Update on Mehabilitation

On Friday, January 14, 2011 I wrote about Mehab...my self-titled period of introspection and mehabilitation. I fit one more blog posting in on the 16th, about French Markets...then Blogger told me I was out of space. Roadblock! I get easily distracted, especially where technology is concerned. I just stopped writing.

Anyway, here it is July 1st, Mehab has been going gangbusters and I'm bursting with blog postings. Turns out the Blogger roadblock was an easy fix. All I had to do was dig into my Blogger account management page and pay $5 for 20 GB of storage. I'm back!

Mehab has been an integral part of really living life "Level & Plumb." I no longer feel I'm a hamster on a wheel, just going through the motions. I'm fully settled in to my new home, neighborhood and city~~and I know that I made the right choices! I've made nice friends across a few different areas of interest...golf, networking, cooking, Slow Food, hooping, scootering and health/fitness.

The house projects are all finished...final touches on paint jobs, new kitchen countertops and tile backsplash were installed, I planted a container herb garden, and had a visor pergola attached to the yard- facing side of the garage. Looking forward to the vines crawling up and over the 20' span, and mingling with the frosted bulb lights.

Stains from 2 previous owners over 8 years.

New storm door. I painted the front door r-e-d, sand-painted the porch.

Tired, faded stain.

New storm door, snappy chocolate stain and some new stair treads.

Cedar "visor" pergola, spanning 20'.

I added some trellises, planted chocolate vines, hung bulb lights, and have since moved the herb pots out of the sun and transplanted some shrubs. Painted the garage door sage green. The garage looks less stark, and has some character!

I'm pretty good at window dressing and curb appeal~~gussying and sprucing up. The big challenge that I faced during Mehab was doing that for myself. Sure, I regularly get my "hair did" (as they say in the deeper South), and buy new shoes and fun jewelry...but I haven't dealt with the "gooey center" in years. Weight gain and loss and gain, due to a mix of emotional eating and lack of exercise. I just covered it with bigger sweaters. An old friend who knew me when I was thin said, "You hide behind your clothes." Hearing that was tough--and it was so true.

Good news! Mehab is a resounding success. I have gotten to the other side of the reasons for my self-destructive behavior. In the process I've dropped 35 lbs and I'm gaining a more positive outlook. I've ditched 3 Hefty bags (so aptly named!) of clothes that are swimming on me. I'm feeling more confident. ONWARD!!!

Life is good. Level & Plumb!