Accountability

 I joined Weight Watchers to improve my health.  I have been making a half hearted attempt at following the program and have been getting just the results I deserve to get.   Last week, I lost, but this week, I gained two and a half pounds. I lose weight and then gain it back again and I'm not doing myself much good.

I started an exercise program to improve my health.  Having  an obsessive compulsive personality has been no help.  I started a spreadsheet where I could track my progress.  For a while, I was really good at doing the exercises and tracking it.  I was feeling better.  I was proud of my progress and then gradually, I quit tracking.  Without the tracking, it was easy to quit the exercise.  There is nothing that helps me understand better what I am doing or what I am not doing like tracking it.  An nothing helps me more to keep tracking than to share what I am doing.

According to my pedometer today, I have walked a total of 1,871 steps.  That's a total of 1.12 miles.  That's not very  much activity.  I did do 18 minutes of exercise.  When I do my full  exercise program as prescribed by my physical therapist.  it's almost an hour.  To be healthy, I need to be walking more and I need to do more exercise.  I don't have to be perfect, but I need to set some realistic goals and I need to work towards them better than I have.

William Thomas Beals

Mom forwarded an email to me today about my Great Grandfather, William Thomas Beals.  I never knew him personally, but I was interested in him because there was always a cloud of mystery around the mention of his name.

William Thomas Beals was born on May 31, 1873 in Rodgersville, Hawkins, Tennessee.   He was the fourth child of John Simpson Beals' and Frances Elizabeth Frances Dyer's eleven children.  

In September of 1893, he married Josie Caroline Hicks.  Josie was from Elk Park, North Carolina, but they were married in LaJara, Colorado.  Their first child, Rosie Verdeame, was born 9 Aug 1894 in Fox Creek, Colorado.  Their second child, Arthur was born in Fox Creek, Colorado on 5 October of 1896. Arthur died at the age of 17 months of age.   This union ended in divorce.

Those members of his immediate family that had come to Colorado when he did moved on to Pima, Arizona.

William married Abbie Ellen Patterson 1 March 1898 in LaJara, Colorado.  They had two boys.  Joseph Arthur was born 16 December 1899 in Conejos, Colorado and James William born 7 Aug 1901 in Mogote, Conejos, Colorado. About two years after William married Abbie, he went to gather wood and never returned. 

He married Eddie Jane Viars on 24 Jan 1902. In Tennessee, they  had four children, Rosie Virdie 28 Oct 1902 born in Sullivan, Tennessee, Theodore born 8 April 1904 in Paintrock, Tennessee, William Thomas born 24 Jan 1906, and Mary Elizabeth born 1 January 1909.  I also find a marriage recorded for this couple  31 May 1913.

William eventually returned to Colorado.  I have a book that he dedicated to his first biological daughter when she was 35.

I want to understand this man better. Why did he have such a hard time staying in a marriage?  Why did he name  new children after children from previous marriages.  Why did his last wife die in Tennessee when he returned to Colorado at the end of his life.

I've taken a challenge

Betty and I are trying to get healthier.  After I have spent years sitting in front of a computer monitor earning a living, I am beginning to suffer the consequences of inactivity.  If I don't want to be disabled in time, I need to do something.

We attended a Weight Watchers meeting last night and the topic was motivation.  In November last year, I began a virtual trek across the country as my ancestors did when they came to the west in search of religious freedom.  I am wearing a pedometer and am tracking the distance I walk each day.  Over time, however, I have let my motivation wane and have done less and less.  I began in Palmyra, NY and have logged enough steps to get me to Columbus, OH.

I was introduced to a Web site, MapMyWalk.com.  I am mapping my trek so that I can see my progress and hopefully, so I can stay motivated.  I have taken their first challenge to walk a marathon in 30 days.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's a beginning.  I'll be mapping my progress and sharing it to keep me accountable.  As I walk and get in better shape, I'll share my progress.  Hopefully, I will be able to walk back into better health.