We are FINALLY enjoying some much-needed rain this morning! Ahhhhhhhhh!
We’ve been having August-like heat with heat indices over 100 for a month or more now. Usually we move into this gradually, so it’s been a bit of a shock, particularly when we’re trying to get out to do gardening and yard work. Today is an ‘inside day,’ as we used to call it a gazillion years ago when I taught, and I’m DELIGHTED! I hope your day is wonderful, too.
Filed under Mother Nature
First 10 Pounds Off
My husband and I were on Nutrisystem once before, years ago. We were successful in getting a lot of our lard off, but we stopped because Nutrisystem kept discontinuing the foods my husband liked until he got fed up and wouldn’t continue. Since then, they have revamped their programs, so we’re trying again, fingers crossed that they continue providing the foods my husband likes.
One of the things they haven’t changed is a nice reward for progress. When our non-frozen items were delivered today, a cute little bear was in my box. It’s a fun, happy way to show you’re trying and you’re starting to get some results. I had saved the bears I got from the last time, so I gave one of them to my husband. He is underwhelmed, but I wanted to pat HIM on the head for his efforts, too. So here are our matching ‘First 10 Pounds Off’ Bears.
Tangible things are important when you’re changing lifestyles. For us, the biggest change is in learning what constitutes a ‘serving.’ I, of course, glanced at labels on the items I buy at the store, and I’ve noticed that many of the labels tell you the nutrition count for 1 serving, but the bottle or package actually contains at least two, if not more servings. I think almost NO ONE actually eats or drinks 1 serving of most things. This was a huge eye-opener for us. The fact that a serving of rice is 1/2 cup, for example, and one of our favorite meals was chicken chunks and soup over a large bowl of rice, meant that we were each eating enough to feed an army.
Making these changes is difficult. It’s much easier to continue on, mentally excusing your behavior, rather than stopping and really looking at what you need to be doing in order to get healthier, feel better, and hopefully increase your quality of life for as long as you’re here.
The scales are tangible, but ‘she giveth and taketh away’, making you happy one day and disappointed the next. My husband and I refuse to stop weighing every day, though, as it is one reality check that we need to keep on keepin’ on with our efforts.
The measuring tape is tangible, but as I’ve whined before, even with going into the bathroom and looking in the mirror while I measure, I’m not always accurate. I’m telling myself that even if my numbers aren’t completely accurate, it’s the DIFFERENCE I’m looking for. Any numbers showing less are welcome.
Looser clothes are tangible. Women’s sizes have always been a joke, though. You can be a lot of different sizes depending on the store where you’re shopping. Again, I’m looking at the actual clothes I have. I’m able to buy some smaller jeans and shorts now, shopping in the same stores, and usually going from the same brand. That’s tangible progress.
The cute poundage bears are a cute, tangible reminder that we’re on our way to being healthier. The more bears we collect, the better we should feel. At least, that’s the plan…
Fedex delivered a ‘perishable items’ box to us this afternoon. Inside was a styrofoam box filled with Mangosteens. They were shipped from MiamiFruit.org, sent as a gift to us by our son in Thailand. He discovered these at the market recently and absolutely loves them. We had never heard of them! I checked around and was unable to find anything but supplements MADE from Mangosteen. I ordered a bottle and have taken about half of them. Our son said he thought he had found a place in the U.S. that sold them and could ship them to us for us to try.
Most of the Mangosteens are in our fridge inside the styrofoam box. We left these out on the counter to ripen more. There is supposed to be a little ‘give’ when you squeeze them, and these are like billiard balls. :0) According to the website, you’re supposed to cut them in half horizontally and then suck out the fruit.
naturalhistory-notes.blogspot.com.br
This picture that I found on the net shows the inside white part that looks kind of like orange wedges. I look up information about Mangosteens –
“Unique for its appearance and flavor, mangosteen is often revered as “the Queen” of tropical fruits, particularly in the South-East Asian regions. This exotic, round, purple color fruit is quite popular for its snow-white, juicy, delicious arils all of the Asian countries, and in recent years by the European and American fruit lovers as well! Internally; it features 4 to 10 juicy, snow-white, soft, fleshy, triangular segments as in oranges. Each segment may carry 1-4 off-white colored seeds. Seeds are inedible and bitter in taste. The flavor of the fruit can be best described as sweet, mildly tangy, fragrant, and delicious.
Source: www.nutrition-and-you.com/
Our son is asleep now (there is 12 hours difference between us), but we’ll get some tips from him as to how to get them open without cutting off our own body parts. I’ll let you know what we think when we’ve got a ripe one and have had a chance to sample them. Isn’t this a fun gift!
Filed under Delightful Surprises, DIET!
Calvin Nicholls _paper_sculptures – artodyssey1.blogspot.com
Calvin Nicholls-frimminjimbits.blogspot.com
Filed under Creativity, paper art
Amber in the Cat Bed
We have two large dog beds that are about 3 feet x 4 feet and another that is about 2 feet x 3 feet. We also have two cat beds – one is 13 inches x 20 inches, and the other is round a quite a bit smaller.
Everyone loves the bed above – the cat bed that is 13 inches by 20 inches. I’m not sure why, when everyone seems to travel from bed to bed or just sprawl wherever it seems good at the time all over the house. The picture above shows 95 pound Amber in the cat bed. She has to really work, going around and around and pulling all parts in to even TRY to get into this bed, but she was doing it this morning while Smoke was sprawling all over my writing area and calendar beside my computer.
Here is Molly sprawled out now in the same bed, snoring. While the doggies are vying for this one, the cats sprawl out in the middle of each of the humongous dog beds, daring the dogs to try to share.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Ben Williams via email from Bill Lites
Filed under Amazing Animals, Favorite Quotes
We got a new food and water bowl set up, and then put a tray under it, trying to get Amber to give up her ‘play-in-the-water-dish’ game. So far, it has worked pretty well. Having the water bowl up in the air seems to take it out of the toy category. Fingers are crossed that this continues. Meanwhile, Smoke decided this morning that this was a grand new place to sleep! She even stayed there as Amber stuck her head down through the hole where her food dish goes to check Smoke out.
I would think that having Amber slurping water right over her head would be disconcerting, but Smoke didn’t seem to be bothered at all.
Maybe this allows Smoke to be trampled by the ‘playing-dog-fight’ between Amber and Molly t one less time during the day.
As I walked to the office after taking these pictures, Smoke followed me and is now asleep on the shelves beside me, on top of my calendar and to-do list…
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Fabulous Traveling
I’ve been getting on my yoga mat every day – concentrating on slow stretches to loosen up my old, stiff, sore body. I spend a good half hour using the positions taught by Cat Kabira on my 2 “Gentle Yoga” DVDs I bought from SixtyandMe.com. I’m doing my own thing, listening to my body creak and moan and then finally ‘give’ into each position as I breathe into it, feeling much looser after my practice.
My massage therapist, Lynn Moody, has been working with me to solve a mysterious problem of pain running from my neck to my shoulders, first on one side mainly, and then moving to the other, and sometimes all the way across. She suggested
The latest suggestion came at my last massage when she quietly lifted my neck and snugged a pillow in. Instantly, I was in Heaven. My pain was gone! She said to just relax into it while she continued her magic on my other parts. When we finished, I asked her “What WAS that, and where can I get one?”
It’s called a Cervical Traction Chiropractic Wedge Pillow – Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief
I’ve used it during my yoga stretching for 2 days now. This is bringing me real relief. It won’t help with being old. It won’t make me look like Julia Roberts. I’m already addicted to it, though, looking forward to being able to lie down on my mat and totally let go, relaxing into the pillow and letting it do its work. I don’t know yet if it will take away my pain completely or not, but right now I’m happy to settle for it easing my pain for much of the day.
Filed under exercise, quality of life, taking care of yourself
Live Life in Color
Filed under Attitude, empowerment, Encouragement
I really like my fish. They don’t do tricks. They don’t say anything. They’re even quite a lot of work, since I’ve been having trouble coming up with a filtering system that was the right size to fit nicely in my aquarium and do the job it’s supposed to do. I enjoy speaking to them, especially when I feed them twice a day. The four fish all get in the upper corner on the right side when they see I’m ready to feed them. They wriggle like crazy and I swear they smile as they anticipate the fish flakes coming into the water.
That said, I bought a different design filter today. This is for aquariums from 5 to 15 gallons, so I’m at the extreme low-end of the scale. I took EVERYTHING out today, including all the gravel. I completely drained the water, washed the inside of the glass, scrubbed everything that went back in and then filled the tank again with the treated water I fix for them so that my tap water doesn’t bother them. (I have 4 gallon jugs of treated water that is room temperature.) I put in the new filter pump with a new filter cartridge.
The newly cleaned tank has been running for about an hour now and is looking pretty good. The fish seem happy, and were even trying to convince me that it was time to feed them – gathering in the corner, wriggling, and smiling.
I don’t mind changing the filter cartridge more than once a month, but I don’t like having to change it every three DAYS as I was before, and it wasn’t even keeping the water clear! FINGERS CROSSED that what I did today results in the water staying clear for longer.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
The Fresh Quotes
Thinking of you today, John.
(And you, Sweet Murray – ((((HUGS))))) )
Filed under Family, Favorite Quotes, Friendship
Filed under Creativity, Gorgeous Glass
Dardanelle State Park – Lori Johnson – Only in Arkansas – via Cindy Basnett Thurman
Filed under Awe-Inspiring Photography
We love it when we see a “Garage Sale” sign when we’re on the way home from errands. It’s so easy to detour, spend a few minutes looking at things, grabbing things we like, and then going on home. Today we stopped at a house where two nice ladies were sitting in the shade of their garage. I say they were nice because the first thing one of the lady’s said was, “Oh, look at the pretty dog!” as Amber complained from the back seat of the truck that we were getting out and leaving her once again. It turned out the lady has a German Shepard who is about the same size as our Amber, so she knows and appreciates big ‘puppies.’ :0)
We made a quick tour of the things for sale. I just couldn’t leave this sweet Santa basket behind. His hat, plus the basket has bells that make beautiful music when you move him. His sign says, “Santa Stop.” You can put Christmas goodies, Christmas stockings, Christmas presents or Christmas cards in the basket. He had a green $1.00 sticker on his nose and I just HAD to adopt him, didn’t I?
Filed under Delightful Surprises
“Place of Meditation” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Alice Hoffman via TitleWaveforBooks via History Books via Cathy Ruggiero
Filed under Hobbies, Reading is FUNdamental
Ambrose Bierce via Email from Bill Lites
We got a kiddie pool for Amber last year. She was a cute MUCH SMALLER puppy last summer and was a little intimidated by the water. We finally got her to walk around and drink some of the water, but she didn’t want to actually swim in it much.
Now, since the weather is so beastly hot already here – and it’s not even officially summer yet – I let Amber out and she comes back sopping wet. She heads for the pool immediately, leaps in, walks around, drinks some of the water, then lies down in the middle, saying, “Ahhhhhh!” She may do this several times while she’s out. Then she barks at the door, wanting to come in. She’s 93 pounds of bull-in-a-china-shop wet puppy – and exuberant in her (1) wish for a cookie for barking when she wants to come in, and (2) wish to snuggle with her people.
I now keep dog towels at the front door and at the garage door so that I can at LEAST keep her from dripping all over everything. I’ll make this a routine until our weather cools off – hopefully in October – scrubbing out and refilling the pool every 3 days or so. She LOVES her kiddie pool now. She really doesn’t understand why we don’t care to snuggle with her until she dries off….
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Bubba Watson via sayingimages.com
Jim Wheaton
My dad had a great sense of humor and shared it generously. The humor came in many forms: wonderful stories, jokes, looks, puns, and funny actions. He made us all laugh, even at times when we felt like crying. To him, making people laugh started out as a way to be accepted at school. This was a HUGE thing because one arm was shorter than the other, his left hand almost completely useless – an easy thing for unkind kids to use to bully and belittle him. The fact that he made everyone laugh and forget he might have had an extra challenge gained him acceptance.
He used his wonderful sense of humor to create a one-man advertising agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He and my mom celebrated when he finally gained enough clients that they were able to pay the bills more easily. He put my brother and me through college with his talent, finally winning a Silver Addy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Tulsa. The radio stations still play his commercials from time to time to honor his memory. (This happened the first time when my husband and I were visiting my mom and his parents, who lived on the next street. We were in Dillards Department store. All of a sudden I heard my dad’s voice! I dropped to my knees in the middle of the store. One of the clerks rushed over to help me. When I told her what was ‘wrong,’ she explained to me that the radio stations do that every year to honor my dad, since his commercials were so distinctive and funny. )
He taught me to stand back and look at situations as if I were looking at a movie. This allowed me to see the humor in many situations, allowing me to laugh, rather than get hurt or angry. I thank him often for teaching me this.
I miss him, of course, and get weepy at times, but I FEEL him looking down at me – usually when I’m trying something for the first time or sticking my neck out in some way. I can FEEL him smiling at me, urging me on. It lights me up from the inside, filling me and giving me strength.
On his last day, he scribbled on a piece of paper, “Remember me laughing.” And I DO. I cherish memories of him telling a story, laughing so hard at times – unable to go on for several seconds – being able to SEE the situation. The helpless laughter is what I remember most. I’ve forgotten a lot of the stories, but I’ll never forget his joy in telling them.
(One of his favorite stories was about going camping with his friends. If you knew them, this was already funny because neither my dad, nor any of his friends, were outdoor people. He described a laborious afternoon after they figured out where they would camp for the night. One guy decided to dig a hole in the ground because he slept on his back and wanted to be comfortable in his sleeping bag. He would dig a bit, ‘try-the-hole-for-fit’ and dig a bit more until it was perfect. The rest of the guys decided that seemed like a great idea, so they, too, dug holes for their butts. At dark, they got ready for bed. One of the guys was suddenly cursing. They turned on their flashlights to find out what the problem was. It turned out the guy was trying to brush his teeth – mistaking the “Unguentine” for toothpaste!
They got into their sleeping bags, still laughing, and suddenly the guy was cursing again. They turned on their flashlights to see him moving his sleeping bag to another spot. He angrily told them, “I sleep on my stomach!” )
I’m smiling now as I type this, easily picturing my dad trying to tell us this story, laughing his rear end off. I’m so lucky to have known and loved him.
“Reminiscence” – 18″ x 24″ – Graphite on Gessoed Board – Artist Coop Gallery in Westerly Rhode Island
Filed under Creativity, drawings
“Reflexion” – Miguel Guia – http://www.artspar.com
Filed under Creativity, sculpture
We changed our mailbox decoration this morning, taking down the Tazmanian Devil and putting up Popeye.
We really love to make these decorations. We choose the designs together. My husband changes the image into code that our CNC computer-guided torch can understand and follow, cutting out the design from various thicknesses of sheet metal. My husband makes the piece that attaches the decoration to the mailbox with two bolts. He welds it on and smooths out any rough edges.
We wipe down all sides of the front and back with PRE, a spray that removes any oil on the metal and allows the paint to stick better. We then attach the metal piece to a holder in the shop and use a transparency we made and an overhead projector to allow me to mark the bare metal with a magic marker front and back with the design as much as possible. I then paint both sides of the piece and the attachment piece. Finally, the piece is sprayed on both sides with clear protective polyurethane so deterioration will be slowed.
This piece is tall (about 3 feet), so we added a rod vertically to the back before I painted, to keep gusty wind from bending the piece. I try to paint it so that any rods and the attachment piece blend into the design on the back as much as I can.
In the background of this picture, you can see our 6 foot tall robot holding our address sign welcoming visitors, and one of the two owls we have on either side of the driveway. They sit on top of the gate poles. Everyone’s eyes glow as car lights hit them at night. Farther up the driveway is a flying pig hanging down, a guard dog with a rifle, and various other pieces at the top. :0)
creativeartworksblog 