What happens is not as important as how you react to what happens.

As for the fairy tale romance, it went the way of most all fairy tales. It is no more.  Much was learned from this incredibly disruptive experience...as with many intense learning processes, a significant amount of pain was involved, and recovery has been a long, slow, stop-and-go, off-and-on process. Long story short, (and with GREAT effort to avoid saying anything that may hurt him or others who may still love him), suffice it to say, the torch I carried for that fantasy for 16 years has been permanently extinguished. He could drive back into my yard again, once more promising the moon…maybe even actually having the moon tethered to the back of his car…and he would not be a temptation to me again. In many ways I am a better person for having known and loved him…and now a much better person still, for finding within myself the strength to move on with my life without him...for GOOD this time. Nuff said on that subject.

Sojo is back! I'm beginning to feel like myself again, slowly but surely…at least for today. Old, forgotten passions and interests are slowly but surely re-emerging from the ashes of a rather bewildering season of personal drama (can you believe I did not take ONE photo during the months of July and August?!). Motivation and a general love of life are being re-ignited with renewed health and the beloved feeling of autumn in the air. Autumn is without a doubt my most favorite time of year, followed closely by spring. And the weather here promises to be wonderful this week! If only I wasn’t destined to be cooped up in a cement office building during daylight hours for the next few days…

In my conspicuous absence from the world of Mindsay, I have managed to lose 27 lbs so far (about that many more yet to go!) and have taken up weight training and running as new pastimes. On second thought, I’d be tempted to refer to my weight training and running more as outright ADDICTIONS now, rather than pastimes. I train 6 days a week and usually have to FORCE myself to take that 7th day off. I was recently forced to take a week off due to an injury brought on by over-exuberance and over-confidence and I felt like a junkie going through withdrawals…I felt like I was going utterly mad. As soon as I was able to put the running shoes back on and enjoy a fresh jolt of those divine endorphins, all was well with the world once again. 27 lbs down, about that many left to go – it is INCREDIBLE how much more difficult it is to lose weight at 55 than it was at 35! If I had trained like this at 35, I’d have lost 50 lbs in 3 months instead of a mere 27. But then perhaps that is nature’s way of protecting middle-aged losers from looking like a family of gypsies moved out their skin, as that is likely what they would look like if they lost weight as quickly and easily as when they were much younger. EEEWWWWWW.

For those interested in my nutritional complements to the exercise program, I swing back and forth from Atkins Induction Phase, to South Beach, to Weight Watchers and all manner of modifications in between. I’ve hit a couple of plateaus and the only way to break through is to switch things up – drastic changes to the eating plan or even a week off of dieting altogether; ease up on the exercise or change it up by introducing some new form of exercise (from bench to stability ball or from weights to resistance bands – running to speed walking, etc.). I’ve had to work at getting over my obsession with the scale. One week I GAINED 2 lbs but actually LOST a total of 4.5 INCHES? Weird. Wonderfully weird.

Anyhoo, consider yourselves up-to-date on the latest from the Nuthouse Estate. I do hope to stop by much more often, though it will likely be mostly weekends, as my current hours on the job royally suck donkey balls and once I’ve made my escape, the last thing I feel like doing at home is looking at a computer screen.

Just for fun, for anyone who has ever suffered from a broken heart (SURELY there are at least a COUPLE of you!), check out this blog...it’s HILARIOUS!