I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! Mine was nice, relaxing, spent with family, yummy meal :) It sounds trite, but I know I have quite a bit to be thankful for...sometimes I lose sight of how blessed I've been fortunate to be in so many ways...fortunate to be surrounded with good people, family and friends...sometimes, as this has almost always been the case with/for me, I forget that there are many folks out there who do not have these, who do not benefit from what is too often too easy to take for granted when one does have them, people who, to quote Bill O'Reilly (excellent new book of his that I've just finished, BTW- and no, not much in the way of politics, for those who don't share, or have never taken the time to understand, Bill's views) are "looking out for me." I struggle to think of more than one person whom I have ever been pretty close with who really wasn't a good, solid person, who wasn't "looking out for me" (as I look out for them as well.)...Almost all of the negative things that have happened to me over the years I can place at my feet, not on others taking advantage of me or anything...I feel for those who either don't have any/many people in their lives, or who have surrounded themselves with toxic, self-centered people...there are many things we can't control in life, but one of the things we can is whom we choose to associate with, and when they are good people, it is a blessing, something to be thankful for!...28-7, bad guys (hey, they have to win once every decade or so!)

"Jacky's gonna be a football star..."

Winding down from a week of free time spent on...me! Whew...It was good to have some time off again, away from the usual, the same 'ol same 'ol...good to get out and about again socially as Kellie, it'd been too long! Had a particularly nice night a week ago last Friday, and just was out and about again thru the week (on the prowl? Me?? Nah! :) Met a few nice people, mostly just enjoyed kicking back a bit and relaxing (even if the weather wasn't the greatest.) And just had some time to work out a bit more, FINALLY start running again- yay!- tho' my mileage, as well as speed, is down significantly...also do a little bit of reading, and a little bit of writing, something new I'm working on...went to Mass this morning, first time in a lil while as well...and just some time to relax- nuthin' wrong with that!

I also had a little time just to think some...I frequently go on and on (and on and on!) here about some of the things I'd like to change or improve in my life...perhaps more than anything else, I need to manage my time more effectively, more productively, exert better control over that...too often, I have a tendency to let things, not so much get away from me as just getting too caught up, or too whelmed (is "whelmed" a word? "Overwhelmed" seems too strong for what I'm trying to convey!) by what's immediately in front of me, the day-to-day, too narrowly focused, not attempting to manage things, time, comittments, etc...more effectively so that I can fit more of them into my life in the manner in which I would like...having time off this week drove home just how much I'm missing out on by maintaining such a narrow, tunnelled focus...and on a broader note, overall just exerting more control over those things that are within my ability TO control in my life, while beginning to let go- just a little bit!- of other things, things (incl. others' opinions) that are beyond my control.

"Yesterday is dead and gone/And tomorrow's out of sight/And it's sad to be alone/Help me make it through the night..."

Veteran's Day...hopefully we can all take a moment to remember the service and sacrifice given by those who have served in the military, perhaps thank a vet, and say a small prayer for the safety of the men and women who currently serve throughout the world, defending our borders, our freedoms, and our ideals. God bless.

"Stand beside Her, and guide Her/Through the night with the light from Above..."

BRRRRRRRRRR!!! Have we received an early blast of Ol' Man Winter this weekend...cold, below freezing temps, biting wind...no snow at least- yet!- but yikes, the frost is definately on the pumpkin, TOO COLD for early November! Las Vegas, the sunny Southwest, is starting to look very good again...:)

And no Patriots this weekend! Pats have their bye week...probably gonna jinx 'em, but the success they've had so far this season, especially in light of the rash of significant injuries early on to many impact players, bodes well for the remainder of the season (and beyond) as our injured players return, the younger guys who've filled in so well have gained vaulable experience, and other teams start to deal with mounting injuries just as we're getting healthy...might there be a trip to Houston come early February?! :)

My personal injury toll continues to mount, waaaaaahhhhh! Here's one that is hard to believe, but true- somehow, I sprained my ankle while...asleep! True! Friday night, I woke up with a sprained/twisted ankle, like you'd get if you rolled over on it playing basketball or something. I feel like I'm NEVER gonna get out and run again!!! And this ankle sprain makes almost any kind of cardio work painful, anything that involves bearing weight/pressure on that ankle right now...with luck (and RICE!) that should heal up in a few days...but I think I'm going to have to tweak my workout again...I've put on a little weight due to the fact that I haven't been able to run in, now, over a month (and NOTHING helps me maintain/lose weight easier and quicker than running)...that weight (and we're not talking massive pounds here!) will come off easily as soon as I"m able to get running consistently again...but I also need to re-work my upper body weight training work again- I'm getting too huge! Again, we're not talking Arnold Schwazeneggar huge, but bigger than I'd like to be right now, I've been trying to get a more "toned" lean look...maybe I'll go to only 1 day/wk of upper body work (I only do two now, and yes, I use light weights/high reps, but...) as well as try to increase all of my cardio sessions to 60 mins...I just don't wanna look TOO huge or bulky in a clingier top or dress. I know, it probably sounds shallow and/or vain, but I admit- I wanna look, if not gorgeous, at least more realistic as a woman, and having too-bulked up arms, shoulders, chest, etc...doesn't do it!

"Show a little faith, there's magic in the night/You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright..."

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard "The Monster Mash" this week...:) I hope Bobby "Boris" Pickett (a native of Somerville, BTW...) gets residuals or whatever from it; they'd make November a very flush month for Mr. Pickett...Hopefully everyone had a fun Halloweenie! Certainly was nice weather for it here last night, and today- what a beautiful day! I'm not sure if this stretch technically qualifies as Indian Summer, but whatever it is, give us more!!!

Reading thru some of my more recent entries here...I'm not sure why I've seemed so, I dunno, down or introspective, really, for awhile now, at least as far as this blog goes...actually, by nature I'm a pretty optimistic, glass-half-full kinda gal! I don't know if it's career-type frustration and the attendant things that have gone along with that (lack of satisfying or purposeful work, hours and such that have severely limited any social life, etc...) or if the whole DUI thing has thrown me more than I thought, or if it's frustration over my nagging foot injury that SHOULD have healed up better by now (Grrrrrrrr!!!) or- and the most important or serious thing- worries about my mother's health. I apologize to anyone to whom I've come off as too much of a bummer to- I'm ordinarily not that way, honest! Gotta shake this funk, I need a GOOD...:)

"I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes..."