Well, I wrote this post last night at 1 am and then when I tried to publish it got kicked off the internet and am now writing this from Horton’s Books & Gifts in Carrollton, GA and I have quickly spent my $100. I wanted to put together a quick post and will take some time to reflect in more detail when I can gather my wits, brain, and computer access.

1. It is a good thing that Outwrite Books stays open until 11 PM.

2. Only one person refused my offer. Another accepted the offer but then wanted to donate her book choice back to someone else. Everyone else to date has accepted.

3. We have bought books for two children, a police officer, a mother & daughter, more women than men, and a huge number of customers have been first time visitors to the store.

4. GPS, Mapsonus, Yahoo Maps, Mapmaker, Maptastic, and Mapmyass are just not accurate. We have failed to arrive at a single store without backtracking and/or calling to get talked into the parking lot.

5. There is no good way to communicate the uniqueicity that each store emanates and embodies. We could have spent all day in every store.

6. We have purchased used books, paperback books, discounted books, hardbacks, cookbooks, flower books, more non-fiction than fiction, and two Dear Johns.

7.  We have managed not to buy too many things.  Patrick has purchased one book and I have bought two Christmas presents.  It is not easy.

8.  Patrick and I have not filed for divorce or threatened to file for divorce though he did talk about shooting me and I threatened to leave him at a Hess station somewhere.  We have had more fun than not and I recommend that every marriage endure this.

9.  Our biggest challenge has been the video camera.  We have yet to look at any of the footage and once we do, I will let you know if it worked.

10.  I think we’ll do this again.

I am already having so much fun. My cameraman/husband and I went off to Happy Bookseller yesterday. We had to argue in advance to make sure we were late to meet Natasha from The State Newspaper and I would say it was all Patrick’s fault but that would be a lie. I was surprisingly nervous and quite excited as I stood having purchased my 10 $100 BookSense cards. It seems that you cannot buy a $1000 Booksense Gift card or a $500 Booksense Gift Card and so we just jumped down to $100 to ensure the process. Natasha from the State spoke to me and Andy & Carrie Graves (co-owners of The Happy Bookseller and proud parents of beautiful Henry) and then I waited for customers. Traffic was light when I first got started around 3 PM. I approached this kindly gentleman who seemed somewhat taken aback by my offer but took me up on it. I bought his daughter-in-law’s Christmas present. While Patrick was filming us, I saw several customers come in the door and sought out a young woman and offered to buy her a book. She simply could not get over it. She is a Junior at Richland Northeast High School and she purchased a book of poetry and the only paperback. One woman mistook me for an employee and I helped her determine how many cards were in a box and as she was paying for her two boxes of cards, I asked her if she was in a hurry and she indicated that she was but when I told her about my offer, she decided she had plenty of time. Every customer seemed cautious and then delighted when I approached them. The toughest part of this is the video camera. I think we got some good footage yesterday and it is my goal that by the end of the year, we have something pulled together. We will see. We are going to visit six stores today, one in SC and five in GA. And after spending nearly two hours in The Happy Bookseller yesterday, I just hope all of the stores stay open really late. I will write more tonight. Read more in The State Newspaper and Shelf Awareness.

I have so much to be thankful for and for some reason, I have spent the last few weeks focusing on all of the things in my life that are not going the way I’d like and I am spending this holiday time turning all of that around.  It is not easy.  I am basically an optimist; a Dale Carnegie clone, and when I’m not, it not only goes against my basic nature, frankly it frightens me.  Which is why my blog has been so quiet.  But I am feeling chatty now so I decided to cash in on that.

I cannot tell you how excited I am about my upcoming trip to bookstores to buy unsuspecting strangers books.  I am daydreaming about that a lot.  I talked to Andy Graves at The Happy Bookseller here in Columbia this morning and I am going to kick off my tour at his store.  I have been wondering if any publisher would pay for a wrap on my car that would promote their titles as I drive through the south.  I hope that my husband and I can figure out how to work the damn camera and then can find someway to edit it and get it up on YouTube.  I think that would be so cool.  I am psyched about spending time in Fairhope, AL.  It seems like quite a cool place.  I just finished Cassandra King’s Queen of Broken Hearts.  It was sooo good and it takes place in Fairhope — a good sign!

I had a huge epiphany about weight loss, management, etc.  I have been talking with several addicts – drugs, alcohol, nicotine, food, etc.  and the one thing they all have in common is the notion of cold turkey.  It is easier to indulge in or abstain from an addiction.  The hardest thing to do is to manage an addiction and the only one that must be managed is food.  We all know how ridiculous it is to listen to an alcoholic talk about just drinking two drinks a day. or to a smoker talk about smoking only one pack a week.  But with food, we have no choice but to manage it and the whole notion of cold turkey has confounded me because this food reference does not apply to food at all.  Happy Turkey Day!

Do we all ask this question or is it just me?  I certainly hope I am not alone in this.  Well – where have I been?  I have been losing the same damn weight again!!!  Yesterday morning, I weighed 189.  This is an old old story but I’m telling it anyway.  The trade show weigh in served as a carrot for me and I faithfully followed that carrot right up to that scale on Sunday at noon and then when I got the carrot suddenly, I was eating.  That mindless eating — though I don’t know what to think about that — Do only fat people mindlessly eat?  Or does everyone mindlessly eat and only some people get fat doing it?  Who knows and it does not really matter. 

Anyway, I ate myself back up to 198 and have lost it again so even though I have lost a total of 25 pounds, I only get credit for 16 because I had to lose the same nine lbs. twice.  I could cry at the number of times that I have done this in my life but NO, I will not, because their is a victory in this —  I did not wait until I had gained all the weight back plus more before I put the kabosh on it.  So that is a big YAHOO!! 

Now as to my timeline, I’m 18 weeks in having only lost 16 pounds but I think I will catch up soon because I have rededicated myself and this time, I’m trying real hard not to have a carrot.  The only carrot is my health and happiness and of course, in June, when I have achieved my goal, a tatoo and parasailing and some bikini wearing. 

I’ve already bought the bikini and it is hanging in my bathroom so that I see it each time I get on the scale.  I can’t decide if it motivates me or irritates me.  I got a really funny card from Sally Brewster encouraging me in my weight loss effort and the woman is laying on the bathroom mat wit her feet in the air and the scale balanced on her feet.  I tried it and guess what, you weigh 3 lbs.  There is something about weighing 3 lbs. that is just as scary as weighing too much.

I’ve gotten two new books I need to spend some time with — I think I have already mentioned The Dorm Room Diet by Daphne Oz from Newmarket.  Her dad, Mehmet Oz is the Oprah Doctor.  And this beautiful book: The Total Wellbeing Diet by Noakes & Clifton from NAL -  I have not had a chance to look at it but will be spending alot of time with it in the next week.

I’m working out every day and eating healthy whole foods.  Actually, that is the easy part.  The hard part is holding the right thinking and attitude to not sabotage myself.  Finally, I have a SIBA project that was inspired by the Oprah Pay it Forward Challenge and I am getting so excited about that and I find having something important to do helps me take right actions.  You will be hearing more about that soon.  Until next time…

Well, it has been awhile, no, and I have yet to get on the scale since I got back from SIBA.  I think I ended my last post with “and I’ve been eating ever since” and that is just too true.  So – I have spent today (Sunday) rolling around in the bed and wondering what I’m going to do to get back on track so I decided posting might be good therapy for me soooo I am going to get on the scale tomorrow.  And we will see what we see…I am also going to spend some time with all of my good books to remotivate myself and get back on track.  I also have been working out more faithfully the last few days and I am happy about that.  That’s about all that I’m happy about.  Around this whole diet thing…Wish me well and all for now.  You should hear from me tomorrow.