I feel just like a real athlete. I have to have knee surgery. All the real athletes have surgeries. They get theirs from working too hard, mine is that my knee and leg bone are not aligned properly....or something like that. I saw the x-rays.
Chef Ricardo made up the best dinner last night. Whereas I just add onions to EVERYTHING and call it a made up dish, he actually came up with a winner. He stir-fried broccoli, then steamed it, mixed it with olive oil, sauteed onion, whole wheat pasta, and no fat feta cheese. Ummm Ummm Good. It's the only time I have wanted more broccoli in my entire life.
Once I was going to cook something and the recipe said to saute it. I didn't know what that was and there was no glossary in the cookbook, so I put the cookbook away and probably haven't opened it since. I do know how to saute nowthough.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Mountain Training
Back on the bike today. In addtion to regular training, I added strenght training on the bike, just climbing up those mountains....ok, small inclines (level one) but it's a start.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Hoarding (continued)
Before I get to Le Tour, I have to make progress regarding stopping the hoarding. Treatment for hording includes 3 parts:
1.) organizing
2.) reducing clutter
3.) limiting acquiring
There are a ton of reasons that people who hoard have such a challenge organizing, reducing clutter, and limiting acquiring. Right now I am working on organizing things and reducing the clutter. For some magic reason, I am better able to discard things than before. Of course, I still save too much, but I'm planning to organize what is left, and then limit my acquiring. So far, having a little trouble with #3.
One of the things I bought Sunday was a print of an anthropomorphized dog, in a pool, getting 5 baby ducks in a row. It was meant to inspire me, both to get my ducks in a row, and to remember the futility of attempting to maintain ducks in a row. I went to get a frame today, but of course, the print was matted into a 14 x16 inch mat, which is no where near a standard size. So, I have to get it custom framed. The frame is going to cost more than the print. Probably not the best move.
P.S. Hoar is not a nickname for Hoarder.
1.) organizing
2.) reducing clutter
3.) limiting acquiring
There are a ton of reasons that people who hoard have such a challenge organizing, reducing clutter, and limiting acquiring. Right now I am working on organizing things and reducing the clutter. For some magic reason, I am better able to discard things than before. Of course, I still save too much, but I'm planning to organize what is left, and then limit my acquiring. So far, having a little trouble with #3.
One of the things I bought Sunday was a print of an anthropomorphized dog, in a pool, getting 5 baby ducks in a row. It was meant to inspire me, both to get my ducks in a row, and to remember the futility of attempting to maintain ducks in a row. I went to get a frame today, but of course, the print was matted into a 14 x16 inch mat, which is no where near a standard size. So, I have to get it custom framed. The frame is going to cost more than the print. Probably not the best move.
P.S. Hoar is not a nickname for Hoarder.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tour de France
I just watched (again) the last stage of the Tour that I had taped. It is amazing how those cyclists work as a team and put forth the effort to do what they do. I'm so inspired.
I am grateful for being blessed with my friends and my family and the concept of hope.
I bought a little book of quotes yesterday when I felt that I was experiencing a second chance, A New Leash on Life which of course has pictures of dogs and quotes......two of my favorite things. The following are from that book.
COURAGE: You gain strength, courage, and confidence by each experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next things that cones along. Eleanor Roosevelt
FRIENDSHIP: By friendship you mean that greatest love, the greatest usefulness, the most open communication, the noblest sufferings, the severest truth, the heartiest counsel and the greatest union of minds of which brave men and women are capable. Jeremy Taylor
GIFT: Live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift -- there is nothing small about it. Florence Nightingale
TO MY FRIENDS: if I planted a flower every time I thought of you I could walk in my garden forever. Author Unknown
AND LASTLY: Don't go through life, grow through life. Eric Butterworth.
I am grateful for being blessed with my friends and my family and the concept of hope.
I bought a little book of quotes yesterday when I felt that I was experiencing a second chance, A New Leash on Life which of course has pictures of dogs and quotes......two of my favorite things. The following are from that book.
COURAGE: You gain strength, courage, and confidence by each experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next things that cones along. Eleanor Roosevelt
FRIENDSHIP: By friendship you mean that greatest love, the greatest usefulness, the most open communication, the noblest sufferings, the severest truth, the heartiest counsel and the greatest union of minds of which brave men and women are capable. Jeremy Taylor
GIFT: Live your life while you have it. Life is a splendid gift -- there is nothing small about it. Florence Nightingale
TO MY FRIENDS: if I planted a flower every time I thought of you I could walk in my garden forever. Author Unknown
AND LASTLY: Don't go through life, grow through life. Eric Butterworth.
Monday, September 28, 2009
I heart my heart
A couple of weeks ago during the "these and those" things that caused me not to blog for a couple of weeks, I had a fair amount of stress. During one of the most stressful times, I had an EKG. Later I found out that the EKG showed that one of the parts of my heart was not getting blood and apparently I had had at least one heart attack. News to me. Today, I spent SEVEN hours at teh cardiologist's office, seeing the doctor, getting a stress test, and getting an echocardiogram. SEVEN hours. Everything went well except it was sort of difficult to limp while walking really fast......the knee is still a problem. However, it was worth a seven hour wait to get the final diagnosis. I do not have heart problems and the anomoly in the EKG was caused by stress. Good old every day, garden variety stress. Now I wish I would have gotten the sausage gravy and busicuit at Tamarack.
I had a stress test about 10 years ago and during the break for lunch between scans, I went to a local restaurant and ran into a friend who told me that when she had her stress test, she was having a hard time keeping up with the pace of the treadmill. All of a sudden she realized that they probably had it set for a younger woman. She had lied so often about her age, she had no idea what records at that particular hospital had recorded for her age. She was concerned that the they were going to kill her, thinking she was so much younger than she really was. At least the age in the obituaty would have been flattering.
Aren't people wonderful?
I had a stress test about 10 years ago and during the break for lunch between scans, I went to a local restaurant and ran into a friend who told me that when she had her stress test, she was having a hard time keeping up with the pace of the treadmill. All of a sudden she realized that they probably had it set for a younger woman. She had lied so often about her age, she had no idea what records at that particular hospital had recorded for her age. She was concerned that the they were going to kill her, thinking she was so much younger than she really was. At least the age in the obituaty would have been flattering.
Aren't people wonderful?
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Teeny tiny reunion and Progress Report
Over this past weekend, I have visited with 4 of my friends from the West Side of Charleston and shot a pistol. I wasn't even deer hunting. Perhaps I will write a book called target shooting in the dark and in the rain off a back porch in Greenbrier County with Buddha. All I can say is that flagpole stand isn't going to bother anyone anymore.
The newest of these friendships is a 40 year old friendship and the oldest is a 50 year friendship. Good stuff. Good stuff and funny stuff. It's good for me to take time out to laugh.
Progress Report: There has been some! One of the tools I have learned about by being taught by the teams who writes the series of workbooks I have, is about recognizing the early signs of depression. One of mine is sleeping. I think I have mentioned before that it is my drug of choice. Other drugs of choice have included extreme television viewing and extreme dog. Household dogs now total seven and you are not even considered an animal hoarder until you reach 20 pets so I still consider myself at the far end of reasonableness. As a matter of fact, I think I am past reasonable and barely holding on to the line that divides the reasonableness from unreasonableness. You will be happy to know that I no longer desire dogs as drugs. Now my drug is sleep. When I start to get depressed and I start to think about things that deserve my deepest most attentive thoughts, YAWN......Its off to nap time. Sleep is a very effective and convenient, and inexpensive drug, and best of all, it doesn't require trips to the vet, nor does it shed hair on everything. And, if I get caught red-handed, in the middle of a sleep induced haze of reality avoidance I do not have to hire an attorney and since no one thinks of oversleeping as an addiction, no long trips to the Betty Ford Center. Of course, there are no celebrity sitings but then, everything has a trade-off.
The point is, and there is one, thanks to the work I've been doing, I recognized my yearning to nap as an early symptom of depression and I was so excited that my early depression symptoms abated. Of course, getting an extra nap is rarely a bad thing.
On my way to visit two of the four this weekend, I passed a sign announcing that I was on a "Technology Corridor". To my eyes, I was on a highway that was surrounded by tree covered hills. Lots of them, and one cell tower. I'm not sure if I was missing most of the technology or I was witnessing the super positive spin of a super optimist.
Either way, the tree covered hills reminded me of a story our white water rafting guide told us. He told us that he was taking a California woman on the river who was highly educated and working on a PhD. Her studies were obviously not in geography, geology, or anything that explained hills or mountains. For those without degress in geograhy, geology, anything to do with hills or mountaings and who are entirely devoid of common sense, remember that water, over time, will find the path of least resistance and form a river which is at the edge of, surprise!, a mountain to the left and a mountain to the right. Picture this scene. The woman from California asked the guide why the trees "in the back" were so much taller than the trees in front, along the river. Our guide promised that this is a true story.
The newest of these friendships is a 40 year old friendship and the oldest is a 50 year friendship. Good stuff. Good stuff and funny stuff. It's good for me to take time out to laugh.
Progress Report: There has been some! One of the tools I have learned about by being taught by the teams who writes the series of workbooks I have, is about recognizing the early signs of depression. One of mine is sleeping. I think I have mentioned before that it is my drug of choice. Other drugs of choice have included extreme television viewing and extreme dog. Household dogs now total seven and you are not even considered an animal hoarder until you reach 20 pets so I still consider myself at the far end of reasonableness. As a matter of fact, I think I am past reasonable and barely holding on to the line that divides the reasonableness from unreasonableness. You will be happy to know that I no longer desire dogs as drugs. Now my drug is sleep. When I start to get depressed and I start to think about things that deserve my deepest most attentive thoughts, YAWN......Its off to nap time. Sleep is a very effective and convenient, and inexpensive drug, and best of all, it doesn't require trips to the vet, nor does it shed hair on everything. And, if I get caught red-handed, in the middle of a sleep induced haze of reality avoidance I do not have to hire an attorney and since no one thinks of oversleeping as an addiction, no long trips to the Betty Ford Center. Of course, there are no celebrity sitings but then, everything has a trade-off.
The point is, and there is one, thanks to the work I've been doing, I recognized my yearning to nap as an early symptom of depression and I was so excited that my early depression symptoms abated. Of course, getting an extra nap is rarely a bad thing.
On my way to visit two of the four this weekend, I passed a sign announcing that I was on a "Technology Corridor". To my eyes, I was on a highway that was surrounded by tree covered hills. Lots of them, and one cell tower. I'm not sure if I was missing most of the technology or I was witnessing the super positive spin of a super optimist.
Either way, the tree covered hills reminded me of a story our white water rafting guide told us. He told us that he was taking a California woman on the river who was highly educated and working on a PhD. Her studies were obviously not in geography, geology, or anything that explained hills or mountains. For those without degress in geograhy, geology, anything to do with hills or mountaings and who are entirely devoid of common sense, remember that water, over time, will find the path of least resistance and form a river which is at the edge of, surprise!, a mountain to the left and a mountain to the right. Picture this scene. The woman from California asked the guide why the trees "in the back" were so much taller than the trees in front, along the river. Our guide promised that this is a true story.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Friends and Laughter
I'm still pondering my goals, but in the meantime, I took the opportunity to forget all about goals and working and improving my sorry self and shared meals with friends. Lunch was an impromptu occasion over legendary hot dogs on Charleston's West Side. Dinner was planned and was a substitute for seeing the new Taking Woodstock movie, which apparently did not appeal to enough people, because when I opened the paper to check the time, IT HAD MOVED ON. How rude, not to wait for Joanna and I to relive the days of our youth.
As our Plan B I picked up BBQ chicken from Jen's Southern Barbecue in Institute. So very good. I even bought a t-shirt from Jen's for $5.00. As usual, Joanna has the best music and we drowned our sorrow over missing the movie in food and music. Not a bad plan B. I was attempting to tell her a story which took, I kid you not, the entire 3.5 hours I was there. Sometimes you just need someone to listen to your story. I have 4 North Carolina ears that listen when I need to talk and yesterday I either talked to a listener or listened and laughed. I love people who can make me laugh and I am fortunate that I have had those people in my life.
One of the reasons it took so long to get the story out is that we took a lot of verbal side trips. On one such occasion we were discussing religion and how that far far far right developed. I said that "they" created divisiveness by suggesting that the world was divided into the godly and the godless.....or as Joanna would say.....the goddessly and the goddessless. Of course, one wanted to be associated with the group that would allow you to end up in a pearly gated community and golden streets, not the mention the many mansions. (Who do you think cleans those mansions? Do people get transferred from hell to clean for those in heaven?) So, the righteous became more righteous and pedantic and less exposed to other ideas, or even ideas rather than a simple emotional reaction. And our American competitiveness comes into play with even this issue, as people take christianity to the next level. And the next level, is not love, peace, joy, and service to others; the next level is competition. And the most brilliant thought crossed my mind. Lets have a reality show for fundamental christians and call it Holier Than Thou. [The lower case C is not a typographic mistake. It is a typocgraphic statement. I differentiate between Christians and christians]
As our Plan B I picked up BBQ chicken from Jen's Southern Barbecue in Institute. So very good. I even bought a t-shirt from Jen's for $5.00. As usual, Joanna has the best music and we drowned our sorrow over missing the movie in food and music. Not a bad plan B. I was attempting to tell her a story which took, I kid you not, the entire 3.5 hours I was there. Sometimes you just need someone to listen to your story. I have 4 North Carolina ears that listen when I need to talk and yesterday I either talked to a listener or listened and laughed. I love people who can make me laugh and I am fortunate that I have had those people in my life.
One of the reasons it took so long to get the story out is that we took a lot of verbal side trips. On one such occasion we were discussing religion and how that far far far right developed. I said that "they" created divisiveness by suggesting that the world was divided into the godly and the godless.....or as Joanna would say.....the goddessly and the goddessless. Of course, one wanted to be associated with the group that would allow you to end up in a pearly gated community and golden streets, not the mention the many mansions. (Who do you think cleans those mansions? Do people get transferred from hell to clean for those in heaven?) So, the righteous became more righteous and pedantic and less exposed to other ideas, or even ideas rather than a simple emotional reaction. And our American competitiveness comes into play with even this issue, as people take christianity to the next level. And the next level, is not love, peace, joy, and service to others; the next level is competition. And the most brilliant thought crossed my mind. Lets have a reality show for fundamental christians and call it Holier Than Thou. [The lower case C is not a typographic mistake. It is a typocgraphic statement. I differentiate between Christians and christians]
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