Poison Ivy Comes a Creepin'. . .

I got a nudge from a loyal fan that indicated that I needed to share a new post.  Does my title give you a hint of what I've been doing for the past few days??  I'm very allergic to poison ivy and get a bad case of it every few years.  Bad as in, eyes swollen shut, very uncomfortable, and itchy to beat the band.  Well, I'm just about there--to "bad."  I've felt itchy for about 4 days and yesterday my right eye started to swell.  Today it's very puffy, all around and weepy and itchy.  Yuck.  I'm just about ready to raise the white flag and visit the doctor for some magic prednisone pills.  I've found that if I go too early in the process, they send me home with a weak course of drugs which doesn't work.  If I wait until my eye is swollen shut and I'm miserable, (tomorrow, I'd guess) they give me the full strength treatment and it starts to work right away.

I know what PI looks like in many of its guises and do my best to avoid it.  My nice brother pulled a little clump I noticed last month, but there must have been some other hiding out somewhere.  It also grows rampant on both sides of the trail where I walk and run.  Oh well.  My consolation is that I won't get another bad case for a few years.

Meanwhile, my little Nike+ girl is way jealous of my recent biking activity.  I've taken a few walks to mollify her, but most of my exercise is of the pedaling variety.  DH and I were planning to go out this morning but my uncomfortableness plus the very hot humid weather led us to postpone until later in the week.  We're supposed to go to a cousin's birthday/tennis get-together this evening.  I'm sure I'm not up for tennis and, honestly, probably not ready for a public outing with my puffy/itchy face.  DH may go solo to represent us.

I've spent the day (Memorial Day) watching TMC movies (old war movies, lots of John Wayne) and folding mountains of laundry.  Maybe there should be a laundry-non-proliferation treaty.  Hmmm.  I've got to look into that idea.

Itchingly yours,

Happy Monday

It's a good day today!  Yesterday I got in a 45 minute workout at the gym and a 1 hour bike ride after dinner.  I've been "on plan" for straight 5 days and am feeling strong and confident that I'm back in the game.  I so much prefer living and feeling this way than feeling sluggish and "off plan."

The kids are here today.  Jack, who has given up morning naps at his house, willingly went down for a nap about an hour ago.  Yay!  Ella and I have read stories and now she is making me a picture (computer paper, washable bright markers, and a book full of stickers).  I'm not to look until she's finished. :-)

It's so great to be able to bike again.  For now I'm sticking to my old (hybrid) bike as it gives me a more cushioned ride (nice to my still-knitting backbone), but my new road-bike "Pearlie" is going to get a turn when I get the okay from my surgeon.  I haven't had any of the balance problems that my doctor warned me about and am hoping to get back into tip top biking shape soon.  The hills are still a bit challenging after my long winter hiatus, but I'm going to conquer them.

DH and I are planning a holiday getaway bike trip next weekend.  Maybe just exploring a new bike trail and a fancy (on plan) lunch break or maybe an overnight at a B&B with the bikes exploring nearby.  I'll let you know.

For your viewing pleasure:

Elation at having climbed up the tree All By Herself!

Our beautiful old fashioned rose--it's a great bloomer.

Pretty clematis  

He's all about the ball--loves 'em.

Hope you're having a great day, too.

Lead Us Not into Temptation

It seems that the meteorologist took my more water goal to heart.  We've had showers or storms or sprinkles every day for the past week or so, but spring is still coming.  The water really does help make me less vulnerable to the snack monster, but I can't wait to get over this phase where I need to know where the closest facility is at all times.  As I recall, that improves as the water habit becomes well established--am I right?

I've had a fairly good week on the exercise front, too.  Three walks on my river path and two workouts at the gym.  Our gym has a computer-linked system that keeps track of the workouts.  Mine me me with a plaintive "Where have you been" message when I went back for the first time since my surgery (2 months).     I'm doing almost all the stations in my normal routine, but, as per doctor's instructions, I've stepped back the weights and upped the repetitions.  The rain has put our evening bike rides on hold this week, but tomorrow bids fair to enjoy a nice ride in the late afternoon.

You might remember our youngest son, Jay, who lives with us.  He is wonderful at eating (and liking) whatever I put on his plate.  He does, however, love soft drinks.  He usually takes a diet coke (or diet A&W) in his lunch and we usually keep a good stash of them in the garage.  We've had to talk to him about chugging them down when we're not home, but it wasn't too bad.  Lately, he's gotten into the (bad) habit of sneaking cans of coke up to his room.  I saw him go into the garage with his winter coat on (75 degrees outside) and walked in to find him stuffing cans of coke into his pockets.  Another talking to.

Yesterday, late in the afternoon I heard a loud noise in my kitchen.  Some investigation revealed an exploded can of diet coke in the ice cube box in the freezer.  Jay admitted to the deed.  We talked again.  I tried to explain about how liquid expands when it freezes.  I tried to make it clear that he was limited to only 1 can a day.  An entire roll of paper towels gave its life to the clean-up.   When I was making dinner, I went out to the garage to grab a bag of peas from the freezer in the garage.  TWO more exploded cans of diet coke.  Jay was confronted with the mess.  He was very sorry.   While I was talking to him, I noticed 4 additional cans in the freezer--not yet exploded.  The upshot is that DH and I decided that we won't keep coke in the house so Jay won't be tempted.   DH took the rest of the cans to work.   I confess that I just closed the freezer door and left the mess for another day.  That freezer needs a good cleaning out anyway.

All this made me think about my temptations and how they call to me.  Jay's problem is easy.  We can totally cut off the source.  He doesn't shop by himself, so can't get any unless someone gives him some.
My temptations are not so easily dealt with.  I avoid what I can (candy aisles, bakeries, the Krispy Kreme donut shop) but some temptations throw themselves in my way.  I'm trying to redevelop those say-no muscles.  Right now I'm feeling strong, and that's good.

How about you?  Do you have any great ideas for turning away from temptations?

Two Days in a Row--a Streak?

Hi All,

Just back from my second day-in-a-row of exercise.  A basic walk on the Mt Vernon trail.  I timed it just right as it was beautiful when I was out there, but the sky has become overcast and thunder storms are fast approaching from the south.

I am still not up to speed as to my exercise.  The doctor gave me the okay to do most of my regular exercises, but cautioned that balance might continue to be a problem for a while.  I find I can do well walking on basic flat, straight stretches, but rough surfaces, lots of curves in the path and hills are challenging.  I can walk, certainly, but it takes quite a bit more energy (mental and physical).  We're hoping this fades away.  The good news on the exercise front is that DH and I went for a 10 mile bike ride a few days ago.  The balance there didn't seem to be a problem. Now that things chez-nous are more or less back to normal, I expect we'll get back in our good weather routine of biking after supper a few days a week.  I'm planning to renew my gym routine (resistance weights)  again starting tomorrow.

My Dad's funeral service went really well.  Despite threatened tornados and thunder storms, we managed to find an hour or so with suitably somber, but not rainy weather during the funeral service and interment.  I didn't take lots of pictures, but did snap this one as my siblings and I walked behind the Army band and caisson from the church to the graveside.  Dad was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

A week afterwards, when everyone had left the area, we drove down to Wrightsville Beach (NC) to spend some time with DH's sibs and sibs-in-law.  The 6 of us stayed in a rental house right on the beach and had a great time.  We all went in (water temp in the low 70s) and thought it was wonderful.  This is compared to our usual meeting place in Tofino BC (avg water temp in the 50s).  The locals thought we were "loco."  Apparently, in Wrightsville Beach,  only Canadians go in the water before June.  Funny.  The water was beautiful. There were plenty of surfers (clad in wet-suits) taking advantage of some great waves.

I mentioned that I went to WW on Wednesday.  As I stepped on the scale, I told the clerk that I didn't want to know what it was.  Definitely not good.  I've gained almost 20 pounds since December, when my Dad died.  Now is the time to start going the other direction.  As always, my wonderful DH is on board with this plan and totally supportive in meals and exercise.  Also the neighborhood farmer's market is open for business and some of my favorite eating is summer produce--corn on the cob, tomatoes, berries, peaches . . . .   Last week my B-I-L picked up some baby cucumbers at the market--almost like eating candy, they were so sweet and wonderful.  I've upped my water intake and find that's helping in squelching off-plan eating.

Our oldest grandchild turned 11 yesterday.  She's a big reader (like her mom and grandmother) and we got her a Kindle.  There are so many good, free books online that she will be quite content with the free stuff for a long time.  Books like Heidi, Pollyanna, Little Women . . .  Here's a picture of the west coast grand kids from when they were here.

I need to sign off and start thinking about dinner.  Something with roast chicken and snow peas . . . .

Be good!

We Interrupt this Lack of Blogging for an Important Announcement . . .

I'm back.

I've said goodbye to the last house guests, dug my running shoes out from the bottom of my closet, charged my ipod, and restarted my daily weight loss journal.  I'm going out now to get some exercise.  Later, when I get back, I'll write some more about what's been happening.

Ciao for now

What's Happening

Once again, I've been an AWOL blogger.  I'm just about four weeks out from my surgery and finally getting over the lack of energy that slowed me down so much.  That's a good thing, because things are getting very busy around here.  My father's funeral is one week from today (he'll be buried at Arlington National Cemetery where they have a 3+ month waiting time for funerals with full military honors (the horse drawn caisson, a band, etc).  I'm the only "local kid" so in addition to taking care of funeral things (getting the program printed, arranging for a reception afterwards, exchanging emails with my sibs on details about flowers, and program wording, and hymns for the service, etc) I've been working hard to get my house in tip top order.  We're expecting ~60 relatives and out of town guests for supper the night of the funeral.  Only our daughter Laura and her family will stay at our house, but I want to get everything as sparkly as possible before they get here (Monday) and try to keep it that way through Thursday.  Mission Impossible?

You may remember that I was awaiting some biopsy results--good news, in that the sample they got had no abnormal cells, but further tests are forthcoming as my symptoms are still unexplained.  ("lady stuff" as a friend used to say)   I'm scheduled for an ultrasound in a couple of weeks.

Between getting ready for next week and the residual lethargy from the surgery, I've been AWOL from my good exercise and diet plan as well as my blogging.  I can't wait to get back to my good habits.  I see my surgeon for my four week check tomorrow and am hoping for a green light to go biking.  The evenings are getting long and I really miss those after dinner rides with DH.  I doubt the doctor is going to let me run or lift weights yet, but we'll see.  I'm trying to remember that I'm still so happy that I don't have to wear that awful neck-brace for 3 or 4 months after the surgery.

Our garden is a joy.  Daffodils and Virginia bluebells are gone and tulips are fading, but the dogwoods are beautiful and the azaleas are going to be in their full glory next week.  I bought a variety called Rosy Lights last year--it's a deciduous azalea and has beautiful, fragrant blossoms that bloom before the plant leafs out.  It's got one bud open.  I'll get a picture for you soon.

Our freezer (and our son & DIL's) is filled with lasagnas and brownies for the dinner Thursday.  I still have two more seafood lasagnas to make, but I'm feeling good about being ahead of the game in getting ready.  I've made 7 batches of brownies (family recipe, the.best.ever, that my Dad used to make and enjoy serving)--brownies and coffee for dessert.  Lasagna (regular, vegetarian, and seafood), green salad and bread for dinner.   All the lasagnas are WW or Cooking Light recipes and delicious.  I won't mind leftovers.

Here's the picture we put on the front of the program for the funeral.  Wasn't my Dad a handsome man?

Hope your spring is going well.

Tish

Where has the time gone?!

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post.  Let's blame it on my post-surgery lassitude.

I'm feeling better and better.  I had a two week post-op visit via e-mail!  I had to see my family practice doctor and he declared the incision site in good shape and I e-mailed the surgeon with some details I thought would interest him plus some progress pix.  I saved myself  two hours of commute time.  I'll see him in person for the four week visit.  I still have a certain amount of lassitude (a much nicer word than "sluggishness" which I almost wrote, don't you think?), but my fam practice doctor and the surgeon both say that's very normal.  I didn't post picture of the incision after surgery, but, like LBJ, I thought you might want to see what it looks like now.

  Not too bad and there's still a bit of the purple glue (dermabond) that they closed it up with, so it should look even better when that comes off. I also expect the scar to lose its dark color as it continues to heal and to basically disappear in the crease on my neck.

For a prettier picture, I thought you might enjoy the full-blown Virginia Bluebells.  They are in their glory now and are so pretty.  I disobeyed my doctor's orders and transplanted several  clumps to other suitable places in our garden.  We've had a lot of rain, and it was pretty easy going.  This is not a task I'd like to delegate--I'm picky that way.

My good eating plan is on hold for now.  I've actually lost a couple of pounds from the day of my surgery, but houseguests (niece Steffie from Japan--Hi Steffie!!), last minute details for my Dad's upcoming funeral, continuing to get my house in shape before everybody arrives, pre-cooking for the family dinner chez-nous the night of the funeral (50+ relatives), keeping ahead of my nike+ atavar with my walking, and naps have taken priority.  I feel good about being able to get back to basics and weight loss in May, in fact I can't wait.

I had an endometrial biopsy on Monday in response to some weird symptoms and am hoping for good results later this week.  Your prayers (yes, more prayers!) are welcome.  Please keep my good buddy Patrick in your prayers as well as he has surgery today and awaits the results.

Tomorrow is the first day I'll have the babies with me since the surgery.  Steffie will be here to do any heavy lifting and I can't wait to get back into our routine.

Be Good!  Love ya.