Day 9 in a "Boot" Cast

It's been nine days since I broke my foot.  I have to say this is a heck of a lot easier than the wrist break I went through a few years ago.  Since I teach piano I really had to make some adjustments with a cast around my wrist and up my arm.

Breaking a foot can cause major disruptions in life including walking, driving, exercising, mowing, dancing, jumping, climbing, bike riding and the list goes on.  And for that reason, I decided to concentrate on the positive the minute that it happened.  My husband reiterated this when he said, "Don't think about what you can't do.  Think about what you can do!"  I imagine that should be a major thought every day we get up in the morning and we'd be on an eternal high.

Running up the driveway in backless clogs is never a good idea and I won't be doing that again.  If I hadn't been so cold, I guarantee I would have sauntered.  Now I appreciate each step that doesn't bring pain and I'm actually very happy.  The concerned looks on my friends' faces who even wince with a glance down haven't made my positive mental jump.  Every time I see a sad or worried face, I've decided I've made the better choice on how to react to my circumstances.  And I hope my positive mental attitude flows all the way down to my toes.

I never wait long to get up after an accident.  With five dogs who need to go to the dog park every day to stay sane, I really don't get a vote.  When I broke my wrist, I waited a day and returned to the park with a temporary cast on Day 2.  With a broken foot, I waited two days - only because my husband insisted on helping me with my furry crew.  Now I sneak the dogs to the park as soon as his car leaves the driveway.

I believe in healing through exercise and a positive outlook.  I will never let a doctor tell me what I can or can not do.  I will be doing it all again and that's that.  I've got a show in mid-January and I see myself doing that show with heels on even if I look like a coming out transvestite trying to walk in them

Live each day in full appreciation for all you can do and watch the world change in a moment!

Am I Really That Fat? A Photo Speaks!

One of the great things about stand up comedy is that it is a performance art.  And every performance artist is photographed whether they be a comedian, dramatist or Broadway dancer.  And boy do those photos speak!  Sometimes they scream!

As telling as a swimsuit shot, the photo taken on stage tells it like it is.  As horrible as this can be, it is equally wonderful.  I even been thankful for it as in a picture and video taken of me at The Chicago Comedy Festival four years ago.  My initial reaction was, "Who the heck is that!?!"  The supposed "baby doll" top that I wore that day screamed "Baby on Board!"  I knew something had to be done fast.  The very next day I enrolled in Jenny Craig and over the next three months I lost 20 pounds.  I felt reborn.  I felt one photo had saved my life.  Well, four years later after developing an addiction to very vanilla soy milk and honey graham crackers, I'm right back where I started.

I hired a professional photographer to take pictures of me on December 3rd, 2011 at The Energee Center Comedy Club in Wauconda, IL.  Brenda Lung Photography always does a great job and again Brenda pulled through!  However, mixed in with the excellent photography, there is always one photo begs a photoshop fix!  That is the photo that brought me to my senses - I don't have the figure I did in high school or even just four years ago.  How did I so massively digress!

I really do believe that both men and women continue to perceive their bodies as they looked in high school.  If you see a middle-aged man who looks like he carrying "full-term" hitting on a 25 year old babe, it is because his brain is living in denial.  He still sees himself wearing a football jersey who could either run 100 yards or even look great in full chest paint.  Women think like this too.  In my own mind, I see myself with skinny legs and a non-existent waist-line.  The clothes that I bring to the dressing room at T. J. Maxx are always too small.

And that is why I looked at many of my stage .jpgs from the Energee Center Comedy Club in horror. Surely the problem must be the lighting or the clothes or the hair (hair growing out! - also begging a quick fix.)  Rather than letting the depressing facts of an unhealthy diet consume me, I decided change must be imminent.  My ego and mental images of a fat-free high schooler would never let me back on stage again.

And so it is Day 4 of my diet.  Once again, I feel blessed to have the eye of a camera speak to me when others kept their thoughts to themselves.  The camera is my honest best friend who is able to snap me back to reality without a word or raised eyebrow.  I recently joined SparkPeople.com which is a social networking that helps people lose weight with health information and online friends.  It is a wonderful site to get that much-needed support and reassurance.  (Thank goodness my husband picked up a copy of "Good Housekeeping" in the doctor's office that day!)

Now it's onward and upward hoping for a better stage picture in January.  I'll post "before" and "after" pictures when I once again feel a wonderful sense of personal accomplishment!  Do you feel fat?  Don't ask your friends.  Take a picture!

We're Movin' On Up!

I have some fun shows coming up in the next couple weeks and 2012 but I have to say my favorite place to perform is my hometown of Wauconda.  When my friends, Vicki Laureys and Monica Jablonski decided to bring stand up comedy to Lake County (since the closing of Zanies) I never dreamed we'd open such a wonderful room.  When three women open a comedy club it is soooo different than a club run by a man.  Of course, I'm biased but the ambience of the room, the cleanliness of the bathrooms, the big smiles that greet customers when they walk in is something to that deserves recognition.  And we are happy - genuinely happy!  It's all new and we're reinventing ourselves.  Could three business women ask for anything more.

The room is comfy with so many different kinds of chairs that generates eclectic charm.  The comedians are so warmly welcome, they go on stage and immediately feel the supportive vibe.  I personally love the audiences who want to see you succeed.  Do you know what you get when you give positive energy to a comedian - a super show.  We're the little kids who used to spin in circles or do magic tricks or lip-sink songs while the adults egged us on.  The positive nature of the Lake County crowds is instrumental in the great shows that have hit home since the opening on October 8th.

You can have Hollywood, the glitter, the glare, the noise and the traffic.  I'll take Wauconda because comedy, for me, is to make people feel good!  And it happens here.