Author: The Widow Badass

Edward Gets Confused

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Feb 9th Pic of the Day – Our newish car (bought Nov 09)
JD and I are fans and consumers of Toyota products. We recently traded in our beloved 2006 Matrix and bought our second Toyota, a 2010 Prius. I secretly (well, guess the cat is out of the bag now) refer to the car as Edward….because the Blizzard White paint job is pearlescent and sparkles in the light. Thanks to Mizz J for introducing me to the Twilight series et al, and that reference!
And now Edward is going to be recalled because of a braking problem. We hadn’t experienced it until just this weekend, when JD was braking and went over a bump. Ooops, Edward got confused apparently and the braking just cut out. Thankfully we were going quite slow anyways and there was no one ahead of us.
I do hope Toyota learns from this experience and comes back stronger and more quality-focused than ever. We do think they make excellent cars (well, excellent for our needs…reasonably priced, durable, reliable) and I personally love our dealership – which has besides exemplary customer service, a cafe and quiet room with internet….you really don’t mind waiting for the car to be worked on. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget the complimentary car wash, so Edward can continue to be sparkly!

Feb 10 POD – Maple Quinoa Cereal
I recently made this recipe, from OhSheGlows, a wonderful website with many great recipes. Vegan baker Angela comes up with cool ways to eat healthy.
I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas from her site, including the whole Green Monster smoothie crush I’m currently experiencing!
The cereal was easy to make, quite crunchy and nicely sweetened with maple syrup and spiced with cinnamon.
It did keep me full longer than a regular bowl of flakes, no doubt due to the high protein content of the quinoa.

Cowl of Kindness Started, New Mascara!

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Feb 7th Pic o’ de Day
This is how far I’ve gotten so far on the yarn I was winding up in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago. The pattern is called “Cowl of Kindness”, from Knitting Philistine’s blog. At the rate I am knitting this, I will be wearing it next winter. Sigh.

Above are 2 pics of yours truly (Feb 8th) modelling my new purchase of Lash Blast mascara in Black Cabernet. A fashion photographer I am not. It was not easy (nor obviously too successful) shooting myself in the face, by myself, but I am so pleased with this product that I had to try. The pics don’t do the mascara (or myself) any favours, but believe me, this stuff is AWESOME. Cover Girl has done it right. Cheap, readily available, easy to put on and take off, and makes each eyelash do the work of a dozen, WITHOUT clumping. What’s not to love?

Health Update

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Feb 5th Picture of the Day – finds from Costco
I’ve been feeling a lot better lately. My TSH levels have dropped again, to more normal levels. So it appears the thyroid might be OK after all. So what IS/WAS going on with me then?

My theory now, is that I burned the candle at both ends for too long in November and December and then paid the price. Stress, people, is what did me in. All work, no exercise and too much restaurant food makes Mizz D is a dull gal indeed!

I’ve been wearing my pedometer religiously since I got it. I even forgot to take it off my PJs last night and wore it to bed…oh, for crying out loud! How silly is that? I guess I know for sure now that I don’t sleep walk, thanks to the zero steps reading this a.m. (Pedometer automatically resets to zero at midnight every night.)

I figured out what the aerobic steps are: anytime you walk more than 10 minutes straight, the pedometer calls that “aerobic”.

So, now when walking Mizz Lucy I keep moving, pacing back and forth, when she stops to check her “pee-mail” so I don’t lose those valuable aerobic minutes being logged. Valuable why? Just for the mental boost it gives me, to read those aerobic minutes logged at the end of the day and know that I was walking with purpose and energy instead of just accumulating steps shuffling around at work or in the kitchen.

So I look kinda strange, but Mizz L doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, I am sure if you asked her she would say the pedometer is the greatest thing ever as it makes her mistress take her for more frequent and longer walks! And now that is it staying light out longer (Feb 6th POD, taken at 6 pm), walking the pooch is much more enjoyable too.

Vegan Comfort Food, More Wedding Planning

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Feb 4th POD – Curried ChickPeas with Cashews Mixed with Brown Rice

This recipe comes from the Flat Belly Cookbook. Fabulous recipes in there – haven’t found one yet that I haven’t liked.

This dish is a particular favourite of mine. It makes my far-from-flat belly very happy when I eat it. Like another chickpea dish I just love – chickpeas with sauteed spinach, tomatoes, onions and lemon zest, over rice. Yum Yum.

I haven’t gone vegan or even vegetarian. But I do love to add these dishes to my repertoire. I think I am following what is called a “flexitarian” diet. Doesn’t matter what you call me, you can call my tummy happy with this way of eating.

JD and I are really ramping up the wedding planning. We are meeting the wedding coordinator and a photographer tomorrow night. And I have been emailing the City to see if we can arrange to be married out of doors at the Village Park, down by the river. Backup plan (in case of foul weather) is to see if we can book a little country chapel (where my sis got hitched) 10 minutes away, or barring that, get married at the Village Hotel.

Note to self: ask WC about officiants tomorrow night!

Maybe I Can Just Grow My Own?

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On Feb 1st I went out for a latte and chatte (hah, I just made that up!) with a good friend of mine. She looked at my hand, curled around the tall decaf-sugarfree-lowfat-no whip cinnamon dolce soy latte (Uh, yes, it was tiring to order. Why do you ask?) and asked me when I put a new set of acrylic nails on.

I was surprised that she thought my very own nails looked that good. And she was surprised they were indeed my very 0wn nails (Feb 2 POD). Hmmm. Maybe I will go au naturel (in the hand department anyway) for my wedding day. Makes room in the wedding budget for eyelash extensions…tee hee!

Which reminds me – I have actually booked something for this upcoming shindig! Drumroll please! It’s my…….hair and makeup appointment! That’s right. I may be wearing a paper bag and getting married goddess-knows-where, but I will have my face on and hair done. I met the very busy and popular Village Salon owner at a meeting in January, and asked her to do me up right on September 3rd. Whew. Cross that off my mental (OMG, did she actually acknowledge she does not even have stuff written down? With her memory???) list.

(I am attributing my newly strong and long nails to the Green Monsters I have been drinking, thanks to Feb 3rd POD – my stick blender. I do love this machine. All that spinach, protein powder and frozen fruits just has to do a body good.)
Back to the wedding planning: I have made an appointment to visit a bridal salon with Mizz J. That happens next week and I felt a funny and odd feeling when I got off the phone from talking to the consultant there. It took a while to realize that what I was feeling was FEAR.
It wasn’t because of anything the woman said. She couldn’t have been nicer and more reassuring (and I needed reassurance, people). I in fact asked her if they would possibly have anything to suit ME – someone who will be 51 when she walks down the aisle. “Of course” she laughed, “We have many options for the more sophisticated bride!”
“More sophisticated bride”. Not ancient bride. Not ridiculous bride. Sophisticated. OK. I like it. Now I need to feel it.

The Zen of Toothbrush

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JD and I recently went electric. With our toothbrushes that is. Handy little Oral-B Vitality numbers, cordless with charging stands – Feb 1 POD.

Now I have to be IN THE MOMENT when I brush, instead of wandering down the dusty dim hallways of my mind to goddess-knows-where while I mechanically scrub away at my choppers without thinking.

I have to carefully, S-L-O-W-L-Y, and thoughtfully move the brush around all the surfaces of my teeth such that all are given their appropriate due before the 2 minute timer on the brush signals me by “hiccuping”, that the brushing can now cease. Have you any idea how hard it is for me to focus on this one little thing for 2 whole minutes???? Especially in the morning!

I really do need to work on my powers of concen….did I just hear a car go by? Where was I?

New Obsession

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Bengal Spice Tea by Celestial Seasonings. Jan 31 POD.

This tea is spiced perfectly, and for some strange reason, tastes sweet although it contains nary a bit of sugar or any sugar-like chemical.

I. LOVE. IT.

Which means of course, that at any moment, it will be discontinued. Lipton Raspberry Mandarin and Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Maple (not the decaf version), I am looking at you BOTH.

Catch Up, Yet Again

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My oh my, where does the time go?

In my own defense, I have been rather busy – working, wedding planning (OMG – about time!), and helping my mom and stepdad with their move to the house from the condo.

It has been a tough move for them (she’s 74, he’s 80) but they are settled in now and hopefully can rest a bit. My painting clothes came home on the 30th (POD) which means the kitchen, computer room and bathroom are DONE! You may not be able to see from the photo, but we painted the kitchen and bath a lovely creamy shade (dripping down the B in CIBC) called “Fuzzy Mitten”.
Remind me someday to show you the pic of the peeling paint in my own bathroom at home. Sigh.

Determined…

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…To move forward despite having little energy to do so. That’s my new mantra! Along with “fake it till ya make it”. Ha!

Went to the doc this week and still don’t have a diagnosis. My TSH levels dropped back down to a more normalish range, though apparently you can still feel crappy at 3.35 but the doc can’t do anything about it till you’re over 5.0 (my previous test was 4.91).

On the one hand, I am happy that maybe I don’t have a thyroid problem…..on the other hand…well, then what is my problem?

What’s a gal to do? Well, her nails and to start watching Seasons 1 and 2 of House (lent to me by a colleague), photo for Jan 27.

What else can I do? Eat healthy! Jan 28 – Slow Cooker Pork with Beans and Greens. JD gave it a 10/10! I liked it too, but not quite that much. Recipe from SparkPeople.com.

Doc has now signed me up for a sleep clinic as she wants to rule out sleep apnea. JD says I definitely do not have sleep apnea, though I am snoring a lot (blush!), he says. Sleeping in a strange place, hooked up to a lot of wires and people watching/videoing you sleeping….hmmm, not something I’d ever consider doing but….my dad had sleep apnea. I remember listening to him snore when I was a kid, and then he’d stop and I’d wait and wait and want to run in the room and scream “Start breathing again, dammit!” (I swore a lot back then).
Heck, he had even had awake-apnea. Dad smoked like a chimney up until the last few years of his life and I remember a particular coughing fit of his at our cottage in which he actually passed out from lack of oxygen! When he came to, he denied that he passed out but it was pretty obvious. Men! Cough, cough, cough, cough, topple over, lay there, open eyes, look dazed, get up, cough some more. Thankfully he was on the floor already fixing something by the wood stove when he passed out so he didn’t have far to fall.
What else can I do to make myself feel better? Well, despite my lethargy (0r maybe because of it) I should be forcing myself to move more. So behold my new pedometer (Jan 29th photo). It arrived today from Well.ca
I find wearing a pedometer very motivating. Something about seeing those numbers and wanting to see what it takes to make more of them! DATA! Give me DATA! And it does. It even distinguishes between basic wandering around and AEROBIC STEPS. What be AEROBIC STEPS? I guess I’ll be finding out!
Excitement! Mystery! Suspense! Stay tuned.
You know I am self-medicating because of how lousy I feel. That’s right, after about 15-20 years off of the stuff, I am back to drinking coffee again. A half cup in the a.m. with lots of milk seems to clear up the brain fog a wee bit. Not even close to the gallons of straight black Columbian I used to enjoy, but I am on the slippery slope, yessir.
I mentioned this to my doc, thinking it would alarm her but NO. She told me “We docs drink coffee to stay alert – it’s a stimulant you know. I drink about 2 cups a day myself…so you go girl! Enjoy your coffee.” Huh? Coffee not bad? Especially for my gastric reflux?
What next?!? If I tell her I am uptight from too much coffee is she going to suggest a ciggie and a cocktail, to take the edge off? “Yes Mizz D, we docs often get liquored up and smoke like fiends – it helps after a long hard day of doctoring people like yourself.”
Hmmm, I just don’t know how I feel about coffee. On the one hand, I like to think clearly (and clearly, who doesn’t?), on the other….I have an addictive personality so I am a bit concerned that my “lil’ helper” could turn into a big ol’ monkey on my back (again) before I know it. I even feel guilty having caffeinated tea more than once in a wee while. Hmmm.
‘Course, if I lost some weight, my gastric reflux might disappear and IF I had sleep apnea, that might disappear, and if I exercised more I MIGHT just feel a whole lot better and fitter and maybe my brain would clear up on its own?
So that leaves me where I started with this blog. Determined to take better care of myself, since medicine doesn’t have any answers for me at this moment.

Triptych or Troika – you pick

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Third (and final ) installation, as I get caught up in my blogging and picture taking.

January 22nd photo: Sun going down behind me. I looked up from the parking lot of our building to see the church on the hill next door. It looked especially pretty and I was especially happy because here it was 5:30 at night and still light out! Yay!!! Spring is coming….in another couple of months….but still…progress. Yay Mother Nature….way to spin the planet closer to longer days and better weather!
January 23rd: spied these arrangements in the cooler of our tenant (and florist). White orchids and hydrangeas! Looks like fireworks exploding in flower form. I love it. Something like this for our wedding would be wonderful. Hope the florist doesn’t tell me this is for a funeral. Doesn’t look very funereal to me? Does it to you?

January 24th photo: this is what my dog looks like when she knows she is going for a walk. Note the flying ears. Flying because she is bouncing up and down on full alert and joyousness mode.

This is why people own dogs. They are the embodiment of the word JOY.

Oh yeah, plus loyal and always happy to see you, no matter how bad of a day it has been (for you or them). Why can’t we all be more like dogs?

The newly shorn Lucy must now wear her coat when outside (according to me, not her). This pic is a stand-in for January 25. I actually took it last winter. For some reason I did not take a picture yesterday….the memory….ah, she is pretty bad these days.

I am finally feeling a bit better, after last week’s 24 hours from Hell, and the resulting days from the outskirts of Hell. I am going back to the doc this week (after yet more blood work) to press for something to be done to restore me to my old self. I haven’t felt this bad since I was severely anemic. I doubt I am anemic, though the doc was quick to point out that my iron levels were normal alright….LOW normal. Still, anemia or thyroid….who cares?! Just fix me.

And finally: today’s photo.

This book arrived in the mail for me today!

I am a FAN of this woman’s work. I already have two of her other books: Time Management from the Inside Out and Never Check Your Email in the Morning. Sometimes I wonder if I should read less about organizing and actually do some organizing instead. But then I get distracted and the feeling passes….tee hee.