Category Archives: Changes

May 3, 2018 · 9:54 am

Beginning of Week 2 on Nutrisystem

I ate and drank the last of the contents of the ‘Magic Red Box’ (Turbo 13) week on Nutrisystem. By the end of the week, though, due to my not paying enough attention, I guess, I was down to a bar for breakfast, a shake, a bar for lunch, a bar mid afternoon, and a ‘Hearty Beef Stew” that was the size of my eyeball for dinner (plus veggies, of course, and lots and lots of water.

I’m recording everything I eat and drink, plus my daily activities, on NuMi, their tracker, to keep me honest.

I lost almost 5 lbs (4.8) during the week, which is WONDERFUL. I just measured. It shows I’m down a bit more than 4 inches, but measurement is an iffy thing, kind of like interpretation of ‘facts’ you hear on the news, so I’ll believe it more when I measure at the end of week 2.

This morning I dived into the freezer and got the first of my actual ‘choices’ for the first month – a turkey sausage and egg muffin. YUM! I was also supposed to eat a Powerfuel, but I honestly was too full after the muffin and the 16 oz bottle of water, so I put it in the fridge and will plan to eat it later.

This week starts the way we’ll be eating for the foreseeable future. So far, my husband is resisting at least half of the veggies, isn’t trying to drink water (though he drinks unsweetened tea during the day and a sugarless apple cider hot drink) and refused the Powerfuel this morning,  He doesn’t want to talk about NuMi, much less try to keep up with it, so I won’t bug him about that. I’m going to TRY to get him to eat and drink what he’s supposed to on his Diabetic plan, but he’s a big boy and can make his own choices. That said, his blood sugar this morning was the lowest it’s been since we’ve been monitoring it and he has lost 3 lbs. !!!!!!  :0)

I will start trying to do yoga and the elliptical trainer each day now. My husband refuses to ‘exercise,’ but is in much better shape than I, so I will not criticize.

Main feelings of both of us at the beginning of week 2 – 

  • we’re both glad we started the program
  • my husband has found a few food items he wants to change on our order for month # 2, but we’re able to do this whenever we want online. They post a deadline for making changes, so we know when the last day is for changing choices
  • neither of us has been hungry, though occasionally we long for old, bad habits a bit
  • we’re happy that our primary doctor was pleased to hear we had started the program. We have a regular, follow-up appointment in 3 months, and we’re hoping both our weight losses and blood test numbers will be improved.

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May 2, 2018 · 1:01 pm

Before-After Power Company

Yesterday I told you that the Electric company guys were here to cut back trees where they encroached on power lines. This is to increase the changes that their customers won’t lose power in a storm and that they can actually get to the poles to repair any damage.

This is a trio of three evergreens essentially grown together to make one bird habitat. We had to have part of the tree cut back pretty severely several years ago when we added geothermal heating and cooling in order for the big tractors to be able to dig and maneuver. If you look carefully, you can see a power line essentially going through part of the tree.

This is one view of the ‘before’ the power company did their work.

 

 

 

After – This is a bit different view, but you can see that they really cut the top out of the trees to free up the power lines.

 

 

Here’s another ‘before’ shot, showing the encroachment of the tree into the lines.

 

After – You can see in this pic that they essentially cut down half of one side of the tree.

I’m a bit sad. I don’t know what happened with all the birds that were living there. Hopefully, they’ll survive the trauma and come back, even though their digs are looking pretty damaged. The power company didn’t come to make landscaping changes – they came to protect their power lines. We like power, and we don’t want our trees to be the cause of anyone losing theirs. We also want the men working on the lines to be as safe as possible. It’s just a sad day when trees that have been there for longer than 30 years have to be sacrificed…

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April 28, 2018 · 10:03 am

And So It Begins – Getting the Lard Off – Day Three

We started Nutrisystem on Thursday of this week, the 26th. So far I’ve lost 3.6 lbs.

The Nutrisystem people stress that you shouldn’t weigh yourself every day. They suggest once a week. I’ve always weighed myself every day, though, and I need the feedback that I’m going in the right direction, or at least staying reasonably steady. Even though this is just water loss, I feel happy that I have a good start. I have a long way to go, but losing weight is a great thing to be doing with my time each day. :0)

They also stress not to do any exercise the first week. Well, that’s all well and good, but I’m getting lots of exercise getting up to go to the bathroom all day (and many times at night, too.)  Plus, life goes on, and I need to get things accomplished around here; so, no formal exercise until next week, but I HAVE been being active.

Example – since winter FINALLY seems to be over, we took the snow tires off the Honda Ridgeline yesterday and put the regular tires on. This is a laborious project, but after doing it twice a year for several years now, we have it almost down to a science. My husband does the heavy stuff, like getting the tires onto the “wheel studs.” (I just had to ask my husband what was the actual name for those. I hate to call everything ‘thingies.’) I’m a pretty good go-fer – rolling the snow tires out of the way, rolling the regular tire over to my husband, handing him the wheel nuts, bringing him tools, putting things away, etc. It takes us about half an hour now, when the first time it took us twice that.

I also planted a 6-pack of tomato plants and several squares of radishes yesterday. Since we don’t have our irrigation system going yet, later I got a hose hooked up and watered them.  I rolled up our big fireplace rug and stored it under the stairs in a storage place and then vacuumed the living room, foyer, and office. The big thing yesterday was washing the two large dog bed covers, airing out the innards, then putting everything back together.

Add to that setting a timer so that we stay on our program for the day, eating every 3 hours, and you have much of our day yesterday.

My attitude is better since we’re finally on the road again to getting the lard off. I’m hopeful that as the extra weight comes off, we’ll feel better and better.

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April 26, 2018 · 10:14 am

NuMi

Today is our first day on NutriSystem. I’m on the Uniquely Yours (for fat ladies) program and am eating from the Turbo 13 (magic) red box. My husband is on the Diabetic Uniquely Yours for Men. I ate the Maple Sugar Oatmeal breakfast and my husband ate the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal. I don’t care for oatmeal, but it was easy to fix and I found it palatable.

We essentially eat and drink all day –

8:30 breakfast
11:30 Snack One (first week a shake)
2:30 Lunch + veggie
5:30 Snack Two – (first week a nutrition bar)
8:30 Dinner + veggie
+ at least 64 oz of water (I’ll try for a 16 oz bottle of water for each main meal, and then one sipped during the day.)

For exercise, we’ll run back and forth to the bathroom from drinking all the water!

I have to tell you that, since my husband and I tend to use “National Tissue Week” as an excuse to go off our good eating plans, having meals (and especially portions) will be a great wake up call for us. I don’t seem to have the proper whatevers that are supposed to tell you you are full. I could eat a full meal and then eat another an hour later, so I’m also looking forward to only having to go three hours between eating.

The last time we tried Nutrisystem several years ago, they didn’t offer frozen food, and the variety of foods was less than we would have liked. Now it could be months before we can try everything! I’m also hoping that they won’t start discontinuing the options my husband has chosen, as they did last time. That was the thing that made us stop. Now they have as a major focus teaching you what is healthy to eat, what a reasonable portion is, and have you practice flex meals once each week from Week 2 on. This gives you a chance to not only learn how to choose what to eat if you eat out, but guidance as to what to eat for home-cooked meals so that you can learn healthy habits from the outset.

This morning I started NuMi, a food tracker to guide you through the program. You can input your goals, monitor your progress, record what you eat and drink, etc. One of the first questions was where I was in the program. When I input that this was my first day on the Turbo 13 week of Uniquely Yours for Fat Women, it immediately came up with what I was supposed to be eating today. I input my maple sugar oatmeal and it told me how many more calories I had allotted for the day, and showed me what else I would be eating.

I went through the quick tour, then immediately screwed up. I hit the ‘fast entry’ button for breakfast, and then decided I wanted to actually type in what I ate. I had a time getting the first entry off, but finally did it.

I hope that this program will help us, indeed, get the lard off, and teach us how to KEEP it off once we reach our goals. My husband will reach his goal before I do, but I’m hoping he’ll keep me company, continuing to use the program, or be satisfied with my new cooking choices and techniques.

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April 25, 2018 · 11:52 am

Almost There!

Our frozen stuff was just delivered by Fedex. It was nicely packed in large styrofoam coolers with dry ice, the whole cooler shrink-wrapped and clearly labeled whose was whose.

We have just finished putting things away. It turned out that our frozen snacks went into the freezer in the pantry. Mine fit in one gallon sized ziplock bag, so I didn’t have to mark anything. Of the three trays I had cleaned out in the chest type freezer in the garage, my husband’s frozen stuff filled two of them to the brim. I put some of my stuff in the third tray, and put others in gallon ziplock bags. It’s really clear whose stuff is whose, so I didn’t have to mark those, either. :0)

 

 

Today is our last hurrah of ‘free eating.’ I’m not sure how we’ll spend it.

Tomorrow morning will start the first day of our Nutrisystem plans.

 

Any time you change your eating habits violently, there will be snags. We have Lunch Bunch Friday. I’ll go to visit with my friends and have a glass of water, opting to religiously stay on the program until I get a ‘flex meal’ NEXT week. My husband has opted to get his regular chicken fingers for Lunch Bunch. One meal off the plan in the first week won’t be the end of the world. He has agreed to do this, so I’ll work on getting him to go with the program as much as possible.

Tomorrow I’ll make us a salad bowl – two cups each for each of us , so all we have to do is dip out the servings when it’s time to eat lunch or dinner. I’ll also plan to serve us a cup each of broccoli with our dinner.  (A serving is one cup of raw non-starchy veggies or 1/2 cup of cooked veggies, so this will be our 4 servings for the day.)

______________________

“Here is a quick glance at what you’ll eat during your first week on Nutrisystem:*

  • Nutrisystem Breakfast from Turbo Takeoff Box  (Husband chooses from his stash)
  • TurboShake (for women) or Nutri-Pro Shakes (for men)
  • Nutrisystem Lunch from Turbo Takeoff Box (husband chooses from his stash)
  • NutriCurb Bar
  • Nutrisystem Dinner from Turbo Takeoff Box (husband chooses from his stash)
  • At least four servings of non-starchy veggies and 64 ounces of water throughout the day

Source: NUTRISYSTEM

(Exercise is taken care of from drinking the 64 (at least) oz of water each day. Our eyeballs will be swimming, and we’ll be running to the bathroom a lot. :0)”

I hope that you are finding ways to take good care of yourself.  Hopefully, this will be the start of our getting the lard off, moving more, and feeling better and better.

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April 23, 2018 · 5:34 pm

Good News re Getting the Lard Off!

 

I received the emails today that the frozen part of our first order from Nutrisystem is supposed to be delivered by the end of the day on Wednesday!

Immediately, my husband said, then we should start the program the following Monday.

We were on the way to Fort Smith to take our donation to the Veterans Thrift Store, so I sat there, thinking. On the way back I finally asked him, “Why do you want to wait until Monday to start?” And he answered, “Because it’s more symmetrical than starting in the middle of the week.”

By the time we got home, I said, “I really want to start on Thursday, since we’ll get the rest of the food we ordered on Wednesday and I can get it organized and stored.” (Since it has taken so long to get the two parts of what we ordered, Order #2 is scheduled to be shipped on May 13th. Starting Thursday will give my husband a chance to try several of his choices and we can still make changes until 6 pm on the 12th.)

We agreed to start on Thursday morning (assuming we get the delivery as scheduled.)

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Hooray!

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April 20, 2018 · 9:53 am

Feeling a BIT Empowered Today

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I finally got the hang of bookmarks on the new PC!  Most of the stuff I’m doing on the new machine, including trying to write blog posts, I’m like an elephant trying to walk between two buildings high in the air on a tightrope – and I’m afraid of heights. I feel extremely awkward, brain-challenged and get frustrated really quickly.

BOOKMARKS – on the other hand – are now good. :0)

I now have all the ones we imported from the MAC, and the others imported that I had put on FireFox, on the new PC. I can now save a website to a bookmark I’ve created, change one to another section, change the name of one, create a new bookmark, etc. Yesterday I figured out how to create SUB-directories, so I was able to organize the many websites I’ve bookmarked for gardening. HOOOOORAAAAY!

One thing learned, a gazillion to go; but the empowerment has begun!

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April 19, 2018 · 11:41 am

Trying to Get Ready for Nutrisystem

The ads for men say, “Eat the food, lose the weight.” Simple, right?

I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. My husband agreed to get on the “Diabetic Uniquely Yours for Men, Custom Menu.” As far as HE’S concerned now, it’s ‘Eat the food, lose the weight.” I ordered “Uniquely Yours for Women – Custom Menu” for me.

In order to get him to try this, I had to do a LOT of prep work. We’ve been on Nutrisystem before, several years ago. We quit because my husband was irate that they discontinued all the meals he liked, one at a time. The number of choices wasn’t as good back then, and they didn’t offer frozen stuff as they do now. He’s really gun-shy after our first experience, so I’m trying to run interference as much as possible.

I finally got things so he could sit down in his chair beside me at the computer and he could choose what looked good while I made notes. At one point when we started with his order I thought it was ‘game over,’ because his lunch choices weren’t coming up when we were on the lunch ordering page. I contacted the chat expert, and we finally figured out that do to some error on my part, we had somehow gotten on the dinner page. THAT was why the things he wanted didn’t show. The chat guy, Jeff, helped us figure things out.

I then fought through trying to order MY plan. At first they wouldn’t let me use my email address with another password. I got on chat again, explained my husband didn’t want to receive any emails from them, so I had used my email to order his plan. She figured out a way around the problem, guided me through the maze again, and I was really grateful.

Nutrisystem

Since we placed our orders, I’ve been reading everything on the website, trying to figure out what to expect. You can find answers, but there is a LOT to go through to get them. I’ve finally started a notebook, printed things and put them in the notebook for quicker reference.

I found out through the reading that they ship the non-frozen stuff separately from the frozen stuff. This makes sense because the frozen stuff comes in a truck rigged to carry frozen things. I got the emails that both of our non-frozen orders were shipping today. I can’t track them yet, so I don’t know when to expect them. They’ll send more emails when the frozen stuff ships.

I have cleaned out freezers to get ready to store our food when it arrives. The non-frozen food won’t be as hard to store. I’ve figured out a system for marking my husband’s food so we don’t get things mixed up. He’s sneering at me, but doesn’t have a better suggestion, so I’ll do what I planned and see if it works.

I’m still looking for the cut-off date for changing the items on our next order is. I’m sure that we’ll find things we really don’t care for (at least we did the first time.) I want to be sure I can change our order in time that we don’t get 6 more of something we hate the next month.

I have put up ‘what we eat the first week’ on the fridge in the kitchen. I’m sure my husband will balk at eating 6 times a day, but I will encourage it, just the same. Then, if he doesn’t, at least I tried.

So far, I’m ending up brain-dead by dinner time, after working on this a lot of the day for several days now, trying to figure out what to do when we start. I’ve decided our “4 servings of veggies each day” will be salad with lunch and dinner.  Otherwise, if needed, I’ll have cherry tomatoes and celery ready to put on our plates.

I have some of our flex meals figured out. We have ice cream after bowling once a week with friends. That’s our on-our-own snack for the week. Our on-our-own lunch will be when we meet our friends for Friday’s “Lunch Bunch.” (I’ll switch to making a salad at the salad bar.) Not sure what we’ll do for our on-our-own dinner, but I have time yet. On-our-own breakfast won’t be a problem. I like that they are encouraging us to pay attention to what we’re eating from the beginning of the program, both what is prepared for us and what we choose for our flex meals.

Just “Eat the food, lose the weight.” Yeah.

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April 18, 2018 · 12:31 pm

Breaking Bad Habits – Getting the Lard Off

 

We have made a major decision on our efforts to get the lard off.

I’ve been cooking low-carb for quite a while now. We’re healthier than we were, but one or both of us keeps cheating and it’s been going on too long. My appetite is enough to kill a horse, and my husband describes me lovingly as, “Mean as a snake” when I’m hungry. He is Type 2 Diabetic (although he doesn’t admit it, thinking you’re only diabetic if you need to inject insulin). He eats what I fix him and THEN also eats no-sugar-added stuff, plus regular stuff he shouldn’t, and then gets frustrated when his A1C numbers are still too high. We had a frank discussion and decided that we have been kidding ourselves and needed help.

We were on NutriSystem before, several years ago. We did well, but we quit because they discontinued all the things my husband liked, one by one, and there weren’t that many choices.  When we quit, we put the weight right back on. :0(

Since then, they have developed a program for Type II diabetics!  There are 150 choices on his plan, plus a LOT of frozen choices, allowing the food to be a lot more appetizing. (At least they sound and look that way in the pictures.)  We ordered the first month’s “Uniquely Yours Diabetic Plan for Men – Custom Menu.”

I got the regular plan for fat ladies – “Uniquely Yours for Women – Custom Menu.” 

We used their chat service for ordering both, since we had a lot of questions and had some problems navigating the site. Both people were really helpful. Our first month’s food is on its way.

I’m trying to get organized for the new program. I cleaned out our freezers as much as possible, since both of us ordered a lot of frozen foods. It’s supposed to come on a truck made to carry frozen stuff. If we’re not here to receive it when they come, they pack it in dry ice that will keep it good for 6 to 8 hours. I think our food is supposed to come within 4 to 10 business days. I’m going to see if I can narrow it down so we can make plans.  I don’t know if the non-frozen stuff comes separately from the frozen or not.

There are several guides on the website. There was a mention of supplementing their food with salad and veggies. I’m trying to look at these, print them, and make notes on what we ordered. We decided to use the auto-delivery system, saving money, and we’re supposed to be able to change our next month’s order if we want to. I’ll have to find out when the cut off date is for that.

The low carb eating plan is a good one, but not when you stray off the plan for excuses, such as National Pickle Week, Friend’s Day, or whatever, constantly, it understandably doesn’t work well.

The new Nutrisystem plan is attempting to guide you on eating sensibly when you’re not eating the prepared foods, so you’re on your own once a week for a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner, and a snack. (We can build this into our lives fairly easily, using our “Lunch Bunch” on Fridays as our lunch out, and our bowling evening as our snack out, and then winging the on-your-own dinner and breakfast each week.

We’re hoping that there are enough choices that even if they discontinue things we like, we can substitute others. Time will tell.

I’m going to use their “NUMI” tracking software, too. I’m planning to really pay attention to the ingredients on what we’re eating, reading labels to get an idea of what we’re eating, how many calories, etc., so I can plan to carry on when we don’t need to be on the plan anymore.

We’re looking forward to actually getting the lard off, instead of just kidding ourselves.

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April 18, 2018 · 11:15 am

THING ONE and THING TWO at the Vet’s Office Today

Amber – 11 months old

Yesterday I received emails from our veterinarian’s office saying the Amber and Smoke needed to tell their owners that they needed their annual shots. I called the office and found out that if they didn’t need an exam, we could come any time. I said we would try to come first thing, which meant about 8:30.

 

Smoke – about 2-1/2 years old.

My husband found Smoke this morning and stuffed her into the cat carrier. Amber loves to go anywhere in the car, so we just said “CAR” and she followed us out, jumping into the car with a look of joy on her face.

Smoke meowed plaintively a couple of times on the way to the vet, but wasn’t completely freaked out, as our other cat, Abby, was, recently.

On the way to the vet’s, we saw a CALF crossing the road! Amber immediately wanted to go SEE the calf, getting the whole upper part of her body out of the window. I yelled at my husband, having to CONVINCE him that if the dog DID get out, all he could say was, “I really didn’t think she would/could do that.” AND we would have to deal with the consequences. He finally raised the windows a bit so that Amber was free to stick her head out, but nothing more.

When we got to the vet, my husband thought we should change Amber’s collar from the regular shock collar we use during the day to the no-pull collar we keep with the leash in the car. Since it’s a hassle, and I thought the shock collar would be good enough, we didn’t change and went into the vet’s office.

There were two other dogs there. Amber, of course, wanted to see and sniff each one. My husband tried to keep her under control, but she was strong enough the leash wasn’t holding well. It kept slipping because she was so strong even though he was using the zapper. I was wrong and admitted it when we got back into the car after we got the shots. We will just take the time necessary to change collars the next time.  (We weighed Amber, and she is now 94.2 lbs.)

We are still very much on a learning curve as far as taking animals to the vet. Smoke was very calm, meowing only a few times on the way home and calmed down when I stuck my fingers through the front caged door of the carrier and talked to her. Amber was fine again when she got back into the car.

LESSONS LEARNED –

THING ONE –

Only let the car windows down half way in the back when Amber is with us.

THING TWO –

Don’t let Amber out of the car until we have changed from the shock collar to the no-pull collar.

PLUS – it would be a good idea to continue to walking-on-the-leash lessons at home because when we are out in public, Amber is a BIG dog with LITTLE brain…

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April 18, 2018 · 10:46 am

Bookmarks Progress!

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This old lady ain’t dead yet! I’m learning a LOT about how to create and manage bookmarks on the new PC using Microsoft 10 and Chrome.

I now have ONE list of bookmarks, all on Chrome. (I deleted Firefox as a browser)

I now can –

  • create a bookmark and put it in a folder
  • create a new folder
  • rename a bookmark
  • delete a bookmark

I’m in the process of looking at each one, deciding if I still want it, figuring out what folder to put it in if I want it (or create a new one). I’m actually making progress now and feeling much less frustrated.

Thanks to those of you who offered encouragement, commiseration, or wished good luck. It has really helped!

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April 17, 2018 · 3:00 pm

Bookmarks

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Can you hear me gnashing my teeth and muttering bad words?

I’m TRYING to move my computer FireFox bookmarks from the MAC to my new PC. I’m also trying to export my FireFox bookmarks on my new PC to Chrome, because my husband hates FireFox for some unknown reason. Since I need for him to help me on the computer, I’ll set things up the way he thinks is best and THEN I might bite him in the leg. I mainly want to be able to find things and use them, so I don’t really care how things are organized. I’m so awkward on the new computer anyway, it won’t make any appreciable difference in my learning curve.

I have NO patience with hardware or software. I only know enough to USE things once they’re working properly. Right now I have to tell you I’m thinking about throwing ALL of it out the window…

My project for the day is to try to use the newly imported bookmarks list to

  • figure out if I can access the websites using the URLs provided in the list
  • decide if I want to delete some of the bookmarks imported because I’m no longer using them
  • move bookmarks to a reasonable folder (I’m used to having a bunch of things open at the same time, moving from one to the next with abandon and back again.)  I have been told this is bad policy and that no one should use the bookmarks toolbar, for example, so I’ll need to figure out a way to access things quickly under the new system
  • Each of the programs I was familiar with on the MAC is either a version specific to Microsoft, or we have an equivalent program on the new machine, so how I do things has changed. I work until I tear my hair out and then do something else for awhile.

In order to stop myself from automatically clicking on the FireFox icon, I have deleted it, leaving only the Chrome icon to get to the Internet

I’m going to tackle my bookmarks now, taking a deep breath and determinedly diving in.

Wish me luck?

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April 10, 2018 · 10:34 am

I’m Making Progress (I THINK)

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I am SLOWLY making progress on figuring out how to do things on my new PC. My husband is very happy that I’ve made the switch, since he can try to help me now. Since he’s a computer analyst, it’s only smart to have an in-house guru to help you when things aren’t working as they should.

I’m making a list of things that I want him to look at, explain how to do, or FIX –  if possible –  as I stumble onto them.

I’ve discovered that my reaction to not being able to figure things out is out of proportion to the problem. In a nutshell, I’m almost bald now, my throat is sore from yelling, and the air is blue from my bad words…..

I am determined to learn how to do what I want to do and overcome the problems I’m having. It’s a waste of energy to want to eat the keyboard, throw the computer and all its parts out the window, and go out to the front yard to shriek over and over, so I’m trying to remain CALM and handle this in a more GRACIOUS manner.

So far, my husband is at a loss as to why MY pop-up screen for Password Safe is different from his, and that ‘I’ have to do 80 steps to figure out what a password is when it used to be easy. Did I mention I’m also gnashing my teeth?

This WILL get better. I’m actually taking breaks now and going to CLEAN something. THAT’S how frustrating this is!

 

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April 8, 2018 · 12:48 pm

Exploding Head Syndrome

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My husband was upset that I was using an iMAC and he was using a PC with Microsoft Windows 10. He’s a computer guru, used to being able to solve things when I screw them up. Our son is also a guru, but he lives and works halfway across the world and is not always available to help. My husband has been badgering me for a long time and I finally gave in.

He built the computer from scratch. What SHOULD have been a simple plug-it-all-in turned into a major nightmare because of compatibility problems. We returned parts, ordered more, replaced others, and were tearing our hair out. (Actually, I wasn’t tearing MY hair out because I didn’t really want to change to the PC and Microsoft :0) ) The problem turned out to be the video card. Once he got a compatible one in, the computer booted the way it was supposed to and the progress in earnest began.

After using a PC for years, my son got me to switch to the iMAC. Since we did this while he was home, I made as many notes as possible and learned as much as I could before he left. It was really difficult for this old lady to change, since everything I ‘knew’ how to do was wrong, but I finally managed to do most of the things I wanted to do on the iMAC.

Yesterday was the start of MY exploding head.  I’m back to where even the MOUSE is difficult. I’m used to using one that is flat. Now I’m back to using a regular mouse. All my instincts are wrong again. My head is exploding!  I start typing and get a bunch of gobbledy-gook. I have a nice ergonomic keyboard to use, but my fingers are used to the other board.

The only REAL  problems were not being able to move my bookmarks the way we thought we could, and my pictures file showing ‘icons’ instead of pictures. I had laboriously made a list of my bookmarks  (I have a lot). It’s a good thing I did because now I’m putting on bookmarks one by one as I need them. This is the first post I’ve done since switching to the new PC, new keyboard, new mouse, new look to everything. ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!

My husband finally got Password Safe working. This is crucial because you can’t get into any of the programs or websites you use all the time without it. Lots of bad words were said by everyone, including Amber, who desperately wanted to play tug of war; but finally he prevailed. I asked him to help me move the new stuff into place, moving the iMAC, keyboard and mouse to the side in case I need something. I figure I’ll learn faster if I’m FORCED to try to do things on the new equipment. I’ll also figure out things we forgot, etc.

Right now, I’m not an unhappy camper, but definitely a TIRED one.

 

Dusky’s Wonders

Wish me luck?

 

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April 6, 2018 · 4:32 pm

Ambivalence

WikimediaCommons

My husband is building me a new computer. He really doesn’t like my iMAC and wants to be able to help me when I have problems. He has almost gotten things to the point where we can start putting data onto the new computer.

ON THE ONE HAND – it would be good to have an in-house computer guy to help when my computer goes wonky. Our son has helped me, but he’s across the world from us now -with a 12-hour time difference – and busy with his own life and pressures. ON THE OTHER HAND – I feel fairly comfortable with the iMAC and am really not looking forward to having to relearn how to use Microsoft – specifically Windows Microsoft 10, and have to learn all over again how to do what I want to do.

I went through this before when I changed to the iMAC. Everything I knew how to do was wrong on the MAC. Even the mouse was a pad, rather than a mouse. (You can’t left click or right click on a pad, for example.) All my programs were different. How I access my pictures was different. It didn’t even have Word or Excel or Capture Pro….

Now I’m pretty used to the new regime. It isn’t perfect, and there are some things that aggravate me, but I don’t learn new things nearly as easily as I used to. Technology has always been magic to me. (Kind of like electricity – I know how to USE it, but have no clue what actually happens to make it so the light comes on.)

So I’m ambivalent. Life is too short for my husband to be aggravated all of the time that we can’t share files as readily as we once did. Neither of us is in a position to problem-solve, or figure out how to overcome differences, so it makes sense to make my husband secure in the knowledge that he knows how our computers work, how they are set up (pretty much the same), and what to do in any given situation.

This morning, though, we tried to move one file from my computer to the new one – just to see what was involved. I tried to export it from here and import it over there. Nope. I tried simply dragging and dropping the file from where it was on my computer to the new one. It said it needed ‘authentication,’ and that I needed to get permission from my administrator. Supposedly, I AM the administrator!

This is the point at which I want to throw ALL computers out the window and tie my posts to the leg of a pigeon and hope for the best….

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April 3, 2018 · 11:03 am

Creaky

Healing-Plaza.info

Since I’ve been feeling really creaky lately, I’ve been trying to do a session of “Yoga for Old Broads” each day.

(This is actually “Gentle Yoga” via Sixty & Me  designed for people like me, who always wanted to try yoga but were intimidated, who have health issues, who are 60 and over, etc. This is a pair of DVDs by teacher Cat Kabira, a wonderful lady who makes you feel that whatever you can do to TRY to get into the poses is doing helpful to stretch out your muscles, make you more flexible, feel stronger, and move more easily without nearly as much discomfort.

I actually have the 2 DVD set plus a second one in the same series, with yoga practices for each day of the week.

Right now, since I’ve really been sore and almost POP when I get up or sit down, I’ve been concentrating on just doing some of the poses on my mat by myself, at a really slow speed, just trying to relax into the poses, breathing into them and feeling my muscles finally ‘give.’

If you are also feeling creaky, I encourage you to go to their website and order the set of videos. You’ll be amazed how much better you’ll feel.

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March 14, 2018 · 9:41 am

Open Wide…

care.com

I’m a wuss about going to the dentist.  In fact, for many years my husband or I took our son to the dentist, and my husband went, but I didn’t. Finally my husband got frustrated with me. He got me to go by threatening to NOT wear his motorcycle helmet if I didn’t. Nasty tactic – but effective. I went.

My husband has had to have a LOT of work on his teeth. He learned to avoid really awful problems by going to the dentist religiously, even while in the Marine Corps. There they seem to specialize in people who get the job done, but are not known for their bedside manner or being gentle with their patients. When he got out, he has always searched very carefully to find the best dentist he can.

He had to change when his dentist of many years retired. He asked him who he would recommend – who HE would go to. Dr. Wesley Moore, DDS was the one he recommended. We have gone to him for many years now and felt we were given a gift. Not only is HE a great dentist, he has a very carefully picked staff. Shannon was our hygienist for many years. She got me over my not-being-able-to-sleep the night before jitters and tense appointments by being a very gentle lady sensitive to the needs of her clients. When she heard my mom died of oral cancer and that I’m scared to death I’ll get it, too, she did my cancer exam first so I could relax more for the rest of the cleaning care. Very sadly, she and her husband died in a plane crash last year. We were all devastated.

Alesha was a substitute for both of the hygienists at Dr. Moore’s office. She was still in school to be a hygienist. Dr. Moore was happy with her, and so hired her, working with her so she could finish her certification and work for the clinic at the same time. I think she graduated at the end of December. Our first visit with her was hard. We were full of the loss of Shannon. Alesha knew her, was close to her, and well understood what her clients were feeling. She handled herself very well. Again Dr. Moore has chosen one of the best.

I still don’t like going to the dentist. I determinedly waved at Dr. Moore each time we went, speaking to him, but letting him know I liked him as a person, but didn’t want to EVER need to actually GO to him. Last year I had a tooth go bad suddenly. I’ve never had a cavity, much less had a tooth pulled. I was in terrible pain when I saw him, desperate for relief. He said he had an anesthesia where I was awake and could be cooperative with the procedure, but would take away the pain and I wouldn’t remember any details afterward. HEAVEN! He was right, too. I couldn’t be more grateful.

We go for our semi-annual teeth cleaning this morning. I still don’t want to go, but I didn’t have nightmares last night and didn’t have any trouble falling asleep.  Finding good people on whom you can depend is one of the most wonderful things you can have.

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March 6, 2018 · 1:23 pm

Change of Plans

Alter and Hearth Magazine

My husband took Amber and went out to the shop to paint a piece for his welding lathe. I took him as I left that I was planning to go out and make more Mel’s Mix for the garden. He came back fairly soon, saying, “It’s WAAAAY too windy for you to make Mel’s Mix today. Everything will blow all over the place.”

So – I’ll make us some lunch and regroup. Maybe I’ll try to work on organizing the greenhouse…

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March 4, 2018 · 2:28 pm

More Purging Progress

123RF

After our last donation of ‘stuff’ from my art room, I came up with more – about half a 39-gallon trash bag full, and the bag sitting in our foyer, waiting.

Today I enlisted my husband’s help. We went through some really big bins in the basement that were filled with coats, jackets, rain gear, vests, etc. that weren’t worn all this fall or winter. We are going to donate a good half or more of what we went through, freeing up two large bins and one small bin downstairs. We’ll plan to make a trip to Fort Smith sometime in the coming week with a donation to the Veterans Thrift Store.

 

My next reorganization project will be my greenhouse.  These are pics from BEFORE I started deciding what belonged out there. This will actually be an ‘organization,‘ – rather than ‘re,’ – because all I’ve done since my husband and I built the greenhouse is take stuff out there and stash it, waiting for spring. This will be my first time trying to make sense of the space I have out there. I want to set up a planting area, a supplies area, and then have kind of a staging area for when the seeds start to make actual plants and before they’re ready to go out in the garden.

I need to do something about the floor out there because the black weed barrier you see here has torn in several places. We have some leftover rolls of carpet that I’ll probably spread out in walkways as an interim measure. I’m planning to use some of the bricks we’ll have when we take down the two damaged planters we have now and replace them.  I’ve never tried to make walkways with bricks before, but this seems like a good thing to try.

As I get rid of things I’m feeling better and better. I’m happy that I’m finding lots of things that others might like to use. I feel good that I’m throwing what isn’t good away. It feels good to have LESS. And it feels GREAT to have what I KEEP more organized.  As I go around the house, I see more and more things that need to be gone through, more that needs to be given away or thrown away. Purging and reorganizing seems to be good for the soul.

 

 

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March 1, 2018 · 12:04 pm

I Know, I Know….

Wondrlust

I’ve told you recently that I was “back in the saddle” on my dieting and exercise. I guess I lied.

Today marks the fact that I’m not giving up. I just came in from doing 30 minutes on my elliptical trainer in the garage.  Right now I feel better, looser. I may pay for it tonight, when I need a crane to get me up out of my recliner; but right now I’m happy that I did that. Later today, after vacuuming the first floor carpet, I’ll do the first yoga-for-old-broads I’ve done in quite awhile, seeing if I can stretch out some muscles.

I just took our doggies out; and while I filled up the bird feeders on the deck, they ran off.  I had a good walk around and around the house, pushing the warning button on the zapper that controls Amber’s shock collar. Our sweet cocker spaniel/schnauzer cross, Molly, is almost completely deaf, so I didn’t bother to try calling her. I walked around, holding the zapper in different directions in back of the house, and then in the front of the house, warning and calling Amber. I was starting to get concerned when Amber came running. Whew!

I also started MyFitnessPal.com up again, realizing that whatever I’ve been doing lately isn’t working for me. We’re eating low carb, but we’re also eating other stuff, and the pounds have been creeping up. I’ve lost ground on my inches lost, as well. To say I’m not a happy camper today is the biggest understatement ever.

But – I’m not a quitter. Even though I’m as old as dirt and the poundage and lard take forever to come off, I CAN do one day at a time and not beat myself up over losing ground. I won’t get points for losing a certain poundage in a certain amount of time. No one will give me an award for there being less of me than there was.

The important thing is that I don’t want to FEEL as old as dirt. I want to have enough energy to do what I’d like to do, rather than crashing in the afternoons. I’d like to move with less pain. I don’t want my life to revolve around what hurts the most today.

I have a lot of fun things I want to do. I want to get up to my newly cleaned out and organized art room and start playing!  I want to spend some time each day getting my new greenhouse organized and ready to plant. I want to use my concrete mixer to mix up Mel’s Mix to fill up my raised bed gardens. I want to think about getting spring plants in.

“I” will be my own reward, doing the things I would like to do. Today is another opportunity to get it right.

taolife.com

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February 27, 2018 · 5:09 pm

The Art Room Reorganization Project is Finished!

BEFORE:

To refresh your memory a bit, this what my art room looked like before the purge/clean-up/reorganizing. This had gotten to the point there was hardly anywhere to sit down and no clear surface on which to work. Finding something was an awful prospect. NINE+ 39-gallon leaf bags of donation and FIVE 39-gallon leaf bags of trash later, things look a bit better.

HALLWAY OUTSIDE ART ROOM:

The shelves on the left WERE full of art supplies – glassware, gourds….. Now this is where quilts, Afghans, comforters, etc. are stored. The super-large Ziploc bags will keep the dust off and you can see what’s what. The fabric curtain at the right of the picture keeps dust off sheets, etc.

ART ROOM CLOSET:

This is a combination gift wrapping center, some finished artwork and mainly paint. This is also the entrance to our attic; hence, the ladder.

 

 

MAIN ART ROOM:

This area is set up for drawing (I’m trying to work my way through “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”) and the use of alcohol inks – a fun, messy art form I’m really enjoying.

 

This is my drafting table that was completely buried in the before pics. I paint note cards, thank you notes, stationery, etc. here. The drafting table is protected by a sheet of black and white vinyl, and then there is a thick piece of glass on which I put the work to paint.

 

This is the area where I tie ribbon on my stationery and note cards. I also do a bit of jewelry making.

 

Paper supplies, craft envelopes, etc.

 

I HOPE that you can see a difference. It will never be completely ‘tidy,’ because this is my play room. I could stack things neatly and finally have it ready for some enterprising person to photograph it for a magazine (in my dreams) but then I wouldn’t want to go in here because I didn’t want to mess it up. :0)

Now I feel free to go up there in the next few days and get started with a new idea I have for a line of stationery, note cards, thank you notes, and greeting cards. I’ve been dreaming about it for a couple of weeks now, so I’m itching to get started!

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February 27, 2018 · 11:07 am

Treasure is in the Eye of the Beholder

National Treasure Film Set-Wikipedia

Somehow the ancient, old, chaotic feel of this photo reminds me of my art room right now. I’ve pretty much finished gathering things for donation, though I’ve started another bag. I’m down to the nitty-gritty of going through things carefully, getting ruthless about whether I actually plan to USE whatever it is, and then deciding its fate.

This is harder because I’m finding lots of things, like pictures torn from magazines, that get my juices flowing. I’ve decided to pare these down to about 1/4 or less of what I currently have. I’ll make files of what I keep so that I might actually be able to find them later.

I’m finding ‘treasures’ though – things I’ve had for years that have been buried. I’m loving this – but the finding of wonderful things makes it harder to make significant progress on my efforts to purge/give away/throw away/clean and reorganize.

I did finally uncover a chair, so I can sit in the middle of the chaos and go through things. I put in two sessions yesterday and will do at least that much today. I’m hoping to be able to share pics with you soon.

In the meantime, who knows what treasures I’ll find today!

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February 24, 2018 · 11:27 am

That Awkward Stage…

ClipGround

I have several shelves inside the art room, inside the adjoining closet, and outside the art room in the hallway completely cleared now. The result, after 8 leaf bags of donations and two of trash, is that the art room – right now – looks worse than when I started  ( if that’s possible.)  It certainly looks as if a bomb hand landed when you open the door…

I’m telling myself firmly that I AM making progress.

Today I’m going to start putting some things away in the place they’re going to live. That should clear the decks – if only a bit – to make it so I can find a chair to sit and rest on from time to time.

One weird problem I didn’t foresee – I have a cedar chest that has a cushion top that I got from my mom. It weighs a TON, more or less. I don’t want to get rid of it, so I put it under one of the tables in the art room. It eventually was buried beneath lots of wonderful sheets of posterboard, large frame mats, and other stuff over the years. I uncovered it yesterday. I then proceeded to pull it out from the wall a bit and open it. I couldn’t! It’s locked. I have no clue where a key is. I’ll look around today, but I’ve already talked to my husband, asking him to use his nefarious lock-picking skills, to open it for me. It may be completely empty OR stuffed. I don’t have any idea which. Today the mystery will hopefully be solved.

You won’t see pics until I can at least get around in there without falling on my rear. I’m still hopeful that the project will be substantially, if not completely, finished by the end of the weekend.

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February 23, 2018 · 1:09 pm

Twinkies

Homemaking.com via Michael Remillard

“Tomorrow is another day,” ~ Gone With The Wind: Scarlett O’Hara

 

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February 23, 2018 · 12:34 pm

And the Clean-out of the Art Room Continues

Mairtown Kindergarten-Ephemeral Art

I love this photo.

Yesterday I told you that I thought I had maybe two more leaf bags of things to donate to the Veterans Thrift Store and then I could begin cleaning and organizing. I filled both bags and am still going – if not STRONG – still going.

Something nice is happening, though, as I go through things.

For awhile I was sad because I seemed to be shedding ‘who I was,’ as well as ‘stuff.’  It was hard for me to give anything away. I might need it for something….

Now I’m actually making some good decisions on what I really enjoy doing, and would like to continue doing. An example of this is painting glassware. I’m thinking of new things to do, new designs to try. We have a sand blaster in the shop and I’m looking forward to ‘frosting’ some designs I cut out, plus I find I really enjoy trying to etch the glass with my little dremel tool.  I would like to watch some YouTube videos of someone who knows what they’re doing and then see what I can do.

Once I decide that I no longer really need to do an art form, I find lots of supplies and tools to give away. I’m actually feeling freer – eager to get things organized so I can play again.  I’m hoping to gather the last of the donations from the art room finished by the end of the week, if not before, so I can then figure out where I want to put things. Meanwhile, I have several fun ideas rattling around in my head – giving me motivation to keep on keepin’ on!

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February 22, 2018 · 11:37 am

Seeing the Light at the End?

artandcreativity.blogspot.com

I’m going back upstairs to do another session in my art room clean up project. We took 6 large leaf bags of donations to the Veterans Thrift Store this week and I have 4 more filled. I think maybe one or two more bags of donations and then I’ll concentrate on continuing to throw away while I clean and reorganize.

The shelve in the hall are emptying of the supplies I’m donating, so I’m going to include those shelves in the reorganization project – using them for longer term storage for linen closet type stuff. This will centralize things from our master bedroom and the guest room. I have some large bags to put quilts and blankets in. I’ll cover up comforters we’re not using now, too.  I really hadn’t thought about the new use for the shelves, but things evolved as I began to get rid of things.

I’m hoping to finish the art room decluttering/purge/reorganization project by the end of this week. I’ll take pics to show you. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to starting to create some ideas that have popped up while trying to go through piles and piles of ‘stuff.’ :0)

 

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February 21, 2018 · 11:24 am

Little by Little…

 

I’m feeling somewhat like “The Little Engine That Could” today. I keep saying the equivalent of, “I think I can. I think I can” while trying to clean out my art room.

 

The art room is an accumulation of about 20 years, rather than 30, as some of the rest of my clean-out projects have been, but it’s harder for me because of the emotional attachment and illusions of ‘some day.’  I have a good start now. I feel even better because after filling 6 large leaf bags full of things I think others might enjoy playing with, we took the donation yesterday. (These were all lined up in the foyer downstairs). Now the decks have been cleared and I’m ready to start another session. :0)

As I’m cleaning, I’m making decisions about what I want to continue to do after the clean-out is finished. I’m starting to feel less sad that I’m not going to do some things anymore because I can concentrate on what I still love to do. I’ll have more room to organize the things I need for each type of art or craft.

(My husband, who sometimes wears the hat of “Balloon Pricker in Chief,” continues to ask if I’ve started cleaning things out yet. He finally quit doing that – at least for the moment – when he helped load the truck and then UNload it at the Veterans Thrift Store yesterday…)

As I also clean out supply shelves my husband put up for me in the hallway upstairs outside the actual art room, I’m seeing them as being more useful as added linen closet type space – an option I didn’t have before!

I AM feeling better as I do this. I’ve given away a LOT of things. I’ve thrown away a LOT of things. I’ve reorganized what’s left in each area so that I know what we have and where it is (mostly).  When my art room is cleaned and better organized, I look forward to starting actually USING it to start trying to create the ideas that have been rattling around in my head.  :0)

 

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February 20, 2018 · 10:50 am

You’re Not Only One Thing – Take 1

Public Domain Pictures

“Who anyone is” is a complex issue.  I keep bumping into this question lately, and it’s started me thinking – a LOT.

I’ve told you I’m trying to go through my art room, decluttering, reorganizing, gathering things others might be able to use, throwing away a bunch of stuff. I’ve discovered – to my surprise – that getting rid of things in my art room is an emotional thing for me. As I make decisions about what to give away or throw away, I’m shedding things that used to say who I am.

I used to be

  • a teacher
  • a reading clinic owner
  • an administrative assistant
  • a medical transcriptionist/bookkeeper

I still am

  • a wife
  • a mother
  • an animal lover
  • a friend
  • a crafter, stained glass artist, a yard critter creator, and  a metal artist with my husband. I etch and paint glass. I paint stationery and note cards. I create greeting cards. I crochet. I paint fabric for tees, aprons, placemats, tote bags. I’m sometimes a bit of an artist.
  • an appreciator of creativity of all kinds
  • a blogger
  • a gardener
  • a reader

People are never only one thing.  People change labels as they grow, their circumstances change, their thinking changes. People are complex and wonderful – amazing in their ability to wear many hats, fill many different roles depending on what is needed by those around them. We are only seeing the surface.

 

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February 18, 2018 · 3:43 pm

Thoughts on The Art Room Project

Pinterest

I’ve made more progress today on cleaning out my art room. I have a total of FOUR 39 gallon leaf bags full of stuff to donate to the Veterans Thrift Store soon.

The thing I didn’t expect was that this project would make me so emotionally tired, too.

I’ve spent a large part of my life trying to create things, paint things, decorate stuff – to sell on my former website, Creative Artworks. Last year I closed the website down, shifting my work to Etsy  and  ArtFire.

Now I’m trying to pare down what I’m trying to create and the materials I need to make them. This is surprisingly hard, in that I’m closing some doors. I’ll feel better once this is finished and I have more room to spread out and start trying to make ideas rattling around in my head come to fruition, but I have to talk to myself, pushing myself to admit I no longer want to make something and actually gather the materials to give to others. I’m happy to provide materials for others who might love making use of them, it’s just hard to make my creative world a bit smaller.

So now I’m trying to picture my art room looking clean and spacious, trying to gather motivation to continue this needed project. Some things are more difficult to go through. It was much easier when it was pots and pans…

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February 18, 2018 · 11:44 am

Art Room Clean Up Progress?

Well, I was planning to show you pics of a couple of tables I’ve managed to clean off in the art room. So far I’ve gathered two large bags of things I’ll donate, plus a nice big bag of trash to put out for the trash people tomorrow.

I brought my husband in to show him my progress last night right before we went to bed. I was thinking he would notice how clean two of the tables are. He looked around and said, “You’ve got a lot more work to do, don’t you.”

I’m not admitting defeat here. I’ll just keep going up there, deciding what I can get rid of, and keep on keepin’ on…

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February 18, 2018 · 11:33 am

Olympics Skiing Analysis Tool

Skis.com Blog

I’m fascinated by what to me is a brand new technique for analyzing the performance of one skier to another.  I have no idea how they do it, but they almost seem to superimpose a video of one skier over a second video of another skier, showing both skiers taking the curves of the course as if they were skiing at the same time.

You can see where one skier went in a wider curve than the other, losing valuable time. The skiers are skiing side by side, turning as if they are birds in a flock who turn at the exact same time as if a memo were sent out to the group. Suddenly, they diverge a bit, and the final result is more or less time on the clock, or a crash into the foam at the sides of the course.

It’s even better than being able to study football plays over and over of your team or your opponents. These would be a great learning tool for skiing students, Olympians and even gold medal winners.

They haven’t mentioned the technique when they use it. The commentators are just concentrating on the two skiers involved and the race at hand. I’m fascinated with the way the both the Olympians AND the techniques to cover them have grown.

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