It’s Thursday 5-18-2023

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Everyday Health

I leave in just under an hour to get a massage. I can’t tell you how much this poor old lady is looking forward to it. Last month I gave my time to my husband, who had hurt his back pulling on something in the shop. Lynn Moody, my massage therapist, 479-629-7601, was able to give him a lot of relief. She is truly a miracle worker. I’m hoping she can perform yet another miracle on ME this morning. :0)

On the way back home, I have a UPS return package. I’m hoping it will fit in the drop box on the square in town. If not, my terrific hair stylist, Michael Remillard, at Tangles on the square, 479-357-9305, has offered to allow me to leave the package at his salon and he’ll make sure the UPS guy gets it when he sees the truck pull up to the drop box.

This afternoon I’m hoping to spread more of the worm castings fertilizer I started using this year on my veggie garden and my tomato plants. I’ve read up more and discovered I don’t have to actually make the ‘tea’ from it. I can simply spread it in the planters before watering or a rain and it will work just fine. We’re due for rain tomorrow, so I’ll try to get it spread this afternoon. I’m doing this once a month, hoping my plants will be healthy and happy.

No other big plans today, other than to continue resting as much as possible in-between chores. My husband and I will see our primary doctor Monday to ‘decide-how-we’re-doing-this-quarter’ and see what changes we need to make going forward.

Have a happy day.

Another ‘Morning After’

When this shows up on Twitter later, the censors will probably flag it for ‘inappropriate content’ and I’ll have to again speak to the fact that they should READ the content before deciding it’s questionable. (The last time was ‘Wet Wednesday’ where I was again speaking of storms and rain. :0) )

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The morning after – The severe weather we were expecting finally showed up yesterday evening. All of a sudden it was like being in the middle of a humongous, rushing waterfall, the hardest rain I can remember seeing, and then we had about 10 minutes or so of large hail. I’ll call our insurance agent later to see if we should be checked, but I’ll tell him that we can’t see any damage and to put us at the bottom of the list on getting to people.

I had spread clothes-pinned sheets over our tomato plants and the veggie boxes before the storms were due, so I had protected things as well as I was able and hoped for the best. I’ve just finished using the wheelbarrow to gather the clothespins and the heavy, wet sheets. Six loads of laundry later, I will fold the sheets up to be used again (though I hope not soon!)

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Today is Lunch Bunch. I’m hoping my husband will feel like going with me. I gave him my massage spot yesterday after contacting Lynn Moody, my wonderful massage therapist, to see if she thought she might be able to give him some relief. I’m delighted and relieved to report that she brought him the first almost pain-free day he’s had since he hurt himself. She did tell us that she thought he should get x-rays and see a chiropractor since the pain was in the middle of his lower back. (MAYBE he’ll listen). We’ll never be able to thank her enough.

I hope you have a great Friday.

Nice Thursday

My husband is working on all of our computers, trying to get them to “see” each other, share files, etc. This is causing daily changes to my computer and is quite a challenge for me, since I’m am almost a technophobe.

Today the type on this page is humongous, rather than the almost-too-small-to-work-with type I’ve been working with. I have no clue how to change it. Also, the way I find and save and use images here is completely different. When I ask my husband about it, he says he hasn’t done anything to change those.

So the sweet gif I found of a cat massaging a dog’s head that I wanted to use for this post to talk about the massage I’m getting this morning is saved somewhere not to be found. I thought maybe it was because it was a gif rather than a jpg extension, so tried to save a jpg. That didn’t work, either. My images aren’t all showing in the list and aren’t in alphabetical order, so trying to use anything is a real challenge.

He will be working on my computer again today, so I’m hoping things will eventually straighten out. I may also end up bald from tearing my hair out…

Therapeutic Thursday

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I’m leaving in about half an hour to go to my monthly massage, and my body has been looking forward to it. I’m hoping that Lynn can do her magic on my remaining sore areas that mysteriously showed up a couple of weeks ago and make them go away. My soreness has messed up my exercising – some days I don’t do any and other days I push through, thinking it will help. I’m ready for some relief. It would be great to do my walking video and my yoga this afternoon without pain.

A cold front came through overnight and we’re having more typical winter weather for Arkansas for January today. It’s 37 now with a high of 51 expected this afternoon. My husband requested that we have chili mac tonight for dinner, so that’s what we’re doing. :0)

I’m enjoying Memory in Death by J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts now. It’s #22 in the series. I’m really enjoying revisiting the world of Lieutenant Eve Dallas in 2059. #55 – Desperation in Death – in paperback is waiting for me to enjoy when I finish the re-read. Then I’ll have to wait awhile to get the latest – Encore in Death which only comes out in hardback next month. I’m hopeful it will be available in paperback by the end of 2023.

Enjoy your day.

27 Seconds

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I’ve added trying to hold the plank pose to my daily yoga practices. Opinions vary as to my efforts thus far.

GLASS HALF EMPTY: Pathetic that I’m only able to count to 27 while holding the pose. AND I’m probably counting too fast.

GLASS HALF FULL: I started with a count of only 10 and am now able to hold it to the count of 27 before collapsing. It’s all relative.

GLASS IS REFILLABLE: I’m slowly building a bit of strength in my core. Just like everything else at my age, it’ll take awhile to get to anything reasonable. I remind myself that when I first started with yoga stretches, I was unable to –

• Even THINK about bending over and touching my toes
• Put my hands over my head and onto the floor while lying on my back
• Get down on the floor and up again without the use of a crane (or some furniture)
• Get close to doing a sit up or other abdominal exercises or poses
• Even THINK about sitting on my knees

SO –

Today is DAY 125 of my daily yoga practice. I’m about to leave to get a glorious massage. I’m about the luckiest old lady on the planet. :0)

I hope that you are doing good things for yourself, too.

Soothing Thursday 10-20-2022

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Ahhhhhhh! This woman is READY for a massage this morning. My yoga sessions are keeping me functional, (today is DAY 97) but my monthly massage is golden. Lynn Moody, my miraculous massage therapist, 479-629-7601 finds and fixes all the places I didn’t even know I had places. :0)

Today I’ll try to get a bunch of iris planted in the niche planter, as soon as I add the soil we have left on a pallet we ordered a couple of years ago. We’ll need to put in an order for another delivery before the winter.

We enjoyed a comfort food dinner last night of chili mac with onions and cheese, one of my husband’s favorites. It’s been really chilly in the mornings and the late evenings, so it was a welcome change from what we usually eat. I had enough left that we can enjoy a couple more dinners sometime. (He wanted to have frito chili pie, but our local grocery is having a problem getting regular fritos. Like other companies, they’ve gone on a tangent with honey barbeque fritos, hot style fritos, and bubble gum fritos (not yet, but probably soon), but no regular fritos. I’ll try to get them today after my massage.

We’ve been having some calm days, so things are good here. I hope you’re smiling, too.

Thoughts on a Friday 9-23-2022

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Woo HOOOO! Mother Nature finally got the memo and gave us a deliciously cool morning here in Arkansas! It’s 62 degrees F. right now, so I opened the doors to air the house out. It’s supposed to get to 92 this afternoon, though, so it’ll probably be tomorrow before I do any more work outside. Hooray for Fall!!!!

I’m HOPING my good friend, Linda, will feel well enough to come to Lunch Bunch today. I haven’t heard from my friend, Kay, but I have all appendages crossed that we’ll enjoy a wonderful surprise today.

I had a truly wonderful massage yesterday by my therapist and friend, Lynn. She zeroed in on my back where it is sore and made it feel better. It’s like I ‘bruised’ it, though, rather than hurting with movement. I’ll modify my yoga practice (DAY 70 today) so that I don’t irritate that area any more than necessary.

Make this a wonderful day.

Happy Camper

Tamara Kenneally Photography – Animals Australia

I’m feeling pampered and spoiled right now. I’m just home from a particularly wonderful massage. I told Lynn about the area of my back that was hurting since I added some new poses to my yoga practice. She really zeroed in on a big area, it turned out, and it feels much better now. I’ll drink lots of water this afternoon and then do my yoga practice for the day.

It’s almost time for lunch. We’ve been enjoying a wonderful bunch of grapes lately, plus we share an apple, called Cosmic Bulk, as a part of our healthy lunch.

My husband was doing some weed whacking in the front when I drove up. It’s too hot, so I got him to stop as soon as he had finished the section that was offending him the most. I reminded him that I’m planning to do the rest of the weed whacking on Saturday morning.

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I wish today looked at least a bit like this here.

Favorite Thursday

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Today is my favorite Thursday of the month – the Thursday I get a massage. Ahhhhhhh!

My sore muscles, stiff places, pops and crackles all wait impatiently each month for Lynn’s attention. The stars align and it’s my morning to go enjoy her healing hands.

If I won the lottery, I would probably ask her for more, but I’m very grateful for the one Thursday I feel totally relaxed each month.

Each time when she gets finished, I tell her ‘thank you,’ and ‘good night,’ hoping she could simply leave me there…

“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.

The Price of “No Snow”

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The price we’re paying for ‘no snow or ice’ is severe weather. Yesterday, thankfully, we missed tornadoes and really large hail along with heavy rain. We got some rain, but the bad stuff was JUST north of us.

Today we have a ‘few isolated thunderstorms this afternoon and evening with HEAVY rain coming tomorrow. Ironically, we have some guys scheduled to come to the house to talk about installation of solar panels tomorrow morning…

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My husband got an email saying there was a government program for installing free solar panels on our home. I started researching a few minutes ago and found “Simply put, you cannot get free solar panels from the government. These payment plans are actually solar leases or power purchase agreements (PPAs), and they’re a no-cost upfront option that gives ownership to the solar company or installer.” So, it looks like their visit here will be very short.

I just got home from my massage. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I’m a very happy camper right now. I’m going to fix us some lunch and then do some of my exercises: stretching video, 10 minutes on the elliptical trainer, weights video, yoga – stretched out during the rest of the day.

It can’t decide whether it wants to rain yet or not. When I was driving home, it was dark and looked like rain was imminent. Now it seems to be clearing up.

Lunchtime!

Thoughts on a Tuesday 4-12-2022

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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.

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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.

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.

Ahhhh!

Adobe Stock

I’m a relaxed, happy cat right now. I just got home from doing a few errands and having my second massage for the month. (My first was an unexpected and thoroughly appreciated gift from my cousin in Thibodaux, LA.) So this is one very spoiled lady. :0)

It’s also my husband’s birthday today. (Shhhh! He’s very grumpy and doesn’t want to talk about it. I took this opportunity to sing “Happy Birthday” to him this morning. His response was a stuck-out tongue, and then a pat. I’ve done some other things I’ll surprise him with later, but we are officially ‘ignoring’ his birthday. I think it’s wonderful that he gets to all the birthdays first. By the time I have that birthday, it doesn’t hurt so much.

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In a couple of minutes I’ll fix our lunch, then we’ll relax awhile.

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Ahhhhhh!

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I will leave soon to enjoy one of my favorite once-a-month activities – a massage. Ahhhh!

If you live in the area of Ft. Smith, call Lynn Moody 479-629-7601.

I used to consider a massage a luxury. Now I look at it as an essential part of my well-being. If the end of the world happened, I would still reluctantly give it up. I take my poor, battered, tense body, with knots and soreness to Lynn, and she returns me a very relaxed lady smiling from ear to ear.

If you have regular massages, you know what I mean. If you don’t, I am encouraging you to give yourself one of the best gifts there is.

And the Answer Is –

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What’s better than a wheelbarrow full of monkeys?

Little, but TODAY the answer is a massage! Ahhhhhhhh!

I leave in about 20 minutes and my poor body is really ready for my massage therapist, Lynn Moody, 479-629-7601, to do her magic.

With all the rain we had lately, I’ve been pulling, hauling, cleaning out and putting things back together. My body is yelling weakly, “No more!” Even the yoga I’ve been trying to do in the afternoons hasn’t been enough.

So I’m the luckiest person in the world this morning, looking forward to feeling really relaxed soon. :0)

Yet Another Rainy Day

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Yet another rainy day.

I just got back from my massage. I really didn’t care that today is rainy because I always feel SO much better after my wonderful massage therapist, Lynn Moody, 479-629-7601, finishes with me. Ahhhhhhh!

My main exercise since the 17th has been a series of squeegeeing, mopping, then toweling the porch floor each time the rain stops. The wind makes the rain come in and then the water sits there. I’m trying to lessen the damage as much as I can by taking care of the water as soon as possible between deluges and storms. We’re supposed to have two more days of this, and then MAYBE a 3-day-respite before the rains come back. I don’t remember our having quite this much rain before.

I will also try to harvest some lettuce if the rain will allow. We’ve been enjoying a combination of head lettuce, spinach, and buttercrunch lettuce from our garden with our dinners. :0)

I have on my to-do list today a return to my afternoon yoga practice. I’ve been so busy the last few weeks it got lost in the shuffle and my body is noticing. Hopefully, I can get in a nice session of stretching to finish off the good Lynn did with my massage this morning.

Also on the list is playing in my art room. I’ve been watching some demonstrations of acrylic pour art, plus another technique you can do with pieces of the pours that are left over. I’m a bit intimidated, to be honest, but my mouth waters as I watch what the artists are doing.

I’m trying SOME of the techniques, easing into this slowly. I’ve started a piece with my Unicorn Spit paint. I just put a coat of varnish on what I did yesterday. When that dries, I plan to paint some flowers, and then use the crackle paint on the background. Finally, I will use some metallic paint to highlight the cracks. Fingers crossed that it turns out SOMETHING like what my brain is picturing. :0) It’s such FUN to play with the colors!

Thoughts on a Thursday 3-11-2021

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Some of my body parts are ripening more than others today.

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I had a glorious massage this morning. My massage therapist had surgery early in November, and it was last month before she was able to give massages. The ice and snow made us reschedule, so this morning was my first massage in a LONG time. She told me she didn’t remember me ever being so tight and knotted up, and I’ve been going to her for several years. I knew I had been under some pressure, but as she worked on me, I could feel it. One place in particular, I almost came up off the table. I felt SO much better after she finished.

I came home, fixed us lunch, and then spread out under my throw in my recliner. I slept for 3 hours! I guess this is the first time in awhile I’ve felt really relaxed. I feel almost as if I could simply slither to the floor out of my chair right now. :0)

My husband and I had our first COVID vaccine shot last Monday morning. They are doing a mass injection effort in Fort Smith through Health Depot, one of our local pharmacies. I happened to call at the right time and was able to get an appointment for 11:00 on Monday. We used the GPS to find the church where the injections were being given. I had no idea what to expect, how long we would be there, etc.

What we found was a delight. We went into the church, filled out a two page form and were immediately told to go to one of several stations in another room. I sat down, got my shot, and was asked to go sit in some chairs and wait for them to bring my IDs and a card. We waited maybe 5 minutes. A man came, gave everything back to us, explained that we had an appointment to get the 2nd injection on March 29th at the same time and place. And that was it. We were there maybe 10 minutes total. The shot didn’t even hurt!

For the next couple of days, our arms were sore, but that was it. I feel so lucky to be able to get this protection and that we lucked into a place that was so well organized. We are in the high risk group as far as dying from the virus, so my mind is resting more easily now, too.

Right before I took my nap today, my husband had propped the back door open. Soon after we started eating our lunch, a sound came that was music to my ears – the generator turned on for its weekly test! We now listen each week to make sure it’s working. This probably won’t last forever, but it’s so comforting to know that we have backup power if we need it. AND I don’t take for granted the fact that we had water throughout the ice and snow storms where so many good people around us had pipes that burst or no local water at all. Things are starting to get back to normal now, but it’s another thing for which to be very thankful.

I hope that good things are happening for you, too.

Exercise?

“Exercise” –

ekser,siz – verb

a verb, believed to be a myth

Tiebreaker

I love this picture. I’m still smiling. :0)

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My elliptical trainer is in our garage. It’s the only place we could put it where it would not be on carpet and wouldn’t take up too much room. Therefore, the outside temperature affects my willingness to use it. Most of the year, this is not a problem. My husband mounted a nice box fan on the wall in front of the elliptical. I can turn it on all spring, summer, and fall to make it more comfortable to be out there. I have a problem when it gets too cold in the winter.

Right now it is 27 outside. Even with the effort on the elliptical, I freeze. I use that as an excuse not to do it. That works for today, and possibly tomorrow, but my excuse won’t be good when it warms into the 40s and 50s by the end of the week.

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I AM doing my super gentle yoga for old broads daily, though, and that is truly helpful. Without it, I tend to fold up like a tent. I notice this in particular when I have monthly massages. My therapist spends a lot of time pulling on arms, legs, and head, trying to ‘pull my head out of my rear’ (if you’ll pardon the expression) because I tend to implode. Right now I’m not getting my massages because my therapist is recovering from surgery. I’m hopeful we will be able to resume in February or March, when she is feeling sassy again.

My yoga is not the ‘fold-yourself-into-a-pretzel-or-paper-airplane’ type. It’s good, quiet, long, gradual stretches that make my body say, ‘ahhhhhhhh!’ when I finally am able to relax into each pose. I move into it as far as I can, then just BREATHE. I can FEEL my body giving a bit at a time, stretching more and more. I started my practice a few years ago, when I was 71. I’ll be 74 in March, and I’m hopeful I can continue this the rest of my life. I want to get and stay as flexible as I can. It also helps with my back, plus my balance.

I am trying to do some walking, but again, the weather is a factor. I’m not desperate enough to get out my “Walking-with-annoying-Leslie’ DVD yet, but it may come to that as winter sneaks in.

I hope you’re trying to take care of yourself, too.

Ahhhhh!

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I’m leaving shortly to have a massage. Ahhhhh!

My wonderful massage therapist will be having surgery very soon, though, and the recovery time is pretty long, so this massage will need to last me until February or so. My wish is that the surgery goes smoothly and that she heals thoroughly, feeling good again.

I was going to call to arrange to have our fall checkup on our geothermal system, plus our quarterly bug spraying, but both companies called ME to schedule! We had the geothermal check yesterday and are good to go now through the winter into the spring. Not only is our guy super competent about how our system works, but he crawls up into the attic to change out one of the filters for us – saving my husband and me the chore – AND our dog, Amber, is in love with him. She wags her tail so hard the whole time he is here that she sleeps soundly after he leaves. He always stops to talk to her and give her a lot of love before he leaves.

Our fish are swimming around in a sparkling clean tank again. They thanked me in their way, for the nice digs.

Our weather has warmed up again, so we’re able to open doors in the afternoon, airing out the house. :0) I’m hoping to be able to do some work outside this afternoon.

I hope that you are having a great day, too!

Rain

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I’m getting ready to leave for a much-needed massage. It looks like I’ll get a second shower, too, as it’s dark outside with thunderstorms predicted. I’m not water-soluble, so I’ll be happy if there is no hail associated with the storm.

I’ve been working hard lately cleaning, so I’m hoping to reward myself with time in the art room this afternoon. I have a new design for earrings in my head, and I would like to see how it goes. :0)

Our irrigation system brains in the well house keep getting zapped by the various short power outages we’ve been experiencing lately. We ordered a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) lately and my husband put it out there and hooked it up. Hopefully, now we won’t have to reset the thing over and over again. Fingers crossed.

I gathered some tomatoes yesterday. Most were the size of cherry tomatoes, but I will happily use them in salads. Nothing else from the main garden at this time, except some good-looking weeds.

I hope that your day is filled with fun.

 

 

Nice Morning

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I had a lovely massage this morning. I asked her to just leave me there and let me drift off to sleep, but she made me get up, pay her, and leave. Imagine that! She is truly a miracle worker. I feel a lot better.

It was getting dark as I left – at 11:00 in the morning!  I got home just before storming started. I shut the garage door, and closed up the house. It has rained, but it doesn’t seem to be severe at this point. We have more waves of storms coming this afternoon and tonight.

I chatted with our son in Thailand this morning briefly. There is 12 hours difference in our times, so we have to chat quickly sometimes. He sounded really happy. He said, “last night when i was falling asleep i was listening to the rain, and i think i heard some kind of religious singing from somewhere, maybe the nearby wat, and i was feeling the breeze from my fan, and i thought to myself how fortunate i am.”

We are on our official whole first day of the South Beach Diet today. (We started after lunch yesterday.)  So far, we’re doing fine, although we’re fumbling around some. We like the shakes, and the ‘ice crushes.”  Mine are chocolate, of course. :0)  I got home from my massage late for our morning ‘snack.’ We went ahead and did that, deciding we would delay lunch for an hour or so. I have keto chili in the crock pot for one of our DIY dinners for the week. I’m interested to see what we think of our lunch options.  I have found that their ‘peanut butter bites” (a package of small cookies) is delicious. I am trying to record what I eat and drink on the tracker on their website. It’s different that the other I have been using, but I’m determined to make it work.

I received one of the new wooden earring shapes I ordered yesterday, and am eager to get up to the art room to see what I can do with it. :0)

I hope you’re having a wonderful day.

 

Life of a Slug

 

Yesterday I emulated a slug.  It was a wonderful day.

 

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Arkansas is reopening, so I was able to have my first massage in three months. AHHHHHHHH! Each part of my body let out a big sigh as my therapist, Lynn Moody, found another tight or sore spot and eased our the kinks. I tried to get her to just let me sleep there when she finished, but she calmly, sweetly, told me I had to get up and go home, and gave me an appointment for next month. :0)

When I got home, I fixed lunch. We ate, and I thought I would drink a cup of coffee and watch the news on TV. The next thing I knew, it was an hour later.

I did only what was needed yesterday, taking another nap in the afternoon. The life of a slug is sweet!

Today Lunch Bunch is trying to meet at the Pizza Barn. It rained overnight, and it’s looking like it might rain again. We were planning to eat at one of the picnic tables they have put in their parking lot, but that might not be in the cards. Kay is calling to find out if it would be possible for us to eat inside if it’s raining. The jury is still out on whether we can finally enjoy a meal together or not. I usually hug them – but I’m learning to hold my hands behind my back to remind myself to take care of each of my friends.  If not this week, then maybe next week. Till then, we’ll just have to say, “Hi” on the phone.

I’m hoping to get up to my art room this afternoon, since it looks like the work in the yard and the garden might not be possible. I want to start painting a new group of wooden earrings – these with posts – so I can add this option to my Etsy site, Eyecatching Earrings .  I’ll show you pics when they are listed.

Today is rainy, windy, and raw. I’ll get together the makings of keto chili in the crock pot for tonight.

I hope you can find some joy today.

Ahhhhhhh!

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I just got home from having a massage. Ahhhhhhhhhh!

It has been two months since I had one. I had to call and reschedule the original appointment because of my food poisoning episode. THEN the rescheduled massage was canceled due to the roads being dangerous to drive because of Mother Nature. The subsequent appointment was canceled due to my wonderful massage therapist getting the flu. So TODAY – when I looked out the window and saw our yard covered in WHITE – I groaned.

I dressed and came downstairs quickly to look on the computer to see if Greenwood Schools were canceled. If the buses won’t run, WE’RE not going to drive. I couldn’t find any notices, so when I took Sweet Molly out this morning, I looked around and saw that it was the PERFECT snow – the yard looked pretty, but the porch and sidewalks were free of ice. HOORAY!

The driveway had some snow, but the snow tires on the truck weren’t really needed. The streets were clear.

My wonderful massage therapist laughed as I groaned as she found all the places that needed her so desperately. She is really good. I felt limp as a noodle by the time she finished. I tried just saying, “Good Night,” hoping she would just leave me. No luck there.

I’m home now and will eat lunch soon. I have to say that having a massage is one of the best ways to start a day!

Thoughts on a Friday – 12-20-2019

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Yesterday I had a wonderful massage, exchanging gifts with my massage therapist and friend, Lynn. It was special for a THIRD reason – she had a CD of Christmas music playing.

I have discovered that I have a HUGE pet peeve – jazzed up (screwed up) Christmas music. I want people to just play or sing it the way it was written. I guess that’s limiting for the artists, but it’s my opinion they should be singing for the listeners, not for their own amusement or amazement. The really beautiful thing was that the CD she played was a series of instrumentals, with different instruments used for different verses of the songs, but played straightforwardly, purely, BEAUTIFULLY.

Lynn and I shared that one of our gifts to each other was that we were singing along MENTALLY, rather than aloud. :0)

I enjoyed every minute of the massage – as I always do – but this time was truly special with the absolutely lovely traditional Christmas music. I felt joy in my heart along with the easing in soreness. Those are true gifts.

“ME” Day

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I didn’t plan it this way, but it all came together so I’m enjoying a luxurious “ME” day today.

I’m home from a glorious massage.  Not only did she find and fix all my sore or bunched-up spots, we exchanged Christmas gifts. I have the best massage therapist/friend in the world. If you’d like to contact her, her name is Lynn Moody, and her phone number is 479-629-7601.

I’m relaxing now with a cup of coffee and enjoying time at my computer.

I have a hair cut this afternoon, so that’s the second part of my “ME” day. There is nothing better than having someone you trust cut your hair. My hair is thin, fine, and generally worthless. It only does bad things on its own. My stylist understands what I’m dealing with, is very tactful about it, and realizes that he has to CUT my hair so it falls into place with a quick wash and blow dry every morning. We enjoy having a miracle worker. (My husband says our stylist ‘heals’ him.)  If you’d like to contact him, his name is Michael Remillard. His shop is Tangles, and his phone number is 479-357-9305.

The rest of my ME day includes 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer and then about 30 minutes or so doing yoga stretches.

I may melt into a puddle in my chair when I finish.

AHHHHH!

Thoughts on a Thursday 11-21-2019

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I started my day with a glorious massage. I was still having problems from all the leaf mulching I did, even with pain gel and yoga, so it was especially appreciated today. My massage therapist, Lynn Moody, 479-629-7601, truly has a gift for finding sore spots and making them give in to her healing hands.

We’re having a Holiday Open House at Rags & Roses, the local shop where I’m sharing a booth with my friend, Carla.  The Open House is this coming Sunday from 1-5. The address is 100 North Main. There will be food, door prizes, photos with Santa, a musician who plays guitar, fiddle, and mandolin, plus all the nice things people are selling in the booths. I went today to make a contribution to the door prizes. Tomorrow I’m taking an assortment of the new wooden earrings I’ve made recently. They are for sale on ArtFire, too. If you would like to look at them, here they are – ArtFire.

We just had lunch and I’m about to head up to my art room to play. I’m planning to paint another journal, more note cards, a tote, and start more earrings – all with my Unicorn Spit Stain/Glaze. I love that stuff!

It’s getting dark outside, looking like it’s about to pour. We’re supposed to get a lot of rain between now and the end of the day Friday, so it’s a great time to be inside.

Hope you are staying warm and dry, and that you have something to do that makes you smile.

 

Thoughts on a Thursday 10-24-2019

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I’m in awe of people who can create .gifs like this.  You can almost HEAR the rain!

I just came back from having a glorious massage by my therapist, Lynn Moody. She is so kind and caring, as well as a master at finding all the tight, sore spots, knots, etc. and making them go away. AHHHH! If you’re in the  Fort Smith/Greenwood/Hackett & surrounding area, call for an appointment. Her number is 479-629-7601. You’ll never stop thanking yourself.

I’m working on another wooden plaque using the Unicorn Spit stain/glaze. I think I’ll have it finished by the end of the day. I’ll take a pic to post here.

I will never be an exercise ‘enthusiast.’ I don’t look forward to it, and still have to be determined to make these sessions priorities on my daily to-do list. But I have to admit that I’m still shocked that my BODY told me it missed my exercise sessions on Monday, when our dogs got into a fight and my day was spent trying to tend to our smaller, elderly dog, Molly, instead of anything else. (She is stronger each day, is eating and drinking and able to go outside with me. Whew!) My BODY complained about my lack of exercise! I felt sore, stiff, and creaky Tuesday morning, and MUCH better after I did my NOW usual time of 35 minutes on the elliptical and 35 or so minutes of stretching yoga. So my attitude has changed from “SHOULD” to “NEED.” This is a sea change for me, and I’m pleased to recognize it.  So today is gloriously physical with massage, elliptical trainer, and yoga.

I’m looking for a good beef stew that fits my keto-macros needs and will be accepted by my husband, who truly loves traditional beef stew I’ve always made, full of potatoes, carrots, etc. I tried one recently while our son was still home. My husband ate one bowl, said, “hmmph” and wasn’t interested in eating more of it. Our son and I ate the rest, thinking it was really pretty good, but until I find one my HUSBAND determines is YUMMY, the hunt continues. I’ll get more serious about the hunt right away because our temperatures are dropping around here, and my husband is looking for comfort food.

I wish you a happy, healthy Thursday.

 

Thoughts on a Thursday 9-26-2019

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We’re having a quiet, soft rain this morning. I can HEAR the flowers, grass, and trees saying, “Ahhhhhh”

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I am leaving for a massage as soon as I finish this post!  I’m REALLLLY looking forward to it. Lynn Moody, my massage therapist, is a true miracle worker.

Since it’s raining, I’ll concentrate on inside stuff today, plus my elliptical trainer and yoga.

I’ve been showing you gorgeous melted crayon art lately. I ordered two melting tools recently, and I’ve been watching YouTube demonstrations on different techniques. I’m like a kid at Christmas, waiting to be able to play with them in my art room!

I hope that YOUR day is relaxing and fun.

Massage, Fish, and Tax Prep, Oh My!

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My day started super-nicely with a massage by my massage therapist, Lynn Moody. She’s absolutely the best. She tackles an old lady with lots of aches and creaky bones and I emerge smiling and relaxed. I just wish I could afford to have massages more often!

My Aquarium Club

My poor fish are swimming around in cloudy water, so on my list, as soon as I finish this post, is to go vacuum out their tank, change the decor, and get them back into a clean, fresh tank.

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Most of the rest of the day will be spent continuing our tax preparation. I’m making good progress. Today is medical stuff and extraneous things, and then I’ll be on the finish line, adding my information to the booklet our CPA provides. I’m hoping I’ll be finished with everything, waiting on our info from Schwab, by the end of the week.

Progress of a Sort

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I have a good start on the ‘reboot’ of my low carb eating and exercise plan now.  I’ve been good for a week now, even managing to lose a bit of weight when we went out to eat. I lost 3 lb this week. My totals are: a loss of 17 lbs and 10.5 inches. I’m still playing catch-up and re-lose from my ‘stumble-and-splat’ when I was concentrating on my husband’s need for low or no sugar, rather than paying attention to that AND low carbs. Lesson finally learned.  I’ve also learned that just working hard isn’t a good substitute for actual exercise.

I’m finding some low carb recipes that are real winners lately. My husband is requesting that I include them on the menus for the week! I’m trying to post – if not the entire recipe – at least the link to it. (One lady asked me very nicely to only give the link to the recipe on her website, rather than posting the whole thing with credit, so I’ll comply.) You can find some of them under two categories here: “Cooking/Canning/Recipes/Low Carb” and “Cooking/Recipes/Low Carb Lifestyle.”

One thing that is really helping me keep my head on straight on how many carbs and calories I’m eating is the MyFitnessPal.com website.  This has the best database of foods I have found. On other websites, you have to list each ingredient in a recipe in order to get a total carb count. I just don’t have the patience for that. On this website, you type in what you hope to find already listed. If it isn’t there, you can add it, all on one short form and then click to share it with others or not. This is really great. They also have a reasonable exercise database. You can record what you did and the number or reps or time you spent. I’m trying to stay under 40 carbs and 1200 calories per day. I can change what I’m planning to fix for dinner so that I stay on track. I like that a lot.

For exercise, I’m on my elliptical trainer in the garage most days. I also do careful stretching via yoga, concentrating on trying to convince this old body to RELAX. After all the work I’ve been doing cleaning out my house and working in the yard lately, I find this takes longer and longer. I just hold a pose – breathing into it until I feel my muscles ‘give’ and I’m comfortable. This is helping me feel better. Today I had extra help with that because I enjoyed a wonderful massage! My therapist, Lynn, really listens and does all she can to help me. Today we discovered that most of my sore muscles were on my right side – I guess from all the hauling of Mel’s Mix to the garden. I’ll have to concentrate on carrying the basket left-handed and see if that helps. :0)  If you live in the Greenwood area, you can contact Lynn Moody at 479-629-7601 or via email at lynnmoody42@yahoo.com. I’m so lucky to have found her.

I feel good that I’m again on the way to getting the lard off and feeling better.