Labor Day 2017: A Life List

As I look out my window it is pitch black. We are losing light faster and faster. I am having to wait until about 6:20am to take dogs for a walk. Soon, they won't get a morning walk at all. I always dread that day. The entire Columbia Gorge is filled with smoke from horrible fires that started by someone with fireworks. They closed a section of the highway completely down.

 

Weekend Review We didn't do much over the weekend as far as running around goes. I took a nap all 3 days in a row. The hustle of a busy summer finally caught up with me. I had a photo shoot Friday after work. It was my last one for the August project. Yesterday, I met up with a couple to photograph their 3 month old baby girl. We also drove to Walla Walla just to get out of the house. I packed a lunch for myself as hubby had already eaten before we left. We stopped at the Goodwill store and I bought a pair of capris one size smaller as my pants are starting to look baggy. I've lost 23 lbs. since May 1st. I've plateaued. Feeling really great though and happy to have finally found an eating plan that can work for the rest of my days.

 

What I'm Learning The dog photo project in August taught me a few things about photographing dogs.

• Dogs really hate the camera. This was a huge "aha" for me. Even my own dogs won't let their ears up when I take their pics.
• Give it 10 to 15 minutes for dogs who've never met me to sniff me out and figure out if I'm okay. I get down on the ground and their level and let them sniff and lick and bump my face with their noses. Just charging in and taking photos doesn't work. That's going to be super useful information as I continue to photograph dogs for the rescue team. 
• I've learned that people love their dogs more than anything else and when we're shooting, it's all about the dogs. I've not met a vain dog person yet. Love that.

 

What I'm Creating I'm still minimizing my household goods and trying to create a better living space. Right now it seems worse than when I started but it is because I'm saving boxes of stuff to put in a charity yard sale that's coming up this month.

 

What I'm Reading I am re-reading Bright Line Eating: The Science of Living Happy, Thin, and Free by Susan Peirce Thompson, Ph.D. Now that I've been following her plan for eating since May 1, it is time to go back and look for things I missed the first time I read it.

 

What I'm Watching I watched two episodes of Ozark on Netflix. We watched a couple of movies over the weekend but can't remember the titles.

 

What's on My Camera Lots of dogs!

 

A Quote I Want to Share

 

NOT MY FOOD Susan Peirce Thompson, Ph.D.

 

This is a mantra from the BLE program that has served me well.  Donuts on the table at work? Not My Food. 

 

A Peek Into My Week I have zero plans on my calendar this week. I'm okay with that. My summer has flown by and now it is my time to chill a bit.

 

A Final Thought A close family friend lost her ex-husband and father of her three beautiful girls to suicide last week. It really took the wind out of me for a bit. I'm sad as hell for his daughters. I've known too many people who have taken their own life. Pain that no one can see eludes a lot of people. Not me. I've never felt suicidal but I can understand how people get there when depression and physical pain is left untreated. I don't want to leave this entry on a sad note. The good news is that one of the best dogs I've ever met got adopted last week by a family with a young teen boy. The photo of their meeting was priceless. I cried when I saw it. I love happy endings, don't you?

 

love, susan