yesterday was productive with laundry, a few groceries and meal prep of turkey meatloaf-as well as banana muffins as we had overripe bananas to use up. I'm trying to use up some of the frozen stuff as well as fresh for meals before I buy a lot more, so may come up with some interesting combos this week. Frozen veggies and egg salad anyone?
I'm getting sucked into the NYT mini crossword puzzle which is fun but it can use up time as you can go back and do ones from the past. There's a game called Connections which I'm terrible at as my mind just doesn't work that way, so its good practice.
Had a nice chat with my brother on the phone-so glad to be able to share all the family responsibilities with him, and so grateful we agree on procedures etc.
Today I have got to do some paperwork/bills, and I'm somehow logged out of my email on my laptop so I have to find my password again, which I changed into something hard to decipher-which of course I don't remember,sigh.
Maryann-wish I had your energy! Glad you had such a nice time.
Bill-Interesting concert! Ooh the Honk parade, I want to go to that sometime.
Silverbirch-sorry about your picky digestive system! Good luck slogging through the upheaval time.
I came home to Tahoe last night to sleep in my own bed. It was a good idea. I feel more prepared for the day. Weight was surprisingly ok. Usually when I come down from elevation it is a couple pounds higher. Food continues OP.
I bought a new book 30 minute Gardener. It has some wisdom about reclaiming an abandoned garden. It the century home comes to be ( in 22 days) i will need to be patient and learn. My current philosophy is to focus on what is alive and understand why it is alive. that way I can plant more I think it will take me a long time just to prune and dead head. the book says worry less about the weeds in the beginning unless they are harming healthy plants i want to keep.
Joy: Sound like you have a writing coach with some skills. All the challenges you mentioned were classic. When I was in my writing program, one of my professors said that we often don't make our stakes high enough because we like our main character too much and don't want them to suffer. Curly: yeah for massage. Silverbirch: I can't imagine sitting in the middle of as much change as you have going on. It would be hard to knwo if the stress is presenting in your stomach or your eating is off. Probably a mix. Good thoughts your way. BBE: there is not enough Handel playing at any one time in this world.. onebyone: best thoughts as you navigate the health system.
Today I am making a Thanksgiving Day Feast for Two. A small boneless smoked ham from the CSA Farm we get all our meat from. This will be my first ham roast from them. So far their smoked items aren't very smokey. But they are tasty. DH has enjoyed previous smoked items like ham steak and bacon. I'm sure he will like this. I've got another farm's potatoes and grocery store sliced carrot chips with a ruffled texture. Besides the tiny matchstick julienned carrot, these chips are about as much fun as you can have with a cooked carrot IMHO lol! I have some fresh shelled peas as our green thing. All DH favorites.
No baked dessert is planned.
We have awesome clementines and a baby watermelon oh! We will have our golden raspberries! Talk about rare and unusual! They were also found at a farm market.
This morning I saw the nurse.
Bandage changed. She says it's healing
We took a picture. It does look much better compared to pictures from the past. But its not done yet. I wish it was done and over.
Today I went online and scheduled 3 diabetes household and clothing pickups for October. The bedroom once again has piles of clothes out and that means I have too many. More must go.
It's also getting cold out! I turned the heat on last night There's a ? months old baby living in the basement apt. I want it to be warm for them down there. And this also means my bay laurel tree and my persian lime tree will be coming in soon.
I'm considering wintering my heroic geranium as well. What a plant! Bloomed continuously and still going strong. So this means making space for them and that means getting back to decluttering. I'm going to begin with clearing space by my desk where my bookcase is. Goal #1 is to create a wintering-over area for my plants.
Ok off to do some of that.
Update: 1:43 pm I've cleared out one 14in x 14in cube in my bookcase which is composed of 16 cubes. It happens to be at ground level which is really inaccessible now and will continue to be inaccessible when my plant table goes in front of it. For now I will keep it empty as practice for getting usef to having empty spaces. Today I would like to empty 2 more cubes.
Also a donate box is half full and a trash bag is half full and that area is half cleared.
I went to the dentist this morning and the hygienist said that she hoped I’d have a lovely Christmas. What? Apparently, this is because they probably won’t see me again before Christmas and are also working out rotas for the holiday period. I also saw a cushion embroidered with “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in the supermarket. Quite mental. I took two bags of stuff to the charity shop (British Red Cross this time). I’ve managed 6k or so steps today, just out and about running errands with no special walk. That’s an interesting finding. And I rang the removal firm and he’s coming round on Monday. I’ve met this man before when I was working with a client and two people say he’s good so I have high hopes. The milk had turned this morning so that wasn’t too great. I ate a bar of chocolate after the dentist - unusual behaviour but there you are. Lunch was soup and a sandwich but less of both which felt better. Tea was salmon, potatoes, carrots, peas and I didn’t manage to eat all of it.
Bill, thanks for introducing me to the theorbo. That sounds like a lovely outing and a surprise!
curlyjax, oh, the tyranny of over-ripe bananas! Banana and walnut loaf is what happens here. So delicious and so tempting. That’s great that you and your brother are in agreement. It does help a lot.
maryann, nothing like your own bed! My approach to gardens is to live with them for a year before undertaking any major changes so you can see what you’ve already got. I don’t know enough about your climate and seasons to see whether that approach would be useful to you. So exciting!
onebyone, ha! The fun of a cooked carrot! I’ve just eaten a boiled one and there could have been a little more excitement, perhaps, although of course there’s always room for simplicity on the plate. Thanksgiving demands a bit more pzazz, though, and you’ve found the way to provide it! Good going on the decluttering. This is a great idea: For now I will keep it empty as practice for getting used to having empty spaces.
The jaw problem is improved. I'm still not sure the cause or the fix. I'm continuing to do a lymphatic massage that I learned on YouTube, in case it's the eustachian tube. I'm continuing to brush with Sensodyne, in case it's the tooth.
I read a novel in less than 24 hours -- most of yesterday and finishing it this morning. Reading a novel in a day makes for a great little vacation. I think I needed that, since it just happened rather than something that I planned. The novel was Payback in Death by J.D. Robb -- probably of interest to no one else unless you happen to have read the previous 56 novels in the series.
Today, I seem to be more ready and willing to move on to more useful activities. Grocery-shopping was a non-adventure, something to appreciate.
Exercise: 50, 390/1700 minutes for October
Happy Thanksgiving, onebyone! We've come to like our little two-person feasts where we focus on foods that we like in portions that work well for us.
Tuesday - Neptune's moon Triton discovered by William Lassell (1846)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Exercise, CREDIT moi, was jumping in a leaf pile with the (3.5 yo) DFGD at the local park. They came for a visit and dinner since they missed our weekly visit yesterday due to apple picking. (Yes, they bought apple cider donuts; no, they didn't bring us any because they ate them all.) She wanted to make a BIG pile of leaves so DIL and I were recruited to help. When DIL said it was enough we had to leave, she negotiated 5 more handfuls. Each added handful, she counted down: four ... three ... two ... one ... done - spoken and shown with fingers. Hardly genius but enough to impress a grandfather. Due to car shuffling, I walked her home from the park alone. She stopped both dogs that we passed and told their owners the names of her two dogs.
Her first words coming in our front door were, "Can I make the salad?" Gladdened the heart of this granddad, that did. Yep, I'd cut up the ingredients so she could spread them out. She placed the cuke coins one by one, rather patiently, then picked up the container of red bell pepper slices and dumped it all in then spread them with one swish of her hand. Later, while the four adults finished dinner, she was allowed to leave the table and play quietly on the floor in the next room - a welcome behavior since, on previous visits, she wouldn't leave DIL's side to go play by herself. She's a different kid each visit.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner of spaghetti and meatballs is what we have to serve to entertain the little one. She proudly handed out the clementines to each of us for dessert and negotiated that she'd take an additional two home with her. DIL, slightly embarrassed, tried to assure us that she has food at home. But there's nothing like taking home a clementine from grandmom's kitchen.
onebyone - What a great Thanksgiving meal. Fun to know that we were both enjoying clementines. Golden raspberries would be new to me. Good news that the nurse observes that you're healing.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Glad that your jaw is rejoining the team. Reading a novel in 24 hours is quite a burst.
Silverbirch - And Merry Christmas from me, also. Shuddering!!! When I become czar, seasons will have a designated beginning and end. So be it. Congrats for more bags to the charity place.
maryann – You have a sane perspective about taking over an old garden. Gotta let it teach you what works right there.
curlyjax - Does sound like a productive day. I, too, do the NY Times mini-crossword every day. I absolutely am incapable of doing an adult-sized crossword - brain just won't go retrieve words in that way. I admire those who can.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 8Stage 5 - The Motivation-for-Life Plan
But occasionally you will have a more difficult few days or weeks. At times you will experience more cravings, feel more deprived than usual, or tire of practicing your skills. Your life might become stressful, and when it does, it may not feel worth it to continue to put in the time and energy it takes to diet or maintain your weigh loss.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 187.
Last edited by BillBlueEyes; 10-11-2023 at 05:10 AM.
Reason: Typo
So nice to have yesterday off, and in good weather too. I bought a few boxes to donate to Savers, then went inside to browse. I was not happy to find very few short sleeved shirts-I guess not everyone runs warm like me but found a few long sleeve shirts. I pulled them on over my t-shirt in front of a mirror as you can't try on clothes there anymore, and that strategy worked well enough to figure out if they fit or not.Then off to job lots to buy a few household things, and off to Burger King for a late lunch of 500 calories. I so rarely do this and it really hit the spot. Then I vaccumed out the car that i've been driving and took it through the carwash. Back home I steamed broccoli and made potato cubes in the air fryer which came out so good. A lot of support for DD who is waiting to hear about the job and dithering if she should apply for another one now so they don't all get snatched up-as she doesn't think it went well-exhausted me so it was good to get out of the house for awhile. I STILL haven't done my paperwork but that is for today.
Onebyone and Silverbirch-yay for decluttering! Glad the wound is healing onebyone. too funny about christmas wishes Silverbirch!
Gardenerjoy-glad the jaw is better.
Bill-I'm with you-no Christmas stuff until Halloween is over.
Maryann-gardening book sounds good.
Thank you all for your kind words. I’m afraid I had a couple more bad food days but I also slept a lot and today I’m starting to feel more human and a little bit more positive. I have planned my food for the day and will try to stick with it ! Do or do not, there is no try lol! I am hopelessly behind and will do personals tomorrow, but I appreciate all of you immensely.
I am in charge of the snack table for the staff meeting. I am putting together Halloween treats in pumpkin buckets. I will not it any of the UPF candy. I am contributing a mason jar of almonds and a mason jar of walnuts. they are from DH's co-op. I am going to take a walk today after school and before my meeting.
Sound like many of us are decluttering. i can't help but think tat just like food is pushed on us from society so is stuff. I read a quote today by William Blake “You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.” Boy is that true for both food and stuff. for today, I want to intuitively know what is enough.
I didn't achieve an Ideal Food Day yesterday due to a lack of groceries. I solved that yesterday, so I'm determined to make it happen today.
I still seem to be moving through life slower than usual. For the moment, I think that "Oh well" is a good response. It's the kind of thing that may resolve itself in a day or two without a bunch of fretting.
A terrible night, probably linked to eating the bar of chocolate yesterday. I managed to move from the living dead to something more like normal by the late afternoon. I also managed to book a service for the car (much easier said than done, amazingly) and discovered that the previous owner had bought a service plan which hasn’t been used so I will benefit! This took ages. The SO and I have packed a few things, using newspapers which have been round the family quite a few times. That’s because broadsheet papers are ideal for packing but are scarce commodities for us. We read the paper online here since the village shop stopped delivering.
gardenerjoy, I’m all in favour of reading a book in a day! Reading a lot is keeping me floating above most of the current complications in my life. And I find I work logistical things out whilst I’m reading. Moving slowly sounds good to me. The view is different.
Bill, walking home from autumn leaves in the park with your grandad is such a lovely thing to do (as is being that grandad). Such a nice picture.
curlyjax, well done for supporting your DD as she handles and dithers about job applications. It is very tricky.
eusebius, trying to catch up with the thread is like trying to catch the river! So just jump in where you are and when you can. I’m a big fan of getting enough sleep and its positive effect on eating so it was great to hear that you’ve had a lot of sleep.
maryann, almonds and walnuts from your DH’s co-op sound wonderful.
Late night flyby to report I had a good ceramics class. People have begun independent projects. It was busy and challenging to keep up with the variety of things happening.
I am eating less. But continuing to eat late at night. I will just keep trying to improve.
Tomorrow I will move the table for the plant lights into the spot by the bookcase. Only a Rubbermaid bin and a bucket of stuff are left to go through
Wednesday-Emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia rejects a treaty with Italy (1895,Ethiopia)
Diet Coaches/Buddies – Trauma, CREDIT moi, was watching the plumber for three and a half hours overhauling the boiler of our heating system. It was working, but after twelve flawless years a tuneup was required. I kept the old parts because it's fun to see that they were really worn out. The system runs splendidly now. Its shaming orange screen "Maintenance Required" is replaced with a soothing blue screen "Standby" which means ready for the next call for heat.
Eating was on plan, CREDIT moi. But did run into a snack issue. DW had fallen for a display of apple cider donuts at Whole Foods. She bought the box of four, "They had a box of a dozen," she offered as if that made buying four OK. They're numbered; I get exactly two. I had one with a cup of coffee in the afternoon while in recovery from the tension of watching my complex piece of machinery taken apart in pieces on the basement floor.
Intelligent dinner conversation was usurped by my show-and-tell with the removed parts from the boiler. I not only know how our model works, but know how the next version works better incorporating improvements suggested by plumbers at trade shows, including the very guy working on my unit, to reduce the time it takes for a tuneup. Not only was I paying a fortune for his 3.5 hours, I carry the burden of knowing that folks with the newer model would pay an hour less. When I become an enlightened person, I'll feel happy for them.
onebyone - A class of independent projects sounds like a whirlwind - glad you're up for that chaos. Kudos for the part, "I am eating less."
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for groceries to get life back on track.
Erika (eusebius) – Good news that you're feeling more human. Thanks for, "Do or do not, there is no try."
Silverbirch - What a terrific discovery that you have some FREE servicing for your car. Old newspapers are so useful; we have several people who ask for ours.
maryann – Lucky teachers to get almonds and walnuts instead of UPF candy. Good reminder that we just don't need so much 'stuff'.
curlyjax - LOL that you couldn't try on clothes at Savers - to prevent COVID, I guess. Presumably you remember the old Filene's Basement in Boston where folks frequently stripped to their undies to try on clothes standing in the aisles during the mad rush of a super sale.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 8Stage 5 - The Motivation-for-Life Plan
This chapter will help you learn how to keep your motivation high throughout your life, regardless of what is going on around you. For the rest of your life, you will be following one of these three plans:
Daily Motivation Plan, when dieting or maintenance is going well
Re-Motivation Plan, when dieting or maintenance becomes difficult
Get-Back-on-Track Plan, when your skills slip and you gain weight
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 187.
Ontrack with food at work but eating at home wasn't so good-consisting of 3 homemade banana muffins, chocolate chips, cheese and crackers and some cucumber. I must have had something else to eat but I can't even remember what. I'm trying to figure out how I can leave my Toyota at the mechanic Thursday but not be stranded there as i'm going to a long conference. The exterminator is coming back today in the middle of the day as we keep hearing mice, and we're going to be low staffed so its going to be a busy day running back and forth etc.
Last night I did at least finally sort through some paperwork and both my and my dad's bills are ready to be paid today. His mail has been forwarded to me and its running out at the end of the month and we can't extend it, so we're problem solving all that (we being m y brother and I) because certain things like the SS statement is going to be a challenge to try and change the address. Mad at myself for leaving this to the last minute- the procrastinator in me.
Eusebius-hope you do indeed feel better today. Sleep is so important for sure.
Silverbirch-so true about the newspapers, they are hard to find these days. Hopefully you'll get more sleep tonight.
Bill-that would be something to see the boiler taken apart like that. yay for only 2 donuts that will be savored.
I accomplished an Ideal Food Day yesterday. I'm on track for it today, although it's been a hungry day so far. I have grapes and apples on my plan (and in the house), if needed, so that's what I'll do if I reach a point that I want something more than what I normally eat.
I'm leaning into the lower energy day and that's helping. Most of my work is at a desk. I can get a lot done!
I'm devouring a new book. This one was unexpected. I got an email from a friend who recently self-published a novel on Amazon. I was skeptical, but curious enough to read the sample. It was funny and light and seemed like just the sort of thing to keep "me floating above most of the current complications in my life." (Thanks, silverbirch!)
I think it will take me a long time just to prune and dead head. the book says worry less about the weeds in the beginning unless they are harming healthy plants i want to keep.
for Two. A small boneless smoked ham from the 
Tuesday - Neptune's moon Triton discovered by William Lassell (1846)
