I want to start actively promoting this blog, trying to get more people to come out and play. This is the current business card:

This is fine if I've been talking to people about the site and I've explained what the site is about, but it is pretty meaningless if I haven't explained the whole thing. So, I am looking for something catchy to put on my card so I can hang it on bulletin boards (like, at the gym and stuff).  I'm offering a DeeMotivation.net t-shirt to anyone who can come up with something catchy that conveys the following points in a form that will work on a business card:

• You don't have to be in shape to get in shape (Specifically, I really want other obese people to know this isn't about marathon training, it's about getting outside and having fun, regardless of your fitness level)
• Almost all of the events list on the site are free
• I'm not selling anything, there is nothing to join, there are no catches

Thanks so much for any input to improve the website!

A Taste of Tuesday

So, I have decided that I really like having sandwiches for breakfast. I find I don't get the mid-morning munchies nearly as bad. Even if I have a BA omelet or something, I still get hungry earlier. So anyway, I had tuna sandwiches for about 2 weeks and got a little burnt out. This week I made some really yummy chicken salad. Here's how I made it:

Dee's Chicken Salad
===============

• Chopped cooked chicken (you can broil some, I slow-cooked a bunch of boneless/skinnless thighs)
• Mayo - I  used the Walden Farms calorie/fat free stuff. I'm not a huge fan of mayo and this doesn't really taste anything like mayo, but it's great to hold chicken or tuna salad together.
• Shredded cheese (I am a creature of habbit, I used the cabot 50% light again)
• Pecans
• Raisins

Mix together and put on something.

Note: It is REALLY hard to find bread that does not have HFCS or sugar as the second ingredient. I found some weird little round things put out by pepperidge farm called "Deli Flats" that have "sugarcane fiber" and honey in them. I can't find much nutrition information about "sugarcane fiber" other than a few web sites that say it should not be considered real fiber.  So, I have no idea if it is any better than just sugar, other than the fact that it was pretty far down the ingredient list, so at least this bread isn't loaded with it. They taste ok. Honestly, the chicken salad is good enough that it overpowers the bread anyway!

Event Update

Well, I ended up skipping McKee Botanical Gardens yesterday as I didn't have any RSVPs, and I had some other stuff I had to get done.  But we did get in a hike at Goodwin Wildlife Management Area. If you didn't GOYB, here is what you missed (Click on the picture to enlarge. The turtle is especially neat enlarged):

A red shoulder hawk. It's rare that I get a picture that actually shows why they are called red-shouldered hawks.

 We saw lots of red-winged blackbirds. They are another of my favorites, I just like the burst of color against so much blackness.

 This was our find of the day. Shown here is the divine Ms. H with a very dead turtle. The neat thing is, it was perfectly preserved. It appeared to have died of old age, there were no signs of a struggle or predators.

 It was completely stripped of soft tissue, most likely by bugs after death. The rest of it was completely intact, and, most likely due to dry hot air, it was almost mummified.

 Ibrahim showing how huge the turtle was.

Deer, dears. I love the diversity at Goodwin WMA - birds, turtles, deer, snakes. Critters galore!

We saw a LOT of REALLY big snakes this trip. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge the camera before I left, and most of the pictures of the snakes didn't come out. We also saw a huge herd of Roseate Spoonbills who are hanging out at the roost just as you come out of the parking area. I plan to charge the camera and go back for another dusk walk this week, most likely on Wednesday. If you haven't ever seen a Roseate, this is the walk to join me on, they are close to the road and easy to photograph (IF you remember to charge your camera battery, that is.)

Hope to see you out there with me soon!

Event updates...

Sorry for the late post, I had the sniffles earlier in the week,  wasn't sure if I was up for getting out this weekend. Now I'm all better and raring to go. Hope you can join me at either McKee Botanical Gardens or  Goodwin Wildlife Management area this weekend.

Todays walk is cancelled

Today's afternoon walk at Goodwin is cancelled due to illness.  Please check in tomorrow for the weekend schedule.

Objects in mirror are smaller than they look...

So, I try to stay really positive, try to stay active, try to remember the important stuff like why I created this blog, and why I try to get people to come out on walks with me. But sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's really hard.

Case in point: A few weeks ago, the gym I go to started running a promotion where if you came in to the gym more that 150 times in the past year, you got a t-shirt that says "WORLDS BIGGEST USER" I thought the shirts were neat and I asked for one, given that I have been in 5x/week for over a year, I knew that I had earned it. The problem though, is that the t-shirts only went up to size XL. I was mortified. I've wear a 3x, and they just don't make them that big. I was so embarrassed, I started crying when I was telling my trainer about it. She talked me down, and that is actually how it came to pass that she challenged me to go 21 days without sugar to try to get me back on track eating a little better. 

Anyway, after a few days without sugar, Alison gave me one of the x-large t-shirts and told me to hang on to it for inspiration. I felt bad taking it, knowing it wouldn't fit any time soon, but I didn't want to hurt her feelings so I took it home. After seeing it sit in the laundry pile for a few days, just for laughs I decided to try it on to see how much further I have to go...

 (In case you can't read the writing, that is the "WORLDS BIGGEST USER", size xl t-shirt I am wearing in this picture, taken today.)

I've said all along that working out and getting off my butt in general isn't about losing weight, it's about getting out and feeling good and living in the world and not my head. But apparently somewhere along the way I have managed to drop a shirt size or two.

This post is for Allison, who made me do it :-)

Event Update - Turkey Creek

We had another glorious outing today. We (Heather, Ibrahim and I) went to Turkey Creek Sanctuary in Palm Bay. If you didn't GOYB today, here is what you missed (click on pictures to enlarge):

 This is a skink. The photo doesn't do him justice, he was a beautiful critter, kind of a silky black, brown and tan.

This is another skink that was hanging out. Again, the photo doesn't do him justice, his coloring was amazing, with the black and brown, but then the bright orange head.

This is a picture of Heather being really mean to poor defenseless little me. We somehow got onto a trail that ended in the middle of the boardwalk. Heather hopped right up onto the boardwalk, but I made the mistake of sitting my camera down, and Heather snapped this picture of me gracefully (haha) climbing up.

 We finally made it to the water's edge. There were tons of kitty fish swimming around.

 There were also tons of turtles sunning on logs today.

 Here is Heather doing her patented turtle-sitting-on-a-log imitation.

 Heather took this neat artsy picture of your truly in front of the Turkey Creek sign, with Galardia in the foreground.  (If anyone from Sampson Island is reading this, I mistakenly identified this a Coriopsis. Sorry about that). This picture came out so nice that I forgave her for the boardwalk one:-)

Heather and Ibrahim on the dock at Goode Park.

We are talking about doing a kayak trip for a future DeeMotivation event, so on the way home we stopped here to check out the launch facilities. From here you can kayak through Turkey Creek. As I will have to hire a leader and rent kayaks, please drop me an email if you are interested in joining, and I will schedule a trip. 

As always, it was a lovely outing, thanks to Heather and Ibrahim for making it so much fun! Hope everyone reading this can make it out to a future event!