“Oh, Happy Day…”

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My massage yesterday was wonderful, although it was a bit like, ‘it feels so good when she stops.” I was so sore and knotted up after two months without a massage (I was stuck in my house for the last one, due to our driveway), that everything was at least tender, if not actively sore. She remarked on the knotting. Being a wonderful massage therapist, she was relentless in finding and trying to knead out ALL the places.

I came home, ate lunch, and then had a long nap in my chair. I drank a bunch of water, but was basically useless the rest of the day. I ended up going to bed super-early. I slept straight through until the alarm went off this morning. The muscles I use most for the weed whacking, on the front of both upper arms, are still sore, but they’ll be fine in a day or two.

Today is special because we’re celebrating my friend, Linda’s, birthday at Lunch Bunch. She will be leaving to go to Tennessee for the next two weeks, so she’ll have a wonderful time with family after celebrating with friends. A truly NICE celebration of her life.

We’ll do a few errands after Lunch Bunch, but it should be a quiet day for us. My husband mowed yesterday, so the yard looks like someone actually CARES! :0)

I hope your Friday is a happy one and that your weekend is even better.

Reward

Healthline

Yesterday it took me three sessions, but I finished the weed whacking all around our house. I was super hot and tired, even with breaks and lots of water, so I took a shower before lunch. I sat on the couch under the ceiling fan in the living room to continue bringing my temperature down. Then we had lunch and I took the liberty of a nice nap afterwards.

Today I have my reward for pushing it yesterday – my monthly massage. Ahhhhhhhhhhh! I think Lynn Moody is the best massage therapist on the planet. I can totally relax, talk or not talk, while she finds and fixes all the sore spots I had, and even the ones I didn’t know about. I leave limp as a noodle, grinning from ear to ear.

Today will be an inside day. I’ll do laundry and some other stuff, but no big pushes to get anything in particular accomplished.

I hope you have a wonderful Thursday, too.

Good Morning!

fanpop.com

As we start another week, I’m thankful that I’m on the road to getting and staying healthier.

We’re going to replenish our supply of veggies and fruit today. The only other thing I’m trying to do this week is to STOP SNACKING – or at least choose something from my list of healthy snacks. My husband threw some bags of fritos into the grocery cart when I wasn’t looking. I emulated a lemming, finding them in the pantry and descending on one of the bags. We took turns gorging, polishing off an entire bag in one day. :0(

As soon as we shop, I’m going to fix a bowl of ready-to-eat veggies and make some dip to go with them. A colorful variety of those, or a piece of fruit, or a hard-boiled egg should satisfy me while my husband enjoys attacking a 2nd bag of fritos…

bluefoxfarm.com

Yesterday I warned my husband about the ‘excessive heat warning’ with a heat index of 118 yesterday afternoon. You would THINK I would know better by now. He went out in the hottest part of the afternoon to mow. I was so angry with him I just let him have at it. The mower ran out of gas and he had to walk out to the shop, get a can, and bring it out to pour it into the tank in order to finish the yard. I did get him a cool drink and brought him a wet towel to run over his face and neck when he came in. He cooled off and then went up to take a shower. I watched him surreptitiously like a hawk all evening to make sure he was all right…

All I did yesterday outside was spray everything for bugs. All I have left in the garden right now is red onions and zucchini. Our two planters of tomato plants are doing well with green tomatoes. I did have to pull one tomato plant that was completely broken off by the last storm, but I was glad we didn’t lose more. Today I’ll mix and spray weed killer.

I hope that wherever you are today you can stay cool and safe and enjoy the day.

Veggies and Fruit

Tenor

I’m trying to adopt new eating patterns now. My doc told me to take my thyroid med by itself in the morning, then wait at least an hour to eat or take my other meds. I have an alarm set for that now as I type this. Today that means I won’t eat breakfast, since we would leave in another our for Lunch Bunch. Most days, though, I’ll plan to eat a bit of breakfast when I take my other meds.

I’m concentrating on adding as many good veggies and fruit as I can to our diet in this first push toward a Mediterranean plan. When we’re busy, I’m eating a Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer Bowl while my husband eats something else, and making us another veggie to go with our meal. I’m eating a piece of fruit as a snack each day. We’re cutting back on meats, using them as flavoring, instead of the main focus. I’m making a beef stew in the crock pot tomorrow, with lots and lots of veggies.

So far, I think this will be the thrust in the change in diet, since my husband rarely meets a veggie he likes. I downloaded another Mediterranean cookbook onto my Kindle last night. It got lots of good reviews on Amazon, but so far, the recipes I’ve seen in other cookbooks or recipes online center on chick peas, couscous, eggplant, kale, tofu, etc. and this would cause not only derision, but revolt from my other half. I’m hoping I can find a few good things in the new book. It may be that I just collect one or two from several sources, add them to the recipes I already have that my husband likes, and start a rotation. Whatever the case, I’m hoping that eating lots of fruits and veggies coupled with my moving more regimen will result in a happy result on the scales and from my measuring tape.

Her World Singapore

Lesson Learned

Jaykay-depositphotos

I’ve told you I haven’t been feeling sassy lately. I had routine blood work done and was surprised to see that one of my thyroid tests was really high – and that’s bad because I don’t HAVE a thyroid anymore.

I talked to our doctor yesterday. One of the routine things we do every six months is review what meds we’re taking. I take a list, and had added the two meds I’ve added lately to try to get my digestion back under control.

It turned out that the two over-the-counter meds I’ve added may have been helping my digestion problems, but the fact that I take my pills together in the morning was sabotaging my thyroid hormone medication, making it so my system didn’t absorb it. So it was like I haven’t been taking ANY thyroid medicine for about 3 weeks. GREAT.

It never occurred to me. Once I saw that my test was high, it clicked that some other symptoms I’ve been having were associated with my thyroid dosage being off.

I have now learned –

• Next time I’m having a problem for which I’m considering taking new meds, I should check with my good doctor through the portal they provide.
• I should be taking my thyroid med first thing, then giving it an hour or so before I eat or take anything else
• that OTC meds are more serious than I have thought and may interact with other meds to my detriment. DUH.

I’m lucky to have a good, patient primary doctor who takes the time to listen and has the smarts to figure out what I’ve done to myself and how to fix it.

Cloudy Beach Thursday

ML Lewis

I’m getting spoiled enjoying a gorgeous photo of the beach every morning. My SIL hasn’t kissed a sandpiper for me yet, but I’m still hoping. She says it’s cloudy there this morning and they may get some rain. What a lovely thought – walking on the beach in the rain…..

Back in the ‘real world’ in Arkansas, we’re having “spotty showers” this morning and 90’s this afternoon. I’m hoping that I can get out to my garden this morning in a bit and see if I can figure out how to prop up my zucchini plants and prune them.

Irrigation System Controller

My husband got frustrated with the yard irrigation system controller yesterday. I told him I would tackle it this morning and just came in from trying to do just that. I reset the whole system, which thought it was January of 2007… Hopefully, I have it reset now, but we won’t really know until this evening, when Station 1 should start watering at 7pm and Station 2 at 7:10. Fingers crossed.

healthy_thyroid-Endocrine Web

We go to the doc’s office this afternoon. I had Graves Disease years ago and had my thyroid radiated. I’ve taken a medication since then that simulates thyroid hormone. When my levels go wonky, I’m in pretty bad trouble. The thyroid controls a LOT of what goes on in your body. Usually, I go along on the same dosage for years, sometimes, with no problems. My test results showed my thyroid levels are, indeed, wonky now. What I thought was diet-related is probably due to this. I have other symptoms, too, that I haven’t had in a long time. I’ll find out today what my doc thinks is best. Help is on the way. :0)

I hope that you’re having a pleasant Thursday. If not, keep gazing at the gorgeous photo of the beach above, That’ll make it better.

Beachful Wednesday

ML Lewis

Aren’t we lucky to have another day on the beach? I particularly like it that I can truly enjoy the sunrise at a time more ‘civilized’ for ME, rather than when it actually happens. :0)

We’re having a nice day here in Arkansas, too. I’m planning to spend several short sessions in the garden and the yard today, since Mother Nature seems to have her head back on straight again. I learned yesterday – much to my amazement – that I’m supposed to be staking my zucchini plants! I guess I never thought about it. I read that each plant has only one stem, though the plant will grow all over the place over time. It actually does better – AND produces more zucchini, if you give the main stem a lot more oxygen, cutting away the excess leaves. Who knew! My garden boxes are only 8 inches deep, so ‘staking’ them will be a trick, but I certainly can prune the plants and prop up parts of the plants to give the stems a lot more air and space. I’ll figure out what I can do as I go. https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/youve-been-growing-your-zucchini-all-wrong/

https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/youve-been-growing-your-zucchini-all-wrong/

TheArtofDoingStuff.com

https://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/youve-been-growing-your-zucchini-all-wrong/

I’m also going to try to lop off the big branches sticking out from our trio of brick planters between our front yard and the driveway that are making it next to impossible for my husband to mow close to them. Short sessions with lots of rest and water in-between.

We see our primary doc tomorrow afternoon for our routine six-month-monitoring. This coincides nicely with getting help for the digestive problem I’ve been having lately. We had blood work done. The TSH test (one of the thyroid tests I get) has gone completely bonkers – WAAAY high. I’m suspicious, now that I look at other symptoms, that this may be the reason for my problems. I’ll find out what she thinks tomorrow. Help is on the way! :0)

We start our day at the beach and spend much of the garden outside in a beautiful day, playing with plants. What more could we ask?

Wonderful Wednesday. Enjoy yours.

Short Rant

HuffPost

Okay. I’m feeling MUCH, much better.

I’m eating more veggies and fruits. I’m eating healthy. I’ve even splurged a couple of times, but not badly. My ‘rant’ is the frustrated question – why does feeling better have to mean I’ve gained 3 pounds? I’ve been trying really hard to lose the lard. I haven’t been doing anything ‘weird,’ in my efforts. I have now learned that the high fat on the keto plan is not the best one for ME, with my lack of gallbladder, after trying all the suggestions for compensating for that.

I’m trying to eat more whole, fresh veggies, fruit, nuts, meats as a flavoring. I’m still trying to move more, including more exercises as I am able. I’m drinking water. Increasing fiber. Watching my portions.

I’ll keep on keepin’ on, but it’s aggravating that what is supposed to be GOOD for me results in MORE of me so far…

Thoughts on a Friday 5-13-2022

Anne Jaravan Panhuis

Isn’t this photo wonderful? I love the look on the giraffe’s face as he (or she) stands with the bird (kingfisher?) sitting on his/her head. And the catching of the water (and the frog) are priceless.

We’ll leave in about 45 minutes to join our friends for Lunch Bunch. My friend Kay’s daughter from Albuquerque has been visiting, but she left yesterday. Kay is always a bit sad after her daughter leaves. I haven’t felt well enough to gather veggies from the garden, so won’t be taking anything to share today. Hopefully I can get out this weekend and make up for lost time.

My pantry project is about half done at this point. I’ll start the ‘food’ side of the pantry today and see what I can accomplish.

We’ve had record breaking heat this week. On the heels of this are thunderstorms with possibly severe weather this afternoon-into-this-evening. I hope we just get some good rain. I haven’t been able to set up our yard irrigation system yet this season, so things can really use a drink.

I’m feeling better and better. Soon I’ll be my regular, ornery self and can look for some mischief to dive into.

Enjoy a nice Friday.

Ugh

quickmeme.com via thriftyniftymommy.com

I had trouble getting out of bed this morning. I wanted to just pull the covers up over my head and stay there until further notice. I haven’t felt well for about 3 weeks now and it’s taking its toll on my ‘normally-bubbly’ personality.

I’ve been trying all the suggestions I can find about how to continue following the keto eating plan with my lack of gallbladder. I’ve found lots of suggestions, and I’ve tried every one I’ve found. The first time I tried keto years ago I found a wonderful medicine that was really helpful. I asked my doc to send in a prescription to our healthcare provider a couple of weeks ago. Finally, yesterday a representative called and said that the med wasn’t on the formulary anymore and that my part of the cost would be $181+. That was it. I can’t afford that, and I can’t afford not to be in control of my digestion, weight or no weight.

My friend Susy pointed me to an article on various diets and their ratings. I have decided to move toward the Mediterranean eating plan, with lots more veggies and fruit (a direction in which I was moving anyway to get more fiber). She then asked me why I thought my calorie limit should be 1200 calories a day. I discovered that I was stuck in the old food pyramid crap they’ve been spouting for as long as I’ve been alive and decided to research calories, carbs, protein, fats, sugars, etc. all separately and see what I could find.

This will be a work in progress, for sure, since my husband is NOT a fan of veggies, but hopefully, I’ll start feeling better soon and can find the combination that results in continued, albeit slow, success in my efforts to lose the lard. I’m enjoying some fruit for the first time in a long time, plus carefully chosen Healthy Choice frozen dinners for me while I’m researching.

Adding Keto-Friendly Fiber

Pinterest

I’m making a new grocery list in order to stock up on ways to add more fiber to my diet. I lucked out, using the search term “keto-friendly fiber” and now have several good ideas on how I can add more fiber without going above my carb limit for the day.

The ones above are only a partial list. There is also

• asparagus
• pecans
• cauliflower
• spinach
• collard greens
• mustard greens
• kale
• brussels sprouts
• artichoke hearts

and more – but you get the idea. There are lots of things I can eat to try to get to the suggested 25 grams of fiber per day.

Hostility vs Maturity – No Contest

123RF.com

This is a fight between my head and my gut feelings and my gut feelings are winning right now. It doesn’t matter that I KNOW I’m being childish/immature/unrealistic/whatever-other-adjective-you-choose. It’s how I FEEL, and that is overriding any chance of my acting like an adult.

And, why am I feeling/acting this way, you ask? (Assuming you’re still reading :0) )

I’m being really, really good on my low-carb diet and exercise program. In fact, I’m finishing a month of low-carb eating and tracking, and am on Week 3 of a really good exercise program created by Mike Kutcher, a Seniors’ Specialist Physiotherapist and Exercise Scientist on the website MoreLifeHealth/Seniors.com.

SOMETHING seems to be happening, because my Keto Stix are turning deep purple now. My scales are yo-yo-ing in results. I don’t care if I don’t LOSE weight every day. I realize there is a lot that goes into what shows on the scales any given day. But I resent GAINING weight. Yesterday, for example, the scales showed I had GAINED 2 lbs. Today I’m down half a pound from that, but I’m varying too much for me to handle like an adult. I’ve been told not to weigh every day, and I see the sense in that. The trouble is, I’ve learned the hard way that if I DON’T check it every day, my mind seems to go into relaxation mode, figuring ‘a little bit of this or a little bite of that shouldn’t matter.’ The scales represent my personal accountability.

SOMETHING ELSE seems to be happening, too, in that my jeans got loose. I ordered the next size down. My husband told me to go ahead and order more in that size. I did, but my NEW jeans are loose again. The MEASURING TAPE isn’t showing ANY progress, though. I’ve also read that measurements can be off from one time to the next and that you need to be really careful with it, but I AM.

So. I’m feeling hostile. I would LIKE to have results on the scales and with the measuring tape that I can point to – at least in the comfort of my own home – giving me positive feedback.

I’m SUPPOSED to be reporting to you today the end of WEEK 4 on my low-carb and the end of WEEK 3 of my much more active exercise program. I have lost the pandemic weight gain of 6.6 pounds and am back to my 30-pounds-off-from-my-heaviest point. I have lost about 28 inches from my heaviest, but no difference except the jeans thing to this point in my new push to get and stay healthier.

Canton Box Company – Etsy.com

123RF.com

I will ‘keep on keepin’ on.” Fingers crossed that my results by the end of May will be more encouraging.

Thursday Thoughts 4-28-2022

amp.reddit.com

Alamy

I just went out and took a walk around the yard, taking pics to share with you. Alas, my battery died on my camera, so I need to let it charge before I can get the pics off the camera. Later.

Madison Gardens Nursery

I’m hoping the weather will be cooperative on our going out today to buy flats of flowers to plant. The deck planters are now ready. My husband is interested in finding some ‘hardy’ for the three concrete planters we have that are not on the irrigation system, too. I would love to get some pretty flowers in the pots today. Fingers crossed.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

I must have eaten ROCKS yesterday. I gained two pounds and I was good! UGH. I’m keepin’ on keepin’ on, but picture my grim, determined, disgusted face as I say it. I KNOW all the reasons it can happen – water retention, too much salt, changing fat to muscle, that I shouldn’t weigh every day, ya, ya, ya. These are the days it is the hardest, since it is SO hard to get the weight off and so very EASY for it to come back on. I’ll have my whine with cheese, please. :0(

Have a fun Thursday.

Thoughts on a Tuesday 4-26-2022

redbubble.com

Good morning! I just have time to say a quick, “Hi” before I leave. I’m doing exciting stuff, like take the trash down to the bottom of the driveway, get the mail, and go get a haircut. Wow. I hope my heart can take it. :0)

Actually, I’m very grateful for quiet, calm days without a big schedule these days. Since my husband had a couple of strokes last year, I don’t make many plans. I take things one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time, and – on rare occasions – one MOMENT at a time, dealing with the changes and some new challenges. He is still ‘in there,’ but sometimes he’s hard to find.

So, quiet, calm, low-pressure days are more than welcome.

Each of us deals with poor health, challenges, fears differently. Respecting our differences, and taking as much time as possible to meet our own needs is key. Love is at the base of it all, and will ever be.

Today is bright and sunny. Our weather will be stellar. I’ll take our wonderful hair stylist a big bag of home grown lettuce as an extra thank you for being there for us.

I’m hoping I can spend some time outside this afternoon, working on the planter I started cleaning out a couple of days ago, checking on the tomatoes.

I hope that YOUR Tuesday is a happy one.

Pat, Pat, Pat

Tenor

I did three short exercise videos this morning – ‘warm-up,’ ‘stretches,’ and ‘weights.’ (30 minutes total)

I JUST finished doing the week’s ‘2a workout’ from morelifehealth.com – 30 minutes.

So I’m patting myself on the head a bit. :0)

Soon I’ll walk out to the garden to see what needs doing, then back out to the tomato planters and further out to where our greenhouse used to be, then back again. I’m trying to do that several times each day when the weather is cooperative to round out the mix of moving more.

Later I’ll do 30 minutes of ‘senior’ stretching yoga to finish off my exercising for the day.

Thoughts on a Tuesday 4-12-2022

Pinterest

It’s due to be rainy again today. I’m still breathing a sigh of relief that the warning, with tornadoes imminent and on the ground went JUST to the north of Greenwood. I was watching the experts on our local weather station monitor the tornado warning and the line of the bad stuff was JUST above our town on their map. Hopefully, we’ll have the same luck today.

Allure

Lynn, my massage miracle worker, contacted me to change my massage from Thursday this week to today. I’m delighted that I didn’t have to just miss my massage this month, so my body is already singing in anticipation of her good work. I’ll put the trash out and get our mail when I go.

Other than that, I’m planning for DAY 2 of the month-long program by my ‘weights for seniors’ video guy. He has a stretching video, and then ‘physical activity’ (of my choice) for 10 minutes. I’m going to do my elliptical trainer in the garage. In addition, I’ll do one of the weights videos, and then my normal half hour of yoga stretches. These will be spread out throughout the day.

My husband is still trying to get his computer working as he would like. I’m helping only when he asks – with this exception. He and our son were trying to use the conference call program so they could actually SEE each other and talk real time. Lately my husband hasn’t shown any interest in wanting to do that, so I was delighted that he was trying to talk. They were having trouble getting things set up right on our end so that our son could hear my husband. I went over, looked at things, and saw that his microphone button was off. I pushed it, waiting to hear him yell at me for interfering, but was pleased to see it worked! Instead of yelling, my husband told our son, “She fixes stuff for me all the time now.” I was relieved and melted into my computer chair on the other side of the room.

When they were finished, our son wrote ME, asking if I wanted to talk, so we each had a wonderful catch up time with him. Absolutely beyond price. :0)

I hope your Tuesday is a good one.

End of Week 2 of New Regimen

twitter.com

I can’t shout it to the rooftops or anything, but I AM making steady progress in my newest effort at lifestyle change and the goal of being healthier.

This is the end of WEEK 2.

I lost 3.4 lbs last week and 1.6 lbs this week, so I’m 5 lbs down in this latest effort.

Down a total 28.4 lbs since my heaviest. Down 28.7 inches since my heaviest. (I’m HOPING for a change in measurement by the end of the month. We’ll see.)

I found Mike, from More Life Help Seniors online. I’m doing two of his short exercise-with-weights videos, switching from one to the other each day. I like them so much I went to his website and downloaded his 4 week exercise program. It’s free. All you need is a chair, weights, and MAYBE a resistance band. I’ll start it tomorrow, and I’ll report back on how it goes.

Besides the weights exercises, I’m doing a 30 minute or so session daily of stretching yoga. I’m doing this late in the afternoon, after I’ve finished the yard work I’m going to do, the weights exercise, and any other more physically active stuff for the day so I can really relax and stretch. I also have a heat pad in my recliner that I can switch on if I need a bit of extra pampering.

The effort to eat low-carb is going well, too. I’ve finally gotten the scales to stop the laughing – though not the smirking – at me. It is noticing my efforts. :0)

Yesterday I made spaghetti sauce using Rao’s Marinara Sauce. It’s the lowest carb sauce I can find. I paired that with macaroni for my husband. (He prefers that to spaghetti) and I prepared 4 medium zucchini with my spiralizer. (one medium zucchini is a serving.) I used one serving and saved the rest. When we finished eating, I was able to make 3 additional meals for each of us to go in the freezer (labeled “H” and “L”) so we know which has macaroni and which has ‘zoodles’ (zucchini noodles.)

MyFitnessPal.com is a lifesaver for me. Each morning I list what I plan to eat for the day. I can readily see if I’m making a mistake or staying under my goals for carbs, sugar, fat, protein, and calories for the day. I can rethink and adjust or be confident then. I then add the exercise for the day. (This program makes adjustments based on how active you are). Sometimes that causes ME to adjust my eating, but not often. Just nice to know and a good record.

Things are going well so far. My friend Susy sent me a low-carb recipe for keto/gluten free bagels that I’ll try as soon as I get low on the rolls I made for the week.

Onward to WEEK 3

Progress Report? – Almost End of Week 2

Giphy

SHORTER ANSWER:

• No change in measurements yet almost at the end of Week 2. Down 28.7 inches overall since my heaviest. Hopeful to see changes by the end of April.
• Down 1.6 lbs this week. Down 28.4 lbs since my heaviest – first goal is trying to get down to -30 – where I was pre-pandemic, then on from there.
• Exercise level is way up. Still fighting sloth. Am doing yoga session each day. Also an online video on exercise with weights for seniors. Also working in the yard each day the weather cooperates.
• I’ve read that it takes 66 days to build a ‘habit.’ I’m hoping that by the end of May my new way of eating, drinking, and exercising will have become ‘routine,’ ‘habit,’ or ‘regimen,’ – whichever word describes it most accurately. One day at a time.

Keep Moving!

My SIL has this at the bottom of her emails, and I’m trying to embrace it as my mantra.

Popsugar

Since the weather has warmed up, I’m having an easier time of getting myself moving. Yesterday was rainy, so all I did was my afternoon yoga stretching session. Today, though, the sun is shining. I’m planning to weed our rock beds that run all the way along the front and back sides of the house. All that moving, bending, etc, plus the yoga will be a good amount of motion today.

I’ll also walk out to check on our veggie garden. We had quite a bit of rain a couple of nights ago, with rain most of the day yesterday, so I’m HOPING things are good out there. Fingers crossed.

YourTango

I’ve become a master at making excuses, but this week I’ve done a good job of balancing sedentary activities with getting up and moving. I’m hoping that I can get into the HABIT of including exercise in my day EVERY day. I won’t worry about specific exercises, though. At this point, concentrating on stretching, flexibility, balance, and relaxation is my goal. The research I’ve done says that it takes 66 days to build a habit. Today is Day 4 for me. One day at a time…

sent via email by a dear friend

Well…

KETODirty

We’re still eating ‘sicky-food’ around here, at least another day – soup, crackers, eggs, toast. I awoke suddenly last night with my husband being sick. We got his system settled down with Alka Seltzer. I dealt with the aftermath and then couldn’t sleep, so came downstairs and read for quiet awhile. We both slept in this morning a bit. My husband slept through the night and is feeling stronger today, thank goodness, but we’ll be very careful with his food again today, hoping this will be past us soon.

cheezburger.com

One of the really LARGE perks of being old and retired is that – if you’re up a lot of the night for one reason or another – you can take a nap or two during the day so you’re not TOO much of a zombie. To say we’re grateful for this is a vast understatement.

Treehugger

If my husband’s health improves, we may look for garden plants this week. I’m just ITCHING to throw off the tarps from our raised-bed, square foot garden planters and get some plants growing! If I do, I’ll take some pics to share.

iSkinCareReviews.com

I wish us a calm, quiet day.

Ahhhhhhh!

PoeticCases.com – Giphy

I’m leaving in about an hour to get my massage that was rescheduled due to the ice storm. To say I’m really looking forward to it is a huge understatement.

Even with my yoga practice yesterday afternoon, my body noticed the fact that my husband and I raked and hoed leaves packed along the driveway ditch, plus cleaned up a trash bag and contents that an animal had distributed in the ice cold water in the ditch at the bottom of the driveway. We got things handled, but my body is protesting.

Lynn Moody, my miraculous massage therapist, will find and work on all the areas I know about, plus probably find areas I didn’t know about before she finishes. She is really integral to my quality of life now.

I was a “GOOD GIRL” yesterday, entering the information from February on our tax spreadsheets, plus filing the receipts. Today I plan to start updating what we call our “Important” spreadsheet that lists information our son might need one day. I try to do this twice a year.

I hope that you’re having a nice Thursday.

Feelings vs Reality

PictureQuotes.com

I was brought back to reality when we were at the bottom of the driveway (safely, even after having to drive over the ice on the last third of the driveway!) and I was taking the trash bags out of the back of the truck and putting them to one side of the driveway for pickup.

The trash people didn’t pick up the trash last week. I’m not sure what the state of the road was in front of our house, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they couldn’t do the pickup due to the ice storm. Anyway, I noticed we were a bag short from what I put out. I found the bag on its side in the ice and water-filled ditch beside our driveway. An animal had gotten in it, torn it open and had a big time.

When I was younger, I would have just balanced on the edge of the ditch, reached over and pulled what I could out of the water, rebagged it, and would have been done with it.

Reality struck when I TRIED to balance on the edge of the ditch and had trouble. Sanity kicked in, deciding that a spill into the ditch filled with cold water and ice wasn’t worth it.

So, this old lady will put a trash bag and rake or hoe in the back of the truck and I’ll tackle the problem the next time we go down the hill…

HOPEFULLY the trash guys will get the double load of trash now waiting for them.

Life Force

I’m reading “Life Force” by Tony Robbins. It’s a compilation of information by 100+ physicians speaking about ‘precision medicine that can transform your life.’

It’s interesting. I’m not sure that I particularly want to live that much LONGER, but I AM interested in improving the quality of my life as much as possible.

You might be interested in checking it out, as well.

Aging

email from a friend

My yoga is helping me a bit – when I get off my duff and DO it. I noticed last night that when I got up from reading in my chair, I was stiff and sore until I had walked quite a bit. My husband remarked that I hadn’t been ‘yoging,’ which is true.

crazybonezskeleton.com

When even HE notices a difference, I need to get my rear in gear. This afternoon. No excuses.

I Must Be Feeling Better

sunnysidegiftcompany.com

My husband says I’m getting snarky, so I must be feeling better.

The fact that I CAN be snarky is a very good sign. I’m very quiet, docile, and SWEET when I’m sick. My husband has trouble handling that and is doing all he can to get his ‘real wife,’ (the one he describes as, “mean as a snake,”) back. :0)

We’ve had all the vaccines, including the booster, but we MAY have gotten the Omicron variant anyway. Our symptoms include sore throat, runny nose, headache, fatigue, and sneezing. At least with this illness you aren’t bored. You’re very busy sneezing, (and I start saying bad words after I’ve sneezed 75 times in a row) using up boxes of kleenex, taking Tylenol, sore throat lozenges, etc. At least neither my husband nor I had to go to the hospital. We could just stay home, gripe, and take care of each other.

AND we had this one at a time so the other could take care of the one afflicted. Pretty good, as illnesses go.

I’m more and more snarky each day. Sore throat mostly gone – just down to cold symptoms.

Since we’re in the high risk group for Covid, I’m thankful that we got the shots, and then waited until it was much safer for us to get it – IF, indeed – that is what we have.

Stay safe.

Thoughts on a Tuesday 1-25-2022

Bright Side

I’m a bit ticked off by January this year.

I spent the first half of it worrying that my time here was up. As soon as I got the news that I would be here to annoy people for hopefully a good while longer, my husband got sick, and then graciously gave it to me. I’m enough better to be ticked off now, so maybe I’ll feel fine again soon. Today my plans are to make myself into a human sandwich in my recliner – heat pad under me, throw over me, and me comfy and cozy in the middle. My husband will do the errands this morning. He leaves in about 10 minutes, actually. We’ll see how he does. :0)

Our weather has been gorgeous the past few days. I wish I could have gotten out and enjoyed it. Tomorrow evening cold weather is supposed to come back, but hopefully it will just tease us a bit, rather than dumping on us. (Susy, I hope you’re digging out now.)

I had a nice chat with our son this morning. He is buying an apartment and will hopefully get all the details handled by the end of next week. I’m excited for him. He sounds happy and excited – just the way we love for him to be. :0)

Happy Tuesday!

Less Than Stellar

Pet MD

My husband was sick last week. He started with a sore throat, then had sniffles and generally felt bad for several days. He is now feeling, “Fine as frog fur,” thankfully.

Trouble is, he apparently was generous enough to pass it to me. I got a sore throat a couple of days ago. Since I’m still feeling bad, I’m resting a LOT, basically asleep in my chair on and off most of the day, useless on getting anything done.

The saddest thing is that we’re having a truly beautiful day today. It’s supposed to get into the low 60’s today! In January! I may force myself to walk around the yard this afternoon to not completely waste it. (A cold front will bring the high down to the 40’s tomorrow.)

I wish you a great week.

Rethinking

Stylecraze

I am now researching good ways to increase the fiber in my diet going forward. It’s easy to find good lists of high fiber food on the net, thank goodness. A harder thing is to figure out how to add these while trying to lose the lard while trying not to alienate my husband.

So far, I’ve figured out that I can –

• surreptitiously add some things to the stews we like that will increase the “healthy” and won’t change the flavor.
• I can eat a pear, for example, as my mid afternoon snack
• When I make main meal salads, I can add chick peas or beans to MY salad after serving my husband
• I can eat raw veggies, including cauliflower and broccoli and carrots as my snacks on days when I’m not eating fruit

It looks like I will be trying to eat 25 grams of fiber per day. I’ll see if my cronometer.com site will help me track how many grams of fiber I’m eating.

Negative

The Canberra Times

There are some beautiful words in our language. One I’ve found today is “negative.”

I had a test last month that was ‘positive.’ Like a child, I immediately spun the worst scenarios and have been having real trouble keeping my act together, trying to figure out what I could do to make it easier for my husband to live alone.

The exam I had last Friday came back as “negative.” I received the results on the medical portal this afternoon. I had to look up a lot of words, and then look further into what they MEANT, but unless my doctor tells me something different, it looks like I’m out of the woods.

The news hasn’t really sunk in yet, but I told my husband it looks like he’ll have to put up with me for awhile longer. :0)

Dressed in White

Earth Porm

Our forecast for today was “rain changing to snow this afternoon.” They were right, except for the timing. It’s 25 degrees F. and snowing right now! It’s very light, but if you look, you can see the snow falling, dancing in the sudden gusts at times. The weather forecast has now changed from ‘a dusting of snow’ to 1-3 inches accumulation today. My husband and I are very happy we can stay home. :0)

Jon Kabat Zinn – Quotesmuse.com

My exam went well yesterday. We were on the road to the hospital by 6:30 am and I was home around noon. I slept a lot of the afternoon. I will know the results by mid next week, I think.

nytimes.com

I’ll make a beef stew this weekend. I’m grateful for a warm, dry home, good food, husband and animals close to love, surrounded by music, books, and maybe art to enjoy. I’m a very spoiled woman.

I hope you’re having a happy Saturday. Stay safe and warm!

The Waiting Continues

mirpozitiva.ru

Only one post today. I’ve waited and worried for a month to get the exam. It was done today. The doctor and others at the hospital were more than kind to me. My husband drove 45 minutes to get me there before 7am. He sat and waited while they whisked me away. We got home just before noon.

I had soup for lunch – delicious!

I practically froze to death at the hospital, although they brought me a couple of heated blankets. I was like a human sandwich after lunch, wedged between my heating pad and my throw – kind of a human sandwich of warm. The chill is now gone and I’m mostly alert (I think. ) :0)

We will get the results from Pathology

by the middle of next week – so the waiting continues.

Hope you’re having a great day.