Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Uber-Wife Finishes the Whining.

Today was beautiful and nearly 70. Vivid blue skies with a hint of crisp tingeing the warm, welcome sunshine. Bright yellow leaves dotted the landscape of brilliant green and the occasional explosion of red. Now this is the October I've come to love in Iowa.

Rewind to a week ago. When the Iowa ground boasted five inches of snow and the Nebraska park I'd camped in was flash-frozen and dreary.

This is my final whining installment patting myself on the back for being a great wife. My arm is getting tired.

So. Saturday morning of the camping trip dawned with the awareness that my bladder had not frozen in my sleep and that I either had to knock on the tent of my neighbor and beg for a ride down to the outhouse, make do in the woods, or walk. I eased out of my very cozy nest and started to hoof it down the road. The temperature, even though there was a tiny dusting of snow on our stuff, wasn't awful. "I can do this. The threat of frostbite is over." I said to meself and a few startled squirrels.

After a smoky breakfast wherein the temperature continued to drop back into the very, very brisk zone, I excused myself and removed a layer up top and slid on my flannel pajama top and then quickly redressed. Yes. It was that cold. We loaded, packed and headed to the vehicles to drive to the other side of the park. Soon we would hit civilization. Soon, if I survived the "easy" hike.

Our ringleader is a big hiker. My husband is one, too, as was the lone ranger along with us. They hike mountains. I began to see that their definition and mine of an easy hike were entirely different.

Ringleader: "Okay. A longer hike takes us around and a little more slowly to the top. There is a direct route that involves a little intense going up front. Which road you wanna take, ladies?"

So, the easier hike would have lasted twice as long and we had time issues and I decided to suck it up and get it over with as soon as possible. "The shorter, uglier one."

"Alrighty then. Follow me."

Now. I need to warn you that I will begin to whine a lot here. If that annoys you just finish this post right now. It only goes down hill.

It's true. What goes up, must come down. And boy, did I go up and down on my hike. See the beautiful, vast, impressive view. See how far away the landscape seems? It seems far, far away because it is. I climbed away from that up-close-and-personal landscape so I might see it from a different perspective.

I am thrilled that I've spent a year working out and getting my muscles into something closer to in shape. Had I not spent time doing Pilates and walking and wiing, I would have been in big trouble. Seriously. At more than one point, when I grabbed a little sapling to avoid falling down the hill and losing the ground I'd gained, I looked at my husband and said. "You do this type of climbing for six hours a day when you back pack?" He'd nod and say something like. "You're doing great, Honey, keep up the good work, Little Trooper." Then I'd whimper and ask. "Why?" He'd smile and nod and remind me to take little steps and it wouldn't hurt quite so bad yada, yada, yada.

I didn't puke. I didn't fall off the hill and plunge to my death. I didn't wet my pants or cry like a little baby. A third of a mile with 90% straight up and a third of the mile attempting to undo the climb left me panting a few times, whiny, and very windblown. But I survived to tell about it. And I don't plan to do it again real soon, but....

Scribbles and Scrambles - National Healthcare...

A politician for the people? The middle-class ones.

Watch this if you are concerned about healthcare.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Uber-Wife Points Continued Again.

My honey cooked all the meals on our winter camp-out. This was great. And delicious. When dinner is at eight p.m. and out-of-doors, and breakfast takes an hour to prepare you get really hungry.

And believe it or not, the sleeping was cozy. Rob made a nice little nest in our two-person tent and with the zipper closed and the many layers of covers I slept great.

Except for the snow/sleet bouncing off the tent.

And the bladder issue.

I knew we were sleeping at a state park. But I didn't think ahead on the more delicate details that might be involved i.e. that we had two choices for potty breaks...the woods....or the outhouse that was a quarter mile down the road. The solo adventurer was kind enough to drive me down to the outhouse after dark, after I realized that I didn't recall seeing any facilities and the only thing available was the woods. (I did mention the werewolves and the utter and complete darkness, the creepy trees...etc.etc.)

Let me just say the woods and I don't get along very well on a warm July camping trip when I'm only wearing one layer. Coordination is not a strong area for me. And any potty attempts in near freezing weather with my lack of coordination was recipe for disaster and hypothermia.

Through whining for now. I'll share the highlights of the hike on Monday.

Serials and Scenarios ~ Getting in Shape God's Way

Discover the 4 Keys to Get Fit in Body, Mind & Spirit

- Key #1: Revelation—fitness beliefs—let go of the lies and invade your spirit with the real

· Key #2: Declaration—fitness words—speak the right words to influence your mind, volition, and emotions

· Key #3: Application—fitness function—infuse healthy activity for your whole person

· Key #4: Manifestation—fitness lifestyle—increase your quality of life: spirit, soul, and body

Discover ancient secrets that break the cycle of fitness failure

In his new book, Getting in Shape God’s Way: 4 Keys to Making Any Diet or Fitness Plan Work, author and fitness expert Ron Kardashian reveals the neglected, ancient secrets to making everything else—proper nutrition, exercise, and other healthy principles—work. Kardashian is a certified strength and conditioning coach and a fitness expert with over a decade of experience who has logged over 11,000 hours of one-on-one consulting in the realm of physical fitness and life development/coaching. The amazing results of his integrated, holistic approach have made him a powerful voice for worldwide change among people of every age, religion, and creed—professionals, CEOs of major companies, diplomatic leaders, clergy, and even royalty.

Getting in Shape God’s Way includes several resources designed to help readers maintain a fitness lifestyle. The fitness plan, complete with photos of Kardashian himself demonstrating proper form, is tailored for beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts. Kardashian also offers a companion workout DVD. The food plan features basic principles for healthy eating, suggested meal ideas, and convenient lists of the healthiest foods and the ingredients to be avoided at all costs. Because the words we speak and the things we put in our mouths determine the direction of our lives, Kardashian also includes a list of “mouth fitness Scriptures” that will keep readers focused.


My Review:


This is an overall great overview of fitness and health. Kardashian, with enthusiasm and passion, details that diet and exercise are a full body, soul, emotion and mind connection. Without a change in how we think, any changes made will be only temporary.

This book is not a detailed diet book. There are few if any recipes. A list of good foods and avoidance foods are included, as are suggestions on how to find them. But the diet portion is just a few pages. The majority of the book is focused on changing the mindset from "doomed-to-be" to "this is whom I'm becoming." This change in thinking is very Biblically based and there are lots of scriptures and God talk within. Kardashian spends quite a bit of time of negative vs positive self-talk and explores some fascinating self-fulfilling prophecy type thinking. There is a section with pictures of exercise which was helpful. The included DVD was even more helpful in that area. He has a few moves I haven't seen elsewhere. There is very little rigidity. Those who want a "do-this-now, do-this-right-before-dinner" type of diet/fitness plan probably won't find satisfaction. Self-starters and those ready to change will benefit the most.

Those who don't really want God involved in the process will likely be frustrated. But then again, those folks might not pick it up in the first place. If you are looking for a real change and are open to letting God in on the process you could invest your money in far worse ways. With the included DVD, the cost of this book could be the perfect investment into changing your life at a bargain basement cost. If you don't want to change or if it will eventually end on a garage sale table or collecting dust on a bookshelf, don't bother.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Uber-Wife Points Continued

So the "winter" camping outing was intended to be a fun get away with a hike. One wife listened to the weather forecast and decided that she did not need any uber-wife points (or frostbite, thank you very much) and stayed home. So then there were four (two couples) plus two (a wifeless adventurer and a grand kid).

To prepare I pulled out layer upon layer of clothing items and I whined a little, tried to come up with a good excuse for why it would be in Rob's best interest for me not to go.

He didn't budge and so finally I marinated the chicken he would cook for me over a campfire and packed my stuff.


We arrived at our campsite right about twilight. The state park offered haunted hay rides so I was able to listen to the howling of werewolves while I glanced around at the dark foreboding trees that surrounded our campsite.

Rob, on the other hand, was having a blast. Exhibit C and Exhibit D showing the putting up of the two man tent and the sweet little forehead light. His enthusiasm is pretty cute. But that kind of trashes his whole Mano a Mano image so I retract that statement.

Oh, there's still more...to be continued.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Uber-Wife Gathers Points

Rob is kind of an outdoor Mano a Mano. Right now, as we speak -- figuratively because you may read this at an odd time of day and what I'm sharing wouldn't be true at that particular moment -- but I digress -- he is bow-hunting in 40 degrees and rain. Maybe it's warmer than 40, I'm only guessing but it isn't snow. Trust me, I know what snow looks like.

Exhibit A:

This weekend we got snow. In October. It only snows when the temp reaches freezing.

This weekend. I went tent camping with my husband.

Yes. On the same weekend it snowed I went tent camping. And hiking. Did I mention hiking?

A few of his backpacking buddies wanted to get together for a fun overnight mini-adventure and decided to ask the wives to come along. In their defense October is usually a very mild and perfect month to enjoy the slow ease into winter. But not this October. Winter happened with a vengeance.

We were an hour south of town and we didn't get the four inches of snow like we got at home. We got a smattering of flurries. But Exhibit B shows my insulated cup that held water the night before now holding ice.

to be continued......

Scribble and Scrambles ~ Hmmm Gene Pool?

This odd weekend coincidence totally cracked me up.

We have Pat and 23. Grandfather and grand-daughter. Do you see the resemblance?