I have recently rededicated myself to living a healthier life. Of course I’m focusing on my eating habits, I’m exercising more, and I’ve even added some activities that should help me be healthier both mentally and spiritually. Let’s hope it sticks.

Becoming more active is both invigorating and terrifying. I hate how I picture my chubby self running (the wide angle picture of me that was just published on Facebook doesn’t help), but alas, if I don’t look silly for a little while, I will never look better.

I have discovered a solution to my upper body dilemma with a Nike sports bra that is both corset, harness, savior, and torture device. In short, I love it. My latest trouble area, clothing-wise, is, well, to be honest, my pants keep falling off. In some cases this might be a good thing, if my rapid weight loss is what was causing it, but I’m afraid it’s more likely my pear-shape.

Does anyone have a top-secret suspenders like device I’ve never heard of? Because if they exist, I’m on my way to the suspender store (locals, we call that Morelock Music, haw!) but I’m inclined to think that’s not a viable solution.

I went and purchase several different pairs of full-length and capri length exercise pants and they all do it. Looking back, I swear I didn’t pass over drawstring ones, I’d remember seeing them.

Lastly, I’m cheap. I’d really love some suggestions that aren’t $70 workout pants because I’ll never spend that kind of money, well not u till they actually look good on me.

Does anyone have any suggestions? It’d be much appreciated.

I woke up at a friend’s house when she frantically yelled into the answering machine. I watched alone in horror when the second plane hit. Back at home in my apartment, my friends and I stared blankly at the TV screen all day and into night. My friend said something like, “I left Ireland to get away from terrorism, I never thought there would be terrorism like this here.”

I thought we were going to war. Would my brother have to go to war? (He didn’t but my then-boyfriend did. He reenlisted less than two weeks later. )

My best friend lived in NYC. And since I don’t know geography of the city well enough, I didn’t know how close she was to the World Trade Center and I couldn’t get through the phone lines to talk to her. Late that night I got a short, simple email I will never forget.

“The bridge was closed so I had to walk. I am home, tired, but safe.”

I sat there with the realization that there were so many people who would never get that email and I cried.

As I was pulling out of the rear entrance of our office parking lot, I see a red pickup truck loaded down with pallets, stranded and a guy walking away from it (in the direction of the Food City) with a small gas can. Now, many people would never pick up someone in this situation, but I am my mother’s daughter and she taught me that if the good Lord decides to take me in an instance of doing good, then he had a good reason for it. I was actually talking to my mom on my cell phone when it happened and she didn’t miss a beat when I told her what I was doing. I stopped the car and opened the door for the guy saying, “It’s too hot to run out of gas” to which he replied “And I’m too old to walk!”. I laughed.

I dropped him off at the pump and when he said thanks, I told him it’d be even hotter walking back up the hill so I’d wait for him to fill the tiny gas can; it obviously didn’t take long. I drove him back up the hill to his truck and said good luck. It was all seemingly uneventful.

I went back to Food City with a spring in my step. It feels good to do good things. While I was looking for a nice, guy-friendly, plant, the florist complimented my shoes. “See good karma for doing good, “ I said to myself. As I was checking out with a stack of Lunchables and a self-water plant (really), the guys at the checkout were equally nice and complimentary. Still benefitting from that good deed, I thought. And as I walked out, I was walking on sunshine.

Until I realized that waiting for me outside were some police cars and the frantic, gas station attendant. It would seem that the seemingly nice, out-of-gas guy hadn’t paid for his gas and since I was driving the car, I had just stolen gas. And was on video doing it.

If you’re familiar with Tennessee gas stations, each pump has a menacing picture of a state trooper alerting us that they WILL prosecute any instance of gas stealing. They even take your license. I’ve stared at that image so much while pumping gas.

Today, the finger was pointing directly at me. The attendant kept saying, in broken English, “I kept telling them I couldn’t understand why you came right back to the same place!” I just laughed and said, “Because I didn’t KNOW I was stealing gas!”

Thankfully, the police were nice enough to let me, with the attendant escorting me, go back inside to get money. They didn’t have an ATM, so I had to make another purchase and get cash back. It was $2.01 and the nice lady said not to worry about the penny. I told her, “At this point, I’m AM worried about it and gave her exact change”.

While it wasn’t funny while it was happening, it is now.

And my sick buddy did end up getting a magazine out of the deal.

July 18, 1915 - January 3, 2011

KELLY, NAOMI FINE – went home to be with her Lord on January 3rd at Life Care Center of Rhea County. She was preceded in death by her husband Charlie Kelly; parents Grover and Myrtle Cox Fine; granddaughter Kelly Martin Streets; brother, Jewell and Ross Fine and sisters Reba Holland and Willie Arnold; and sons-in-law David Wisthoff, Sr. and Freddie Martin.

Naomi retired in 1977 after forty years with Robinson Manufacturing Company. She was a multi-termed past president of the American Legion Auxiliary unit 100, the Dayton City School PTA, and the Rhea Central High School Band Boosters. As loving as she was loved, Naomi was special to everyone who knew her. She had a tender, caring heart for animals as well as people, and fed wild animals like she did her pets – even the crows, much to the chagrin of her friends at her favorite garden center. She was a genius at gardening and her yard looked like a painting, a landscape of flowers, shrubs, trees, ponds, and wildlife. Something bloomed there year-round. Over the years, she supplied flowers, for many church, school, and garden club events. She was also appreciated for the vegetables and fruit she and her husband shared with many. She was known as an excellent cook, from her Sunday dinners to her pimento cheese and ham salad sandwich picnics and her renowned German chocolate, pineapple upside-down and coconut cakes, but  she was most famous for her chocolate gravy breakfasts.

She will be sorely missed by her survivors; daughters Katie Wisthoff (Les)Wiedrick of North Dakota and Pug Martin and Brenda Marler of Dayton; grandchildren David (Tam) and Jonathan Wisthoff, Ruth (Brian) Skar of North Dakota,  the Reverend Dr. Stephen (Grace) Wisthoff of Nebraska, Charlotte Churchill of Florida, Andrew (Karissa) Marler and Catherine Marler (Brenden) Rapp of Knoxville; thirteen great grandchildren and eight great-great grandchildren, and her beloved brother Jake Fine, Dayton.

The family is most appreciative of Dr. Chetan Shah and his employees and the staff of Rhea Medical and Life Care Centers from whom Mrs. Kelly received outstanding, loving care. The funeral will be Saturday, January 8th at 2 PM following visitation from 11am. Coulter-Garrison Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

This year, my friend, and uber talented musician, Scott Miller put out a Christmas CD.  I coulnd’t believe it.  I took him for even more of a Scrooge than me!  As it turns out, it’s a beautiful record.  Maybe I never liked Christmas music because all you ever hear are Rascall Flatts and Mariah Carey’s versions.

The opening track  on Christmas Gift, features poet and musician R.B. Morris joining him with a reading from TS Elliott’s Journey of the Magi.  It’s the perfect marriage of spoken work and music.  Truly a gift.  Scott also gives us his take on Neil Young’s Star of Bethlehem.  It’s an old favorite of mine, one that I’d only heard at a December show years ago, I felt lucky to have heard it then, knowing now I can play it at anytime makes me so happy. I catch myself starting the song over again before it even finishes.  It’s that good.  He also covers a John Prine song and a Roger Miller song, both of which work perfectly.

So that’s my recommendation, go get this album.  You can purchase them on his website or, even better, go catch him live. He travels all over the country just about all of the time.  Go enjoy some good music, and right now, some holiday cheer.