I’m Doing June 2014 NaBloPoMo, My Way

June 2, 2014August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 17 Comments

I’ve been in need of a blogging challenge.

Just showing up here a few days per week isn’t cutting it for me anymore. I need a goal to re-ignite my blogging passion. A reason to get up each morning and share my tales, thoughts, photos, links with the world while achieving something special for myself.

And what better way to do that than to join BlogHer‘s NaBloPoMo for the month?

That being said, I know my limits.

So I’ve decided that I’ll join in June 2014 NaBloPoMo on my own terms. To wit, I’m going to do 20 days of the challenge instead of the entire 30 days.

In other words, I’m doing 2/3 of that which is asked of me because, to quote Margaret’s daughter’s friend: “A decent something is better than a perfect nothing.”

Is this not so?

See you tomorrow, kids.

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Improving Ms. Bean: One Step At A Time

May 6, 2014January 24, 2016 / Ally Bean / 21 Comments

And now for something different…

I’VE NEVER been one to talk about medical issues on my blog, and I’m not about to change that policy now. But today, by bending my own personal blogging rules just a bit, I’m going to share with you, my gentle readers, that I am overweight. Not much, actually. But enough for me to decide that it is time for me to change some of my ~~evil~~ less-than-healthy ways.

TO WIT, and finally getting to the point of this post, I bought a fitbit. I chose the Zip one, which is a small pedometer that you attach to yourself each day. Then it does all the work for you by keeping track of your steps. All you have to do is walk. A lot. And have a desktop computer or a smart phone that you use to see all of your stats.

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IF I were a cynical woman, at this point in my post I’d tell you that this little gadget has confirmed that I do move. Most days. More than I can believe. Yet I am plump. Which I kind of like, but that’s the sort of statement that could get my Woman Card revoked, so I won’t focus on the body image topic today. Nor will I be cynical, because I am a paragon of good health and positive thinking.

I’M ENJOYING my Zip. It’s a groovy fuchsia color, and has this cute little [mostly] smiley face on it. Sometimes the smiley face sticks its tongue out at me when I’ve been sedentary for too long. I like that. Technology with a bit of motivational attitude is exactly the sort of thing to get me stepping more. And maybe, just maybe, weighing a few pounds less.

I’ll let you know.

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[A message to the FTC: I didn’t receive any compensation of any kind for my opinion here about this device. I know that you worry about such things, so you can rest assured that, as usual, there is nothing here for you to see.]

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Springtime: Musings On A Season’s Return

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014 / Ally Bean / 18 Comments

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Spring weather is variable. Today it’s wet + gray + cold. Drab.

On Sunday it was sunshine + blue skies + mild. Lovely. In fact, it was so pleasant outside that we went to a nature preserve and wandered around an old farmstead that is there.

After a Winter spent inside looking out, the freshness of the day inspired me, charmed me. The new sights. The idea of possibility.

As a rule I don’t enjoy beginnings, but Spring is a season that forces me out of my comfort zone. And despite its unpredictable weather, Spring entices me, reassures me with fresh starts, beautiful colors and the promise of growth.

So how about you, gentle readers? What is there about Spring that speaks to you?

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A Book Chat [Sort Of] About The Three Books That I’m Reading [Kind Of] This Month

February 25, 2014August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 12 Comments

[This month I’ve read three books. Well, to be more accurate– I’ve been browsing through, glancing at, skimming across three books. Because these books are not my usual fare of novels, histories, memoirs, I didn’t feel like I needed to read them in a linear way. Kind of fun to read like this, btw.]

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• For Christmas I received a copy of Giada’s Feel Good Food by Giada De Laurentiis. The book is mostly a cookbook with a few pages of personal details every so often. Over the weekend I sat down to read the personal parts of the book and found this quote on page 198: “I have curly hair, so I always brush it in the shower.”

This makes no sense to me. I’ve always been told to never brush my curly hair when it is wet. Yet here is Little Miss Accomplished & Gorgeous telling me to do this.

I’m confused. More than normal, that is. Why is she doing this?

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• A business acquaintance gave me a signed copy of Bring Your Superpowers To Work by Darcy Eikenberg, ACC. As some of you know, I have a love/hate relationship with self-help books. A few of them I’ve found to be useful, but most of them I find to be stating the obvious, poorly written and ultimately defeatist.

That being said, I love this book. Darcy is a life coach who knows how to write and provides practical ideas about how to become a better version of yourself. My favorite witticism of hers is on page 51: “affirm the squirm.” Meaning that if you’re intellectually uncomfortable with a new healthy behavior, then you’re growing a superpower & going in the right direction for you.

I’m still working on my Superpowers List; but when I complete it, I’ll be epic.

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• I’d forgotten all about Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg until I found a copy of it when I was reorganizing our home office after the new desk arrived. I decided that reading bits & pieces of this book, in no particular order, would be a great way for me to jumpstart my writing career.

To wit, the piece that I’m currently enamored of is on page 119 where she talks about making writing sweet: “… always associate learning with sweetness. It should be the same with writing. Right from the beginning, know that it is good and pleasant. Don’t battle with it. Make it your friend. “

Isn’t this a lovely thought? Who doesn’t need more friends?

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