Body Breakdown

I had a personal motto; when you think your life is boring, start doing stuff for somebody or something else. My motto didn't make room for what to do if you're not "able bodied". My body has been going through major trauma for almost 3 years now. The most frustrating thing is when I KNOW I've done all the right things, such as:
1. Surgery for weight loss - Fail. Stomach is still small but food is not staying in my stomach long enough to breakdown, so I'm getting straight calories.
2. Raw juicing - Fail. Dietitian says raw fruits contain too much concentrated sugar.
3. Whole Wheat products - Fail. Emergency room visit diagnosing an anaphylactic reaction to wheat cut wheat-based products off my grocery list.
4. Water Aerobics - Fail. As my spine expanded in the water (which is supposed to be healthy), the herniated discs in my lumbar region rotated and pinched my sciatic nerve. [Input sarcasm here.] Great. Wonderful.
5. Physical therapy - Fail. Began strength training and 2 months into it, I began to feel a pain in my neck I had never felt before and couldn't get rid of. Result? Degenerative Disc Disease.
I could go on...but since I'm already bored with the list, I would imagine anyone reading this would be bored as well. My point is, this is the first time in my life where I've felt like I could barely do anything for myself, let alone for anyone else.
So, what is life for me right now? Doctor's office visits, medication, and pain. Prayerfully, this too shall pass and REAL life will resume. :)

Reality TV

Yes...I watch it. Why? I think it's because I find it hard to believe people really act like that. Their "reality" is so far removed from my own life, I find it hard to believe their reality really exists. But then, I think about my own reality and it's probably hard for people to believe as well. Ha!

Real Housewives of OC, ATL, NJ and NY - It's hard for me to believe that grown women still act like they're in high school. Heck! I didn't even act like that in high school. If you don't like someone, why call them your "girlfriend"...why call them a "frenemy"? If the shows show anything, it's the lack of their own emotional maturity that appears blatant in every episode.

Tiny & Toya - This reality show was the biggest surprise of them all. Before I watched an episode, I kept hearing the word, "ghetto" being thrown around alot. Fortunately, what I saw was two young, single mothers, attempting to keep their families together through various illnesses and/or addictions. These two young women seem to have more maturity than most of the Housewives.

Kendra - Sloppy.

Jerseylicious - Stupid but the oddity (e.g. big hair, too much make up, fake nails, tight clothes and a fascination with leopard print) of the culture is worth watching for comic relief.

I realized a while back that "reality TV" is so heavily scripted, I don't think it should be called "reality TV" anymore. It's just another type of sitcom. Ok, in general...TV is such a waste of time. There are only 3 channels I really like to watch...the History Channel, Discovery Channel and Turner Classic Movies. The other 200 plus channels don't do much for me. Ha!

Could my life be a reality TV show? Nope. Too boring. How about your life?

Cancer, A Shooting, A Jail Break...Oh My!

The title sounds like a joke, however, all have happened in my family over the past 2 months. My Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Thankfully the Dr's think they caught it in time and he'll begin to undergo radiation therapy this month. My Dad is 6"1" slim and very active, so I've always thought of him as being in good shape. Unfortunately, I forgot cancer doesn't discriminate. My Dad is 2 decades shy of 100. When he began to talk to me about his treatment, he simply said, "I've lived 80 years...I've seen enough." Yep...that's my Dad. A realist to the end.

Out of the 11 years that I've been married, my husband has had quite a few deaths in his immediate and distant family. So far, this year there have been 4. Out of all of the deaths that have occurred and the funerals he has attended, I have never seen him cry. When his 19 year old nephew was killed in a drive-by shooting a week and a half ago, he cried a cry I had never seen before. I could tell his heart was broken and saddened. It was a life cut short when his nephew still had an entire life to live.

Ok, so "jail break" may not exactly fit the story...but it sounded great as a title. Ha! To make a long story short, a niece walked away (literally) with her young child in tow, from an opportunity to start a new life and to make things "right". Little does she know that she's not only disrupted other peoples lives, but she's also made her own life more difficult than it should be. I thank God the baby is in a safe place, but the whereabouts of my niece are unknown at this time.

Although I have been physically down, life around me continues to go on....the good and the bad. I just take it all in stride, one day at a time and just thank God for allowing me to live through another day.