But now I should remember because i wrote it down.
took so long working on this that i don't have time to write.
[eyes rolling to the back of my head.]
7.28.2014
2.03.2014
Quick! Before I forget how to post
It's amazing...3 readers saw the previous post. Blogs are so weird....all this communicating and I don't even know if anyone's going to read it. Kind of like that saying about the tree falling in the forest and I can't hear it...did it make a sound?
So anyway. Here I am, just caught up on calendars and checkbook entries. Am bored silly with such things but the alternative leads to despair. Missed appointments and forgetting to pay a bill or paying it twice is what happens if I don't spend hours doing this kind of thing. Makes life a big chore.
Great news about Seahawks, eh? Lara and Per came down from Seattle for a little cheerleading time with the oldsters. We ate well and got the freezer defrosted as well. How good can it get? Vegetarian chili one day and baked chicken the next. Mmmm to both of them.
Lately I've toyed with the idea of eating plant-based protein instead of animal-based. My oldest brother assures me that plant-based eating is researched enough to show significant decrease in American illnesses so it makes sense. Right? Well, so I started in with recipes, fully on board with eschewing meat. And I was pleasantly surprised with how good they were, like the vegetarian chili. Good so far....
Then we decided we'd better empty said freezer of all the (really good) meat we have....most is grass-fed, organic, etc. But it's still from animals so I couldn't wait to get rid of it all. Only I realized as I roasted chickens and made hamburgers that I really like meat! What to do, what to do? Actually I know the answer to that: I am going to simply increase my intake of plant-based protein and hope for the best.
I already know that dairy is not a great food source for me...so that's going to be the hardest part. I do love butter and ice cream. Yes, yes...I know, there's a great iced coconut "ice cream". It's conveniently purchased down the street at my Food Co-op but it's $7 a pint! Geez. Actually, maybe that's a good thing...I'll give myself much smaller servings to stretch it out.
So anyway. Here I am, just caught up on calendars and checkbook entries. Am bored silly with such things but the alternative leads to despair. Missed appointments and forgetting to pay a bill or paying it twice is what happens if I don't spend hours doing this kind of thing. Makes life a big chore.
Great news about Seahawks, eh? Lara and Per came down from Seattle for a little cheerleading time with the oldsters. We ate well and got the freezer defrosted as well. How good can it get? Vegetarian chili one day and baked chicken the next. Mmmm to both of them.Lately I've toyed with the idea of eating plant-based protein instead of animal-based. My oldest brother assures me that plant-based eating is researched enough to show significant decrease in American illnesses so it makes sense. Right? Well, so I started in with recipes, fully on board with eschewing meat. And I was pleasantly surprised with how good they were, like the vegetarian chili. Good so far....
Then we decided we'd better empty said freezer of all the (really good) meat we have....most is grass-fed, organic, etc. But it's still from animals so I couldn't wait to get rid of it all. Only I realized as I roasted chickens and made hamburgers that I really like meat! What to do, what to do? Actually I know the answer to that: I am going to simply increase my intake of plant-based protein and hope for the best.
I already know that dairy is not a great food source for me...so that's going to be the hardest part. I do love butter and ice cream. Yes, yes...I know, there's a great iced coconut "ice cream". It's conveniently purchased down the street at my Food Co-op but it's $7 a pint! Geez. Actually, maybe that's a good thing...I'll give myself much smaller servings to stretch it out.
1.23.2014
Wrestling with blogspot
Wow and whew! I was so long away from the blog that i forgot how to log in and then, of course, google had changed quite a bit. But I figured it out due to great perseverence. I really feel like writing these days and I love doing this blog so I just wouldn't give up.
If anyone is still reading this, then hi!
Today is national handwriting day but it's hard to do a blog with a pencil in my hand so i'll just cheat this once.
Things have been busy in our house. Dan continues to increase his physical capabilities and is going to walk again someday, I'm sure of it. Right how he's practicing standing without holding on and, believe me, that's a big deal. He just doesn't know how to give up and that's what has served him so well these past 2 years.
We still find that we can't do all around the house and yard that needs doing so sometimes I feel like an avalanche is chasing me. Hiring people to help seems logical but it's hard to admit that we need so much help. I keep thinking I can do it all, but when "all" doesn't get done, then I wonder just when I'll have to have permanent help.
I've also had very little stamina for about 6 months, so I can't work for very long before I need to crash. Well, Dan told me last summer that I was having trouble breathing while sleeping so I had a sleep study done and got the results yesterday. It turns out I have some mild/moderate "sleep interruptions" but enough to make me hope that's all that causing the fatigue. So I'm getting a sleep mask (c-pap). Can't wait!
Ah, but I catch myself when I get excited like that. I say "can't wait" because I think I'll return to my 25 year old self when i had beautiful endless energy. Is that even possible these days? Maybe with extensive anti-aging strategies, but I'm not the type to get over-involved in that. I did decide recently to do a "relaxed" plant-based diet in the hopes of getting healthier.
"Relaxed" means I'll eat a lot more veggies and non-animal sources of food, but not cut them out entirely. My brother gave me a book, Forks Over Knives (meaning nutrition trumps surgery) and I'm liking the recipes. Last night I steamed veggies and made a tahini-liquid amino sauce to put on top with pine nuts. It was awesome and I'm glad I'm getting out of my eating rut.
If anyone is still reading this, then hi!
Today is national handwriting day but it's hard to do a blog with a pencil in my hand so i'll just cheat this once.
Things have been busy in our house. Dan continues to increase his physical capabilities and is going to walk again someday, I'm sure of it. Right how he's practicing standing without holding on and, believe me, that's a big deal. He just doesn't know how to give up and that's what has served him so well these past 2 years.
We still find that we can't do all around the house and yard that needs doing so sometimes I feel like an avalanche is chasing me. Hiring people to help seems logical but it's hard to admit that we need so much help. I keep thinking I can do it all, but when "all" doesn't get done, then I wonder just when I'll have to have permanent help.
I've also had very little stamina for about 6 months, so I can't work for very long before I need to crash. Well, Dan told me last summer that I was having trouble breathing while sleeping so I had a sleep study done and got the results yesterday. It turns out I have some mild/moderate "sleep interruptions" but enough to make me hope that's all that causing the fatigue. So I'm getting a sleep mask (c-pap). Can't wait!
Ah, but I catch myself when I get excited like that. I say "can't wait" because I think I'll return to my 25 year old self when i had beautiful endless energy. Is that even possible these days? Maybe with extensive anti-aging strategies, but I'm not the type to get over-involved in that. I did decide recently to do a "relaxed" plant-based diet in the hopes of getting healthier.
"Relaxed" means I'll eat a lot more veggies and non-animal sources of food, but not cut them out entirely. My brother gave me a book, Forks Over Knives (meaning nutrition trumps surgery) and I'm liking the recipes. Last night I steamed veggies and made a tahini-liquid amino sauce to put on top with pine nuts. It was awesome and I'm glad I'm getting out of my eating rut.
3.19.2013
Hi Susan
This post is just for you, Susan. I kind of choke re-reading some of this, wondering how my erudite friend, Susan, will react. Then I remember, she knows me well enough to recognize that this blog is a pretty good reflection of me. A little ditzy, but I've come to accept me, warts and all. I mean, really, what else are you going to do when you get old? Whine about being less than perfect? Not being as good as everyone else in the world? Nah.
1.29.2013
Just another day
Today I did a nice shift at my diversion program volunteer job. I wrote up a lot of cases, plus some bureaucratic forms for each kid. I think the reason I like this job is I get to finish each case (at least the part of it that I'm responsible for.) If something isn't done right away, like a remodeling project, and it hangs around for too long, one tends to get testy. And impatient, etc.
Came home and Dan and I shopped together. The modern way: we each had our laptops open to Amazon and picked out things together. What is this world coming to? Actually, what happened was that he'd put a few things in his cart to purchase but was $.04 short of being able to get free shipping. We spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find something else to buy. Either it wasn't in stock or wasn't eligible for free shipping. He finally got up and took a walk.
This weekend Lara and I are going to go to Portland to goof off. We've been talking about it for years and finally just said f*ck it, let's just go. Planning is a form of procrastination it seems. We're going to a jazz thing Friday night but the rest of the time I'm on a foodie rampage. I keep hearing about cool places to eat there and now I have a chance to try them out. Voodoo doughnuts. Hawaiian food. Hot dogs.
Maybe Powell's. No Saturday Market! It doesn't open til March 2. I wouldn't mind getting in the habit of traversing southern WA to go visit OR more often. Esp. eastern OR...sounds interesting over there.
It's getting dark out, I have some fresh Alaskan cod and Washington oysters to cook so will sign off.
Came home and Dan and I shopped together. The modern way: we each had our laptops open to Amazon and picked out things together. What is this world coming to? Actually, what happened was that he'd put a few things in his cart to purchase but was $.04 short of being able to get free shipping. We spent an inordinate amount of time trying to find something else to buy. Either it wasn't in stock or wasn't eligible for free shipping. He finally got up and took a walk.
This weekend Lara and I are going to go to Portland to goof off. We've been talking about it for years and finally just said f*ck it, let's just go. Planning is a form of procrastination it seems. We're going to a jazz thing Friday night but the rest of the time I'm on a foodie rampage. I keep hearing about cool places to eat there and now I have a chance to try them out. Voodoo doughnuts. Hawaiian food. Hot dogs.
Maybe Powell's. No Saturday Market! It doesn't open til March 2. I wouldn't mind getting in the habit of traversing southern WA to go visit OR more often. Esp. eastern OR...sounds interesting over there.
It's getting dark out, I have some fresh Alaskan cod and Washington oysters to cook so will sign off.
1.19.2013
Life is good
I am having a great week! And, gosh, now that I say that I remember that my astrologer told me mid-January was going to finally give me some relief. How about that? It was a long long spell of way too much stress.
The 2 things that have relieved my mind the most are that Dan's mobility is much improved and also that the house is finally under control. Woo hoo!
Dan got a new walker last month, one with brakes and a seat. The other one was bare bones and only good for short jaunts, like from room to room. Once he got this one he started daily walks in the neighborhood. It's really pretty amazing to watch him...the process is very slow and very difficult but he just doesn't give up. I sometimes am driving home and as I turn onto our street he's walking...putting one foot in front of the other with a determined look on his face. He's pretty inspiring.
The consequence of the determination and hard work is that he gets stronger. And as he gets stronger he's able to take longer walks, etc.
The other bright spot is the house! For the last 6 months the work on getting organized was agonizing. Every time I cleaned out one area, it was at the expense of order in another area. It kept going around in circles. So maddening! And depressing. Usually this was how it went: I'd gird my loins (???) and put my nose to the grindstone (???) and organize something. Maybe 2 things. Then I would be tired (or sick and tired) and I'd go to bed. Maybe for a few days. It got so monotonous I just wanted to jump off a building. The going to bed thing was a 2 part thing: one part was just needing physical rest from exertion. The other part was escape. I just had to get away! Good grief, I really thought it would never end. Now, here's the reason I've gone into so much detail about how grueling the last months have been: last week, all at once, ALL the rooms were in order at once. I still don't know exactly how I pulled that off. Three rooms looked like kaka and then, in one day, they looked great. Anyway, that might be boring to read, but to live it....ahh, heaven.
Now I am concentrating on other things once again. Have gone back to volunteering at a youth service agency. Getting trees pruned. Catching up with things not done during remodel, like storage cabinets. Am starting to cook again. Last night we had chicken and baby bok choi in oyster sauce. Mmmm. Like I said, life is good.
The other bright spot is the house! For the last 6 months the work on getting organized was agonizing. Every time I cleaned out one area, it was at the expense of order in another area. It kept going around in circles. So maddening! And depressing. Usually this was how it went: I'd gird my loins (???) and put my nose to the grindstone (???) and organize something. Maybe 2 things. Then I would be tired (or sick and tired) and I'd go to bed. Maybe for a few days. It got so monotonous I just wanted to jump off a building. The going to bed thing was a 2 part thing: one part was just needing physical rest from exertion. The other part was escape. I just had to get away! Good grief, I really thought it would never end. Now, here's the reason I've gone into so much detail about how grueling the last months have been: last week, all at once, ALL the rooms were in order at once. I still don't know exactly how I pulled that off. Three rooms looked like kaka and then, in one day, they looked great. Anyway, that might be boring to read, but to live it....ahh, heaven.
11.01.2012
Aloha, Marie!
Hi Marie,
I have some quiet time and my computer is begging to be used...unfortunately I have so little to say these days.
It's been a too exciting week with the east coast getting hit by hurricane sandy. It's not rational but when New York City is threatened by anything like this I just sit down and worry my brains out. Doesn't do a bit of good but it just has a mind of its own. It didn't help when I asked Mark, while we were skyping, to turn the camera towards the street so I could see how windy it was. It was just a simple vision of the expected trees blowing back and forth. No cars flying through the air and they still had the front of their building. But it began the endless visualizations and I got quite worked up. Stopped watching all the news coverage. The next morning Jenna posted that they were all right and that helped, but I was still amped up for a long time.
Other than that, I must honestly report that I am still overwhelmed with this new life. There's no bad news that makes it worse...it's just constant change. Some of it's major, but not often. It's more the little everyday things that are so relentless that I could just scream. Dan and I both came home from rehab with so many good intentions to settle right into the new life. But the cheeriness wore off. There are still 1000 decisions to make, chores to do, storage problems to solve....all on top of the everyday maintenance. Plus I'm a newbie so it's a real pain in the neck to have to do things like go buy a damn toilet seat. It gets done, though, and then the new toilet seat lolls around the house with no-one eager to put it on.
We still get lots of company. That's pretty cool, experiencing how much everyone cares. And if I need help I usually can find it, but it often takes a while to get it coordinated so there is nothing about speedy service anymore.
Dan just received a new chair for his shower. He has tried it and isn't convinced it's perfect. Oh, wait! Nothing's perfect, right???? So true. I have to admit that there are a ton of great lessons to be learned from a big transition like this. The pain comes when the human doesn't adjust quickly enough to each little things and they just pile up. When that happens, naps help. So do popsicles.
Signing off with a happy note:
I have some quiet time and my computer is begging to be used...unfortunately I have so little to say these days.
It's been a too exciting week with the east coast getting hit by hurricane sandy. It's not rational but when New York City is threatened by anything like this I just sit down and worry my brains out. Doesn't do a bit of good but it just has a mind of its own. It didn't help when I asked Mark, while we were skyping, to turn the camera towards the street so I could see how windy it was. It was just a simple vision of the expected trees blowing back and forth. No cars flying through the air and they still had the front of their building. But it began the endless visualizations and I got quite worked up. Stopped watching all the news coverage. The next morning Jenna posted that they were all right and that helped, but I was still amped up for a long time.
Other than that, I must honestly report that I am still overwhelmed with this new life. There's no bad news that makes it worse...it's just constant change. Some of it's major, but not often. It's more the little everyday things that are so relentless that I could just scream. Dan and I both came home from rehab with so many good intentions to settle right into the new life. But the cheeriness wore off. There are still 1000 decisions to make, chores to do, storage problems to solve....all on top of the everyday maintenance. Plus I'm a newbie so it's a real pain in the neck to have to do things like go buy a damn toilet seat. It gets done, though, and then the new toilet seat lolls around the house with no-one eager to put it on.
We still get lots of company. That's pretty cool, experiencing how much everyone cares. And if I need help I usually can find it, but it often takes a while to get it coordinated so there is nothing about speedy service anymore.
Dan just received a new chair for his shower. He has tried it and isn't convinced it's perfect. Oh, wait! Nothing's perfect, right???? So true. I have to admit that there are a ton of great lessons to be learned from a big transition like this. The pain comes when the human doesn't adjust quickly enough to each little things and they just pile up. When that happens, naps help. So do popsicles.
Signing off with a happy note:
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