I must have been right about the sodium thing yesterday. By the end of the day, I was down three pounds. This morning, I was down FOUR to 250 even! Wow! That is EIGHTEEN pounds gone since mid-January when I got back from that cruise. If I could hit 240 before Lowell and Emily get here on June 14, I would be very, very happy.
I was very motivated by that drop in pounds. I went out for my 15 minute fasting cardio walk, and it turned into 20 minutes. I also went to my cancer support group, always motivating. Soon, I am going to have my mani/pedi, always relaxing. Afterwards, weather permitting, there will be time for a swim, always fun and invigorating, followed by a grilled chicken medi-fast salad at the bar restaurant by the pool, followed by the free movie at Solivita. Tonight's movie is Iron Lady. We've really been wanting to see that one.
I hope everyone is having as nice a day as I am.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
UP!
Yes, this morning I am up one and a half pounds, 254. That's up one and a half since yesterday morning. I really think that is also where I was last Wednesday. At least, I think so because I didn't write it down.
I am blaming it on sodium from last night's dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. Let's just cut to the chase. I did NOT follow my food plan there last night. I made a lovely salad, full of every great crunchy vegetable, then I loaded it up with too much cheese, croutons, and some of the naughty salads like pineapple cole slaw, and potato salad, as well as a lot of the the high carb veggies like corn, peas, and kidney beans. It was a delicious salad. Had I only eaten that, I probably would have been OK, but...I know you saw that coming.
I also tried all four of their vegetarian soups: barley pinto bean, tomato Parmesan vegetable, potato leek, and broccoli cheese. I had a cup of the tomato, about 2/3 of a cup of the pinto, and about half a cup of each of the other two just to taste them. Mark and I agreed that the tomato vegetable was the best one. They were all incredibly salty, so that's where the sodium is coming from, I think. We also shared their special muffin of the week, French Quarter pecan praline. It was amazing.
I still think all of that would have been OK, but...
I also had two cups of steamed veggies, some macaroni and cheese, two small pieces of Asiago cheese bread, one small piece of Quattro Formagio pizza, a piece of Indian grain bread with butter, half a decadent brownie, some hot apple cherry cobbler, and a bowl of soft service ice cream.
Yeah, there's no confusion as to why I'm up a pound and a half today.
The good news, if there is such a thing today, is that I did go out for my 15 minute fasting cardio walk again this morning. It was warm but breezy and not too humid. In fact, although it was sunnier this morning than yesterday, it was less humid so I came back less sweaty. Or maybe I just walked slower. LOL!
Well, I have about two weeks before a serious food fest starts. Lowell and Emily are arriving on June 14 and leaving on June 17. On June 18 our friends Casey, Jen, and their little boy Felix are arriving for a one day visit, then on June 19-24 another friend is coming for a Disney orgy including much eating. A few days after he leaves, we are leaving for a trip up north for three weeks. So pretty much from June 14 through our return on July 16, there is going to be a solid month of many restaurant meals, lots of time away from home, socializing with family and friends, and probably a weight gain. My personal goal right now is to get very serious, exercise a lot, cut the calories, and try to drop 10 pounds in two weeks, so that I can put them back in the next four and a half weeks! If I'm not careful, I could gain 10 each WEEK during that time, so it will require careful monitoring, obviously not my strong point. Sigh. Wish me luck!
Meanwhile I finished another jigsaw puzzle today. Mark bought me this one at Mouse Gears in Epcot a few weeks ago, but I only opened it up on Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. It only took four days to finish. It has only 500 pieces, but more than that, the pieces all were easy to recognize because of all the Disney characters and variety of color. It was a lot of fun to work on, so I worked on it a lot in the last few days. I won't be able to bring myself to put it back in the box for awhile, so I'm going to leave it on the table in the lanai and just admire it for awhile!
I am blaming it on sodium from last night's dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. Let's just cut to the chase. I did NOT follow my food plan there last night. I made a lovely salad, full of every great crunchy vegetable, then I loaded it up with too much cheese, croutons, and some of the naughty salads like pineapple cole slaw, and potato salad, as well as a lot of the the high carb veggies like corn, peas, and kidney beans. It was a delicious salad. Had I only eaten that, I probably would have been OK, but...I know you saw that coming.
I also tried all four of their vegetarian soups: barley pinto bean, tomato Parmesan vegetable, potato leek, and broccoli cheese. I had a cup of the tomato, about 2/3 of a cup of the pinto, and about half a cup of each of the other two just to taste them. Mark and I agreed that the tomato vegetable was the best one. They were all incredibly salty, so that's where the sodium is coming from, I think. We also shared their special muffin of the week, French Quarter pecan praline. It was amazing.
I still think all of that would have been OK, but...
I also had two cups of steamed veggies, some macaroni and cheese, two small pieces of Asiago cheese bread, one small piece of Quattro Formagio pizza, a piece of Indian grain bread with butter, half a decadent brownie, some hot apple cherry cobbler, and a bowl of soft service ice cream.
Yeah, there's no confusion as to why I'm up a pound and a half today.
The good news, if there is such a thing today, is that I did go out for my 15 minute fasting cardio walk again this morning. It was warm but breezy and not too humid. In fact, although it was sunnier this morning than yesterday, it was less humid so I came back less sweaty. Or maybe I just walked slower. LOL!
Well, I have about two weeks before a serious food fest starts. Lowell and Emily are arriving on June 14 and leaving on June 17. On June 18 our friends Casey, Jen, and their little boy Felix are arriving for a one day visit, then on June 19-24 another friend is coming for a Disney orgy including much eating. A few days after he leaves, we are leaving for a trip up north for three weeks. So pretty much from June 14 through our return on July 16, there is going to be a solid month of many restaurant meals, lots of time away from home, socializing with family and friends, and probably a weight gain. My personal goal right now is to get very serious, exercise a lot, cut the calories, and try to drop 10 pounds in two weeks, so that I can put them back in the next four and a half weeks! If I'm not careful, I could gain 10 each WEEK during that time, so it will require careful monitoring, obviously not my strong point. Sigh. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Back to the Diet? Hm...
Yesterday on Good Morning, America, I saw a personal trainer talk about helping his clients lose weight. I think his name was PJ James, but don't quote me on that. His thing was that he wanted to get into the head of his overweight clients, so he went from being incredibly physically fit to packing on 90 pounds. I don't remember how long it took him to gain it, but he took it all off in just six months. I did a little googling and learned that he is not the only one to have done this and document it, but I'm writing about him because he's the one I saw on TV yesterday.
I think that he was able to take it off so fast because he's relatively young, probably mid-thirties at most, and his body had always been in shape. I'm not sure any of his clients would fall into that category! Still, he said some interesting things about this project.
First, he said he was surprised about how many psychological issues he had to deal with as an obese man. I think that was a good lesson because I don't think people who have always been a normal weight "get" it at all. He also had food cravings to contend with for the first time in his life. I have read some things about leptin and other hormones in fat and brain chemicals that cause overweight people to feel hungry more often and to have more food cravings. I was glad to see him mention that.
Second, he said he lost the weight with a combination of four basic things, and he now uses that knowledge to help his clients. His ideas are not crazy or too far out there. In fact, they are logical and seem very accessible. I'm already doing two of them most of the time, and part of the other two some of the time.
Here is his four-pronged approach:
1. Eat a sensible diet, well-balanced, and moderately low calorie. Well, that's what I always try to do. At least he wasn't promoting something whacked like the grapefruit diet or supplements.
2. Drink a lot of water. He didn't claim it would help your weight loss, which some plans do, but instead he said it is good for overall health, hydration, and skin elasticity. I believe that all to be true, and as an older woman on pills that cause dryness everywhere, it's really important.
3. Do four 50-minute strength training workouts per week. Well, right now I'm doing three 20-minute workouts. I used to do about 40 minutes when I did three sets of 20 reps on 9 machines. I stopped going to the gym for awhile, so now I'm working my way back up. I'm currently at 2 sets of 15 reps on some machines and 2 sets of 20 on others. Even when I get back to three sets of 20, I can't make it take 50 minutes. I'd have to add another machine or two or do something with free weights to get a 50 minute workout. Mark and I try to go together on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. To make four workouts, I could probably go one weekend day as well. Actually, he probably has his clients do all upper body two days and all lower body the other two days so there are not two identical workouts back to back. I'd have to change everything to do that because I do both on the same day.
4. Do a 15 minute fasting cardio activity first thing every morning. He said that the fasting part is important because you are burning stored fat. He also said that it revs the metabolism for the rest of the day, which I had heard before. I usually take a 20 to 30 minute walk about four or five days a week with Mark, usually in the late afternoon after our weights. I don't think that the 15 minute fasting cardio should replace that, but it makes sense to get out there first thing in the morning. In fact, walking for only 15 minutes didn't seem like too hard a thing to do. So this morning, I did it. I had two cups of black coffee, sitting on the lanai, talking to Mark, and listening to Good Morning, America. Then suddenly, I decided to get up, put on my shorts and t-shirt and sneakers, and head out the door. I walked briskly for 15 minutes in the cool but humid air. I was soaked with sweat when I got back and was happy to take a shower. I also felt proud of myself for doing this. Of course, the proof will be if I do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next...
Later today, weather permitting, Mark and I are going mini-golfing before we eat dinner out at Sweet Tomatoes, a really cool self-serve salad bar type restaurant. Of course, in addition to the huge salad bar where you start the food orgy, there is a potato bar, a bread bar, a pizza bar, a soup bar, and a dessert bar. OY! Just like going on a cruise! To get a meat item added to your salad costs extra. No problem. I wouldn't order that anyway.
Once a month on a Tuesday night, our synagogue has a deal with Sweet Tomatoes where for everyone who comes in with the synagogue flyer, the restaurant will give 15% of their tab back to the shul as a donation. Mark has done it once or twice already on Tuesday nights when I had Starliters rehearsals, but now I'm available to go as well. It's a great restaurant with the potential to eat low-cal, low-carb, and healthy. There is also the potential to overeat on pizza, potatoes, and dessert. I went to this restaurant with our friends Barb and Al once a few months ago. I was feeling very in control that night, so I did not go to the "bad" bars. I hope that control sticks with me tonight.
Tomorrow is weigh-in day. Currently, I am the same this morning as I was last Wednesday. I don't think that's too bad considering we had the mini-vacation this week and Shavuot. If I don't blow it tonight at Sweet Tomatoes, I should be fine tomorrow morning on the scale. I'll let you know.
I think that he was able to take it off so fast because he's relatively young, probably mid-thirties at most, and his body had always been in shape. I'm not sure any of his clients would fall into that category! Still, he said some interesting things about this project.
First, he said he was surprised about how many psychological issues he had to deal with as an obese man. I think that was a good lesson because I don't think people who have always been a normal weight "get" it at all. He also had food cravings to contend with for the first time in his life. I have read some things about leptin and other hormones in fat and brain chemicals that cause overweight people to feel hungry more often and to have more food cravings. I was glad to see him mention that.
Second, he said he lost the weight with a combination of four basic things, and he now uses that knowledge to help his clients. His ideas are not crazy or too far out there. In fact, they are logical and seem very accessible. I'm already doing two of them most of the time, and part of the other two some of the time.
Here is his four-pronged approach:
1. Eat a sensible diet, well-balanced, and moderately low calorie. Well, that's what I always try to do. At least he wasn't promoting something whacked like the grapefruit diet or supplements.
2. Drink a lot of water. He didn't claim it would help your weight loss, which some plans do, but instead he said it is good for overall health, hydration, and skin elasticity. I believe that all to be true, and as an older woman on pills that cause dryness everywhere, it's really important.
3. Do four 50-minute strength training workouts per week. Well, right now I'm doing three 20-minute workouts. I used to do about 40 minutes when I did three sets of 20 reps on 9 machines. I stopped going to the gym for awhile, so now I'm working my way back up. I'm currently at 2 sets of 15 reps on some machines and 2 sets of 20 on others. Even when I get back to three sets of 20, I can't make it take 50 minutes. I'd have to add another machine or two or do something with free weights to get a 50 minute workout. Mark and I try to go together on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. To make four workouts, I could probably go one weekend day as well. Actually, he probably has his clients do all upper body two days and all lower body the other two days so there are not two identical workouts back to back. I'd have to change everything to do that because I do both on the same day.
4. Do a 15 minute fasting cardio activity first thing every morning. He said that the fasting part is important because you are burning stored fat. He also said that it revs the metabolism for the rest of the day, which I had heard before. I usually take a 20 to 30 minute walk about four or five days a week with Mark, usually in the late afternoon after our weights. I don't think that the 15 minute fasting cardio should replace that, but it makes sense to get out there first thing in the morning. In fact, walking for only 15 minutes didn't seem like too hard a thing to do. So this morning, I did it. I had two cups of black coffee, sitting on the lanai, talking to Mark, and listening to Good Morning, America. Then suddenly, I decided to get up, put on my shorts and t-shirt and sneakers, and head out the door. I walked briskly for 15 minutes in the cool but humid air. I was soaked with sweat when I got back and was happy to take a shower. I also felt proud of myself for doing this. Of course, the proof will be if I do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next...
Later today, weather permitting, Mark and I are going mini-golfing before we eat dinner out at Sweet Tomatoes, a really cool self-serve salad bar type restaurant. Of course, in addition to the huge salad bar where you start the food orgy, there is a potato bar, a bread bar, a pizza bar, a soup bar, and a dessert bar. OY! Just like going on a cruise! To get a meat item added to your salad costs extra. No problem. I wouldn't order that anyway.
Once a month on a Tuesday night, our synagogue has a deal with Sweet Tomatoes where for everyone who comes in with the synagogue flyer, the restaurant will give 15% of their tab back to the shul as a donation. Mark has done it once or twice already on Tuesday nights when I had Starliters rehearsals, but now I'm available to go as well. It's a great restaurant with the potential to eat low-cal, low-carb, and healthy. There is also the potential to overeat on pizza, potatoes, and dessert. I went to this restaurant with our friends Barb and Al once a few months ago. I was feeling very in control that night, so I did not go to the "bad" bars. I hope that control sticks with me tonight.
Tomorrow is weigh-in day. Currently, I am the same this morning as I was last Wednesday. I don't think that's too bad considering we had the mini-vacation this week and Shavuot. If I don't blow it tonight at Sweet Tomatoes, I should be fine tomorrow morning on the scale. I'll let you know.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Shavuot and Pentecost and Memorial Day
Today is the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. If you are Christian, you might know it as Pentecost, although as far as I can tell they are celebrating two entirely different things. The only thing they seem to have in common is that they come seven weeks after something. Shavuot is seven weeks after the second day of Passover; Pentecost is seven weeks after Easter Sunday. I'm sure there's some tie-in there somehow.
Shavuot celebrates the day that Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Torah. It's also one of Mark's favorite holidays. I like it because we eat lots of dairy foods. I can think of two reasons why it's traditional to eat dairy foods on this holiday. One is that the shape of two blintzes on your plate looks like Torah scrolls. The other is because the Torah says the people will be taken to a "land of milk and honey." No matter the reason, I loved the cheese blintzes with blueberry topping that Mark made for dinner last night. He also made a low-carb, crustless, low-fat, sugar free cheesecake that was AWESOME! We cut it into eight pieces, so it's going to last us four days. I'm totally OKAY with that!
We went to our synagogue's Tikun Leil Shavuot last night. At our old shul, services started around 10 p..m., and then we stayed up all night studying Torah until dawn, when we would have an abbreviated morning service then go home, crash, and sleep half the day! Here no one wants to stay up all night. We went in the day time for Mincha (afternoon) service followed by two 20 minute study sessions.
Our rabbi started off the study sessions with a fascinating talk about how this Shavuot falls on Memorial Day. Shavuot is a two day holiday outside of Israel, so tomorrow, Memorial Day, is still Shavuot. This is the first time in 27 years that the holidays have coincided. The connection is that Shavuot is one of the four times during the year when Jews say the special memorial prayers of Yizkor. We have a fixed liturgy and set prayers for remembering our relatives and friends who have died. He compared this to Memorial Day when there is no set or fixed liturgy. People remember the soldiers who gave their lives for our country, but there is no ceremony that is the same everywhere. In fact, to many people Memorial Day has become a day off from work and an excuse to have a picnic. Because of the 20 minute time limit, the talk was not opened up to discussion. This was unfortunate because it seemed like a lot of people would have liked to comment on this.
The second talk was about art works over the years depicting the book of Ruth, traditionally read on this holiday. It's read at this time of year because of the story about Ruth gleaning in the fields. It's a harvest story and Shavuot is also a harvest time. The man who presented the session had large, color photos of many art works, including one from the Sistine Chapel, which he passed around. I enjoyed looking at those. Again, it would have been interesting to have discussion and opinions on these paintings, but the time was too short.
Then we all had ice cream! I was going to skip that part, but all my resolve flew out the window when the sundae bar opened. At least I chose the low fat coffee fudge, but then I added cherries, M&Ms, whipped cream, and caramel sauce. I haven't had a bowl of ice cream that looked like that in a long time! That should have done it for me, but NO! I went back for the sugar free chocolate and loaded it up with the same toppings. Yum, but so bad for me. That should have done it, but NO! The next thing I know, I'm sucking down a huge, homemade red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Whoa! Why? I don't know.
By this time, it was dark, and we were ready to really usher in Shavuot with the Maariv (evening) service, followed by three more study sessions. Mark lead off these three sessions with his presentation of "Is the Lone Ranger Jewish?", a session he had done once before in Maryland. Everybody loved it, but the twenty minute time limit really seemed too short. He was able to get some discussion going, but again it felt very rushed to me. The rabbi's wife, also a rabbi, did an interesting talk on the Torah portion that described the events of Moses going up and down the mountain and bringing the Torah to the people. She tried to get us to imagine being there ourselves, which is the traditional Jewish view, and try to make sense of it. The final session included reading the entire book of Ruth aloud with commentary added by a lady who spent 40+ years as a Jewish educator. It was also very interesting, but there was no discussion. I liked all the sessions, but if each one had been allotted about 40 minutes, it would have been so much more interesting. It would also have gone on until about 1 a.m., which no one in this shul wants to do.
The evening ended at 11 p.m., and we were home by midnight. We commented that Mishkan Torah was probably heading outside for Frank's midnight readings and then getting geared up for the all night sessions. Mark misses those. I used to fall asleep around 3 a.m.and remain fairly incoherent until time to drive home at 7 a.m., so I can't say I really miss it. I would have enjoyed staying up until about 1 a.m. and getting home at 2 a.m., but then it would have been hard to get up this morning at 7 to come back for this morning's service. Mishkan Torah did not have another service the morning after the all-nighter, so it's a trade off.
This morning we are heading back for the morning service. Tomorrow when we go back for the second day and Yizkor, we will also be having a picnic with kosher hot dogs. That should be fun! The rabbi made a comment about the eating of dairy foods, but one thing we have learned about our young rabbi is that he likes to eat MEAT! He said there is plenty of opportunity to eat dairy through the two days, but for the picnic he wants meat! He's funny, and he's also only 29 years old!
I hope everyone reading this blog has an enjoyable three-day Memorial Day weekend. Many of you are probably attending special Memorial Day services today or tomorrow to remember those who have died for our freedoms. One of those freedoms allows Mark and me to go to our synagogue to worship as we please and eat kosher hot dogs with our new friends. That's a very good thing. Enjoy the holiday weekend, no matter how you celebrate it.
*********
P.S. A freak snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada mountains prevented Evey and Eric from attempting their hike up White Mountain today. I confess that I was relieved to hear that, but I bet they try again some other time.
Shavuot celebrates the day that Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Torah. It's also one of Mark's favorite holidays. I like it because we eat lots of dairy foods. I can think of two reasons why it's traditional to eat dairy foods on this holiday. One is that the shape of two blintzes on your plate looks like Torah scrolls. The other is because the Torah says the people will be taken to a "land of milk and honey." No matter the reason, I loved the cheese blintzes with blueberry topping that Mark made for dinner last night. He also made a low-carb, crustless, low-fat, sugar free cheesecake that was AWESOME! We cut it into eight pieces, so it's going to last us four days. I'm totally OKAY with that!
We went to our synagogue's Tikun Leil Shavuot last night. At our old shul, services started around 10 p..m., and then we stayed up all night studying Torah until dawn, when we would have an abbreviated morning service then go home, crash, and sleep half the day! Here no one wants to stay up all night. We went in the day time for Mincha (afternoon) service followed by two 20 minute study sessions.
Our rabbi started off the study sessions with a fascinating talk about how this Shavuot falls on Memorial Day. Shavuot is a two day holiday outside of Israel, so tomorrow, Memorial Day, is still Shavuot. This is the first time in 27 years that the holidays have coincided. The connection is that Shavuot is one of the four times during the year when Jews say the special memorial prayers of Yizkor. We have a fixed liturgy and set prayers for remembering our relatives and friends who have died. He compared this to Memorial Day when there is no set or fixed liturgy. People remember the soldiers who gave their lives for our country, but there is no ceremony that is the same everywhere. In fact, to many people Memorial Day has become a day off from work and an excuse to have a picnic. Because of the 20 minute time limit, the talk was not opened up to discussion. This was unfortunate because it seemed like a lot of people would have liked to comment on this.
The second talk was about art works over the years depicting the book of Ruth, traditionally read on this holiday. It's read at this time of year because of the story about Ruth gleaning in the fields. It's a harvest story and Shavuot is also a harvest time. The man who presented the session had large, color photos of many art works, including one from the Sistine Chapel, which he passed around. I enjoyed looking at those. Again, it would have been interesting to have discussion and opinions on these paintings, but the time was too short.
Then we all had ice cream! I was going to skip that part, but all my resolve flew out the window when the sundae bar opened. At least I chose the low fat coffee fudge, but then I added cherries, M&Ms, whipped cream, and caramel sauce. I haven't had a bowl of ice cream that looked like that in a long time! That should have done it for me, but NO! I went back for the sugar free chocolate and loaded it up with the same toppings. Yum, but so bad for me. That should have done it, but NO! The next thing I know, I'm sucking down a huge, homemade red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Whoa! Why? I don't know.
By this time, it was dark, and we were ready to really usher in Shavuot with the Maariv (evening) service, followed by three more study sessions. Mark lead off these three sessions with his presentation of "Is the Lone Ranger Jewish?", a session he had done once before in Maryland. Everybody loved it, but the twenty minute time limit really seemed too short. He was able to get some discussion going, but again it felt very rushed to me. The rabbi's wife, also a rabbi, did an interesting talk on the Torah portion that described the events of Moses going up and down the mountain and bringing the Torah to the people. She tried to get us to imagine being there ourselves, which is the traditional Jewish view, and try to make sense of it. The final session included reading the entire book of Ruth aloud with commentary added by a lady who spent 40+ years as a Jewish educator. It was also very interesting, but there was no discussion. I liked all the sessions, but if each one had been allotted about 40 minutes, it would have been so much more interesting. It would also have gone on until about 1 a.m., which no one in this shul wants to do.
The evening ended at 11 p.m., and we were home by midnight. We commented that Mishkan Torah was probably heading outside for Frank's midnight readings and then getting geared up for the all night sessions. Mark misses those. I used to fall asleep around 3 a.m.and remain fairly incoherent until time to drive home at 7 a.m., so I can't say I really miss it. I would have enjoyed staying up until about 1 a.m. and getting home at 2 a.m., but then it would have been hard to get up this morning at 7 to come back for this morning's service. Mishkan Torah did not have another service the morning after the all-nighter, so it's a trade off.
This morning we are heading back for the morning service. Tomorrow when we go back for the second day and Yizkor, we will also be having a picnic with kosher hot dogs. That should be fun! The rabbi made a comment about the eating of dairy foods, but one thing we have learned about our young rabbi is that he likes to eat MEAT! He said there is plenty of opportunity to eat dairy through the two days, but for the picnic he wants meat! He's funny, and he's also only 29 years old!
I hope everyone reading this blog has an enjoyable three-day Memorial Day weekend. Many of you are probably attending special Memorial Day services today or tomorrow to remember those who have died for our freedoms. One of those freedoms allows Mark and me to go to our synagogue to worship as we please and eat kosher hot dogs with our new friends. That's a very good thing. Enjoy the holiday weekend, no matter how you celebrate it.
*********
P.S. A freak snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada mountains prevented Evey and Eric from attempting their hike up White Mountain today. I confess that I was relieved to hear that, but I bet they try again some other time.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
It's been awhile. Sorry.
Except for that little post from my Kindle in the hotel room, I have been offline for several days. Sorry. That's not my usual style.
All I can say is that we were busy! And eating! And then not feeling well. Gee, is there any chance that's all related? LOL!
We had a lovely three day trip to the Space Coast, visiting Cape Canaveral National Seashore and Cocoa Beach. It was fun because we hadn't had a beach vacation for several years. The water was a bit too rough to go in for me at the National Seashore, especially since there were no life guards. It was warm enough to enjoy walking along the edge and getting splashed! That was fun. I brought home some nice shells to add to my very small collection. We also walked out on Cocoa Beach, a one block walk from the motel, but I was too tired to go swimming there because we had already spent so many hours out on the National Seashore. I told Mark that on our next visit I will definitely spend a day on Cocoa Beach. It had everything! A short walk, soft sand, lifeguards, lots of people swimming so I would have felt safe, and no unexpected drop offs under the waves. Natural dune beaches are beautiful, but there's something to be said for the groomed, guarded beaches by hotels, too.
Thursday night we made it back to Solivita in time for the movie. I didn't think it was going to be a good one. The previews made it look like a stupid slapstick comedy, not my favorite style, but it exceeded our expectations! The movie starred Matt Damon and Scarlett Johannsson (sp?) and was called We Bought a Zoo. It's actually a true story, and it also stars the most adorable little girl actress EVER. Surprisingly, I would actually recommend this movie!
Last night I felt terrible. I almost felt like I was having a heart "problem." I had pressure in my chest which began around 2 in the afternoon. I just ignored it for several hours. Around 7 p.m. I decided to take two baby aspirins from Mark's stash and started reading up on heart attack symptoms for women. I had pressure, some shortness of breath, pain in my back between my shoulder blades, fatigue. Yup, all symptoms. Mark was ready to take me to the ER, but I said no. I took my BP and it was 117/65 with a pulse of 68, all just fine. I decided to go to bed. Before I went to bed, STOP READING NOW IF SQUEAMISH, I had an unusually large bowel movement. Yeah, that felt good, and then I realized some of the pressure in my chest was gone. When I woke up, I had no symptoms left except some pain in my back between my shoulder blades, but it was milder. I had carried a lot of heavy stuff over my shoulders, a backpack and a heavy chair in a case, for quite a long way across the sand on Thursday. Gee, yeah, that could cause pain between the shoulder blades on Friday. I think that's all it was. Today I'm better, but we decided to take it easy and not go to the shul this morning.
The holiday of Shavuot begins tonight, so we we are going to shul tonight, Sunday morning, and Monday morning. I think we can be forgiven if I wanted to take it easy and skip going this morning.
The really big news is that Evey and Eric are having an incredible adventure this weekend. They drove five and a half hours from home Friday night to camp at 9,000 feet on the side of a mountain. Today they are visiting the Bristlecone Pines, also called the Methuselah trees, because they are the oldest living trees anywhere. Tomorrow they are hiking up to around 14,250 feet to the summit of White Mountain. Wow! That seems scary to me, but they are ready for it. It's a 14 mile round trip hike, ascending from about 11,500 where they can leave the car. It will be a long but exhilarating day for them. I must confess some apprehension for them about altitude sickness, but they seem to have done their homework and feel prepared They actually hiked 13 miles last weekend in preparation. Monday they are going to Lake Mono and visiting the Tufas. NO, I had NO idea what that was, but I googled it. I recommend you do the same. It's pretty interesting.
Once they drove into Yosemite last night (they had to go in one side and out the other side to get to their campground), they were completely out of cell phone coverage for the rest of the time. I must confess that until I get a text or email or phone call Monday night knowing that they are safely down off the mountain and back into civilization I will be feeling a bit ill at ease.
Maybe stress over their trip caused my chest pains! LOL!
Enjoy the pictures of the beaches, the motel, and Bella, the laziest dog in the world.
All I can say is that we were busy! And eating! And then not feeling well. Gee, is there any chance that's all related? LOL!
We had a lovely three day trip to the Space Coast, visiting Cape Canaveral National Seashore and Cocoa Beach. It was fun because we hadn't had a beach vacation for several years. The water was a bit too rough to go in for me at the National Seashore, especially since there were no life guards. It was warm enough to enjoy walking along the edge and getting splashed! That was fun. I brought home some nice shells to add to my very small collection. We also walked out on Cocoa Beach, a one block walk from the motel, but I was too tired to go swimming there because we had already spent so many hours out on the National Seashore. I told Mark that on our next visit I will definitely spend a day on Cocoa Beach. It had everything! A short walk, soft sand, lifeguards, lots of people swimming so I would have felt safe, and no unexpected drop offs under the waves. Natural dune beaches are beautiful, but there's something to be said for the groomed, guarded beaches by hotels, too.
Thursday night we made it back to Solivita in time for the movie. I didn't think it was going to be a good one. The previews made it look like a stupid slapstick comedy, not my favorite style, but it exceeded our expectations! The movie starred Matt Damon and Scarlett Johannsson (sp?) and was called We Bought a Zoo. It's actually a true story, and it also stars the most adorable little girl actress EVER. Surprisingly, I would actually recommend this movie!
Last night I felt terrible. I almost felt like I was having a heart "problem." I had pressure in my chest which began around 2 in the afternoon. I just ignored it for several hours. Around 7 p.m. I decided to take two baby aspirins from Mark's stash and started reading up on heart attack symptoms for women. I had pressure, some shortness of breath, pain in my back between my shoulder blades, fatigue. Yup, all symptoms. Mark was ready to take me to the ER, but I said no. I took my BP and it was 117/65 with a pulse of 68, all just fine. I decided to go to bed. Before I went to bed, STOP READING NOW IF SQUEAMISH, I had an unusually large bowel movement. Yeah, that felt good, and then I realized some of the pressure in my chest was gone. When I woke up, I had no symptoms left except some pain in my back between my shoulder blades, but it was milder. I had carried a lot of heavy stuff over my shoulders, a backpack and a heavy chair in a case, for quite a long way across the sand on Thursday. Gee, yeah, that could cause pain between the shoulder blades on Friday. I think that's all it was. Today I'm better, but we decided to take it easy and not go to the shul this morning.
The holiday of Shavuot begins tonight, so we we are going to shul tonight, Sunday morning, and Monday morning. I think we can be forgiven if I wanted to take it easy and skip going this morning.
The really big news is that Evey and Eric are having an incredible adventure this weekend. They drove five and a half hours from home Friday night to camp at 9,000 feet on the side of a mountain. Today they are visiting the Bristlecone Pines, also called the Methuselah trees, because they are the oldest living trees anywhere. Tomorrow they are hiking up to around 14,250 feet to the summit of White Mountain. Wow! That seems scary to me, but they are ready for it. It's a 14 mile round trip hike, ascending from about 11,500 where they can leave the car. It will be a long but exhilarating day for them. I must confess some apprehension for them about altitude sickness, but they seem to have done their homework and feel prepared They actually hiked 13 miles last weekend in preparation. Monday they are going to Lake Mono and visiting the Tufas. NO, I had NO idea what that was, but I googled it. I recommend you do the same. It's pretty interesting.
Once they drove into Yosemite last night (they had to go in one side and out the other side to get to their campground), they were completely out of cell phone coverage for the rest of the time. I must confess that until I get a text or email or phone call Monday night knowing that they are safely down off the mountain and back into civilization I will be feeling a bit ill at ease.
Maybe stress over their trip caused my chest pains! LOL!
Enjoy the pictures of the beaches, the motel, and Bella, the laziest dog in the world.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
WiFi works here!
I'm at a cozy little motel in Cocoa Beach where my Kindle and the WiFi are getting along nicely. Yay for them.
Mark got a reasonable check up at the eye doctor this morning. There was a nevus, which he knew he had for years. He never had the chance to have it looked at twice by the same doctor, so this time he made another appointment wth the same guy in February to be sure it doesn't change . He also has some small spots on the retina from the years of diabetes. The doctor said he wasn't too bad off considering his 30+ years as a diabetic.
We spent the late afternoon by the motel pool, and enjoyed some wine, beer, and pina coladas. Dinner was blackened mahi mahi, delivered to our room. Sweet.
The motel has a live in dog named Bella that was happy to get petted and sleep on the chaise next to me for awhile. I really liked that.
Tomorrow we will go out on the beach.
Mark got a reasonable check up at the eye doctor this morning. There was a nevus, which he knew he had for years. He never had the chance to have it looked at twice by the same doctor, so this time he made another appointment wth the same guy in February to be sure it doesn't change . He also has some small spots on the retina from the years of diabetes. The doctor said he wasn't too bad off considering his 30+ years as a diabetic.
We spent the late afternoon by the motel pool, and enjoyed some wine, beer, and pina coladas. Dinner was blackened mahi mahi, delivered to our room. Sweet.
The motel has a live in dog named Bella that was happy to get petted and sleep on the chaise next to me for awhile. I really liked that.
Tomorrow we will go out on the beach.
Little Trip/No Laptop
Once again I am going to take a three day, two night trip and leave the laptop at home. The last one was at the NARFE convention two weeks ago. I fully expected the Kindle to log onto the hotel's free WiFi, but it did not. I have decided to give it one more try this week, hoping it was that particular hotel and not the Kindle. Today, Mark and I are heading off for a little beach vacation at Cocoa Beach. Mark sometimes stayed there when he visited Kennedy Space Center for work, but I have never been there. I like beaches, but I haven't been to one in several years. I hope it's going to be fun. We'll see.
The morning is starting off with an appointment for Mark at the opthamologist for a diabetic retina check. He's seeing the same eye doctor that I went to me when my retina tore. I like him a lot, so I think Mark will like him, too. No one likes being dilated and having a super bright light shined in the eye, but it's just one of those things that you have to do now and then. Mark really needs a regular eye exam and new glasses, so this is the first step towards that goal.
Speaking of goals, I checked one off my list yesterday. I cleaned out my walk in closet. It took over two hours, which surprised me! Mark had a box of shoes still in the den because there was no place to unpack them in our shared closet. My shoes had sort of taken over the entire floor. There was also a large pile of sweat shirts and sweaters that I had put in there because I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them when we first moved. I'm over it now!
I threw away two pairs of shoes, and Mark through out four pairs. His box yielded only two pairs of winter boots, one pair of dress shoes, and one pair of bedroom slippers. Not a lot once he tossed the other four pairs. Now all of those shoes plus his sneakers, flip flops, and two pairs of usual cowboy boots easily fit on the floor of the closet.
I have a shoe box that holds 12 pairs of shoes, although I double packed two of the slots, so there are 14 pairs in there. Total I have 18 pairs of shoes, but I threw out two pairs AND I put 12 pairs in a bag to give to Goodwill. I had no idea that I actually had 32 pairs of shoes cluttering up the floor of that closet. In addition, I put a lot of clothes in a box to give away. I didn't really count them, but I know there are four pairs of pants that were Mark's that never even had the tags taken off. I bought them for him years ago, but he put them away and forgot about them. He finally tried them on a few weeks ago, and they don't fit! Whatever. Now Goodwill is getting them.
I kept only two pull over sweaters and a few sweatshirts for those unexpectedly cool Florida winters or trips up north. I also kept a small stack of what I call "souvenir" t-shirts. These are shirts that may or may not fit me but have sentimental value. Still, the closet is MUCH tidier and MUCH nicer now. I was proud of myself for getting that job done.
Mah Jongg went well. I won two hands, one of them a closed hand I had never done before. Nice. In the evening we went to see a local high school production of "Sound of Music." Pretty nice!
This morning I got on the scale even though it's not official until tomorrow. I'm actually down a little bit. If I don't blow it today, and that's a big IF when we will be eating lunch and dinner our, I might show a loss for the week. This morning I appear to be down two pounds from the last time I logged it in. I'm going to try really hard to eat sensibly in the restaurants today because I'd LOVE to write down a loss. I packed the scale, and if the Kindle will log onto the WiFi, I will blog about it tomorrow from the hotel. Wish me luck!
The morning is starting off with an appointment for Mark at the opthamologist for a diabetic retina check. He's seeing the same eye doctor that I went to me when my retina tore. I like him a lot, so I think Mark will like him, too. No one likes being dilated and having a super bright light shined in the eye, but it's just one of those things that you have to do now and then. Mark really needs a regular eye exam and new glasses, so this is the first step towards that goal.
Speaking of goals, I checked one off my list yesterday. I cleaned out my walk in closet. It took over two hours, which surprised me! Mark had a box of shoes still in the den because there was no place to unpack them in our shared closet. My shoes had sort of taken over the entire floor. There was also a large pile of sweat shirts and sweaters that I had put in there because I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them when we first moved. I'm over it now!
I threw away two pairs of shoes, and Mark through out four pairs. His box yielded only two pairs of winter boots, one pair of dress shoes, and one pair of bedroom slippers. Not a lot once he tossed the other four pairs. Now all of those shoes plus his sneakers, flip flops, and two pairs of usual cowboy boots easily fit on the floor of the closet.
I have a shoe box that holds 12 pairs of shoes, although I double packed two of the slots, so there are 14 pairs in there. Total I have 18 pairs of shoes, but I threw out two pairs AND I put 12 pairs in a bag to give to Goodwill. I had no idea that I actually had 32 pairs of shoes cluttering up the floor of that closet. In addition, I put a lot of clothes in a box to give away. I didn't really count them, but I know there are four pairs of pants that were Mark's that never even had the tags taken off. I bought them for him years ago, but he put them away and forgot about them. He finally tried them on a few weeks ago, and they don't fit! Whatever. Now Goodwill is getting them.
I kept only two pull over sweaters and a few sweatshirts for those unexpectedly cool Florida winters or trips up north. I also kept a small stack of what I call "souvenir" t-shirts. These are shirts that may or may not fit me but have sentimental value. Still, the closet is MUCH tidier and MUCH nicer now. I was proud of myself for getting that job done.
Mah Jongg went well. I won two hands, one of them a closed hand I had never done before. Nice. In the evening we went to see a local high school production of "Sound of Music." Pretty nice!
This morning I got on the scale even though it's not official until tomorrow. I'm actually down a little bit. If I don't blow it today, and that's a big IF when we will be eating lunch and dinner our, I might show a loss for the week. This morning I appear to be down two pounds from the last time I logged it in. I'm going to try really hard to eat sensibly in the restaurants today because I'd LOVE to write down a loss. I packed the scale, and if the Kindle will log onto the WiFi, I will blog about it tomorrow from the hotel. Wish me luck!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Micky Dolenz
Yesterday was awesome. We started off by watching the Tom Hanks movie Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It was nominated for several Academy Awards but did not win any. It's a very intense movie, a tear-jerker, but I would highly recommend it.
Then we had a lovely salad bar lunch at the Solivita Marketplace Bistro where we ran into people we knew. Barb and Bill H. joined us at our table. I love running into people we know when we go to the Village area. It's really very "small town like" here.
After lunch we drove to Epcot for the Micky Dolenz concert. He is filling in and paying tribute to the memory of Davy Jones, who was scheduled to be the final performer in the Spring and Garden Festival Flower Power concert series. Micky Dolenz did an outstanding job! We thoroughly enjoyed the concert. He had huge audiences for all nine performances. We had heard that the lines went back as far as Mexico, so we got there pretty early. We got in line in Italy, but they seated us early. We got a nice seat in the shade and waited an hour there instead of standing in the sun. That was nice of them.
The show was awesome! Mark actually wrote down the set list, so for those Monkees fans who might be reading this, here is what he sang:
Not Your Stepping Stone
That Was Then, This is Now
She
Last Train to Clarksville
Johnny B Goode, his original audition piece for The Monkees
Different Drum, a hit for Linda Ronstadt, written by Mike Nesmith, and sung today by Mickey's sister Coco
Daydream Believer, which he dedicated to Davy Jones
Little Bit Me
Pleasant Valley Sunday
I'm a Believer
He joked that The Monkees sang "I'm a Believer"long before Shrek! True!
For a man who is now 67 years old, his voice sounded great and his energy level was amazing. Great day. And on the way out, Mark bought me a new jigsaw puzzle at Mouse Gears. Yay! A Disney jigsaw puzzle.
Today I am going to re-organize the bedroom closet. It's a chore that I'm not looking forward to doing, but I've been thinking about it for awhile. I guess today will be the day. At least at 1 p.m. I can stop working and go play Mah Jongg. Tonight a local high school is bringing its production of Sound of Music to our ballroom, so we will go see that. I hope it's as good as the other high school's jazz band performance last Monday.
We are going out of town tomorrow. We're not going far, just over to Cocoa Beach, but I've never been there. I'm looking forward to a few days on the beach! I am taking the scale with me for Wednesday morning, but I'm not expecting anything good. I have not really behaved. I ate too much cheese and croutons at the salad bar for lunch, and I polished off the rest of a jar of peanut butter for a late night snack. I've gone over my daily calorie limit almost every day this week, so I expect a weight gain. Sigh. I've lot my momentum again. Today should be good. I'm not eating any meals out and the peanut butter jar has been emptied. There's really nothing in the house to binge on, so I guess today will be a good one. Then I'll be eating lunch and dinner out tomorrow before the weigh-in. I'll do my best and let you know.
Then we had a lovely salad bar lunch at the Solivita Marketplace Bistro where we ran into people we knew. Barb and Bill H. joined us at our table. I love running into people we know when we go to the Village area. It's really very "small town like" here.
After lunch we drove to Epcot for the Micky Dolenz concert. He is filling in and paying tribute to the memory of Davy Jones, who was scheduled to be the final performer in the Spring and Garden Festival Flower Power concert series. Micky Dolenz did an outstanding job! We thoroughly enjoyed the concert. He had huge audiences for all nine performances. We had heard that the lines went back as far as Mexico, so we got there pretty early. We got in line in Italy, but they seated us early. We got a nice seat in the shade and waited an hour there instead of standing in the sun. That was nice of them.
The show was awesome! Mark actually wrote down the set list, so for those Monkees fans who might be reading this, here is what he sang:
Not Your Stepping Stone
That Was Then, This is Now
She
Last Train to Clarksville
Johnny B Goode, his original audition piece for The Monkees
Different Drum, a hit for Linda Ronstadt, written by Mike Nesmith, and sung today by Mickey's sister Coco
Daydream Believer, which he dedicated to Davy Jones
Little Bit Me
Pleasant Valley Sunday
I'm a Believer
He joked that The Monkees sang "I'm a Believer"long before Shrek! True!
For a man who is now 67 years old, his voice sounded great and his energy level was amazing. Great day. And on the way out, Mark bought me a new jigsaw puzzle at Mouse Gears. Yay! A Disney jigsaw puzzle.
Today I am going to re-organize the bedroom closet. It's a chore that I'm not looking forward to doing, but I've been thinking about it for awhile. I guess today will be the day. At least at 1 p.m. I can stop working and go play Mah Jongg. Tonight a local high school is bringing its production of Sound of Music to our ballroom, so we will go see that. I hope it's as good as the other high school's jazz band performance last Monday.
We are going out of town tomorrow. We're not going far, just over to Cocoa Beach, but I've never been there. I'm looking forward to a few days on the beach! I am taking the scale with me for Wednesday morning, but I'm not expecting anything good. I have not really behaved. I ate too much cheese and croutons at the salad bar for lunch, and I polished off the rest of a jar of peanut butter for a late night snack. I've gone over my daily calorie limit almost every day this week, so I expect a weight gain. Sigh. I've lot my momentum again. Today should be good. I'm not eating any meals out and the peanut butter jar has been emptied. There's really nothing in the house to binge on, so I guess today will be a good one. Then I'll be eating lunch and dinner out tomorrow before the weigh-in. I'll do my best and let you know.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Boiled Peanuts
In August of 2010 when we made several trips to and from Florida to Maryland, Mark and I saw a can of boiled peanuts in a convenience store where we had stopped for gas and bathrooms. It was probably in South Carolina, but it could have been Georgia. I had never had them, so I got the can. It even had a pop top, so we didn't need a can opener.
Once we got back on I-95, Mark opened the can. Boy, were we surprised! First of all, it was full of liquid. We hadn't seen that coming. He tried to use the lid to drain the liquid out the window. NOT A GOOD IDEA at 75 mph! The liquid flew back and landed all over the window off the back seat. What a mess! Then we saw the nasty looking peanuts inside the can, in the shells, soft and squishy, very messy. We had no paper towels or tissues or anything to help with them, so he immediately put the can and its entire contents (minus the liquid splattered on the window) in our little plastic trash bag.
End of story? I don't think so!
We later began to see that boiled peanuts are EVERYWHERE in the south. In fact, in South Carolina they are considered a real delicacy, maybe even a state food! I noticed you could get them hot out of a cauldron at most rest areas. I couldn't imagine why. How are you going to eat something hot and liquidy when you are about to go back on I-95?
Once we moved to Florida, we continued to see them along the side of the road on the way to Walt Disney World. People actually stop and get them! Along with oranges and gator jerky! Tourists, gotta love' em.
So imagine my surprise when about nine months ago, Mark brought home a sealed bag of boiled peanuts from the grocery store. It had instructions for microwaving them to make them piping hot before eating. We put it in the pantry and looked at it every time we opened the door. One or two times I said that when we had company we should break them out and share them, but we never did.
Last night, at long last, we microwaved our bag of boiled peanuts! Wow! That is the LAST time Mark and I ever plan to eat those things. The bag was huge, so we ate about half of it between the two of us and the rest went right in the trash, even though it said they could be refrigerated and reheated, or even frozen and reheated. We figured why bother? Neither of us liked them that much.
They did prove one thing. Peanuts ARE legumes, not nuts. A boiled peanut is very much like eating a navy bean or a pinto bean. It has the soft texture of a thoroughly cooked bean and a very bean-like taste; there is nothing even remotely nutty about it. If you shelled them, put them in a bowl, and served them to someone with a spoon and a blindfold, they would think they were eating a bowl of beans.
They are also incredibly salty. We read online that they are boiled in large quantities of heavily salted water for four or more hours. The salt had permeated every molecule of the legume. The taste wasn't that bad. I liked them more than Mark did, but eating them is a salty, tedious, messy proposition. Remember, they are IN the shell and you don't eat the shell. Yes, you have to pick up a hot, squishy peanut and open it. Then the soggy legume inside doesn't just drop out like a roasted peanut. Well, occasionally one did, but mostly we had to pick it out, sometimes in pieces. My hands were a MESS! Sometimes the shell was empty. Sometimes the legume inside just looked too nasty to consider putting in your mouth. We probably ate about two-thirds of them and one-third just were no good.
Anyway, last night we got an education about boiled peanuts. I'm not sure why they are so popular, but then I don't like avocados, salad dressing, beer, or ketchup either and people think that's weird. Maybe I am weird. Maybe you need to be raised in the south to appreciate them. Still, I'm glad we tried them and that that this time we weren't moving at 75 mph on I-95.
Once we got back on I-95, Mark opened the can. Boy, were we surprised! First of all, it was full of liquid. We hadn't seen that coming. He tried to use the lid to drain the liquid out the window. NOT A GOOD IDEA at 75 mph! The liquid flew back and landed all over the window off the back seat. What a mess! Then we saw the nasty looking peanuts inside the can, in the shells, soft and squishy, very messy. We had no paper towels or tissues or anything to help with them, so he immediately put the can and its entire contents (minus the liquid splattered on the window) in our little plastic trash bag.
End of story? I don't think so!
We later began to see that boiled peanuts are EVERYWHERE in the south. In fact, in South Carolina they are considered a real delicacy, maybe even a state food! I noticed you could get them hot out of a cauldron at most rest areas. I couldn't imagine why. How are you going to eat something hot and liquidy when you are about to go back on I-95?
Once we moved to Florida, we continued to see them along the side of the road on the way to Walt Disney World. People actually stop and get them! Along with oranges and gator jerky! Tourists, gotta love' em.
So imagine my surprise when about nine months ago, Mark brought home a sealed bag of boiled peanuts from the grocery store. It had instructions for microwaving them to make them piping hot before eating. We put it in the pantry and looked at it every time we opened the door. One or two times I said that when we had company we should break them out and share them, but we never did.
Last night, at long last, we microwaved our bag of boiled peanuts! Wow! That is the LAST time Mark and I ever plan to eat those things. The bag was huge, so we ate about half of it between the two of us and the rest went right in the trash, even though it said they could be refrigerated and reheated, or even frozen and reheated. We figured why bother? Neither of us liked them that much.
They did prove one thing. Peanuts ARE legumes, not nuts. A boiled peanut is very much like eating a navy bean or a pinto bean. It has the soft texture of a thoroughly cooked bean and a very bean-like taste; there is nothing even remotely nutty about it. If you shelled them, put them in a bowl, and served them to someone with a spoon and a blindfold, they would think they were eating a bowl of beans.
They are also incredibly salty. We read online that they are boiled in large quantities of heavily salted water for four or more hours. The salt had permeated every molecule of the legume. The taste wasn't that bad. I liked them more than Mark did, but eating them is a salty, tedious, messy proposition. Remember, they are IN the shell and you don't eat the shell. Yes, you have to pick up a hot, squishy peanut and open it. Then the soggy legume inside doesn't just drop out like a roasted peanut. Well, occasionally one did, but mostly we had to pick it out, sometimes in pieces. My hands were a MESS! Sometimes the shell was empty. Sometimes the legume inside just looked too nasty to consider putting in your mouth. We probably ate about two-thirds of them and one-third just were no good.
Anyway, last night we got an education about boiled peanuts. I'm not sure why they are so popular, but then I don't like avocados, salad dressing, beer, or ketchup either and people think that's weird. Maybe I am weird. Maybe you need to be raised in the south to appreciate them. Still, I'm glad we tried them and that that this time we weren't moving at 75 mph on I-95.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Warhorse
Last night Mark and I went to the ballroom for the free movie. It was Warhorse, a movie that Mark had already seen but I had not. He went with me, not thinking he would watch it all over again, but it was just THAT good. He sat riveted and watched it a second time completely through. It was such an intense movie. I know it got a lot of Oscar nominations, but I can't believe it didn't win even one. I was also VERY glad it had a happy ending! If you haven't seen it yet, I would strongly recommend it.
Last Thursday's free movie was the recent Tom Hanks movie, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. We weren't able to go because we were at the NARFE banquet instead. We have decided to rent it Sunday morning at home and watch it. I suspect it will be pretty intense as well but in a different way. I like Tom Hanks, so I just have to see it.
I'd love to hear comments from people who have seen these two movies, but don't give away too much about the Hanks movie, please!
There was a good hard soaking rain most of the day on Wednesday, and we really needed it. A pretty good rain hit Tuesday night as well, but the ponds around here are still looking kind of sad. This past winter and spring were especially dry. I hope we get a lot of rain this summer! Not good for the tourists at Disney, but great for our land.
Yesterday I got an ocular migraine around 11 a.m. while I was sitting in my cancer support group meeting. It only lasted about half an hour, but I did get fatigue and a headache afterwards. It kind of made the rest of the day feel sluggish. I never felt very well for the rest of the day, which is probably why I never bothered to write a blog yesterday. I hope today goes better. I'm sure having a very slow start to the day so far. It's already 10:15 and I haven't even showered or dressed yet. I have been reading, watching TV, and playing on the computer, which includes working on this blog. Yikes! I had better try to get myself together. At the very least today, I plan to go to the gym for the weight routines and later go to the pool for some swimming. I hope Mark can finally get in the pool today. It's been nearly three weeks since his biopsies. I think the sites look pretty healed up, and he no longer wears band-aids on them. It's always more fun to swim when he can join me.
Enjoy your day!
Last Thursday's free movie was the recent Tom Hanks movie, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. We weren't able to go because we were at the NARFE banquet instead. We have decided to rent it Sunday morning at home and watch it. I suspect it will be pretty intense as well but in a different way. I like Tom Hanks, so I just have to see it.
I'd love to hear comments from people who have seen these two movies, but don't give away too much about the Hanks movie, please!
There was a good hard soaking rain most of the day on Wednesday, and we really needed it. A pretty good rain hit Tuesday night as well, but the ponds around here are still looking kind of sad. This past winter and spring were especially dry. I hope we get a lot of rain this summer! Not good for the tourists at Disney, but great for our land.
Yesterday I got an ocular migraine around 11 a.m. while I was sitting in my cancer support group meeting. It only lasted about half an hour, but I did get fatigue and a headache afterwards. It kind of made the rest of the day feel sluggish. I never felt very well for the rest of the day, which is probably why I never bothered to write a blog yesterday. I hope today goes better. I'm sure having a very slow start to the day so far. It's already 10:15 and I haven't even showered or dressed yet. I have been reading, watching TV, and playing on the computer, which includes working on this blog. Yikes! I had better try to get myself together. At the very least today, I plan to go to the gym for the weight routines and later go to the pool for some swimming. I hope Mark can finally get in the pool today. It's been nearly three weeks since his biopsies. I think the sites look pretty healed up, and he no longer wears band-aids on them. It's always more fun to swim when he can join me.
Enjoy your day!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Fun with Barb and Al
After golf, we went to the NYPD pizza parlor near our house. I wanted Barbara to say if it was close to the real NY pizza or not. She agreed it was great, but she said it wasn't exactly like real NY pizza. I wouldn't know because I don't think I ever had any! LOL! Mark and I split a medium extra cheese pizza and so did Barb and Al. We had a coupon for buy one get one free, so we split the very reasonable check.
We took Barbara and Al back to our house for some lively conversation, delicious wine, and not-too-sinful desserts. They had not been to our house before, so it was fun showing off the house and our Disney items. Compared to their house we have NOTHING Disney in our house. LOL! I have never seen a more Disneyfied house than theirs. It's amazing.
I think the picture of me stuffing my face with the first of three pieces of pizza explains my Wednesday Weigh-in quite well. This morning I'm up two and a half pounds to 252.5. This past week included two days of the NARFE convention with the two banquets we attended, Mother's Day brunch, dinner out Monday at the Bistro, and last night's pizza and eclair binge. Let's not forget the bottle of white zin that Barb and I polished off together.
Since we had pizza Monday and pizza Tuesday and Mark's shiritake noodle spaghetti planned for tonight, I told Mark that we should continue the trend and have an "All Italian" week. Thursday we are planning our usual dinner out before this week's movie (War Horse, can't wait!) and I planned to get eggplant rollitini, scrumptious. It's also FULL of calories, so maybe I should rethink this "All Italian" thing!
This week should be better. We do have that dinner out Thursday night to get through, plus we are going out of town again for a brief three day two night trip to Cocoa Beach on Tuesday. I'm still planning to get a ton of exercise in this week, so maybe I can undo this week's damage. Maybe I'll skip that eggplant Thursday night, as well.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Something new I have discovered
Every now and then a favorite website changes things, and it's not always viewed as an improvement. Anyone who uses Facebook understands what I mean. Those using Google for email or searches have also seen it make changes. Recently the blogspot website that I use to host my blog has made changes, too.
When I first started in the fall of 2009, there were limited ways it could look. After about a year, they changed things so that there seemed to be unlimited ways to make it look. About six months ago, they changed it again! If you remember the original blog, you know that I did take advantage of the second round of options. I changed the arrangement of things and the colors. When the next wave came by, I looked at it for awhile and then decided to ignore the new choices.
Well, now they've done it again. About a month ago, when I clicked to write a new blog post, it looked different. What? It took me a few minutes to figure out how to do it. I wasn't sure I liked it, but it wasn't changing anything about the final product or what you as a reader see, so I just got used to the new way it made me write and post a blog. Now I'm used to it and it's fine. It also changed the way I could add pictures. This was actually a good thing. It is now easier and faster to add pictures. I can add a bunch all at one time without having to go to each picture separately. It also adds them at the speed of light, whereas before it was pretty slow to upload each picture. So in general, I thought this new round of changes was pretty good.
A couple of days ago I noticed there were some more changes that I had not noticed originally. Again, these are things that only I see as the "owner" of the blog and do not affect the reader's experience. It will now tell me how many times each blog post has been "viewed," how many total views I have per page, per day, per week, and for all time. And it tells me what countries these views come from. These are the biggest shockers of all!!
So today I'd like to share some of these interesting stats with you and see if you are as surprised as I was.
It counts the number of times each blog is "viewed." I'm sure they say viewed because they don't know if you really read it or not.
Well, there were 48 blogs in 2009 and 42 in 2010 that were NEVER viewed! I guess not even Mark bothered to look at those. LOL! Beginning around April or May of 2010 EVERY page has been viewed at least twice. Interesting.
Top 10 all time HIGHEST viewed blog posts:
1. 355 views, written on 4/20/11 "I'm officially a SURVIVOR!"
2. 134 views, written on 12/19/10 "Fighting C Diff"
3. 130 views, written on 8/10/10 "Brief Blog"
4. 129 views, written on 7/25/10 "Today is the DAY!"
5. 79 views, written on 11/11/10 "Another guest blog"
6. 74 views, written on 12/16/10 "Middle of the Night blog"
7. 66 views, written on 7/22/11 "Flexi-Touch"
8. 66 views, written on 9/30/10 "Say YES to Chemo"
9. 61 views, written on 10/10/10 "UPDATED: Good times bad times and blogging on Breast Cancer"
10. 53 views, written on 11/12/10 "Not Quite a Weekend at the Ritz"
Where the pageviews come from (meaning the number of computers used):
US 260
Ukraine 19
Russia 11
United Kingdom 4
Slovenia 4
Germany 3
India 1
Morocco 1
These countries were big shockers. Officially, I have 20 "followers" and I know of several other people who might be reading it. If you asked me, I would say no more than 35 people ever read this. I guess I am wrong about that!
Types of computers and programs used to view it:
Internet Explore 40% Firefox 30% Safari 15% and others
Windows 70% Mac 23% iPhone 5% and others
It also tracks the number of comments made on each post. I don't get a lot of comments. Just a quick scan of that stat seemed to show that I never had a post make it into a double digit number of comments, and the vast majority have no comment at all. That's ok because I get lots of private comments through emails, texts, and phone calls.
So that's my blog for today. I guess tomorrow I can check to see if anyone "viewed" it! LOL!!
When I first started in the fall of 2009, there were limited ways it could look. After about a year, they changed things so that there seemed to be unlimited ways to make it look. About six months ago, they changed it again! If you remember the original blog, you know that I did take advantage of the second round of options. I changed the arrangement of things and the colors. When the next wave came by, I looked at it for awhile and then decided to ignore the new choices.
Well, now they've done it again. About a month ago, when I clicked to write a new blog post, it looked different. What? It took me a few minutes to figure out how to do it. I wasn't sure I liked it, but it wasn't changing anything about the final product or what you as a reader see, so I just got used to the new way it made me write and post a blog. Now I'm used to it and it's fine. It also changed the way I could add pictures. This was actually a good thing. It is now easier and faster to add pictures. I can add a bunch all at one time without having to go to each picture separately. It also adds them at the speed of light, whereas before it was pretty slow to upload each picture. So in general, I thought this new round of changes was pretty good.
A couple of days ago I noticed there were some more changes that I had not noticed originally. Again, these are things that only I see as the "owner" of the blog and do not affect the reader's experience. It will now tell me how many times each blog post has been "viewed," how many total views I have per page, per day, per week, and for all time. And it tells me what countries these views come from. These are the biggest shockers of all!!
So today I'd like to share some of these interesting stats with you and see if you are as surprised as I was.
It counts the number of times each blog is "viewed." I'm sure they say viewed because they don't know if you really read it or not.
Well, there were 48 blogs in 2009 and 42 in 2010 that were NEVER viewed! I guess not even Mark bothered to look at those. LOL! Beginning around April or May of 2010 EVERY page has been viewed at least twice. Interesting.
Top 10 all time HIGHEST viewed blog posts:
1. 355 views, written on 4/20/11 "I'm officially a SURVIVOR!"
2. 134 views, written on 12/19/10 "Fighting C Diff"
3. 130 views, written on 8/10/10 "Brief Blog"
4. 129 views, written on 7/25/10 "Today is the DAY!"
5. 79 views, written on 11/11/10 "Another guest blog"
6. 74 views, written on 12/16/10 "Middle of the Night blog"
7. 66 views, written on 7/22/11 "Flexi-Touch"
8. 66 views, written on 9/30/10 "Say YES to Chemo"
9. 61 views, written on 10/10/10 "UPDATED: Good times bad times and blogging on Breast Cancer"
10. 53 views, written on 11/12/10 "Not Quite a Weekend at the Ritz"
Where the pageviews come from (meaning the number of computers used):
US 260
Ukraine 19
Russia 11
United Kingdom 4
Slovenia 4
Germany 3
India 1
Morocco 1
These countries were big shockers. Officially, I have 20 "followers" and I know of several other people who might be reading it. If you asked me, I would say no more than 35 people ever read this. I guess I am wrong about that!
Types of computers and programs used to view it:
Internet Explore 40% Firefox 30% Safari 15% and others
Windows 70% Mac 23% iPhone 5% and others
It also tracks the number of comments made on each post. I don't get a lot of comments. Just a quick scan of that stat seemed to show that I never had a post make it into a double digit number of comments, and the vast majority have no comment at all. That's ok because I get lots of private comments through emails, texts, and phone calls.
So that's my blog for today. I guess tomorrow I can check to see if anyone "viewed" it! LOL!!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Great Mother's Day and SSI app
Here are some pictures from my awesome Mother's Day! Best of all was that both Lowell and Evey phoned me. I really treasured those calls.
First was a picture of my cards and the wedding picture from Evey. Then we went to the brunch, where Mark won the centerpiece. We went to see Dark Shadows and then on to Epcot where we heard Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits perform. His voice is still fantastic! Today I got a delicious box of chocolate strawberries and apples from Lowell. Yummy! I hope everyone had as great a day as I had.
This morning, we went to a lecture on the status of our new Poinciana Medical Center. It is a 30 bed hospital and ER opening in the summer of 2013 directly across the street from the main Solivita entrance. What I learned this morning is that it is being built with the capability of expansion from 2 floors to 5 floors and a tower, which will increase the beds from 30 to 150. Wow! I didn't know that. If it is successful and operating regularly at capacity, they will begin expansion fairly quickly. The lady making the presentation seemed to think that the expansion could come within five years after opening. That is just amazing.
There is also a medical building for doctor's offices coming shortly after the hospital opens. I hope some of my doctors move in there! That would be convenient.
The big news today is that I applied for my Social Security Benefits! I'm eligible to collect this summer, so the online registration form said they would begin on September 20, if all goes through as it should. Of course I could collect about $500 more per month if I waited until I was 66 and $1100 more per month if I waited until I'm 70. I don't think that's important. I don't count on living until those ages. Because Mark worked only for the federal government and never paid into SSI (and won't collect any benefits either), he is also not eligible to get any income from my SSI when I die. I figured we might as well collect it right now.
I opened a new savings account today just for these deposits. All that money, minus some for federal income tax, will go directly to that account and never be touched for two years. Then I hope I have enough saved for a trip for me, Mark, Lowell, Emily, Evey, and Eric to go to the Disney Aulani resort in Oahu for five days to celebrate my 64th birthday. I plan to pay their airfare and hotel bills with the savings. Mark plans to cover our meals and tours on Oahu. How fun will it be to vacation with the family like that? I can't wait!
This morning, we went to a lecture on the status of our new Poinciana Medical Center. It is a 30 bed hospital and ER opening in the summer of 2013 directly across the street from the main Solivita entrance. What I learned this morning is that it is being built with the capability of expansion from 2 floors to 5 floors and a tower, which will increase the beds from 30 to 150. Wow! I didn't know that. If it is successful and operating regularly at capacity, they will begin expansion fairly quickly. The lady making the presentation seemed to think that the expansion could come within five years after opening. That is just amazing.
There is also a medical building for doctor's offices coming shortly after the hospital opens. I hope some of my doctors move in there! That would be convenient.
The big news today is that I applied for my Social Security Benefits! I'm eligible to collect this summer, so the online registration form said they would begin on September 20, if all goes through as it should. Of course I could collect about $500 more per month if I waited until I was 66 and $1100 more per month if I waited until I'm 70. I don't think that's important. I don't count on living until those ages. Because Mark worked only for the federal government and never paid into SSI (and won't collect any benefits either), he is also not eligible to get any income from my SSI when I die. I figured we might as well collect it right now.
I opened a new savings account today just for these deposits. All that money, minus some for federal income tax, will go directly to that account and never be touched for two years. Then I hope I have enough saved for a trip for me, Mark, Lowell, Emily, Evey, and Eric to go to the Disney Aulani resort in Oahu for five days to celebrate my 64th birthday. I plan to pay their airfare and hotel bills with the savings. Mark plans to cover our meals and tours on Oahu. How fun will it be to vacation with the family like that? I can't wait!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Happy Mother's Day to everyone!
This is just a quick greeting to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day. Mine is starting off great with lots of wonderful cards from Mark, Lowell, and Evey. Evey also sent me a framed portrait of her and Evey from the wedding. She knew that is what I wanted.
I am heading out to the brunch at the ballroom, then the Dark Shadows movie, and finally the Herman Hermit's performance at Epcot. Hopefully, we will be back in time for the season finales of Once Upon a Time and Desperate Housewives. It's also the three hour finale of Survivor, so Mark is taping that one for me to watch tomorrow.
Later tonight or sometime tomorrow, I will write a longer blog with pictures.
I hope everyone has a marvelous Mother's Day!
I am heading out to the brunch at the ballroom, then the Dark Shadows movie, and finally the Herman Hermit's performance at Epcot. Hopefully, we will be back in time for the season finales of Once Upon a Time and Desperate Housewives. It's also the three hour finale of Survivor, so Mark is taping that one for me to watch tomorrow.
Later tonight or sometime tomorrow, I will write a longer blog with pictures.
I hope everyone has a marvelous Mother's Day!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Pictures from the convention
We also had an iron cowboy hat rack put up on the foyer wall. Rudy bought it for Mark for a birthday present at the Plant City Strawberry Festival when he was here in February. It's really nice. I had the handyman who did the power washing also move the Tevye picture over the piano and install the hat rack on the foyer wall. It all looks nice.
Mark shopped while all that was going on. Then we spent the late afternoon at the pool. I swam, leisurely, for about thirty minutes. Mark is still worried about his boo boos from the biopsies, so he hasn't gone in the water since then. Monday will be 14 days since the biopsy. We are hoping the results will be posted by then.
Today we are going to shul; Mark is reading haftarah today. Then the afternoon will find us watching the next Disney movie in the line up, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, from 1955. This was originally aired on the Disneyland TV show in 1954 as three Sunday episodes. Just a few months later, Walt had them strung together and released as a movie. I must say that Mark and I are having a lot of fun watching the Disney movies in order! Last week we saw 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which was much better than I would have thought.
Have a great weekend everybody. I will discuss Mother's Day tomorrow! LOL! What else???
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Foiled Again
I left my laptop at home because the Kindle can now let me type a blog, or so I believed. Tuesday night I fired up the Kindle in the hotel, expecting to type a blog, but it wouldn't connect to the free WiFi. It was very weird because it said it was connected within the settings area, but it had an X next to the WiFi symbol on the home page, indicating it was not connected. I asked Mark to look at it, and he couldn't understand the schizophrenic signals either. He tried rebooting it, but the same thing happened. Once again, the Kindle let me down. It's great for reading books, but it's unreliable for doing anything else.
We had a great time Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday morning at the Florida state NARFE convention. I held my calories together really well on Tuesday, so I was disappointed Wednesday morning with a three-quarter pound weight gain. I know that 3/4s of a pound is insignificant and could be accounted for by sodium at the restaurant Tuesday night, the plus or minus 2/10 of a pound accuracy of the scale, or even the different floor tiles in the hotel bathroom. Still, I'll admit I was disappointed. I had to log in that I was 250.1 right after I had personally vowed to myself and Mark that I would NEVER be in the 250s again. Ha, never say never, right?
Wednesday I didn't even try to restrict my calories, although I did log them in as well as I could on the phone app. I think I had nearly 3,000. I'm doing better today, but I still have the formal banquet to attend.
The convention ended unexpectedly early today, so we left the hotel about 11:30 a.m. and drove home. Now we have some time to unpack and relax before getting in our formal clothes to go back for the banquet. It's really just an hour and ten minute drive to the Hilton in Altamonte Springs.
At lunch we drove over to the Altamonte Mall both Tuesday and Wednesday for a Subway lunch. On Wednesday, we also walked around the mall for awhile and shopped. It's been a long time since we did anything like that because we don't live near any indoor malls anymore. I was thrilled to find the Bath and Body Works store. I really like their shower gels and fragrances. We came out with a nice assortment for each of us. Then I went to a Claire's and bought myself three pairs of clip on earrings. I know I'm one of the few women left in the world without pierced ears. I didn't even know that clip ons were still made. For the Starliters show I wore clip ons and found that they did not hurt. The show's costumer said that it is still possible to buy them. She was right, but there wasn't much of a selection; however, they were buy two get one free, so I did! I have worn a pair ever since I got them. I rather like them now that I have short hair.
We had a great time Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday morning at the Florida state NARFE convention. I held my calories together really well on Tuesday, so I was disappointed Wednesday morning with a three-quarter pound weight gain. I know that 3/4s of a pound is insignificant and could be accounted for by sodium at the restaurant Tuesday night, the plus or minus 2/10 of a pound accuracy of the scale, or even the different floor tiles in the hotel bathroom. Still, I'll admit I was disappointed. I had to log in that I was 250.1 right after I had personally vowed to myself and Mark that I would NEVER be in the 250s again. Ha, never say never, right?
Wednesday I didn't even try to restrict my calories, although I did log them in as well as I could on the phone app. I think I had nearly 3,000. I'm doing better today, but I still have the formal banquet to attend.
The convention ended unexpectedly early today, so we left the hotel about 11:30 a.m. and drove home. Now we have some time to unpack and relax before getting in our formal clothes to go back for the banquet. It's really just an hour and ten minute drive to the Hilton in Altamonte Springs.
At lunch we drove over to the Altamonte Mall both Tuesday and Wednesday for a Subway lunch. On Wednesday, we also walked around the mall for awhile and shopped. It's been a long time since we did anything like that because we don't live near any indoor malls anymore. I was thrilled to find the Bath and Body Works store. I really like their shower gels and fragrances. We came out with a nice assortment for each of us. Then I went to a Claire's and bought myself three pairs of clip on earrings. I know I'm one of the few women left in the world without pierced ears. I didn't even know that clip ons were still made. For the Starliters show I wore clip ons and found that they did not hurt. The show's costumer said that it is still possible to buy them. She was right, but there wasn't much of a selection; however, they were buy two get one free, so I did! I have worn a pair ever since I got them. I rather like them now that I have short hair.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
NARFE and a very special discovery
Mark and I are going to head out of town today for an adventure. Granted we are only going an hour up the road to Altamonte Springs, but still, it's a trip and I packed a suitcase. We will spend two nights in a Hilton Hotel, which should be awesome.
We are delegates to the Florida state NARFE convention. Just to remind you, NARFE is the National Association for Active and Retired Federal Employees. Mark is the Vice President of the Plant City Strawberry chapter of the group. I am going to be a non-voting delegate, and Mark is the alternate voting delegate in case the president of the group cannot vote for some reason. 12 people from our chapter are going. In fact, tonight we are going out to dinner as a group. They rented a bus to take us to a restaurant and back so there can be lots of drinking. This is apparently a tradition they have maintained for awhile.
I hope it doesn't blow my calories for the week. The convention is three days and runs until very late Thursday night, following the formal banquet. That means all our meals out for three straight days, which is never my strong point. I packed my scale so that I can record my week's weight tomorrow morning. I'm pretty sure that I will have to record a gain. This morning I am down only half a pound for the week, to 248.8 from 249.3. Out of the whole week, I only went over my calories (by about 300) on Saturday night, and I exercised many times.
Here are my daily caloric totals and exercise amounts for the week:
Wednesday, 1249, 15 minute walk
Thursday, 1180, 30 minute walk
Friday, 1302, 15 minute weight lifting, 20 minutes lap swimming
Saturday, 1936, one hour of walking at Epcot
Sunday, 1293, 50 minute walk
Monday, 1235, 15 minute weight lifting, 30 minute walk
Looking at these amounts of calories and exercise, I'm actually disappointed that I'm only down a half a pound at this point, but that's the way it goes sometimes. I'm sure eating and drinking in a restaurant tonight, even if I don't go over the calorie count by some miracle, will push me over last week's amount just because of hidden sodium in restaurant food. I am not taking the laptop with me because now that the Kindle can let me type a blog, I'm going to take only it. I will use it tomorrow to post my weight and let you know what I ate last night.
Mark and I have been busily transferring our home movies from Beta and VHS tapes to digital format on memory cards. Last night we finished all the BETA tapes and found a very special one. I found my old Meese family movies. Years ago, I took all the ancient silent Super 8 movies to a store and had them put on a Beta tape with some cheesy music in the background. Mark did the same, and when we started this project, we found his family tape. I thought mine was lost! It was not in a box and had no markings on it at all. I put it in the machine expecting it to be a blank tape! Imagine our surprise when the first thing that came up was my high school graduation video! This tape covers the years from 1968 to 1974. What fun! I was just very, very happy last night because of this tape. There are priceless memories of my parents, friends, and aunts and uncles. AWESOME!!
We are delegates to the Florida state NARFE convention. Just to remind you, NARFE is the National Association for Active and Retired Federal Employees. Mark is the Vice President of the Plant City Strawberry chapter of the group. I am going to be a non-voting delegate, and Mark is the alternate voting delegate in case the president of the group cannot vote for some reason. 12 people from our chapter are going. In fact, tonight we are going out to dinner as a group. They rented a bus to take us to a restaurant and back so there can be lots of drinking. This is apparently a tradition they have maintained for awhile.
I hope it doesn't blow my calories for the week. The convention is three days and runs until very late Thursday night, following the formal banquet. That means all our meals out for three straight days, which is never my strong point. I packed my scale so that I can record my week's weight tomorrow morning. I'm pretty sure that I will have to record a gain. This morning I am down only half a pound for the week, to 248.8 from 249.3. Out of the whole week, I only went over my calories (by about 300) on Saturday night, and I exercised many times.
Here are my daily caloric totals and exercise amounts for the week:
Wednesday, 1249, 15 minute walk
Thursday, 1180, 30 minute walk
Friday, 1302, 15 minute weight lifting, 20 minutes lap swimming
Saturday, 1936, one hour of walking at Epcot
Sunday, 1293, 50 minute walk
Monday, 1235, 15 minute weight lifting, 30 minute walk
Looking at these amounts of calories and exercise, I'm actually disappointed that I'm only down a half a pound at this point, but that's the way it goes sometimes. I'm sure eating and drinking in a restaurant tonight, even if I don't go over the calorie count by some miracle, will push me over last week's amount just because of hidden sodium in restaurant food. I am not taking the laptop with me because now that the Kindle can let me type a blog, I'm going to take only it. I will use it tomorrow to post my weight and let you know what I ate last night.
Mark and I have been busily transferring our home movies from Beta and VHS tapes to digital format on memory cards. Last night we finished all the BETA tapes and found a very special one. I found my old Meese family movies. Years ago, I took all the ancient silent Super 8 movies to a store and had them put on a Beta tape with some cheesy music in the background. Mark did the same, and when we started this project, we found his family tape. I thought mine was lost! It was not in a box and had no markings on it at all. I put it in the machine expecting it to be a blank tape! Imagine our surprise when the first thing that came up was my high school graduation video! This tape covers the years from 1968 to 1974. What fun! I was just very, very happy last night because of this tape. There are priceless memories of my parents, friends, and aunts and uncles. AWESOME!!
Monday, May 7, 2012
from kindle
Tonight my kindle installed an automatic upgrade when I logged on. I was hoping it would allow he to write a blog on it. This is my test.
Keeping up with things
I have pretty much ignored my lymphedema except for doing the manual drainage routine once in the morning. That seemed to keep it at bay, and I really felt like it was gone. I've even told people that it can spontaneously correct itself and that I seemed to be one of those lucky ones. I have given up wearing the compression sleeve and gauntlet, given up drainage 5-7 times a day, given up the 10 minute morning exercise routine, given up wrapping in bandages, given up getting in the Flexi-Touch machine once a day. There was only the once a day manual drainage routine left.
So this morning when I woke up, I could not close my fist. I could not make my hand close up without pain and the old familiar "odd stretching sensation" in the back of my hand. Hm...then I remembered I had not even done the manual drainage routine even once for the last two days.
OKAY! I guess the lymphedema is not gone. It must be just almost gone, fairly small, but still there. If I don't do the minimum thing of once-a-day manual drainage, it's going to build up that fluid. I got in the shower and did the complete routine. I also did a few of the arm exercises that I had given up. That completely took care of it. My hand felt normal and flexible with no pain. Sigh of relief!
Lesson learned: Do NOT skip the morning manual drainage routine!
On a sadder note, my Keurig coffee maker died. Sigh, yes, that's sad. I had the smallest, cheapest model for about five years. I loved it, especially at night when I wanted just one cup of decaf. It started dying on me several months ago, but I didn't want to believe it. Just when I was sure it was dead, it would work again for awhile. Denial was easy. Then the broken times were more frequent than the working times. It did not heat the water anymore. Sniff. Yes, that's sad. Last night I wrapped it in a plastic bag and gave it a proper burial, in the big trash can in the garage.
I hope I can get a new one soon. The empty spot on my kitchen counter is a sad reminder of its absence.
So this morning when I woke up, I could not close my fist. I could not make my hand close up without pain and the old familiar "odd stretching sensation" in the back of my hand. Hm...then I remembered I had not even done the manual drainage routine even once for the last two days.
OKAY! I guess the lymphedema is not gone. It must be just almost gone, fairly small, but still there. If I don't do the minimum thing of once-a-day manual drainage, it's going to build up that fluid. I got in the shower and did the complete routine. I also did a few of the arm exercises that I had given up. That completely took care of it. My hand felt normal and flexible with no pain. Sigh of relief!
Lesson learned: Do NOT skip the morning manual drainage routine!
On a sadder note, my Keurig coffee maker died. Sigh, yes, that's sad. I had the smallest, cheapest model for about five years. I loved it, especially at night when I wanted just one cup of decaf. It started dying on me several months ago, but I didn't want to believe it. Just when I was sure it was dead, it would work again for awhile. Denial was easy. Then the broken times were more frequent than the working times. It did not heat the water anymore. Sniff. Yes, that's sad. Last night I wrapped it in a plastic bag and gave it a proper burial, in the big trash can in the garage.
I hope I can get a new one soon. The empty spot on my kitchen counter is a sad reminder of its absence.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Cinco de Mayo, the day after
Later this morning we are going to go see The Avengers. Mark has been looking forward to this new movie for a long time. I'm sure it will be spectacular. Then we are eating at Subway for lunch before heading back to Epcot. Today's band is called The Orchestra. I think they are somehow loosely related to The Electric Light Orchestra from the sixties. We'll find out later, I guess. I'm also going to walk a lot and try to see the tea display in England, the spice display in Morocco, and some build-a-landscape display just past France. As long as I only eat my planned meals and snacks today and do all that walking, I think yesterday will balance out.My little armadillo friend was in the parking lot by the ballroom at Solivita on Wednesday morning. I just included it because he was so cute.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Highs and Lows
Last night I hit a low. I got an email from a dear friend, sharing the information that his wife had recently been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of uterine cancer. She had already had the complete hysterectomy and was awaiting the pathology reports for staging. The tests she had undergone earlier had already pegged the type of cancer: uterine papillary serous carcinoma. Never heard of it? Neither had I.
Only 5-10% of uterine cancers are this aggressive type. Chemo and radiation are almost always prescribed, even for the lowest stage. I was quite blown away. I was also a little angry that we had not had any heads up about what was going on. I mean to wait until four days AFTER the hysterectomy to tell us seemed wrong. We have been such good friends for so many years that I thought we should have been informed sooner. Sigh.
Today I had a high when I talked to her on the phone. She is a strong woman. She understands the seriousness of what she is facing, but she is ready to do it. I was afraid I would call and start crying, that we both would cry. That I'd be upset and lose it instead of being helpful and supportive. No worries. She was so upbeat and strong that I could hardly help but feel the same encouraging strength. She has a long road ahead of her fighting this with chemo and radiation, but she is ready to put on the gloves and come out fighting. I am proud of her, but I warned her she had better tell me EVERYTHING as it is happening. No more of this waiting for months to go by before telling me all the gory details.
I am not mentioning her name now, so if any of you reading this blog know who I'm talking about, please do not mention it in a public comment on this blog. It is her choice to keep this just among a select few for a little longer.
After talking with her this morning, I felt very upbeat and happy. Surprisingly so. Mark and I did our gym workouts and I even swam 20 minutes of laps. Nice. Then Mark surprised me by deciding to indulge in some decadent Kentucky Derby Weekend food. The bar by the pool was serving Derby Pie (chocolate walnut pie) and Mint Juleps. Since my calories were low and my exercise was high, it looked like we could split a piece of the pie and enjoy the julep. Wow! It was delicious! What a fantastic late afternoon treat! Every now and then Mark can really surprise me!
Only 5-10% of uterine cancers are this aggressive type. Chemo and radiation are almost always prescribed, even for the lowest stage. I was quite blown away. I was also a little angry that we had not had any heads up about what was going on. I mean to wait until four days AFTER the hysterectomy to tell us seemed wrong. We have been such good friends for so many years that I thought we should have been informed sooner. Sigh.
Today I had a high when I talked to her on the phone. She is a strong woman. She understands the seriousness of what she is facing, but she is ready to do it. I was afraid I would call and start crying, that we both would cry. That I'd be upset and lose it instead of being helpful and supportive. No worries. She was so upbeat and strong that I could hardly help but feel the same encouraging strength. She has a long road ahead of her fighting this with chemo and radiation, but she is ready to put on the gloves and come out fighting. I am proud of her, but I warned her she had better tell me EVERYTHING as it is happening. No more of this waiting for months to go by before telling me all the gory details.
I am not mentioning her name now, so if any of you reading this blog know who I'm talking about, please do not mention it in a public comment on this blog. It is her choice to keep this just among a select few for a little longer.
After talking with her this morning, I felt very upbeat and happy. Surprisingly so. Mark and I did our gym workouts and I even swam 20 minutes of laps. Nice. Then Mark surprised me by deciding to indulge in some decadent Kentucky Derby Weekend food. The bar by the pool was serving Derby Pie (chocolate walnut pie) and Mint Juleps. Since my calories were low and my exercise was high, it looked like we could split a piece of the pie and enjoy the julep. Wow! It was delicious! What a fantastic late afternoon treat! Every now and then Mark can really surprise me!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Picnic Time!
Last night I had eight people come to the choir: 4 sopranos, 2 altos, 1 tenor, 1 bass Wow! Pretty impressive. I also gave the cantor one of the binders, so I passed out 9 of the 12 binders. Not too shabby. We worked on the two rounds because I had no piano or keyboard. There is a piano in the back of a big storage closet, but it's buried under a lot of tables and things. Also I was told it hasn't been used in over a decade, so even if we got it out, it probably would need a good tuning. The tuning would probably cost more than buying a small electronic keyboard. I might buy something under $100 and make it a donation to the shul. We'll see. No matter what, I think the eight people had a good time last night. Hopefully, they will come back in two weeks for the next rehearsal.
My mani/pedi got cancelled yesterday because my nail tech is sick. I really like her a lot, so I hope she is feeling better soon. I have another appointment already scheduled for two weeks from now, so I'm just going to wait for that one. The good news is that I suddenly had all afternoon free to do something else. I chose to make a memory album.
"A what?" you say?
For some time now, I have been wanting to document a lot of my things in photos and stories. I have a lot of jewelry, a LOT OF JEWELRY, and some of it has special sentimental value and stories attached to it. Once, when we still lived in Laurel, I tried to tell Evey some of the stories. She said I should just stop because she wouldn't remember them. I did stop, but ever since then I've been worried about those stories. Many of my pieces belonged to my mother or my two grandmothers. I want my children to know those stories and keep those stories and memories alive because it keeps the memory of those people alive, too. So I took photos, NINETY OF THEM, of all of my jewelry yesterday. Then I put them in a Picasa Web Album, like always, and wrote long picture captions explaining where I got the piece and if it had any monetary or sentimental value to it.
I discovered two things. One, I have a LOT OF JEWELRY, a ridiculous amount of it, and I don't wear most of it. Second, I have forgotten where some of it came from. Sad for me. On the other hand, those stories that are important to me about some of the pieces are now documented for all time.
I sent the email link to the album only to Mark, Lowell, and Evey. I don't know if they will look at it or read any of those stories now, but maybe after I'm gone, they will be more interested in it. I know it sounds morbid, but sooner or later the two of them are going to be going through those jewelry boxes, trying to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. I hope this album will make that task a little easier.
Today, Mark and I are going to a picnic. Our NARFE chapter is holding its annual picnic at a park in Hillsborough County on a reservoir. They are providing smoked chicken and pulled pork. We are supposed to bring side dishes or desserts to share and our own drinks. Of course, since Mark and I are eating the chicken or pork, we are bringing a main dish to share. Mark made his southwestern bean salad. He hasn't made it in a long while because it's full of carbs and calories. It has brown rice, black beans, corn, and many other goodies in it. It's a cold salad, hearty, delicious, full of protein and carbs. I have no idea what the other people are going to bring, but I plan to do my best to use portion control today. If I eat a reasonable serving of the bean salad and mostly stay away from the dessert table and any chippy-type things, I think I can come away from the picnic and not feel guilty. It's a park, too, so we are going to take a long walk on a trail. That should be fun and burn up some of the calories.
Then tonight we will have dinner at Denny's and the Solivita movie. The movie tonight is My Week with Marilyn, which we are both looking forward to seeing. I hope everyone in "blogland" has an equally fantastic day planned!
My mani/pedi got cancelled yesterday because my nail tech is sick. I really like her a lot, so I hope she is feeling better soon. I have another appointment already scheduled for two weeks from now, so I'm just going to wait for that one. The good news is that I suddenly had all afternoon free to do something else. I chose to make a memory album.
"A what?" you say?
For some time now, I have been wanting to document a lot of my things in photos and stories. I have a lot of jewelry, a LOT OF JEWELRY, and some of it has special sentimental value and stories attached to it. Once, when we still lived in Laurel, I tried to tell Evey some of the stories. She said I should just stop because she wouldn't remember them. I did stop, but ever since then I've been worried about those stories. Many of my pieces belonged to my mother or my two grandmothers. I want my children to know those stories and keep those stories and memories alive because it keeps the memory of those people alive, too. So I took photos, NINETY OF THEM, of all of my jewelry yesterday. Then I put them in a Picasa Web Album, like always, and wrote long picture captions explaining where I got the piece and if it had any monetary or sentimental value to it.
I discovered two things. One, I have a LOT OF JEWELRY, a ridiculous amount of it, and I don't wear most of it. Second, I have forgotten where some of it came from. Sad for me. On the other hand, those stories that are important to me about some of the pieces are now documented for all time.
I sent the email link to the album only to Mark, Lowell, and Evey. I don't know if they will look at it or read any of those stories now, but maybe after I'm gone, they will be more interested in it. I know it sounds morbid, but sooner or later the two of them are going to be going through those jewelry boxes, trying to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. I hope this album will make that task a little easier.
Today, Mark and I are going to a picnic. Our NARFE chapter is holding its annual picnic at a park in Hillsborough County on a reservoir. They are providing smoked chicken and pulled pork. We are supposed to bring side dishes or desserts to share and our own drinks. Of course, since Mark and I are eating the chicken or pork, we are bringing a main dish to share. Mark made his southwestern bean salad. He hasn't made it in a long while because it's full of carbs and calories. It has brown rice, black beans, corn, and many other goodies in it. It's a cold salad, hearty, delicious, full of protein and carbs. I have no idea what the other people are going to bring, but I plan to do my best to use portion control today. If I eat a reasonable serving of the bean salad and mostly stay away from the dessert table and any chippy-type things, I think I can come away from the picnic and not feel guilty. It's a park, too, so we are going to take a long walk on a trail. That should be fun and burn up some of the calories.
Then tonight we will have dinner at Denny's and the Solivita movie. The movie tonight is My Week with Marilyn, which we are both looking forward to seeing. I hope everyone in "blogland" has an equally fantastic day planned!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Down is good.
Today's weigh-in did not disappoint. I am down two and a half pounds. Best of all, I am UNDER 250. Okay, it's not under by very much, but it's under!! I'm 249.3 this morning. I have not been under 250 since last October 14. Once we drove north to take that cruise out of Baltimore, I went over the 250 mark and have not cracked it since. I actually got as high as 268 after the January cruise, so I'm very grateful to be back under that line. My current goal is just to get to 220, so it doesn't seem so far away. I am hoping to make that goal by October.
Currently, Mark is at the first read-through of the radio drama he is going to be in. I went up for a little while because I'm going to be musical director. I was asked to teach the "commercials" in two parts to the four women who will sing them. There are three songs, all familiar tunes with made up words to fake products. It should be fun. I thought I'd get to meet the four women today, but only one showed up. Anyway, I got the music, met the one lady, listened to them read about forty-five minutes of the drama, and left. I was FREEZING! The room was way too cold for open-toed sandals today.
The cast is doing an excellent job on the first read-through. Mark is playing Joseph, the head angel. The man playing Clarence was sounding really great, too. Some of the people have multiple parts and they will have to work on making distinctive voices for each character, but that's what all the rehearsals in the fall will be for! Still, it was fun to sit there for a little while today and listen to Mark read. He was awesome! It's going to be fun to go to the final show, as a dinner theater, in November. Can't wait! Maybe I can get a table together of my neighbors. I hope so.
Tonight I'm starting the SOJC LS Choir! It's called LS for Low Stress. I don't want people to worry or stress over this, and I don't want to stress about it either. We are working on four songs, nothing memorized. We will sing a round at Tisha B'Av and then three songs at the High Holidays. Yesterday I made 12 copies of the four songs and put them in binders. I really don't expect to get 12 people tonight, maybe 6, but I wanted to be prepared. We are only going to have 8 rehearsals, every other Wednesday from 7-8:30 p.m. I don't think that's too big of a commitment in time but enough time to learn four songs. I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes tonight.
Currently, Mark is at the first read-through of the radio drama he is going to be in. I went up for a little while because I'm going to be musical director. I was asked to teach the "commercials" in two parts to the four women who will sing them. There are three songs, all familiar tunes with made up words to fake products. It should be fun. I thought I'd get to meet the four women today, but only one showed up. Anyway, I got the music, met the one lady, listened to them read about forty-five minutes of the drama, and left. I was FREEZING! The room was way too cold for open-toed sandals today.
The cast is doing an excellent job on the first read-through. Mark is playing Joseph, the head angel. The man playing Clarence was sounding really great, too. Some of the people have multiple parts and they will have to work on making distinctive voices for each character, but that's what all the rehearsals in the fall will be for! Still, it was fun to sit there for a little while today and listen to Mark read. He was awesome! It's going to be fun to go to the final show, as a dinner theater, in November. Can't wait! Maybe I can get a table together of my neighbors. I hope so.
Tonight I'm starting the SOJC LS Choir! It's called LS for Low Stress. I don't want people to worry or stress over this, and I don't want to stress about it either. We are working on four songs, nothing memorized. We will sing a round at Tisha B'Av and then three songs at the High Holidays. Yesterday I made 12 copies of the four songs and put them in binders. I really don't expect to get 12 people tonight, maybe 6, but I wanted to be prepared. We are only going to have 8 rehearsals, every other Wednesday from 7-8:30 p.m. I don't think that's too big of a commitment in time but enough time to learn four songs. I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes tonight.
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