Boom Da Da Boom

The husband has completed re-routing the eavestroughing at the front door. Here it is as of yesterday:



Just for fun, let's compare that to the front door which greeted us when we returned from vacation in late May, shall we?

(The eavestroughing on the right ran down the trunk of that tree, the left didn't function well at all.)

I'd still like a new light fixture--and figure out a more satisfactory solution for the abysmal house numbers. Any thoughts?

The Problem with Bed-Time

It is 1 am and the house is finally quiet.

The husband fell asleep hours ago, struggling to stay awake to put my daughter to bed. She's having her eighth birthday tomorrow and a tooth was loose and sore. At 11:30, during her second foray downstairs to complain about it, not at all sympathetic, I told her to work on it and pull it out. On her third venture downstairs, she was triumphant. I listened to the tale of how not the first, or the second, or the third, and not even the fourth but the fifth twist brought it out. We looked at it carefully, discussed how expensive it was (it had been capped, one of her "silver" teeth) and she disappeared.

I noticed during our conversation that my son was still watching a John Wayne movie. I had told him to turn it off a half hour earlier. I reminded him, somewhat severely. He turned it off and wandered into the dining room. He sat down as I read blogs and quietly tattooed himself with pen. He came over to show me what he had done: "I Love You" spelled out on his fingers between the first and second knuckle joints. I gave him a kiss. He gave me one back. I handed him Hank the Cow Dog and said I would be in to tuck him in in a few minutes.

I got to reading something about The Stockholm Syndrome, then Cognitive Dissonance, then to a book recommendation and then to our local library page to see if we had it. Down for maintenance.

I went to tuck in my boy and happily discovered him in bed, with the lights out and groggy. I hugged him and left closing the door quietly behind me as he'd asked.

And then, it occurred to me that in order to follow Bob's rule about "Do not eat 2 hours before bed-time" I would actually have to have a bed-time. And so would the kids.

I have to shift this quiet time, too, from late night to early morning. I haven't been too successful in the past, though. The peace and quiet is so nice when I waken an hour or so before them that, sometimes, I don't get them up--and then I'm sleepy in the night, and they're wide awake--and I eat to stay awake. It's really that simple. I eat at night to stay awake.

Because I like quiet time.

Three Been Salad

I found this recipe many years ago in an old recipe book written, I believe, in the day when canned veggies were considered superior to fresh.

To substitute fresh (or frozen) for canned, wash the beans, cut them up into appropriate sized pieces, then boil them until just done. (If they are soft enough to bite into and not mushy, they're perfect.) Drain them in a colander and douse with cold water to stop them from cooking further and cool them down.

(1 to 1 1/2 cup cut up beans would be about the right amount).

Adjust ingredients for taste--especially the dressing--it's a bit heavy on oil and sugar! (Sugar substitute works well, too, but still, use less!) I usually make about half. I don't like my salads swimming.

1 (1 pound) can cut green beans, drained
1 (1 pound) can wax beans, drained
1 (1 pound) can red kidney beans, drained.
1 cup minced celery
1 cup minced sweet green pepper
1 cup minced yellow onion
1/2 cup minced sweet or dill pickle (optional)

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
6 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients, cover and chill several hours before serving.

This salad keeps for about a week or so, making it super easy to haul it out and have a bowl whenever the blood sugar gets low. In fact, see that bowl up there? That was breakfast!

The $3.02 Pot of Cheer.

Sometimes it pays to procrastinate! The geraniums (2) were 1/2 off--$1.50 each. They had no blooms whatsoever. I talked to another shopper and asked her if they would be OK.

"Yeah, sure," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I've never seen a geranium not bloom."

She was right!

They looked kind of lonely when I planted them, so I went back the next day. The "grass" was on sale too but when I got to the till, I couldn't remember the price and the cashier had trouble ringing them up, so she sold them to me for a penny each. I tried to find something that would fill in the front and cascade down the front of the ugly pot (a freebie from my Mom) but, truly, there was nothing left.

Just as well. It acts as a door stop for the back yard screen door.

BIT, Bob, and Breakfast.

I hate to promote any one person's weight-loss and fitness regime because there are many worthwhile ones out there. However, I need structure and Mr. Greene's is as good as any. (For the record, I like Dr. Andrew Weil, too, and his program is even broken down into 8 weeks, but I don't happen to have a copy of his book.)

Mr. Bob breaks things down into phases--and this is its major attraction to me. The first phase is supposed to take 4 weeks (or so) and focuses on making changes in your habits. This is good. I have terrible habits when it comes to eating and excercising. (As if that's news).

Truthfully, this is a focus I can live with. The feverish attempt to lose weight is anathema to me...and in a way, that's fortunate. It means I've never yo-yoed. I have a pretty clean track record when it comes to trying to lose weight, per se. I think that's a good thing, physically speaking.

According to the theory of having a "set-point" (a weight at which your body goes into ultra conservativative hang-on-to-the-fat-or-die mode), yo yo-ing (going on and off diets continually with the consequent results of going up and down the scales) messes with your set-point and, supposedly, "sets" it higher each time. So, if the theory is correct, I don't have a messed up set-point--which may or may not mean anything.

What I want is a healthier lifestyle--a more functional and healthier relationship to life--not necessarily just my body. So, with that in mind....

Here are the objectives for Phase 1:

1) Increase my activity level.

2) Stop eating 2 hours before bed-time. (aack!)

3) Eat three meals, including a nutrious breakfast, plus at least one snack, daily.

4) Stay hydrated. (48 oz of water a day.)

5) Eliminate alcohol. (um, ok. Done. It's not that I don't drink, I just, um, don't drink.)

6) Take daily supplements.

The biggies, here, are 1), 2), and 3).

I plan to do my best to meet these objectives. But what I am NOT willing to do, at least not yet, is change what I eat. For example, the yogurt breakfast, a la Bob Greene is fat free plain yogurt, topped with fruit, nuts, a little honey and (if you like) a spoonful of flaxseed or wheat germ or a couple of spoonsful of low fat granola.

The yogurt breakfast, a la moi is 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (4% M.G.) with 2/3 cup Quaker "Harvest Crunch." (I only know this because I actually measured this morning.) I throw on a handful of blueberries when I have them. Mmmmm.

I've mixed honey into plain non-fat yogurt before: it's time consuming and the taste takes getting used to. On my previous "diet" --a home made version of weight watchers-- I could only eat it with half an apple cut up into it along with cinnamon and nutmeg. Plain non-fat yogurt is just vile. And I bet French women don't bother. ;)

In winter, I like Red River cereal with a handful of dried cranberries. Oh, and brown sugar.

Perhaps this reluctance to alter what I eat will change. Anything is possible. But eating breakfast, in and of itself, will be a huge change for me. (Normally, breakfast is, well, let's just say lots and lots of coffee and...cigarettes.)

And that's enough for now.

Isn't it?

My BIT

All right. Since Wende and scb are feeling self-conscious about being alone together in this enterprise for a better body, I have to join them, if only to encourage their efforts. Besides, I need encouragement too, and it makes no sense to me to let this opportunity go by.

Years ago, I purchased Bob Greene's "The Best Life Diet." At that time I was researching diets and low-glycemic index foods, healthy eating and lifestyle changes, and so on, and it seemed quite a sensible approach. So, that's what I'm going to use as my guide.

There's just one thing about it I really don't like, though it was probably important to me at the time I bought it. Greene places a lot of emphasis on analysing why you overeat. Are you stuffing down your anger? Your disappointment? Your frustration? Find new and better ways to deal with it, he says, and "have the best life you deserve."

(bleh)

Oprah wrote the introduction (of course). In it she writes:

Loving yourself means honoring yourself and your own feelings first. When I was 237 pounds, I didn't even know what I felt. It was like living behind a veil of fat.

I hesitate to say this, for all sorts of reasons, but I do not believe, in spite of being 75 pounds overweight, that I am living behind a "veil of fat."

No, I am living behind a veil of smoke.

I use cigarettes to "manage" my feelings. I have promised to quit and I have quit a few times in the last eleven years, but never for more than a month at a time. I've invested in courses from the Lung Association, pills from the doctor, nicotine gum...and now that the patch is available without prescription, I'll do that too.

I have to set a quit date and dig out my little cigarette charts to track and cut down on the number I smoke each day (about 20, now). Crikey, just typing this makes me so nervous, I'm reaching for the pack! They steady me.

Managing my emotions in a different way is going to be HUGE. I can't tell you.

Just a Small Project

No more soggy mail!
(The original one had lost its lid.)

Did you know the centre of my house is the mailbox--more or less? Crazy.

Who wants to make the mail box the focal point?

Now, for the light fixture. I'd like to either replace or repaint the one we have. If I could find a more attractive (and suitable) fixture for about the cost of a can of spray paint, I'll do it in a heartbeat! I'd want something plain--but somehow tied into the lovely trellis work. You can't see it, but the window in the front door is a simple diamond. A very simple arts and crafts style would be nice--or would it be too arts and crafts? I haven't a clue. But the current "carriage" style doesn't say anything nice (on my house. It'd be fine somewhere else, I'm sure.)

I went Windows shopping. Here's one from Home despot:



And here's one from our other Big Box store, Rona.

A bit ornate for my taste...but it has a diamond and the scrolly curves of the trellis. I would like it better if the face plate were square. I use compact fluorescent outside, so the frosted glass of the first one is preferable. I like this one, too (also from Rona) but the clear glass gives me pause:


(However, it is only $12!)

I seem to have lost all confidence when it comes to taste. Which one do you like?