My Life – The Dackel Princess

The Buck Stops Here

Or in my case the cookie!

Since things have been busy this summer, I have found it really difficult to stay on a healthy eating plan.

I got a rude awakening at WW Class on Wednesday and I decided that I am not happy where I am weight-wise, so it’s time to take control and get back on track.

If you have never had a weight problem I think it would be hard to understand. I find it hard to cut back and avoid the foods that bring me joy. (Like Fresh Whole Belly Clams, fried in a delicious batter!) I know, however, that this is what I must do.

Being over sixty now is also a challenge to weight loss. It just doesn’t come off the way it once did!

I hate to be counting points every time I put something in my mouth, but honestly, it’s the only way I am going to conquer this!

I’m also an emotional eater. If something upsets me or I start feeling depressed, I find myself reaching for a cookie, chips, chocolate, etc.

Obviously, that is the wrong thing to do and it has only increased my unhappiness as I have watched the numbers on the scale go up and up!

So it’s back to writing everything down and trying to get a handle on my weight. Oh, to be 16 again, when I could miss a few meals and get back to the weight where my clothes fit!

Like that is going to happen! Ha!

Hot Fun In The Summertime

Saturday I decided I needed to get a lot of things done before my trip to see my sister. I needed to cook meals for Jack, do laundry and of course work on packing.

Now mostly it was fine, and I did get things accomplished, but sweet mother of God (!) was it hot!!!

Our thermometer at our home said it was 100. To me, I felt every degree of heat and oh yes, the humidity too!

Yes, hot fun in the summertime for sure!

The spaghetti sauce came out very well. One of the best I have made in a long time. It’s loaded with onions, peppers, garlic, carrots, sweet Italian sausage, and hamburger. I also went out and picked fresh basil off my basil plant, chopped it up and added that to the pot. A little oregano here, a little salt and pepper there and a large can of diced Italian tomatoes and a jar of plain spaghetti sauce. Then it simmered and simmered to perfection!

I also roasted eggplant and I will be making eggplant pizza on a cauliflower crust for myself. That will be amazing!

I measured out all the dog food and labeled it for their breakfast and dinner. I have also put out their cans of food to make it easier for Jack.

Sunday I’m making Beef Stroganoff for Jack to have while I am gone. All these meals he will simply need to warm up.

I’ll be looking forward to going off for a few days, just so I can get out of the kitchen!

Strength

I want you to close your eyes and think back to a time when you were in your prime. Back when you felt you could do anything and always your body would be strong.

Well, that was quick, wasn’t it? I remember a time when I would move my furniture around weekly, because…I could! I could bend, stretch and lift, and all my muscles worked the way they were supposed to.

Me in my mid-teens.

I took gymnastics in school until I grew to be 5 feet 6 inches. But even then, I was strong enough to perform the movements I learned.

That was…yesterday, right? Ha!

I’m not really sure how it is possible to still see yourself being young and carefree when things don’t work quite the way they used to.

The fact is, in my mind, in my soul, I am still that 15-year-old girl, who thinks young thoughts and dreams of a life on the beach. The only problem is, I’m sixty and due to circumstances beyond my control, things don’t work exactly as they once did.

All that being said the good news is that I am finally getting my strength back! My muscles are coming back and I no longer feel like I might drop the frying pan when I am cooking breakfast.

Now you may think this is rather pathetic, but after being so ill in 2017 where I was pretty much convinced I was going to croak, feeling this good is really fantastic!

Best of all, the pain in my neck and shoulders is finally diminishing and I am once again enjoying life!

I am so grateful!

Physical Therapy & Agony!

I wish I was one of those strong people who could go to Physical Therapy and be very brave. However, my therapy is rather different from most, as I am having Dry Needle Therapy to get my muscles to contract and release.

This therapy is painful and I found that Tuesday’s therapy knocked me on my…bottom! Wow! It really hurt.

I called Jack on my way home and told him I would arrive at 2:20 and he should have a stiff drink ready for me. Which he did.

Every time I stopped to relate my experience and pain, he stopped me and told me to drink more.

After that, I took an hour-long nap. And when I woke I was feeling okay. Just okay.

Dinner is frozen lasagna for Jack and Cauliflower Pizza for me. All easy peasy.

I’m working hard with the Physical Therapist because I want to be well. I want my pain level down below 4. I want my life back.

I hope that by tomorrow morning (Wednesday) I will be feeling worlds better.

Fingers crossed!

Clogs

I tend to over keep things. That being said, Sunday, while doing some cleaning, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my toe like I had stepped on a shard of glass!

I immediately stopped what I was doing, took off my 10-year-old clog, that I use as a slipper, and checked the sock and then the clog. Yep, inside the clog, coming up through the sole of the shoe, was a thin nail! Now, this wasn’t anything I had stepped on, it was actually from the construction of the clog! I attempted to get it out, but while trying to do this, I noted the holes and tears of the inside and I finally admitted to myself…”This clog must go!”

That is actually two pairs of clogs I have ditched today. A record for me, because I keep shoes forever! Really. I hate to break in shoes and my Merrell shoes and clogs last me for years.

The new clogs.

Fortunately, last winter, there had been a sale on Merrell Clogs on Amazon and I selected a pair that I would use as slippers. So it is not like I am shoeless.

Still, I’m sad to say goodbye to those shoes. I say this as I am putting a band-aid on my toe to stop the bleeding! Darn clog!

A Tale of Two Bags

Back in 2011, I flew to Germany with Anneliese to breed her for the second time. I was Pass Riding with the company my husband had flown for before his retirement, and since there was an open First Class seat, Anneliese and I were upgraded.

Anneliese and me on the way to Berlin.

It’s always nicer, when flying with a doggy, to have good seating. And so it was with Anneliese on that trip.

Part of the First Class experience was being gifted with a small toiletry bag of goodies. Toothbrush, toothpaste, sleep blinders, and tissues. The contents were nice, but what I really loved was the Little Red Bag they came in!

It was made of a material that would not absorb water. Best of all, since it was mesh, you could see the contents in the little bag.

I knew immediately that this little bag was perfect to help me to organize my purse.

I set it up with dental floss, lipstick, glasses cleaners, Splenda packets, and chapstick. I have used that bag every day of my life since.

That was until 10 days ago when I lost my Little Red Bag! I was so upset. I tried to recall the last place I had used it, which was at a Chinese Buffet, and I even called them. No luck.

I searched the cars and even looked inside my purse again. Oh my, I felt terrible. Losing something that one loves and uses is not easy to deal with!

I searched Amazon.com for a replacement type bag and finally found one that would do. Same material, same size, and when it arrived I put all the things that had been in the other bag, with the exception of my favorite lipstick. Which, unfortunately, had disappeared with the Red Bag.

Saturday I needed to change pocketbooks so I can wash my Vera Bradly bag, after spilling my flavored water on it, and as I went through the pocketbook I heard a noise. Like Tylenol tablets in a bottle (also in my little Red Bag!). I searched again and there it was in this secret zippered pocket! Just where I had stashed it!

The Red Bag alongside the new Gray Bag. For now, I have tucked my Red Bag away for safekeeping and will use the Gray Bag.

Oh my gosh, I have now reached that stage of my life where I can hide my own Easter Eggs!

PT & Shopping

Yesterday was my first Physical Therapy treatment. It was not as bad as I thought it would be, but afterward, I was sore. The therapy treatments are not acupuncture, but they do use needles to stimulate my trapezius muscles and get them to spasm and release. Since my surgeries in 2017, my muscles have been clenched and I’ve been in a lot of pain. I tried everything myself to deal with it, but gave up in the Spring, and begged for help.

So my Physical Therapist, Evan, spent about half an hour yesterday sticking my muscles with needles looking for a reaction. They are a stoic lot, my muscles, but eventually, my left trapezius spasmed. Yikes!

On my trip home, I felt sore, and last night I had trouble finding a comfortable position, but finally, I did sleep.

On another positive note, I met my new GP in the Women’s Clinic and she is amazing. My previous and much liked GP’s, husband was transferred to Japan. So she left last Spring. Dr. M. took her place and we hit it off immediately. Yay!

The drive home, which included a stop at the grocery store, was crazy. You see I live in The Lakes Region of my State. We are the place to be if you want to fish, boat, or camp in the summer. The craziness starts in May and really doesn’t end until September, but the fourth of July is the worst!

Yesterday, many people got off work early, packed their cars, trucks or campers and were headed north. More than likely, they will stay up here throughout the weekend, and stay during the week until the Fourth on Thursday. The grocery store was packed as was the gas station at BJ’s. Everything took more than twice as long as it should have, and all I wanted was to get home.

So, Friday was a good day and I did get everything accomplished before I fell into bed last night.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thoughts

In the last six months, I have felt a great change in me. It probably was a result of losing Candy, and then several other close friends in rapid succession, but it all got me thinking.

I’m sixty. I know I mention this often, but I watch how my friends have been dropping like flies and I realize that I am truly more than halfway through my life. I know I need to work a little harder at getting my life all together, so I can ease into my mid-sixties and seventies.

Although my bones creak and pop, in my mind I do not feel sixty! In my mind, I still see myself at this young non-number age. Young, definitely not past middle age!

I have started to stop and smell the flowers, to feed the birds and then sit and watch them.

Life is passing by so quickly and my plan is to savor each day I have.

So, I will enjoy the sights, sounds, and joys all around me, and keep working to lighten my closets and drawers and prepare for the future!

My Life Right Now

After a couple of years, I finally am enrolled in a good physical therapy program to treat my neck and shoulder pain, which is a continuing problem since my spinal surgery. For all this time, I just thought I could cope. You know, the good old stiff upper lip!

However, I gave up earlier this year and asked for help. I went through x-rays, doctors appointments, and today was my Physical Therapy Evaluation. I was twisted and turned and measured and bent and a plan of action have been laid out. I am hopeful for the first time in a very long time.

I go back in one week to begin the treatments and then we will go from there.

Meanwhile, the birds are feasting and my new Bird Book arrived. I am just thrilled with my new hobby!

TBT: The Beach & Me

I guess you could say I am a beach baby. Since I was 6 months old I have spent part of every Spring, Summer, and Fall at the beach. Listening to the waves lap against the shore, and feeling the sun soak into my bones. I just knew from a very early age that the beach, the ocean was my home.

I was a bit of a fish, really. My mother was concerned that I would swim away over my head and had a rope on me until she was certain of my abilities. Those came from swimming lessons at Surf Drive Beach, come rain or shine, thick fog or freezing cold water temperatures. I did not care. The ocean was in my blood!

Yes, that is me. I am thinking I am perhaps 6 years old. At my beach, Surf Drive Beach. The one place that fills my soul.

Over the years, I have been many places where I felt that same kismet! One such place was Barbados, where the ocean also called my name. This is actually a full-scale picture I am cropping, but I told Jack when I die I want this picture published with my obituary! Even if I am 90!

I was 29 years old in this picture, and for once in my life skinny! And I remember how much I loved that bikini.

I’m at the beach now. Somewhere. It’s warm and I am happy. Solitary happiness on the beach. My idea of a grand vacation.