Why I'm thankful

It seems that many bloggers have some sort of a secret.  Something that they haven't shared with the class.  With the exception of my Dad's final journey, and my various food-induced neuroses, I haven't shared many private matters on my blog.  But today I will share a secret.   I won't dwell because I do want to keep my blog more up-beat.  So I'll just blurt it out. And what I have to say just might surprise you.


I have dealt with depression for a number of years.  It came on suddenly and without warning.  I was diagnosed with a "Major Depressive Episode."  This was great news.  Great for my wallet anyway, as this meant that therapy was unlimited.  I was able to avoid medications, and within about 6 months I started to feel like myself again.  It remained this way for a quite a while.


When my Dad died earlier this year, things got a bit rough.  I might have seemed strong, pulled-together & fully-functional on the outside.  I may have been busy running around and traveling with Derek or on my own.  But the truth is that any time the dust settled and I wasn't preoccupied with packing, unpacking or traveling, I was down.  Really down.  Like not-wanting-to-work-out down.  Or not-wanting-to-get-dressed down.  Or not-wanting-to-go-to-the-mailbox down.  Still, I do know that my experience is mild compared to what is suffered by many, many people.  And for that I am grateful.


Speaking of being grateful, I'd like to focus this post upon giving thanks.  Thanksgiving is around the corner, so it seems appropriate to list off some of the things for which I am thankful.  Photos to illustrate, natch:


I am thankful that I had many wonderful years with these amazing souls in my life:

Marty aka Dad; with a very small Deb

Dad:  Living life to the fullest

My Mom:  Beautiful Brigitte

Mom, who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis

Going through Chemo with Charlotte, who also had lymphoma

Kate has nothing on Charlotte

"Papa" my Swedish Grandfather

Grampy and Grammy (with you-know-who trying to get into the shot)

Grammy

Tommy G.  Taken too soon.

Thankful that I still have the rest of my wonderful family:

The familia.  We miss Dad of course.

Sis-in-law Arizbe and bro, Steven

Steven, having a laugh

Aunt Rhoda and Uncle Carl

My wonderful cousins in Sonoma, CA

(and many, many un-pictured relatives in Sweden, UK and Canada)


Thankful that we welcomed a new member to the family...

Ellie is a love-machine

Thankful that the new member and the older member are finally starting to like each other...

I think Samantha is OK with this cuddling business.

Thankful that I've been married for 16 years...

March 1994

To the SAME MAN*!


(*who happens to be wonderful, amazing, patient and kind)

Derek with an arm-full of kitties

Thankful that I have wonderful 'real life' friends. (Why only two pictured?  They are the only ones who read my blog.)

College room-mate and good friend, Leigh

Dear friend, Ron.  (He's single, ladies!)

 Thankful that I met so many great people through blogging:

Great bunch o' LA bloggers

Lynn from The Actor's Diet, Ameena of Fancy That, Fancy This and Katie of A Joy In Class

Tamzin of Salad and Sequins

Allie from Pimp My Protein Shake

Lara from Thinspired Blog

Janetha from Meals & Moves

 Bekah from Beek Eats and Heather from Heather Eats Almond Butter

Jenn from Girl Heroes

Tiffany from Carbzilla

Michelle

Legal Lindsay

Thankful that I stumbled upon a 2.5 minute-recipe that has rocked my tummy and therefore my world:


 
 
Thankful that I love to work out (when I'm not down, of course):



Thankful that despite my Rainman-like calorie-counting,  my body allows me to eat pretty deliciously.  Still, I curse it for holding on to those last 10 pounds. 

A shared meal at the incomparable King's Highway at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, CA

Truffle Popcorn.  I dream of this weekly.

Thankful that it's only 'the last 10 pounds':

Yours truly, circa 1997

Thankful because (thanks to you) I've been able to raise a few dollars for cancer research while making my Dad's last days more fun:

(Have you ordered yours yet?)


Thankful because sometimes you can look out and see a rainbow:

Q:  For what are you thankful?  Have you discussed private matters on your blog if you have one?

Charity Blogger calendar is here!

For those of you who are new to my blog, welcome!  My name is Deb.  I began blogging in August, 2009 to help people who might be struggling with weight loss or weight-maintenance.  Over a decade, I lost 100 pounds and now maintain a ~90 pound loss.  It is not easy, and I am constantly learning what works and does not work for me.  In blogging, I wanted to share my journey with others and have some fun doing it.  What I did not realize was that writing my blog would be a springboard for making new friends in the healthy-living blog world.

The idea for this calendar stemmed from a running joke that my Dad used to make.  He always said that my blogging friends were pretty enough to be calendar girls.  Each time I had a 'meet up' with a new girl, he would ask "So another one for the calendar?"  The answer was always "yes."  And we giggled at the thought of a blogger calendar. 

It wasn't until he was dying of lymphoma in April 2010 that I had the idea to turn his joke into a reality.  Working together on this project was a fun distraction for him in his last weeks of life.  He helped to choose all of the girls and his favorite photographs as well.  The day before he died, he chose the final photo.

I want to thank all of Marty's 'Blogger Babes' for taking part in this calendar.  They donated their time and efforts to produce high-quality photos that were health & fitness-themed, using their own resources.  They did an amazing job!  The babes are:

• January 2011:  Susan from The Great Balancing Act 
• February 2011:  Abby from I Have Issues
• March 2011:  Tiffany from Carbzilla   
• April 2011:  Heather from Heather Eats Almond Butter  
• May 2011:  Allie from Pimp My Protein Shake and Random Teaspoon
• June 2011:  Janetha from Meals & Moves
• July 2011:  Charlotte from The Great Fitness Experiment
• August 2011:  Jenn from Girl Heroes
• September 2011:  Katie from A Joy In Class
• October 2011:  Michelle from A Shade of Grey
• November 2011:  Justine from Confessions of a SAHM
• December 2011:  Lara from Thinspired Blog
• January 2012:  Caitlin from Operation Beautiful Operation Beautiful, the book; and Healthy Tipping Point;
• February 2012:  Deb from Smoothie Girl Eats Too

I'm happy that Dad even had the pleasure of spending some time with Allie, Jenn and Lara.

I want to thank Carolyn Hinojos at MaCher for her fabulous job with the graphic design.  Many, many hours of work went into the fun backgrounds and details that she created in the photos for this calendar.  Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Derek because I could not have done this project without him.

Any profits of sales from the calendar will be donated to USC Norris Cancer Hospital.  This hospital and doctors Ann Mohrbacher and Don Feinstein helped to keep my Dad living life to the fullest for years beyond what was predicted.

Edited to add:  While it's well-known that USC Norris is one of the leading cancer researching facilities in the world, this article was posted on 11/19/10 to Medical News Today indicating more Phase I clinical trials will be brought to the center.  This will mean more research dollars for drugs that can help cancer patients.

Here is a sneak peak at the calendar.  The captions are not included in the actual calendar.  I just love to caption photos, so I couldn't resist doing so for this post.  Enjoy!

Daddy-o & me; and the story behind the calendar

January 2011:  Susan is a personal trainer who is balanced and wise beyond her years.

February 2011:  Abby looks glam 'smoking' veggies.

March 2011:  Tiffany is just doing what we all dream about.  Admit it.

April 2011:  Heather is one groovy mama.  Can you believe that there is a teeny Summer inside that belly?

May 2011:  Allie wrote one of the most creative food/smoothie blogs ever!

June 2011:  Check out Janetha's sultry moves

July 2011:  Dad called this Charlotte's Betty Grable pose (I know, I had to google it too)

August 2011:  Jenn makes KettleBells look positively sexy

September 2011:  Katie is a local LA model, actor and rapping Spin instructor.  Yo.

Michelle is,  like, totally rad

November 2011:  Make sure Grandpa passed his cardiac stress test before letting him see Miss November, Justine!

December 2011:  The Five-A-Day ad campaign should hire Lara as their spokeswoman.  The world would be a healthier place.

January 2012:  Caitlin, channeling her Beautiful inner Farrah

February 2012:  I had many reservations about being in the calendar, but my Dad really, really insisted.

If you would like to order a calendar to help support cancer research and as a memento of your blogging days, drop me an email at: LASmoothieGirl(at)gmail (dot) com.  Cost is $15 including shipping within the USA for the first 80 that are sold.  Thereafter it will be $17.99 plus shipping directly from the printer.  Non-US residents, email me and I can let you know how much it costs to ship. 

This calendar is dedicated to the memory of my father, Marty Cohan.  He appreciated humor and beauty, both of which are represented in these pages.  While he never saw the finished product, I know that he would have been more than pleased.

Thank you for sharing this journey with us!