FLYER FOR BOOK DRIVE FOR KIDS

This is the lovely flyer my friend made for my book drive for Reading to Kids. I am so excited to start collecting books, books the children earn through reading clubs. I love books, all books. 

I believe a book can take a child and transport them to a place where dreams come true, when they are unable to travel beyond the four walls of their own dwellings.

Off to have coffee and do a little poetry writing, work out later. No rest for me. 
Happy Sunday to all, much love and light.
Namaste'
Rose

BOOK DRIVE

Good Tuesday Morning to all. My next ten pound charity is the wonderful organization Reading To Kids. I am holding a book drive, collecting brand new books for children ages K-5. I am currently three pounds from my next weight milestone but I wait til I am a few pounds beyond the ten pound mark. I am now doing the legwork for the book drive and trying to get the word out. I also plan on volunteering in the near future and reading to the kids.

Here is some information about Reading To Kids.

Reading to Kids is a grassroots organization dedicated to inspiring underserved children with a love of reading, thereby enriching their lives and opportunities for success in the future.  To this end, Reading to Kids gathers on average 876 children and 367 volunteers at reading clubs on the second Saturday of every month at seven Los Angeles elementary schools.

At the monthly reading clubs, pairs of volunteers read aloud to small groups of children, while their parents receive training on how to encourage their children to read at home.  Kids, parents, teachers, and school libraries receive book donations at the end of the reading clubs.  These are important donations, as 60 percent of low-income homes do not have age-appropriate reading materials for children.

Since its inception in 1999, Reading to Kids has given more than 124,442 prize books to children who attend the reading clubs, donated more than 22,469 hardcover books to school libraries, and our volunteers have spent more than 145,899hours reading to kids.  Click here to see our entry on Wikipedia. 

Reading to Kids is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the state of California and has been classified as an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code. The organization is exempt from both state and federal taxes; our tax ID number is 95-4758698.  

Off for now. Tonight is after work I am working out with my trainer Mike. I have been gluten free and eating completely clean during the week, and I have had amazing energy. 

Love and Light

Happy Tuesday to all

Namaste'

Rose

VALENTINE'S VISIT TO ALEXANDRIA HOUSE

The three layer cake for Valentine's Day

Cookies and Red Velvet Mini Indulgences from Seasons 52

Sweets for the sweet residents at Alexandria House

Mini Indulgences from Seasons 52

Spreading Valentine's Cheer

Janet number one posing with a mini indulgence, she and Janet 2 as they call each other cooked an amazing dinner for everyone.

The cake was a hit, I was good and did not have any.

Clean up time is all about family teamwork

Good evening to all on this Thursday evening. Last night my friend and co-worker Meagan and I delivered sweets for Valentine's Day to Alexandria house, a transitional home for women and children in Los Angeles CA.  We stayed for dinner and spent time with the ladies who run the house and the families who live there. It was lovely experience and I am happy I was able to make time to visit. Before dinner everyone gathers and holds hands in prayer and then everyone introduces themselves. Afterwards the children sit at the table and the Mother's serve them dinner, then everyone else eats. It is a beautiful craftsman home, who amazing woodwork and a beautiful fireplace. It feels like home, and it reminds me of my own childhood home. It is a special place full of hope, happiness and love, a magical place.

We brought a three layer cake, cookies and Seasons 52 donated their award winning mini indulgences, I am so grateful to them for their support and generosity. Dinner was homemade enchiladas, salad, corn bread and kool-aid. I have to admit I was so excited for the kool-aid, one of my favorite childhood indulgences. It was a great experience to stay for dinner, and we also stayed to help clean and chat with the ladies who live at Alexandria House. I truly am humbled to be able to visit and give a little of myself, after all this is their home. I plan on returning in the near future. I am brainstorming, maybe a book drive for the kids who live there and for all of the other children Alexandria House helps. A big thanks to Meagan for joining me on my quest to give back a little.

Tonight was my workout with my trainer Mike at the park. I was rushed for time today and I did not eat enough so my energy was a little lacking but I kept up pretty well. We are really upping the intensity and I am so happy about that. I am really getting stronger and improving. I am only on my way up, I will not slow down or stop. I may struggle but I will not falter. I am determined and enjoying every minute of movement. Tonight I am doing my 25 burpees, I challenged myself to do 25 extra burpees a day along with everything else I am doing.

This weekend I am getting away, woo hoo. James and I are going to La Jolla CA and we are staying right on the water. I am so stoked to use an old California term. I love weekends away, California is the perfect place to get away on little adventures and explore. 

Off for now, I need to eat a salad and then do my burpees and stretching before bed. Wishing you a beautiful evening and sweet dreams.
Namaste'
Rose

SATURDAY WEIGH IN AND SCALE MUSINGS

Good Saturday Morning to all. I am up early for a weekend, having a light breakfast before getting my cardio in this morning. I am either going to head outdoors and run/walk or head on the treadmill depending on how cool it is when I step outside. I just weighed in, and I lost a half a pound but I am still in the same weight range. It was that time this month, and I admit I ate more sodium than usual and skipped a meal here and there. 

This week I will feed my body the nutrition it needs to get in my five-six days of movement. I have decided to concentrate more on the exercise effort and try not to be such a slave to the scale. I am 175 exactly, and it can be frustrating to have such a slow weigh loss but I know that is ok. Slow is better than not at all, and 175 looks much better to me than 207. This week I will focus on nutrition for fueling my workouts, and strength, flexibility and stamina. I have just challenged myself and I accept and I am raring to go. 

This week was the 30 year anniversary of the death of Karen Carpenter, who passed away from cardiac arrest due to her years of  battling Anorexia Nervosa.  I did not know that earlier this week when I started feeling like I wanted to listen to her melancholy tunes, her haunting melodies are like no other. She had a voice that was one in a million. That made me do a little research about her. When she passed in 1983 little was known about eating disorders. She had suffered from Anorexia for years, and when you see her in photos and live television appearances it is shocking how frail she appears. Now much more is known about the two eating disorders, and sadly her death brought awareness to the diseases. 

When I started dancing at 13, an adult director told me to lose 30 lbs, and that began years of strange dieting and deprivation of food. Ironically enough I began my issues around the same time Karen Carpenter passed away, but I had no idea and that was not what started my battle.

I just wanted to be thin, not realizing I already was thin. I fought my own body type. I am built like Italian women often are, I have curves in my chest and bottom but when I was younger I did not. I did not have breasts, and I thought that was how dancers looked and I continued on with my diligent dieting. Once I starved for four days and took a box of laxatives, I must have been about twenty at the time. When I was 18 a doctor told my Mother I was heading down the dark path of Anorexia, but my weight seemed normal to her for my age and height so it was never addressed. People did not know then what they do now. Now eating disorders are treated similar to problems with addiction. I knew a bulimic girl who attended a 12 step program to help fight her battle.

Here are some younger photos of myself. Note I fought to be in this weight range, my lowest was 100 pounds. I have learned my lessons and now I nurture my temple.

early 20's

Sister Dona on my left with a friend. I think  was 19, I am totally flat chested, lol.

Mid 20's too thin and no color at all. The jacket is wearing me, it is all shoulder pads, lol.

Somewhere along the line I stopped the starving rituals, and I really began eating more normally when I met my husband James at the age of 30. I realized I met someone who loved me for who I was, someone who thought I was more beautiful on the inside than the outside. I will never forget the simple moment of going for an ice cream sundae with him in Cleveland, Ohio in 1998. Before he came along I hated eating with someone I was interested in.

Through the years as my weight when up and down I would go back to extreme dieting. I did not starve like I did in my young years, but I would still practice other forms of deprivation and extreme dieting. Now, I have to monitor my potassium. Just the after affects of years of doing that to my body.

Ironically enough I would end up really overweight in 2013. Here I am in 2014, after gaining the most weight ever in 2013 I have lost 33 pounds the sane and healthy way. I am on a path of learning what it feels like to treat my body as a temple, not only for aesthetic reasons but for my health and well being. So, on my weigh in day as I ponder the scale staying almost the same, I will revel in the fact that I am stronger than I was yesterday, and each and every day is a new beginning. With the inspiration of the athletes of the Olympics, and many of my amazing friends I have in my corner I am more motivated now than ever. I will also focus on the gratitude I have for those motivating me as I continue my health and well being journey. I could not go it alone.

Since it is taking some time to get to my next ten pound milestone and my next charity I have decided in the meantime to give more back in between charities. My friend Meagan and I are going back to Alexandria House this coming Wednesday with some delicious goodies for the families who reside there for the Valentines holiday. We are going Wednesday night and staying for dinner. I look forward to the visit and I am thankful again to Seasons 52 for offering to donate mini indulgences to take along with our homemade baked goods. A big thanks to Monica, Chef Jessica, Chef Veronica, Meagan, and all the managers of Seasons 52 in Century City California who have gone beyond to help me give back.

Valentine's day is all about love.
Off for the day, much love and light to you.
Namaste'
Remember you are a beautiful creature of the universe, just the way you are.
Rose

CONNECTING WITH OTHERS

Good morning on this beautiful  Saturday. So far I am doing great on my path to fitness and health. Monday is my first weigh in. If I am able to today, I will be doing some speed walking and exercises at the beach in Malibu, CA. My husband thinks he may have a kidney infection, so those plans may be halted as we may trek to the emergency room to make sure he is fine. So no Richard Simmons class for me today. I am drinking my coffee and reflecting on life and why we are here. I am a poet and a bit of a philosopher of life so I tend to do that from time to time. 


I have been trying to decide my future charities when I get past twenty pounds, and I know at some point I will do something with senior citizens. They have such a history, a story to tell but unfortunately many people just look at them as old. Yes, we grow older but none of us is different from one another. We are all the same, and I believe we are all one. I have friends of all ages.  I also feel sometimes you can receive messages from people you may have never encountered, if your mind and heart are open to it. 

This essay I wrote was actually written one year ago, but as I ponder  my journey and getting to my first ten pounds I thought I would share it, after all my destination of my journey is to make a difference in the lives of others as well as my adventure to get fit and healthy. This is the story of my encounter with a lovely lady named Margie. We kept in touch for months afterwards, and I have not recently heard from her so I hope she is fine. 

Little side note to this story. After my encounter with Margie I went to Trader Joe's  and met a lovely young lady named Jami on the same exact day. Jami has become a dear friend of mine since my encounter with her, and we have kept in touch now for over one year. Friends are everywhere, so strike up a conversation with a stranger the next time you are waiting in some long line. That person may be your new best friend. 
Listen to the wind whispering through the trees, it may be telling you secrets of the universe. 

Namaste'
Rose
MESSAGE FROM A STRANGER 
written the summer of 2012

Have you ever had a day or two when your mood sours and you reflect on what is going wrong in your life. It can be all consuming when that happens. It could be something so small that sets you off, or a larger life problem weighing down your weary shoulders. 

I am rarely ungrateful, and I usually see the light at the end of the tunnel even when I am feeling discouraged or displaying embarrassing moments of self pity. When that happens, I usually look to my volunteer work, as giving back always puts life in perspective. I never go out into the world without interacting with others, sometimes those interactions with strangers leave you humbled and understanding the greater message of the universe.

Such a moment happened to me a few weeks ago. I was working out and afterwards a few people struck up a conversation with me. An older woman approached, and joined in on our chat. Her name was Margie, and she was originally from Budapest and has been living in Beverly Hills for years. It is amazing how simple chats with strangers reveal the most interesting stories, you just have to have an open mind and choose to be present and engage yourself with others. Listening grants the loveliest non material gifts.

Our conversation went from the beauty of Hawaii, its music and culture to European travel. I visited  Hawaii only once but it left a lasting impression on my life. Europe on the other hand, I dream of seeing all the splendid countries across the pond. All of a sudden the older woman named Margie asked me some questions about my family. She was from Budapest and I told her my unrequited dreams of Europe. She started to tell me about her travels, she has been to every continent except Australia.

I was intrigued, I love history and elderly people. I wanted to know who this free-spirited elderly lady was. I truly believe it is a sad that so many people go through their days without listening to older generations. They are walking history lessons, with beautiful stories to tell if you just are receptive to them. I answered her questions and I asked her if she had family in Budapest.

All of a sudden Margie opened up with the most fascinating stories of her past. She did not have any family left. She lost most of her family except her father after World War II. She continued to tell me that she is one of the last survivors of the Holocaust and was recently featured in a documentary. She told me about an interesting memory she recalled about her school days before and after the war. She came from privilege, and at her school  the children with parents and children who were orphaned were all photographed together for the same school picture. After the war, just about all the children photographed for the school portrait were  orphaned. She also told me in the beginning of the war, she and her family were not aware of the travesty's that were going on just blocks from her home.

She continued to tell me about her life after the war, her marriage and her amazing travels. I was also blessed to meet her husband Steven. They were truly walking history and her spirit out rivaled most people I have ever met. She was not bitter about life, quite the contrary she embraced it and took every opportunity it offered. Happiness had not eluded her even with her tragic past. We exchanged emails and I knew I had made a new friend.  She instructed me to email her, and she exclaimed she would return the email with a link to the documentary she was in. She was the epitome' of survivor, and she reminded me of my own Mother.

After my encounter, I  suddenly felt so alive and went through my day with an extra smile on my face and extra appreciation for life. No longer was I wallowing in my own worries. Margie had put all my silly problems in their place, and she was not even aware she did so. She inspired me with her story of survival and her zest for living despite her past.  I  left my encounter feeling like I normally feel, just blessed to be breathing. I knew I could do anything, be anything no matter what obstacles were to ever come my way; and those usual obstacles were self doubt and insecurity.  Life is too short to ever succumb to such useless feelings of not being worthy. We are all the same, and we all can do anything as long as we believe. Of course as I always feel, compassion and love for others is always the most important reason for being. It is the essence of life. Keep your eyes open and  ears clear or you may miss the messages the universe is sending to you. 
Rose Bruno Bailey

Interesting side, side note on the topic of the Holocaust. I have always been saddened yet fascinated with the stories of that tragic scar on humanity.  I have watched many films and read many books on the topic. I have written a few poems on the subject.  I  do not have a personal connection to that part of the past but for some reason I have always felt it deeply, and I have no understanding why except that my heart bleeds for all the injustices of the world. 

We all have problems, maybe not as heavy as Margie's but they do weigh us down from time to time. At the end of the day it is how we choose to face adversity that matters. I choose to do so with love for my fellow creatures and gratitude for every blessing that has been bestowed upon me. If I get lemons, I will make lemon cookies so I can share my abundance with my fellow neighbors.  Believe in yourself, but also take the time to make a difference as you are out in the world making a name for yourself. Don't forget to pay attention, there is inspiration everywhere.

Namaste' love and light.

Rose

CRAWLING IN THE DIRT

Yesterday was my first workout with my friend/trainer Mike. He was so kind to offer to help me on my quest to be a better version of myself and help others in the process. I will have more information about him at later dates including photos. Let's just say I am lucky to have supportive people like Mike in my corner as I continue on the path of fitness and weight loss. I am very grateful for that.

We arrived at this lovely little park with machines, a little path and a grassy area. We started with burpees, and I struggled I cannot lie. I actually ran a little, did some speed walking, did all the machines etc and I crawled in the dirt. Did you hear that correctly? This bona fine east coast girlie girl whose sister claims she brought a curling iron camping years ago crawled in the dirt. You know what? It may have felt a little awkward, a little hard to do but it was kind of like being a kid again. You know when you were a kid you were not afraid to get your hands dirty, and by the end of the day all other parts of you were dirty too. When I arrived home I had grass in my hair, and I felt like a kid again. This journey is going to also be an adventure, so why not approach working out like playtime when you were a kid. After all, in some ways I really am a kid at heart.

We continued on with the workout, and it was a bit of a struggle for me to keep up, to catch my breath etc. I am out of shape but that is changing now. I did my best and I will continue to improve as I venture forward. Now when I reflect on the exercises I cannot decipher if they were super difficult or just felt awkward and funny to do. I expected to feel somewhat intimidated working out with a trainer but Mike is so nice that I  felt relaxed. He is nice but not soft and he gets it done. I respect his manner of training very much. He even plans to do my measurements soon, ( more numbers), and a full body assessment including checking my oxygen levels. How cool is that? 

So I crawled in the dirt, and did my stretches in the grass sans mat and loved every minute of it. I am going to do the workout again this week on my own. I probably for now will work out with Mike on Tuesdays schedules permitting but will perform his workout two times a week to start on my own.  It was fun and I can see how it makes you stronger and fit. Luckily I am not too sore as I wake up this morning.  I never expected to feel so liberated with everything I am trying and doing to make My Change for a Ten a success. I am feeling grateful, inspired, liberated and extremely motivated. 
Namaste'
Rose

ABOUT MY CHANGE FOR A TEN

Changing the world 10 pounds at a time: this is the story of a procrastinating philanthropists journey to lose weight and change the world. This is my story.

Time is a subject as a poet I write about often, the lack of it and how to find more of it. With that said, I am a self professed procrastinator and it is probably my Achilles heal when it comes to getting a project done on time. I was a dancer most of my life and I have wanted for the longest time to take some classes again to appease the hole in my heart that was left since I quit dancing a few years ago. Since then my weight has gone up and down and I have not been as consistent as I should with working out and staying in shape. One thing I noticed about myself though, when I do a project that involves helping others or animals I do not procrastinate at all, because it is not about me but about helping the underdog, the less fortunate. I love to get involved and I have done some good in the recent years but I have had that nagging feeling that I can definitely do more, and give more of myself. 

I started Weight Watchers about a month ago, and I have done pretty well so far. I have dropped ten pounds. I know myself though, something will distract me and I will regress. Now that I am a bit older all I have to do is slack off just a bit to gain weight. It is hard work and I have not been putting in the dedication and time that is needed for me to get to where I want to be, to be in the best shape of my life. I have decided that will no longer be the case. I recently was reminded about how fleeting life can be and time is not always a given for all, and I do not wish to have regrets in my life. I also want to be as strong and healthy as I can be for the rest of my gifted days. I want to be here to make a difference.

A light bulb went off in my head. What if I was to make a challenge to myself, and every ten pounds sponsor a charity or an organization? I would have to be successful, because my success would be making a difference not only in my own life but in the lives of others. I would blog about my journey and at the same time raise awareness for the organizations I have chosen to assist. This would mean putting my successes and struggles out for the world to see, but since it for the good of something bigger than myself that concept is not as frightening as it seems. I have taken the E out of the word EGO and decided to GO after my dreams, GO make a difference in the the lives of others. I decided to just GO for it.

So here I find myself on this new path to find myself and change myself for the better by helping others. I have already contacted my first two charities and they are on board with my new project and thankful that I have chosen to give some of myself to help their wonderful causes. I have only at this moment chosen the first two organizations but there will be more to come after I get to twenty pounds.

My first organization is The Monday Night Mission, the selfless angels that feed and lend a kind smile to the residents of skid row. They are my ten pound goal.https://www.facebook.com/mondaynightmission?fref=ts


I will write more about the wonderful organizations in a future post and how I plan to help them as I reach each ten pound goal.  I am really excited to get started on my new path of self discovery and giving back to society. I will also make a future post on how I plan to get to where I want to be, who will be helping me get there and inspiring me to continue. No man is an island, I am not in this alone and I am very lucky to have supportive friends who want to help me fulfill my goals. I will include before photos and a document of my starting weight.  This blog is by no means instructional, it is just a document of my journey to be a better person by giving back and changing myself for the better in the process. This is My Change for a Ten. Making a difference, ten pounds at a time.
Namaste'
Rose Bruno Bailey