The Crab Chronicles

Revenge and Anger

I have never been a vengeful person, but I do admit sometimes I have had very un-Christian feelings towards some folks.I also get really angry sometimes. Both make my stomach hurt.

Mother and I were talking last night about a couple who divorced years ago because the husband was cheating, and the wife "took him for everything" and will never re-marry because she'd lose her alimony. I knew the couple well, because the guy was Dad's boss, for a time. The talk of alimony made me uncomfortable, although I was certainly sympathetic with the wife.

If you are going to heal from a divorce, carrying around vengeful feelings is not really the best way to do it, I would imagine.

How can revenge ever be healing or good?I just don't think it is. Sorry. Bitterness is not healing.

Here's something that was posted on Facebook:

This is funny but chilling, to me. Is it true? Well, yes and no. I can think of two examples of women I worked for who were very difficult, and within a very short time of me quitting they lost their jobs. Ditto for a male lawyer I worked for who was a jerk. Does it make me happy to know that? Not really.They were all flawed humans but not fundamentally evil humans.

And "god will let you watch"? I don't think that's true at all.

If there's a takeaway there it's simply this - people mess up all the time. All of us. Revenge doesn't solve anything.

I like this quote, although I can't figure out who said it first - most of the Google things say Buddha:

"Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Just let it go."

That's more to my liking, and it's true. The hard part is the "just let it go."

I am struggling a bit with that right now. I am angry with myself because I have somehow stupidly misplaced Michael's Certificate of Citizenship, which was issued by Immigration when he came here. He has to have it to get his learner's permit. A replacement one costs $345!! I will have to turn my room upside down this weekend and go through tons of paper - which I've been needing to do anyway, believe me.

I've also been rather angry with myself for being slothful lately and eating too much junk food. I need to forgive myself and move on. And eat better. And get back on track. I did walk for 15 minutes this morning. Yay me.

Anyone out there have any suggestions for the "just let it go" part?!? Leave me a comment.

Controlling Your Reactions

I am happy Michael made the tennis team, but the carpooling is wearing me out. Last night I picked up Michael and Colton and found out they'd had a really bad practice. They were both unhappy campers.

I took them to Waffle House for dinner, in honor of Shrove Tuesday, and I learned a little more. They had been separated in practice, then a friend of Mike's had told him to go play on another court. Hurt feelings resulted.

I told the guys, you cannot control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to it. [Words I strive to live by, not always successfully.]

The beautiful part is that if anyone is mean to Michael, Colton is upset too. They are like brothers that way. They have each other's backs. We should all be so lucky to have such a friend.

Both boys ate 2 waffles, and bacon. Wow. They cheered up a bit then.

I had one waffle and bacon.

Back on the eating plan today.

I am seriously thinking of giving up sugar for Lent. Sugar substitutes, too, which will really be difficult. I can tell a difference in how I feel, though. Much better. Clothes are fitting looser. Face is slimming down a bit. Need to keep going.

BE CAREFUL

Got an email from a friend that was disturbing, but I want to pass it along as a public service:

"...a long time customer just told Jack that his wife was robbed only one hour ago at a gas station.  She was actually pumping gas and a man opened the passenger door and grabbed her purse.  Which means her wallet, cell,  all kinds of personal info, etc.  I know we hear the stories all the time.  I usually lock all doors at all times but at some time perhaps I have been guilty of forgetting to lock EVERY door.  This happened at a station close to the interstate."

Rain and Math

I am starting to feel like I live in the rain forest, not North America. It's just been rainy and hot for the past few days. When I say hot, I mean highs of 65 or so. I haven't needed a coat to take Michael to school in the morning. I haven't fussed about him wearing a jacket.

Forecast for today? 100% chance of rain. Grrr.....

I can hear the deluge outside my window now.

Michael is still having trouble with math. Colton was able to come over last night, and he patiently sat with Mike and tutored him in his math. Colton is in advanced classes at school and is smart as a whip. Michael is smart in everything except math, just like his mama [heavy sigh]. I was praying about it yesterday, knowing I can't afford to pay a tutor, and God answered that prayer very quickly.

I have to remind myself often that problems I cannot handle, God can always handle.

Not much else is going on.

WEIGHT

I am not going to turn this into a diet blog, but I will pass along things from time to time about how I am doing. It's going to be a long battle, I know.

I have a friend who recently dropped some weight and she gave me some great tips:

"The way I dropped the weight was cutting out sugar soda, switching to sugar free candy etc, and walking. tons and tons of walking. like 3-5 miles 3-4 times a week. just around the neighborhood. also gave me time to reflect and think. cleared my head. start small - a trip around the block - then work up to farther and farther, more and more blocks. There is a website called  http://www.mapmyrun.com/  that is great - it will allow you to click on a map of your neighborhood and map the path you take and tell you how many miles it is. 

also the daily plate by livestrong is a great resource for tracking calories more realistically. you can build in your own home recipes and it will calculate your calories for your home cooking. you can create favorite meals and easily add them to your daily plate. it also can keep track of exercise, even house cleaning and grocery shopping count!, and track your weight and calories intake and burn. they also have great support groups on there. its all free too. helps me still. 

http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ "