The Four-Week Check-in On All Those Resolutions

"Greater love hath no wife. . ." That's perhaps a tad melodramatic, but close to the sacrifice I made today when I walked into the best barbecue place in the area to stand in line, waiting for my husband's favorite pulled pork barbecue, which I can't eat because I'm on a strict diet right now. You understand, right?

I saw the spread occurring in my nether regions while I pulled long days and late-nighters to complete "In God Is Our Trust," but it wasn't until I went to the doctor's for my annual physical that I realized the risk that weight was causing to my overall health. My sugar and cholesterol nudged up right along with the needle on the scale, and since my father died as a result of complications caused by diabetes, this news was the trigger I needed to commit to a better-health plan.

I'm doing the Ideal Protein diet, and in a few days I'll launch a link where I'll post my tips and recipes for others who might want to give it a try. It's not the easiest diet on earth, or the most fun, but the results start to show very quickly, and that encouragement makes it a little easier to turn away the favorite foods and make different life choices. I'm doing a pretty good job of getting to bed earlier, and keeping my personal goals to read the scriptures daily, and write in my journal. All in all, I finally feel that my out-of-control life is slipping back into its proper balance again.

Balance is critical, at least it is for me. Life will always throw a rock into our path, but being balanced in the use of time and all our other resources will likely keep us in tune with the needs of others so we can prevent or at least head off serious troubles before they escalate. And investing in spiritual development provides an anchor so those troubles don't overwhelm us completely.

We've had a few storms over here. Readers of my blog know a little about my mom. She's in the early stages of dementia, which causes personality changes, depression, fear and anger. Helping Mom stay bright and happy has become a major part of my life and my siblings' lives right now. In contrast to that worry, there is also joyous news to report. We have two new grand babies being born in the next few weeks, so the law of opposites--good and bad, happy and sad, easy and hard, holds true once again.

There are other items to keep me busy these days. All of my book are now available as ebooks now. You can click the Amazon link in my sidebar to go to my Kindle page where their links are located. That was a very exciting development. In addition, I've been listening to audition tapes for readers as we prepare to release the audio version of "Dawn's Early Light." I can't say when it will be released, but we're hoping it will be available within the next three months.

My current work in progress is a political suspense novel currently titled, "The Shell Game." I've been waiting to write this for about three years, so this one will go down on paper very quickly. Finding time to write is the hard part, so I'm playing around with Dragonspeak software so I can dictate instead of type the manuscript. We'll see how it goes. The story is set deep in Virginia's Appalachian region in a coal mining area. There are lots of interesting characters, plot twists, and a little local history thrown in, so I hope you'll be looking for it when it comes out.

I'm also writing an ap for people touring Washington D.C. In addition to all the normal touristy information, my ap will include side stories and historical trivia to make your visit to the Nation's capital more interesting and personal. After D.C., I plan on tackling Baltimore and Fort McHenry, then Philadelphia.

Thanks for listening to me rattle on.

Laurie