We have snow again this morning, but at least it's prettier. Monday's snow was a kind of frozen mist (I was surprised how many inches that could add up to). Today, we're getting actual snow flakes. We expect another inch, which is kind of right at the dividing line of "definitely plow" and "definitely don't worry about plowing." So we'll take a look after it stops this afternoon to figure out how much, if any, work we'll do.

Exercise +55, 660/1400 minutes for February

maryann and curlyjax: My DH is a big fan of the Boglehead way of investing and it's done well for us.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise was chase the (5 yo) DGD day, CREDIT moi. When reading in the overstuffed brown chair upstairs, we explored some books not opened in a long time including Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo. At first she didn't remember it - until she did and then she remembered every little detail. I love nonsense books. It's like reading about Washington, D.C. except that you know it's OK to laugh. She offers her theories about what's happening, where the Zipperump-a-Zoo is hiding, and what the professor should have done. It's an alternative story playing along with the author's.

DW had asked me to order some Celestial Seasonings Rooibos tea that is no longer available at Whole Foods since Amazon has taken over. "No more than six boxes," she sternly warned knowing that I was always drawn to the great prices of the large lots. I found an offer of six boxes for less per box than we've ever paid before. It arrived 27 hours after being ordered. 27 hours!!! DW was blown away. The DGD excitedly opened the box for grandmom even using a 'sharp' to cut the tape with granddad holding both her hands.

Excitement was DGD walking with DW to the supermarket to buy fruit to make a fruit salad. She was super enthusiastic, especially for fresh pineapple that she adores. She worked to make the whole bowl of it including a container to take home to her mom. So excited! It's such a privilege to be taught to buy and love fresh fruit. And she just beamed when I enjoyed my serving and when her mom gushed about being happy to get some for their dinner.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Hope you continue to survive in this arctic blast. Seems like it's been a long time since you've mentioned that your DH had to get out his plow thing.

maryann - Thanks for "Spring is coming" - just what I need right now. Yep, Noah Harari skips a bit about the need for specialization to have art by pointing out the recently discovered site in Turkey, Gobekli Tepe, which seems to be a temple built before the agricultural revolution. From his point of view, this proves that culture was going to happen without farming. Maybe. Sure is an interesting place to add to my Bucket List.

Karen (karenrn) - Thanks for the reminder that the skin of an older person can ride over fit muscles.

curlyjax - That iDiet Soda Bread looks good. And super easy. If I thought that I had any self-control, I'd made soda bread from time to time. Yay for being able to sneak out of town to visit a library.

Penny. - Congrats on some good exercise even with a video that you didn't like.

Readers -

I felt a bit off yesterday, like the flu-y side effects were coming back. Hopefully its just my hormones; I can blame a lot on that! I was tired and didn’t feel like exercising. I hope it goes away; I was planning on seeing manfriend this weekend as he has had his first vaccine, and if I can’t I’ll have to wait a few more weeks until he’s kid free. I’m very hug deprived.
I keep falling off plan, ah well.
Maryann and Gardenerjoy-that is too funny, I just ordered that book from the library! I wanted to look at it first to see if I wanted it as a reference book.
Bill- yay for favorite tea being delivered so quickly!
Penny- some things are distracting, you’re not an a-hole! Good for you for finding another workout.
Karen- I will check out Train with Joan, I could use some inspiration.

Good morning coaches,

I ended up doing a little different hike yesterday. I forgot my hat and my earphones so I wasn't sure I could get back up the East End Trail without some peppy music. I still did over 5 miles up Tom's Thumb and to and to a look out point that is higher and beyond Tom's Thumb. It was a beautiful day. Food was on plan, but the scale is up. I think some of it is water retention from my sore legs, but we'll see. Today I'm doing an easier hike with a friend and no other plans yet.

Curlyjax I hope you're feeling better soon. It's hard to stay motivated even when we do feel good.
Bill It sounds like it is always a good day when you have dgd.
GardenerJoy I didn't know about the Boglehead investment book, but I always liked Jack Bogle and we have done well with our Vanguard Funds too.
Penny Better to find someone who you can stand to listen to. I need to find another arm/shoulder exercise video soon. I like the gal who does mine, but I probably need a change.
Maryann My weight has been up and down five pounds in the last couple of days, so I totally feel you on that. Sometimes it's just discouraging to start doing really rigorous exercise that causes the soreness and seems to bring on the water weight.

I realized that I'm still living as if I have a big stress project coming up. Of course, there's a lot of stress underlying things right now, but I don't, in fact, have a big deadline. So, I can start doing some of the things that are good for me but get dropped when I'm stressed (art, yoga) and I can stop doing some of the bad habits that develop when I'm stressed (eating to take a break).

This morning's adventure is constantly refreshing a screen to see if I can get DH registered for a mass vaccination event on Saturday.

Exercise +30, 690/1400 minutes for February

Good morning!

Yesterday was underbudget and I got my workout in. Yay!

Have a good day! (I wish I was more chatty today. Sorry!)

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no unplanned snacks, CREDIT moi. Afternoon snack was a planned serving of my DGD's fruit salad. Such joy even as it was freezing outside. Dinner was pre-grilled salmon with a veggie and pumpkin ravioli. Had my standard Cosmic Crisp Apple for evening snack.

Participated in a dry run of a class to be held over Zoom. We didn't have a class, we just demonstrated that each of us knew how to mute/un-mute and press the [Raise Hand] button. I learned that when we [Raise Hand] our name is moved to the top of the participants list on the side of the screen of little pictures of us all. Didn't know that about Zoom. Alas, along with some brilliant participants, there were two who still fumbled about trying to mute/un-mute. Makes me aware that we're all headed toward that state where the minutia of technology is a challenge for us.

DW continued on her tear cleaning the pantry. Discovered, when gathered in one place, that we have enough paper plates, cups, and napkins to serve an army. None of these paper items are part of our regular life; whenever we want some, we buy a new package and stuff the remainder in the pantry. Makes me long for the days when we had enough folks over that we had to serve on paper plates. Hope those days return.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - You remind me that one can live without a huge stress thing hovering over the head. Seems like it's been a while.

Karen (karenrn) - Congrats for getting in a good hike even "without some peppy music."

curlyjax - Hope you get your Moxie back. Just read that first vaccine are 92% effective already.

Penny. - Underbudget AND workout is a good day, Kudos.

Readers -

Good morning coaches,

I did have an off plan snack yesterday, but weight is down in spite of that. Weight being down seems to correspond to my leg pain being gone. Today I'll hike, walk Otis and I think give my car a good cleaning. Nothing else really on the docket.

More tomorrow.

I read up on the Moderna vaccine and there is such a thing as a delayed reaction on the 8th day, only it seems more common to the first vaccine and affects the arm- called Covid arm. Still I think my "pre-flu" feeling may be related to delayed reaction and hopefully it goes away soon. I haven't exercised in awhile and need to get back to it.
We seem to have gotten only a little snow with just a little more predicted, yay, so not a big clean up. I am so done with winter.
I found a better treat if I am craving chocolate and am hungry; mash up a ripe banana, 2 T of peanut butter, and 2 T of cocoa powder, microwave for about a minute. It's kind of a pudding texture and its sweet enough but not too sweet. Dinner was a ground turkey-sweet potato casserole that was a soggy mess but still quite healthy: I was hungry after so I indulged in my banana treat.
Bill- I am longing for those paper plate days too! Technology keeps changing; you get used to one thing and then the next one comes along.
Karen- I never thought of water retention from sore legs, that's interesting and I will keep it in mind. Yay for a 5 mile hike anyhow.

Good Morning, Coaches.

I have my vaccination appt. for today. Our county, which is extremely conservative, ran out of 65 and overs who would sign up. So the county lowered the age to 50 and up for educators. That is me. I have never been thrilled with the idea of a vaccination but I have been assured by my "sciency" DS it is the right thing to do.Ok.

Yesterday was my first no wheat day. My goal is to to go wheat free for the week to see if it is a tool to get me back down to a more comfortable number. I also walked during my lunch and added steps with a big box store trip . I am above my step goals for the second month in a row. A fellow teacher brought me a few oranges that were the absolute sweetest I have ever eaten. I asked for a bag and offered a jar of shelled pecans.

A super sweet friend sent me a big book of aroma therapy bath products from Lather just because. I am lucky to have such people in my life.

curleyjax: I can longer blame my hormones for anything and I miss that.
Karen: There is a frustrating penalty for exercise sometimes.
Penny: Yeah for under budget and exercise. It is a double play.
BBE: Up at the cabin, I have begun using paper stuff every now and then just as a break from the dishes because of our stockpile.
gardenerjoy: just reading about creative pursuits being really important during stress time. I need to practice the piano more.

Yesterday was better, not perfect, but better. Partially because I kept asking myself, what would be the better choice, right now?

No luck in getting DH a vaccine, yet, but I'm not going to allow myself to be frazzled and rushed about that (even though there are people in my life who are encouraging me to be).

Exercise +40, 730/1400 minutes for February

maryann: My creative project yesterday was finding a house for the characters in my novel to live. That wasn't the project I had planned, but it sure was fun! Now, it will be much easier to write scenes that feel grounded in a place.

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan for food and exercise. I have my work weekend starting today and hope I still feel up to getting on my bike in the evenings.

The NYT briefing in my email today is all about people not wanting to get the vaccine. 50% it seems! 30% of the military, medical workers. Yikes.

Maryann, if you have the same vaccine experience I had you will want to nap all afternoon after the shot. It wasn't bad, I just felt wiped.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Exercise, CREDIT moi, was shoveling the two inches of snow. It wouldn't have been that much except that DW is under doctor's orders not to help for a period while her eye is healing. Her eyeballs seem a long distance from her legs and arms but doctor's orders are orders. It was light and fluffy stuff. I got it done. I spent the time thinking of the unfortunate folks in Texas who don't have snow shovels, warm coats, or boots. And some not even heat, water, and food.

Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner was chicken-Asiago sausages with sauteed onions and green peppers on a baguette. One of my favorite meals. With the abundant volume of onions and peppers, it's a mess to eat. But worth it.

Continued reading the book Sapiens; the chapter on how societies organize stresses that every single society has created a 'myth' to justify a hierarchy. Every single one. And then he gets into the myths used to justify the (almost) universal dominance of male over female. He gets pretty wound up. I'm losing my ability to believe that Homo sapiens have the ability to be both civilized and egalitarian. Wish I could think of some counter examples off the top of my head.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Can't wait until we're all past the vaccine hunt days. Yay for finding the house for your novel.

maryann - I join your "sciency" DS that the vaccine is the way to go. A good orange is a gift from the gods.

Karen (karenrn) - Good to hear that your leg pain is gone - even with a weight loss. We just had a report from Mount Washington of a super experienced skier - properly dressed and even wearing an avalanche beacon - who died after he triggered a mini-avalanche.

curlyjax - With you on this: "I am so done with winter." Your banana treat sounds good.

Penny. - That group who don't want to get the vaccine is a monster challenge. They might be large enough to keep COVID-19 with us forever.

Readers -

I woke up to a bit of snow to shovel but not too bad. I feel lots better, I really think I had a delayed reaction to the second. shot. I'm going to get my haircut today and see what options I have for coloring it in the future, but I think it caused a reaction last time so i'm waiting awhile. Manfriend is making dinner for me- he's had shot one and is very careful-he's only letting me come over since i've had both shots- so i feel i'm being responsible. It will be nice to see his cat too, i've missed it.
I watched "The Dig" last night, about the discovery of the Sutton Hoo ship. I had actually read a book about it and have seen it in the British Museum when we went to England a few years ago. The movie was okay but got off track onto other things- I guess I would have preferred a documentary. Anyhow, it was a quiet film and good to watch before bed.
Bill- interesting book! Those sausages sound great.
Penny- yikes, that is a lot of folks who don't want the vaccine. Good luck with work weekend.
Gardenerjoy- many folks here are very frustrated with the rollout and how to get the vaccine.
Maryann- good luck on the no wheat. I am also a fan of people getting the vaccine although I understand the hesitancy of doing a newer one.
Karen- I keep thinking about getting my car washed, but it keeps snowing and then getting salt on it, so there's no point for a bit. Or maybe I'm just lazy!

Some of my exercise was using a new vacuum cleaner to clear cobwebs from ceiling rafters. DH's current hobby and distraction is floor cleaners of various types -- they are power tools, after all. I can't complain since he's now doing all the cleaning of all our flooring. I get involved when we're trying out the bits that are higher up because my back tolerates that work better than his. My shoulders and back feel about the same this morning as if I had done a yoga workout yesterday with a bunch of sun salutations.

Exercise +45, 775/1400 minutes for February

BillBlueEyes: I was recently wondering if hierarchy was somehow built into being human. That's a depressing thought. I suppose I can set my hope on cultural, or physical, evolution -- although, I bet I would find a depressing number of evolutionary arguments for hierarchy.