The LOVES of my life

These are the little girls in my life! Hayli - on her first day at pre-school. Kristin - building sand castles. And Madeline - on her first birthday!

What's in YOUR pantry?

Ever been in someone's house & peeked in their medicine cabinet or linen closet? Admit it! We've all done it! But how would you feel about taking a look in their pantry or kitchen cabinets when they weren't looking? I have an open door policy where my friends are concerned. Help yourself... if you want something, go ahead & look for it! Or just ask & I'll either tell you where to look or get it for you. But if you were the one whose pantry was being spied on, checked out, what would the peeker find? If you caught someone peeking in your pantry would you slam the door shut, embarassed at what might be lurking in there that you don't want anyone else to see?

I've been trying to be better about the food we buy. Not only because of the cost of food but also for the nutritional value. Currently there are a couple boxes of store brand PopTarts in the pantry and a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge. Other than a couple bottles of wine there's really nothing TOO bad hiding in the pantry - or the fridge, for that matter. I keep very little refined white sugar on hand - except to feed the hummingbirds in the summer - otherwise I use Sugar in the Raw & am really happy with that. I'm trying to get Mr. C. to get away from artificial sweeteners: Sweet n Low, Splenda, etc. I also found that agave nectar is an awesome natural sweetener - sweeter than honey! I'm making the change to a gluten free diet - hoping to make my tummy happier - so when the regular pasta & crackers & bread are gone, they're GONE! I've been reading labels recently & try to always buy gluten free products. I've also discovered that Betty Crocker has gluten free brownies!! How cool is that?! Bob's Red Mill and Hodgson Mill make gluten free flours & pastas that are good. Bertolli makes a gluten free Alfredo sauce that's really good too! I checked out the McCormick's spice website - they say if there's gluten in any of their products, it will be marked in BOLD print... otherwise consider them to be gluten free. Here's a website that has lots of gluten free recipes & product information. There's also a link to sign up for a free e-newsletter. http://www.liveglutenfreely.com/

Growing your own herbs is a good idea... basil, sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, chives - all easy to grow! I have a terra cotta strawberry pot that has been sitting in the snow on the deck... now inside thawing out. When it's thawed I'll empty the dirt, add some "fresh" dirt & start some herbs of my own! Used fresh, they're awesome! But picked in bunches & dried - they're THRIFTY!! Put them in ziplock bags or jars & freeze when they're dried. No more buying them at the store. You never know what else you're getting!

Fresh veggies and fruits are a must! It's hard to get 5 "servings" a day - I should be trying harder to do that. I keep fresh bananas, apples, and grapes on hand along with frozen strawberries & blueberries.... and prunes (the ones in individual packets). Onions, garlic, Yukon gold potatoes, yams, squash, dried beans & lentils -also on hand... along with frozen & canned veggies.

What about milk or other dairy products? I'm not a milk drinker. I can open a new carton of milk & it will smell "funky" to me... I have to have Mr. C. do the sniff test. I use milk for cereal & cooking when required - otherwise I find it useless & distasteful. Literally! I like SILK - vanilla flavored soy milk. Again, not to drink, but on cereal or in smoothies! Yum! And yes, it's gluten free! I do like yogurt.. Yoplait is gluten free - don't know about any others specifically. DAISY brand sour cream & cottage cheese - also gluten free!

Enough about MY pantry (fridge & cabinets).... what's in YOURS???

Aging Parents & Quality of Life

Aging. The natural progression of life.

What happens, though, when an elderly parent becomes ill, has a stroke or heart attack, a broken hip, dementia/alzheimers, or any number of ailments? Life as they know it has changed - possibly, forever. They need assistance with things they've done for themselves for years: dressing, bathing, eating, using the toilet. They may be hard of hearing or have problems with their vision. Their balance is compromised making a cane or walker their "new best friend". Not only does their life change... but often the lives of their children or grandchildren change as well. POA and DNR are terms one becomes familiar with at this stage of life.

My grandfather was 80 years old when I was born. He was always an "old man". He still lived by himself on the farm & cared for himself. My brother & I would go to the farm with our dad and spend time with Grandpa. We'd watch television with him - the volume turned WAY up - and he'd sit a couple feet from the screen. I don't remember exactly when it happened, but one day he came to live with us. He spent most of his days sitting in the recliner in our living room. As he got older, he had to use a walker to help steady himself. Although he was more than 90 years old, he still played Scrabble with his younger sister (both of them could beat me without even trying!). His mind was sharp. He went to church every Sunday until it became too difficult for him to go up the stairs to the sanctuary. When I was in high school he had a couple falls & we, as a family, couldn't go anywhere for more than a couple hours without having to have someone come in to care for him. My parents made the difficult decision to move him to a nursing home where he lived the rest of his life. It hurt me to see this man, my grandpa, failing to thrive. I visited him one time while he was in the nursing home because I couldn't stand to see him like that. His quality of life there was very poor I thought.

My parents (see post from May 2009) were in a car accident. By the looks of their car... they should've been hurt much worse than they were. Physical therapy & ongoing exercise has helped them.

My father-in-law recently had a stroke. Not a severe stroke... but it did affect his balance and left him quite weak. The stroke has affected his short term memory. He can recall events that happened when he was a boy but couldn't tell you what he did yesterday. (To be fair, I couldn't tell you what I did yesterday!) He was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's. Prior to having the stroke, he had had his eyes tested: cataracts in both eyes, macular degeneration in one, little to no peripheral vision. Laser surgery will correct the cataracts - but he's dragging his feet. Things he enjoyed doing - reading the paper and Reader's Digest, watching television, playing cards - all affected by the cataracts. He used to enjoy cooking - but now can't stand long enough to stand at the stove... and has forgotten to turn off burners - burning a couple pans pretty badly! I'm not sure if this is a product of the old age or the stroke - but he has some incontinence. He had been using a cane to assist in walking but since having the stroke he now uses a walker. He naps - a lot! Moans - a lot! He has mentioned a couple times that he's "ready" and reminds us of his "plans".

Having this stroke has not just affected my father-in-law. My sister-in-law lives with him but she can't be with him 24/7 because she works. She is under a lot of stress and now we're trying to help out. Jerry has gone to stay with him - to be sure he does his physical therapy exercises, to help him however he needs and provide some company for him and to hopefully alleviate some of the stress his sister has been under.

Only God knows how many days my father-in-law has left. We just want to make sure that those days are as good as the rest of his days were.

That's what friends are for

Here we are... the three Amigas! I've known these gals forever. Gal 1 (behind me) was my college roommate, friend, and confidant. We laughed, cried, and sang together during our time at college... lost touch... and 22 years later here we are laughing, crying & singing again! Gal 2 (to my left) I met at church. We were leaders for the children's Wednesday night group... then got into BeautiControl together and were gainfully un-employed at the same time. Over the last few years we didn't see much of each other until now! Gal 2 and I had met at a local coffee shop a couple times & I had mentioned that I had another friend (Gal 1) whom I thought would enjoy some girlfriend time so invited her to come along the next time we went for coffee. Little did I know that the two of them would become instant friends! While at the coffee shop I noticed there was a bookcase in the corner that had stacks of board games on it... and suggested we play CandyLand. You remember CandyLand, don't you? We played three rounds (so we each won a game!) and were quite loud. Who knew CandyLand could be such a rowdy game?? To commemorate our first "date" (the three of us) we had some random guy take our picture. Thank goodness for camera phones!

Since then... we've gotten wiser - staying out of the coffee shop (before we got kicked out for being to rowdy) & more frugal... for the cost of one latte the three of us can make hot tea or lattes at my house. After trying out Tri-Ominos we moved on to SCRABBLE!! Because no one really wanted to keep score we decided to play for fun... which included making up some house rules! Things like BTW, OMG, FBI, CSI, CIA, ROFL and the like are allowed! If a word has been made plural and you happen to need that "S" to make your word - just take it! If you thought you had a word but were one square short of being on the board, it's okay to go outside the squares (by one letter). The list goes on. SCRABBLE purists will have a hissy fit...but too bad for them because we're having a blast!




We've had more laughs & good times and look forward to many more!

Menopause and Weight Loss

Okay Ladies! Let's face it. Some of us are at that special age when our bodies are trying to tell us who's boss. You can maybe relate to the picture! I know I've felt all the emotions the dwarfs show... but heck, I felt those before I got to this stage! And who in the world thought that menopause would ever have the makings of a Broadway musical? What's this world coming to?

The 40's are supposedly the "new" 30's... but I'm not so sure that applies when you're peri-menopausal or menopausal.

My Story (of course, I have one!). Eleven years ago I had a "partial" hysterectomy ... removing all but one ovary. Because this ovary was/is functioning it was decided that I did not need hormone replacement therapy (HRT) - which is good because I hate taking pills (that's why I have three children!) and probably wouldn't have remembered to change a patch or put on creme either. At the time of my surgery I was a svelte 130 pounds. At 5'2" this was an okay weight; I was nicely proportionate. But what in the world happened since then?? The more I try to lose weight the faster it finds me! I've put on, ahem, a few pounds since then - taking me from svelte to being somewhat buxom. According to my dictionary - buxom means: ample, built, busty, full-figured, hearty, robust, stacked, well-made, well-rounded. Wow! A couple of those words made me feel like I was turning into a beer!

In the last four or five years I've been experiencing hot flashes and night sweats - but not on a real regular basis... also hyper-sensitivity to cigarette smoke & certain perfumes, although I'm not sure the latter is related to menopause. I take Black Cohosh for the hot flashes with some relief. Maybe it's because I take it that I'm not affected much by hot flashes? I also notice that I'm tired a lot. Maybe I need to take an iron supplement? Of course if I took iron it would only make me MORE constipated! Flashes, sweats... and constipated? My poor husband!!
When we're staying at the cabin we tend to eat better - smarter/healthier - than when we're not. Being in town & going out on weekends with friends makes it way to easy to over indulge. My jeans are being stretched to the max & I've resorted to buying tops come down a bit lower in an effort to cover my hips & behind! The thing I find really disturbing is not that my waistline has expanded - but I have this layer of fat around my ribcage. Very unflattering! As I got out of the shower the other day I noticed how awful this really looked. Mr. C. says it's just more to love (now isn't that sweet?) but for Pete's sake!! I'm starting to look like those enchiladas I've been eating! When I get on the scale it says: "please ask your friend to step off"! Wah!!!!

I refuse to join another gym or health club. I've wasted MORE money paying monthly dues to use these facilities and sadly, just wasn't motivated enough to go. I've tried organic diets, liquid diets, vegetarian diets, colon cleanses, cutting out carbs, cutting out meat, starving myself (not recently though) - but nothing seems to work very well for me. I'm pretty sure if I'd just get off my rear end & walk more that would help - at least a little!

Since it's Lenten season, I've given up beef and pork. Not a huge sacrifice but it will "force" me to eat chicken & fish (not fried!) for 40 days. While neither of us are gluten intolerant we've been trying to eat gluten free foods. I've been pleasantly surprised to find so many things - like pasta & baking mixes, etc.

Anyone else out there riding the menopause roller coaster? How's it treating you? How's your diet and/or weight management?

I AM... NOT YOUR AVERAGE WOMAN!!

Hi! You may (or may not) recognize me from my other blog "MiracleMountain". I have lots to say... but sometimes MM is not the place to post those things as it was started to document the building of our off grid cabin.

At any rate... I have arrived! I'm here! (Yeah... I know! Sunflowers are out of season but I'm ready for winter to be over & sunflowers are just so darn cheery!)

Topics up for discussion may include: religion, politics, cooking, aging (gracefully or not), menopauce, feathering one's nest, empty nests, thrift store shopping, children (mine!), grandchildren (also mine!), "girlfriends" or "gal pals"... and a plethora of other stuff.

Up front - my views on:
Religion: I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God!
Politics: if pay toilets were put on all the graves of dead politicians, we could pay off the national debt.
Cooking: we all do it... some of us are better at it than others. I'm no Julia Child or Emeril Lagasse but I enjoy getting busy in the kitchen!
Aging: it happens! Take care of yourself - don't smoke, drink in moderation, eat your veggies, drink plenty of water, get plenty of sleep, get some exercise.
Menopause: ARGH! Need I say more?
Nests: be comfortable in your home whether it's an apartment, your parents' basement, a mobile home, a tent, or a luxury home. Don't be afraid to show your personality in your domicile! When the kids finally move out - embrace the space!
Thrifting: Recycle! Reuse! Repurpose! You can save TONS of money by shopping second hand stores. What could be more chic than being a savvy shopper?
Children: I have three! Mr. C. has four! We're glad they're all over 21 and moved out!
Grandchildren: I have three! Mr. C. has eleven! Guess what our kids like to do? (blushing!)
Girlfriends: My strongest allies! The ones I tell my secrets to, laugh with, cry with. They're for me when the rest of the world is against me!

And a plethora of other stuff: who knows what this will include!

Here ends my first post.