I’m finally beginning to get used to reaching for raw veggies as snacks.
I had to switch from keto and low-carb eating to a Mediterranean type eating plan because this old body with its lack of gallbladder just wasn’t able to handle all the fat of the former plan, though I really enjoy eating that way. I searched the net high and low and tried every suggestion, but couldn’t find a way around my problems.
I’m now eating lots and lots of veggies, raw and cooked, meat used as a flavoring, mostly, careful portions, and exercise. My scales are beginning to notice, and I’m feeling a lot better now.
On exercise, I’ve decided that if I have a bunch of yard work to do, THAT is the exercise for the day and will suffice. If I don’t, I do my video exercises (warm up, workout, and weights) from my nice guy from Australia plus my yoga stretches in the afternoon. I’m adding to my poses with the aid of my new book
I do about a half hour of stretches now, and I’m adding other poses gradually to see how they add to my practice. I may get to an hour of poses as a new goal. We’ll see.
My massage yesterday was wonderful, although it was a bit like, ‘it feels so good when she stops.” I was so sore and knotted up after two months without a massage (I was stuck in my house for the last one, due to our driveway), that everything was at least tender, if not actively sore. She remarked on the knotting. Being a wonderful massage therapist, she was relentless in finding and trying to knead out ALL the places.
I came home, ate lunch, and then had a long nap in my chair. I drank a bunch of water, but was basically useless the rest of the day. I ended up going to bed super-early. I slept straight through until the alarm went off this morning. The muscles I use most for the weed whacking, on the front of both upper arms, are still sore, but they’ll be fine in a day or two.
Today is special because we’re celebrating my friend, Linda’s, birthday at Lunch Bunch. She will be leaving to go to Tennessee for the next two weeks, so she’ll have a wonderful time with family after celebrating with friends. A truly NICE celebration of her life.
We’ll do a few errands after Lunch Bunch, but it should be a quiet day for us. My husband mowed yesterday, so the yard looks like someone actually CARES! :0)
I hope your Friday is a happy one and that your weekend is even better.
Yesterday it took me three sessions, but I finished the weed whacking all around our house. I was super hot and tired, even with breaks and lots of water, so I took a shower before lunch. I sat on the couch under the ceiling fan in the living room to continue bringing my temperature down. Then we had lunch and I took the liberty of a nice nap afterwards.
Today I have my reward for pushing it yesterday – my monthly massage. Ahhhhhhhhhhh! I think Lynn Moody is the best massage therapist on the planet. I can totally relax, talk or not talk, while she finds and fixes all the sore spots I had, and even the ones I didn’t know about. I leave limp as a noodle, grinning from ear to ear.
Today will be an inside day. I’ll do laundry and some other stuff, but no big pushes to get anything in particular accomplished.
The next time you see me, the weed whacking will be finished, the sidewalks blown free of debris, and I’ll be clean from my shower. I just have a bit more weed whacking in the front to do – session 3…
I’m resting from my first session of weed whacking. By noon today, until 8pm tonight, our heat index is going to be 106, so I’m out NOW, trying to get the weed whacking done while it’s ONLY 85.
There’s about half an hour towards the end of the day, when the sun is starting to go down when it’s fabulous outside here. I try to arrange things so I can walk around then, soaking up the glory of it. I take pictures, make mental notes of the next thing I need to tackle, wish I had more flowers (there are never enough), play with Amber and Abby, who follow me around, and maybe sit for a bit on the front porch steps or on the back deck before going in. The world is perfect then, ‘free’ from problems, strife, and stupidity, when I feel filled with the joy of being alive.
If our weather here were like that for more of the day, I might spend all day outside. Since I’m older than dirt, it’s probably a good thing that our Arkansas weather in the summer is totally UN-civilized, hitting you in the face with the heat the minute you step outside, moving from one place of a/c to the next as fast as you can.
I have one more weed whacking session in me before I will have to stop for the day, clean up outside, then come in and shower, getting ready for the rest of my day.
I think this squirrel looks ready for action, not ‘flopped.’
We had a really nice evening cooking out last night. My husband had a bottle of Corona with a slice of lime. I had a sugar-free Dr. Pepper Creme Soda over ice. Our dog, Amber, went between checking each of us, tail wagging frantically, and running around in the yard, nosing everything. Our cat, Abby, just found a spot on the deck and sprawled on her back, feet up in the air. We had the LED rope lights on, so everything looked party-like, and colorful. The charcoal smelled good even before my husband added the hamburger patties. No one was mowing, so it was quiet. The worst of the heat was gone and it was pleasant with the deck ceiling fan stirring the air. We talked, played with the animals, thoroughly enjoying ourselves.
We added corn on the cob to our dinner. We were too full for our strawberries and ice cream, though. We’ll enjoy some of that tonight.
Today I’m dressed to the nines in sweatband, old shirt, old jeans, long socks, old shoes, ready to go out in a minute and weed whack before it gets too hot for man or beast outside. Actually, it’ll be ‘regular’ summer weather, nothing out of the ordinary, but it’s smart to work first thing in the morning or right before dark to avoid overheating. I’m going to try to get the main yard done, front and back, to go with my husband’s goal of mowing the yard yet again, although I think he’s planning to only hit the high spots today. The lack of rain has finally meant that some of the grass is holding steady while the more weeded areas have shot up again. By the end of the day it should look like someone cares around here.
It looks like we’re going to have another week where our plumber hasn’t been able to make time to help us with our 2nd line. We’re watering manually in the front planters. I’ll be glad when it can be automated, but it’s not that bad yet.
I hope that you are able to stay cool wherever you are today and that you’re doing something fun.
While we were getting groceries, we decided to splurge and have fish dinners from the deli. THEN we decided to throw caution to the winds and cook outside on the deck tonight. We got hamburger meat and some big seeded buns, plus strawberries to enjoy with some ice cream tonight.
Our thermostat under the deck top says 100+ degrees right now, so it’s too hot to do anything outside until much later anyway. Hopefully, we can start thinking about starting a fire in the cooker about 7, even though the sun will still be up. The worst of the heat should be past by then.
I’m really looking forward to this evening. We haven’t cooked out in a long time. We’ll have Amber, our yellow lab, and Abby, our cat, out there with us. Hopefully, we’ll be joined by some birds enjoying the feeders being full and some hummingbirds diving around. Sometimes we see some rabbits, roadrunners, or even deer in the distance for a bit.
We have some multi-colored LED lights strung around the inside top of the deck cover, and we’ll turn those on for a festive note. We’ll put our feet up, relax, enjoy a drink and some good conversation.
My zucchini are doing fine, though they are growing a little more slowly than I expected. The only things left in my raised bed, square foot garden now are sweet red onions and zucchini.
Our tomatoes seem to be doing fine. No sign of disease or bugs or worms yet.
“Niche” planter
I’ll spray the tomatoes and the zucchini today with EIGHT to protect them from pests. Otherwise, I’ll try to do some weed whacking. I didn’t do anything after the last time my husband mowed, so maybe I can say I’m AHEAD of him THIS time… Weed whack, and then spray with KILLZALL to try to at least keep up with things, if not get a little bit ahead of them…
It seems a bit anti-climactic for this to be the 1st day of summer, since our temperatures with heat indices have been in the ‘excessive heat warning’ and ‘heat advisory’ brackets for at least a couple of weeks now. I don’t see that it can get much hotter now that it’s ‘official,’ but – bring it on!
My husband just mowed recently, but was moaning that our grass needs to be cut again. Hopefully, he will choose to do it in the late afternoon, when the worst of the heat is over for the day. We’re still waiting for our good plumber to find time to help us with the 2nd irrigation line, but I can water manually to try to keep things alive.
Now that I finished a couple of projects inside the house, I’ll try to switch my focus to working in the yard in the mornings and then right before dark, hosing down with Back Woods OFF! before going out there.
GOOD/BAD NEWS – Most of my hard work for the day is done. I plan to relax, cool off, and do my yoga stretches this afternoon to un-kink my sore, creaky body, then take a nice shower before bed.
We gathered the trash this morning and that will go out tomorrow. I just finished vacuuming the first floor tiles and carpet. The carpeted area includes the foyer, our office, and our living room. The tiled areas include the pantry, kitchen area between the living room an the dining area, the utility room, and two half baths.
I had to switch to my larger vacuum when my battery-powered one died after using up the half hour’s worth of cleaning you get on a full charge. Even with the air conditioning on, I’m slightly out of breath, having to wipe my head, face, and neck with paper towels, and am drinking lots of ice water.
I’m appalled at all I pick up in the vacuum canister. Even my husband is impressed when I show him the trash can into which I empty the canister each time I finish vacuuming. I honestly am amazed that we still HAVE a dog and cat with all the hair I vacuumed. And then there’s the pollen and dirt that blows in every time the doors open… I’m glad I have good cleaning tools, but it almost gives me nightmares how MUCH ‘stuff’ that comes up. :0(
I don’t think a team of experts coming in every day to clean our house could keep up with all of this.
mematic.net via Gina Rodgers
We think we may have come to the end of the “nursery” of raccoons we have relocated this year so far. We’ve continued to set the humane trap, but haven’t caught anyone in several days now. My husband even refilled the bird feeders again for the first time in a long time yesterday.
I’m planning to check my garden later this afternoon, when the heat has decreased a bit. I’ll see if I can get pics. We’re hoping to have some ripe tomatoes, too, in the next couple of weeks. Fingers crossed.
My parents were both only children. They had my brother and me so we “could keep each other company,” but then unconsciously fostered intense competition and rivalry between us. The end result was that we were never close, and got the strong idea that our worth depended on what we had accomplished lately and how that compared to each other. We both knew they loved us. That was never a question. But the competition lasted throughout our lives.
My parents wanted us to do well in school. This meant ‘grades’ to them. I learned to value what I had actually LEARNED and the fact that I knew how to learn more throughout my life, but I guess that was the easiest way to measure how we were doing THEN. My brother brought home almost straight A’s throughout his schooling. I brought home a “C” in math one quarter. There was a distinct coldness and withdrawal of affection until the next grading period (9 weeks) when I was able to bring my grade up. When I went to college, earning enough for my first semester each year teaching swimming during the summers from the time I was 14 through the end of college, by brother got a full scholarship to the University of Colorado and was a Rhodes scholarship finalist. He ended up with a doctorate, of course. :0)
I have always felt that my worth depended on what good I had done lately, rather than any idea that I was ‘enough’ just as I was. I was eager to please my parents, and that meant grades, honors, accomplishments. I was eager to please my husband, too, and wasn’t happy unless he was noticing what I was doing. The only area where I dropped the self-doubt was when I was teaching.
I taught in the public schools on the north side of Tulsa OK for eight years. I fell in love with my students. Since my kids there lived pretty tough lives, totally different that I had enjoyed, they didn’t see the need to learn to read or do math, or write, or think. I had to get really ‘creative’ to come up with ways to show them why they would be happier, stronger, and more in control of their lives if they would give me a chance to work with them. Every day I forgot who I was, immersed in trying to take them from where they were, give them what they needed to move forward, and listen to their concerns. I never felt I was ‘enough,’ but I felt good about what I did.
Now that I’m older than dirt, I realize that each person brings a package to the table. Each of us has a different set of skills, hopes, dreams. And each of us is valuable because of it. THAT is enough.
My friend Marsha recommended Open Season by Linda Howard. I’m reading it now.
For some strange reason, I tend to try a new author with intense skepticism, assuming I won’t like him or her. This seems to be a gut-level response and I can’t talk myself out of it. But I force myself to try the new author anyway, and many times find I’m really glad I did.
Linda Howard has a great sense of humor. Though it took me awhile to warm up to the main character, I like her now. She is encountering danger now, though she isn’t aware of it yet. The fact that you, the reader, ARE aware is a good technique. I’m drawn in more and more as I read. I want to know what happens now.
You’re as old/young as you feel – well, I’m about 110 this morning.
I really pushed hard to finish deep cleaning the master and guest bathrooms upstairs yesterday. I rested in-between sessions, but over half the day was spent up there. I washed the whirlpool tub, then really scrubbed the redwood surrounding it, something that hadn’t been done in a long time. I then pulled up the rugs and the sticky things keeping them from sliding and hauled them into the bedroom. I washed the baseboards, then vacuumed the floors. I washed the floors, then put the sticky things and rugs back down. Finally, I vacuumed the rugs and put things back where they belonged. Things look and smell good now.
I started stiffening up right before bedtime last night, didn’t sleep well – unable to get into a comfortable position – and ended up reading downstairs for an hour or so early this morning. I’m still stiff and sore this morning. My poor old body seems to have really noticed all the bending over double, getting down on hands and knees, hauling of heavy rugs, etc.
Today I’m going to take it easier, only planning to gather trash and vacuum the tiled areas on the first floor today. I’ll also plan to do a long, slow yoga session this afternoon to see if I can get some of the kinks out. :0)
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