oz believes the stomach of a woman should be 32.5 inches. Mine is 40.5 inches. Which means I need to lose 8 inches off my stomach. And to do that, I have to get physical, as diet alone will not work.

Heck, if I just lost the 8 inches around my stomach I’d be happy.

Remember, it’s about the baby steps…

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My Fitness Goals

Monday, March 29th, 2010 by Alyice

Over the past two weeks I’ve given serious thought to what I want. Is it to lose weight? Is it to get physically fit? Or is it a combination of the two? And what I’ve concluded is that first and foremost, I want to get physically fit.

I want to feel alive in this body. I want to wake up feeling rested and energized. I want to go through the day without feeling as though I am dragging my feet or wishing I could take a nap. And it would be nice to have a day free of aches and pains.

Then, I’d like to lose weight. And I’d like to lose 40 pounds.

Can I tell you a secret?

Before I had children I was skinny. Looking back on the pictures of my youth, I can say I was, as my husband says, “a cutie”. But as cute as I was, I was not happy in my own skin. And I didn’t like the attention I got from grown men, or older boys. In fact, I found the attention I got creepy, intimidating, and scary.

So when I gained the weight, and realized that my husband didn’t care if I kept it on or lost it, I held onto the weight like a child holds onto a security blanket.

I was fat, but I was happy in my own skin. So even though I wasn’t comfortable with being fat, especially when looking at myself in photos or shopping for new clothes, the comfort I felt with being in my own skin outweighed the discomfort I felt with being fat.

That’s what makes losing weight so difficult for me; that and the fact that I’ve never been really good at putting myself first. I’ve always put any- and every- thing ahead of my own needs.

My hope, however, is that by making the time to take care of myself the depression will go away and I will feel good in this body again.

One thing I will not do is weigh my food or count calories. I want to learn to eat healthier meals so that this becomes a lifestyle change, not a “dietary” change.

My health and fitness goals are:

Weight loss – lose one pound a week until I reach 40 pounds.
Fitness – run one mile, without passing out, by August 4. (My issue here is that I have bad hips and just walking can be painful.)
Exercise – fit in 60 minutes of exercise a day: aerobics, stretching, weight and lifting.
Eating – cut out processed and prepackaged foods, incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet, and drink more water. I will also reach for something healthy instead of simple carbs and work on introducing one raw meal, one vegetarian meal, and two fish meals per week into our dinner plans.
Mood Enhancer – each day I will go to bed at the same time each night (even if it means laying in bed wide awake), talk to my Wisconsin friend Tina each morning (she jumpstarts my day), get 30 minutes of sun, laugh for 30 minutes (comedies help!), and spend no more than an hour on the ‘net for personal entertainment (usually done while watching t.v.).

And finally, to balance everything out, I’ll continue to spend time with my kiddos and husband. After all, they’re the ones who give me the most joy out of this life and I am positive that when I begin to feel better about myself, and begin to feel healthier, my relationships with them will only blossom.

Remember, it’s about the baby steps…

Posted in One Step At A Time | 4 Comments »

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I'm a freelance writer, mixed media artist, SMVA, and the owner of The Dabbling Mum.

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